First joke?

Ayala is right that Mikael has really had Ayala's birthday pumped into him pretty intensely for the past couple of weeks. We also talked about it quite a bit yesterday as we planned for the restaurant and when we drove to the restaurant and once we were at the restaurant. We sang all the birthday songs we know in all the languages we know. There was a brief lull in the intensity while we ate, but when desert came around, we came back to the same theme. So, one the fourth time we asked him whose birthday it was while waiting for he desert, he got a sly grin and he said "Savta Rina." Everyone laughed. He was pleased as punch that he'd gotten a reaction, so he said it again, "Savta Rina yesh hayom yom huledet." Savta Rina laughed so hard, I thought she'd never stopped. Mikael was quite proud of himself.

Indigo end of the year party

We'll probably have more pictures from this end of the year party once Caro posts the official ones, but here are a few pictures and some video of the final ceremony. We got a great book with Mikael's name and his picture on the cover and a DVD with a fun video of all of the Indigo activities as an end-of-the-year present. The parents committee (that's us!) gave all of the gananot (no good word for this in English) flowers and VIP ticket for dinner and a movie as a big thank you. I included the gananot in the passing through ceremony video because it's nice to see who they are, I think.

 

 

 

Vimeo.

Birthday marathon stage 2: Mevasseret

Mikael's birthday this year fell on the festival of Shavuot so we had a long weekend to really enjoy it. After the coffee shop, we all had a nap and then headed out to Mevasseret for a holiday dinner plus birthday party. We're getting worse and worse about pulling out the camera, but Yoel did us the favor of getting the birthday moments down on film.

Cousin Netta, who made the lovely cake, helped Mikael light the candles.

First we had to put the candles on the cake

Then Mikael's favorite part: the actual lighting of the match and then using it to light the candles.

We even  had birthday sparklers!

Mikael got two gifts from the Donchins. One was a great book. The other was a wooden train set that I had played with as a small child and then Dror had played with after that and then Yael and Netta.  It's still in quite excellent shape and brings me a smile because I remember it quite vividly.

Tamar, Yael's daughter was also at the birthday and enjoyed the cake. Here she is with her Savta Milka.

Nadav's Bar Mitzvah: The Party

We stayed until the party until quite late. Mikael had a blast. He ate tons of yummy food (it was totally out of control what they had) and then did a lot of dancing and then rode the elevator up and down and up and down and then danced some more and then hung out with Tal and then rode the elevator some more and then had chocolate for desert and so on and so forth. Here are a couple of videos we took during the party; I'm particularly pleased with the second one. Nadav is the kid dancing at the beginning of the first video. I'm sure eventually there will be official pictures and video, too.


Vimeo.


Vimeo.

More photos from the party

Caro uploaded her photos to Facebook (I'm getting more and more impressed with Facebook, actually). I'm going to copy some of the ones that give a sense for the party and ones that actually include my son into here. Anyone who wants to keep track of my son's nursery school can join the אינדיגו group on Facebook and receive ongoing updates and see all the pictures.

Videos from the party

A couple of videos from the party: Mikael in the pool and at the piano. The piano is definitely a must-see. He spent a lot of time bouncing up and down to the music and expressing himself at the keyboard. We wish we knew more about encouraging all this intense musical interest.


Untitled from Opher Donchin on Vimeo.


Untitled from Opher Donchin on Vimeo.