Cousins Brennan, Zinnia, and Anya

Visit from cousins Anya and Mika

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Cousin Mika at Hands-On STEAM lab

Anya!

Shabbat dinner

We took a trolley and a street car today in SF

Noah

Noah

• Noah is part of an after-school class where they make Lego robots. It’s really cool and he likes it. But last week he said he doesn’t want to go anymore. The reason why is that the class is on Thursdays, and that’s the day that the after-school program has apple juice and cheddar cheese popcorn for snack. And it’s not even watered-down apple juice, but it’s real 100% apple juice! He said he does not want to miss that, and it’s not fair and more important that he has that good snack than learn how to make things and learn things. 

• A little while ago, he told me this: 

About FUN- you have to think really hard, right afterwards, and ask yourself if it was really fun. Like was that kind of fun actually really fun? I know if can feel like it's fun, but it actually isn't! The only thing that really is fun is sweets. But really it's like a trick. Watching videos and playing are like a trick because I don't actually like them. But sweets I really do like. A party is like that too; other than the cake, it's not really fun.

• Astronomy - he's really really interested so it's not a good bedtime book topic. We (tried to) read a book the other night before bed about space. But it did not calm him; rather he got so excited. He wants to know if there are infinity stars, since the universe is expanding. and do dying stars make more stars? I have some research to do.

• We had berry cobbler and ice cream for dessert, and he made a deal with Josh that started as a joke. Noah LOVED the dessert. Josh asked if he wanted to trade his half-eaten plate of cobbler for some water. Noah thought he meant he could drink water after dinner and before bed, which we don't do because we're night-training. He agreed to it and was really excited that he could keep on drinking water. He asked for some when he was in bed, twice, and he thought it was so great.

• Aviva was so fussy the other night as we were putting her to sleep. It astounded me, and I said to Noah, “What's the story?!” He said, "I don't know how the story goes but I can tell you the title!"

• He likes reading books where the descriptions of places are really “really-istic.”

• He’s been really affectionate lately and gives me lots of hugs and kisses, often, and he told me he’s glad I borned him.

Aviva

• Aviva likes school and talks a lot about how they’re learning "doditch ball" and how to "jiggle". Jiggling is when you throw a ball from one hand to the other, and catch it, kind of like juggling but no, she says it’s jiggling. 

• They learn in school how it’s so important to check in with someone if they’re hurt. The way you check in is to ask, “I’m sorry you’re hurt. Are you okay? Is there anything I can do to make it better?” It’s so helpful to check in, and it’s okay if you hit someone back if you check in with them afterwards. Not sure if that’s Aviva-Logic or if that’s what commonly happens. I got to witness this the other day, when she hit a boy back but explained to me that it’s okay because she checked in with him. 

• She has a new doll, which she loves, and she named her Eska. I asked her how she thought of the name, and she said it came from her belly, or right here on the side. That’s how she thought of it. Her two stuffed cats are named Ada and Data, but she keeps forgetting which is which, so she asks Josh and he reminds her. Today she was washing Eska’s face (for a half hour, while I was cooking) and she kept telling Eska, “Eska, you’re as dirty as a whistle! No, you’re dirty like the street. But it's okay, Eska."

• Her hair is getting long and I like braiding it. She told me, though, that “I might should cut it” because it’s maybe too long. 

• She likes to pretend things and tell me what to say, and we have many conversations that go like this:

A: let’s pretend I’m a baby. And you say, ‘hi baby!’Me: Hi, baby!A: and now let’s pretend you’re just walking down the street, dooo too doo, and you see meMe: Doo too doo, oh look! A baby!A: and now let’s say you didn’t know where we areMe: I don’t know where we are!A: and now let’s say we’re really at home and you forgotMe: Oh! I forgot we’re really at home

This type of conversation happens daily. But last week while we were driving there was a special one:

A: Let’s pretend I’m a baby. And I just throwed up. And let’s pretend it was so much that it was all over. It was all over the car seat and even the outside of the car. And even on the people on the street. And let’s pretend it was even in their eyes and it won't wash away. It still won’t for a hundred hundred years.

Lovely, yes?

• The other day she pretended she had a store. She had a pretend store, and she told me: 

“Here’s the toy store. You can buy one thing. First you give me money and then I give you money, and then I’ll give you the item (she really used that word) and tell you to enjoy it, and here is a bag, and you should share it with your brother."

The things that were being sold were pretend money, a book, paper tickets, and some balls. I asked her why I give her money and she gives me money, and she said it’s because I didn’t have enough and that’s how it happens, and people give each other money. I realized later it’s because someone gives money and then gets change back.

• Aviva says "silly" endearingly, and calls everyone (especially her stuffies) silly. “You can’t wear your boots on your head, silly Eska.” “I just told you that, silly Mommy” “It’s my turn now, Noah silly!”

• At school, they use the word “snarly” to mean fussy or whiny or mean. Aviva says Snarly Face is what that drunk homeless man had. She definitely has times when she is snarly, though she’ll snap back at me if I mention it and she’ll say, “No!!!!!! I’m NOT snarly!!!” She says the opposite of snarly is open-hearted. 

• When you say "it doesn't matter," you put your hands up like this (like you’re hands are both palm up at your shoulders, like you’re saying “I don’t know”)

November/December

Notes and stories to follow.... (next post)

Hanukkah party at the JCC - Aviva's playdough menorah

(The thing on her head is supposedly a candle) (or something)

not exactly sure

W/Dorian, in Napa

"I'm sitting criss cross applesauce, spoons in the bowl!" (That's what they say at her school when you're sitting with legs crossed and hands in your lap, but she said her spoon is really in her bowl when I took her picture)

Bubbe and Aviva and Yertle 

We went to Redwood Regional Park to look for ladybugs...

...and we found them

Thank you, Abuelita for the umbrella

This was a poster we saw at the Rosie the Riveter Museum

Aviva, as penguin and artist

Red glittery mailbox and recent pictures and Monterey

With Noah’s therapist, Matt, the kids made a cardboard mailbox. They used a book that
Nina and Judah gave us called The Cardboard Box Book. They used different pieces of
cardboard and two different kinds of tape and elmer’s glue and a brad, and with Josh, also
a nut and bolt and a drill for those. It took two days. They’re not done painting it, but they
were sure that it should be a red glittery mailbox with a purple flag and a blue back. They’re
going to put letters in it in envelopes, and hopefully this will transition to writing real letters.
We’ve been talking about writing a “get well soon” card to Ruth Bader Ginsberg about her
broken ribs.

We’ve been meeting regularly with a child psychologist who specializes in Autism.
Dr. Lopez has been giving us assignments and help with dealing with frustration and anger.
We’ve been practicing something kind of funny. Aviva will pretend to hit Noah (or hit him very
lightly) and Noah will try to make a mean face and yell, “Hey! I don’t like that! Mommy, can
you help me?” And then we all do high-fives and celebrate with M&M’s. It’s awesome that the
kids can react this way, instead of hitting back or yelling and yelling and yelling. We’re practicing
and practicing, and we’re going add some details. Next we’re going to try and irritate each other
in different ways and still we’ll react in the same way. Mean face included.

After we did this on Monday, when Josh returned from work at dinner time, the kids were
excited to tell him about it. They said, “Guess what! We practiced hitting each other and
yelling, and making mean faces, and then Mommy gave us high-fives and M&M’s! She’s
so proud of us!” Josh said, “What????????”

Also, in the waiting office, I was filling out a questionnaire. The appointment is for Noah,
so the questionnaire was about him. After I asked him, Aviva wanted me to ask her questions.
Some questions were about whether he's felt anger or frustration or nervousness in the last
week. He answered me and I recorded it on the paper. Then Aviva said that she sometmes
feels sad, and I should text her teachers to tell them that, right now.

This is a collage Noah made recently

We went to Monterey for the weekend to get away from the smoky air. The aquarium is a lot of fun.

The letter J -- Aviva is recognizing letters everywhere

Halloween and Dia De Los Muertos

For Halloween, Noah was a policeman. He wanted to be a policeman because he
saw (in the costume store) a set of handcuffs, and he really wanted those. So to go
along with those, he chose a policeman uniform. Aviva wanted to be a turtle, and
also a frog, and then she wanted to hold a pallet with paint and a paintbrush, so
she was also a painter. She made a turtle shell, she was going to wear green like
a frog and she was going to hold the paint. All that happened was the turtle shell,
but she still said she was also a frog and painter as well as the turtle.

The next weekend was Dia De Los Muertos, and we went to Oakland for a festival.

It was fun to see ofrendas and costumed people with face paint, and we also made

sugar skulls. We took the bus and BART to get there.