BOO!

Abba taught Ariel a great game today. The game is called "Boo!" It goes like this: You come up very quietly next to someone and shout "BOO!" and then everybody doubles over in peals of laughter.

Abba "boo'ed" Ariel once -- at which point Ariel started laughing so hard he almost cried -- and then Ariel figured it out and spent the better part of Shabbat afternoon saying "BOO" "BOO" "BOO" over and over! He even tried it on the cat, but it didn't go anywhere (though she did!).

Then, just when it seemed Ariel had forgotten about it, and Abba had gone and lay down on the couch for a nap.... Ariel crept over and shouted "BOO!" in Abba's ear! Silly abba -- you teach me the game, you're stuck with the results! Ariel also decided that the middle of "Corduroy" was a good time to shout "Boo" once more!

We're waiting to see if he shouts "Boo!" all day tomorrow in daycare!

And if you're still reading....

Ariel's new words (and better pronounced old words) are: mouth, pees (please -- he's got the S sound now), wash, eat (with the sign), gapes (grapes), gotcheese (cottage cheese, not goat cheese), wheeeeee (slide), and boo (obviously). His favorite books to read to himself are the Dr. Seuss ABC board book and Hippos Go Berserk (because there is a BUS in it). He reads himself to sleep -- in his bed, surrounded by Elmo and Ima's bear Cocoa, his sippy cup of water, one or two pacifiers, his Mickey Mouse toy videophone (in case he needs to call for backup at 4 a.m.), and his blankie.

He is obsessed with buses (and big-buses -- the double buses), trucks (gucks), cars, airplanes (aypayms), and helicopters (hecos).

He also -- recently -- began announcing "OOGA" and then walking in a circle!. It only took Ima ten minutes of saying "Ariel, tell me what you want in English" before she figured out that Ariel was just announcing the song he was about to dance to! He just wanted Ima to sing along for him!

Ooga Ooga Ooga is a Hebrew rhyming children's song which goes like this (it's kinda like musical chairs, but no one gets out -- instead, everyone holds hands and goes in a circle):

עוגה עוגה עוגה במעגל נחוגה נסתובבה כל היום עד אשר נמצא מקום לשבת לקום לשבת לקום לשבת לקום לשבת ולקום

"Cake, cake, cake / We go around in a circle / We go around all day long / Until we find a place / To sit down / to stand up / to sit down / to stand up / to sit down / and to stand up."

No, I don't know why it starts out "cake, cake, cake." I guess it rhymes.

BOO!