Outwitting with Wit

Innocent and Outwitting. At the same time.

Always one step ahead. That is the baby motto.

Just when an adult thinks he or she has the upper hand, a baby will point out how dangerously false that sentiment is.

For example, you've read about how we dismantled our room each morning when we arose well before the sun. Before 5 a.m. Lucas and I skillfully and craftily emptied bins of toys, shoes, books, stuffed animals onto the carpet. Then we would set about looking for drawers we could empty - out came socks, diapers, creams and other tempting items. Then, bored, we set about prying open closet doors after unknotting the towels locking them shut so we could empty the treasure troves of clothing, blankets, medicine and even a full-sized ironing board! In our wake were nail clippers, a syringe, nose aspirators and a broken glass thermometer. We are unsure where the mercury went. All of these items had been "safely" stowed supposedly out of reach of grubby toddler hands. The garbage pail, coat rack and laundry basket had long been banished from our room.

That action was interspersed with our clicking of the balcony light on and off: Tick, tock. Tick, tock. A nice compact sound and the only light shining in the dormant neighborhood at 4:45 am.

Raia: These boots were made for the innocent

Just look at his eyes - the essence of innocence. Right.

And even more innocence. And no mess.

On Saturday, the Sabbath, the Day of UN-rest as I like to call it, we set about to repeat our morning routine during our "nap." That didn't go over well as mommy and abba were looking forward to a small reprieve. Mommy stormed into our room as we were well into our rampage. And to our disbelief, she proceeded to remove every single toy and every piece of furniture from the room except for the dresser and our beds. Abba emptied the only dresser drawers that are not child proofed and double knotted the towels locking the closet doors shut. Now mommy cannot even find our diapers and socks and the room is so empty it now echoes.

Mommy and abba calculated that, if the stimulation of toy bins and extra furniture was tempting us to rise early and deconstruct our room, then removing said stimulation would bore us back to sleep until a civilized hour.

And it worked. The next morning, the only thing I had to do was climb into Lucas' bed and sit beside his sleeping frame giving a loud, rallying speech until he also woke up. But by 6:30 we were both asleep on the floor in the pile of blankets and pillows we had launched from our beds. With nothing left to conquer, boredom lulled us to sleep.

But not for long.

Lucas and I slept on it, as good babies do, and, refreshed, we came up with new and innovative ideas for the following morning: We moved my bed across the room and climbed onto the dresser from there! And perched like two little birds we opened and slammed the window shut - from 5 to 6:30 a.m. For all the neighborhood to hear.

Mommy and abba are most certainly experiencing frustration. But in the midst of that, I am positive there swells a great deal of amazement and respect as well in their hearts at our ingenuity.

Little geniuses. Always one step ahead of their parents, aren't we?

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Rearranging our Room, Day by Day

Raia reigns, in terms of avoiding sickness

Mommy was never as big a fan of breast milk as she was the last few weeks. Somehow, in the deluge of sickness that swept through our entire family, only one remained healthy through it all, unscathed by viruses and nasty pools of mucous: Raia.

Practicing her modeling skills

Yes, the littlest one among us was the strongest of all. And that, possibly, can be attributed to her prowess as a super baby. Or it could also be attributed to the antibodies in her lattes. Or both.

Nevertheless, Raia remained the one bright, cheery member of the family while the rest of us suffered alternately for two weeks. We boys pass the baton - one week Lucas (and abba) and then me (and mommy) with runny noses, fevers and a near brush with pneumonia and/or ear infection.

The sickness brought out the best in us in terms of our interior design skills home-wrecking abilities. Being home, we were able to really concentrate on the morning routine: how to redesign dismantle our room before mommy and abba wake up.

I am proud to report we have honed our skills to epic proportions. Just when abba thinks he is a few steps ahead of us by moving this or that piece of furniture to block another, or removing furniture altogether or removing dangerous items from drawers and stacking them - supposedly out of reach - atop the dresser, we confound him by managing even more destruction than the day before.

Cool cats

This is how we roll...

... and you cannot argue with that.

Parents: Beware!

It all started when we pulled the changing pad off the dresser - with ALL of the taboo items on it - directly onto the floor and into our wake. When mommy and abba came to check on us that morning, like at 6 a.m., Lucas had a pair of scissors in his mouth and we both had remnants of a glass thermometer in our hands. Shards actually. Where the mercury went nobody knows. We are still finding glass shards to this day.

