What is it with this kid??

Melissa (aka our amazing nanny) reports the following:

(All three boys are in the bath tub)

Noam: Hillel has gum in his mouth.

Melissa: WHAT?!

(inspects mouth. Finds....tooth!)

Good thing we have Noam around to alert us to our babies' milestones!

A Kid Who Knows He's Cute

Noam (sitting at dinner, suddenly pouting): I'm sad.

Eema: Oh, Noam, why are you sad?

Noam: (batting big eyes): I'm sad because you're not hugging me.

(Eema melts...)

Akiva Has A Tooth!

(While eating breakfast this morning. Babies in high chairs, Noam munching challah and chumous, his major food groups).

Noam: Eema, the babies have teeth!

Eema: Mmm-hmmm.

Noam: They do, Eema!

Eema: I don't think so, sweetie.

Noam: Check!

Eema (checks Hillel's mouth with finger): Well, Hillel doesn't. (Checks Akiva's mouth - lo and behold, there's something sharp in there!)

Eema: Noam, how did you know??

Good times are coming. Times of chewing, and food that does not have to be cut into little tiny pieces...yay!

Wet and Wild Naked Babies!

Dear All,

Have you ever noticed just how much FUN the bathroom can be?? Especially if you can crawl and/or walk? Personally, we've recently discovered our ability to pull down towels, track water all over the floor, and drum on the toilet...


There have also been some failed attempts to climb the toilet, but never mind that just now.

But of course, the biggest party of all is the bathtub.

Oh, how we love our bath! (You'll have to excuse the quality of these videos - Eema is laughing too hard to hold the camera still!)




Love,

Akiva and Hillel

Shana Tovah! (Happy New Year!)

Well, it's a new year here in the Wolkenfeld household, and things are going pretty well. Particularly in comparison to last year. If you've spoken to me at all in the last month or so, you might already be aware that I spend a not-insignificant amount of time thanking my lucky stars that I don't have to go through last year again (little flashback for those of you who may have missed it: newborn twins. nursing. two year-old violently ill the day before Rosh Hashanah. New job. Need I go on?)
But I digress.

You want to know what our kids are up to; and really, what aren't they up to? It's a great time of year for kids. The twins are old enough to eat both apples and honey (but still no teeth. Can't have everything), and Noam is obsessed with the shofar. He goes around the house "blowing" his (paper) shofar that he made in school. The babies, he has explained to me, really like hearing shofar. Um, especially when they are trying to sleep.

And we made it through Yom Kippur with minimal drama. Noam was a little confused by the Eema not eating thing, but he got over it.

[On a side note, a pre-pre-fast meal grocery store run with all three children, necessary as Daddy was frantically practicing his Yom Kippur davening, yielded this letter, which I mentally composed in the car on the way home:
Dear People Who Stare Openly at us in the The Supermarket,
Perhaps you think that taking three children age three and under to the supermarket is my idea of a good time. Or perhaps you think that I had identical twins just to spite you, and have brought them here today to taunt you. All this is incorrect. You may further believe that if you just continue pushing your cart towards us, the double stroller will magically narrow. Also, not so. It's true, there are three of them. Yes, they are all boys. No, I cannot hold the hand of my oldest while also pushing the double stroller, but no, this does not make me a bad mother. And while we're on the subject of things that are socially less-than-desirable (like laughing at us while we try to get past you in the aisle) - I appreciate the sentiment, but has it occurred to you that wishing someone a "Happy Yom Kippur!" or a "great holiday" is somewhat akin to wishing a Catholic a merry ash Wednesday, or a phenomenal Lent?
Just checking.
Thanks to all those of you who did move out of our way. And to the rest of you - we also hope not to all be back here anytime soon.
Sincerely,
Eema of Three]

And now it's Sukkot. Noam helped build the sukkah - he had a great time - while the babies played inside. The funny thing about having two puppies - oops, I mean babies - is the way they play with each other. Witness below...(the first video basically just showcases Hillel's ability to walk, and Akiva's ability to articulate phonemes previously unknown to humankind, but the second one shows twin play at it's best).



If you really want a good laugh, it's especially fun to watch Eema bathe all three children without the presence of another adult. Let's just say it involves a lot of naked babies...

and then comes bedtime.


Note the proximity of Hillel's foot to Akiva's head. See previous post for details.

During these past two days of holiday, Akiva and Hillel both clapped hands for the first time, and Noam played intense games of Set and Bananagrams with some of the students. He also consumed an incredible amount of junk food, but let's not discuss that.

Stay tuned for tales of flu shots, dancing babies, and other fun stuff.

Hillel Can Walk! (and other fun things)

The big news of the day - Hillel took a whole five steps, crossing the play area to reach for Eema's nose. Akiva looked on with interest, but mostly I would say that interest was focused on grabbing his brother's pacifier.

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.

Use Your Imagination

Due to technical difficulties, we have no pictures to post at the moment (or rather, no ability to post them). However, the following conversations must be recorded:

#1: My kids are not spoiled. Really, they're not...

Noam (looking out the car window): Eema, look! A police car.

Eema (driving): Yup, there's a police car.

Noam: Police help people.

Eema: That's right.

Noam: They help people take things out of the car.

Eema (puzzled): Out of the car?

Noam (adamant): Out of the car! And into the car. And out of the car, and into the car, and out of the car...

Eema: When do the police do that, Noam?

Noam (exasperated): At Grandma's city house!

Ohhh. Those police! Known in the vernacular as: the doorman.

#2: Eema got into Penn, but that was a looong time ago

Noam: Eema, my kipa is falling off!

Eema: Can I fix it?

Noam: Do you know how?

Eema: Yes, I do (fixes bobby pins).

Noam: How do you know?

Eema: I'm very smart.

Noam: I hadn't really noticed that.

Yeah well, I've had mommy brain ever since somebody was born...

#3: To be...or not to be. What exactly was the question?

Noam (upon returning from morning services): I got a lollipop!

Eema: Wow! That's great. Why did you get a lollipop?

Noam: The man in shul gave it to me.

Eema: Why?

Noam: I was being very haive.

As in "be good, be nice, be sweet, behave." He was be - ing very - have.

Just for the record, the twins also talk. Especially Akiva. It's just not English, so I have no words to describe it. Suffice it to say that they talk, especially to each other. And play peek-a-boo, especially with each other. And then they laugh, and laugh...

More (maybe with photos) soon.