His mouth

Noah! Has lots! Of energy! And he feels things very very strongly. When he wants something, he really really wants it, and when he doesn't, he really really doesn't. Presently, he does not want to pee at his summer camp. He's just not used to it, he says. I started telling him yesterday that no, he is in fact now used to it. We'll see what is the report when I pick him up today.

He's at a camp called Abundant Summers and they meet at Lake Temescal. They're outside all day and they pick blackberries and go fishing and do art stuff outside. He started taking a nap every day, in their "nap tent."

Something else he's not used to: for a long time now (maybe a year or more) he's allowed to come into our bed in the morning when his nightlight turns off, and he sleeps more with us. The other day, Josh asked him to greet us with a word. Just "hi." He refused and Josh insisted, So he decided he's done with coming into our bed. It's kind of unfortunate, because I really liked it. But he refuses to say "hi" so that's the end of it. He says he's just not used to it.

The other night he called me into his room in the middle of the night because he had had a nightmare. He wanted me to stay with him for the rest of the night and I said no. I said I'd stay with him a little while and then I'd go back to my bed. He said, "Okay. Just stay with me until you leave. Promise."

He has a hard time with the "th" sound, in addition to r's and l's. He's been replacing the sound with all kinds of things.

thirteen = kwah teen
thirty = woody
think = quink
both = bofe or bose
thumb = fwum
thunder = chwunduh

He's also refusing to say "thank you," and it's only partly because he can't say the "th" sound. He's kind of against it on principle. Sometimes he agrees to say "thank ya" but it's really "tank ya" but his refusal to say "you" is just his latest noncompliancy.

We got a bunch of books and songs read by family members, and these have been what Noah falls asleep to every night. It's great. They're on the ipod and he'll tell us what he wants to start with each night. Last night it was Frog and Toad Together.

Did

Aviva has been using the past tense. If I ask her if she did something, like if she had snack yet, or did she give Noah his car back, she might say "Did." She's also saying "thanks," a lot, and sometimes "your welcome." And, "oopsy daisy."
milk = ilk
come here = um here
cat = hat
And, unfortunately, last week Noah had dinorina. Did. 

Swing girl

Bubble boy

Uh oh

Overheard multiple times this morning from Aviva's crib, "Uh oh, Dolly," followed by a bang. Poor Dolly.

Aviva's self

Aviva very much wants to do things "self." If I pick up something from the floor but she wants to do it, then I drop it again so she can do it. She likes to close the refrigerator, so sometimes I need to open it again so she can close it. Self! Self!

Also things are either "tiny" or "whole bunch" - this refers to milk or food or flowers or the car window or her door, to her closet (the closet she sleeps in). They can all be tiny or whole bunch. 

And if she doesn't want me to do something, she says "verysoon." It's one word. 

She likes to count (but not in order) and likes to boss people around and she talks a lot. The other day she pointed at something and said, "Mira!" At her home daycare they speak only Spanish so that's nice that she's understanding and speaking. 

If she wants to tell me about something in the past, she just says, "Did." It's kind of like how Noah used to say "Done!" He still does it actually, at meals mostly.Noah's doing a pretty good job of being nice to Aviva, but it's sometimes hard for him because she hits him and takes things from him. She's a bossy little lady.

Nana and Aviva at Indian Rock for Shabbat picnic

The Boy's Mouth

Noah is very articulate and talks a lot. He likes to approach strangers and explain where is his sister is on Tuesdays. But there was actually that one Tuesday that it was different. And he'll explain that also.  And if someone has a dog, we should ask if the dog is too fragile to pet or if it's okay to pet. Because we don't want to hurt it or break it. And he will talk to adults about these things. He doesn't really talk to other kids.

He also really wants to know WHY and WHAT IF. And what are spiders for, anyway? Why do mosquitoes bite, and how about if all the fish ate all the mosquitoes? What are hiccups? Why? What is lightning and is there going to be a storm tonight? Will there be a flood? Or an earthquake? Do you know for sure or you just think it? Can you promise? When there's a storm, afterwards will it go back into the sky? And what are storms for?

He still can't really say R's or L's, and it becomes a problem when he really wants to know why we don't use an awa wam (alarm). And will a deer eat us? If it comes close, will we shoot it with an wo woah (arrow).  

Fears are presently earthquakes, storms, and animals that might eat us. He doesn't want to be eaten by a deer. 

Talents are presently running backwards with his eyes closed and shaking his head and not even bumping into anything! All of these things go together.

Concerns are about people's clothes, and if they're the right kind. If they're the right kind, then the people are his friend right away. Sometimes the clothes are only kind of okay. He can't explain why, it just is. Sometimes my clothes are wrong and I'm not his friend. If his own clothes aren't right, he isn't his own friend but he still is his self. Somehow he got mixed up with a girl teenager's brain. Not sure where this came from. 

Hopefully we'll get a ticket soon from the police, because he wants to see it and maybe it will be a pretty ticket, he says. 

Josh told him about recycling and wasting paper and water, and Josh told him the the trees will thank us. He's been asking a lot about how the trees will thank us (actually how they'll quank us). Trees don't have mouths! How can that work?

Something else I might have already written about - running away. He's allowed to run away if he meets these conditions. Running away means running down the block when we're getting into or out of the car. So if he asks permission, stays in eye sight, and stops when we say, then he's allowed to run away. 

Noah was coughing and his throat was dirty, but he's better now. He went to a summer camp last week at Urban Adamah, and I"ll attach pictures.

Zucchini and lettuce from our garden

Noah wrote his name himself for his nametag