Sleeping cuties

Naftali had a hard time falling asleep one night, so I let him cuddle on the couch with Yehuda Leib, who was also having a hard time settling down.  B"H my trick worked and they both fell asleep.  Aren't they yummy?

 Do you see the resemblance?  I do!

Splish, Splash (this was after the bath!)

I've got lots to update you on, but I just couldn't resist posting this picture, hot off the press....stay tuned for more!

We were up bright and early this morning to head out to our new Rokach cousin's bris, and we decided it would be a great idea to bathe the kids before dressing them, figuring that they'd be all dressed for Shabbos when we got home.

It WAS a great idea...except that we hadn't checked the weather forecast.  With unusually hot weather the past week, it would have never dawned on me that it might rain today...but that's exactly what happened.  As the bus pulled into Beitar on our return trip, it was pouring rain- and the looks of glee on my boy's faces should have given me a hint of what they had in mind.  I got off the bus and told them to make a mad dash towards the house- but they were enamored with a huge puddle next to the bus stop.  I just couldn't tear them away...they were having so much fun!

So now they're back in the bath, and hopefully I'll manage to dig up some dry clothes for them for Shabbos!

Mazal tov to everyone on the birth of Shmuel Eliyahu- may we see only nachas and bracha from him and all his family!

Mishenichnas Adar....

Like every year, the kids in גן* came home with costumes on ראש חודש.  Nissim was an adorable leopard (cheetah?) with a long tail in back, and Naftali was מלך האותיות  (they are almost finished learning the א-ב so his גננת decided to make it an educational experience as well).  Aren't they both adorable?

* Yes, once the girls start כתה א and the boys start מכינה, no more costumes.  So while we had 4 kids in Gan last year, this year we're down to only two!  Oy, איך נפלו גבורים!  Good thing we had twins so that we can get that number back up!  (just kidding!)

Gigantic Grapes

Yisrael is learning ספר במדבר and just finished learning about the מעשה המרגלים.  Yisrael came home all excited, telling me that his Rebbe wants to make a play with them, and that the boys can prepare mammoth sized "fruit" for the מרגלים.

We decided to prepare a bunch grapes- we took balloons, covered them with layers of paper mache (this project kept us busy for 3 afternoons!) and then, once they were covered well and dry, we painted them purple, tied them together, and made a really nice looking bunch of grapes!

All the kids had fun helping - there was more than enough work for everyone - and they are busy dreaming up ideas of other things we can make next time they have vacation...any nice ideas?

Cute Quote: What am I?

Naftali has really been picking up Hebrew in Cheder, and his siblings like to test him. They'll name a certain item in Hebrew and ask him where it is- either he'll point and say "פה" or "שמה", or if he doesn't know he'll say "לא (יו)דע". Its really cute to see.

But the cutest was this when they asked him if he's a "ילד" and he responded, "!אני לא ילד- אני גדול"

Naftali's Upsherin: Part Three- Party Time!

The next part of our three-part Upsherin celebration was a party with our cousins. Meir Mordechai, Leeby, Eliyahu Baruch, Chana, Miriam, Shifra Tziporah and Meir Simcha (and their Mommies!) joined us for a yummy milchig lunch and delicious chocolate cake, which was decorated in the shape of ציצית!

Then, we had a blast jumping and dancing with the fabulous new CD that Naftali got as a present from his Tante's.

We were so busy having a good time that we didn't have much time to take pictures until everyone was starting to head home!

 

Naftali's Upsherin: Part Two- Cheder

This morning, I brought Naftali to Cheder to celebrate with his class. The Rebbe came and said the א-ב with him, but Naftali was a bit shy. B"H Yisrael and Azriel Shraga were there to help him come around- he warmed up a bit and ended up really enjoying himself!  He ate an egg with פסוקים on it, licked the honey of the letters, handed out honey cake and pekelach to all his friends, and had a blast dancing with everyone!

 

Naftali's Upsherin: Part One- the haircut!

Tonight we gave Naftali his haircut- he was so excited, he couldn't wait- he kept saying, "Nu, haircut!" At one point he grabbed the haircutting machine (I gave the older boys a haircut too while we were at it!) and pretended to cut his hair- I guess he felt we were just taking too long and he'd have to take care of it himself!

Each of his siblings enjoyed taking a snip of his hair, and then Tatty and Mommy finished him off. I must say the finished product is ADORABLE! Now that Naftali's ponytail (or lack thereof!) is gone, you can actually see his precious little פנים without any hair blocking it!

Tatty sat down with Naftali and put Tzitzis on him for the first time, and then Naftali said and "tasted" the א-ב together with Tatty. He really loved licking the honey off the letters- lucky guy will get to do it again tomorrow in Cheder with the Rebbe!

