Happy Purim

Dear All,

Happy Purim!

Yes, we know it's been a long time since we've blogged. Maybe you missed the part where we have three children under the age of three? Anyway, here we are, at long last, here to tell you about our excellent Purim in Princeton - the twins' very first Purim! - and a few other things.

It was a busy morning, getting everyone clean and into costumes. Here are Akiva and Hillel, getting costume-ready:

And Noam, the big boy, who (more or less) knows how to dress himself. Okay, Eema had to change his diaper and turn his shirt around (he got it on backwards), but other than that, it's all him!

And here they all are!

In case you can't tell, we had a Dr. Seuss theme going on. Noam was Horton the elephant, and the twins were Thing One and Thing Two (Eema and Daddy had Cat in the Hat hats!).

Noam spent the morning making mishloach manot, and then we all went to the CJL to deliver them. Hillel and Akiva circulated among the students while Noam distributed mishloach manot to the staff. He also sang "Chag Purim" and recited a (very) truncated version of the book of Esther for Melissa, his babysitter. (Haman wanted to hurt the yidden. The yidden were sad. But Mordechai and Esther are the good guys. Have we mentioned that our son speaks Yiddish?)

In an exciting twist of fate, Noam woke up with an ear infection in both ears the day before Purim, and he enjoyed telling everyone the story of his visit to the doctor. It's a dramatic tale. Noam walked into the doctor's office and informed the nurse: "No shots today!" When the doctor came in and said, "Hello, are you Noam?" he replied, "Yes. We're not having any shots today!"

When the doctor finished examining him and said we could leave, Noam turned to me and said, "Let's go get a sticker!" At the front desk, he informed all the nurses that he had not cried, nor had he received any shots. He also told the pharmacist and everyone else who works at Rite-Aid. He was a very cheerful sick kid (this was post-tylenol, of course).

To recap a bit of the last few weeks, we're pleased to report that Noam is extremely sweet with his little brothers.


He is very solicitous when they are sad, and has become quite good at flipping Hillel (gently, sort of) onto his back when he gets stuck on his tummy. He brings them toys and sticks pacifiers in their mouths. A few days ago, we had the following conversation:

Eema: (Changing Hillel's diaper) When you were a baby you used to cry and cry when I changed your diaper.

Noam: Where was the other one?

Eema: (not understanding) Akiva is sleeping.

Noam: No! When I was a baby - where was the other one?

Eema: (the light dawns) You were just one baby. There was no other one!

(Noam is not convinced...)

Meanwhile, Akiva and Hillel can both roll over, and wiggle their way across the floor. Hillel does a kind of crab walk by arching his back and using his legs to propel himself. They are both big on sucking on their fingers...

and this is classic Hillel, who found his thumb very early on and can't get enough of it!

They've started solids and - halleluya! - they LOVE food. Yes, that's right folks - we have children who want to eat! It's the dawn of a new era. Our babies are interested in - downright entranced by - food. Go figure!

And the most recent report from the front - as of an hour ago, Noam was still lying in bed wide awake.
Eema: Noam, what's wrong?
Noam: Something is hurting me.
Eema: What's hurting you?
Noam: My feelings. My feelings are hurting me.

I think he's asleep now. Laila tov! (good night)