Teething, grabbing, singing, hugging...

The biggest news is that HG seems to have at least one tooth breaking through her gums. Teething has been very active, with everything going into her mouth.

She's also been busy grabbing. She now grabs noses, and sometimes eyeglasses. She's grabbed the phone from Ima's hands (she seemed to be wondering where the voices were coming from).

HG was tired of playing with her toys today, so Ima held her while eating lunch. HG calmly watched the chicken sandwich traveling from plate to mouth and back several times before deciding to strike. She made a grab for the sandwich, kvetched when Ima moved it away, and eventually settled for playing with a plain piece of lettuce.


She has a soft fuzzy animal book with a calf stuck to the cover by velcro. The other day she tried to work out how to unstick it. After great effort, she finally pulled it off. Then Ima stuck it back, and she tried again. The second time she slipped her fingers behind it and it came off more easily. The third time it was a cinch!

She's always enjoyed looking at books, especially bookshelves. We have to watch out when we hold her near them, though: She's started reaching for them and pulling them out from the shelves. One of our bookshelves has some decorated wooden boxes on it. They caught her eye, and she reached for one. She started handling it like a book, sliding it towards her and trying to open it. Before long, she succeeded!


Yesterday she needed some calming down, so we put her in front of the television. We don't usually do that, since it seems to hypnotize her. She stares at the picture wide-eyed. But she was a bit upset, and we thought it would help. To our surprise, she grabbed for the remote control and started pressing buttons. She's also been pressing buttons on some of her toys, and generally anywhere she sees buttons to press. When we're using the computer, we give her a spare mouse to play with. Sometimes she reaches for the keyboard anyway.

Elsewhere in the entertainment world, we think she's started "singing" along to music. Not that her sounds bear any resemblance to music, but they seem to start and end with the songs. In the car the other day she was enjoying the Beatles, when the song changed to one she apparently didn't like. She started kvetching and then crying, until we fast-forwarded past it and she went back to her vocalizing.

We have to get new besamim for havdalah. We've been using a lemony perfume vial, but we've discovered that HG can't stand the smell. Time to switch to something conventional, like cloves.

In other news, she's outgrown sleeping on Abba's chest. It used to be her favorite place to sleep. Now if she's put there she'll climb down onto the bed and lie down like a big girl, often lifting her head onto the pillow too.


She's also been into hugging lately. She hugs her soft toys close to her. She reaches out her arms to hug children, such as the cousins she visited this evening. On Shabbat she hugged the Sefer Torah on its way from the ark, to the surprise of onlookers.

First bus ride

HG went on her first bus ride today. It's the first time she has been in a vehicle where she can actually face forwards and look out the window (no airbags on the bus!) and she was enthralled, watching Modi'in and its satellite construction sites and countryside whiz by on the 15 minute ride to the new shopping centre.

Will this help her horror of car rides?

At the shopping centre itself she also had a ball. Everything took twice as long as it should because she charmed the sales clerks and other shoppers so much by liberally distributing her huge sunshine smiles and giggles that everyone stopped what they were doing to smile and laugh back. That's what you call spreading a little happiness.

The only time she became a little kvetchy was just as we entered Steimatzky's bookshop. Perfect timing because the ideal way to calm HG down is to give her a tour of our bookshelves. Uncle Ivor was on hand to patiently give her the tour of the entire Steimatzky stock and she seemed just as satisfied with the complete bookstore as with her home bookcases.

So much did she enjoy the shop that she even chose herself a book - an accordion style toddler book with large, bright pictures of fruit and veg and their names in Hebrew. Does this mean she is getting interested in eating solids?!

At a cafe later that evening HG deftly handled the heavy cardboard book, rotating it, unfolding it and of course tasting it and "reading" it.

She was the cafe attending her second birthday party in a week. Not hers, a friend's birthday, though she does have a away of becoming the centre of attention.

While the other guests sat round the table, she decided to sit on the table and did so quite proficiently until she reached too far while trying to grab a newspaper - a favourite HG plaything. Sadly Ima forgot to bring the camera on this trip, so you'll just have to take her word for it.

After the holidays

The holidays went well. HG met her first lulav and etrog. First she reached out to feel them, then she leaned forward to lick the etrog - oops! Yes, everything now goes into the mouth.

