Drama Baby Strikes Again!

Brief, albeit dramatic, I staged another daring visit to the ER

Me playing the part of the stoic yet depleted parent;
Abba playing the part of the carefree and happy baby

My performance was a little lackluster compared to last year. But still, no one had planned a random visit to the clinic, followed by a shoe-in entry from ER to hospital admittance on a random Sunday in January. And all this just 24 hours before Mimi was flying in to see me and Lucas.

At some point, I supposed my hospital drama routine was getting old, so I pulled the plug and got us released after just over 12 hours (including one awful night) in the ER. Seems I had a nasty lung infection which was creating problems for me but is now waning.

The doctors were more lenient this time with my oxygen grades and figured they would send me home to convalesce. That could have something to do with my blood-curdling screams between 1:45 and 4 a.m. that woke up EVERY SINGLE BABY in the ER, triggering a chain reaction of wailing infants, and grated on the nerves of exhausted and frazzled parents. But mostly I think they were just frightened by my Samson like threats to break down the pillars of my crib if someone didn't let me run rampant around the hospital.

And while I took mommy and abba on a tour of the finer clinics and ERs of Jerusalem, Lucas was treated to a one-on-one evening with Kathryn. He didn't fare too badly as you can see by his winning smile.

He learned his cute pose from me

Smooched!

Everyone is home now and Mimi has arrived safely into my open arms. All is well yet again.

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Dueling Dancers

Caught in the act of dancing!

We babies know when the camera is rolling. All film-worthy activities cease instantly once a camera is trained on us. It is one of several sixth senses that we babies possess.

Therefore, despite the fact that Lucas and I  both dance incessantly when there is music playing, the extremes of our moves have yet to be captured on film. We can sense from afar the ignition of the battery or the rolling of digital film. Of course we stop.

The following videos are an attempt by my parents at capturing on video Lucas and I grooving to our new favorite song:

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Throwing Caution to the Wind - and iPhones in the Bathtub!

Me guilty??

Kerplunk!

That was the sound of Gavriella's iPhone taking a dive into my bathtub.

Here is how it all transpired. It was during one of Gavriella's esteemed visits to our home a few weeks ago. Gavi, because she trusts me more than my parents do, allowed me to play with her fun iPhone. This was even more fun that playing with their non-smart phones! I touched all sorts of colorful icons, I chewed on its sleek veneer, I recorded videos, I placed it down on the floor and picked it up again - and all this without throwing, which was very miraculous.

In fact, mommy was beginning to wonder whether I had turned a corner in this behavioral detriment of mine regarding throwing. Nevertheless she dutifully cautioned Gavi that I may randomly just throw the phone at some point. But Gavi is my friend and she seems to believe I could do no wrong. Not even the unthinkable!

So good was I that I continued wandering the apartment with the phone while mommy and Gavi carried on and even momentarily forgot that I had something valuable in my hand. So while checking on Lucas who was cutely drifting off to sleep they remained oblivious  - until that infamous "kerplunk" dragged mommy back to reality.

See, mommy's mind has a new skill - translating sounds from afar and instantly assessing their danger level. For instance, the sounds of a TV remote clattering to the tile. Bottles being launched from cribs vs. pacifiers being launched from cribs. Babies tumbling from illegal surfaces. Wooden puzzle pieces falling to the ground. Computers slipping to the tile. Things like that. All different threat levels, all requiring a different speed of response.

So in that split second after the kerplunk, mommy processed this: Sound of something being thrown; the dulcet aquatic acoustics indicated a water landing; object sinking to bottom of bathtub; memory that nobody drained the tub post-bath; further memory that the last time anyone saw me I still was holding Gavi's iPhone having ever so conveniently not yet thrown it. Until I found its perfect target.

"*$&#*(^$*#&^&*$Q^*Q&#*," was mommy's response along with a quick dash and a death-defying dive into the bathtub to rescue Gavi's poor iPhone.

Mortified parents. Gracious Gavi. Lucky Daniel. The iPhone acted funny for some time after its bath, but by the end of the visit it was behaving properly. Whew.

