on plows, silence things that fall and a sleeping baby

9 month report

 

Hard to believe how time goes by, it is time for Tal's 9 month report.

 

What he can do now?

Walking... well not really, but today he took his first and second steps. He steps in place kind of, but he is trying to make a real step. In the last week he stood up for the first time. He keeps coming up and down, falling on his butt or facing forward, but trying again, very cute and he is easily encouraged by happy faces, so he gets lots of smiles.

 

His voice keeps changing, the latest thing is shrieking. When dis-satisfied (left alone) in baby chair, he shrieks very loud!!!! He is the quiet one, but these screams are painful to the ear. Pick him up and he relaxes right away.

 

He stands up quickly in the baby sit and you must watch him, or risk falling on the floor...

 

He goes the 1st step down correctly, after peering over the edge, but then he changes and tries to go face first, scary. One time I held his hand and he tipped forward and did a somersault (in the middle of wonter!)  , I don't really know how he did that and didn't break a shoulder... lucky flexible bones.

 

his favorite game is whatever Mattan plays... he is a follower, he does not give u, even when pushed away from everything or being knocked down (happens a lot)- he likes the train table since he can use it to stand and walk around it. He samples everything in his grasp. He loves to give hi five, though when I hold him he hi five's with both hands and whacks me in the face.

He drools...

 

He has 4 teeth- 2 up and two and the bottom, with 2 more coming out from the bottom very soon

 

He likes to eat puffs, apples, cucumber, and squashed mix of fruits.

 

He likes chicken soups, but does not like chicken

 

He tries to eat by hands- a good transition.

 

He holds the bottle by himself for a while now (great help)

 

He wakes up before 6:30... Last week every day at 5:15...  But he sleeps through the night - so it's a decent trade.

 

He disliked diaper change, twists and turns and can get poop on his ankles.

 

He is a fast crawler... look for a second and he reaches stairs, electric or other baby risking devices.

 

His very recent activity is doors and drawers opening, but he sometimes traps his fingers in them, does not cry, complains a bit and does it again.

 

For some reason he likes to bang his head backwards against hard surfaces, not sure how to stop it, we need to or he really will be backwards.

 

 

Tal seems to be a learning very fast, more updates as he makes his first...whatever.

 

 

 A few weekends ago, Alla was working and I took Mattanchook to the zoo. In the morning he surprised me with a little underpants gift. An hour later at the zoo seemed to be a problem free event. While we are walking by the duck lake, Mattan begins to lean his head on me and jump up and down. Even the ducks were wondering what was going on, then the evidence became clear. 

I rushed him to the toilets. Removed his pants, and carefully remove his underpants. I was so careful that I didn't hear a certain something fall to the floor and boy did I step into it!  The next 30 minutes were spent, de-pooping mu shoes, cleaning Mattan, cleaning the floor and trying to occupy a curious boy in a bath room. when we got out, my shoes were still not fully clean, as cleaning ability with toilette paper and a faucet you have to wave at to turn on is insufficient. A little mud and a bit of grass help prevent the spread of brown stuff on the zoo grounds.

It was a cold day and most animals were inside, we didn't see much, he fell asleep on the way home and I thought my troubles were done. Two more surprises later in the day made it a difficult one. With Tal getting attention, Mattan is regressing a bit, making sure all poop goes where it should is a daily task.

 

the prior weekend we went east heading for Holiday valley, Alla wants to ski for a few years now, it was snowing badly and it got worse and worse, I was driving at 20Mph for a couple of hours on the high way, several cars were already on the side of the roads and even a couple of trucks were stuck on the side. It was really scary to be driving. We didn't reach holiday valley. We decided to stop in Erie for the night. That exit happens to have a water park... instead of record breaking cold and 0 visibility, we were splashing on decent slides, wave pools a lazy rivers for half a day.

First we went to the black hole, a ride which is fully closed and dark, Mattan got scared (this is the yellow slide) but liked the open red slides and kept repeating that the yellow is bad and the red is good.

