He Goes Up To Eleven!

And now we are 11 weeks old. Every week I think that I can't possibly have anything new to say for the next week, but Zane keeps growing and learning new things all the time! It's very fascinating.

Last week I mentioned the bubbles, and here is a cute picture of that. You can sort of see his yucky forehead rash, too. The most exciting news is that Zane slept through the night! Wahoo! From 10pm to 7am a few nights ago. The two nights since then, we haven't quite made it past 5am and 5:45am, but close. In fact, last night *I* woke *him* up, because I had been lying awake for 45 minutes listening to him toss and turn and groan and poop (or fart) and when his stomach growled loudly for the third time, I just couldn't stand it anymore. I had to wake him up and feed him. And then I discovered he was damp and I had to change his diaper and his clothes. But still, he was back in his bed by 6:30, and we both slept a few hours more.

Zane has also started flailing his arms around with more purpose this week. We have a little soft thing I call his laptop, which has very bold patterns and colors on it, plus a velcroed on bug, a crinkly sounding giraffe, and a hippo with a mirror in his mouth. Zane will try to hit the things with his arms, and has even managed to grab the bug off the velcro. He works very hard and grunts with the effort, and I can almost see smoke coming out of his ears. He seems to like doing it, but the sessions usually end with him crying in frustration. :< Poor guy wants to be able to sit, stand, walk, and grab things *now*.

His other milestone is that I've noticed he is very interested in other babies now. I think I might start going to more parent/baby groups. I'm not into the socialization quite so much, but Zane seems to like it, so I'll go out more. And he loves that handsome baby that lives in all of our mirrors!

I think he's done with his late morning nap -- time to go!

Oh, by the way, Bijou is doing just great on her insulin!

Sweet Bijou

Friday I found out that our cat Bijou has diabetes. The normal blood glucose levels are 80 - 150, and her level is 730. Yesterday I went into the vets' and learned to give her insulin injections, which I will give her twice a day. It's not as bad as I imagined, as the needle is tiny and she doesn't even seem to notice.

Bijou is 15 1/2, so it is not unusual that something like this would come up. Her kidneys are also on the downward slide, but not so bad as the diabetes.

Poor Bijou! First we get a rabbit, then we get a baby, and now she has diabetes! She seems low energy, drinks tons of water and is pissing like a race horse. The insulin should take care of the water intake and output. For the low energy, I think I just need to spare he more of my attention.

A Perfect Ten

And so we come to 10 weeks of Zane! I took this picture yesterday of Zane in his new swing. We got it for $15 at the consignment shop! Score! I got it for Michael's office so Michael can work while he's on Zane duty.

Being 10 weeks old can be very tiring:Zane has been working more and more on sitting up and standing. I've added flying to his repertoire. Hopefully he doesn't think that he will be able to do that after he masters sitting and standing on his own. I'll try to get a good video of his new skills. His real new skill this week is blowing bubbles. He's been frothing at the mouth a lot lately. He also has finally gained an appreciation of the banjo, which clearly shows great intelligence. The first few times I played for him he seemed distressed, so I left off for a month or so. Several days ago I tried again, and he really loved watching my left hand on the the frets. Now I will hopefully do a little playing again, maybe even a few minutes every day, which would far surpass any practicing I ever did before!

He's also been really zitty this week. He's got a flaky, zitty rash all over his head. I've been calling the condition Gross Head. Oh well, this too shall pass.

As for me, I actually finished a book today! It only took me two months to read ... I read about half of it aloud to Zane, and now he knows all about Darwin, Hooker, Huxley, and Wallace.

I mentioned before that Zane loves the bedroom light. Sometimes I'll hold him up to the light and his arms fall back while he gets a glassy look in his eye. He looks like he's getting beamed up. Here he is contemplating his buddy the light.
After some agony, I've decided not to go to Maine with Zane this Christmas. Michael convinced me (rightly so), that flying with him was not a good idea during this flu season of the Swine. It is extra contagious, and Zane cannot be vaccinated. His little immune system is very immature. I've talked with two people who had the Swine flu, and they say they never felt so bad. I don't want Zane to suffer through it.

So, we will just keep ourselves clean and healthy! Here is Zane after a bath, and another little bath video for your pleasure.

Number 9, Number 9

Nine weeks today! Even though I just did a post, Zane has still acquired a few new skills. He's added squealing and possibly giggling to his repertoire of sounds, and he's started to work on sitting up and standing. He leans forward and insists on being pulled up to standing over and over. He helps by pushing with his legs. He's a hard worker -- he does it until he whines about being tired, but he still wants to keep going!

Because he is so strong, we've added folding laundry to his chores:

He's also snoozed a few more times in his crib, which is good for getting used to it. Someday it will be his bed!
Zane sends more greetings to Maine!

Zane's World! Zane's World!

Here is Zane in his crib which I call the Entertainment Console. He gets entertained while I sit nearby at the computer. We listen to the Row Row Row Your Boat mobile a million times while I check e-mail. I was going to say that he doesn't sleep there yet, but he just fell asleep as I was working on this post! Don't worry, if he sleeps there more "officially", I'll take out all of the toys.