Stay tuned for more pics tomorrow, IY"H, when Naftali will celebrate his "Chalakeh" with his friends in Cheder, and then with all his Minkus cousins!

Cute Quote: Upsherin Essentials

As I was dressing Naftali after the bath on erev Shabbos, I realized its one of the last times we'll be combing his hair, as his upsherin is fast approaching!  We started talking about his upcoming "Chalakah":

Mommy:  Naftali, soon you're going to have a Chalakah!  And then you'll have Peyos!  And...
Naftali: a Pekelah!
Mommy:  Yes, a Pekalah!  And Tzitzis!  And...
Naftali: Tztizis!  And Pekelah!
Mommy: Yes, a Pekalah! And a Yarmulka! And...
Naftali: Yarmulka!  And Pekelah!

Can you guess what he's most excited about?!

(We'll try to post some pictures here after his haircut - of him, not the pekelah...so stay tuned!)

Overcoming your fears

Naftali used to be petrified by my nieghbor's rabbits.  And I mean PETRIFIED.  They are a very lively pair, and they often jump out of the neighbor's yard and wander around, often finding their way into our front yard...and sometimes even walking into our house (the front door is usually wide open during the afternoon!)  As soon as Naftali would spot them, he would start screaming and crying "Babbit, Babbit" and come running to me for protection.  His fear got so bad that he'd start waking up during the night, apparently having nightmares about them...he'd wake up screaming "Babbit, Babbit" and could not be calmed down until either Bentzi or I let him come cuddle up in our room.

I decided that enough is enough- if he is so scared of them that he's having nightmares, I've got to help him overcome this fear.  So I started a "project" of sorts, to help him confront his fear.  I went with him to the neighbor's yard, and started petting the rabbits, holding them, etc.  The first day he was very scared, but was intrigued that Mommy wasn't scared of those awful hairy monsters.  The next day, he stood next to me (and them) and watched, until one of them got a little frisky and he got scared.  The next day, he actually touched them...well by now, not only is he not scared of them, but he begs me to help him climb into the neighbor's yard so that he can pet the rabbits!

My little grocery boy

Naftali has appointed himself as the official grocery-putter-awayer in our house.  While all his siblings like to rummage through the bags of groceries to see what goodies I got (and try to steal some if I'm not looking!), he likes to take everything out and put them where they belong- and he really does a good job!  He really knows where everything belongs...this week he put away ALL my groceries for me and the only 'mistake' he made was that he put the new sealed container of mayonaise into the fridge...he doesn't yet understand that it only has to be in the fridge once its opened!  Let's hope the others follow suit- I could use a floor-sweeper, or a dish-washer....

Bubbie, where are you?

The kids LOVE to Skype with Bubbie.  Bubbie usually reads them books, and its their chance to show her all their creations (they like to stick them RIGHT in front of the web-cam!)  Every time Naftali sees Bubbie on the screen, he gets so excited and starts to exclaim "Bubbie! Bubbie!"

This week, after Shabbos, when I turned the computer on, right away, Naftali ran up to it and starting saying excitedly, "Bubbie! Bubbie!"  He stood there for a while, looking at the screen, waiting for Bubbie to appear...

(And of course, as I am writing this post, who do you think came up to the computer looking for Bubbie?!)

An Ode to my Troublemakers

Oh me, oh my, what's a Mama to do,

With her dear little troublemakers numbering two?

If they're thirsty and they want a drink,

They'll plop themselves right into the kitchen sink.

Then they'll spill the soap all over the floor,

And promplty undress and run out the front door.

Oh me, oh my, what's a Mama to say,

To her little cuties who make trouble all day?

If they're hungry and lunch isn't quite ready,

They'll open up a package and they'll eat raw spaghetti.

Or perhaps from every apple, they'll each take a bite,

Or they'll peel every banana that's in their sight.

Oh me, oh my, what's a Mama to do?

It takes endless energy to watch over those two!

But of course by mealtime, they won't take a single bite,

Spilling water on their food is their greatest delight,

Or threading their macaroni onto ציצית strings;

I don't know how they dream up these things!

Oh me, oh my, what's a Mama to say-

To that pair that thinks that trouble is play?

To the backyard, cups of water they bring,

And then Azriel Shraga starts to sing,

"La La Li" is the tune that fills my heart with dread-

Sure enough, they've got "בוץ" from their toes to their head

.

Oh me, oh my, what's a Mama to do-

When will their antics ever be through?

To pull out all the wipes- yes each and every one,

Is an activity that is really tons of fun!

Or to take out a scissor and give your hair a snip,

Just watch out that Mommy doesn't pull out her whip.