They have a device called aqua tumbler. you go in to this orb (like Zorbing) and it turns fast and you run in it , then fall right away , try to stand and have to bounce around and around like a sock feels in the laundry. The link shows you what this is .https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPw-JiQLsYI

This ride had special permission form- it warned against joint damage, back pains, heart attack and death!! This is a water park... so I had my concerns. Dying is one thing, but spraining my ankle is worse. At the end of several hilarious tumbling minutes, in which I lay more than I stood, I bounced myself as many times as possible and managed to punch me in the face, I was scratched, but felt much revived. After drying up and swallowing a UN enjoyable burger we went back on the road, with no more snow at this point but still bitter cold and stopped next to peak 'n pick - a smaller ski resort. We rested in the hotel and in the evening went to the resort itself. We rented gear for Mattan. And he had his first ski experience, 4 minutes or so later he was back in the lodge... Alla hit the slopes and I gave him some hot food and a change of underpants....

 

The next day Alla skied again and I took Mattan for a stroll in the resort, it was a bit less cold but still frost bitten Alla left the mountain in under an hour. We stop by the blue heron in for ...another burger... and finally drove home.

 

Meanwhile... Tal was baby set by Camilla.

Back a step... it was a light snow year, till this weekend. and we didn't have a "Mr. Plow" person/ while driving blind in the snow, we found a snow guy, but didn't give him the address... snow storm came... and people had problems leaving our drive way. Finally the next day we got hold of snow guy, gave him the address, he came, plowed around Camila's car. She saw it and hurried out to move the car (to plow under it) and got locked out... in record cold temperature, while Tal was inside...

 

Lucky for neighbors.  After nervously finding no open doors. She went next door and called the fire department.

Now we have a broken door and Tal was napping the whole time...

 

That is it for now with our poppy adventures 

 

Oh, with this non ski ski, Mattan reached his 4th state (OH, PA, FL and now New York... but who's counting

 

Cheers from pooland.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

on tales from the CRAPt

Yesterday was an interesting day. got the daily email from Mattan's day care which said that he went Potty.... a great milestone for any parent.  that is the favorite story my dad tell ms on how i did it all by myself- but i don't know at what age, hoping before 10). so this particular milestone is important to me as well. 

I went to the J and ran a mile. 2 years ago this was easy, but in my current shape it was not, took me a while to return to a mile, feeling refreshed, went to pick up Mattan. his teachers told me that he pooped twice- once they saw him trying and urged/hoisted him to the loo. the 2nd time, he asked by himself....oh the joy.

headed home excepting an accident free evening- boy was i wrong. at first Tal as asleep, and i managed to force Mattan twice for number 1, he is much more resistant at home.

an hour later, I see Mattan in a particular pose, and i rush him to the toilette- to deliver the package to its final destination, i ask him where the poop is going, he knows where, he chooses to be a baby much longer at home.

.  

Tal had pink eye, and i woke him up to give him medication and have him crawl around , or he would wake up at night. i find the best way to give medication is as he wakes. since he is still groggy. 

after the drugging i gave him a bottle. he took just half or so.

few minutes later, Tall spews the milk, some of it- he used to spit a lot,  much less lately , but i dont know how much of the medication, if any did he absorb, since mile and medication are both white.

while i am busy cleaning up the couch, Mattan is left to his own devices. i found it is an accident risk when he is left alone and is quite. now he tells me that he went poo again. what , 4 times in one day!!! and also peed.  he didnt have a pee accident in a while now.

i take them both to the shower room, i place Tal on the floor behind Mattan's plastic stairs and examine the payload. i undress him and extract the goods to their watery grave, but there is more. i dont know how a chunky chunk got under his toe! i lift him up and try to wash it off, while mattan complains that he has poop on him and Tal is not docile and tries to clime the stairs.

this is where it gets tricky, since Tal begins to cough and spit again. i put mattan down with some poop on his legs still, and take Tal, he has snot mixed with milk coming out of his nose, and his spit has some brownish chunks coming out. this is where is begin to dread, was there another rolling piece of poop... if so, did Tal try to eat it???? OMG, i don't know, the poor baby coughs and spits for a minutes , and chunks come out, I do anything but taste to determine the source of these chunks and i am 83% sure it is not poop. but there is room for error, i clean some poop of the toilet stairs from Mattan's toe. wash his Pooish legs and then we all relax in a hopingly poop free tub.

i put Tal to sleep right after, he slept the night through and so did Mattan- this day finally ended.

I wish i had a Camera on Allla's face when she reads this...i may not come home tonight....safer that way.

Last week for Alla's birthday we had  a date night

we started with Fat cat's on the trendy Tremont area, my weight loss race just started so i ate a fish and watched Alla put down soup, bready thing, mash potatoes, fried chicken - so had no choice but to assist the chocolate desert. nice place, but limited selection for culinary deficient people such as myself. Alla wanted to go dancing, so we headed to the Vault. which is arguably the place to be in Cleveland. the issue is not where, but when. the place opens at  9, we arrived at 8:54 and were let in through the fancy door. the place does look like a vault- lots of heavy vault like doors, with real looking mechanism, and red lighting. we went to the bar and the bar lady happily announced that we were the first, cool people come first. we talked on the length to come from Solon to here, typical dance chat. we ordered drinks and the bar lady asked if we want to open a tab. No, we both answered in unison. cheap minds think alike. we toured the area, Alla taking in what elements can fit in our house. after a while we started dancing, we were the only ones on the floor.

people slowly arrived, people in jackets and dresses, no one dancing. only one guy joined us later by climbing on the go go dancer elevated area and started dancing by himself. the DJ finally arrived... few minutes later we reached our curfew and headed home

this may be my last blog.... I hope you enjoyed reading...

on fish fingers and other fish stories

"quick, come here, my hand is stuck in a fish."  that is the scream i hear when i rush upstairs to the tub where tal and Mattan watch alla scream in agony.

we have a big fish, plastic fish. you can put balls in its mouth and they come out the other end, not sure which genius came up with this idea. Mattan put a slightly bigger ball and the fish became constipated. Alla tried to help and not sure how, got her hand stuck in the fish's rear end.

she couldn't break loose since she was holding Tal in the other hand. mattan kept playing with otter marine toys. with my 2 childless hands  saved the fish and managed to extract the ball out as well. no fish were harmed in the writing of this blog and all fingers are back to working order.

i've been non stop sick for over two weeks. nothing special, just never ending mucus and coughing, i have not been to the gym in that time and re-gained a bit. which be good in a sick way. I enrolled in a "biggest loser" competition at the J and today i had my 1st weigh in, in the evening, after dinner. the starting point is much higher then i wanted it to be.. but now its 2 months of lose competition. i am climbing a volcano in three months, i need to lose it or i want make it up the hill. 

in the last 2 months i started training a bit, but i had serious problem running. ,my calf muscled would ache badly after almost no distance at all. but today since the competition began and i was there anyway for the weigh in, i started to jog and strangely felt no muscle aches. 10 laps is not much, not even a mile but more than i have done lately. as soon as i stopped i felt it. my cough become much stronger. my lungs are disobeying... but two months to go, need to change my shape from a tub to something more human like.

last weekend we began switching to underpants for Mattan. it is an interesting journey. mattan is better behaved at day care, much less at home. after a few accidental days (Reminder to self, replace carpet..), on mu shifts i take him to the potty every half hour, he resists but no luck, he goes. yesterday i had the first no #1 accident day. number 2 came once, of the joy of cleaning underwear...

I took him to the Cleveland aquarium, it drizzled a bit as we came in. first time there, i thought it was very nicely done. fish both big and small, some very big. you go under jelly fish , that was quite nice. some snakes, frogs, turtles. a pond of sting ray that you can actually touch as they swim along, so of course i had too, Mattan was scared a bit. i touched some star fish and some other freak fish.

the Aquarium is in an old building and they kept its shape, placing small aquariums in its halls. it's a nice touch. the halls were lit in color changing lamps , mattan saw a kid surprised as his hands changed colors under the lamps and it became a game , since the color change every few seconds and so did his hands . the shark pool is close to the end with lots of big sharks and there is a tunnel underneath and you can see them from below, as they swim close to the edge, you really get a good look at their teeth. Mattan loved the possibility of walking around, he passed the tunnel, then played with the lights and back again ten times at least including 3 potty breaks... no chances with that.

