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Archive for the 'Growth' Category

Weekend Away

Published
by
Keren
on July 17, 2011
in Accord, Growth and Uncategorized
. 1 Comment

This summer has been gloriously, well, summery….

We have spent most of our weekends up in Accord, and this weekend was no different EXCEPT that it was filled with friends, babies, toddler-hood girlies, food, beer and discussing Google+.  It was nice to lazy on the grass, catch up and be out there in the sunshine. Yes,  I am so grateful for everyone and everything in my life (except the mosquito bites!):

Talk to the hand Look at thast punim Gazing at the tree tops Neko took 100 photos like this one Neko took this one as well Slip n slide Slipped Who needs non toxic wooden german toys? Pond plunge Dads n daughters Chomp Happy Baby Shot Fat upper lip Happy Mama Blissfully wating nutter butters Wrapped up Looking A little grass never hurt anyone Dappled Light Lounging on me Suburban Bliss Suburban Bliss II What you lookin at? Blueberry Girl Smily End of the row Sunshine Walking in the bushes Not quite ripe Ridin high Really likes blueberries Bounce pillow Peter up high Family bounce Tickle on yellow

P.S.  This weekend three years ago we celebrating Andree’s baby shower by eating yummy cake and bagels…now, all this time later, we watch our daughters shovel away cream cheese bagels and M&M’s…..i know, we should have eaten salad and green beans!

One Year Ago: Camp Ooopo

Two Years Ago: Inner City Kids

Three Years Ago: Andree’s Shower

Check List

Published
by
Keren
on August 22, 2010
in Growth and Milestones
. 1 Comment

We are now the proud parents of a toilet trained child.

We are proud.

We still have some (rare) accidents, but, in neko’s own words: thats’ ok

Potty Story

(shot while on the go)

Next on the ever expanding list of accomplishments: getting a job!

One year ago: Miles and more

Two years ago: Mae Swing

Camp Opoo

Published
by
Keren
on July 13, 2010
in Accord, Family, Growth and Uncategorized
. 2 Comments

Neko spent the weekend at sleep away camp: in Accord with her E-E and Opoo.

She did arts and crafts, gardening, fine motor skill developing, Disney appreciation hour, water play, a lot of wall climbing (which she now does unassisted although I still like to hover nearby) and perfected her nakedness:

Gardening Gear Peter throws out crap from 1988 Gypsy girl New birdhouse Red accent This is a bear drawing Left over Masterpiece in green and glitter Home made ice pop Lemonade pucker face Rain dance Wheel barrow outfit Gardening chic Neko and the Giant Scallion Veggies Caterpillar New skill mastered Doin' it myself (in a dress)

Her parents slept in, exercised, re-organized the organized storage bins, and relaxed.

All in all a perfect weekend.

It’s my party, America

Published
by
Keren
on July 6, 2010
in Friends, Growth and Uncategorized
. 1 Comment

The weekend was perfect:

Friends we haven’t seen in ages, with hours of lazing around (between gourmet meals and special cocktails) for catching up…or catching our kids, as they ran, rolled and hid in the luscious acres of the Field Farm. Plenty of time to play with the beautiful twins (neko would shush them, saying stop kying babies, stop), swim in the lake (where neko would beg i wanna go to the blue part - deep end), be naked (neko just wanted to take her clothes off all the time), play with Thomas, Max, Hero, Baby Bu and then be smitten with big girl Lila, who happens to also love Hello Kitty.

The big weekend event takes place in the barn (gotta get shoes on) and we let neko stay up to watch the Field Follies, where her father was part of the opening act, The Arugula.  Neko learned to go wooohoooo while clapping, and told everyone it was her birday party.

What you mean where are the crackers? Shady Play Hero's got the crayons Twin action - which one is this? Alice plays Massage Baby eyes Hanging by the pool Guitar session Gossip Manly things Blur of grass kids n people Boat shoes Love Look thats where I run to when i disappear for 20 minutes Kuku Bu Baby face Fig action Hide n seek Chips while in tent Thomas Hero dressed (rare) Ice cold butts Surprise The look Pondering her next move Bu at rest (nina don't hate me) Squinting Edith Baby love (not sure which twin this is) Bulan and his harem We did not suggest they hug Twilight time Lila sitting pretty Barn play Look at this No photos please Neko is smitten Girls saying cheeeese Light show What's in your purse? Field Follies Barn at night Cheeky walk Hair by lake

Maybe next year we will even (shhhh…don’t tell Peter) tent it. Although I kinda like not sleeping with a million bugs, just one big one!

