A major update and Lots of Pictures!

Too much to write for a big apologetic introduction, so without further ado, here is our once-monthly update on the goings on in and out of the Kellman household...

When we last left you, Maayan was having a great time in her classes and saying tons of new words and phrases every day. Well, nothing to update on that front, she still is. :-)

Diving right into what we've been up to...On Mother's Day, we had a busy day. After our resident Mom had breakfast in bed, we made our way to Central Ave. to buy a Table and Chairs for Maayan (pictured below). One successful trip to Buy Buy Baby later, we headed North to the Greenburgh Nature Center, a 33-acre woodland preserve, with live animals, a museum, a greenhouse with botanical exhibits, and a hands-on discovery room. We happened to get lucky and catch the one day a month they give tours, so we got a half hour tour of the grounds and the animals they keep. You'd never know this place was 30 seconds off of Central Avenue! We left the Nature Center and headed to Nancy and Jeff's house for Brenna's birthday dessert party/Mother's Day celebration. A good time was had by all, and Maayan really enjoyed playing on Jeff and Nancy's backyard slide and swing.

The past month marked another milestone in Maayan's young life, as she started using the potty. She asks to use it every so often and has made on the potty successfully a number of times. We're not about to stop using diapers, but its really cute that she's interested and enjoys it.

The next Sunday, we visited Bubby on the West Side, and walked through a street fair while we were there. Maayan had fun playing with some marionettes and puppets (pictured). We also bought some books for the Balsams, who we were going to visit in Silver Spring for Shavuot that week. Shavuot was a blast, all the kids had a great time playing together, and there was PLENTY of good food for all.

Sunday we met up with Michael, Idana, Noam and Shai at the Bronx Zoo. Lions and Monkeys and Giraffes oh my! we think it was hard for Maayan to see some of the animals that were far away, and she'll probably enjoy the zoo more as she gets older, but the monkeys were all she really needed to enjoy herself. And now that we're members, we hope to go more often.

That shabbos we drove down to East Brunswick to visit with our friends the Schneiders. Though Maayan and Lilly had some rough moments, and sharing wasn't first on the agenda, all in all I think they both enjoyed themselves. We even managed to get a picture of them both smiling :-) (below).

This past shabbos our friend Lyat stayed with us for shabbos and our friends Miriam and Gabe came for lunch with Miriam's sister Chani. We had so much fun over shabbos that the day flew by and Maayan didn't even need to go to the shabbos park. And though I'm sure I've skipped tons of important events, that brings us to today. Our friend Judy Feldman had the great idea to head on down to Sesame Place. So, Lanie, Maayan and I met up with Josh, Judy, Sarah & Penina, and Ari, Leah, Talia and Ilan Feldman for a great day of Sesame characters, rides, pools and even some afternoon sunshine. When we got there, the weather was cool and overcast, which was great because it meant no lines, but not ideal for a water park. So Maayan DID NOT enjoy the first ride we took her on. It took her most of the morning to start trusting us again, but once we found the Elmo show (which she LOVED), and the sun came out, and we could play in the pools, she had a great time. At first she wasn't interested in going in the wading pools, but Lanie got her in, little by little, to the point where she was fearlessly wading into chest-high water (granted that's not very high, but it was a big step for her).

That about sums up our last month...we were busy I guess. Sorry if the writing wasn't so exciting, but not every post can be pulitzer price material.

Enjoy the pictures below, and have a wonderful night!



Maayan Loves smelling flowers


Testing out her new Table and Chairs


Having fun on Mother's Day


So THIS is how it works!?


Playing with Cousins in Silver Spring



Oooh! Monkeys!


Having fun visiting with Lilly Schneider