The bears are back!

Dug out from the basement and re-suspended above the crib

And Eva is in love.

Playdates

In the past few weeks, there has been a step change in Noah's ability to play independantly. He's really getting good at it. And when he has a playdate, the two kids are often able to play together pretty well. This is great for me, as I actually get to chat with my friend instead of constantly intervening when someone doesn't share and someone else melts down.

At any rate, here are some examples. Noah listening to Caroline's heartbeat...

And here is Noah and Jesse doing god knows what, but it entertained them for several mintues

Eva and her friends pass the time by just chilling and looking good

Zoo!

It was supposed to be nice the other day, so we headed out to the zoo. However, "nice" meant 45 and windy, which it turns out is cold. You forget that 45 is cold when you are just digging out from winter. Turns out with wind, it is very cold. So we had a quick trip. At any rate, Noah got to drive a car...

And see a lion.

This was definitely Noah's favorite part - he kept saying "Lion!" "Roar!!" The lion roared several times as well, just slightly louder.

We headed back to the car after that, as did the lion. Noah was trying to wait patiently for a turn to drive, when the lion looked at the car and let out a bunch of loud roars, scaring away the current driver. Noah took the opportunity and snatched the wheel!

That's right wusses! No little lion is going to stand between me and my dreams of Jeep glory!

Also, he drove a tractor. Still cold.

I think Eva enjoyed her first trip to the zoo - she was the only member of the family appropriately dressed for the weather.

Chag Purim

So we went to our temple's purim party. Costumes were mandatory.

I think we look pretty good, overall. :) There was a costume parade with prizes for children and adults. Noah and Chad are displaying our prizes below...

I would like to say that those adult prizes are the best prizes I have ever gotten at temple.

Noah was super excited - he kept saying "I'm thing one two!" on the way there and randomly throughout the evening. He was surprisingly attentive during the actual event, and sat and sang during the little kids service.

(they're in the front)

He then proceeded to sit on Chad's lap for 20 minutes and watch the purim spiel. And on top of everything, Noah got to stay up late and eat a ton of cookies. How is this not a great holiday!?

As for Eva, she basically just looked around in astonishment the whole time. Perhaps not the beast introduction to our congregation for a person who has just learned to see.

Sing-along Eva

Eva loves loves loves singing. Ever since she could smile she would smile at us when we started to sing. Now she likes to try to sing along. I am teaching her the passover classics



Next we're working on the four questions. Watch out Madison, here we come!

She likes the secular tunes too.



This baby cracks me up. :)

Down by the station

Another musical performance by Noah. Not sure if you can tell in the video, but he is accompanying himself on the guitar (a rolled up placemat, don't ask, it was his idea).

Eva and Hanley

Eva and her friend Hanley had a nice playdate the other day. I present the pictures, narrated by Hanley.

Hello! You must be a new baby for me to play with!

Push up like this, it's way easier to see!

Is there something over there that is more interesting than moi?

Maybe you didn't realize I can also do this

Forget it. Let's chill on the boppy.

Peace. I'm outta here.

Spring?

It has finally been nice enough to spend a bit of time outside, and look what we found!

Signs of spring!

Noah is happy to be outside and work on his bike riding

And Eva is happy to be outside.

Or maybe it would be more accurate to say Eva is tolerant of being outside and Mommy is happy to have her there. By now the snow is almost totally gone, and this year I couldn't be happier about that. Noah, on the other hand, will find the only snow available to get some last minute-shoveling in.

I know it will snow again, we've lived here before. Just let me enjoy my delusion about spring for a short while...

Life of luxury

Mommy is jealous.

Eva speaks

This is from last weekend, and was impressive enough that Chad came in from the other room and asked "was that Eva!?"



She's already got a lot to say.

Major milestone

Today we finally managed to achieve what everyone told me was possible with two children but I didn't believe it. Today the children entertained each other for several minutes! What did I do with all my new free time? I got a glass of water. It was great.

In other news, apparently Noah is all of a sudden at that age where kids line everything up. So that's neat. He'll line up all of his cars and declare that they are all stuck in the ice. Or at a red light so they have to wait. Or whatever the heck is going on here:

And the need for the potty ends the scene, as usual.

Noah sings the classics

The other evening we were sitting at the kitchen table and noticed Noah singing in the next room



Of course, the camera ruined the moment as usual. But thanks to the front camera on the iphone4, we could let Noah see himself being recorded and he really performed.


(I managed to upload it to youtube and delete the file before rotating it. Sorry about that)



Did you have any idea he could sing both of those songs all the way through? Me neither. I am currently awaiting the call from the Micky Mouse Club to schedule his audition. On second thought, I'm not sure those kids turned out so well...

6 weeks

Eva turned 6 weeks old on Saturday... it is amazing how much she can do already. :)



She caught a nasty virus which resulted in a nasty cough, landing us in the ER on Saturday night. I am afraid she may have inherited mommy's lungs. She is recovering very nicely, and is such a good sport. This video is from the following afternoon, when she was still sick but on the mend. I think we are managing to raise kids who are good at being sick. I guess this is a good thing...