Tobin has been sneaking in some language skills over the past months. His ‘mama‘ and ‘dada’ come pretty consistently (and assigned to the right parent). He also says ‘ba…’ for Ball (ball), ‘nana’ for banana, and asks for another round of the game ‘Hoppe Hoppe Reiter’ by saying ‘hopa-hopa’ and hopping on my lap.
Tonight he unlocked the next power level though: a clear ‘nein!’ (no!), accompanied by shaking his head, ended dinner. I tried to capture it in the movie clip above, but the original statement was a lot more straightforward…
It looks like we have another German speaker in the house soon. Mika has requested for me to speak even more German to her too, so she can improve along with him…
On the second day of Rosh Hashana school break, we took Gaang, Mika, and Tobin to the NY Aquarium on Coney Island. The kids loved their close encounters with dangerous sea creatures and visited the sea lion feeding show.
Afterwards, Mika and Gaang raced up and down the boardwalk on their scooters and everybody enjoyed some surprisingly sunny moments at the beach (a first for Tobin!). We must’ve pushed it to the limit though, since rain started pouring down the moment we emerged from our home subway station.
Tobin had his first real haircut today … of course by Anna at ‘Boy Luv Girl‘, like the rest of our family. In fact, she’s been cutting our hair since before we were a family.
My own attempts at trimming Tobin’s hair got too dangerous: he would either try to look at, grab, or eat the sharp scissors. I tried everything to divert his attention – Cheerios, big goofy sister, TV … cut in his sleep … but nothing worked.
Surprisingly, at the salon he was so fascinated and entertained, he just sat there happily throughout the whole procedure. Didn’t move and didn’t even try his snack. Go figure!
Mika had an important job this weekend: she was one of the flower girls at Eugenie and John’s wedding!
Our whole family had looked forward to the trip and celebration. After a ridiculously delayed flight down to NC on Friday (we spent nearly 8 hours at EWR airport after our original flight had been cancelled due to a storm), the rest of the weekend went by just perfect: the lush setting in Euge’s parent’s house, the fragrant flower-and-basil bouquets decorating our dinner tables, the beautiful mix of family and friends, the weather cooperating (!), and of course … bride and groom finally taking this step. Congratulations again!!
In the last couple of days, temperatures have dipped noticably below 70°F. Today’s strong winds prompted me to cover Tobin’s head for the first time – at least near the waterfront. He was just moderately enthusiastic…
The forecast promises a few more days of summer after the current rain front has moved through. Let’s hope for the best!
(The pictures in this post go back in time, just to support the headline)
Mika and Gaang had a great after-school playdate. Initially, no babies were allowed … but after an hour they included Tobin, who appreciated the big-kid attention. The day ended with dinner at Eton. ‘Shaved ice season’ will be over soon, so we had to try the impressive “rainbow flavor” which we’ve seen in so many kids’ hands this summer. Afterwards, even the sky seemed to glow in Technicolor…
Tomoko and Sango stopped by today for a farewell baby playdate. Tobin was intrigued and couldn’t take his eyes off the little girl. So tiny and so … perfect. At one point, they were even touching hands – which is the first time ever we referred to Tobin as “big boy”. It is shocking how much he grew in the past 11 months! By the time Sango returns to NYC in two months, she will have doubled her birth weight too…
It’s been the longest time since Mika and Elsie had a real playdate, so the girls were looking forward to today quite a bit. Elsie and Violet opened their dressup bins … and the rest of the afternoon was spent in a land far, far away.
Kai celebrated his 4th Birthday today at the Prospect Park Carousel … a perfect spot to be on this be-autiful late summer day. Very special guest: Kai’s baby sister Sango, born just 11 days ago. Congratulations to the newly-minted big brother!
As all babies of his generation, Tobin has been obsessed with telephones. To keep the vital lines of the household operational (and the devices drool-free), i hooked him up with the handset of our front door intercom. He thinks it’s the real deal, since Mami and Daddy use it as well.
So far, he doesn’t have many words to put into his conversations though: it’s all gibberish with an occasional buh-buh (his version of bye-bye which he also uses to greet real people)
What to do with a baby who doesn’t want to sleep in his crib during daytime?
Sleep training? We save the big guns for bigger problems…
For the time being, Tobin is sleeping in our bed – walled in for his own safety. His two favorite stuffed animals (Bunny and Wolf) guard the weakest point of the fortress. They keep him occupied just long enough after waking up that i can run over to whisk him off the bed…
What is it with babies sleeping in froggy pose though? Mika still does it some times. If grown-ups were to do it only one night, it would render our legs useless!
After a grueling 2 days and 3 nights of high fever and vomiting, Mika emerged this morning fresh faced and fever-free. Of course, she stayed home for the day to fully recover from her ordeal.
Tobin was excited to have his sister back. He didn’t understand why he wasn’t allowed near her in the past days and why she wouldn’t even look at him when he hollered at her from his playpen. Today they made up for lost time and played all over the house … and in their ‘house’ (a.k.a. under the easel)
