Day 242: You Know You're a JEWISH Educator's Kid When...

... you check out this week's Torah portion when you have a free moment

... you start to work out the trope for your Bat Mitzvah reading... when you're one

... you know to turn the page from left to right

... you critique the English translation of Hebrew passages for fun.  (Okay, maybe your mama does that, but it must rub off!)

I did not stage this photo.  She was hanging out in the school office, came upon this copy of the Torah/Bible, and started to flip through.

Day 241: Play Date

We had some special visitors at work today.  My friend Candice, who teaches with me, stopped in for a quick meeting, bringing along her two youngest children.  One of whom happens to be Michal's boyfriend (or at least one of her boyfriends).  Koby is older by a few months and super adorable.  We haven't seen them all summer, since they were away at camp having a grand time.  It's been a long, quiet summer without them.  We popped up the play yard and gave them an impromptu play date, although Koby did not seem to want to share the toys!  Michal didn't seem to mind too much.

Koby's sister Daphna decided to join in the fun.  Michal scored a telephone.
It is so nice to have friends back in town!

Day 240: Giddyup!

After spending most of the day inside yesterday due to Irene, cabin fever started to kick in today.  I'm sure Michal didn't mind hanging out with her favorite toys, but Josh and I itched to get out.  So we headed up to Baltimore to have lunch with his mom, who unfortunately was one of the hundreds of thousands of Maryland residents without power.  Michal ignored her lunch for the most part, instead watching two kids who played on the games and rides near our table.  Once we all finished - Michal even managed to eat most of her food - we headed over to let her "ride" the train and horse.  She seemed to enjoy herself, even bouncing up and down a bit as if to simulate the ride.

Ride 'em, cowgirl!

After lunch we went back to Josh's mom's house - nope, still no power - and hung out for a bit.  Michal even worked on a few new moves - standing and then this one:

Hmm... pesky step.  I bet all the cool stuff is up there! 

Oooh!  One leg up! 

Annnnnnnnd the other - this was a big time new move. 

Yay for baby!

I love how she gets so excited and claps for herself.  Once we all finish clapping, she starts again, egging us on to congratulate her.  She's hilarious.

Oh, and she got her sippy cup of milk, which was apparently the big draw to mastering the step.  Smart girl.

Day 239: Me, Myself, and Irene

What a week to check off items on the baby's "Things to experience" list - first an earthquake and now a hurricane.  Pretty exciting times, if you don't mind the threat of power outages, flooding, and general destruction.  Here is the baby welcoming Irene, with her thunderous breeze and torrential drizzle.  The hurricane did get a bit stronger, but it certainly came in like a lamb.

I have no idea what she's doing with the phone.  Maybe she's checking to see if the storm needs to make a call?

We headed out to Target to pick up a new toy for Michal, using a gift card given to us by her friend Emma in California (well, and Emma's parents, too).  Michal first got to play with this toy at her friend Lilly's house, so we knew it would be great for her to practice walking.  She played with it all afternoon. 

She's started to squat lately.  It's amazingly adorable. 

 Her new trick - standing on her own!   

Practicing walking! 

I had to include this one - she keeps practicing her fishy face.  I think she's perfecting it!

Day 238: Feeling Tetchy

It has been one of THOSE days.  Michal had her 12 month well baby check-up, replete with three different vaccinations.  All things considered, she did quite well, but she certainly did not love the shots.  Our wonderful doctor did proclaim her perfect (as if we had any doubt), and she continues to grow like a weed.  Her stats:

Height: 30 3/4" (91st percentile)

Weight: 22 lbs., 6 oz. (70th percentile)

Head circumference: 18 1/4" (83rd percentile)

Seems like she continues to NOT take after me in the height department - I'm not sure I've ever been in that high of a percentile.

After the shots, she was alternately in a fine, happy mood and then in a crying, cranky, tetchy mood.  Maybe she was tired, or it was an after effect of the shots, or she has teeth edging closer to the surface.  Either way, it was one of those afternoons.

Distracting her for a bit with a balloon. She does love them. 

But yeah... even trying to put rings on the post did not last for long without tears. 

Last straw - post bath baby tears.  It took her forever to get to sleep tonight, even after some Tylenol to take the edge off.  Hopefully she makes it through the night and gets some decent sleep.

Day 237: Touchy Feely

Not only does this kid LOVE books (a good half of Josh's pictures from tonight were of the baby playing with and reading a variety of her books), but she loves textures.  It's a good thing that so many of her books have things to touch and feel, especially the books about animals.  It has gotten to the point where she tries to pat all of her books, even the ones without fur and fuzz.  Here, though, she is patting the bunny.  Adorable!

