Writing Hebrew Letters

Benji spends a lot of time drawing and really enjoys it.  A few days ago, however, he decided he would write the alphabet.  Then, he decided he would write the alphabet in Hebrew, so I got out the flash cards for him to copy.  Aaron says that people don't really write using these formal block letters (apparently there is a cursive version of the Hebrew alphabet) but Benji enjoyed copying the shapes.  I was astonished to discover that he knows all the names of all the letters!

If you look closely at the page he's writing on, you can see the orange letters are the English alphabet and the purple letters are the Hebrew alphabet (called the "aleph-bet" because aleph and bet are the first two letters).  You can also see him consulting the flash card on his right, then copying the shape on the paper in front of him.

  --Victoria

Living Room Train

Benji took all the chairs from his table & chairs set and arranged them as a train.  He and Doh the Dog sat in the passenger compartment and I was informed that I was the conductor, so I took their tickets and we took a short trip.  I love watching his imagination develop!  --Victoria

Getting Ready for Benji's Siblings

Pretty soon, this blog will need a new title . . .   In the meantime, we have been getting ready for Benji's siblings to arrive.

Sarah and Yousef threw us a wonderful, adults-only wine & cheese party (baby shower) and asked that each guest bring a case of diapers or wipes.  We're pretty well stocked for now!

My co-workers also threw a baby shower (which was unexpected!) and they were extremely generous:

We now have lots of adorable clothes, including some really sweet outfits for a little girl:

We took a prenatal class geared towards taking care of twins:

And we have a changing table for the living room that is stocked with diapers, wipes, changes of clothing, receiving blankets, tiny hats and socks, and swaddling blankets.  No need to run upstairs or downstairs for more supplies!

We packed everything we will need for the hospital trip (things for us as well as the baby items pictured here).

And we have two infant car seats ready to bring the babies home (with extra head and neck supports because we expect they will be little peanuts instead of the almost-nine-pound big baby that Benji was!):

I think we're ready!  --Victoria

Things Benji Says (Superspoon!)

Aaron reported the following, from a weekday that Benji had off school:

"Daddy! Superspoon was once Sillyspoon, but he turned into Superspoon. SUPERSPOOOOOOOON!"

Now the Adventures of Superspoon are happening in the kitchen.

--Victoria

Changeable DC Weather!

These photos were taken a few weeks ago.  Now, it's much too cold to be outside with no coats and hats.  But the weather that day was sunny and lovely.  --Victoria 

Things Benji says

As reported by Aaron:

"Daddy, you got me the WRONG BUMBLEBEE [note: Bumblebee is a toy transformer], because Bumblebee isn't supposed to have spikes. (Looks at my face) ...but thank you!"

(After his bath) "My throat is scratchy. I think there's something stuck in it. (Thinks for a minute) It's probably sodium. I eat a lot of sodium in my strawberry bar, and some of it gets stuck in my throat."

 

--Victoria

 

Things Benji Eats!

Benji is usually a pretty typical 4.5 year old and claims he despises food that he's never tried.  We don't make him clean his plate but we do encourage, bribe, and occasionally manipulate him to at least try a few bites of something he hasn't tried before -- which often ends up with him deciding that it's delicious (or at least okay).

A few nights ago, we had take-out Indian food from a new place on H street with our friends Nate and Katherine.  There was a delicious selection of food, including numerous very mildly-spiced vegetable dishes.  I made Benji a plate with some naan bread (which I know he likes) and a selection of other choices.  He took one look at it and said "YUCK," which was quickly reprimanded (you don't have to eat it, but you're not allowed to say "yuck").

A few minutes after we all sat down to dinner, Nate observed that Benji had completely polished off the curried chick peas!  We were all pretty impressed.

Last night, we had baked salmon, broccoli, and quinoa for dinner and the same thing happened -- before we realized it, there was no more quinoa on Benji's plate!  He declined a second helping of quinoa but ate most of the broccoli and was easily convinced to try to salmon, which he decided was okay.

Culinary hope springs eternal!  Of course, he does tell us that he wants to be a really good cook one day, "just like Daddy."  I love that.

--Victoria