What else are these guys up to? Well, Noam is learning about the world around him. He starts school on Wednesday, and is excited to be teaching at a new place. (No, that's not a typo. No amount of conversation has yet convinced Noam that he is meant to be learning, while the teachers teach. Eema teaches. Daddy teaches. So it stands to reason...).
Noam is also in a place of heightened religious awareness. Today we went to a friend's barbecue, where Noam checked in with our hostess to make sure the food was kosher before partaking (he checks at Grandma's house as well, and has been known to question Eema as well). He wear a kippah often, and speaks "Hebrew." This can be cute (when he sings songs in this hitherto unspoken language to his little brothers) or annoying (when Eema asks him what he wants for dinner and he answers in "Hebrew." Luckily we were able to assure him that Chummus is Hebrew, so he loses nothing by requesting it in a language we all comprehend).
As for Akiva, he pulls himself to standing, talks a lot, and, as noted above, steals pacifiers. He also enjoys experimenting with gravity. This has actually been going on for some time - here are some old pictures...
but recently he's improved upon these skills by systematically flinging any leftover food onto the floor once he decides he is done eating.
(Hillel likes to play the gravity game with his iguana)And some other assorted photos from this summer...
Noam at the beach when we went to "Grandma's country house"...
Akiva on Bubbe's swingset...
Hillel where he most loves to be...
A bedtime picture from the beginning of the summer...this position no longer works. They crawl off the chair. Plus, for some reason, the act of drinking milk causes the urge to kick one's twin to become impossible to ignore. No matter how Eema positions them, they will find a way to kick each other while drinking their bottles, even if it involves raising their legs over their head and lashing out (while still clutching said bottle). Separate cribs are essential to the bedtime ritual.
