Odeliya, Our Tiny dancer

We've caught up with Netanel. Now it's Odeliya's turn. We try hard not to treat her like a middle child, even though she is one. She deserves to not be ignored.

Lately I've been trying to drill the English letters with her. SHe's got some of them down pat. For example, "O for Odeliya!"

Shabbat morning aA few weeks ago Odeliya ran into a wall at the corner (the convex kind where there a point). She gave herself a nice gash. We walked around Katzrin. Two nurses at the shul told us stitched were unnecessary, but maybe some glue would be a good idea. We were in touch with 3 doctors, none of which would treat her on Shabbat. The MDA Ambulance crew said we should take her to the hospital to get checked out. They did not really offer to take us. The non-religious paramedic told us that he learned in the Shulchan Aruch that if a girl sustains an injury like this we are permitted to break Shabbat to treat her for aesthetic reasons. This is not permitted for a boy.

A cat took up residence on our porch for a few weeks. She was tame enough and didn't really bother us (she seemed to have come from a home) In fact, she helped us by entertaining the kids. The only condition was that she was not allowed inside. The kids learned to close the screen door and help trap her and take her out when she did manage to get in. They named her "Friendy." One day a small dog was also on the porch and Odeliya was playing with them. They both tried to get inside. Odeliya very sweetly told them they were not allowed. She referred to them as "Friendush" and "Dogush" which is an Israeli term of endearment.

Odeliya continues to be a dancing enthusiast. SHe gets to dance in gan almost every day. During the morning circle time (mifgash) she gets to dance in the middle of the circle and she loves it.

And now another example of Odeliya's amazing imagination:

The other day, while eating breakfast Odeliya suddenly remarked, "Oh no! My baby in my belly is getting all dirty with cereal!" I had just finished davening, was wrapping up my t'fillin, and had several ways to approach this comment. "Don't worry. Isn't your baby eating the cereal?" I asked. "Right," she answered, "My baby is eating it in her bowl." So I acknowledged that Odeliya has a baby in her belly. I didn't realize it already knew how to eat from a bowl.

Recentl my little girl had an actual telephone conversation with my mother. I mena, they actually spoke for a while. When did she get big enough for that?

And yet...

She is still afraid of monsters. Bed time needs to be done with the lights on. When Odeliya wakes up inthe middle of the night she will not let me calm her down and leave. Entire evenings of productivity have been killed by these damned monsters. Odeliya even knows that there are no monsters, and that even if there were they wouldn't be able to hurt her. Hopefully soon she will sleep through the night every night.

Which brings us to toilet training. It's been a long process. Lately we've made a lot of progress and I will not go into details for fear of jinxing it. Really I don't want to embarrass her when she grows up and reads this. Really really I am lazy and wat to end this post.

Next time, Yitzchak, our big little shovav.

Trading Spaces Has Nothing on the Golan Heights Winery

Tuesday and Wednesday of this week were a גיבוש or bonding for the winery. The first day was fun/thought-provoking. Wednesday was filled with special projects. The majority of the employees and managers, along with the Galil Mountain winery, went to an absorption center in Safed. Tzfat has 3 of them and this one is for new immigrants from Ethiopia. They come from desert and openess and spend up to 2 years here. It is a building surrounded by other buildings. THey need to learn a new language and a new culture, starting from indoor plumbing and electricity.

The plan was to convert the empty lot in front of the building into a mini-park. Over the course of 1 day (with a lot of advance prep and a little advance work) we accomplished our mission. We built two traditional huts, some sitting areas, picnic benches, a tabun (fire pit for making bread) and planted a garden. The thought was to give them some greenery and help make their new, urban surroundings a little more familiar.

Our CEO remarked that towards the end a little girl came home from school and asked if all of this (over 100 people working, lots of noise, lots mess). When Anat answered yes the girl's answer was a simple, "תודה רבה".

It was a meaningful way to spend the day. We made a difference that will hopefully ease their transition and inspire them to get involved with the park and maintain it.

Random Thought

I have wondered if hotels in Israel have a Tanach in every room, similar to the Gideon Bible in hotel rooms in the U.S. Ayelet pointed out that Jews, unlike the Gideons, don't proselytize or evangelize.

So maybe hotel rooms here in Israel have a Tanya or Breslov publications instead...

Catching Up With Netanel

With the end of the grape harvest I've started spending more time with Netanel. Not enough, but I'm trying. Now that our schedule's are more regular I am trying to give him more attention. We still need to go bike riding. He needs to learn how to ride without training wheels.

We went to the PTA meeting for Netanel's school. Now we have a good sense of what he does. First of all, last week I brought him to the stop for his bus ride to school. He chose the earlier bus. It's closer to home and sometimes has Dudu as the driver. Dudu puts on movies for the ride. Anyway, seeing him climb onto the bus all by himself and sit down nicely is very strange. He's only 6. When did he get big enough to do that?

Netanel is not in the usual school in Katzrin. We put him into a brand new school that is much more open. We feel that it is better given his inability to sit for long periods. The children learned all the letter in 2 ways: movement - they can make the letters with their bodies (YMCA style) and drawing - they copy their teachers drawing. Here they draw a picture and then find the letter inside. Of course it is all thematically related.

When he was younger Netanel's drawings were mostly scribbles (קשקושים). But hey had meaning. He could explain what was happening in the story, and the same scribbles meant the same thing each time we examined that picture. Ayelet was recently recounting this to someone while Netanel was drawing. "Mommy," he said, "I never did kishkushim." He always knew what he was drawing. Now he just has the motor skills to draw it.

Also, at home Netanel makes a lot of paper airplanes. They have gotten more complicated, involving scissors. He also was cutting a cardboard sword. He was cutting freehand and did a great job. When one sword was lopsided he immediately changed it to a candle for Chanuka.

In seeing Netanel's many many drawings and cuttings I am reminded of his nursery teacher. She was very worried about him. Netanel was clearly very smart and very ADHD. In addition, he showed signs sensory processing difficulties. At the teacher's insistence we had him evaluated. The results confirmed her suspicions. Three years later he is doing just fine. His scribbles are pictures and he can cut out shapes without following a line. If only Morah Lisa could see him now.

For more recent tidbits about Netanel's amazing personality see Ayelet's blog here: http://milkandhoneymomma.blogspot.com/. Scroll a bit.