The Amazing Duck with Down syndrome

First Grade.

First Grade.

We are in the last moments of Down Syndrome Awareness Month, October 2018, and so it is with no small sense of excitement that I announce that the "awareness" of Trisomy 21 has spread to the animal kingdom!

It was on this day, Oct. 31, 2018, when the rest of the family learned that one of Lucas's many stuffed animals has Down syndrome.

Lucas matter of factly revealed this bit of information in the midst of one of his extremely lengthy soliloquies, the bane of the overly-verbal (as opposed to non-verbal) child. Upon hearing the news, mommy felt a mess of emotions ranging from amazement and elation to tears stinging the backs of her eyelids. But she tried to maintain her composure and meet this revelation with the same delivery in which it was given. Just the facts.

In fact, Teet has always had DS, but Lucas, who is 6, only just recently became aware of the diagnosis. Mommy asked how he didn't know about this before. The reason - because Teet, who is a duck (or a chicken, no one is quite sure which), knows how to do "all the stuff like his other toys."

Mommy went into full tear suppression mode and delicately probed further.

How did you discover that Teet has DS? Lucas said it was during a play session with his toys' doctor, another toy, and the doctor told him that Teet was a Down syndrome baby. Yay! Lucas said, a Down syndrome baby!

Lucas, my dear younger brother, is a quick learner of lessons he doesn't even know he is learning. Amazingly, despite our huge differences, we are largely the same to him. At least that is Lucas's perception, the one that he was inadvertently raised with.

Raia and I with mommy, sharing the same
privilege of attending a late-night, sensory overload, outdoor concert!

But Lucas wasn't done processing this information. He raised some other questions: who is Daniel going to marry when he grows up? It is going to be harder for him to find a match, Lucas surmised. And will he marry someone with Down syndrome, or not? Of course, we also don't know who Lucas or Raia will marry, Lucas readily admitted.

So really, all our fates are uncertain which makes us more ... the same!

Even though apparently he knew about Teet's "condition" for awhile, Lucas only just mentioned it, because it just wasn't a big deal. But it goes to show that he has a healthy and much needed approach to "different" and to life in general, one that should be spread to all corners of the earth, all year long, not only during awareness month.

And with this diagnosis of Teet, the duck/chicken who has Down syndrome, mommy and daddy got a bit more oxygen to their tired souls and, for a moment, could say that perhaps their constant battle for "inclusion" is worth the effort.

My paisans and I in Rome at Locanda dei Girasole.
Read more about that amazing locale here.

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A Force to be Reckoned With on the Broadway Stage of our Lives

Lucas practices this look...

...and I perfect mine!

I believe our sister is already angling for the spotlight and how she may steal it from me. I am constantly in a tug of war with Lucas for this spotlight and, as you may recall, I managed to wrest the attention away from Lucas' birth (see link for more info) with a dramatic ride to the hospital in an ambulance while connected to an oxygen machine. You really can't beat tactics like that. I made sure to remain in the hospital up until and then even after Lucas' birth and send off so that my homecoming was after his.

But since his birth, Lucas has proven to be a formidable opponent. When he started out, his cry was an Academy-Award-winning-wake-up call that was akin to the Nazgul from Lord of the Rings. It caused even the bravest adults to react with sheer terror, and mommy was even too traumatized to close her eyes lest she be awoken in such a manner from a much-needed deep sleep. Now in his older days, Lucas channels Italian soccer player diva mannerisms by collapsing into dramatic cries. On the ground. Replete with fake tears and the trademark flip of the hair from his forehead. His Italian side really shines through when it comes to drama.

Lucas is already a force to be reckoned with
on the attention-getting front

But then again, I am constantly working
on a new look to sport as well

But this new baby - even before birth - is proving a force that could outdo the both of us. First of all she has the advantage of being of the princess gender. Second, she is the youngest child. And third, she has already caused some major upheaval in our lives by placing mommy in the hospital for nearly two weeks.

If you can judge a personality by one's pre-birth behavior, this one will also try to out-dance me on the dance floor - which is MY territory. She is practicing her moves as she swings violently around the womb at all times. And she is supremely impatient having already threatened to invade our space with an early birth.

I can already sense the competition beginning to heat up!

The following videos are from the hospital when Lucas and I invaded mommy and princess' space for a few hours the other day. As you can see, there is no dearth of entertainment options at a hospital!

The following two photos: One is breakfast, one is dinner
- every single day at the hospital. 

Can you guess which is which?

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Pre-Race Intimidation of Opponents

Tough guy (dressed for Purim)

Tonight, Lucas and I engaged in a type of intimidation and pre-race hype that is derived from ancient Maori culture in New Zealand. The All Blacks, the NZ rugby team, go all tough and native in order to frighten their opponents. According to a New Zealand website, "The haka is a type of ancient Maori war dance traditionally used on the battlefield, as well as when groups came together in peace... Actions include violent foot-stamping, tongue protrusions and rhythmic body slapping to accompany a loud chant."

Lucas and I did our own version of this, of course, on behalf of mommy who can now safely run the half marathon with no opponents since surely we scared them all away.

Here is what we did:

Here is where we learned it:

Which do you think was tougher and more intimidating version? No contest, in my humble opinion.

Tough family, actually. Don't mess!

Tough hombre (also dressed for Purim)

East Coast!

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Post Hurricane Holiday

I inspected the damage done by Hurricane Sandy
in Mimi and GongGong's neighborhood

The hurricane is over but its effects are still all around us. From long lines at the gas pumps to downed trees to continued horror stories about all of our nearby neighbors who have no electricity, no heat and even worse, no homes.

Welcome to NY, Daniel!

Zia Em and I in front of a downed tree

The root is taller than me!

And all that has meant that the babies are stuck inside except for the occasional walk around the block. With the cold weather settling in and no gasoline to drive anywhere, Lucas and I have had to stick close to home.

Of course we are using the time wisely. I have cleaned out Mimi's shoe closet and learned to use the vacuum cleaner. And Lucas has enabled us to watch Veggie Tales with surround sound by figuring out how to turn on the stereo!

Lucas has also learned to walk. And I also taught him how to sign for "more" and say "bye-bye" in sign language. And, now he is even learning how to unload the dishwasher!

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Zia EM's Visit, Part II in a Requested Three-Part Series

Zia Em takes a momentary break from simultaneously feeding
two babies to snap a photo of this life-changing experience

I'll give it to her, she does deserve another blog after last night. During her vacation here in Israel, Zia Em took on the monumental task of babysitting two babies for hours upon hours while mommy and abba flitted off to a wedding in Jaffa - not around the corner and far enough away to make this a very serious endeavor.

Admittedly, we eased up on full-on baby trickery for Zia Em's first solo sitting expedition, but we did throw in a few challenges in order to keep things interesting.

One of our specialities is demanding to be fed at the same time. That is a challenge on several levels:

1. Food preparation. Lucas and I can't always eat the same food so good luck preparing two meals - at the appropriate temperature - to a cacophony of impatient screaming.
2. Two bowls. That requires keeping things distinct and separate plus keeping two bowls rather than one away from the roving hands of babies. Even an octopus would be challenged!
3. Two spoons. These also must be kept separate because of germs. Never mind that we probably already traded cheechungs (pacifiers) and stole swigs from each other's bottles countless times the same day.

All of this must be performed to the tune of moaning, shrieking or all-out crying: "Feed me! Feed me!" It can be quite stressful.

But Zia Em navigated the challenge with only a modicum of stress and eventually settled into a pattern relaxed enough to enable her to take some photos!

The desperate looks of hunger staring down Zia Em

If you don't act fast, we will!

Success: Happy babies and an empty bowl

All in all, it was a pleasant aunt-nephew bonding experience. And, I believe we successfully tricked Zia Em into thinking she can handle us and even offer to babysit again.

But then we will pull out all the stops. Wink, wink!

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Welcome to Zia Em! (Finally)

We are smothering Zia Em with our love

Wherever one of us, the other is sure to follow

The pundits may ask whether "finally" means that finally Zia Em visited us in Israel (she was last here two weeks before I was born), or whether I finally wrote a blog since her arrival more than two weeks ago.

But either way, while this blog has been dormant since school started, I have been anything but. For starters, I brought home a welcome-back-to-school virus that I kindly shared with whole family including Zia Em. Then of course we had all sorts of distractions, visits and good times with Zia Em in a prelude to Mimi and GongGong's visit just days from now and hours after Zem departs.

Zia Em and I sharing good times at Tal Bagels.
Ah, the good ol days!

Lucas and Zia Em sharing a cuddle at The Colony

Zem is still here for a few days so we must have as much fun as we can. In the meantime, here is a little peek into our good times:

AND, here is a blast from the past, never before posted on this blog, of a visit in May from Uncle Matt and Aunt Majda:

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Weekend Video Montage

Did you miss us?

Here we are again!

We have been very busy the past two weeks conducting our very own version of the Olympics. As we prepare for the closing ceremonies of the Jansezian Olympics (blog post tomorrow or Monday), here are some videos to carry you through the weekend. 

In videos #1 and 2, you will see me coaching Lucas in the all important game of peek-a-boo (or "cuckoo," the Israeli and European version of the same game):

Lucas doesn't take "PinkPonk" very seriously despite his being a very serious character in the "The Night Garden" TV show:

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Lucas Masters the Trinity of Baby Moves

I teach Lucas the intricacies of the exersaucer

Because I am such a Drama Baby, Lucas has had to find his own way to curry attention. To wit, he has exploited rapid-fire development in his favor.

Accordingly, last week, he accomplished the Trifecta of Baby Development: sitting unsupported, getting into a sitting position and crawling - all in one day. 

Spurred on by my need for 110 percent parental attention from the time I arrive home from school until I am snug in bed, Lucas bullied himself into the circle to wrest a bit of his own attention. He was in intense negotiations with these moves for a few weeks before he perfected them. Actually he spent the weekend perfecting them throughout the night, sitting up in bed rather than sleeping. 

Now there is no rest for the weary (parents). Nary a moment passes where either one of us is not placing ourselves in grave physical danger. So we must be closely guarded as we mobilize in our swath of apartment. 


