Rafi & Sam's Blog

Thanks, Richard!

Had to share this gorgeous photo of Sam, taken by our friend Richard. Richard has been taking photography classes, and it shows!

4 Going on 14

This morning in the car, Sam grabbed for a water bottle that we brought into the car yesterday.

Rafi: No, Sam, don't drink that! The water went bad!
Mommy: Rafi, it's ok. Water doesn't go bad.
Rafi: Yes it does.
Mommy: Really, Rafi, milk goes bad, but you can leave water in the car overnight just fine. It won't go bad.
Rafi: YES, it DOES.
Mommy:  Rafi, trust me. Mommy knows these things. Mommy was a chemistry major. There is no organic material in water to spoil.
Rafi: Water goes bad, Mommy. I KNOW it does.
Mommy: Rafi, you're just going to have to trust Mommy on this one.
Rafi: (Pause) No, I'm going to trust myself instead.

Bath Time in the Nagorsky Household

So this is your typical bath time routine:

Sam says: quack quack,  quack quack, QUACK QUACK!!

I find the rubber duck and give it to Sam.

Sam says quack quack with a smile as if to say "Ah there is my duck"

Sam then puts the duck on the edge of the bath tub and then covers the duck with a wash cloth once or twice until...

Sam says: uh-oh quack quack, quack quack?,  DADDEEE, QUACK QUACK

I then retrieve the duck from the floor next to the tub and give it back to Sam.

Sam says quack quack with a smile as if to say "Ah there is my duck"

Sam then puts the duck on the edge of the bath tub and then covers the duck with a wash cloth once or twice until...

Sam says: uh-oh quack quack, quack quack?,  DADDEEE, QUACK QUACK

I then retrieve the duck from the floor next to the tub and give it back to Sam.

Sam says quack quack with a smile as if to say "Ah there is my duck"

Then this repeats itself about a dozen times in 15 minutes.  Last night, we did the same routine but with a cup which has the added benefit of completely soaking the bath mat.

In the meantime, Rafi is trying to throw water with a cup or a washcloth or a his hands to see if he can get the ceiling wet. 

-BRN

Random Parent Thought of the Day

When an infant grows into a toddler you get many useful skils: eating on their own, walking, talking and lots more. However, I suspect the most useful one for a day care child, is the ability to hold a piece of Kleenex up to their nose and ask them to blow and have actually blow their nose. - BRN

Get this Boy a Dictionary

Both Marsha and I have noticed that Rafi has taken to asking what words mean very often.  He has always asked about words but the questions seem to be more frequent and also he is now asking about more and more advanced words.  Last night, he asked what territory means. I can no longer just give a quick answer, I have to actually think about how to answer in way that he will understand.  We're hoping he'll learn to read soon so we can give him the dictionary to look the words up.  Somehow I don't think that is happening any time soon. - BRN

I Feel The Earth Move

Actual conversation from tonight while getting Rafi ready for bed

Rafi: Mommy, I can feel the earth turning.

Me: (pause) Really? How does it feel?

Rafi: It feels really, really good. 

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Rafi, as mentioned many times before, has several identical Huntley bears.  He also has a lot of stuffed animals. He's taken, lately, to laying his blankets out on the floor, and putting all the animals to bed. He told me tonight that he has to put all the Huntleys to bed first, because "they snore softly, so they have to go to sleep before everyone else." 

Apparently the Huntleys like to be sung to as they fall asleep. 

Then we said goodnight to all the other animals.

And to two little boys in stripey PJs. 

Sam and his Sleep

Long time readers will remember that we intentionally got a "lovie" for Rafi.  It is a beanie baby bear named Huntley.  We figured it was better to get him attached to something that was small and even if you had to pay an arm and leg you could get a replacement bear.  Worked like a charm.  He has 6 or 7 version of the same bear and sometimes he switches or sleeps with more than one.  Sam on the otherhand resisted all efforts to get him attached to a specific item.  We tried a similar beanie baby - chocolate the moose.  Alas, he has now decided that he can't fall asleep without a book.  He seems to hvae his favorite but there is no one book that he needs.  It is however odd to see him curled up with a board book for a pillow.  Sometimes, he needs more than one. 