Oh me, oh my, what's a Mama to say-

I'm totally beat by the end of the day!

I'm sure that one day, they'll outgrow this phase,

And maybe perhaps I'll look back at these days,

I'll think of their thousand watt smile and the glimmer in their eye,

So I guess that right now I'll just sit back and SIGH.

Afternoon in the park

Today we decided to take the kids for an afternoon outing with Savta.  So as soon as I got back from the hospital, we loaded everyone into the car and went off to Park Gilo in Yerushalayim.

Savta treated everyone to ice cream from the ice cream truck (I guess now the kids will know the real purpose of the truck...oh well!) and then we went to play on the monkey bars.

Naftali had a real blast on the monkey bars- apparently he is quite a dare-devil!  He kept wanting to hang from the bars without anyone holding him- and he's got a good grasp. Then, when he had had enough, he'd just let go and let himself fall, even though no one was holding onto him (don't worry, I was hovering closeby and quickly ran to catch him as he dropped!)

Here's a video of him hanging from the monkey bars (isn't he nuts?!)

(if you can't see the video, click here to download it)

Our favorite doll

The kids have decided that aside from being their younger (Yunger?) sibling, Naftali is also our newest doll. They love to push him around in the baby stroller, and to feed him, and to treat him...well, like a doll! Azriel Shraga even verbalized it one day - "Naftali is a בובה!"

Mr. On-the-ball

I was reading my sister Chavi's post about her darling little Chana and how she's become Miss Independant...and it sounded an awful lot like her cousin, Naftali!

B"H Naftali is one smart cookie! He's become a real independant thinker (just like the rest of the family!) - I keep saying that we better watch out- once he starts talking, B"H, he'll let us know exactly what's on his mind! (he does a pretty good job of doing that already, with his limited vocabulary and extensive body language!)

A few cute episodes recently:

• I gave him a date to eat (after checking it of course) but before eating it, he opened it up, and held it up to the light, acting as if he was checking it himself!


• Yesterday, I got him dressed and put his shoes on, and then went to my room. I was putting stockings on, and he quickly brought me my shoes. Then, we went downstairs, and he grabbed my purse and ran to the door- as if to say, "Nu, Mommy, we're all ready, let's go!"


• Whenever I'm baking and he sees me pouring out the batter into the pan, he starts to point and reach for the bowl to lick it out! You should have seen the look on his face when I gave him the bowl from some plain egg whites I had whipped up- the taste was not exactly what he had expected!


• He already wants to get dressed by himself- and he even wants to pick out clothes himself too! Today he went to Azriel Shraga's drawer, took out two shirts (okay, he doesn't quite understand that you can't wear a shirt on your legs) and proceeded to attempt to get dressed!

B"EH he (and all his siblings and cousins) should grow up to be independant, capable, motivated adults...but meanwhile, it would be nice if they'd just act their age!

Naftalis is bananas about bananas

Naftali is CRAZY about bananas- as soon as he spots one, he can't think about anything else until he eats one! (no self control whatsoever!) The lady in the makolet always laughs how my son begs for bananas, while the rest of the kids all throw tantrums that they want candies!

Right before Pesach, the makolet had a huge box of overripe bananas that they were giving out for free- so I brought a bunch home, figuring its always good to have something else to munch on, especially Pesach time! As soon as Naftali spotted them, he went 'bananas' - he peeled open quite a few, and then once I moved them out of his reach, he started pulling down the tablecloth so he could get more!

Looks like he's following in his big brother's footsteps!

He did it!

Yup- the moment we've all been waiting for- Naftali learned how to walk! He's been walking while holding on for months, but was too scared to let go. Plus, any time he DID try to let go, a sibling of his pushed him over! But B"H yesterday Naftali finally decided to try his hand (feet?) at walking- and he did a great job! He's been walking all over the house since then- he's been making pretty great strides (no pun intended) and is walking much better than a beginning walker usually does at this stage. I guess that's because he's been practicing for months holding on! He's been getting a lot of attention from his siblings because of it- every time he starts to walk, someone calls out, "Mommy, look- Naftali's walking!"

Here's a little clip of him this afternoon- Enjoy!

Yungers in Action: On the move!

Naftali has found a great (but noisy!) way to walk all over the house, without ever having to worry about falling! He LOVES it!

Yungers in Action: Naftali's balancing act!

Over Shabbos, Naftali finally discovered that he can stand without holding on- and he is VERY proud of himself. He crawls over to me, begs me to stand him up, and then calls everyone's attention to look at him and give him applause- he LOVES the attention! And as soon as he falls down, he crawls over to me and asks me to stand him up again!

Here's a few clips of him doing his 'balancing act'- in one, he even took a step (I don't think he meant to) - Enjoy!