Now many things in our apartment has moved up a few levels from the floor. But you can never keep up with a baby. One day we can't reach into the knife drawer and the next day we are using the wooden surfaces as target practice. This is how we roll. And it leaves the adults in our lives having to roll faster, or try to anyway.

Why did I have to throw it, you ask? Because it was in my hand, of course!

The portrait of innocence

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Snowed-in and Pent-up for Four Days = VERY Rambunctious Babies

Redefining "Tupperware Party"
(Thanks Rob and Alisha for allowing us
to destroy your apartment too!)

Because there just wasn't enough tupperware
outside the cabinet

Be ready for the MOTHER of all BABY blogs. We are coming to the end of a harrowing few days. Snowed-in and cold-in since Wednesday night and cooped up in one small apartment has served to pit babies vs. parents in epic battles of the wills. And nerves. And all this means lots of fodder for a blog.

We all survived by the skin of our teeth. Tempers flared. Tensions ran high. Drama was the name of the game. Though we are cute and cuddly babies, Lucas and I pushed the limits of our congeniality during these days with some fun games: Throwing our toys - and breaking them; climbing onto the sofa and then precariously standing on it (whilst parents either reasoned with or yelled at me for some reason) and then tumbling to the floor from the sofa (apparently predicted by the parents); rearranging the furniture in a noisy and destructive manner; learning more effective ways to whine (Lucas slides to his knees and then arches his back until his head hits the floor - thus giving him a better reason to whine); throwing our food (old news, ho hum); ferreting out cords, phones, remotes and other objects that were not so successfully concealed; waking up like a gold-medalist relay team at excruciating intervals during the night.

That is why, when invited over for dinner on Friday night, mommy and abba scrambled out of the house with us in tow so that we could spend some time wreaking havoc in someone else's apartment. Thanks Aunt Alisha and Uncle Rob!

It was great. First we terrorized their gentle dog, Shira. Then after she started playing statue on the sofa, thereby boring us, we moved on. I dallied around the table trying to reach the hot pot of chili, utensils and wine glasses while Lucas worked on the bookshelves.

During dinner, where we were invited to sit around the table like big boys, we kept parents on their toes making sure that glass and/or hot objects were out of reach. What wasn't out of reach from Lucas was tortilla chips. But since munching on one finally kept him quiet, mommy allowed him to continue munching.

Until he promptly projectile vomited onto the dining room table whilst everyone else tried to eat their dinner.

Nicely played, little brother! Way to disrupt a nearly peaceful meal! Sure enough that spiced things up even more so than the chili.

Oh, how was Lucas? He was fine. In fact, he tried to finish off the remaining tortilla chip shard in his hand while still crying from the shock of the puking incident.

Then, to my delight, after dinner Alisha kindly offered for us to play in the kitchen cabinets. We promptly removed every last bit of plastic tupperware - and even found the glass components well hidden in the back.

Then on Saturday, mommy and abba's quest for sanity continued and they bravely trotted us out in public yet again. This time, we all braved a restaurant with cousin Silvana. That was a bit more delicate than the comforts of Rob and Alisha's house. I downed a bowl of gnocchi in a creamy chestnut sauce while Lucas pretended to eat fries that were later found stockpiled in his belly button area. He's part squirrel.

My appetizer

Here's me entertaining everyone before their meal

We lasted for awhile. Longer than perhaps most babies do at a restaurant. But after an hour, Lucas hit the breaking point. So mommy and abba took us outside to let us "get it out of our systems" while Silvana filmed. But danger lurks always for tired and pent up babies. Here are some videos of our wild escapades including my flirting with young girls at a nearby table and Lucas' Italian-soccer-player-type drama as he dropped to the concrete while running around outside. You just are not supposed to get in between a baby and what he wants. And Lucas makes sure to let you know that!

(actually videos on facebook page but can't be uploaded for some sad reason :( - will work on that)

Try these:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151151081951916

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151151013856916

In the end, we all made peace.

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