Happy 5th Birthday, Elijah!

Elijah turned five-years-old last Saturday, February 6. He has taken the responsibility of being older seriously by ceasing to sleep during afternoon nap time. Luckily, most days he is very happy to play on his own stopping only to show me the latest train crash he set up or lego vehicle he created.

Elijah has not needed his heart medicine for half his life and we have discovered no tachycardic episodes during that time so we believe he has truly out grow the Wolfe-Parkinson-White Syndrome he was born with.

He still loves trains but has added music, Legos and taking things apart to his passions in the last few months. He will turn on a cd or hook my computer up to the stereo, pick a song, and has slowly taught himself to find the beat in the music while banging on his bowl and box drum sets he creates. The progression was neat as at first it was just banging away while an upbeat song played to being nearly on the rhythm of the song. His favorite music to drum to are a few upbeat  Jewish/Hebrew oriented songs from the CDs we get in the mail via the PJ Library.  If he's just listen or dancing, he loves Eminem, Johnny Cash, or Imagine Dragons with a trial of many other things in my limited collection thrown in. We have added Sunday at 4pm piano lessons for Elijah and Shayna to our busy schedule. Both kids seem to love it plus our friend and their teacher Becky is quite talented both musically and working with little people. While we don't have a piano at home, I don't believe they need to practice yet to continue to develop a musical understand and gain piano skills. They remember what was done the week before, easily add to it, and enjoy listening to the CD that came with their books in-between. (Nahum says that piano lessons will be more readily available in Israel should we be able to live their next year so I hope to continue lessons there then figure out if we need a piano once we return to the states.)

Maya trying to help Elijah with his birthday all-terrain vehicle Lego set.

I was terrified of adding little Lego sets to Elijah's toy collections but after 6 weeks of reminders, he is very good at putting the extra pieces in a container when he is done building as he doesn't want to loose any and is mesmerized by each building project. (Maya is well past the age of putting tiny toys in her mouth too.) Elijah loves rebuilding the car or train set each day (each set has instructions for 3 different vehicle types) and has started to create his own train versions. His creativity is so different than Shayna's so I enjoyed seeing he has found an outlet for it. Legos probably play into his love of taking things apart to see how they work as well as we have about a half dozen trains in a bin that are currently in pieces. The trains, unfortunately, don't come with re-assembley instructions like Legos, and are waiting for my assistance in piecing them back together.  Every time he sees a screw in a toy he has an unquenchable urge to take it out to see what it's holding together and what the inside looks like. He now has his own set of triangle headed screw drivers so he can take most things fully apart.

Elijah takes a train car apart with our tub of disassembled trains on the table waiting for repair.

Elijah still loves school where he has learned to read consonant-vowel-consonant words quite well and enjoys breaking down math concepts Montessori style. (I want to learn more of these concepts as Elijah's engineering brain loves them. I have little idea how they work but would like to have them available when we're in Israel, still only an 80% possibility until we know about funding at the end of the month.) He has taken to the responsibility of walking little Maya into school on days I need to get to an appointment and always greets Mr. Joe and his teachers with a smile and joyful, "good morning," which is a huge change from the last two years. (He would torture Nahum nearly every day in a screaming, bucking power struggle that would occasionally start at putting on shoes at home to 10 seconds after Nahum left him at school. At which point, he was perfectly content and enjoyed the rest of his morning.) It melts my heart each time to watch him take Maya's hand then walk up to school together. (Maya loves school too and we have a wall dedicated to her many paintings.)

Nahum took Elijah on a special trip to the Roanoke Transportation Museum just the two of them for Elijah's birthday morning. Elijah loved taking Nahum all around the model train area and outside where the full size locomotives and cars are kept and just being able to do and see whatever he wanted without any sister interference and having Aba all to himself. In the evening we celebrated with a small dinner party that included his school friend Scarlette and a few special adults. I've forgotten what I made for dinner but the kids loved decorating cupcakes for us all with marshmallows, gummy bears, and sprinkles.

