And then he learned to walk

Well folks, it has happened. Mr. Noam has finally decided to walk. He stood himself up on Thursday, at 17 months old, and walked clear across the room. There was no wobbling, no indecision, just one foot in front of the other until he got where he had planned to go. He just stood up and walked. He waited until he could do it right, and then got up and started. And there's no turning back. He walks forwards, sideways, and backwards. He bends down and picks things up, he eats while walking, brings things to his friends and fans alike. He just got up and mastered the skill. It was fairly stunning to watch as I don't actually remember this with the girls. They did the requisite weeks of scooting. Then learning to stand themselves up and come crashing down within seconds. Then taking one step and flopping down. Not Noam. He just waited and waited til he was ready (and his mother remembered to buy him shoes that fit) and then took off.   Granted, learning to walk means that he's now higher off the ground, which means that the bruises and scrapes are taking on a new degree of ouchiness. I promise to share video of him walking soon ...

And Racheli (turning 7 next month) and Hadara (just 5 years old) along with all of their little Israeli friends are completely obsessed with Purim. They both had Purim carnivals instead of school on Friday - games, costumes, junk food, and joy. School is closed for both of them on both Sunday and Monday so that we can celebrate this holiday with the entire country. Racheli decided that she wants to dress up as a girls from China (replete with chopsticks in her hair) and Hadara settled on a ladybug.

And Don decided to join the festivites in red as well

Today, however, was spent with their friends the snails. Our garden is brimming with snails as the seasons change here towards Spring. Hadara collects them by the dozen and can watch them for hours at a time. Sadly, she hasn't quite mastered handling them so she tends to drop one or two from ... well ... too high for a snail.  Racheli, on the other hand, chose two and named them "Snoony" and "Snailey" She found a shoebox, filled it with all the things that the coolest snails on the block have in their homes, and invited them in for the day (she left one side open in case they wanted to visit their friends).