On Simchat Torah, she hugged and kissed the Sefer Torah for the first time. She was in shul for almost the whole time on Simchat Torah, and was awake for nearly all of it, absorbing all the new experiences. Abba held her for his aliyah, and as he held her she attentively followed along inside the Torah (to the amazement of the gabbaim). He also took her to the bimah when it wasn't in use, so she could look at the embroidered letters and pictures on the velvet cloth and feel them with her fingers.

When we got home, we asked her if she had a good time in shul, and her face lit up with a massive smile. We hope she doesn't expect shul to be like this every time!

With some help, she's worked out what to do with toys that have buttons to press: She presses them to make sounds. Some friends bought her an animal noise gadget, and she quickly started pressing its buttons. She still hasn't worked out how to squeeze squeezy toys; she might not yet be strong enough.

Car seat crying continues, with Ima doing her best to calm HG in the back seat. It seems to help when we play the Beatles. If only there were another way to get her from place to place!

In the desert (and elsewhere)

We haven't written in a while - sorry! We've been a bit busy this week, believe it or not.

Intrepid explorer
Today, for chol hamoed, we took HG on a tiyul, her first nature walk, to Ein Avdat in the Negev desert. She had a great time, intently examining everything around her: trees, mountains, ponds and rocks.


The only problem with travelling with her is that she now increasingly refuses to be strapped into her car seat, crying persistently until she either is released or falls asleep. To be fair, we can't blame her - when she's awake and alert, why would she want to be strapped into a seat and stare at the inside of a car? But alas, it remains the only way to get her from place to place. We devoutly hope she grows out of this soon.


Playing with food
On the way home. we stopped in Beersheva for dinner in the food court of the shopping mall. After dinner, she noticed an empty can on the table and took an interest in it. First she looked at it, "reading" the print. Then she felt it and pushed it around a bit. Next, she tried to manipulate it with both hands. Eventually she worked out how to pick it up - whereupon she seemed to want to try to drink from it like grownups do!


It reminded us of something she did Monday night, at dinner in Ima's cousins' sukkah. There was a big 1.5 liter bottle of water on the table, cold from the fridge. She reached for it to read the label. She must get this from her father, who can't sit at the table without reading something. Then she reached further, feeling how cold it was. And then, without warning, she gave the bottle a big hug!

In general, she has begun showing a distinct interest in watching us eat, following our food from the plate to the mouth. We understand this is a typical stage babies go through when they're getting ready for solid foods. We don't think she's ready yet, but at least she's interested.

She's certainly getting ready on a different front. Teething continues, with her chewing on anything and everything, from fingers (hers and ours) to toys to fabric. We can clearly see four upper teeth preparing to come in, and two lower teeth. We don't know how long it's supposed to take for them to break through, though.


A time to laugh, a time to cry
While we were in Ima's cousins' sukkah, their five-year-old daughter started crying, intensely and persistently. Usually, HG has ignored it when other children cry. This time, though, she seemed disturbed by it. Her face broke into a frown, her lips puckered outwards, her eyes grew large and she seemed increasingly distressed until she started crying herself! It was as if she couldn't bear the thought that her cousin was upset and was begging her to stop bawling.

To close on a happier note: HG is ticklish! When she's in the right mood, tickling her tummy can launch her into intense rolling laughter. She is just so cute!



HG is also excited to have her Uncle Ivor with her again. He is particularly good at soothing her to sleep with a tour of the flat or any other surroundings and she is very partial to napping on his shoulder, just as she did on his previous visit in August.

Yom Kippur 5766

HG's first Yom Kippur went pretty well. We all went to Kol Nidrei, where she behaved very well and charmed the men sitting near Abba. She was somewhat restless, though, and wouldn't stay in one position for long. It was a challenge to get through the silent Shmoneh Esreh while shifting her from shoulder to shoulder so she could get a better view of whatever it was she wanted to look at. She enjoyed the machzor, though, with several of her senses: looking at it, touching it, turning and grabbing its pages, and ultimately (of course) also tasting it.

Later, at home, she played with her parents loudly and energetically, a sharp contrast to how quiet she was at shul. She enjoyed one of Abba's noises so much she laughed harder and harder, with deep, rolling laugh which sounded like a small child's.

