Eilat

HG went on her first Eilat vacation this week. The company Abba works for treated all employees and their families to a long weekend at the Red Sea resort.

HG has for the most part been having a much easier time in the car of late. She dozed off within 20 minutes of leaving the flat, after babbling happily to herself and playing with her soft butterfly toy, lulling herself to sleep. She slept until about the half way point, when Abba needed to stop for a break in the desert town of Mitzpe Ramon. She joined Ima and Abba for a quick falafel, salad and hummus break, tasting a little of everything.


She was calm for a while when the drive resumed, then became agitated towards the last leg of the Ramon Crater. She started crying, working herself up into hysteria, only calming down it seemed as the car went through a stretch of road with steep cliffs on either side. Driving along in the middle of the desert there wasn't reall - anywhere convenient to stop until a junction next to a wide swathe of open ground. As soon as the car stopped and Abba took her out of her carseat she calmed down and smiled. It seemed as though she was upset at not being able to see Abba or much of the scenery. She calmed down at the more enclosed stretches of road because at least then she could see the cliffs and rocks - in the back facing car seat she is still just too short to look out of the window easily unless there is an interesting view close by.

She very much enjoyed her break in the middle of nowhere. She looked around, taking in the desert, the mountains and rocks, grinning and "chatting" to her parents, playing with some large pebbles.


Exploring the hotel

Arriving at the hotel HG though tired was excited to see somewhere new. Her head was on a swivel taking in all the sights, especially the fountains and waterfalls. She was keen to explore the new room, carpets are something she doesn't get to see very often and she examined the new texture with all her senses.

The balcony made her a little nervous, enclosed as it was in perspex. On the one hand this made it very safe for her, with a high, solid railing, she could crawl around in safety. On the other hand, to her it looked as though there was nothing between her and a five storey drop and she kept close the solid looking walls, avoiding the side with the perspex.

She loved the views, the sea, the dramatic mountains of Eilat and Edom, stark desert, lush foliage and for that matter, the assorted corridors, glass lifts and lounges of the hotel.

HG spent a great deal of time playing and exploring the hotel itself. She particularly enjoyed the covered terrace with its bright colourful rugs and sturdy furniture - perfect for "cruising" and practicing her hands free standing. You will note in the picture that she is now standing just fine without holding on - well, when the spirit moves her that is. Sometimes she just liked to stand and hold a toy while watching the view of the people going by, other times she just seemed too distracted to practise her stands, and just wanted to hold on and stare so that she could focus her attention better on other things.

She also had fun with the porch swings, nursing a couple of times while Ima held her on her lap and swung, or just sitting next to Abba as he swung, watching the sea, the palms waving in the wind and the birds flitting amongst them. Then HG would get a sudden burst of energy, climb down (she has become a dangerously adept climber), crawl up a few stairs back to the main patio and start crawling under the tables again, or walking along the sofa.

On Shabbat morning she spent most of her time there and in the adjacent indoor lounge, walking from sofa to table to chair to wall and gradually working her way across the room, until she got fed up and reverted to a rapid "sprint" crawl to make her way over to the glass walls which she enjoyed walking along, exploring this very solid, yet invisible wall, ideal for all sorts of games, like pressing her hand against it while Abba held his on the other side.

Another morning she watched curiously as the Thai gardeners planted flowers in the borders and a waitress set out menus on the tables.

Beach party

On Friday morning, Rosh Hodesh, the company laid on a beach party for the vacationing employees and their families. There were many activities, mostly for older kids, also music, drumming, and of course the beach. It was HG's first time on the beach and in the sea (she had been as a babe in arms) and she enjoyed a little wading in the water, looking down all the while to study the pebbly shore line.




Stairs

HG loves stairs and was thrilled to find several on which to practice in the hotel, including a very high, carpeted flight going from one of the dining rooms to the lobby. The steps were quite deep and low, perfect for her to climb on, and she proudly mastered the whole lot in one go, reaching the top, unsure how to get back down but keen to climb up again!

She also climbed the less baby friendly spiral staircase. Ima and Abba kept taking her away from it, but in the end she was so determined that Abba let her try, crawling up alongside her to make sure she didn't slip. She mastered this trickier staircase too, clapping proudly as she reached the top stair as if to say "I did it!"


A gregarious little girl

While exploring the lounges, terraces, lawn and dining areas, HG made friends wherever she went.

When she noticed people and especially children and babies who interested to her she went over to them and "introduced" herself, crawling up to people and pulling on their skirts or trouser legs to stand herself up, scurrying over to armchairs and sofas and pulling herself up on the arm with a cheery "Ai!" and a big smile - usually much to the surprise of the occupants who didn't expect a small baby to be popping up alongside them and saying hello!

In particular at breakfast when the dining room was more crowded and families were seated close together, she would crawl or walk along the banquet to see who was sitting nearby and approach those she liked the look of, also sometimes tried to take food or other items from other nearby tables - though Ima and Abba did their best to catch her before she could...

In the hotel dining room and restaurants she charmed the waiters and waitresses, and the odd maitre d'. Several asked to hold her, others entertained her.

Fine dining

She went out with Abba and Ima to nice restaurants and hotel dining room - ate well, tried new things, mostly fed herself, sometimes tried to play with plate

HG tasted much of what Ima and Abba ate, including the first summer fruits, such as peaches and watermelon (she needs to go easy on the latter, she loved it a little too much), duck, goose, mild Thai coconut curry, artichoke, Tzfatit cheese and pesto flavoured soft cheese, to name a few of the new foods she tasted and liked.

She mostly behaved very well, including at two more elegant, grown up sorts of restaurants, the kind which in Europe or the US might not admit babies, let alone provide a high chair.

Fun in the water and birdwatching


HG has recently begun to keenly notice all birds, eyes trained skyward when she hears chirping or other bird sounds. Ima spotted a local rarity, brown booby, at close quarters, HG watched closely as the bird made several low, spectacular passes and dived for fish. She enjoyed watching the gulls and terns soaring and swooping over the water, studying them with a serious and sometimes excited expression on her face.

Ima and Abba soon noticed that HG is honing her birdwatching skills. Upon arriving at the hotel, Ima and HG were standing outside waiting for Abba, when a common songbird whizzed by, singing as it flew. HG turned to the sound, looking for the bird. She may have been mimicking Ima at first, but it soon became clear that she associates a variety of bird sounds - song, chirps, caws and whistles, with birds, and looks towards the sky and trees when she hears bird calls.

This was especially apparent when she went to the kiddie pool with Abba. Even with all the noise and distraction of the pool she noticed the crows, bulbulbs, parakeets, sparrows, doves and Tristram's starlings in the trees and on the railings nearby, tracking their movements until they were out of sight.

She didn't really go swimming, rather she went walking in the water, holding on to Abba or the side of the pool and practicing her walking. She also worked on her splashing technique, though seemed a little overwhelmed when some bigger kids got into the pool and started splashing around noisily.

About town

HG enjoyed being walked around town, browsing shops and just taking in the sights of this very different place. In particular she enjoyed the children's clothing store near the promenade which had a charming wooden rocking horse for the amusement of its pint sized customers - just the right size for HG. Yes, in the picture she is looking a little serious, but that's because the saleswoman had just turned her attention to her and was making coochy coochy coo sounds - HG was looking at her as though she was nuts. HG had a good time on the horse which Abba helped her to rock and obligingly made some horsy sounds too, much to HG's delight.