Cleaning Crew

When Ami started his crazy 55+ hour a week job, we (I) decided we were going to need some help around the house. Someone to help with the cleaning and maybe even a mother's helper type person to watch Eitan a couple hours a couple times a week. Because with Ami being gone from 6:30am to 5:30 (at least) pm and until noon on Fridays, and my being with Eitan all day and still working in the evenings, that's a lot on our to-do lists!

While I haven't done the research yet, partially because Nina's still around and helps a lot, partially because it's hard to find the right people and that also requires effort, it seems Eitan has stepped up his game and is taking on some cleaning responsibilities around here. It's about time. That kid's been making messes for the past year and nine months without lifting a finger!

One day, he was obsessed with paper towels. He insisted on carrying the package of rolls up the stairs (and his diapers- Amazon subscribe and save diaper delivery- you are MISSED!) and also would not part with them come nap time.

Another day he found the mop/broom thing, I think it's called a spounga here (it's basically a flat squeegee mop that you wrap a cloth around, pour soapy water all over the floor and mop it all out to your attached terrace/mirpeset (or at least that's what I do- probably all wrong)) and went to town imaginarily cleaning up the house. Nice effort bud. I usually do this mopping when he's sleeping- pouring boiling hot  soapy water all over the floor + curious toddler, probably not the best combination, but there have been a few times where Ami's been around and occupied him on a chair or couch while I got my mopping on. Either way, he found the mop stick and went to town. He did ask for water and I said no, by the way, so I guess he does understand how it's supposed to be done.



Cleaning Up...Kind of from mimi rozmaryn on Vimeo.

What a nice boy wants to help 'clean up house' while his mommy sits in her pajamas on the couch! Babysteps, babysteps and he'll be mopping for real. Or at least continuing to help collect all his toys and books before nap and bed times.

Cat Cuteness: It IS possible!

Like every good Jerusalemite, or maybe Israeli for that matter, I find the cats that overtake the streets a huge menace. Not only are they annoying on the streets, but at night the scream and cry. And it sounds like a baby crying, we've heard that they have developed that by learning to adapt to their environment to get care- apparently some people find a baby crying sympathy inducing. For us it's really annoying (is Eitan up?) and creepy.

I do feel bad for them in a lot of ways. They were brought here to get rid of the rats, and now they're an even bigger problem. And although they're a huge nuisance, they're living creatures and have nowhere to go and no source of food, and aren't meant to be around. 

Either way, the cats everywhere are a problem. See here and here for more details if you're interested. Lately, there has been a few of them that lurk outside our building in our little garden. Eitan has learned to say "go away cats" if they're there when we approach the door- I certainly don't want one getting into our little lobby area.

But this morning as we left for our daily adventures I saw something so adorable and sweet that it made me bust out my camera and dedicate a few shots to our enemies. Really, is this so cute? Or what? If you don't think so, you should head to a doctor, because really, you might be missing a heart.

And since I know I'm not allowed to post anything without a picture of the reason anyone comes to this blog...here goes. Eitan's latest foray into head wear.

Future Chemist?

Last week was a major heatwave in Jerusalem, and I was thankful again for our pool membership, and doubly thankful that it's only a few blocks away, which is the farthest distance to reasonably walk.

I KNOW the heat in New York and DC have been unrelenting this year. And compared to those humidity indexes, we have nothing to complain about. BUT, this country has bad AC (if any) so even though it's a few degrees cooler, and there's minimal humidity, with the lack of AC factor, I call it even.

But I digress, Eitan has taken to being a little chemist at the pool. He sits on the edge and just fills his little collection of stacking cups and pours them in to each other quite methodically. And then the shovel and rake, well those also get used to sample the water.

The sight must be funny, a mom in the baby pool, baby on the edge playing with cups. It's hot! If Eitan is too busy to go in, that's his problem...

Ps- How cute is he when he actually wears his sunglasses, instead of asking for them then throwing them on the ground?

Eitan's Latest

Last year, in Eitan's first year on this planet, I'd send a monthly email with pictures and videos about what he's been up to to family and some out of town friends. I love that I have these emails and can look back on all of those milestones. And sit in shock at how much he's changed.

This year, the blog serves as a similar diary, but mostly in the context of other things we're doing. But he's been making some huge talking changes, so you know, here goes. If you don't care about our baby babblings and other non sense, please feel free to skip this post. But I have a feeling that you people tune in here for the real star of our family, and not because you care what his parents are doing or up do.

Without further ado:

Eitan's favorite new words- and what we've figured out they mean.