an hour plus later we left the aquarium and the blizzard hit. heavy snow, strong winds winds, no visibility , no gloves.. i knew this day would be cold, but i thought it would be later. we drove home sloy passing one truck that didn't take car on the bridge and hit the edge. , but for us no accidents (well accept the single poop)

cheers

mush ado about fish

We looked outside yesterday and No snow. the elders of Cleveland don't recall the color of the ground on this day. Even rarer still is both I and Alla home on a weekday. to celebrate this combination. we got another kid. Nathan came for the day. with the 2 hell raisers together, we need significant play room. Chabad house, god willing, has lots of slides and we had there. but one of the lights explodes and glass is all over (we are told about this as we arrive) and we settle for 2 play rooms full of toys. the kids get to run around non stop and i get a bit of reading of under Tuscan skies.

about 2 hours of running later, outside slides included, we take them home.

the running around continues and i sit to continue a puzzle i started the night before.

the night before- I decided to do a puzzle, it's been a while . i took out the Simpsons puzzle, opened it and D'oh. it had a little vial of glue inside that broke and pieces were stuck together, not in the form intended for puzzles. with the puzzle being salvageable, I had to select between African trees or a dragon. since we need some white to supplement the snow. i choose the white dragon puzzle. 

we find with the cousins together it is easier to handle them, since you only have to convince Nathan to do something and Mattan will join. Nathan is much more agreeable and now they both eat soup and watch something. time for bed and we are jealous. we place Nathan in bed, he asks for a blanket and places his head down... so easy. Mattan does everything but sleep. I take Tal to sleep and get 2 hours myself.  Mattan remains awake.

very difficult day, i get up and do a bit more puzzle. Nathan wakes later all smiles and the boys begin to fight over a fish. its a bath toy with  a string, you pull it and the fish eats the worm string.

Nathan takes it and Mattan, who never plays with this fish decides that he wants it now and the anguish begins, "my fish" and other such sentences. i try to divert the attention, they dont want the crab, but for a while a tiny dinosaur is a good replacement.

Alla thinks Inna will owe her one for the day and i laugh a bit, what can you owe for few hours of kid sitting , but i plan to send both Mattan and Tal there for a week in return. inna is now enjoying the cold snow of the Rockies and missing the unexpected lack of frozen-ness here.

Building of train tracks and magnet mall begins and soon followed with destruction of same structures. the sky, water are done and the clouds begin to form on my puzzle.

bath time, and again, Nathan just goes in, while Mattan still clamors about the fish. results of no nap time, but finally relaxes after a shower. the Fish is still a cause of aggravation and when it falls under the couch, i "send the fish home" for the night. the puzzled kids are still concerned but then Nathan grabs a Thomas trains and immediately Mattan attempt to claim the train as his own. a truck distracts him and now they both ride along.

Alla's phone buzzes and i catch a glimpse of a text message from Colorado. "a bath too, I owe you one". apparently this day off is worth more than i thought, perhaps we can get two weeks back...

its time to go home and now the kids are all hugs and kisses, waiting for the next day together, forgot all the toy fighting .

we sit for dinner, main course is potatoes and ...fish.

how was your X-mass? 

happy holidays

 

on chipotle and cooties

its approximately 2 hours after event and i am still much upset.

i was entering chipotle  when a call came it. My phone is usually on silent and now i think i will forever keep it silent. I should have kept playing words with friend but i answered.

the IRS. i left the store with no bowl of goodies and set in my car for over 20 minutes listening to my dark looming future as a tax evasion criminal. the caller identified themselves as the IRS, gave me a case number and a list of violations i committed, but not following the tax code, omitting important details and cheating uncle Sam an impacting the US economy. I was told that I would be soon arrested, spend 72 hours in jails, then the evidence against me will be presented.

he advised me to get a Tax lawyer which would cost 20-30 thousands. said the IRS has send me mail which i supposedly ignored on specific dates and sound very formal and official.

the call ended with me asking my self the following questions- should i go to Canada right now? or stay go to jail for 5-7 years and have all my assets frozen.

much terrified, i called the person i knew might know who would know a lawyer. lucky Inna knew of this scam attempt.