Day 236: Funny Face

Seems to be a week of funny faces so far.  Just the girl, hanging with her daddy (I had a late work meeting tonight), being silly.  Nothing new there!

Day 235: I Just Called... to Say...

"Hi!"

Day 234: Daddy Daughter Day

Josh wasn't feeling well this morning, so he stayed home from work.  He offered to watch the baby, so I headed off to work on my own.  It was a productive day for me, and a fun day for them.  Michal played, crawled all over her daddy and let him tickle her, and generally had a grand time.  They even took advantage of the beautiful day and had lunch (tofu and cucumbers) out on the deck.  It's my favorite feature of the house, especially when the trees behind our house are all lush and green.  This photo is courtesy of Josh, who made sure to get a few pictures taken while I was at work - thanks, honey!

When I got home, the mail had been delivered.  Included was our newest diaper - a Twinkie Tush.  We LOVE these diapers - they're adorable and especially great for nighttime.  Michal likes it so much she gave it a big squishy hug! 

Yeah... I don't think she was doing much more than exploring, but it was still funny.

Day 233: Birthday Party!

The birthday celebration continued today with Michal's First Birthday Party.  After MUCH preparation, we were ready to have a wonderful afternoon with family and friends, celebrating the amazing little girl who was born just a little over a year ago.  


While we were concerned the weather might prove to be bothersome, all of the storms predicted for today held off until the afternoon, about an hour after the party ended.  Instead, we had a lovely late morning/early afternoon of warmth and slight humidity - Michal's hair was quite curly from it.  We squatted reserved a picnic shelter at a local park, right next to a great playground.  It seemed to be the day for parties, as another birthday party was held in the next shelter over.  

Our lunch buffet (click on the picture to see the full picture):

Herbed Goat Cheese, Cucumber, and Sun dried Tomato Pesto Sandwiches

Panzanella (Grilled Bread Salad)

Watermelon Tabbouleh with Goat Cheese

Fruit Salad

Rice Krispy Treats

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Icing

Your typical first birthday party menu, right?

Hand/Computer made banner by yours truly - Happy 1st Birthday Michal!

Michal visited with friends and family from near and far.

Just a few of the many friends who were able to celebrate with us today.
(Including the youngest party guest - Jessa was born on the 13th - and Henry with his gorgeous cheesy smile.

Cake time!

Our meticulous eater, picking off all of the red icing first.

This is her messy face.  Yep - that's as crazy as she gets.  Even with sugar!

My friend, Kim, from Hello Charlotte James, sent us this beautiful, gorgeous custom birthday crown.  Michal would have none of it. 

After the party, a bath, and a nap, we opened some of the presents that people so generously brought to the party.  This might be one of Michal's early favorites - her very first smart phone.  

These are three special gifts to be added to Michal's growing tchotchke collection.  Josh's mom just came back from a trip to Europe, so these are from Prague (the Golem - by far the coolest thing ever!), a snowglobe from Budapest, and a Mozart statue from Vienna.

We had such an amazing day and we feel so fortunate to have such wonderful family and friends - both those who were able to join us today as well as those from all around the country and world who sent birthday notes to the baby.  Thanks to everyone for being a part of her life.

Day 232: Celebrating Henry

I mentioned a few days ago that it is birthday season, so today we headed across the river to Virginia to help Henry celebrate his first birthday party.  Yay for August birthdays!

The August babies... or, Michal and her boys.

Playing with Liam and Henry.  It was so interesting watching the three of them and noticing the differences in personalities.  This was a pretty good representation of it - Michal sitting, watching the boys play and run around.

Balloons were a big hit!

Taking photos with Henry's mom - this was a super awesome camera.  Like a new age Poloroid!

Waiting for the image to develop and check it out.

Singing "Happy Birthday" to Henry - the applesauce cupcakes were delicious.  Michal gave them two thumbs up.

By the way - Henry has the MOST AWESOME PANTS/SUSPENDERS ever!  Understandably, he has sets in the next sizes to come, so he will continue to have an awesome wardrobe.

Henry loves to love.  He loves to love with all of himself.

He tackled Michal with his love.  She didn't know what to make of it.

Day 231: Snuggabug

Busy day today.  We had a very promising meeting with a potential day care provider (we think it can be a great fit!) and we ran a bunch of errands for Sunday's party.  After a few of the errands, we headed to check out the huge sales at the big bookstore that is going out of business.  While Josh checked out a few books, Michal and I headed to the children's department, where we discovered the most amazing thing:

 Classical Baby toys!

