March and April 2002

Judy's Musings

Most of these two months have been spent mentally and emotionally with our families in Israel, reading online news, calling and emailing our relatives and friends to make sure they are okay.  We hate the violence and fear for our families' and friends' safety, and we have been seriously concerned about (and disgusted by) the media bias towards Israel and the subsequent damage to the world's view of this tiny, battered country that we love so much.  We pray for a mutually agreeable resolution to the current intifada, one which will give way to a lasting peace.  

Israel is the most incredible place, and it's such a horrible tragedy for the people there to be involved in a conflict like this.  I (Judy) lived in Jerusalem for seven years during the 80s, and I absolutely loved it.  It was an incredible experience in an incredible place--I always think of it as sort of the microcosm of the earth, with mountains near deserts near beautiful green fields near beaches near orchards near historic landmarks, etc., and of course people from all over the world living and visiting there, bringing their own traditions and cultures and languages.  It was fun for me, as a young adult, to be living so far away from my parents, yet still feel at home, protected, among family.  I was there for a little bit of the '82 war in Lebanon, and katyusha rockets hit Ma'alot in the Western Galilee, where I was living. We had to stay in the bomb shelters for quite a while, and it was very scary and exciting (for this 18-year old).  Later, when I was attending university there, I lost a friend, a fellow student, to a terrorist attack, and several years later, a 13-year old pupil. The latter was the proverbial "straw" that brought me back to the States in 1990. 

This situation is completely different.  Random, numerous, deadly attacks, every time in a different, densely populated area--the Israeli equivalent of six World Trade Center attacks in the last 19 months.  I am daily grateful for the privilege of being able to go to the supermarket, or wherever, with my girls and not worry about being killed by someone blowing themselves up right next to us!  (Of course, since last September, even we in the States aren't quite as complacent as before.  We just need to close down nearby Indian Point nuclear facility, that's all!)  It gives a whole new meaning to "freedom," and all the freedoms in our lives that we take for granted.  This came up a lot for us while preparing for Passover this year, which we celebrated with a wonderful seder here at our house with a few friends and their children.

My niece Yael will hopefully be celebrating her bat mitzvah in May in Beit Shemesh, near Jerusalem. Her area of study for her bat mitzvah is on how deaf and hearing-impaired people (she is hard of hearing) observe the rituals of Orthodox Judaism.  Unfortunately we won't be going.  I never thought I would be scared to visit Israel, but now that I have two young children, I am definitely waiting for a while!  I know that my sister Deborah, Yael's mom, understands, and I hope Yael will, too.

I (this is still Judy writing) am still teaching a monthly Israeli folk dance class to the 3 and 4-year olds at Sophie's school, and have recently added an additional monthly "Tot Shabbat" class for the 2 year olds, which includes songs, games, crafts, dances, and stories about whatever holiday is closest.  The classes are going pretty well, and the participants, as well as my girls, seem to be enjoying themselves.  It's great to be able to work and have Sophie and Dalia with me.   

Sophie

Sophie's top front tooth had an abscess, and she had it removed April 17.  Noel told me that he fell and knocked out his two front teeth as a child, and I similarly knocked one of mine out and had to have a spacer, so Sophie is just carrying on the proud tradition.

Sophie is very outgoing, and her new "thing" is introductions.  In the grocery store, or wherever we happen to be, she'll say, "Hi, I'm Sophie, and this is Mommy and Dalia."  Then she'll carry on a conversation with the new acquaintance, if he or she is willing.  Sophie is pushing some limits, ignoring us more, playing her drama queen role.  Recently Noel and I were having a disagreement, and she started to cry and said, "Please stop, please stop talking, it's upsetting me!"  Then she went into her room and got a tiny plastic stop sign and brought it out to us, and said, "This means stop!"  She apparently recognizes a lot of written words:  just yesterday I asked her what a word was and she said, correctly, "zoo."  This is great--all we've been doing is reading to her for our enjoyment, not drilling her on words or formally teaching her to read anything.  She still recognizes all the letters accurately, whether written or fingerspelled to her.  She no longer spells her name to people.  We so enjoyed it when she did it, but now she's probably tired of it.

