May 2009: 14 Months

Spring has finally sprung here in the great Northwest (at least on most days), and life is a lot busier now that Avi is down to one long mid-day nap. Our mornings and late afternoons are now open for adventure, and we are taking advantage of all that the Seattle area has to offer for families. We take Avi to our local playground next to the Richmond Beach Library, with unbelievable views of mountains and the Puget Sound, we are enrolled in two classes--one called the Fun Factory in Edmonds, where Avi gets to play, sing songs, and do art projects with 15 other kids his age, and also a Hebrew Immersion Playgroup at a shul in Queen Anne--we've gone to Funtasia, an indoor amusement park, and the Children's Museum in Everett, as well as the Woodland Park Zoo and the local beach, which we can walk to from our house. We plan to have lots of fun this summer going to beaches, taking ferry rides, and enjoying the gorgeous views.

As a 14 month old, Avi continues to astound us with his rapidly expanding vocabulary. We have stopped keeping track of his words, because every day he adds three or four new words or phrases, and he basically repeats everything we say. His first sentences include "Bye, Bye, see ya soon!", "Come on!" and "Get down!", which he says to the cat at every opportunity. He also loves to play with Ema's "loofa", which he totes around the house, and he thinks it's hysterical to hide under blankets and in the pillows we used to create a little "fort" for him between our sofas. It's just amazing to see him absorb the world like a little sponge. Yesterday he started filling in the blanks when I read him Goodnight moon, saying "mush" and "hush" (in a whisper, no less), at just the right time in the story. He's a genius. Here are some pictures from the last few weeks.

At the playground, with stunning views.

One day, Avi was so happy to see Abba coming home from work that he climbed inside the window to get to him. Abba let him steer the car in the driveway for about 30 seconds, till Ema snatched him away.

Floating in the pool of balls at Funtasia.

Driving the tractor at the Children's Museum

Playing "waiter", also at the Children's Museum in Everett.

April on the East Coast

We spent most of April "Back East," as they say out here on the West Coast. Avi's second Pesach was a fun-filled gathering of grandparents, great grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. He and cousin Daniel got to spend lots of time eating matzah crackers together and playing under the tables during seder, and Avi enjoyed all the attention from his adoring fans. Next year in Wayne (or Jerusalem, which wouldn't be a bad place to spend the holiday either!). Here are some highlights of our time in NJ and PA.

Hip Hop Avi

The video speaks for itself. Enjoy!

He Walks!

After many months of not-so-patiently waiting, Avi finally took his first real steps alone last night. He's done it again a few times today, too, so we think he's finally on his way to walking. Avi turned 13 months today, so it's about time. We're sure that in a few weeks, he'll be zooming around the house!

He Speaks!

Avi's been saying "Hi" since he was just a few months old, seemingly on purpose, and he said "kitty" (his first "official" word) at 10 months. Now, at 12 months, Avi adds new words to his vocabulary every day. When we went for our 12 month appointment (fyi, Avi weighed 22 lb, 15 oz--50th percentile, and was 31.5 inches tall--90th percentile!), the doctor asked how many words he had, and I realized I didn't know, so I began to keep a list.

Avi's list of words: Hi, Kitty, Woof Woof, car, ball, go, teeth, nose, ear, eye, cracker, juice, bottle, spoon, bowl, no!, don't!, Bye Bye, mine, monkey (he also makes the "ooo ooo ooo" sound that goes with monkey!), Mooo (for cows), baaa (for sheep), nice, choo choo (train), book, light, bean, pea, night night, shoe, sock, belt (he loves Abba's belts), balloon, silly, challah and giggle giggle (by which we think he means "tickle tickle"). He's not as into names. He says "da-ah" for Daya, but only this week has he started to say "Abba" clearly enough that we know he means it, and he's started to say "Ma" in such a way that I HOPE it means Ema....One day I'm sure he'll say it, right?

He's also started saying "Oh Boy!" when he's really excited about something, and now that he is finally into reading, he has memorized cues for different pages of his favorite books, including animal sounds. When he wants to read Dear Zoo, he says "too tall!" because of the page where the zoo sends a giraffe, and the line reads "He was too tall. I sent him back." When we get to the end of a page of Five Silly Monkeys, he wags his finger and says "no mo mon", which means "No more monkeys jumping on the bed!" Speaking of books, Avi loves to read The Very Hungry Caterpillar in Hebrew and says "toot" (strawberry) and "parpar" (butterfly), which is pretty impressive. He loves Tootim so much, in fact, that all fruit is now called "toot."

And there you have it. It's absolutely amazing to see him develop language skills. We keep trying to catch it on video, but no such luck yet. Soon enough, we'll post a video here for you of Avi reading a book to us!

Avi's First Real Purim

Last Purim, Avi was just a few weeks old, so none of us was up for dressing up and going out for Purim. This year, our little Monkey went to the Purim carnival at the JCC and the megillah reading at Kavana dressed as Curious George. He ate his first hamentaschen (apricot) and LOVED it, and had tons of fun lookng at all the other kids' costumes. Chag Purim Sameach!

Happy Birthday, Avi!

Our little baby is a whole year old! On Feb 27, 2009, Avi turned one. It's hard to believe how much time has passed, and how much he has changed from the tiny (ok, not so tiny) newborn we brought home from the hospital to the energetic, opinionated, adorable little boy we now know. The next year will be just as amazing, we're sure. Here are some photos of our little guy's big day, including the banana chocolate chip cake shaped like a turtle that his Nana Cheryl made for him!