Summer Makes a Splash!

My utter failure to find someone to take the boys to the pool fortunately did not keep them out of the pool long. Their lucky enough to have a mom who was kinda enough to take them to the pool. Itai was so excited he shouted, "Water! Water!" The whole way to the pool. Avi was excited too. He was shouting, "Swimming! Want swimming!" Avi really enjoyed himself in the water. He was a VERY far cry from the boy who was so anxious in the water that he barely moved a muscle beyond blinking and letting his teeth chatter. When we were California in May he was just terrified of being in the water. Today he was splashing and laughing and talking up a storm.

Itai really liked spending the evening in the pool. As you can tell he thought it was a little cool. He seems a bit like a duck. His little legs kicked quickly underneath his little raft as he shot across the water.

Oh, and did I mention the splashing? It's the best! You can't have more fun than that. An entire pool just to the three of them. It's the perfect place to splash and yell.

Or just have a nice relaxing float across the shallow end.

Is this a lot of pictures or is it just me? Well, I had to do something while I sat on the sidelines waiting for them to tire of the pool or for time to end, which ever came first. Ok, for me to play the bad guy and drag them kicking, screaming and gnashing teeth.

But back to the pool. Debbie was a great pool buddy. She kept them very happily going around the pool. Avi loved it so much he yelled out, "Circle!"

There was only one down side to the pool. The water apparently doesn't taste very good, at least Itai didn't think so.

Avi didn't think it tasted good either. Oh yeah, there is nothing more on a warm summer evening than a splash in the pool.

Especially one with a great mommy.

Avi & Itai 101

Life with Avi and Itai is pretty great. There's a lot going on with these two boys. They have a lot of similarities and a lot of differences. One thing they both love is hospital grilled cheese sandwiches. No trip to the hospital is complete without a trip to the cafe.

Life is pretty busy and can be pretty exhausting. Just ask Avi.

Or Itai... Sometimes you have to fall asleep right where you lie. Avi has developed some favorite activities. Anyone who has seen him lately knows how much he loves standing on his head. He still loves running, jumping and climbing. Sometimes he has to be creative to find new places to climb; the counter is so last month! We took out our old baby stroller for a friend who is having a baby soon. I cleaned all the dust off and left it out for her. Avi quickly decided it was designed for purposes other than strolling. We're thinking Splore might be a good activity for him. They have climbing walls just for kids on the spectrum. It's probably safer than stroller climbing.

Itai loves the stroller too. He's not so much into climbing as he is into a good photo op. He climbed up, plopped himself down and started clapping. I took out the camera and he said, "Cheese!" He has a lot of new favorites too. His new favorite word is "uh-oh!" But he also likes saying "bulldozer, Jeep (a really new favorite), truck and tweet, tweet, tweet."

No discussion of favorites is complete without two things they both love. Water. A bath, a wading pool, a swimming pool, the ocean, a puddle, whatever. If there is any amount of water both boys are there and happy. Avi still asks for the ocean and every time we pass our neighborhood pool Itai points out that there is water over there. (No really, any volunteers to take them to the pool? My neighbors might try to whale me.) Itai's school will be doing water days soon. Avi would be so jealous to know that, the only fun thing he gets to do at school is hit a pinata. Oh, and the one thing they both love and hate is eating. Their favorite foods disappear before the we get settled down. Sometimes during the prayer. They could pack down these favorites all day, but if we put out something they don't like suddenly they can go days without eating. Lastly, they love each other. Avi, of course, has his personal space that he doesn't like Itai to violate, but he loves him none the less. Itai can bully his big brother but he loves him like crazy. Debbie told me while they were shopping yesterday they climbed into one of those car carts. She looked in at them and found Itai giving Avi hugs and kisses and stroking his hair. Then to her surprise she saw Avi return the favor by giving Itai big hugs and kisses. That's brothers: pushing and shoving one minute, best friends the next.

So that's Avi and Itai 101. Why 101? Is it because I'm feeling like school is consuming every part of my life? Maybe. Or maybe that's my subtle way of saying this is post number 101. Yay us!

Who's Crying?

Oh, those kids of mine! So cute, so sweet, so full of lessons and SOOOO messy! Itai loves to drink. He'll drink all day and all night. He really likes his milk right now. He's great at drinking from his open cup, but not so great about staying in one spot with it. Solution? Give him his sippy and hope he doesn't manage to knock out the little piece that keeps it from flooding out. What happens when that teeny little piece falls out? See for yourself. You could call it a little mess. So, what does Itai, whose favorite word is "uh-oh," do when he makes such a big mess? Well, he's obviously not saying uh-oh here. He makes the best of it! And what could be better than milk art?
So something bad happened, no use dwelling on it. In fact, as the great Dr. Suess once said, "And when things start to happen, don't worry, don't stew." That's just one of the many great things about Itai. Everything is an adventure, everything is a chance to do something new.

He already knows something most of us know; there's no use crying over spilled milk. It kind of reminds me of a time when I went shopping with my mom. After paying for everything we went out to the car. I picked up the four gallons of milk (I never realized how much we ate and drank back then!) and placed them on the hood of the car while I opened the door. One of the gallons went sliding off the hood and fell, splitting the plastic wide open and leaving the black top covered in a sudsy, white mess. I felt horrible. I knew the milk was more than just milk, it was money, it was something else we'd now have to do without. I stood staring at the milk at my feet until I finally got up the courage to look up. Before I said a word she told me it was ok. That was the end of it. Not a word, not a look.

I missed February 11th, Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk day (I'm not making that up), but still the lesson is the same. There's no use crying over spilled milk. I'm glad Itai has learned this early, even if Debbie wishes he hadn't learned it all over the floor. :)

We Rocked Chuck E. Cheese

What do you get when you combine place full of lights, sounds and enough games and cause a hyperactivity induced comas in at least 100 children and one boy who is afraid of the rides and one who can't get enough of them? A circus! Ugh. I thought I could do it, but it turns out I needed two more hands (or just one more of me) just to get around comfortably, four more hands to have fun and get some pictures in.

It started off ok, just a quick Avi block at the buffet and we were back to having fun. Avi wanted to spend most of his time in the playground high above the floor. Itai couldn't climb up and I didn't enjoy trying to slither up the ladder with him in my arms. So I came up with a plan. Strap Avi in a ride and hope he liked it. I'm sure you can see from his face and his white knuckles that he loved it. :) One round up and down and he said "All done All done!"

Ok, so Avi thought the ride was a little freaky, but maybe timid little Itai would like it a bit better.

Maybe not. Such fraidy cats we've raised! Itai isn't as tense, but as you can see he didn't trust that thing one bit. While Itai and I waited for Avi to come back down the slide I thought we'd try another ride. He liked this one a little bit more, but it was no comparison to the tiny carousel they had. Sorry, no pictures, like I said I needed one more of me or a few more arms. In the end we found a game they both liked. The little coin launcher thing turned out to be both fun and profitable. They loved launching coin after coin and watching the tickets fly out. After seeing how many tickets they got I was a little sad we left so many of them for other kids. Avi and Itai weren't very interested in the ticket earning games so I gave up on collecting the tickets. Then suddenly we had over 100! Oh well, now we have a lot for next time...after I clone myself...or con one of you into coming with me!