Graduation, Shabbat Boston, Softball and 2 Playdates

On Friday, Simon "graduated" from the Gimel Class. They invited all of the parents to come for the Shabbat celebration and then the kids all sang songs and then they each got a diploma. It was really cute and made me feel better about missing the Spring Sing a few weeks ago! I now know why Simon always screams SHABBAT when we light candles and say the bracha together on Friday nights because at school, Dana says the bracha and then the kids all yell SHABBAT at the end. After they ate their challah, they all sat in a circle to sing some songs. Simon really wanted me to sit in the circle too, so Eli and I joined in. The teachers put on the music and as a song was starting, one kid said "ready guys?" and then all the kids immediately put their arms around each other in order to sing "Hinei Matov."
On the way out of school, Simon picked up his usual 4 pieces of challah, one for each of us. I ate mine, Eli ate his and Simon ate his and was holding David's piece. He asked me if it was ok if he took one bite of it and I said it was ok and that he could eat all of it if he wanted. He said he was going to save some for Dad. When we got out of the car, he climbed through the front seat and said "can you hold Dad's challah so I can get out of the car?" I said sure but didn't see that he was holding any challah. He handed me the tiniest crumb ever--that was the piece he saved for David!
After school, we stopped at Ducky's house to check on the construction. Simon walked in and said "what happened to this house??" He checked out the new windows and checked to see what was in the toilet that is currently in the middle of the kitchen (there was nothing in it). Then we came home and ate lunch and shortly after Eli went to take a nap, Silvia came over to play. They mostly played well together. After she left, Simon fell asleep on the couch while Eli and I finished cooking for Shabbos. Simon really wanted to stay up for dinner Friday night with all of our company so we let him although he didn't really end up eating anything. He did go to bed extremely easily though--I just brought him into his room and he got right into bed and went to sleep without even a story or one song.
Yesterday I slept really late and thanks to Simon coming into my room at some point and turning off the monitor, I didn't even wake up when David put Eli in for a nap (that's usually when I wake up on Shabbos mornings). I got up in time for lunch--we almost didn't have any food for lunch because I hadn't really considered lunch when I cooked for dinner and we basically ate everything for dinner. Ben and Gab (who had come for dinner) were nice enough to leave some chicken and rice outside our door so we didn't starve! After lunch, Simon and David took a short nap and then Eli and I woke them up when it was time to walk to a park way across town in the million degree weather for CJP's Shabbat Boston event. It was really nice and worth the walk. There was a guy doing activities for kids which Simon liked and then another guy came to sing songs. He asked if anyone knows something special that we do on Shabbat. Simon yelled out "I know, I know! We light the candles." David was glad that our thousands of dollars of tuition are actually worth something! The rain held out until we were on our way home and then we got caught in a massive downpour and I had forgotten to bring the rain cover for the stroller. Simon and Eli were good sports about it. At least it kept us cool!
This morning David left really early for his double-header softball game. I really wanted to get some packing done, so while Eli was napping, Ducky took Simon to watch the second game. Eli slept for a very long time so I was able to make some progress--I mostly organized our files that I haven't done since 2005, so while I didn't really pack much, at least I did something productive! David called me after the game and said that the only way he could get a screaming Simon to agree to pee in the grass (there was no bathroom at the park and he really had to go) was to offer to take him out for ice cream. I asked him to bring me a chocolate milkshake, but when they got home with it, Simon informed me "actually, this is my milkshake. You can have ONE sip."
After lunch and a nap, I took Simon to his friend Eitan's house for a playdate. They had a great time particularly when they pretended to be firemen outside for a very long time. At one point, they went upstairs to Eitan's room to get something and suddenly Simon yelled downstairs to me "Mom, is it ok if I climb up a ladder to get on a bed?" Eitan has a bunk-bed in his room and Simon had obviously never seen one before! Simon really didn't want to leave and insisted that he needed a treat for the car. Eitan's mom gave him a rugelach so he was happy.
When we got home, David and Eli were at Yael and Jesse's so we went to meet them there and we got to see their baby Shiraz who was awake for the first time that I've seen her--she is SO cute. Simon and Eli did not seem all that impressed by her--I guess they will like her better when she is more than 2 weeks old and can play with them! The whole walk home Simon was yelling "WHAT THE HECK OF YOU?" at the top of his lungs for no reason.
After his bath, Simon came to find me in the kitchen. The dishwasher was open and he asked me if he could press the buttons. I said no and he said "yes, I could push them if I want to." He is getting really fresh and it is going to become a problem!!