Mano- water
Wanamenon- watermelon
Billup - fill up (usually in the context of him pushing a sippy cup in our face)
Waaan- fan
Bencin- medicine (he asks for his ear infection bubble gum flavored medicine often)
Datoou- cracker
Boombor-computer
Tutumba- cucumber
Mootayo- motorcycle
Diyin- crying

He's become very very verbal the past month or so, narrarating our daily walks and outings. He strings together three word sentences and repeats everything he hears. Which doesn't always work out so well for us.  He loves saying HI and Bye Bye to motorcycles, and busses, lets us know when he hears an airplane or truck go by, and my personal favorite, reporting whenever he sees or hears a baby crying, when we pass the bureka store, or children on the street.

Most recently, mid one of his own cries for some terrible offense we inflicted on him (not letting him pour his cereal on the floor maybe? Changing his diaper when he had a different agenda, I don't remember) he stopped, looked at me in the face and said, EITAN DIYIN (crying), and then started to cry some more. It was hilarious and I will now dedicate myself to getting a similar exchange on video.

He's also been very into hiding. See?

 Here's a video of his mad skills:


Hiding in Bed from mimi rozmaryn on Vimeo.

So that's the update on our Eitan at 1 year 9 months!

Pals

So Nina's been out of the Army a month today with her mystery rash. Hopefully now that Uncle Dr. Izzy is here he will House the heck out of it, and we'll figure out what the deal is, and she will have a speedly recovery, but for now, Eitan has been loving the weeks with attention being showered on him.

On a recent afternoon where she came over to keep him busy so I could get some serious work done this is the scene I came back to...

Zichron Yakov, Part 2

After visiting Yosef's apartment we headed to the winery, a ten minute drive away. Tishbi has two outlets in the area, the winery itself with a restaurant, and a second restaurant in the downtown area. They have similar menus, and Yosef works at the downtown location, so he was able to really hang out with us at the winery location.

At the winery we met up with friends (also a US hour working family so off for Fourth of July), Shlomo's parents who are also friends with Yosef and Nina on their own. So we started off with a tour of the winery, but the two toddlers weren't so into it, and it was hot, and we were hungry, so we decided to cut it short and go straight to have a (late) lunch.

 

 

The restaurant is beautiful, and the food delicious. My favorite thing- the only thing I took a picture of before we gobbled up the last bite was a beer bread with sliced cheese on top (maybe brie) and a wine jelly, with an arugula salad. It was so good. Everything was. And we got a lot of different things. Other highlights was the pizza made with buffalo mozzarella.  Oh and desserts! Delicious, rich brownies and also a chocolate mousse thing. Omygosh, I'm getting full all over again.

After the restaurant the Zelcers left to check out the beach and meet up with friends in the area, and we stuck around Zichron's downtown area- a pedestrian mall with adorable little shops. It reminded me of Aspen. So charming.

And it was good for Eitan to be able to run around a little in preparation for the drive back to Jerusalem.

We love you Zichron, thank you for a great little day out. Even if there were no fireworks...

Zichron Yakov, Part 1

Reunion!

Last Wednesday we celebrated July 4th. Since my office was closed and Ami didn't start work on Sunday we figured it was a great time to trek up to Zichron Yakov (about an hour and a half drive) to visit Yosef (aka Uncle Boface), see his place, his restaurant and visit this beautiful town. I'd like to note that yes, it's very Israeli of us to make a whole day of going to Zichron because of the drive, which is pretty much as long as some average DC area commutes on the bad days. But when in Rome people, when in Rome...

And yes, we had such a big day that it doesn't fit on one part! 


Nearing the town reminded us of our honeymoon in Italy because of the way the town is built onto the side of a mountain over the water. However, having a toddler and (still on sick leave from the army) Nina in the car definitely didn't. Honeymoon or not, it's beautiful (and breezy!).

Our first stop was Yosef's apartment. The building used to be a hotel, I think back in the 70's and is now mostly one bedroom apartments. The outside is a little sketchy- looks like it's undergoing a huge renovation, which it isn't, it's just a mess, but the apartment was perfect for a single guy and the view and terrace were amazing.

Love how Eitan seems to be laughing at Nina's flying hair here!

Another typical family photo-Eitan looks away, Ami squints...

Eitan could have played with this drying rack for hours.

After checking out the place and spending some time on the most lovely terrace I can imagine- complete with   better then baby toy entertainment, we headed out for the winery to check out Yosef's workplace.

But not before Ami could play paparazzi to the beautiful views on our way out to the parking lot. Seriously, can you imagine really living somewhere that looks like this?