Decorating cupcakes with friends.

Opening the dinner party set of presents.

Happy 6th Liverday!

Shayna celebrated by being at school for the afternoon after a walking pneumonia diagnosis yesterday morning. Antibiotics are amazing as she was crying with belly pain yesterday afternoon and skipping into school this afternoon. She brought her transplant journey book to share with all her class mates like we always do. Instead of a big party, we had a quiet family celebration tonight at the kids' favorite pizza place The Mellow Mushroom. We will have a small party later this month but we are billing it more as a family/holiday party. Shayna's successful transplant gave us a complete family so that's what we want to celebrate.

This last year was not as rosy as the others have been but we survived and are now working towards a healthier and adventurous seventh year for all. Shayna seems to have recovered from the rejection she  experienced at the beginning of March. She has also recovered from all the side effects of the medications, mainly prednisone, she was on. She still has one extra medication in her life that she will stay on it until at least March 2016. She is now permanently on a morning and even dose of Prograf.

I have been struggling to rebalance my thyroid, I'm hypothyroid with Hashimoto's, since Maya's birth. At the beginning of the year, it seemed like that had finally been achieved but all the stress of Shayna's ordeal brought me down as well. By March 2017, I'm hopeful I can feel the same way again just in time to have energy to get ready for a new adventure.

By the end of February, we will know if we will be able to spend the next academic year in Haifa, Israel. Nahum will have been at Virginia Tech for eight years in January so we're planning a family sabbatical year in Israel. Shayna and Elijah will be in some sort of public schools, kindergarten is still at a separate school for little people, and we'll find some morning home day care thing for Maya so we can all learn Hebrew. I don't know how fluent I will be but I'm pretty sure the kids will be by next Chanukah. Nahum has turned in all the official paperwork. Now he is working on finding the other six months of salary we need and some one to rent our house while we are gone. (He is also teaching a new class, continuing to work with his post-doc and grad students on research, and joined a department committee so he is staying very busy.)

Elijah is developing his reading and writing skills much like Shayna did at this time last year, only he's not in kindergarten yet but preschool at our local Montessori school. He has been bringing home maps, "banking" number sheets, little books he's made and lots of copies of his name and he regularly works with his teachers trying to read every beginner reading activity they have. He brings his enthusiasm home and tries to sound out the books he asks me to read to him or makes me point out each word as I read. He still loves to do his "homework", a kindergarten math book he assigned himself and play chase like a stampeding hippo around the house.

Shayna's reading and word recognition has really taken off and she's flying through math concepts at school. However, I have had to do some remedial handing writing work with her. Luckily, we started right before Thanksgiving break so have had lots of uninterrupted days to practice. We did a couple more sessions before school today. She has improved greatly in the last nine days. Now we'll see what happens when a full school day is thrown into the mix. She loves to take the easy way out so may revert quickly back to old habits so she doesn't have to take the time to think so much about what she's writing. At least Winter break is less than three weeks away so I will have two and a half weeks to make proper letter and number formation a habit of hers. She loves her make believe world both alone and when she's dictating roles to her brother and sister. She continues to improve in allowing them to participate in the making of the story. All three kids seem to love each other fiercely.

October 13: Our annual family pictures
at the Hahn Horticultural Garden.

Here is our year in review in pictures:

December 10, 2014: Elijah's favorite activity during 2013 & 2014, playing with the train table at our Chiropractor's office. He now builds his own elaborate tracks at home so we haven't been in a while.

December 20: A tub almost full of kids. It's a bit fuller these days and they still love baths together. Since it gets a little crazy with all three, I usually only allow two at a time.

Dec 20: Last year's BJCC Chanukah party. Elijah has short hair because of our November lice invasion. The whole family suffered but only the guys got their hair cut.

Dec 21: Maya "helping" me as she still does with anything that involves the vacuum.

