Mommy Told him He Couldn't Drive the Car

Call it sleep deprivation or find any excuse you like for this utter meltdown. But the caption states the truth:

Lucas after mommy told him, no, he was not allowed to drive the car.

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Twin Purpose

We may not be twins, but we are still double the work!

Dual purpose babies - this is how we roll

Two babies vs. two adults. Who wins in such a situation? It may seem evenly matched according to the numbers, but truthfully, two adults isn't enough to compete with two babies. Take the above photos for example: Who is going to dispose of the soiled diapers after they are removed from us and before we grab them with our quick fingers and fling them - and their contents - around the living room?

Two babies means adults must act fast and try to outthink us. That is not easy. Mimi and GongGong had to think ahead, as seen in this photo, and bring a plastic bag for the diapers and somehow remove them before we got our hands into them. Of course, there was another available adult - the one taking the photo and taking a momentary reprieve from parenting. Although, photographing one's children can be considered a necessary parenting obligation, so she gets a pass in this case.

The previous night, mommy and abba conspired while we slept. They stayed up late into the night and into the wee hours of the morning watching a TV show called Super Nanny, which was aired in a parenting dream marathon of endless episodes. Mommy and abba were taking notes in hopes of becoming wiser and understanding us better. So who wins in this situation: The parents who tried to better inform themselves on the advice of a professional in how to care for unruly babies, or the babies who rested during those hours thereby storing up even more energy for tantrums with more gusto than usual while the well informed parents were too sleep deprived to recall any word of advice spoken in the TV show?

Abba, however, explained the addiction to the reality show a little different. He enjoyed watching it because these other children featured on the show made us seem even more like the angels that we are. Now they can appreciate us, even in our meltdowns!

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Terem, Toys and Teething

Terem, for those of you unfamiliar with the finer points of Israel, is the emergency clinic near our house. It is our place to go when the doctor's office is closed and when we haven't quite reached ER status. 

Sharing secrets of the trade

When Lucas was born mommy wondered a lot about what differences would unfold between him and me. For better or for worse, she has found that there seems to be more in common than not, aside from our dashing yet divergent good looks. Allow me to elaborate. You knew I would anyway.

1. Drama

Though Lucas hasn't earned the label of "drama king" yet, he has already discovered that if he wants to be noticed around here he has a lot of competition, with me in particular. Accordingly, he jumped in on the action the other day when Uncle Matt and Aunt Majda paid their final visit to us. On their first two visits in early and mid May, I made sure to expose them to my drama of being sick, an episode they missed in NYC and all the many times in Israel. So both times they came by our apartment, I became the non-femme fatale and threw my head back with fever and tears. And both times, instead of a normal visit with all of us, Uncle and Aunt M&M ended up babysitting Lucas while mommy and abba carted me off to Terem.

We managed to go on one walk and get some
ice cream while they were here

And we managed to get a few family shots
before Lucas or I unravelled

Lucas unravelling

He held his own for at least one photo

Lucas enjoyed his first session with them. And while he enjoyed the second one as well, it was then that he began to wise up to my shenanigans. He kept this bit of information in his ever burgeoning brain for later use. That later use came this Sunday when Uncle and Aunt M&M came to bid us adieu before returning to the US. Now, it was his turn.

After more than 24 hours of incubating a fever that was unresponsive to over the counter drugs and practicing a pathetic cry (though not nearly as abysmal as mine), mommy wished M&M bye bye and then took Lucas to Terem. And there mommy learned that we have another thing in common:

2. The uncanny ability to recover as soon as we are admitted for medical care (except for my few hospital visits, which I milked each time)

Here's a video of me at Terem, "sick," two weeks ago followed by one of Lucas just mere days prior to this blog post:

It is amazing how just the sight of a doctor can cause us to perk right up. As you can see, we both bounced back rather quickly - and embarrassingly so if you ask the parents who rushed us out the door with our ailments and all.

3. Entertainment

Sure we provide stellar entertainment as the scrumptious babies that we are, but this bullet point deals instead with our need for entertainment. Mommy is having deja vu as she attempts to work from home. It was just this time last year that she had me at home while she tried to get things done, like a job for instance. It was my daily challenge to keep her distracted from her work and I succeeded admirably. Since then I have been carted off to Shalva's day care so that others can practice their entertainment skills.