In the morning, she and Ima stayed home to rest and feed, and later everyone headed back to shul for Mincha and Neila. She wasn't quite as quiet this time, and Abba had to take her out of shul a few times to calm down. A sweet little girl who sits nearby with her father helped keep HG occupied for a while too. Overall, she was still pretty good in shul, but Yom Kippur is clearly a challenge for her as well as her parents!

Old Man River
In other news, she keeps getting more agile. Last night when she was done nursing on Ima's lap in bed, she leaned her head way back until it was upside down, and kept it that way for a while, looking at the world around her. Then she gave a sudden push with her legs, pushing her head down onto the bed, with her legs continuing over and back into a complete backflip! We're still not quite sure how she did it. Good thing she was on safe territory.

Like Old Man River, she just keeps rolling along. She's managed a full 360, rolling smoothly from her back to her stomach and to her back again in one motion. Her playmat is increasingly looking too small for her maneuvers, and she quickly ends up slipping off one side or another with some part of her body. Today, she was lying on her back in the center of the mat, playing with one of the toys on the arch, and a few minutes later she had shifted herself forwards, still on her back but with her legs past the edge of the mat and her head halfway to it, playing with the mirror.

Her sitting play is improving too. She can balance herself for longer in a sitting position, leaning on her hands. Sometimes she can even play with something with one hand while balancing with the other. Eventally, though, she'll either tip over or get fed up with the position. She certainly can't sit up by herself yet. But she usually seems to prefer it over her back or stomach.


Happy things
She actually seems to like being put into her stroller now, often smiling when we strap her in. She apparently associates it with going for a walk. (She doesn't care for the car seat at all, though - who can blame her! She's strapped in tightly and she can't see anything the whole ride.)

She greatly enjoys examining interesting patterns, such as on cushions, pillowcases or clothing. She can spend a great deal of time exploring an intricate print, especially a colorful one.

She's also started smiling at Abba when he comes home from work. She never really seemed to notice before. Now she seems to be aware that Abba is away for a long while and then comes home. She certainly seems happiest when both parents are around.

A busy weekend

It's been a busy weekend. On Friday we went into Jerusalem to celebrate the birth of a new daughter to some friends. We dressed HG in her sun hat and took her along. As long as we were there, we went into town for some window shopping. We didn't buy any windows, but HG enjoyed the sights and behaved very well, charming all the passersby as usual.

After some early weeks disliking water, she has lately taken to enjoying her baths. On Friday, she played with an inflatable frog book/toy, chasing after it when it floated away. She actually started screaming when we took her out of the bath - she was having too much fun and wanted to stay!

She did the cutest thing the other day. As she was resting on Abba's chest in bed, she wriggled off of his chest and lay down alongside him. Then she laid her head next to his on the pillow, looking straight into his face and smiling, reaching out to feel his beard.

She has definitely discovered children and other babies. We took her for a walk to the park on Shabbat afternoon, and she smiled at all the children she could find. She puts her arms out as if she wants to either hug them or be held by them. She'll have to settle for hugs, since we aren't about to let her be held by babies not much older than herself! Clearly it's time we started taking her out to play with her peers (or at least near them).

Meanwhile, the playpen is working now, so we have a place to put her when we absolutely have to step out of the room. It's a real problem, since within moments she can now cross the playmat, by both rolling and crawling, until she reaches the end and gets upset. At least she's no longer upset by the mere fact of being on her stomach! On the contrary, she's usually off like a flash!

We're clearly not going to get a moment's rest out of her from now on.

Rosh Hashana tidbits

Socializing in shul
She had a busy morning in shul yesterday, the first day of Rosh Hashana. After sleeping for the first hour, and quiet wakefulness for a while longer, she was awake and somewhat restless during Mussaf. She wanted to play, so Abba put her down on her blanket with some toys on the floor in front of him. She played with the toys for a bit; since she was on her tummy supported by her arms, all she could do was nudge them with her nose or gnaw on them. She also practiced standing while holding on to Abba's fingers.

