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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