This year, Lucas has taken on my mantle at home. Now he stares forlornly at mommy from his play map while he musters his best whimper to get her attention. He will not be easily persuaded with activities or plied with colorful toys. Even TV has a minimal effect on him. Lucas must be gazed upon in order to stem the tide of tears that threaten to pour from his eyes. Anything short of direct eye contact is, for Lucas, a slight. And rather unacceptable.

During his days at home with mommy, he makes sure to lure her to-do list to his own special recipe of tasks: me, me me! Hey, he learned from the best! (Clicking the link is advised)

Innocent as charged!

4. Teething

I don't have much to say about this dreaded topic except that Lucas and I are on the same cycle: tandem teething! Yes, we both are cutting all sorts of painful objects in our respective mouths. Simultaneously. And, amazingly, we really don't even notice the pesky process unless it is nighttime. That is pretty good, I think. To be able to endure 18 hours of probably pain and discomfort and only really respond to it during certain hours (particularly between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.) is an admirable trait and goes to show just how brave we really are. Just another thing that us brothers have in common!

Mommy? Abba?

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Hunkered Down for the Snow-pocalypse

(Warning: Illegally cute video at end of this post)

Shock and awe!

Though this is not - by far - my first snowfall, it is certainly the first one for which I was cognizant. And as you can see from the photos, I was quite surprised by this powdery, cold substance that was falling from the sky, furiously at times.

But more than a year before this rare snow "storm" in Jerusalem (zero accumulation, mind you), I lived through the real Snow-pocalypse in New York City - the blizzardS of 2010 and 2011. I was only a few months old so my memory of that is as hazy as the fog is over Jerusalem today. However, my parents have not stopped talking about the various ways in which it ruined our vacation in New York at the time.

At times the snow looked threatening

But Lucas threatened back with
his fierce smile

A view of the "storm" from our balcony

I never saw this in Jerusalem before!

Full disclosure: It was a lot of bark with little bite.
Nothing stuck. Poor snow was vanquished as it hit the ground.

But it was awe-inspiring while it lasted

In just two days of March, the weather has proven to be even worse than all of rainy, windy February. How is this even possible?

Today's challenge, thanks to said weather, was a bit different from when we were in New York: How to keep warm at home with no central heating as Jerusalem temperatures plummeted to 30s (Fahrenheit) outside and 50s in the apartment! My parents concocted all sorts of ways to stay warm including saving up laundry for today so they could use the dryer and channel the damp steam into the house; baking fattening foods thereby keeping the oven on; and pulling all the space heaters out of storage and running up the electric bill.

They also futilely cordoned off yours truly in the carpeted area so that I would stay warmer by not crawling on tile. That didn't last long as I found ways around the barricade into glorious freedom. Finally, the barricade was disassembled and the farce ended as I resumed my rule in the apartment, conquering room by room.

But we were all homebound for a predicted 48 hours since the interminable downpours, crazy winds, sprinkles of hail and yes, the snow, kept us seeking refuge in the semi-warmer apartment where at least we weren't getting wet. Yet.

I did use the time in lockdown wisely to get to know my baby brother Lucas a little better.

Getting to know Lucas. I am also pleased to meet you!

Here is a video of us getting to know each other and officially meeting at last, since I shake his hands (about 2 minutes into the video), which makes it official. As you can see in the video, we are communicating in baby code - and my parents don't understand a word of what we are saying! I do find these sessions rather frustrating though as my parents hold me back from fully expressing myself with my baby brother. I wonder why.

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A Time for Every Event: A Time to Be a Baby

Despite mommy never skipping a beat
with her coffee intake, Lucas manages to sleep

He like to chill

Perhaps I was a bit misleading in a previous entry, two posts ago, when I made Lucas sound like a Tolkien monster while I strummed a harp like a little angel bringing peace and harmony to mankind. These tiny and comatose newborns make bigger babies such as myself us look monstrous in comparison, both in weight and behavior.

The truth is that while Lucas acts like a newborn baby some of the time with his mysterious shrieks and duck call honk, he also acts very much like an infant in other ways. For instance, watching paint dry is a fascinating and riveting activity for him. Conversely, I am not satisfied with anything that does not provide loud bells and whistles, garish colors and sundry interactive buttons that may hold my attention for about 10 seconds. Maximum.

I suppose that for beleaguered parents the lethargic one is a welcomed break from my hyper-hyperness, my current phase of life. As you know, the Book of Ecclesiastes says there is a time for this and a time for that. For our purposes we will focus on a time to cry and a time to laugh, a time to tear down and a time to build up, a time to throw (stones) and a time to gather (stones), a time to be silent and a time to speak. While Lucas is displaying some of the baby times, I am profoundly working on the others. For instance, throwing. I don't throw stones, but I do toss anything that comes into my hands. At the moment, I'm not so keen on building up either, but I am an expert at tearing down. Lucas and I are both working on the "time to cry," and actually, we are both simultaneously as well working on a "time to laugh."

Here is an example of my laugh. I worked very hard on it as part of my school day at Shalva. I think I scored an A+, don't you?

Mommy and abba are wondering when the destructive phase of my life will be balanced with a constructive phase. I am adept at knocking down, dismantling and throwing. Building and returning things to their rightful place is still not in my motor-skill vocabulary. But this is a right of passage for all babies. We are expected to be destructive for what may seem like centuries but really is only just a few months (to years). This video illustrates the contrast of baby behavior from one month to one year and five months.

Lucas is is in a pre-destructive phase and so my parents can enjoy this time while grappling with mine. I suppose you could say that for all parents there is a time for this and that as well which directly corresponds to baby times:

A time to savor and a time to sigh in defeat.

A time to proudly take photos and a time to maniacally pull hair out.

A time to laugh. And, for them too, a time to cry!

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Baby in Slow Motion

Lucas is redefining my definition of "baby"

He simply chills while I need constant entertainment 

It seems that the new tenant just may be permanent, but I'm not 100 percent sure. This mysterious baby makes a few appearances during the day and then disappears for a couple hours at a time. I am still uncertain what he does in the meantime, whether he goes for a walk, enjoys a nice latte at a cafe or just sleeps. But then after about three hours, almost without fail, he returns with a resounding cry.

And when I say resounding, I am being polite. Banshee wail is more like it. Mommy and abba told me that as a newborn I had a cute cry that wasn't nearly as forceful as this one. Believe me, when Lucas cries, it sets everyone into action.

When he does appear, crying or not, I usually clap with glee at his arrival, and then promptly return to my toys. I'm not really sure what he does with his time, but if he weren't so sleepy, as I suppose newborns are, he'd be fun to play with.

Big yawn!

If he's not eating, he's either sleeping or about to go to sleep

"Silent Night (Mommy Wishes)." No, not these days.

All of this has served to redefine the word "baby." As I am a baby, and this is the "baby blogs" there is some confusion now as to what really comprises a baby, a creature that is already an enigma to adults globally. Who is the real baby here? Is it the sleepy one who awakes simply to enjoy a latte and then drifts off again to dreamland? Or is it the rowdy one who is starting to show strong signs of a tantrum and chatters without ceasing?

This baby has the ethereally soft newborn skin, but he also has baby acne from breastfeeding. I was smart - I waited eight weeks to nurse so I avoided the dangers of baby acne and maintained my porcelain complexion. However, now when my skin is compared to Lucas' people say it is not "as soft" or that I am losing that "baby skin." How dare they!

At least I have gained in another department. While Lucas' face is still unfolding from his womb time and his face still proportionately small compared to mine, I have recently developed some ample cheeks. Therefore I get kissed way more than he does. I have some generous peck pads now that extend to my chin and neck. And believe me, many have already taken advantage of that fact.

Is he laughing or crying? I'm laughing

Also, while my swirl is continuing to twirl into a pile on my head, this hairy little boy is already losing some of that mohawk with which he was born and is sporting a receding hairline. Simply put, he no longer has black hair on his forehead stretching from his eyebrows to his scalp.

Lucas also has those slow motion baby moves. When he is on his back he moves his hands through the air as if he is still swimming around in amniotic fluid.

Having been born a pound and a half heavier and two inches longer than I, Lucas is now speeding through his newborn clothes and is wearing a few of my hand-me-downs that I didn't wear till I was 3 months old or more! But having said that, with our different complexions he doesn't look as good in my clothes as I did. Whew.

Lucas is also a spitter upper! While I spoiled mommy and abba by not spitting up except on rare occasions, Pucas spits up after every meal. Yes, I called him Pucas. Someone has to prepare him for his schooldays when mean kids will torture him for his name. As a big brother, I feel it is my duty to do so.