Lucas and I had already eaten all of the q-tips so there are no more of those to worry about. And diapers, both clean and used, have been strewn about the room, so now they are stacked in a safe house, somewhere.

And what's more, every morning we have a few items from the top shelf (about 6-feet high) in our possession. Mommy and abba have no idea how this happens. And we refuse to confess our deepest secrets.

But despite all of this enormous, as our parents call it, "waste of time and energy" in cleaning up, sometimes an entry into our room in the morning is rewarding: endearing and worth every mess. Now that we can exit and enter both beds, sometimes our parents find both of us in one or another bed. And that makes us cute, doesn't it?

Strange bed fellows?

Us invading mommy's bed

Jealous that Raia was already there,
but excited to see her nonetheless!

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Last few weeks

When you miss a day in the life of a baby it is a significantly higher percentage of life that has gone by. After all, we grow the most physically and mentally in our first year of life than in any other in the rest of our lives.

Besides a trip to the zoo (replete with endless photos), I will list a series of other significant events you have missed in our lives.

Mimi and GongGong escorted us to the zoo!

We tried to get through the cages everywhere we could

Here I am sizing up our break in

Lucas acting coy with the flamingos

Me acting cool with the elephants. I mean, so what they
are so big. I didn't really care (yea right)

Lucas and I got close to some desert rodents (Meerkats I think)

Again, strategizing an elephant cage break in

Me running free!

Raia was at the zoo too. But she slept the whole time!

Lucas and his "Buffs" (giraffes)

In the bird sanctuary at the zoo with GongGong

I made a friend out of a total stranger in pink. Shocking, I know.

So here is a summary of what you, my faithful readers, have missed in the lives of three babies in the past few weeks:

1. Lucas learned to climb/fall out of his crib. 
2. The crib was immediately converted to a bed, which is still high
3. Lucas ceased climbing out of the bed once it was lowered and less dangerous
4. After 2 weeks of that, Lucas began jumping out once again so I have a partner in my morning bedroom rampage before mommy and abba wake up
5. On the day he wore a cream colored pull over, Lucas used black markers in arts and crafts. Of course he did.
6. Raia outgrew her "newborn" clothes and is dominating the 0-3 month wardrobe now
7. Raia is no longer a "one hand baby" as mommy referred to her describing how she could once scoop her up or bathe her in the sink. Now mommy must stand up and brace herself in order to hoist Raia out of her bassinet. And Raia has also outgrown the sink for baths.
8. Lucas learned to pump or express breast milk. See photos below. 
9. People have stopped commenting about how Raia looks like she is just a few days old because she actually looks slightly older than a few days old (like 2 or 3 weeks now)
10. I made it through the zoo without having a meltdown!
11. I led a worship set at Succat Hallel. See photo below.

Move over, Zia Em!

Yes Lucas, milk for Raia

Lucas is way too observant of his surroundings

First video is Lucas climbing out of his crib. The second one is him climbing back into it after it was lowered into bed form. 

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The New Champion in all Things Baby

Brotherly love!

Won't I make a great babysitter?

I've been bested again! And even Lucas' records have been blown away. A little baby - a little girl baby - has dethroned both of us as the new Champion in the War on Sleep and in other baby matters.

Raia has managed to scoff at the night and turn darkness into light, staying alert and awake through the night watches, particularly 2 to 4 or 3 to 5 a.m. I was once the Founder and General in the War on Sleep (see this link too), but Raia is Commander in Chief! 

This has turned my world and Lucas' upside down. We don't even want our titles back if this is what it takes to do so, to stay away for hours on end at night. I have to cede the victory. Again.

First drama (with her ridiculously early birth and hospital stays). Now sleep. Oh, and accidents.

Raia has positioned herself in no uncertain terms as a viable contender in this family. I suppose she had to come on strong since there are two other babies in her life, formidable male toddlers, barging through the apartment like unstoppable wrecking balls that garner attention whether we want it or not.

The portrait of peacefulness

Raia is still a baby, a deceptively peaceful and quiet baby during the day. She puts on the preemie act to sucker all the adults around her. Impressive. And as babies are wont to do, Raia keeps a low profile most of the time. But she already has mastered and honed her baby powers to get attention at opportune times whether through drama or sleep deprivation torture. It is a survival skill babies develop in order to ensure equally distributed attention amongst the babies. Raia is a quick learner.

