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!