So this makes Lucas a one-hit wonder with his outfits. One outfit a day and then it goes into the laundry. He is much harder to keep up with than I was, being a veritable angel baby, as defined by the Baby Whisperer and confirmed by my parents. No, I'm not writing out of jealousy, I'm simply noting the differences in as much of an objective way as I can.

Regardless, now we have even more and varying definitions of baby in this small apartment. I daresay this next chapter of the baby blogs is going to bring more revelation and even more confusion to adults worldwide as babies grow up alongside each other and continue to confound and perplex the learned.

Our living room has become a changing station for diapers.

As big brother, I took Lucas out to his first cafe!
I vow to show him the ropes of the important things. 

Lucas' first cafe experience - 10 days old.
Its never too soon for a baby to learn about cafes.

Although he's already a latte expert. Just ask mommy!

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And Then There Were Three

Teething math: One

Two

Four fingers.

New York really is the city that never sleeps. Since I've been here I've had not one. Not two. But THREE teeth.

Of course that has slightly disrupted my festivities here with a little bit of grief and moaning. But in the end I've been rewarded with wincing adults who are still finger feeding me food and chance upon my sharp kitten incisors.

But since the first miserable one came through, the others that followed were a lot easier to handle and haven't caused as much angst among family and friends, not to mention my own mandibles. As you will see in an upcoming post, these teeth have come in handy from pizza to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

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And I Thought I Had it Bad

Note the ring of drool on my shirt

I think I said this last week, but if this isn't teething, I don't want to know what teething is. But then again, at least it isn't open heart surgery! Been there, done that. However, my friend Mattie has his today.

Mattie is about two months younger than me and he has lived in the hospital since he was born! Whew! That, I cannot imagine. Hopefully after this surgery he will be able to finally go home. Please pray for Mattie like you did for me and then Hallel. I will keep you posted, but for more in depth reports from Mattie's mommy, based in Kansas City, USA, go here: http://tracieloux.wordpress.com/

I can't complain too much. But I will a little bit: Yesterday was a particularly grueling day as I drooled enough to fill an ocean. My thumb, other fingers and palm were sore from me gumming them all day. I moaned and travailed throughout the day and sought refuge behind a bottle or Baby Einstein Beethoven. Anything to keep the focus off my mouth.

In the meantime, however, allow me to issue a warning to the adults in my life: Stop prying into my mouth! I have established a moratorium on the "tooth watch" that takes place several times a day whether it is mommy or abba or friends of theirs who pull my lips apart and peer into my mouth in an effort to determine conclusively whether my odd behavior is being stimulated by the emergence of those pearly whites. Now I resist them by squeezing my lips shut and jerking my head back and forth wildly, making a good peek impossible.  

Everyone, of course, is hoping that teeth would mean an end to this minor disruption to my angelic behavior. However, lurking in the back of everyone's mind is the statement of the dentist who said that there is no proof that teething hurts us babies, casting doubt on whether or not there are any teeth popping through my gums at all. Then how would my latest idiosyncrasies be explained? 

Oral obsession

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Plagued by "Hospital Lag"

It was this bad at one point: As soon as they acknowledged consciousness one morning, abba and mommy stumbled into the kitchen to, first, consult the coffee pot, and then Dr. Google. "Baby screaming inconsolably at night following surgery." The search went something like that, perhaps less coherent.


It turns out, I am not alone in my crusade against nighttime sleeping. 


As you all know I am an accomplished warrior in fighting naps, but I had a peace treaty with the night. Until the hospital. Apparently what happens to babies and young children who have been hospitalized is that they return home with some sort of mysterious trauma and they cannot sleep at night. Maybe even some night terrors thrown into the mix. It seemed that way anyway as I wailed inconsolably. One night, we almost went back to the hospital.



Before we left the hospital, the doctors assured mommy and abba that I wasn’t in any pain. Of course, the doctors did not ask me, they just purported that I was fine. Meanwhile, I had a still-healing 5-inch scar, which spans most of my small chest, bruises from the IV lines and wires threaded into my heart, and I was and still am constipated, badly, which is an inevitable result of surgery, so they say. But regardless of the medical inconsideration to my plight, pain really wasn't the source of my restless night.


