We're Still Here, Somewhere

Ok, so life is hectic right now. School is giving me a pretty good beating and the assignments seem to never stop pouring in. The good news is that I was sick last week and had to take of a couple of days from school. Yeah, I was throwing up, but I wasn't in class!

Debbie had a birthday and the boys love birthdays. After my class and Avi and Itai were both home we decided to go buy mommy a present. The boys are BIG spenders and got to buy any one item from the dollar store for her. We walked around for a little bit before Itai found something he was interested in, an Elmo book. What could be a better present? Well, a few minutes later he found it: a baby!

I kept telling him we had to give it to mommy and not keep it for ourselves. He promised several times he wouldn't keep it, but top secret intelligence has found these pictures.

SCANDAL!

Avi found a lovely feather boa for her present. Everyone loves a beautiful sensory experience like wearing a boa, right? I'd show you a picture of the boa, but it turns out dollar store boas and two toddlers don't mix well.

So, Itai has obviously been playing with his baby lately, but what about Avi? He's been busy too. First off, since Itai made his ad for Cheetos he wanted to try his hand at product endorsement. He says, "Wow! You better eat your Wheaties." He's also found a few new obsessions. His latest is this little puzzle. We've had it for ages, but he recently decided to take it on as an obsession. He loves the ambulance, just don't try to take the piece out.He also found this little gadget. He's been working on toy play at preschool and is finally playing with toys. Yay! He really likes this one.Oh and these ones. There's a whole toy box in front of him that will eventually be on top of him.

And don't forget his artistic endeavors. Here is an example of his early work in the cabinet medium. That's right, he decided to decorate our cabinets with PERMANENT marker! Luckily, it wiped off pretty easily.Last but not least, Itai has moved out of the room he shares with Avi. His new room is a bit smaller, but it provides him with the privacy he craves. Don't call Child Protective Services...seriously, he has a bed still.

Haven't I a Son?

When you talk of your child,
And tell me what he's done,
And talk gives way to silence
Haven't I a son?

When I see yours with others,
As they play and jump and run,
While my own sits all alone
Haven't I a son?

When I see your family
Engaged in children's fun
While my own must do his work,
Haven't I a son?

When you talk of youth in progress
Though my son's has scarcely begun,
I sink inside my self to wonder
"Haven't I a son?"

I hear you tell his troubles
As if he's the only one.
My heart aches as it cries,
"Haven't I a son?"

When you wait for my reply,
But silence can only stun.
These words are stuck within my mouth:
Haven't I a son?

And when the weight of truth
Presses me like a ton
I sit alone at night to cry,
"Haven't I a son?"

Pardon the Interruption

This summer has been a really busy semester. I've been much busier than I would have liked. I have lots of homework and papers and a ridiculous amount of reading. So, with all this busy work I've had to cut out some minor, insignificant things around the house. First to go, vacuuming. Itai has been enrolled to pick up the slack.
"Mom, he's making me clean again!"At least he's figured out a way to make the best out of the slave labor situation. I just wish I had thought of that.What else has gone? Well, you save so much time when you don't dress your children. It's so convenient! You also save a lot of time when you don't bother putting any lunch together. Besides, they can fend for themselves. Avi has discovered his own food supply.Itai has begun refining his culinary skills as well. Take one pot, add fish. Stir until even smashed and serve immediately.And enjoy!
Don't forget dessert. Here's a quick recipe: take one package of sprinkles, carefully coat entire floor and throw one tantrum when removed from mess. Add one broom and a little assistant with a swiffer.
Does he seem upset by the mess? He really wasn't until I started sweeping.

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!