Bored with that, she had Abba take her for a walk around the shul. She noticed a group of older kids (three to six years) playing in the corner, and wanted a closer look. (In case we haven't mentioned, HG is pretty good at indicating when she wants to be taken somewhere, by leaning her body and pointing with her arm.)

She singled out one five-year-old boy and smiled at him, trying to catch his attention. He responded by making funny faces at her, which she enjoyed tremendously. He got fed up after a bit: "What does she want from me?" So HG tried to engage his younger sister. But she was shy and hid behind her father. It was absurd, watching a three-year-old hide shyly from a three-month-old baby!

We've never seen her this outgoing before, but then again she hasn't spent much time with other babies or children. She took interest in other babies in shul, but there wasn't really anywhere for them to play together.

She heard her first shofar blows yesterday, but didn't seem to take much notice. Today, Ima decided yesterday had been enough excitement, so they stayed home together and took it easy. The shofar blower stopped by after lunch to blow for them. HG had a private shofar concert, and seemed to enjoy it greatly.

Stronger and more agile
We've said before that HG seems to change from day to day. It's sometimes hard to believe how true that is.


Her crawling ability is improving rapidly, as her legs are growing stronger. Today, she started straightening her legs while she crawls, lifting her tush in the air to help her forward. Her legs seem to be a lot stronger than her arms, and she still can't lift her tummy off the ground with her arms. But pushing by flexing and straightening her legs makes a big difference.

She isn't quite as upset or frustrated to be on her tummy now, since she can move so much more easily. She seems to steer with her arms while pushing with her legs, letting her navigate around (or beyond) her playmat. She still gets upset when she passed the edge, though, which is a good thing - she's less likely to get into trouble if she stays on it.


Tonight she has managed to balance herself on her hands while sitting, leaning forward. She still can't sit up on her own, but when placed in the sitting position she can maintain it for several minutes without toppling. This is good, since she prefers higher positions which let her see better. Similarly, she can now sit on her knees in the corner of the sofa with her hands holding onto its arm, looking over it at the bookshelves. Someone has to stay close by to make sure she doesn't slip, but she seems pretty stable.

Finally, of course, she keeps growing! She's starting to outgrow her 0-3 months outfits, and she's starting to fit into some of the 3-6's. She wore a size 3-6 Laura Ashley dress to shul yesterday. Considering how long it took before she was big enough to fit into the 0-3's in the first place, this is great news.

Life on the edge

As we prepare for HG's first Yom Tov, she has presented us with a new challenge. She has managed to reach the edge of her playmat. And she does it so quietly that we don't necessarily realize until she's already half on the floor, starting to cry.

We put her down on her back in the center of the mat to play with her toys. She deftly flips over onto her stomach and starts crawling on her stomach, slowly but steadily making her way to the edge, perhaps with some breaks on the way to rest or play. Before we know it, there she is, hands and head on the floor.

We can't leave her anywhere now and just let her play unsupervised. We just got her a portable playpen, but it seems to be defective and we'll have to exchange it. Oy!

Did we mention she was three months old yesterday?

Shana Tova to all,

Ima, Abba & Hannah Geitel

Reading voraciously

HG has always been interested in books. From the time we got her home, she would turn her head towards the bookshelves in any room. She was attracted, we presumed, by the colorful bindings and the shiny print. She would - and still will - study a bookshelf, staring intently at all the books. Fortunately, that means we have plenty with which to occupy her!


Lately we find she's also interested in text in general. She will reach for a newspaper and hold it as if she's trying to read it. She will focus on the writing on her outfit, or on Ima's T-shirt. Friday night as we got to bed, we read to her from a collection of English poetry, and then from the collected works of Chaim Nachman Bialik (in Hebrew). She wasn't just mesmerized by the rhythmic sound; she stared quietly at the pages of the books we held in front of her, as if she was trying to follow along.


Tonight, Abba was preparing to lead services for Rosh Hashana, and held HG on his lap as he practiced the prayers. She reached out to help hold the book, and would at times try to turn the pages. (Usually at the wrong times!) Yes. that's the Rinat Yisrael Machzor in the photo.

We're not sure what she thinks a book is, or what she thinks print is good for. But we're glad she's learning to enjoy them, even if not in the intended way.

If we could only keep her from drooling on them and putting them in her mouth... now that's a voracious reader!