Most famous onion cutter in the school

Dorothy turns six today.  Impossible to believe, except when I look at pictures of myself 6 years ago and see I am clearly a half decade older.

She is still a party in a person. Before Channukah at school the kids helped prep latkes. Dorothy had the job of cutting onions. She came home and told me she was the most famous person in the school for cutting onions - apparently she did a great job.  I thanked the teacher for making her feel good about it..."Lo that's hilarious! I showed her how to cut them and you know dorothy- she woul not let up until every last piece was chopped to perfection!"

Daron dressed as Steve Jobs for a school project where they had to read a biography.  He looked so handsome in black turtleneck and jeans and he even brought an apple to school and took a bite.  He was totally energized by learning all about the different characters.

He also did Run for Fun in school this year. Where he and other kids ran during recess. Tons of kids ran 2 miles or 5. Only 2 kids ran a marathon over the course of the weeks. Daron and Leah Zackson. Love it. 

Ian is getting more than 90 on most of his test, juggling hockey and middle school and friends with grace. His sense of humor continues to be like mikes. Quiet but hilarious. The other day I hugged Stella and said outloud what I was thinking.. ."How crazy would it have been like if we never had you" - Ian who was in the playroom heard me and said "A little less." _ I didn't hear him - thought he was talking about something else and asked - "What"  "Probably a little less crazy" he said, which was so funny. And even more so because he bursts with love for her. She pats his head and gives him kisses and finds a way to sit with him.

Daron drives her around in a car and she puts on sunglasses. He also plays football with her. Stella plays hockey with both boys. And the girls are developing a sisterly bond- although Dorothy gets insulted if Stella doesnt want to do just as told.

MIke and I went to Florida for our anniversary.  Swimming with dolphins and hiking and kyacking in the Everglades was probably my favorite adventure ever. 

She pees, He Tweets, She parties, He pucks

Stella still asking to pee. She has expanded her vocabulary and it is adorable. Kuby (kirby) GutDob (Good Job) EEEEEEn (Ian) and the other kids plus a firm "noooooo"

Daron is on Twitter.  @dwelfeld. Password is hippohippo which is tender and ironic given one of his first tweets was @IDF Gaza is going down. Despite the brazen tweet, most of his tweets blend snarky with kiddy and I am in awe.  I love the he wants to hear and be heard.  Please @Jets tweet back.

Dorothy had a Princess party because of a House Party kit I got through work> Rachel, Eliana, and the Tabuouche twins were here and it was sweet.

Ian and Daron rocked back to school teacher conferences. So proud of them.

Sunday looked like this:

Parent teacher conferences (many)
Flu Shot
Shiva visit
Parent teacher conferences
Basketball
Hockey
Princess Party
Ian homework

Wouldnt have it any other way

Stella peed!

Every night before the bath I put her on the toilet and count to 10. Tonight, at 3, there was pee!  15 months. I think she was pretty surprised.

Tonight was parent night at Dorothys dancing school. Daron and Stella came because MIke waws pickign up hockey.

Stella loved the dancing and marched around the room saying hi to people and other babies. Daron looked at me and said "She's speed dating" - huh? How did he get that term?

We started turning off the hallway light so I can sleep better and Dorothy keeps asking me why I can't sleep when it is too sunny.

Hurricane Sandy.

Hurricane Sandy. Monday -Friday with no power, followed by a snow storm mini blackout. What a way to end October.

We were cold but fine, Stella took to running through the house in a flashlight in the dark.

Daron is now on Twitter. One kid won't talk to his classmates in the street, the other is prepared to tweet to the world. Couldn't love them both more. So endlessly fascinated by our kids.

Stella loves her siblings. Says "EEEEEEan, Daaaden, Darty and Mommea and Debbie and Daddy" and she laughs and now yells and runs around like an energizer bunny.

Dorothy decided to cut bangs. She also thought of the song "I won't give up on you" and hopefully her class will sing a song, do a project and share with a class deeply harmed by Sandy.

Jets struggling which is hard on Mike.

The other day Dorothy handed me papers from school but it was in the morning rather than evening before  "This is from yesterday. If you see tomorrows in here it means today."

