My Chassidishe Daughter

I guess living in a city where the majority of the population is Chassidishe, it's to be expected that your children start mimicking them!  Look at this original creation, made exclusively by Bruria!

What a smile!

Here's an adorable picture of Nissim- with a smile! - that Michal from Shalva managed to snap today!

(can you guess in which direction his Mommy was standing?)

Peekaboo!

I laid Nissim down in his stroller to take a nap, but when I took a look at him, I saw that he was busy peering out the back of the stroller, where someone had lifted up the fabric.  I guess there's too much excitement around here...who wants to sleep?!

Brachos Party in AS's Gan

After finishing a unit on Brachos, all the Mommy's were invited to gan for a wonderful Brachos party.  First there was a great balloon show, where they brought in a specialist who made all different types of foods out of balloons.  Then she taught each Mommy how to make a hat for her son.

After the balloons, we were treated to a beautiful buffet, organized according to Brachos, to which each mother contributed.

It was a wonderful morning, and Azriel Shraga really enjoyed having his Mommy come to visit in his Gan.

Beitar Bourbon

Bentzi finished off our bottle of "chicken juice" a couple of weeks ago (Zaidy, I guess that means its time for another visit so you can replenish our supply!)  Azriel Shraga must have really missed having a shot at the Shabbos Seuda, becasue this week he decided to concoct his own version of chicken juice- he took the pieces of chicken off of his plate, plopped them inside the bottle of water at the table, and then began to pour himself some of it.  He claimed it was really delicious, but the rest of us passed up his offer for a taste.  The bachurim at the table really got a kick out of the whole situation- and they didn't even know what "chicken juice" means in our house!

One thing is for sure...this version sure is a whole lot cheaper!  And if its really as tasty as Azriel Shraga claims, maybe we can make a business out of it!

Hmm...do you think it would sell?!

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....

A day in "Gan" Shalva

About a month ago, I enrolled Nissim in an early childhood development program at Shalva- an organization that has many programs and services for children with special needs.  This program was developed primarily for children with Down's Syndrome, but once a week they run it for children who were born premature or who had extended hospital stays and therefore have developmental delay.  The program offers a variety of different therapies to help the children develop and maximize their potential- physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, hydrotherapy, and massage therapy.

One of my favorite parts of the program is what they call the "white room". It is a special room that is completely white, with a cushiony floor (part of it is even a waterbed!) and there are different light stimuli in the room.  This type of room (invented in the 70's in Sweden) helps minimize distraction and therefore allows the "patient" to focus on the senses of vision and touch. 

In one corner of the room are two columns filled with water- there are lights shining in the water that change color, and bubbles which float upwards through the tube.  The therapist can turn on and off the lights and bubbles, and Nissim really watches them intently....he's even learned that when the bubbles dissappear, he should look at the bottom of the tube because that's where they start!

Nissim's FAVORITE part of the white room (and mine as well!) is the "spaghetti" - fiber optic strands that have a light shining through them (which changes colors).  He loves to grab the strands and watches them as he moves them around- and when he finds the pile where all the strands are, its very hard to distract him to do something else!

(the picture didn't come out NEARLY as good as the real thing..its hard to capture it!)

B"H Nissim has really started to develop nicely recently...and we hope that IY"H it should continue!