I looked it up on the IRS web site and this is a common scam. what seemed legit to me is that they didn't ask for money in any way or personal info, though i did confirm my address and the fact that I don't have any issues with my postal service.

i filed a complaint with the Treasury department, but i am one of ten of thousands of suckers.

i spoke before about the Sucker written on my forehead, but i didn't know it extended to my cell number.

after the IRS web site and returning to semi normal breathing, drove out and got my chipotle.

last Week Alla proudly told me that she got cooties at Mattan's day care. i was a bit surprised, Lice perhaps , but not cooties. thought only girls get cooties- said Bart Simpson. Alla had a chat with one of Mattan's teachers and the Cooties became Kudos! they say Mattan is doing very well

he tells them when he needs a diaper change, or even when he gets his clothes dirty. that surprised us since at home he does not. he is much more childish with us, he regressed a bit since Tal joined the fray, but it is good that outside he acts more mature. in 2 weeks we will have a Diaper off weekend, targeted at de-diapering him- expects reports of carpet poop and watch where you step.

when i pick up Mattan, Alla asks me what the teachers say and i say what they said, but i don't know who said it.  an ancient problem of mine was to match people and faces. Mattan has 3 teachers. two of them look alike to me and i dont recall which is which. both brunette, aprox same height, aprox same age, aprox same build. Alla doesn't understand why i can spot a cheetah lurking in the savanna , but cant see a water melon in the fridge or tell the teachers apart .

Alla is trying to help and told me that Lauren just got blond highlights. sure, as if i would notice something like that. Alla got highlights before our vacation and i noticed it a week later...

after my last visit i tried to pay attention and truly one of them, not alex... has highlights, maybe now i will try to differentiate - i also think now the Lauren hugs Mattan more when he lives, she has a crush on him. well it could be the other one....

Tal has started sitting, crawling, holding his bottle and generally being aware of everything around him so it is harder to put him to sleep, but he is developing very nicely

well time to finish this report , going home soon and hoping i will not be arrested

p.s if you see me in Canada this weekend, you know why.

p.s.2 anyone got a boat or a private plane?

on beached whales and ownership

I am sitting here on the porch, the sun begins to shine, Palm trees are dancing in the wind and Mattan is napping so i can't go to breakfast.

Yesterday morning we left home for a short Florida excursion. how difficult can it get, the two of us and the two of them and some luggage. Mattan decided that today is all about mom, any check point, I want mommy. when mommy goes to get an extra wrap for the baby sit, he is wailing, even though he can see here in the next counter, so every step is harder. he also runs and runs… we finish security and he just starts running, he doesn't see all the do not come here signs. we didn't even board and i need a shower. 

on the plane, he doesn't come down for a second. playing with the back trays , touching every thing that looks like a button while Tal is mostly quiet , i take hikes up and down the plane with him on my shoulder. its a direct flight, lucky and Mattan falls a sleep in the last 10 minutes… and now he is cranky

we get the luggage, head out and then remember about the car seats, go back.. 2 people, 1 suit case 4 back pack 2 car sits and 2 kids… one of them a runner. so we pay for the cart, we walk 50 meters and get on the car rental bus. there is another ay cart as we land. but i will not pay another 4$ for 50 meters, i carry the whole thing somehow and now my back aches, but hey, i saved 4$..

there is a line at the car rental, and cranky becomes crankier.

on the way there, Mattan is troubled by the rental car. it is not ours he says repeatedly… 

lots of traffic today as we head north from fort lauderdale. we stop at a grocery store to de-parch the kids with yogurt and chicken fingers for us and continue driving. it takes us 3 hours + to get there, in the last 30 minutes the loud one finally sleeps..

at least club med.

after check in, we head right to dinner. Rattan is thankfully napping in the stroller and Tal has plenty of family now to entertain him so i can check the food. lots of it looks much better then it taste, i sample stuff and leave it out. but the bread is great and the butter is fluid.  the ice cream is also good, the rest is not worth mentioning.

We play Taki later on and spend time with everyone. it rained so i didn't go to dodge-ball. how cool is dodge ball at night, i am expecting to enjoy today

on the agenda, volley ball, football, trapeze, fun games and muscle pain.. perhaps some paddle boarding as well.

mattan, wake up!!!!

Alla said that when i watch the kids they sleep more, not just me , but others as well.

i tried to figure out why for her they sleep less. i think i may have some hints

yesterday Alla cleaned Tal's ears while he slept

she went to the kids and "gently" nudges them to check on them

and other such activities, so i think i have moved this riddle. I , on the other hand, will close the door, change the other's diaper in another room and do everything not to wake a sleeping child, except now, in my mind i am willing him to wake up…

my mind is weak, i guess.

