Happy Purim

Dad was out of town most of this week, so it was just Hazel, Mom and me.

The day he left, Tuesday, we got lots of snow. Yes, we still live in Texas, and the inch or two on the ground was the most snow we've had in six years (so I've heard). As soon as Hazel went down for her morning nap, Peepa, Mom and I played in it on the deck. I loved sweeping it with a broom, sliding in it and feeling it in my hands. Peepa liked eating it. And Mom threw a snowball at me, which was hilarious. We couldn't stay out as long as we wanted to because since it's usually 75 degrees here, like it was two days before this happened, I don't have any gloves or mittens and my hands were turning red. Next time I will wear socks on my hands, but we thought of that too late for this time. By Wednesday it was in the 50s and sunny again, and all the snow melted. It felt magical while it lasted.

Although Hazel didn't get to play outside with us in the snow, she's been making her own fun. She is really pulling herself up to standing now, which means she can reach more of my toys. She especially likes pulling herself up at my train table so she can play with my legos and trains. I don't mind. I really laughed at her the first few times she did it and she is fun to play with.

I am doing really well sleeping in my big boy bed. Mom and Dad said it is going better than they expected. I am even napping better than I did in my crib and I am going to sleep pretty quickly at night too. Hazel is enjoying my old crib too, which we moved into her room. It actually has taken her a little longer to adapt to the new sleeping situation than it took me.

This week I have been testing out more new words, like "water" and "more beans" (thanks to Amy, Gigi, and Aunt Laurie, who gave us yummy Freebirds gift cards), and twice while Dad was gone, I said, "Dada home," which Mom was really excited about. I am also paying more attention to the teacher in my Gymboree class.

Tonight all of us went to a Purim celebration at our synagogue. I wore my lion costume from Halloween, and got lots of compliments. Everyone was very impressed with my fearsome lion roar. We ate hot dogs, danced to some fun songs, played with the water fountain, and ran up and down ramps. But my favorite part was playing in a bounce house. I had never been in one before, but when I saw other kids jumping around, I really wanted to try it - even enough to wait in line for it. Dad waited with me in line and tried to convince me to be patient. When it was finally my turn, I ran and jumped around for my entire allotted sixty seconds. When it was time to come out, I came without any fuss. Mom and Dad sure were proud.

Talking, Tantrums, and Transportation

So you may have noticed it has been a while since we posted a blog entry. That is because I am keeping us all EXHAUSTED and too tired to write.

The most exciting thing for me is I am talking a lot, all of a sudden. Just last week alone we counted 12 new words, just off the top of our heads. Some of the words are red, blue, green, purple, in, out, up, and more. Yesterday I learned "kiwi," which sounds like "wheeghee" to me, and today I learned "home." Mom and Dad are thrilled and I am having a lot of fun with all my new words. Not to mention my new favorite fruit (the kiwis).

Speaking of kiwis, I am kind of obsessed with them. I am really pretending a lot lately and I also really like spending time in the kitchen. I have been incorporating all these things into games like yelling "wheeghee! wheeghee!" while trying to pull out the cutting board, like Mom does when she is getting ready to make me a kiwi. I have also been sharing my fruit with my best friend, Duck, whose pants I have been changing a lot lately, using my own wipes and diapers.

At the same time, I am keeping Mom and Dad busy showing them what it means to be two. I have my own opinions and ideas and I am really starting to be vocal about them. For instance, I do not like my car seat or booster seat. EVER. While the car seat is evidently not optional, we have made some mealtime changes. For lunch and breakfast at least, I have been sitting at my own little table next to Hazel's highchair and Mom and Dad are teaching me to stay seated while I eat. That's a good lesson to learn anyway, they say.

(My speech therapist says all this newfound independence is a developmental milestone, by the way.)

Tonight I threw Mom and Dad for the biggest loop of all though, by jumping out of my crib. When Mom asked what hurt, I pointed to my noggin. So now we are on to our next major challenge -- my move to the big boy bed that has been in my room for about a year now. If any of you have any good advice about how to make this transition, please post it in the comments section of this blog. Seriously. We need your help.

Hazel's sunny little personality is emerging too. She is clapping a lot, is starting to wave, cracks herself up blowing raspberries, only crawls on her hands and knees now -- and she is FAST! -- and has started pulling up on things. She is really starting to enjoy reading books and playing musical instruments. At the end of last week she also went from crawling to sitting and a few times when Mom went in to get Hazel at the end of her nap, Hazel was sitting in her crib instead of lying on her belly, as usual. Hazel is much happier for all this and is a lot less fussy now. We think she must have been very frustrated before she was mobile.

We have had a few fun events in the past week or two. We celebrated Tu B'Shevat, the Jewish birthday of trees; Valentine's Day, with lots of fun presents from Grandma, Grandpa, Bubbe and Papa; and best of all, Daddy's birthday! For Dad's day, we challenged him with a scavenger hunt, which he had to do in order to find all his fun presents. After that, we went to Fuddruckers for burgers. I hear there was cake but that must have been after I went to bed.

For pictures of our latest adventures and smiles, click here.