Michal absolutely loves Classical Baby, so you can imagine our excitement when we found the baby conductor and the dancing hippo among a number of discounted plush toys.  In fact, we found three of the conductors!

GROUP HUG!

Day 230: Bad Hair Day

If you can believe it, her hair was WORSE this morning.

No amount of combing or brushing did much to this crazy mop of hair.

Day 229: Playing House

Back in July, Michal and I were lucky enough to join Josh in New Jersey when he had to travel for work.  One benefit is obvious - we didn't have to say good-bye to him for five days - but Michal also had the chance to play with her friend Lilly (and we got to hang with Lilly's awesome parents!).  While at Lilly's house, Michal had a blast playing with her play house, so imagine our excitement when this arrived from Michal's grandmother in California.  

It's the same house!!  Much fun is in store. 

Getting ready to build. 

Our meticulous quality control agent.  

We did not have a ton of time to explore her new toy, but she is already having fun, checking it out.  This is definitely going to give the Zany Zoo a run for its money as most cherished toy in the house!

Day 228: Birthday Girl!

365 days ago, late on a Monday evening, Michal Kalanit came into our world.  It is pretty incredible to look back through the pictures and reminisce.  Words cannot adequately relay my emotions, so I will take you through today, her first birthday.

We started off with pictures!  We headed to one of the last remaining Picture People locations in the Washington DC area, where Michal alternately hammed it up then shut it down, refusing to smile, instead giving the lovely photographer a stony glare.  We did get a few cute pictures to take home with us, but wowza, kid!  Way to make pictures tricky today!

We took a family photo and Michal had a bunch of solo shots.  Then, we broke out the cake I baked yesterday and stripped her down to her diaper.  This was it, the big moment.  Icing all over the place.  Messy baby.  Sugar-high craze.  I was prepared with an army of wipes and travel size baby shampoo.  Don't ask.  I'm not sure I really knew what I would do should that last item truly be necessary.

I will say, Josh totally predicted what would happen.   Michal tends to be a pretty neat eater, so instead of going all smash cake on the red velvet, she poked the icing a little, mostly at the red buttons I piped as decoration around the cake.  Good thing - had I not given her a target, I'm not sure she would have bothered with the cake.  I did help her break a little off to try, but even the delicious taste of cake and vanilla buttercream did not incite a food riot.  Oh well.


Pictures taken, printed, and purchased, we shopped a bit and grabbed some lunch.  Afterwards, we headed to the County Fair.  It has been decades since I last attended one (or so I've been told - I don't recall having been, but I trust my mother's memory more than my own).  We figured Michal would enjoy being up and close with the animals.

 Checking out the llamas with Daddy.

This guy was awesome.  His name is Tank, he's 4 years old, and he weighs 1800 pounds.  1800 pounds! 

 Waving to the ducklings and chicks.

Caught this sweet Daddy/daughter moment. 

This gorgeous calf was born at 8:30 this morning.  So beautiful.  

The mama cow was not quite finished with the birth process.  We got to witness the completion.  Wild stuff.  Josh took a video.  Weirdo. 

She was terrified of the chickens - even the award winning ones.  I did tell her not to get too close, so I guess she really took my warning to heart!

Tuckered out 

After news of random (and disgusting) food offerings at state and county fairs, Josh wanted to check out what was being sold at our fair.  This arrangement of signs made me laugh.  Who wants diabetic funnel cake after being offered fried candy bars and Oreos?  Who would eat that, anyway??? 

This guy.  

I will admit, they were strangely delicious, not that I will order them again.

Once we got home, we took the time to open some of her gifts.  Yeah, we waited until her actual birthday, even though she wouldn't know one way or the other.  It's just the way we do it.  She got some great stuff - wonderful books to read together, fun toys, and even a cute outfit!  Lucky girl.

Checking out the cool puzzle from Rebecca. 

Disclaimer: she did not build this tower.

But she did knock it down.  And proceeded to play with the components.  And get mad when she couldn't figure out how to make them stack again. 

And then it was time for dinner - spaghetti, yum!  After a healthy "dessert" of plums, I brought out a small portion of the cake from this morning.  We figured we'd give it another go and give her a proper birthday dessert.

She went straight for it! 

She seemed to love it, even though she didn't go crazy over it, as I thought she might.  The icing, and its stickiness, seemed to confuse her. 

Yum! 

Such a considerate baby - she always likes to offer us some of her food.  

She even places it into our mouth - hand and all!

Happy birthday to the most brilliant, beautiful, and hilarious baby!