Mika and Liana Day

Well, to tell the truth, Liana is still not so sure about me/us. She looks at me dubiously when I am holding her and then sometimes her little face just starts to look sadder and sadder and then eventually she starts to cry.  But she is better if you hold her facing away and she can watch all the activity around her, especially Mika. And she is best if she is on the floor playing with things she can grab. She can do that for a good long time, and anyone is allowed to watch her.  

But Liana spent most of the day out with her Mama at a mothers' day out event, wearing Purim costumes together. Yael built their whole costume set out of a leopard bikini that someone gave Liana. We will have to get some copies of the pictures. They are over the top.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Mika woke up feeling a little bit better. Benjamin said she perked up considerably when she heard me arrive. Jon was shopping for breakfast supplies for us. Mika and I had some breakfast together and then we got organized to go to the doctor for a check-up since she had a fever for a little over three days.  

When we were sitting out in the waiting room, Mika said, "I don't want to go in that room." And when we did go in to see the doctor, she stayed in Benjamin's lap and wouldn't look at the doctor, getting increasingly agitated. By the time the doctor wanted to listen to her with the stethoscope, Mika was howling. She didn't stop protesting until the exam was over, including a throat swab. The doctor was very nice, spoke to Mika directly in Hebrew, but Mika wasn't giving an inch. She never said a word to her.  Afterwards, when we were sitting in the pharmacy waiting for a prescription (possibly strep but the real test won't say until Sunday), I said, "that was a nice doctor."  And Mika responded, "But she did bad things."

Lunch, does it seem all the pictures are of us eating?

Jon brought piles of fruit when he came to join us, and the strawberries were the biggest hit (for Mika, "tutim" is still a word that can be used for any desirable food in her imagination, but strawberries are the best).  We spent the afternoon hanging out. When Mika woke up from her nap, the three of us went out for a walk because it was so sunny and beautiful. 

We weren't sure how far we would get, but our destination was the park (gan) that is their main walking destination. Uphill most of the way. Mika marched all the way to the gan, got a turn on the swings, played with Jon on the see-saw, we shared an orange, and then we walked to our apartment. After another little snack, we started the walk home. 

Mika got about 100 feet from the door and went on strike, silently standing still without moving a muscle, expressionless, comatose. It was her passive way of saying she had walked far enough, thank you. So I carried her the rest of the way home, downhill all the way, something I could never have done last year.

Back to their house.

Yael teaches dance on Thursday nights, so we hung out with the girls while Benjamin tried to get a little bit of work done. I don't think he got much done, but Mika did get a bath and Liana survived her grandparents, mostly. Jon made dinner from what was in the kitchen (not his style, but he toughed it out). Mika and I started the bedtime routine and she was in her bed when she heard the front door close. "What was that?" "I don't know, should I go and check?" "Maybe it was Mama."  It had been a long day without Mama, so that was perfect.

It was a grandparents day from start to finish. I was impressed with how far Mika walked after being sick at home for so many days. She is certainly getting better. When I told her that Liana didn't really like me yet, she said pensively, "well, I like you." And this was after I had washed her hair, another activity that makes her howl.

It's a long way to go for a day with Mika, but we are already thinking about the next time we come.