Winter Wonderland

It snowed this evening. There was about 0.5" at 7 pm so we took Tani out to play in the snow. It had snowed a couple of weeks before. We actually got caught out on the road coming back from Harrisburg and were very lucky to get home safely only delayed by an hour as the roads were icy. After we got home that time we ate dinner and when out in the snow with Tani. We all walked over to the golf course which is adjacent to our apartment complex and enjoyed the snow. Tani wanted to be carried the rest of the way home. So tonight we decided to have Tani ride in the sled. We pulled him on the path over to the golf course. Tani had a blast, especially when we trotted in the snow pulling him a bit faster than when we just walk. He really enjoyed the ride and Melissa and I enjoyed the beautiful white snow and peaceful evening. I tried singing "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" but couldn't really remember the lyrics and Tani said "No song", which he sometimes says to us when he wants us to stop singing. We turned around at a little bridge which goes over a stream. Melissa noticed the sounds of the water so we stopped to listen. Tani wanted to keep going but Mommy Melissa wisely suggested we turn back. A few minutes later, Tani agreed as his cheeks were getting cold. On the return journey the sled tipped over and Tani turned on his side. He talked about it on the way back - "Tani fell", "sled hurt". Overall quite a fun outing.

Up the tower

A couple of weeks ago Tani had his first cell phone conversation. He likes to open his flip phone that Aunt Lenore gave him - it's a real phone but inactive. He would normally open it and say "Hi" or "Hi Grandma" or "Hi Grandpa" and then close it. But then after "Hi" he said "Up the tower!" and nodded a couple of times before saying "Bye" and closing the phone. "Up the tower" refers to when we were in DC at the Old Post Office Pavillion to see a free concert. Tani enjoyed the concert but noticed an indoor glass elevator and immediately wanted to go on it. Melissa took him up on the elevator which takes one to a tower where one can look out over DC. Apparently he wasn't so interested in the tower but he did ride the elevator at least 10 times with either Melissa or me. When we talked about the elevator that went to the tower at an Am Haskalah potluck, Tani became very excited and started sharing this story with a Mom who herself has two small children. She listened very attentively and acknowledged his fun experience. Then Tani wanted to share this story with everyone but when he does it comes out as "Up the tower!". He still talks about it.

Thanksgiving in DC

Grandma Susan and Grandpa Morris invited us and Mitch, Val, and Max to come to DC for Thanksgiving. Their apartment is small so we stayed in the Le'Enfant Plaza hotel with rooms adjacent to each other with doors that open so the boys could run back and forth. Tani and Max are very different. It's interesting the way they each play with a truck. Tani studies the truck - opens all the doors and anything that moves on the truck, takes the man in and out of the truck. Max puts the truck and the ground and pushes it down the hall. The cousins enjoyed each other and whoever woke up first looked forward to when the door to the hotel room would open so he could run in and visit. On Saturday night Grandma and Grandpa came over to the hotel to babysit. The boys were very excited - they were jumping and running around until they collided. After a moment of crying they were back up and no where near sleeping. Grandma Susan suggested we all leave and let her and Grandpa put them to bed. We agreed and headed out for dinner. Sure enough, when we checked in an hour later the boys were asleep in their cribs in each room. It was nice for Melissa, Val, and I to have some time to visit (Mitch was in Baltimore visiting a friend).

Tani goes to work

Yesterday I came home from work and put my work bag down. Melissa's bag with her computer was nearby and Tani picked it up and announced he was going to work. He really couldn't carry it because it was too heavy so Melissa gave him a smaller bag. He put his cell phone in the bag, got in his little tikes car (which is in the house for the winter), and "drove" off to work.

Talk this way

Tani's language is really improving. He now says 3-4 word sentences although often "Tani" is one of the words: "Tani ride in car", "Mommy drive car", "Tani cut pizza". He doesn't like it when we run the garbage disposal - he usually says "no noise" but today he said "no garbage can". He can also sit for a few minutes by himself while one of us goes out of view to get something - he understands we're coming back. Today Melissa told me that Tani sat and read a book for a while. There's a doggie book that he loves read and comment on. We went to the library today and the librarian showed us a school bus book which Tani likes a lot. He's also enjoying "Make Way for Duckling" although most of his commentary is about the cars. Also, within the last week or so when Tani is able to do a task that's a bit challenging he'll say "Tani did it!". His teachers at daycare have taught him to say "Walk away!" to the other children if one of them gets in his space instead of pushing them away. But he's said it to us a couple of times the other day when we asked him to do something he didn't want to do. He really says it with attitude too. He hasn't said it in the past couple of days - sometimes he goes through a period of a day or two when he has a favorite phrase.

I like it

Thought I would list a few of Tani's current phrases here. The top one is "I like it!" which he says for foods and activities he enjoys. He says this one the most. Today he said "no touch ears" when Mommy Malka was trying to examine a slight rash behind his ear. He can repeat many words right after he hears them and understands quite a bit.

Fun at April Hill Way

Tani and Mommy Neysa spent the day at Georgia, Marc, Emma and Colette's today. We both had a lot of fun. When we arrived, Emma was practicing piano and Tani went over to investigate. Tani pressed the high keys and then walked around the piano bench to press the low keys. He did this several times and Emma was very patient with him, pausing her practicing to let him scramble on to the bench to play some more. After a little while we all went down to the basement. Emma and Colette have a play kitchen identical to his - he thought this was great! He rode a rocking horse and examined a Barbie suitcase - mostly interested in pulling the handle up and down. But his favorite item was a "High School Musical" mat that played music when one stepped in the left corner of the mat. Lights signaled where to step on the mat to match the choreography of the dance that went with the music. But Tani just liked the music and did his own dance. We had to bring the mat upstairs to get him to go up for lunch. After lunch we all went outside. Colette had a device that would shoot a plastic ring about 25 ft or so in front of her. Tani liked this and would go retrieve the ring for her (well most of the time). He then became interested in Emma and Colette's scooters. Emma helped him ride hers up and down the driveway but he wanted more. So Mommy Neysa helped him stay balanced up and down the driveway again. But he still wanted more so Georgia guided him up and down the driveway several times riding the scooter with him - Tani would shout out "more go go!" Mommy Neysa had to run to keep up with them and Tani would exclaim "Mommy running!". Boy did he have fun! Then Georgia and Colette went to yoga and Marc came home from canvasing for Obama. Marc helped Tani play Emma's violin - move the bow across the strings and pluck a tune. Tani was very interested and enjoyed this activity. Tani and Mommy Neysa also romped around in their back yard. Tani chased the cat, played on the swing set, and tried to go into the stream behind their house. By the time we left Tani could say their names: Emma, 'Lette, George, and Marc". Overall a fun day but next time Mommy Neysa needs to take Tani home earlier for a nap.