Sophie also loves to run, and it is upsetting when she runs away from us at the lake, on the road, or in parking lots and other public places.  Another new thing is going onto the dock at the lake and pretending to fish, sitting on the dock leaning over the water with a big stick.  So before each walk, we have a whole conversation about what is allowed and what is not. It doesn't seem to do any good, so far.  I went through a similar period when I was pregnant with Dalia and Sophie started this same thing, running away from me in dangerous places, and laughing at me when I scream "Sophie, stop!" and start to run after her.  I remember thinking, "how am I ever going to be a parent of two if I can't be effective with one?"  But Dalia is very easy to take care of, so far [read: not running yet], and I guess I'm just glad that they're not going to be two years old at the same time!!! I just started taking a weekly parenting class, according to the "How to Talk So Kids Will Listen..." philosophy, and the techniques really seem to work, even for two-year olds.   I'm glad we're getting practice in this method of communication while the girls are still very young.  Hopefully Sophie will grow out of the "running away" habit, or at least begin to understand the danger.

Sophie is still big into dancing to music:  Donna the Buffalo, Beatles, traditional Irish, Hungarian, Bulgarian--it really doesn't matter what.  We're glad she's had so much exposure to so many different kinds of music and dance. We recently got her a "Yogakids" video that she adores, and she loves to do yoga or exercise right next to me or Noel.  When we take her to any sort of music event, she just gets right in the circle or line and does her best to keep up.

 
Dalia plays with mommy & daddy's pretty new towels in our new (!) bathroom; Sophie plays dress-up with Emma Parks; Sophie "holding" Dalia; Dalia swinging; Sophie still loves sleeping next to Noel; Sophie swinging like a pro

Dalia's progress

Dalia turned 9 months old April 14 and has been crawling properly since mid-March or thereabouts.  Her well-baby visit around the same time had her weighing in at about 19 lbs, 7 oz, measuring 28 inches.  She also loves to pull up to standing, but hasn't yet begun to "cruise,"  and loves to "walk" while someone is holding her hands.  She still adores big sister Sophie, but now is starting to object when Sophie takes her toys away.  We're teaching Sophie to give her another toy before taking one away, but she doesn't usually remember on her own.  Dalia has two new teeth on the top, and they make her look so grown-up!  Teething makes her a little fussy and she chews on her fingers, our fingers, toys, etc., but is sleeping relatively well most nights, only occasionally waking up for a quick nurse, and then back to sleep.  She loves to laugh, and she has a new sort of inhaled laughing grunt that is very funny.  She also loves to clap.  Sometimes she claps in her sleep.  The best is when she decides to clap, bounce, and laugh simultaneously, like for example right now when she is sitting on my lap looking at pictures of herself on the computer.  She's still cheerful and chubby, and she still has that amazingly soft newborn skin that makes her so delicious to touch.  

Dalia, like Sophie, loves books.  Her favorites are Pat the Bunny (and doing all the activities), Goodnight Moon, and Baby Faces, and she likes to "read" them on her own, as well as having us read them to her.  She loves looking in the mirror.  When we ask her, "Where's the baby girl?" she looks right at herself, points to herself in the mirror, and chuckles with glee.  She waves to her reflection and to us.  She also understands quite a few words:  more, bird, nursing, book, ball, peek-a-boo, clap, wave, touch, mommy, daddy, Sophie.

We just started taking Music Together classes again. We also still attend semi-monthly ASL playgroups, and Judy just started Level 4 ASL at the New York School for the Deaf in White Plains (Fanwood).

 
Recently we all took a beautiful, short hike to the top of a hill overlooking the Hudson with two friends. It's about 20 minutes to the top.  Noel started out carrying Sophie in a backpack along with water, camera, etc. -- boy was that heavy!  Judy carried Dalia in a front carrier, but she is really also far too heavy for that by now.  Near the top, Sophie agreed to walk, so Noel took Dalia in the backpack. We took a break in sunny warmth at the top, then headed back down.  On the way down Sophie decided to run and Noel ran alongside her to make sure she stayed relatively safe. Boy, was she having a ball!  She was running full-out as fast as she could without falling down on some pretty steep sections. She actually fell four times before Noel forced her to walk the rest of the way. She decided she was a "marathon runner".

New pics of the house, as promised.  Below are the new bedroom, a view of the hall all the way to the glass door in the bedroom, our new bathroom vanity, our new, bare-looking office, and the exterior southwest corner, prior to landscaping and painting.  More pics to come in future months.