One year ago: July 4th with Douglas

The Wedding

Published
by
Keren
on June 17, 2010
in Family, Friends, Growth and Uncategorized
. 1 Comment

The preparations for this event were intense:  we had two dresses, six pairs of silver strappy sandals delivered from Zappos (and five promptly returned), a mad dash through Soho to find the perfect hair clip, and then let’s not forget the matching diaper cover.  What, you thought I was referring to the bride, eh?

While the nervous butterflies and tears flowed freely in the days leading up to the wedding, we worked hard to convince neko that the event, or the princess party, as i was referring to it, will be much like a huge birthday bash.  Some kids get nervous when 600 pairs of eyes are on them, so I wanted to ensure neko comprehended that this was fun, casual, and above all a big-girl-princess-party thing.

After having quickly fixed the minor disaster of neko’s hair garland missing (she cried and cried neko no have no flower in ha hair like big guls, all while the bride is attacking her producer that she cannot possibly walk out there without her niece)…..neko walked down the aisle with all her flowers, head held high, looking so sweet and serious, following the other girls. I stood there beaming with pride at my beautiful independent and strong little girl….What, you thought I was referring to neko, eh?

The sun was setting and nice salty breeze was coming off the ocean. Maya was stunning.  Ilan filled with emotions.  My parents were standing up there, and just as the ceremony wedding these two lovelies began neko innocently touched one of those projecting spot lights, crying in pain and shock, a blister forming immediately and I had to whisk her away, looking for ice and ‘owa cream.’

Do not fret, the excitement got the most of neko, and she calmed down quickly (a little Disney helped too).  Once neko was safely tucked away sleeping in her hotel bed, we celebrated the marriage of my baby sis in style - yeah, we got totally drunk and ended up paying the baby sitter the equivalent of a small fortune since exchange rate calculations are not my forte after 6-10 cocktails!

Mazal tov my baby sister and her nicest husband ever!

Bridal Hair Mother of the Bride Minutes before Practicing flower girl run Runner girl Neko ready Flower girls The walk The chuppa Under the chuppa

One year ago: Pasta Basta

Israel - the 2010 version

Published
by
Keren
on June 14, 2010
in Family, Friends and Growth
. 3 Comments

We went on a really long airplane ride where neko proceeded to vomit, much to the disappointment of the middle aged grumpy continental staff (imagine woman screeching that blanket with vomit ‘needs to go in body fluid bag‘ while faced with a crying filthy child).

We got tanned without any sun burns, although slathering on sun tan lotion every 33 minutes can become semi irritating.

We ate humus ( quite a bit), even though i prefer eating fresh moist rugellach all day.

We played with ‘big guls’ and jumped in the ocean and asked to float like a ‘maper’ (neko’s version of mermaid).

We suffered from severe jet lag (more on that later) and some terrible two’s roared their toddler heads.

We got loved and pampered by aunts, uncles, grandparents and friends.

We watched Maya (da big pincess) get married, danced and cried (tears of joy that is).

We did so much that one single post cannot possible contain it all….here are a few highlight photos, and will post more once we settle down:

Practicing flower girl run Picked up Maya from choochoo With ima Splish splash Needs a bath Supporting tourism Pale ass Favourite Color Big Girls Pool playTriple bath Laughter Absolutely cannot go on Up and downMother of the Bride Hat girls IMG_5135 Strike a pose

One year ago: Site installation fun

Vilde Chaye - Turns 2

Published
by
Keren
on March 16, 2010
in Brooklyn, Family, Friends, Growth, Milestones and Things that make you go hmmm
. 1 Comment

Finding the theme was easy: vilde chaye (a wild beast) is the quintessential neko mode.

