Homecoming King

I'm back and in action!

It had been awhile, a month in fact. So when I returned to Shalva after my hospital stay, my new brother's arrival and our ongoing Christmas holidays, it was replete with a red carpet welcome and, naturally, thousands - nay, millions - of kisses.

Just like a homecoming king at a high school reunion, I made my school debut (or re-debut) in style. No more hospitals, no more oxygen tether, no more boring days at home (sorry, mommy!). Instead of being at home with just a few people to pay attention to me, at school there are hundreds of people filtering through my day from the time I get on the bus and say good morning to Bentzi, my chauffeur, all the way to my teachers, the teachers of the other classes, therapists, the directors and of course my esteemed colleagues (classmates). I have a non-stop audience. And, as we know from the hospital days, I thrive on crowd reaction. 

And here I am back in action like I never skipped a beat. I continue to eat and drink with my very own hands at school while continuing to deny any knowledge thereof at home. I hold onto objects (very well as you will see in the next video) at school, but at home I continue to reflexively and instantly throw anything that sneaks into my hands. At school, I have many girls to charm, while at home, the audience is smaller and not as fluid as the multitudes who tromp through Shalva on a daily basis. 

Ephraim has also been back and was awaiting my return. While in the hospital we conspired about how we would rule the classroom when we returned. We are nine days apart and similar in many ways, viruses notwithstanding. For one, we jockey for the attention of our therapists and teachers. In fact, we are co-boyfriends of our speech therapist, Talia, even though she is engaged to another boy altogether. Sometimes we may display a bit of jealous angst, but in the end it all evens out. 

See, we can share! 

We're like BFFs! (best friends forever)

An award-winning combination

Nevertheless, there was a bit of work involved in my long-awaited return. Lirit, my fine motor skills coach, snatched me up within minutes of my initial return for a session on self-feeding. Despite weeks of deceiving mommy, abba and mimi, I almost immediately took food from Lirit, self-fed myself with a spoon and drank from a cup, mostly unassisted. The proof is in the pictures.

The first few bites were with assistance

Multitasking: Here I am flirting with a
girl passing by while eating

No hands! I mean, hands, but no
one else's hands!

I can drink from a cup too. At school.

At school, there is plenty of time to perform for a crowd and get lots of attention. The only thing troublesome is waiting for the other kids to get their turn at being the center of attention.

Here I am trying to be patient as Ephraim is up first

Despite it being someone else's turn,
I noticed the camera was trained on me

Multitasking 2: Working on my chuchung
(pacifier) and scoring a basket

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