Its October

Daron is 9.  Funny and 9.  And smart. And so funny- snarky really.  He is enjoying 3rd grade so far, he and Ian are still close as ever and he got that crazy flying fish from Caleb and Stephanie for his birthday.

Ian is in E2K, got accepted to a special science and math and made the Yavneh hockey team!  We are so excited, probably more than he is. We did just miss his first TABC hockey game tonight.

Dorothy is making some new friends at school. Her biggest fears are lunch (how could I give her things like pancakes and cereal in a bag for lunch- those are breakfast foods!- and the laughing boy - a mysteriuos kid who laughed at her at lunch? but he's handsome? not sure).  Also walking down the hall after the bus.  A teacher named Victoria seems to have been assigned to get Dorothy to and from the bus.

Stella.  Bella. Stella Bella. Bells, or per Ian .. "fleishnik" -- the bookends are adorable buddies.  A lot of the time, she prefers to the kids to us. She has said versions of "E" "Daden" and "Darty" before "mommy" although today I am "Mamey" -- she also says eyes, ears, nose, belly - or can point to them and head and diaper and her vocabulary is really growing! Except when Ian reads books to her in a jibberish that sounds like Russian and always includes "chicken flakes".

I am in a whole foods phase for the past few months. It should probably be noted.

And we have walking. 10-20 steps at a time. Stella lifts her feet high and marches/waddles proudly to and from siblings. She does best when holding something - even if it is not attached to anything at all.

It's like she waited for Ian.

Today Daron was staring at her across the Shabbos table and said, in all seriousness, "are you sure she's a girl? She looks like a boy?"  Dorothy was confused enough to ask if we knew? how we knew and Daron realized certain body parts dictate as Dorothy asked when we knew she was a girl. He gently explained.

Today, there was battle in the playroom, redone by me a few months ago with IKEA.  Daron and Dorothy wanted to race cars but each had a vision of the race track that conflicted with the other.

With an audience, Daron did his best to compromise offering several solutions, simplifying to one on the yellow carpet, the other on the boarder. That was no good for Dorothy who held her ground, complaining. When i asked what it was she wanted - she emphatically responded "both" " i want to race on the yellow carpet and the blue" - Daron continued to offer land for peace until finally she agreed to the yellow carpet - a far larger space than the boarder- and yellow was where Daron had begun.  Do i fault her for not being a wall flower? Or applaud?

Intensely rewarding to have Ian back. Little mini snippets of camp activity discussed- but mostly it is enjoyable to make food that is good - i have cooked more in the past week than the entire month since Daron and Dorothy don't eat much. Same time, she asked for spinach leaves today, he is no longer taking Miralax and both are in a fight to 10 stickers for trying new things.

Still nursing Stella morning and night, tried to ditch morning today but was really uncomfortable most of the day. Tough to cut back emotionally and physically.

7.22

Stella started to stand a while ago but life is so full it is hard to write!

She says " woo woo" "uh oh" "meow" has six teeth.

We want to visit Ian at visiting day and it was just incredible to see him. First order of busienss was he took us deep into the woods to find salamanders. we had to leave the stroller by he bunk.  Daron and Dorothy followed with incredible enthusiasm as Mike held Stella and I held a smile as we followed him to the tune of "mumble mumble poison ivy" and "mumble mumble salamandar" but even as we spoke to him on Sue's cell phone as we were minutes away from camp he asked if Avery Lijah and Grey were with us becuase he wante to show us salamandar way.

Turns out he has never seen a salamander there and we are still not sure why he had opportunity to venture so far back behind camp, but overall (aside from wheezing and coughing and seeming exhausted) he was OK. And it was wide open arms and smiles and "Smelly stelly" for Stella. By the end of the day  all fo the kids were crawling with Stella across the lawn at Moshava. It was hard to leave him there. I cleaned out the plastic bin under his bed, all the while flabergasted that I was the mom.  I seem incapable of accepting that I am the mom - when I think a mom should clean out his bin, it seems impossible that I am that mom, yet I find myself inexplicable drawn to the bin, cleaning out pretzel bits.

Dorothy went to her first Mets game today. She loved the ice cream, the guy that gets dunked in the water and had a good time. She is a swim obssesed Daron still hates to swim. Happy for him Ian comes home tomorrow.