Summer 2014

Summer has been flying by since Lev was released from school in early June. Between trips to the beach, playgrounds, pool, and their favorite indoor playground Under The Sea as well as good times spent with friends I have been able to keep them busy. Lev is eager to start Kindergarten at his new school, Ocean Charter, and that was the plan all along. They love watching tales of Tinker Bell together, Bob's Burgers with Alec, and Ilana has committed each Disney Princess to memory.

The other plan was to get the two kids really tight. They had their own daily schedules all year and I wanted them to spend more time with each other and lean on each other for company. I think its been successful. They have their own inside jokes and special games now and do miss each other when the other is not around for whatever reason. But they still squabble more than I would like as siblings do, over the dumbest things like the last cheese puff or the green ball.

Ilana has developed astonishingly since her second birthday. She is fiercely independent, to her own determent. Insisting on doing EVERYTHING for herself, things that could take 2 minutes take 20. Clothes are on backwards and inside out, shoes are on the wrong feet.

But its not worth the tantrum of making her ask for help so I let her assert herself. She knows her letters, completely self taught, which came as a happy surprise. And she just finished potty training and is in underwear, after less than a week. Amazing.

Cute things she says:
"What the heck?!"
"Oh man"
"You are a good mommy" when I am being stern. Smart girl.
"I'll do it"
"Get out of my room"
"Never ever" when its bedtime
"Cut my pickle"
And when I ask her why she is so smart she answers" Cuz I want to"

Dressing herself. Sassy.

She loves to be naked. And barefoot. Everywhere.

Lev is very observant and asks interesting questions like how you die, how do oil rigs work, how do bums become bums, and such. You know, typical things you would notice living in LA. Sometimes I know how to answer him, sometimes I don't. But I like that he asks the questions. His drawing and design sense is also getting really impressive. He likes going to show rooms with me and picking out his own samples.

Frozen Birthday Party

As Lev turned 5 and Ilana 2 we decided to have Frozen themed birthday party. They both sing the theme songs obsessively, have seen the movie numerous times, and its just a crowd pleaser for boys and girls alike. This may be the last year we are able to coax them into a joint affair so we hired "Elsa" to come and entertain the children.

 Homemade cakes.

 The Boose girls know how to dress for the occassion.

 Elsa kept the kids engaged.

 It was a beautiful day for being outside on the grass.

 A snowball fight at the end of the party.

Ilana at 23 Months

Alec has been giving me a hard time about not updating the blog, even though it makes sense to check in at an even 2 years, but its been a while so here we go ;)

Ilana is quite the little lady now with clear ideas about where to go, what to eat, what to watch, and how to dress. She says "I'll do it" for everything to the point of taking off shoes I just put them back on herself. If I pick a shirt for her she will reject it and pick her own shirt out. Things take extra long but when she gets stuck she knows how to ask for help.

Another thing she says all the time now is "OK, I WILL" when I ask her to do anything. Its adorable. She is obsessed with Frozen, like all of America's children, and sings the songs to herself all day and believes her Cinderella doll is actually Elsa. She calls herself a Princess and talks about Elsa all the time. Lev likes the sound track too so that's one thing they can agree on.

Also, green is her favorite color so every spoon and fork she eats with must be green, her clothes, her food. Green food part is good actually. She ends up chowing down on Kale and green juice to my delight.

On a typical day we will drop off Lev at school where she hangs with Mila, Liam's younger sister. Her friends are also Mia, Dylan, and Harper - Lev's friends' baby sisters. She meets them at the playground or parties and always looks forward to girl time.

Then we may stop at Starbuck's for a latte and cookie break. One of her favorite things to do with me (and mine too). We will people watch and chat.

Followed by the playground to tire her out. With so many sunny mornings in LA, who can refuse.

We may do another activity in the afternoon after her nap and picking Lev up school. The two of them are really into crafts and art lately. Lev is getting quite good. And Ilana likes to express herself through messy paint and markers.

Followed by a bath. Its a charmed life, for sure.

The two of them get along very well. They squabble over equal measures of TV time or toys, but overall they are eachothers best friend and seek each other out which is endearing. Ilana will gladly take directions from Lev and participate in whatever game he has planned for them. He will tenderly protect her from rough kids, wake her up from naps, and teach her games on the ipad.

Lev continues to excel at PreK. He is doing simple math, learning his letters and itching to read, and dominating freeze dance. We recently filled some cavities for him. 4 so far, 4 more to go. he was very brave and mature about it. If only we could get him to stop eating so much candy.