Tall begins to crawl, he bobs front and back, leans on his side and even does a few crawl steps here and there, so adorable. and also grabs every thing he sees for an oral inspection.

guess who woke up?,,, cont later

and later..

sometimes plan and execution differ slightly. started the morning with 5k. i have not done 5k in over a year, that felt as 8 k but the sun was out , nice birds, green grass ,palm trees lakes. I ran the whole way at super slow speed, then my foot was aching and i began limping, 2 extra strength tylenol later… we played water polo which was fun. i tried some paddle boarding , but exhaustion got the better of me and i couldn't do it. i took a double ride as alla paddles and i sit. movies of my so called heroics are on a Facebook near you. lunch followed  and later while napping i missed the trapeze, but an hour of beach volley ball was a good cure.

dinner is shortly but tomorrow will fulfill the plan.

next day

After breakfast i took a sailing lesson, followed by beach volley ball. they had a competition at the end, there are several rotating couples and you only get points on the one side, these are all beginners, some better some worse and points are won more by luck then skill, at one point i get coupled with a tall guy and we start making points and finally get to 5 and crowned kings of the beach... after lunch i miss ping pong again with kids duty, then miss the trapeze again... but i do play volley ball once more in the after noon. in the evening there is an award ceremony, multiple awards for all the sports academy. they read out the names for tennis and some name like mine is mentioned and i get prompted to go on stage and claim a medal i didn't earn- but hey, i didn't lose a single tennis match! then i get my medal for volley ball. i will place it next to my ping pong champ from some cruise to the hall of fame...

in between all the activities, the kids are at the various pools, and play ground activities. but this night, Mattan has passed his bed time and is on a cry fit- "this is not our house" for a long time. he is right, this isn't, he believes club med is owned by Moti. when we place him in bed, he falls a sleep right away.

next day, started with ... more beach volley ball training, i get a bit better now and spike a bit, later i go on the paddle board and this time succeed! its fun but my legs are tired from sand jumping.I skip ping pong once more but do manage the trapeze. this is the most graceless display of acrobatics you will ever see, i swing, but did not manage to do a loop or anything fancy. i leave the device with a hurting finger and a booboo that i see only later. its time for volley ball again, free play in the after noon. at one point i try a fancy move, the ball is far and i try to kick it back. my other legs doesn't like the move and i pull my groin muscle.. ouch.. lucky this is the last evening.. but i am now with a serious limp.

the last day is just breakfast say good by and drive back. we get there early and spend an hour in a kids fun park for Mattan to blow off some steam and reach home to a cold Cleveland..

photos will be sent in a couple of days

cheers

about its all Byoncee's fault

you may notice that i don't like losing. even if i now go an attend a golf match which i have never done, i will hate to lose. losing in many past games has not change my feeling on this.

I was invited to go to a casino special event- A trivia night.

I went with Genady and igor and as we entered the casino, Gena mentioned that you need ID if you win to collect and i checked and had no ID, people in front of us of ID screened, but i was not. should i be insulted? we passed the 1st check points, exited on the other end and got to the 2nd check point, once again no ID, but no check. 

we are sent to the dirty harry group. each group is a movie name. 

got a shrimp, skipped the Asparagus salmon and the chicken with mushrooms finger food and let the games begin.

10 questions and you can bet on the answers all in the categories of entertainments. there about 15 teams and for six questions- most gets get everything right. some of the questions i was clueless about , but there is enough knowledge in the group. questions like what Hitchcock ended with O, what song written by Ringo star was  sang by others in an 80's show.

things look good for the team and then question 7 comes to break the tie. in some 80's family sitcom what was the name of the daughter added later in the show. why is this even trivia?  . we didn't know and the questions got very hard all of  sudden. after the bonus round we were the 5th team not that far from first. now we had to gamble on points for the final questions- on female Grammy winners,, we figure that at least one team will get an answer so we must be the max and we do. which two female artists won 6 grammies in a single night. i am sure my friend google knows this unimportant questions but that was not allowed. Igor Knew Addle - - we debated  numerous vocalists and somehow Taylor swift was our false answer. this competition hd some nice prizes- had  we put Beyoncee's name , we would have finished 3rd and split 600$ , but ended with nothing. i continued to feel unlucky and donated 10$ to the slot machines.

lost again... but i gained valuable Grammy knowledge... and had a fun evening

 

p.s - see the Martian, interesting movie...