Throughout this post will be pictures of the things Zane loves to look at. Zane's World! Most of these will bring a spontaneous smile to his lips. The bedroom light fixture (like a giant, luminous breast); the cherry tree outside his changing table window; Uncle Abraham's volcano painting in our bedroom; Zane's Cranes, which are right behind the chair where we nurse; shiny brass plates, dragons, and a horsechopper; plants in the livingroom window.

Zane is two months old today! Sometimes it seems like it went quickly, sometimes forever. Like when I'm changing the 8th poopy diaper of the day, that's forever. I think to myself, only 100 weeks to go before he might think of being toilet trained! When I look at pictures of him from when he was born and realize how much he's changed already, then it seems like the time has just flown.

Zane had his two month checkup on Monday, and the doctor says he looks wonderful. In fact, he and his nurses were really happy to see a happy healthy baby in for a checkup after a long busy day of sick people. Zane is now 22.5" long and 11.5 lbs. He's just a little smaller than average, but that doesn't really mean much. Just statistics. He got four vaccinations, and then was feverish (up to 101.3) for about the next 24 hours. Zane is really good even when he doesn't feel well. He even managed some occasional smiles. Other than screeching on the changing table (probably sore legs), he just wanted to be held. We did Illegal Sleeping all night, and he slept in bed with me so I could hold him.

I've managed to find childcare for Zane starting in February when I go back to work. Three days a week is going to run us $936 per month or about $11k per year. Yowza! It's still better for me to go back to work as that is about a quarter of my income, and I have the insurance. The childcare is an in home daycare 1.5 miles from our house. It is small, but the rooms are filled with pictures and letters and music, and the two ladies who run it had very good references. It'll still be hard to leave Zane there!

Zane and I have been getting daycare practice because I started going back to the gym two weeks ago. The gym has a really good daycare, and I can get exercise, socializing, and a shower all in an hour and a half for $4.50.

Since Zane is so much older (ha), I've signed him up for a GET account: Guaranteed Education Tuition. I'll be just putting a little by every month for now, only enough for 1.5 years of school, but later we hope to increase the payments. Plus, people can always put in gift payments (just an idea ...). School will be so expensive! If I were to pay monthly, right now, enough to pay for 4 years of Washington state tuition, I would have to pay $350 per month for 17 years! Wow. I hope he's really smart and gets full tuition somewhere ...

Octo Babe

8 weeks old in October = Octo Babe! Zane has been getting very chubby in the cheeks lately, and is about 11.5 pounds. On Monday we go in for Zane's 2 months doctor's visit, and he has to get 4 vaccinations. Yikes!

I'm putting aside more and more clothes that no longer fit, but of course I have a huge reservoir of clothes to pull from. So many donations and baby shower clothes! It's fun discovering new outfits as I rummage through his bureau.

Developmentally I haven't noticed much different from last week, except maybe that he really spends a lot of time with his hands up by his mouth these days. He loves to suck on his hands, and I have a hard time getting them out of the way to feed him when he's half-asleep at night. He is very smiley and fun to play with. He says "Ah Goo" and "Goo" a lot, which is pretty cliche, but very cute. JoJo and Bijou continue to tolerate him. JoJo gets annoyed when Zane's stuff is in her territory, though. Today she hopped in the bouncy chair, which I thought was kind of funny for a bouncy critter to do.

The weather is cool but still pretty nice, and several times Zane and I have gone with Michael to walk up and down the stairs to Golden Gardens park. Zane just conks out in the Baby Bjorn, and doesn't really get to enjoy the scenery.

Yesterday we went to a baby reunion for all of the babies born to our labor and parenting class. Zane is the second smallest, but was born at around the middle of the pack. The baby on the far upper left is 9 weeks old and *16* pounds! Actually, it's good Zane is small, because many women had big babies, and they had to have C sections. I'm happy to have had a small one to pop out! I did envy the hair on other babies, though. Oh well. Zane's is soft and velvety, and he has double galaxy whorls on the top of his head.
Today we had some visitors, and here Zane is with his adoring fans:
A simple game I've been playing with him lately, is fun for both of us. I call it the Busy Buzzy Bee:


And finally, lest ye think all is roses and sunshine, here is what Zane thinks of his car seat.

Lucky Seven

Today is seven weeks of Zane. Above, he is being pensive while looking out the window from his changing table.

This past week was kind of a gassy and spit-uppy week, but I think we're solving those issues. One night he did projectile vomiting and scared the crap out of me, but I think he just had a lot of stomach gas and too much milk. Really, it could happen to any of us.

The weather has been getting cooler, and I've enjoyed rummaging around in his clothes and finding new things. Here he is in a really snazzy turtleneck, and then snug under a blanket for a nap.



















This week we've had Brady and his girlfriend Ashley visiting. Brady is an experienced uncle, and Zane smiled at him right away.

My friend Sabina has also been helping keep me sane, in exchange for getting to snuggle a baby again!
And finally, not a video so much as a tone poem. Happy nursing sounds: