I was thinking about my nose this morning. Last night, when I went to pick up the karate carpool, I brought the baby, Zeli, with me. When Matan got into the car, he said to me, “Mommy! I knew that Zeli was here before I saw him. Do you know how? I could smell him.”

And then we started to discuss smells and how Zeli has a distinct smell, as do all babies, I think. I thought it was such a cute thing to say. The boys are in tune with each other enough to recognize the baby’s smell, even before they see him.

I love that they notice things like that – and that they are so tied to each other.

It also made me think about my own sense of smell and the associations that I make with it. One thing that is always hard for me when I pick Zeli up from his daycare is that he smells like the Maon. Don’t ask what that means, exactly, but I know the smell the second I pick him up. He smells like his nanny and like his daycare facility – and it always makes me sad when I get him because I want him to smell like me, and like home.

I always have the immediate instinct to smother him with kisses and to try to get rid of the daycare smell. Don’t get me wrong – I love his daycare. But, I also love the sweet smell he has when he gets out of the bathtub, and the delicious, warm smell he has on Shabbat when he’s home all day with me!

The nose is an amazing thing – and it’s so interesting to see the associations that we make with it.