Rosh Hashanah

Again a lot of stuff happening over here and not so much time to blog it. It's been over a week since I last wrote.

Let's see..first, we got a jogging stroller!



It is a Bob Revolution, which is known for being a good jogging stroller, with shock absorbers, big wheels and everything! After taking it out for an hour, I wondered why we didn't get one a long time ago. It's a smoother ride than our umbrella stroller, plus the whole family can go out running--Mommy and Abba put on their running shoes, and Eliana hangs on to a cup of cheerios and gets to enjoy the ride.

We took Eliana to the Tot Rosh Hashanah service at Beth Elohim, our local Brooklyn synagogue. There were over 200 people there with their toddlers--it was unbelievable. We ran into a bunch of friends and neighbors, which was a lot of fun.

Eliana walked the last leg of the trip home:






She's getting a lot sturdier on her feet, although she did fall over a few times...she was pretty excited about walking on the sidewalk!

Then we went out to Long Island to have lunch at the Feinsteins with our extended family. We arrived a few minutes early, so had some time to take a walk in a nearby meadow:






What a cutie! Anyway we did eventually go inside. Eliana started off a little shy, but warmed up after not too long and starting exploring every corner of the house...there was a lot to explore, and I think she got almost every room:





In addition to the artwork (which Eliana couldn't appreciate but did try to touch and/or put in her mouth), there was a terrific playroom. Eliana found the play kitchen, opened all of the cabinets, and was ready to make us lunch. And then she found the stroller, also pictured above.



Guess they know something about toys in this family!

Eliana didn't last too long at the meal. We brought a few books, which kept her at the table a few minutes longer:



But the best part was "horsing around" with our family. Eliana grabbed cousin Carol's purse, put it over her arm, and said, "Bye bye!"...charming everyone. Then she took it off her purse and proceeded to examine the contents:





I told Carol that I was worried that Eliana might inadvertently call Japan on her cell phone, but she didn't seem too concerned.





We had fun and enjoyed laughing with our little girlie. I spent so much time chasing after her that never got to finish two different conversations, but we did laugh. Hopefully I'll continue the conversations the Yom Kippur break fast next week.

Eliana's language skills continue to stretch. She knows so many words, we're continually surprised and impressed. She is now talking about in opposites: up and down, quiet and loud, and some others. We hear her counting "one, two, three" and saying the beginning of the alphabet song. She is also putting words into phrases and sentences: "Why Shiloh barking?" "Shoes off."

As we were leaving the Feinsteins, I said to her, say "thank you," to our cousin Josh Levine for playing the accordion. She said "thank you" as she does often. Then I said "Thank you for the music," and she repeated "Thank you for music." She has a great ear and also seems to understand A LOT of what we're saying now.

Oh, and she's started to tell us to "sit down, Mommy!" "sit down, Abba!" many times a day. It might sound bossy coming from an older child, but when she says it, it's so cute that we just smile...and sit down. :-)