Raia also gets the crown for "accidents." You could count on one hand the number of times Lucas and I only managed to pee during diaper changes, even though we are boys. In her mere two months, Raia has obliterated the family record for peeing during diaper changes. Mommy and abba stopped counting in fact. Just yesterday she earned the Triple Crown as she pulled a hat trick of baby excretions: 1. #2 that leaked out of her diaper onto all her clothes; 2. spit up while waiting for someone to discover that she had done #2 all over her clothes; and 3. #1 while getting diaper removed so she could be whisked into the bath. And all of this on the sofa. The cherry on the cake for a baby.

I must give credit where it is due. Raia has made it clear that she can hold her own with the boys!

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The Sea of Swirly Twirly Gum Drops

It looks like my little sister has a mission in life: to wrest all sorts of attention from yours truly. Even down to my trademark swirl!

It is vague at the moment, but if you stare long enough you will
detect the beginnings of a swirl on Raia's forehead

My own swirl was quite pronounced at birth
and has been with me ever since

Living with a little sister hasn't really affected our lives too much yet except for the new characters in our play: Fatigued Mommy and Tuckered Abba. But otherwise, Raia seems to emerge only to eat and then she quietly tucks away for another winter's nap all swaddled and meek.

Except at night.

But still, the night part doesn't affect Lucas and I. While Raia still has yet to join in our baby games Mimi and GongGong have! They just arrived this week - in time for Raia's birth, which was scheduled for some time next week. Apparently she didn't get the memo.

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Perspectives

Perspective in Photos:

Bigfoot. Little foot.

What was once thought small is now considered monstrous

Action: Reading

Action: Squeezing oranges

Action: Staying awake

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Happy New Year! And for our First Resolution...

Raia Resolved: To drink more coffee

Mommy and Lucas Resolved: Eat more cake (and for mommy,
pick up running again due to said cake) 

I Resolved: Continue to look cool for various photo shoots

I, as a baby, resolve this year to retain many of my useful baby qualities and to raise up my younger brother and sister in the same way. Despite the fact that we are all growing up and outgrowing some baby stages at various paces, I believe many of the things I've learned as a baby will serve me well throughout my life. And I wouldn't want to forgo the Royal Treatment we as youngsters receive. Not yet.

Abba meanwhile, has a different resolution. After three consecutive years of mommy running the Jerusalem marathon she has passed the torch: Abba is going to represent the family this year and take on the 10K on behalf of Shalva!

This year, since she was supposed to have a baby in January (not November, Raia), mommy assumed she would not be ready for a race by March 21. And accordingly, abba picked up the slack.

I hear that 10-kilometer races are challenging, but remember, even before I was walking I crossed the finish line of a full marathon! (Remember this?!) That would be 42.2 kilometers, abba. I suppose this year abba figured that running a 10K would be much easier than herding three kids to the finish line!

He is probably right.

Nevertheless, abba needs your financial support. (Mommy needs your moral support.) If you choose to donate to abba's cause, you are helping Shalva, the Association for Mentally and Physically Challenged Children in Israel, help others. Just this once I will allow abba to put this in his own words in my blog:

Hi There,

I am going to be running the 10K race in the Jerusalem marathon for an organization called " Shalva". Shalva is an organization that helps special needs children in Israel and provides, free of charge, therapies designed to develop the skills to be able to function in today's society.

My son, Daniel, has Down Syndrome and has been receiving the care he needs from this wonderful organization since he was born over three years ago.

Today I give you the opportunity to pour into the lives of these children and their families by sponsoring me in the Jerusalem marathon.

To visit the Shalva site please click on this link: http://www.shalva.org/

To sponsor me please click on this link: http://www.run4shalva.org/view_profile.php?id=1065

 Thank you and may 2014 be a blessed year for you and  your family!

Sincerely yours,
Tony

Christmas day!

Abba running means that mommy drew the short straw. She somehow has to hustle three babies to the finish line, which is a good 3 miles from home. But we absolutely must be there to welcome abba, so she is going to have to figure out a way.

And that should probably entail some marathon training of its own. Good luck to both parents!

And Happy New Year to everyone!

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