Strawberry Picking and Other Adventures

Noam is somewhat preoccupied with the idea of getting older in a hurry. At dinner a few nights ago:
Noam: "Eema, I'm eating all my food!"
Eema: "Great!"
Noam: "I'm eating so fast! (pause for thought). Eema, if I eat faster, will I turn four even faster??"

In the meantime, it was a great day to be a kid. We took the whole family strawberry picking at our local farm (hooray for rainstorms that don't start till after dinnertime!) In a rare bold move, Eema and Daddy released the twins from their stroller and allowed them to participate (broadly speaking) in the harvest.


After gathering lots of sweet small strawberries, it was off to ride the tractors and bikes. Noam (who told us this morning that when he grows up, he wants to be "a boss" kept his brothers in line and out of his way while he pedaled around.

That could have probably kept us occupied for hours, but eventually Akiva and Hillel, who had been too grumpy to eat a post-nap lunch, decided they were thirsty and hungry (both of which sensations they can sign quite dramatically).

So we headed over to the farm store for some yummy apples, which all three children enjoyed. Though of course, "enjoyed" means different things to different people. For Noam, it meant that he ate a respectable two-thirds of his apple, passed the rest off to Eema, and then went off to say hi to the animals. For Akiva and Hillel, it meant that Eema eventually pried the stems out of their clenched little fists - that was all that was left (um, it's totally okay for babies to eat apple seeds, right??).


As you can see, this kept them busy for quite some time.

Back at home, everyone had a great appetite for dinner. Hillel and Akiva were ready and eager to get into bed. They curled up obediently in their cribs, were tucked in by Eema and Noam, and showed every sign of falling asleep.
An hour later, when they were still shrieking with laughter, what did Eema and Daddy think was happening? As now-experienced twin parents, we hadn't the faintest clue - nor did we care. Were they in their cribs? Yes. Did they need anything from us? No. Problem solved.

But little did we know. When the laughter dissolved intro true screaming, Eema went to investigate. A quick entrance into the bedroom caught Akiva prancing around his crib - completely naked. Hillel, though his pajamas were nowhere to be seen, was still in his diaper. Apparently Eema's sudden appearance at the naked party caught him in the process of trying to extricate himself.
Yes, Eema did try not to laugh. But no, the twins were not fooled. Their unrepentant giggles, plus the fact that this is the second time in four days that they've had a naked party, does not bode well. It's been quiet for several hours - we do think they are sleeping - though whether they are dressed or not is anyone's guess.