"Hospital lag" is the reason. After spending all my time under fluorescent lighting, I don't know night from day. I am accustomed to being jarred from my sleep by a probing nurse who absolutely must take my temperature while I am sleeping. I still hear in my mind the cacophony of all the other babies crying in the ward. All these little things have added up to one very large loss of sleep in the last several nights.


Meanwhile, so much has transpired in my world. Let me take you back to Sunday, a very sad day.


Mimi & GongGong
My grandparents who were here spoiling me with love, coffee slushies and TV have departed. That was a very sad moment. Although the reality didn't hit me until the next morning when they didn't show up to rescue me from my crabby parents. (I don't understand why I am surviving on 6 to 7 hours of sleep a day but my parents cannot.)

Mimi & GongGong smothering me with bye-bye kisses

I miss them already. Breakfast with Mimi. TV time with GongGong. We had many good times until they had to crawl back into the computer and appear only at varying intervals during the day.

Don't let my face fool you - I loved my last Tal Bagels meal with M&G

Feed me too!

Thanks :)

Proof that GG didn't ONLY watch TV with me

Is that Mimi watching TV with me?

Clean Bill of Health
On Monday we visited the surgeon for one last time. I will miss Dr. Erez but I hope not to meet him again under the same circumstances. He checked me out and declared that I am fit and ready to return to my full regimen of activities, especially spa day! I will do so next week.

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A Short Long Run

Try as you may to entertain me, today I am inconsolable

It is Saturday, Shabbat, Day O'Rest for us here in Jerusalem. Mommy can't walk due to her "short" long run yesterday, a particularly torturous affair, and abba just pulled a back muscle dancing with me and singing along with my "Baby's First Words in Italian" CD just to keep me entertained. What a family we make as I too am suffering in my own way.

Me protesting that vile strawberry flavoured
(it is written in British) acetaminophen fever-reducer

I've been a tough critic these days. For one, I've had an eye infection (mostly cleared up now). Also I'm sporting a low-grade fever that is keeping me particularly irritable. Mostly I just like to keep my parents guessing. Once they get comfortable with my habits, I do something new to regain control of the situation. It is part of my development, both physically and mentally. Physically, of course, I'm learning new movements every day. And mentally, I'm sharpening my mind with the adults in my life, which it is good for them too, like doing crossword puzzles or learning new languages to ward off Alzheimer's. 



Fridays are when mommy goes for her long run in her marathon training program. Yesterday's was a tough one for some reason even though it was a "short" 14 miles. Somehow the 18 miler last week was not as painful. And lately, worse than the pain is the boredom - Jerusalem is a small city and mommy is starting to dread the long runs for the repetitiveness more than the physical abuse. I keep telling her to charge her iPod and download a few interesting podcasts, but then I disrupt her train of thought with my mystical communication and, while trying to decipher my messages, she forgets all about the iPod until it is time for her next run.


Fridays are fun for me because abba and I hang out in the morning and stroll around Baka and the German Colony caught up in the Friday rush of pre-Shabbat shopping, traffic jams and revelers getting in their last opportunity to eat out for a whopping 36 hours (you cannot find a free table at any cafe anywhere in Jerusalem on a Friday morning). This is our supporting role in mommy's marathon effort, to shop and wait with a hot cappuccino at the end of her run. 

It is the least we can do. :)

(And here is the article Mommy wrote about the miners on Thursday.)

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Sleepover!!

So all day yesterday and last night I was in a bad mood. I did what they call "fuss" at various intervals. I didn't give mommy my blog dictation. And I also, miraculously, took some real naps, like more than 10 minutes each. Based on this, my parents knew, something was up.

Earlier in the day, Lucie and I watching TV together

I did go to bed like the angel that I am at bedtime. However, I awoke at midnight signaling that yes, something was wrong. I had a fever! It was very low, and I'm sure the fleece swaddle contributed to the high body temperature (don't mock me for still being in a swaddle - I feel it helps me maintain my baby charm!). But nevertheless I was a little down. Immediately mommy and abba came up with some new sleeping arrangements: After coaxing some acamol (Israeli equivalent of tylenol) down my throat, it was decided that I would sleep in the big people bed with mommy, and that daddy would graciously move to the couch. He offered. I didn't protest. 


There's nothing like falling asleep holding hands with mommy. I was duly comforted and went back to sleep shortly thereafter and slept through till well after sunrise. No fever but still feeling a tad lethargic. We'll see what today holds and now let's see where I end up sleeping tonight!

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