ChickenBun

A new species: the ChickenBun.

Publish Post

Doesn't she looked kind of like a plucked chicken ready to be stuffed and trussed? Mmmmm. Delicious!

Six Weeks of Zane

Yay, we made it to six weeks! A pediatrician in the hospital and another baby maven told us that six weeks was a major milestone to make it to in terms of weathering difficult sleep cycles, crying, and the like. Actually, Zane has been a really good boy, so it hasn't been hard. In the picture above from this morning, Zane is being a very happy baby in bed. In the early mornings I treat Zane and myself to a final snooze in the bed together. It's very snuggly and some of my favorite time with him. He sleeps on my chest so he isn't in danger of suffocating or being smooshed.

Football season is here, and I never thought I would love it so much! Several times when Michael was watching, he'd take Zane and I'd be Free Free Free! Last Sunday Grandpa Gibson was here, and they all had some football time together.














Zane has recorded a message for all you family and friends -- enjoy!

Five Weeks

Well not a lot has happened since the one month post. As you can see from today, being 5 weeks old is a lot of work which requires napping. Here he's watching football with Michael, giving me a much needed break.

The biggest difference I notice this week is that Zane is definitely smiling at us now! That is really wonderful. I thought he might be, and then one day he woke up from a nap to see me leaning over him, and he opened his mouth in a big wide smile! He's doing it more and more often, and we are also playing monkey-see-monkey-do with face expressions, which is pretty fun. He also looks at things more intently now, so I think his vision is really sharpening up.

Today I jokingly told Bijou to keep an eye on Zane, and when I came back into the living room I saw this:What a good guard kitty! Actually, she was staring at JoJo who is hiding behind a chair ...

One Month Old

Today Zane is one month old! He has had some exciting firsts, even since Saturday!

He had his first bottle of breast milk, and he took to it right away! He seemed a little perplexed at first, and his little eyebrows furrowed, but then he sucked almost the whole bottle right down in just a few minutes. Such a good boy. Now I know that I can have a bottle of milk with me if we need to go somewhere for a long time, or if I need to go away and Michael needs to provide food. I've been using the breast pump every morning for the past week now, and freezing one serving of milk every day. Hopefully I can build up a pretty good bank of milk for daycare in 6 months.

We also had our first foray out to a restaurant. Michael and Zane and I went to Caprice Kitchen (we call it Caprice Chicken) on Sunday for brunch, and Zane snoozed peacefully in his car seat the whole time. Zane has developed a sometimes hate of his car seat, so that wasn't a given. We hope he'll do some nice repeat performances, though!

Zane had his first walk in the woods, too. Yesterday I put him in his Baby Bjorn, and Michael and I and Zane walked down and back up the steps to Golden Gardens Park. Boy am I out of shape! I was toting 10 extra pounds of Zane, and 10 extra pounds of myself (mostly boobage), and it was dang hard gettin' up those steps.

Today we took our first trip to Costco, and Zane slept while I Bjorned him around the store, but then he whined in the car seat on the way home. I got some shopping done, though, which is pretty good!

Four Weeks Old -- With Pants!

Today Zane is 4 weeks old! I guess I can't quite say a month until August 15th. If I count months by four week chunks, then he would be 13 months old at his first birthday! He's doing great with lifting his head, and is still generally a cheery baby. We had a cranky week at week 3, but now he seems back to being a pretty good kid. I think I got to be a better burper, and that has helped us out a lot. We sleep pretty well at night, with about 3 or 4 wake ups for feeding. I stay in bed for a long time, and I generally get enough sleep that I don't usually need an afternoon nap. This morning on the bathroom scale he weighed 10 pounds! He looks longer, too.We like to sing together, and do some exercises on one of his lovely quilts. Yesterday evening we read our first baby book together! I had been reading to him from Archaeology magazine, just to have him hear my voice, but now I'll try introducing baby books. I was amazed that he actually paid attention to one! I have also introduced pants! He's been lazing around in PJs all day for long enough. Plus, he is now big enough to finally start fitting into some of his clothes that people gave us.

I noticed a change in myself: I was in a store where a baby Zane's age started to wail and cry, and for the first time ever my urge was to pick it up and cuddle it, not to run away from the infernal noise. I guess I'm a Mom now!

I managed to get a nice set of Zane's footprints, but alas, the hand prints were too hard. How do you get a baby to unclench his fists?
I took a photo of Zane this week that reminds Michael and I of a picture of Zane's cousin Riley when Riley was about 6 weeks old in 2005.














Zane on his frog quilt:
Hello to friends and family!

Three Weeks Old

Zane is three weeks old today. Yesterday his Social Security card came in the mail, so he is a bona fide member of society! It's fun to see mail come addressed to Zane Xavier Gibson.

In preparation for his big 3 week birthday, Zane had his first bath yesterday. He wasn't totally filthy, as I'd been washing him with a washcloth, but his last belly button scab fell out, so now he is eligible for immersion baths. I was a little nervous, but it worked out just fine. He may even have liked it! Here's a video of the beginning of the bath:


In general life is going along pretty well. However, we seem to have ended a sort of two week honeymoon where he hardly ever fussed or cried. Now he does. We've had several instances of downright crankiness and refusal to sleep or be comforted. I think it's gas, and I've been trying to do a better job of burping him. So far, today is going well, knock on wood. Unfortunately, he also seems to have developed a dislike for his car seat, so taking him out has become a bit chancy. Maybe if he keeps going in it, he'll outgrow whatever objection he has.

Some photos from the week:
A nap with Mommy, 18 days old:
Visiting with Auntie Laurie, 19 days old:
JoJo says, "Hey! This is covered with bunnies! Isn't it for me to sit on?"