Sam's sleep also seems to be getting interupted of late. From a child that we never really sleep trained, it is unusual.  His new routine is that he wants to go into the living room and put his head down on your shoulder - he is getting up an hour or two or three after he goes down and also early in the AM.  After 3 minutes or so in the living room, he says "Book" which means to take him back to his crib.  At some point, we need to get him to stay asleep in his crib.

- BRN

Our Meatatarian

Sam is a meatatarian.  He loves meat and will have nothing to do with fruits and vegetables.  When we were at my parents house for the 1st seder, Sam must have eaten a 1/4 pound of corned beef.  I started giving him a two pieces to try to tide him over until the seder.  He was having none of it.  I get getting "Mo MEET", "MO MEET".  Last night, I committed the cardinal sin of not having snacks in the car (because of Passover I cleaned all the snacks out).   Sam was very cranky and very hungry.  When I suggested that I could feed him a hot dog for dinner, he kept saying "HAAH DAW".  He kept repeating it when I got in the house, at one point basically pleading with me, "HAAH DAW".  He ate two hot dogs, some passover pasta, several pieces of watermelon (the only fruit he will eat) and a cup of applesauce. 

- BRN

And the school we're going to next year is...

...the JCC. Also known as, the day care Rafi is currently in. For all the craziness of applying the past few months, the logistics of the situation made a lot more sense this way. We learned a lot about the schools we applied to, some of which we'll be applying to again next year, and we learned a lot about ourselves and what we like in schools. We think this process will be somewhat easier (mentally) next year because of all we learned this year.

So that's why we haven't been posting a lot. Between school decisions and Passover, it's been a little nuts in our house.

A few short anecdotes:

Rafi wakes up early every day and climbs in bed with me. He's allowed to wake me up at 7am (although he sometimes can't wait that long). Last Week, he woke me up with this exchange:

"Mommy, I had a really good dream. I was a firefighter and so was Noah!"
"Really, did you put out a fire?"
"NO, the other firemen did. I drove the truck and turned on the water supply connection. That's what Grandpa does when he drives the truck."
"Where was the fire, Rafi?"
"It was in South West Carolina. Let's go watch This Old House."

That's my boy. 

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While we were madly cleaning for Passover and Rafi was "helping." He wants to use "the chemicals" (aka Windex) and LOVES to use a sponge and a bucket. Brian has gotten exceedingly good at working on something else while Rafi sponges down the front of the fridge for an hour. I have gotten exceedingly good at dodging large puddles of water on the kitchen floor.

We hosted second seder and one morning before seder, Rafi looked in the fridge and said "That's a lotta kugel!"

I'm a little nervous about how the boys will do on Passover food this year - these kids live on Mac and Cheese, bagels, and cereal... but so far so good. 

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Sam is still obsessed with books and doggies, and especially books about doggies. He takes a book into the car with him every day on the way to school, and gets very upset if I don't let him bring a book. So we're building up a collection of books in the car and he's very happy to see them when he gets into his seat. "Elmo! Doggie! Ah-mose! [animals] Lala![Moo, Baa, La La La]" Then he ends up dropping each one in turn durign the ride. "Book! Uh-oh! Book! Uh-oh!" Everything is an exclamation with this kid.

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Rafi in the car the other day: "Daddy, did you know that, in general, polar bears aren't very nice?"

I'll have to Keep Ordering My Own Food

When I was a child, my father never ordered food when we were at a restaurant.   It seemed silly to him to waste the money as my sister and I never finished our food and he'd eat what we didn't.  When I turned 13 or 14, this strategy stopped working. I hit puberty and I'd finish my food and my sisters before my father had a chance.

Alas, I will not have that chance as Sam shows little signs that he will leave a meal unfinished.  Last night, he ate a hot dog and a container of applesauce for dinner.  He had two pieces of chocolate for desert.  Then he said/signed/made clear by pushing on the table that he was done. You'd think he was done eating.  Alas, no! 

I got him down and he made a beeline for the pantry and started snacking.  He finished off some Chex Mix, ate a few bites of a previously unfinished granola bar, ate a hamentashim and whined when we I took him away from the pantry so I could get him in the bath.  Once the bath was over and I'd gotten him dressed, he went back to the pantry and had some puffs.  The boy can eat.

- BRN