Ilana at 20 Months

Ilana continues to be a super sweet angel. She admires Lev to no end and is always thinking about him. If she gets juice, she wants juice for Levy. When he is at school she asks for him. She copies every gesture and noise he makes. When he includes her in the game it is the highlight of her day. They really do love eachother and make great buddies when they aren't squabbling.

She is still a cuddle bug but she is developing an independent streak. SHE decides when to wear shoes or a jacket, she decides not to brush her hair or change a diaper, and if you cross her a fit will be had. Like Lev who can be sassy with his "whatever, blah blah blah" teenage attitude, Ilana says oKAY when you ask her to do something and it feels like she would roll her eyes if she could at you.

She can speak very well now. Her vocabulary is hundreds of words and she strings together simple sentences so it is very clear what she wants to communicate.

She is also pretty good at pretend games - like cooking in her play kitchen soup that is too hot and she needs to blow on for you. Or putting her heels and purse on and walking out the door for "sushi, bye! have fun".

Ilana is very aware of characters ike Hello Kitty, Sesame Street, and Mickey Mouse.

Some cute things:

• Swings are her favorite thing at the playground and she likes to go high and get butterflies.
• Ilana is very concerned with fairness: "my turn", "stop it", "you went first", and after she goes down the slide she yells "your turn"
• Katy Perry's Roar is her favorite right now and she actually sings "ro-o-o-oar" while Lev's is Katy Perry's TGIF so you can imagine how irritating those two songs can be in heavy rotation all day long.
• She is very concerned with feelings and when Lev is cross she says "Lev ANGRY" and makes a scowl and then wants "Lev happy". She will try to cheer you up by what she thinks are jokes and then says "funny? again?"
• She knows her colors, animals+sounds, and is great at simple puzzles. Lev is trying his best to teach her counting but that might be out of grasp yet.

Lev is beginning to become a very good artist - his drawings are imaginative and better defined. He will also tell you he is a good actor. He threatens to "not be your best friend" when you try to discipline him which happens about 10 x a day, so I guess we aren't besties. That honor goes to Nico Petrigliano and Aidan from school.



He is very excited about Christmas after enjoying Channukah. Every day he asks to open his presents or adds more items to his wish list. It will be a good year for him, I'm sure.

Our neighbors got a puppy that the kids ask to play with every day. Its a good time when we notice the puppy came out.

Spooky Halloween 2013

Halloween this year was the best one yet. It was just really supremely fun. The kids really got into the spirit. There was a Halloween party at Cameo Woods for the kids the previous Saturday and it was super cute with a balloon "artist" and some mini trick or treating.

Halloween Day Lev enjoyed some pregame festivities with his class. he came home with a big bucket full of toys, stickes, and temporary tattoos. Then the parents were invited for a pot luck lunch with the Little Dippers class at Lev's school, followed by a parade. Some parents went overboard and the spread was quite impressive. Ilana was happy to sit quietly and chow down but Lev ran around with the boys in their super hero costumes instead. Then they all lined up to do a circuit of the school parade, waving blindly to the crowds like little reigning kings and queens. It was adorable.

Lev was a knight. We had  bought him a Captain America costume he had promised to war but then got the idea of a knight costume somewhere along the way and refused Captain America. We didn't want to reinvest more money into costume #2 so I hobbled together this outfit from a Goodwill find and a cape. There was a sword and shield too but he lost that priveledge when he used them too roughly on other kids.

Ilana was a Pegasus and I was surprised by her comfort level in the suit. Once it was on, she was game to trot around from house to house with her pumpkin bucket and take a candy here, a candy there. No shyness and she kept up with Lev's ratio, just not his speed. She got really possessive of her stash and wouldn't let me hod it for her, even when it got heavy. Scared I might steal some candy from her?

We had hoped they would nap before heading out to trick or treat in Pam's neighborhood, but no such luck. They were too excited. We got together with the same families we have been trick or treating with for the past few years and it was as good as always. Alec and I cobbled together some random costumes. Pam tried to concoct Halloween inspired drinks and introduced us to chocolate wine. I was again impressed with the finger foods selection she put together for the kids. Pretty amazing - oranges hollowed out and carved to look like jack o lanterns that held fruit. Homemade kale chips. You get the picture. 

Their neighborhood was really happening. Many groups walking around, lots of houses with extreme decorations. The kids love dit so we kept going farther and farther from home base to see more houses and get more candy. We finally made it back and Nico and Lev enjoyed sitting on the stoop and handing out treats too. Lev was mad when we had to wrench him away to go home for bed. The kids were both exhausted and fell asleep right away, leaving us to watch some American Horror Story. A perfect Halloween.