Dec 21: Lighting Chanukah candles on their own for the first time at the Kornblith's.

Dec 23: Maya "helping" me cook without the mess.

Dec 24: Having a tea party with the Chanukah tea set from grandparents. It still gets heavy use but has lost at least 2 pieces since due to breakage.

Dec 26: The view from our favorite hiking grounds Pandapas Pond's boardwalk. Any chance the weather is a little warm, we usually head out all winter long.

Hiking together.

Dec 31: Maya vacuuming for my birthday.

Jan 6, 2015: It's supper Shayna to the rescue!

Jan 20: Biking in our favorite neighborhood cul-de-sac.

Feb 11: Biking and creek playing on a trail just down the road from us.

Feb 13: Shayna is always creating extra things at school. Here she made a baby owl for the mama all the kids made.

Feb 14: Shower love: all my kids have loved showers since they were born, or at least 2 weeks old.

Feb 14: Finally some real snow to play in!

Feb 16: Heading out for some family sledding time.

Feb 27: Sweet sleepy baby.

Feb 27: My ever-present kitchen helper with her slicked back hair, she was going through a phase where she took all hair accessories out so I just slicked it back with Morocco Method hair oil.

March 2: Waiting for the bigs gymnastic classes to start.

March 4: Nahum giving a well received space presentation to Elijah's preschool class through the early-elementary class.

March 6: Everyone wanted to help make Shayna's birthday party ice cream cake.

March 14: Out for a neighborhood walk, both my girls inherited their father's outstanding hiking legs.

March 15: I wouldn't put the pool out because it was too cold so they found other water to play in.

March 18: A USA kindergarten parade finishing the end of the social studies unit on America.

March 21: Shayna and I went to the Transportation Museum for a chocolate tasting. We enjoyed playing on the trains just as much.

March 29: An egg painting party with Lynn and Gray. We all love painting eggs but this is the first year they all got eaten in time too.

April 1: Finding Cheerios hidden by Grandma Carole.

April 9: Maya and I on a morning walk at the VT Duck Pond. The 2nd to last month of enjoying my baby at home with me but without the distraction of the other two.

April 10: They really do love each other.

April 11: Enjoying a leaf-filled gulch at Pandapas, and hoping for no ticks.

April 12: Shayna showing off her new reading skills and keeping the little ones occupied.

April 14: Dr. Elijah confirming Maya is ill with Dr. Berry's experimental stethoscope. We loved them while they were in the exam rooms but I never asked him how the "experiment" went.

My children are truly becoming useful.

April 17: Maya inspecting our garden of late blooming daffodils. Despite pictures to the contrary, it was a very cold winter than involved a burst pipe in the basement.

April 19: Enjoying the warm spring and watching Shayna blow bubbles and cars go by.

April 20: A double spring rainbow.

April 19: Grandma Kathy brought another week of peace to our house again this year.

April 30: I enjoyed reading day at kindergarten and listened to a few stories illustrated and written by Shayna's classmates. What a sweet bunch of kids.

May 2: Playing in the creek in the forested area in the middle of our neighborhood.

May 3: I caught these two being super sweet with each other, again.

May 8: Our daily 3:45pm ritual of waiting for Shayna's bus with our special guest Grandpa Michael.

May 10: Playing in Douthat Lake on the first of 3 car camping trips we took last summer.

I forgot to bring pants for Maya but I think she heard "clothes were forgotten" as she wandered around like this much of the time.

May 12: It looks chilly but they must have talked me into getting the water park out anyway. 

May 14: Maya and I volunteered on Wednesdays during kindergarten centers. Maya always wanted to do whatever Shayna was doing. 

May 31: Our second camping trip, at Clayton Lake, was made relaxing thanks to friends that joined us and were great fire starters.

June 13: They all take turns spraying each other with the cold hose water, even Maya likes it.

