Even here in Israel, Anna looks different. Actually that's not true. We look different. Anna looks like one of the nearly 100,000 Ethiopian Jews who have immigrated to Israel over the past two decades. We look different here, just as we do in the States. Although it is much more common - perhaps in fact the norm - to see Jews of 'minority' races, it is still less common to see a mixed family such as ours.

What I love though, is how people stare at her much less here. In the States, especially in certain areas, people openly stare at her, and I don't like it. Although she is still little, there will come a day when she realizes that people are staring and will have to deal... more

Hello again! I am writing from our room in the Dan Panorama - a really classy and expensive hotel. What happened was that we had planned out our trip for the two weeks that we are here but left out plans for Monday night - we decided to give ourselves a bit of leeway and wanted to decide later where we wanted to go or where we wanted to spend an extra day. After spending a long weekend at my cousin's near Ashkelon, it occurred to me on Monday morning that I still hadn't figured out where we were sleeping that night. After calling around... more

Just a quick post - We are staying with family for a few days with spotty internet access. Will be back online late on Monday. Having a blast - wish you were here!

Hello from Jerusalem! We have been here a few days, but this is the first time we were able to get the internet thingie to work. So here I am now. We landed on Friday morning in Tel Aviv. Unfortunately, I realized that I had forgotten a car seat while we were on our way to the airport in the United States (a friend was driving us). I had called ahead to the car rental place before we got on the plane but of course I couldn’t get through. And lo and behold, when we got there they were all out of car seats. I ended up leaving my husband and Anna at the airport, driving to a nearby city to buy a car seat, drove back to the airport to get them, and then we were finally on our way about lunch time.... more

So, I'm now up at 2:41 am because - well - for no good reason. I have a ton of stuff to do tomorrow, one would think I should be sleeping, but alas sleep has eluded me this evening and I'm therefore typing a semi-coherent blog post.

Things Anna has said today that made me smile:

"Daddy, where did your beard go?" (My husband gets frustrated from time to time by his, um, hairyness and nearly shaves his head and beard from time to time. Afterwords he forget how much it bothers him and grows it back. He's at the shaving point right now)

"Daddy, you still have haircuts."

"My skin is brown like my skirt but my feet are white on the bottom like my shirt! That's funny!"

"Your... more

So, I've posted in the past on the fun we have at my house in the middle of the night. If you've missed those posts, you're cordially invited to catch up.

Anna is now approaching 3 1/2 years old. When she came to us at 14 ish months, she would spend hours and hours screaming at the top of her lungs in the middle of the night - or frankly any other hour of the day. When I explained the situation to her doctor, he said to let her scream, and that eventually... more

So, Anna had her surgery yesterday and is doing fine. She was totally hysterical the morning of her surgery at the hospital - more freaked out after the actual procedure than before. They let me come into the operating room with her and then I had to leave after they put her to sleep. I cried when I left. She was so scared - it was so scary - and there was nothing I could do to help her.

The worst of it, I think, was that when she woke up, I wasn't there to comfort her. Even after they called me to come to her she wouldn't stop crying - sobbing and screaming - until we got home. She had slept so very little... more

What is minor surgery? My father always said that it was the kind of surgery that other people had. It seems that when something is happening to you, or more importantly your child, it is never really minor.

Nonetheless, Anna is going in for what I am told should be minor surgery tomorrow. Before she came to us, she had tubes put in her ears because of frequent ear infections - something it seems which is becoming more and more common in young children today. The tubes are generally supposed to take care of the ear infections and are also supposed to fall out by themselves within two years. However, she's had recurring ear infections over the last year to year and a half, and it seems... more

I am trying to remember at what age kids usually go through their nudist phase.

In our circles, it is generally encouraged and accepted that people will try to dress "modestly" which means different things to different people. To some, it's dressing modestly only during synagogue services. To others, it is at all times in public, and to others still it is at all times, even in one's own home.

Obviously, there is a great deal of leeway given to young children, but there comes a time when you want your kid to start growing up a bit. Anna is now potty trained (yeeee haaaah!) and a few months past her third birthday. Although I grew up in a less traditional environment and dressed... more

Okay. That's it. I really, really have to find a place in my house - one designated place - to put things when I want to take it away from Anna, keep it out of her reach, but still be able to find it at a later point in time. I am 4' 11" so often when I put things up high they are out of my line of vision as well. I am in a rush today - okay, not that big a rush because here I am typing - and I need to find my digital camera. Now. I'm leaving a position in a few weeks and, um, the camera isn't so much mine as it is theirs. And I need to give it back. And I would like to use it today. Any Star Trek fans? I really need the ability to say, "Computer, locate my digital... more