I savor my new skills, sometimes for months on end. Apparently, Lucas gets bored fast and needs a new skill in his arsenal oh say every week. And if that is how he will steer attention in his direction, that is fine. I understand. 


We do not yet know how Lucas' personality is going to unfold, whether he will be content with shining in the background or if he will voraciously compete with me for the spotlight. But for now he is holding his own.

While I love Lucas, as you will see in this video, I also must, as the elder brother, continually remind him who is the boss:

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One Enchanted Evening

Always conspiring

When a baby blogger fails to write a blog post for one week, so much has happened and so much has been missed by the readers because every day is an adventure in the life of a baby. And thus is the case with me and the week that eluded us all.

First of all, Uncle and Aunt M&M came to visit me all the way from Virginia. After being inundated with family in New York for seven weeks, I was feeling a bit lonely and detached, so having family come to see me helped me ease back into my new old world even further.

The night Uncle Matt and Aunt Majda came to see me, Monday night, I treated them to a specialty of mine that they had not yet experienced: a near brush with a hospital visit! Yes sure enough I downward spiraled into feeling unwell that day and then ultimately just lying flat on the shoulder of anyone who held me.

All of my Israel friends and family have experienced my hospital epics. Then when we went to New York in March, I made sure to include my America family and friends to my "hospitable" theatrics. Only Uncle and Aunt M&M missed out on my exploits since they live in Virginia and my play headlined in NY. So I thought I'd give them a little taste of that.

Regrettably - or not - I wasn't able to muster the full drama to warrant an ER. We simply went to the clinic where my O2 levels were on the good side of "border line"and I tested positive for strep, thereby baffling the doctors again since modern science insists that babies under 2 or 3 (depending who you ask) never get strep. Since I'm so intent on breaking old and setting new records, I have defied the odds twice now.

A quite enchanting evening followed this two nights later when I, tag teaming with Lucas, assistant to the regional manager, decided to wake up every hour, alternating our crying times so as to keep mommy and abba running the entire night. Our great conspiracy worked. Perhaps what kept waking us was the smoke of the traditional wood burning of Lag B'Omer, the one Jewish holiday that would've been banned by Smokey the Bear. Perhaps it was residual drama of the near-ER visit. Perhaps no one will ever know because Lucas and I have a secret pact to keep it quiet.

Since I am being taught to share, I did share my strep throat with mommy. It was an advance Mother's Day gift.

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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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Ancient Mysteries of Babies (still not) Revealed!

I am the only one who can interpret what Lucas is saying.
But I haven't spilled his secrets yet!

My little brother is a baby enigma. Of course that is redundant since babies are, by definition, mysterious.

But now, with Lucas, mommy and abba have to learn a whole new set of baby tricks and treats. No sooner had they learned (or so they thought) how to handle moi, they now have to figure out an entirely different baby language. The language of Lucas.

While I prefer to present the "big picture" challenges, Lucas likes to take on smaller but daily challenges.

As an infant, I was a pleasant and well-behaved baby on a daily basis. I maintained a wonderful eating and sleeping schedule. I rarely cried. I adeptly fit into my parents' schedule and was portable, able to stay out late, and I did not create scenes in public spaces (although that has become a thing of the past). Admittedly I may have posed some rather large, big-picture problems instead, such as day-long clinics; two to three weekly therapy sessions; rotating check ups on my heart, hearing and other things; then open heart surgery; and culminating recently with a virus that landed me in the hospital for two weeks.

On the contrary, Lucas has been determined to be free of any worrisome medical conditions. He has no scary appointments looming over our heads. There are no therapists clamoring for his attention. He is not scheduled for any major surgery and my parents weren't sent home from the hospital with a checklist of certain petrifying symptoms for which to be on the look out.

However, on a daily basis he presents a more complex challenge: He cries.

Nay, he shrieks. Lucas has a set of lungs that he enjoys putting to good use. And his screams can put any baby to shame. In fact, quite eerily, he sometimes sounds like he is auditioning for the part of the Nazgul in the Lord of the Rings movies with their bone-chilling shriek. (You can listen to it here. Brace yourself!)

So close, yet so different already!

Lucas, thus far, is much more challenging than I was on a daily basis. While I tackled the long-term projects such as being sure to meet every doctor in the pediatric ward of Hadassah hospital, he presents the short-term crises of being high maintenance. For example, he likes to cat nap. He is sensitive to sound, light, touch and anything that would prevent him from sleeping. He needs a new setting every half hour or so otherwise he exhibits his "I'm bored" cry. He spits up a few times a day. Basically, while I spoiled my parents by being such an angel baby they now have been presented with a normal baby. 

Hey Luc, smile for the camera!

Lucas will be whoever Lucas is meant to be. We are simply waiting for our parents to get with the program (especially before his cry escalates to Nazgul level). And since they and all adults have yet to learn baby language, they are still playing catch up with their 1 month old and trying to deduce each "situation" as it comes along. 

Good luck with that!

This is getting serious. Maybe I'll grab my foot as I wait
for the awkward moment to pass.

Sometimes even I don't understand Lucas 

Okay, enough. I'm getting outta here!

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