June 23: I can never get over how happy the sea makes all my children. Of course, it has always made both their parents very happy too.

June 28: Enjoying one of the many amazing playgrounds that seem to be everywhere in Israel.

July 2: Maya always hammed it up for Nahum's parents Dov and Lea.

July 3: The high waves and jelly fish never stopped us from enjoying the beach, mainly Hof HaSharon, at least twice a week.

July 3: Our typical Shabbat Friday night dinners in Israel with family.

July 5: Every third day was spent swimming at the pool in Lea and Dov's complex. They would sit on the side to admire our children while we played.

July 16: Doing summer things in the front drive: riding wheels devices, making chalk drawings and blowing bubbles.

July 18: Enjoying a dinner picnic at a park in Newport with a creek with a swimming hole, hence the naked children.

July 19: We finally made it to the Cascades in Pembroke as a family, a 4mi round trip local hike.

July 29: An up-grade in pools but it now means that I have to keep a very close eye on Maya again.

Aug 6: Dancing in the rain in our front walk puddle.

Aug 7: Posing in front of my tomato garden. Shayna is the only one of the three that likes tomatoes. Luckily, she likes them a lot so was very happy having them all to herself, and Nahum.

Aug 7: Grandma Melinda and the kids in "Elijah's tree". Melinda came to see Shayna off to first grade.

Aug 8: A family snack break in the Poverty Creek trail system.

Aug 11: Shayna's first day of First Grade is complete.

Aug 19: More obligatory puddle jumping.

Aug 20: Shayna showing off some of the produce from her first garden, on the left.

Aug 25: Almost everyones' start of school picture.

Aug 31: Admiring Nahum's coconut cracking skills. We all love fresh coconut.

Aug 31: She did not like me laying down on my own so got a book and shoved me over so she could join me on the couch.

Sept 5: A very short train ride in a caboose at the Transportation Museum.

Sept 7: Maya did not appreciate the over two sitting in her carriage on our Labor Day bike ride.

Oct 3: A warm rainy day hike near Pandapas.

Oct 4: A cold rainy day Sukkah decorating with the BJCC Religious School, part of my new job. 

Oct 5: Waiting for the grownups to get their flu shots as the kids got theirs the week before. This makes us a responsible transplant family.

Oct 6: Happy 2nd Birthday, Maya Lynn!

Oct 20: Exploring a nearby house construction site on a family neighborhood walk. The top soil pile was especially interesting.

Oct 22: Playing hookie with Grandpa Michael and forest. Instead of sitting behind a desk she walked on logs, threw rocks and dragged big fallen branches through the forest. Later that day, we went for a neighborhood walk where all the kids and adults got to do outdoor shenanigans like leaf and big branch throwing and rock jumping and chase.

Oct 13: This years Halloween crew: Shayna the rainbow leopard, Elijah as Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates because "Jake's a good guy," Maya the duck because all my children must wear this suit at least two years in a row, and our neighbor Diya the busy bee. Elijah out lasted the girls by half an hour.

Nov 7: Where there is a puddle, there my children will be jumping too.

Nov 8: Elijah first North America map, he already made two world maps.

Nov 14: My brother Aaron married the lovely Brandy Lynn in Eugene, OR and gave me the excuse, and a place to stay, for a wonderful, kid free weekend on my own.

Nov 18: Replacing batteries as needed; otherwise, just checking their sizes. I think we may have an engineer on our hands.

Nov 20: Listening to students say what they are thankful for at the first grade's Thanksgiving Tea. (She said she was thankful for her family and her liver transplant "so [she] could live".)

Nov 27: A dinner-snack picnic at Pandapas.

 

Nov 27: Elijah made it across then I slipped in, oops, then Shayna made it across.

Nov 30: Shayna and I went for a wet walk before her pneumonia diagnosing appointment. We were both excited to find a slack line next to the path; though, all either of us could do without the other's help was stand in one spot for a few seconds.