Yoni has lots of visitors

We had a number of visitors a couple of weeks ago. It was great seeing everyone, and introducing Yoni to them. Prior to the onslaught, we took Yoni to his first Purim festival; he "dressed up" as a dinosaur, which consisted of a dinosaur hat and shirt, both gifts from Savta Sandy. Although it wasn't the most creative of costumes, we think Yoni pulled off the transformation very well. See for yourself. . .

Jenni, a very good friend of Yael's from middle school and high school, whose mom and brother live in and around Chicago, came in to visit a couple weekends ago with her kids. Yoni doesn't like her. No, that's not true, but he sure isn't happy in this picture.

Jenni's kids, Maya and Jayson, were great with Yoni. Below Maya has lapped Yoni with skill, a talent she likely learned taking care of her younger brother.


Below Jayson is showing Yoni the magic trick that Matt, Jenni's brother, just taught him. Yoni was fascinated!

And now for a cuteness interlude . . .


Carolyn, Rob and their cuties Tarek and Isabelle came to visit over the weekend. Isabelle was a big flirt as is evidenced by these pics below.

And here she appears to be asking (well taking and eating, really) Yoni's hand. Yoni sure is popular with the ladies.


Tarek was a real sweetie, and gave us a preview of the sort of energy that Yoni is likely to exhibit in the years to come. All I can say is: Thank god for pharmacoparenting. A little bourbon in the sippy cup, an appropriately timed Benadryl, and all may return to a pace more compatible with sanity.
Here Yoni is with his first cousin thrice removed, Dorothy (Yael's maternal grandmother's first cousin). Dorothy, like Yoni's super Savta Bess, was much impressed with his ability to grasp her index finger. I can't wait to see how excited she gets when he can talk.


Yoni's Aunt Kate came all the way from the Netherlands to visit. OK, so maybe she had a little other business to take care of, but she made lots of time to spend with us. We and Yoni had a great time with Kate and finally had a chance to tour the Robie House, one of the Frank Lloyd Wright houses in Hyde Park. The house is a bit more impressive from the outside. To be fair, the house is still under a major renovation, but I get the impression that it isn't one of Mr. Wright's greatest creations.

My good friend Jason also had business and came to visit over the same stretch that Kate was in. Here is Jay in the obligatory Yoni shot. I'm afraid that someday Yoni might complain about being treated like the traveling gnome, except instead of showing up all over the world, those around the world show up with him. I would make another analogy, but I don't want to be deemed heretical, plus no one has brought any myrrh.


You probably thought this was the end, but nope! Below Yoni is hanging with his new friends Cristin, Billy, and whatever the combination of their very talented and beautiful genes will bring. Yoni is communing with the sub-belly bugger, perhaps feeling a little nostalgic.

Last but not least is the rambunctious Bev, coming all the way from the Holy Land, with her new best bud Shlomi (not pictured). It was a lot of fun having them with us, and being vegan for 2 days.
And finally, a big sigh of relief as our world turned back to normal as it ever is, which isn't very. Here are a couple pictures of our return to domesticity.


And finally, one picture which shows two important facts. One, Yoni is a big Tigers fan, and two, Andrew should be supervised when dressing him.