Stay tuned for Part 2! Rozmaryns, Kirschenbaums and Zelcers take Tishbi winery!

For the Phish Fans

Ok folks, a break from our regularly scheduled blogging.

First, last week this little site hit over 5,000 page views. Woah. Like woah. Thanks for reading along with our adventures!

Second, it seems like lately worlds have been converging at Phish shows all over the NY/NJ area. My mom and Aviva/Dadu are meeting up all over commiserating about how terrible we are for taking Eitan away from them, kvelling when they play songs that Eitan liked rocking out to and generally just being Phish-y. The next week my mom ends up in the same row as Ash and Rachel at a different concert.

So in honor of all our Phish family, I decided to break out Eitan's 2T shirt that my mom bought for Eitan last year when he was just a little nugget. I know she's been waiting for it to fit.  And even though it's still pretty big and didn't stay on long, it did long enough to snap some pics of Eitan in it, and for some reason he decided he needed to be doing weird things with his monkey doll while wearing it. I'm telling you, Phish brings out the weirdness!

Enjoy our little T shirt photo shoot. More to come when it actually fits him in a few more months. 

Rozmaryns Take Ikea

There are two Ikeas in Israel, one near Rishon and one in Netanya. This is very exciting for me. I love Ikea. Not the crappy furniture, but the accessories, the cute little things, being in the store, the ice cream....

Ami hates Ikea. Actually, the last couple times we had to go there in Maryland, he sat in the car listening to sports radio with Eitan while I went in to get the things we absolutely "needed".

The thing about Ikea in Israel is that it has potential to be both more and less awesome then Ikea in the US. First thing, it's more expensive. Like way more. Some of the stuff is double, which I believe is because of the high import taxes here based on different categories of furniture. But, the food is all kosher- they have two separate food courts- one for dairy and one for meat, and it's air conditioned.

So despite the fact that we're not really in a place in our lives to be buying anything for our (temporary, fully furnished) home there were a few things I wanted to pick up while we were already in Netanya with a rental car and a day to spend.

And I also wanted to go because it feels like home. And is a novelty.

 

 

As I mentioned above, on every trip to Ikea at home I get a soft serve ice cream. It's 99 cents and so good, and it's ice cream- total no brainer. Well, Ikea Israel, you took it up a notch- well done! First of all it's half the price. AND, when you buy and ice cream you get a token for a machine. The token goes in, a cone drops down and then is elevated up and out comes a perfect serving of ice cream. 

Eitan got in on the ice cream action too! He actually had a huge temper tantrum while eating/not eating it. The next day when we found out he had a double ear infection it all made sense...I mean it never makes sense to cry over ice cream, but I'll give the kid a break that one time.

So Ikea Netanya, thank you for the POANG glasses (we've broken a LOT of glasses here and needed to replace them), wonderful pool toys, organizational little cubbies and ice pop molds. And amazing and delicious ice cream of the future.

Netanya Beach

As a part of our adventure up to my cousin's wedding last week, we had a visit to the beach in Netanya, which is supposed to be one of the more beautiful beach spots in the country.

Now, in tow were quite the crew-
Ami- hates beach, the sand, the salt.
Nina- has a rash all over her body, can't be in the sun for more then a few minutes.
Eitan- hasn't been to the beach since last June, former bath hater, and owner of a double ear infection (which we found out the next day)
Mimi- just wants to have a fun day and everyone to SMILE for pictures. Not happening.

But despite the amazing cast of characters, we had a good hour or so. Ami stayed away indoors and came down later for a beer, Nina stayed under the shade of an umbrella, Eitan LOVED the sand, the waves, the random French/Israeli kids, the ice pops so much that he apparently forgot for that hour that he was in serious ear pain. And me, well I got a couple pictures of my baby playing in the sand and eating popsicles. So we all came out on top.

The beach really was beautiful. And so so filled with French people! I knew that Netanya was a hot spot for French immigrants, but wow. French was all we heard around us, maybe with a smattering of Russian. I joke that our neighborhood is the border of France, Israel and the US, but Netanya, that's all France people.

 

  

 

 Before I sign off, I need to talk about these ice pops. Because they're brilliant. They have in one little package (which seems like it would be for one pop) five mini ice pops. Is there anything better for a little kid then getting FIVE ice pops? Like you expect one, and they keep coming. They're also good if you have a bunch of kids and only want to buy one. Or if you are (like us) afraid of the combination of a kid and sugar so tiny ice pops are perfection? On this day, I think Eitan had three of the five, but a good half melted off, fell on the floor, etc. BUT, this is one great thing that Israel has that the US doesn't. One.