Meet Tati

Who is Tati? Well, Tati is what Tali calls herself. But it's also what she calls Jackson. She can actually say his name, but she chooses to call him Tati. I've tried and tried to get her to call him Jackson, but she simply wants to call him by her name. If you ask her "where's Mommy?" she'll say "mommy" and point to me. Same with Daddy and Tali (but she says "Tati"). If you ask her where's Jackson, she'll point to him but instead of repeating Jackson, she'll say "Tati."

She asks for "Tati" if he doesn't come into her room with me in the morning when she wakes up. She points to him and says "Tati" when she wants to pet him. And she'll say "Tati" when she's playing tug with him.

I can only assume that it's a sign of affection that she's calling him by her name but it is a bit strange. She'll grow out of it eventually. In the meantime, she might just give poor Jackson an identity crisis.

Bless You

This morning I was coughing while making breakfast (had a cold last week and the cough always takes forever to leave) and Tali looked at me and said "bless you" each time I coughed. It was very cute and made me smile. So, thought I'd share.

First Combined Words

Last night, Tali put two words together for the first time. Yes, she'll say please after she asks for something, but I don't really count that as it was something she was taught and not something she figured out on her own.

So, what was her first word combo? "Agua bye-bye." It was the end of Tali's bath and as the water was draining from the tub, she said it. Her words made complete sense in the context of the situation and she came up with them on her own.

First Day of Nursery School

Yup, that's right. Tali started nursery school today. I'm now the parent of a school-aged child. She'll go two days a week for about two hours. There are two teachers in the classroom and Dan and I met them at Parent's Night yesterday evening. This school has a great reputation for its academics as well as giving children a good Jewish foundation. I'm happy we're sending her there, even if it won't be for the whole four years. (Hopefully we'll buy a house and move at some point before she starts kindergarten!)

Tali's nursery school does a gradual separation process so the moms/nannys are in the room or school for about a month until the child is fully comfortable in the classroom. We sit in the back of the room and are there simply for support, if needed. We don't encourage or play with the kids. There are a total of seven kids in Tali's class (three girls, four boys) and today they were broken up into two groups. Tali came for the first hour with the other girls and one boy. The three other boys came for the second hour. It will be like this for a few classes before all seven kids are in one room together. So today I got to watch her and snap some pictures.

They started off with play time - didn't take any pictures as I didn't want to distract her. Tali went right to the Play-doh and put it in her mouth, of course. Once she realized it didn't taste good, she had a great time playing with it. She also played at their water table and had a blast. After playtime was over, there was circle time and the moms were invited to join and sing songs. Then there was snack (Tali ate everything) and it was time to go.

Tali's first day was very successful. No tears. She didn't cling to me. She only came to me once or twice to show me something. But, she went to my handbag about five times looking/asking for food even though she had a big breakfast. I think she's going to love nursery school. I've already picked out the girl who I believe is going to be her good friend. They're just alike - very outgoing.

At my handbag, looking/asking for food.

Snacktime - apples and graham crackers, yum!

Drinking (spilling) her water in a cubby.

Parrot

These days, Tali is a parrot. She repeats almost everything I say, whether I want her to or not. Since got back from vacation a week ago, she's learned at least three or four new words a day. It's impressive how many words she's accumulated and how she knows when to use them. Some of her favorite words are:

music (moo-see)
more
mama
toes
shoes
blanket (blah-tees)
puppies
no no no
light
help (hep)
mango (mamo)

Her vocabulary is quite large now, but these are the words I hear at least 20 times a day. This is such a fun age. We're having a good time together and Tali makes me laugh all the time. I wish I could just keep her at this age.

Vacation

It's been a while since I posted anything but that's because everyone went on vacation. H and I went to Italy (Amalfi Coast then Tuscany) and Tali and Jackson went to New York City. Everyone had a great time. Tali learned how to say "please" and Jackson learned how to guilt trip Savta and Saba into taking him out all the time. Above are some pictures from Tali's vacation. On her second day she went to lunch at Cafe Boulud and Savta snapped a few fantastic shots.