Then my mom came as backup troops to help with the decorations:

IMG_3646 IMG_3650 IMG_3653 IMG_3656 IMG_3661

A few paper cuts later, we proceeded to make cake pops….  yeah, everyone needs those these days! The process was totally hilarious (those swirly wirlies) and the result a success:

Cake pops Hysterical Candy making good Pop it

Neko woke up and wowed a LOT.  She couldn’t believe the amount of animals, colors, balloons and whole wheat bagels all around her:

Stealing cheese Chayes Father figure Animals everywhere Silouhette

And then they came - all of neko’s friends and loved ones (she wakes up every day asking to go to one of their homes).

Ball bit - the beginning Elodie is cute Kids and parents Lets fit more kids in there Happy-ness Colorful girls Wishig they could dive in Kids n balls Glee Neko is 2 Baby Bu Fatherly Snacking Butterfly girl Guitar girl Fly catcher Seriously looking into the distance Cookie cookie cookie Through the cardboard fence In da house My lovies Mae eyeing the cake pops Brianna and pappi Three candles (one for good luck) Familia (blur) Elodie n pop Living room crawling with kids Living room crawling with parents

Oh, how happy you made her (and us)!

Thank you for joining and giving and loving and being…

Here is to making it another year….

One year ago: the gremlin theme.

Sweetart

Published
by
Keren
on March 9, 2010
in Brooklyn, Growth, Milestones and Uncategorized
. 2 Comments

What does any normal parent do to celebrate their child’s second birthday?

Yes,  feed them sugar and give them a bunch of unnecessary sneakers and gifts!

We began the morning with singing, blowing out candles (she actually did it) and eating a lot of frosting:

Birthday morning cake Ooooh icing Make a wish Breakfast of champions Icing close up My first layer cake

The sugar rush continued at Families First, where neko shared the double layer (my first layer cake ever) chocolate fiesta with everyone and got some hugs kisses and stickers:

Saying cheeeeeese Ball players Giving kiss/ leaning into

Appropriately, we culminated the day with a walk iver to the favorite ice cream parlor, neko screaming the whole way she wanted pink gida (glida=ice cream)…please note the description of her favorite flavor:

Pink licking good Thru the circle Favorite flavor Looking out

She went to bed oblivious to the milestone she had reached that day.

But I passed out proud like any mama hen could be!

One year ago: Birthday Mush Post

Her + Me

Published
by
Keren
on February 16, 2010
in Brooklyn, Cuteness, Growth and Milestones
. 2 Comments

They say (who are these damn they anyway) that self awareness is a huge emotional developmental step in a child’s life, in essence, an understanding of themselves as separate from their mothers,a unique being with desires (tell me about it) and feelings.

Dudes!!!!

Not only does she know who is she is but introduced me to the woman sitting next to us today!

The woman politely asked neko what her name was, and before she cold shovel in any more cookies, she proudly announced ‘me noko’ and then pointed and said ‘dis ama’

She makes my heart swell…

Mouthfull Eating leftovers

Neko Lately

Published
by
Keren
on February 13, 2010
in Brooklyn, Cuteness, Growth and Uncategorized
. 1 Comment

She is talking up a storm.

Half of what she says is totally warbled and marbled (is that English?) but the other half is smart funny and cute.  A lot of neko’s observations are remarks on the obvious: she likes to point out that she has taken her socks off, a lot: ‘oh oh socks noko off’, she likes to rush over to the front gate and tell us about her day (like a summary report) which usually consists of ‘noko play yeah park yeah’ (it’s too cold for the park but apparently she goes there in her head) ‘rara bait’ (if she went to surali’s house) and ‘noko art cassie yeah’ (she made art in class with her teacher cassie).  Note the emphatic yeah.

She says stuff like ‘I want pesents’ (often she means she wants a reese’s pieces) and ‘I want Art’ (which means a huge mess will now ensue) or she sits and reads to herself out loud, pointing out ‘dis is’ or ‘big big’.  she screams for us to ‘wuk up’ and calls her aba ‘peta’ (to my delight but not his),  but the best is when she tells us that she is happy or funny: ‘Noko happy yeah’ or ‘Is funny’ (usually when she is doing something totally dangerous and illegal like climbing on her table and jumping) and laughs and giggles from deep in her belly, exposing her small square white teeth and her sparkly eyes.

My heart

Man, I love this kid.

One year ago: busy body