Sicko

First, good news. Zane is getting very dexterous and can feed himself with a bottle if he's lying down. He can hold it, and take it out of his mouth and put it back in. He's also really lifting himself way up on his arms, and starting to get his butt up in the air. Crawling is on the horizon!

We're dealing with a cold this weekend. Thursday I dropped Zane off at daycare and I saw a baby boy sitting there with a massively snotty face. Hmm, I thought, we'll be seeing that at home soon. Yep, Friday night Zane started getting cranky and by early Saturday morning he was snotty. Oh well, I guess that's part of what daycare is all about. Helps build his immune system. Poor Zane got so tired and stuffed that yesterday he wouldn't eat for several hours, which worried me. Some trial and error has made me think he needs to get enough sleep before he will eat, so I'll try to focus more on that today. Yesterday I had to put him in his stroller and go for a walk to get him to rest, and I'll probably do that again today just to make sure he gets good sleep. Zane is such a trooper, though. As long as he is distracted with fun, he stays the happy boy he usually is. It's just very tiring and intense. Yesterday I was covered with snot and saliva, tired, hungry, thirsty, unshowered and still in my PJs at 2pm. I hadn't been able to clean up after pets, and I may have forgotten Bijou's insulin. When Michael got up I finally got a little break.

Oh, and Bijou, poor Bijou. It turns out we're not getting any where near controlling her diabetes. She now is pissing in the living room. Plus bouts of colitis which give her foul diarrhea from hell. I bought a carpet steam cleaner, and cleaned her pee spots, but she just peed there again. Sometimes poop falls out of her butt onto the floor when she gets out of the litter box before she's done. I don't know if her problems are all physical or also some dementia. I think once the weather warms up the house is really going to reek. And then, of course, JoJo has to have sludge butt attacks, too. I'm constantly cleaning up someone's pee, poop, or spit up. Yay.

On a more peaceful note, here is Zane helping Michael wake up:

This has been my last full week home with Zane. Tuesday he'll be in daycare from 1:30 to 9:30! This week we had our last Tuesday night bath. Zane usually goes to bed at 9:30, so I don't know how disruptive this will be. He'll also be in daycare from 9:30-6:30 most Thursdays and Fridays. This week is also my first weekend on, so I'll be away from him a lot. It will be very hard on me! And Zane and Michael will have a crash course in full days of togetherness. It'll be good for both of them. For me? Not so much.

Je Suis Un Prisonnier

This week Zane has become extremely physical, rolling around and squirming a lot. He has squirmed out of his bouncy chair and has started to roll over on his changing table and on our bed. The time has come to rein in his rolling before he gets hurt. So, yesterday we moved the crib upstairs into our bedroom, and last night he slept there instead of in the little bedside co-sleeper he's been in since he came home. Because he is swaddled at night, he was in no danger of rolling out of his bassinet, but he was starting to wiggle all over it, and it would soon be too small. Mostly, though, I wanted to be able to use crib in the daytime as a changing table or temporary corral; I can raise the side when I step away and I don't have to worry about Zane rolling to the floor.
I also moved his bureau upstairs so I can organize his clothes better now that he fits into more things. For those of you with worried eagle eyes, I assure you I will move my jewelry rack away from the crib so Zane doesn't meet a fantastic end strangled by a glittering strand of garnets or serpentine.

Another plus to this move is that the crib will be about 10 feet away from my head, and hopefully I will re-learn how to sleep through the night without constantly waking at all of Zane's little grunts. I think I wake him to feed when he doesn't really need it. He and I should both sleep better, which is very important since I will be returning to work soon. Last night he didn't wake until 5:40, and the night before he didn't wake at all in the night; I'm hoping this is a new trend. I also hope having him farther away from the bathroom door will mean that early morning and late night showers and toilette won't wake him.

Here is a cute toes interlude:

Last night I took Zane out to see some bhangra and Bollywood dancing by my old dance troupe, Rhythms of India. Zane loved it! He stood bolt upright in my lap, chewing on his Tasmanian Tiger, and staring at the dancing. He likes to watch football, too, and I think it is similar: a bunch of people in bright colors moving around quickly. I hope to take him to more cultural things occasionally, just so it becomes second nature to him, and not something to be endured. Hopefully.

And finally, I leave you with this video of Zane exploring Michael's beard. Zane loves to run his fingers through hair.

Five Months!

Zane is now five months old. I can't believe we're almost to 6 months and a half a year gone! We must be getting bored with Zane because we had no new pictures of him for this week! I needed to take a bunch especially for today. I know you can't tell in these pictures, but I swear his hair is starting to grow! His Grandpa Milt commented on it without me prompting him, so I'm sure it's not just me thinking so.

I start work February 2nd, so our precious home time is almost done. I'm a bit nervous as Zane has been on a bottle strike for the last two weeks. He began taking a bottle at about a month old with no problem. Since then he's taken a bottle from many people, but now he won't drink from one unless he is totally desperate. He just chews on the nipple and fusses for the real thing (moi). The folks at daycare (where he's been twice now for 5 and 4 hours) say he'll eat when he gets hungry enough. Baby group nurse Ann Keppler says if he doesn't eat, he'll be fine, but we may end up nursing a lot at night.

In our case, I’m never around when Zane gets a bottle, so that’s not the problem. He has been mildly stuffy, so that could be an issue. He also spends a lot of time chewing the bottle nipples, so teething pain and the relief from the chewing may be trumping hunger. This morning we tried out a faster and different shaped nipple and a sippy cup. He drank from the bottle just fine! I have a pretty strong let down, so perhaps a faster flow of a nipple encourages him. We'll see how he does at daycare next week.I worry a little bit more than I normally would because Zane is small and not as chubby as his doctor would like him to be; however, a lactation nurse said he’s getting plenty to eat from me. We went to a checkup this week, and Zane continues to drop in his weight percentile. However, he is actually a bit chubbier than last time when you look at his weight for height, and I was also about the same size at his age. Zane is now 26 1/2 inches long and 14 pounds 3 ounces. His doctor says he is still pretty sure Zane is fine, but he wants to track him closely to make sure we are not missing anything.

Zane has had a mild cold for the past couple of weeks. Not enough to make snot run out of his nose, but enough to make him a little uncomfortable sleeping. The blue bulb snot-sucker just wasn't doing the trick, so yesterday I got a NoseFrida. It's really gross. The parent sucks the snot out of the baby's nose with a siphon, but there is a filter to collect the snot. Doubly gross is that it is clear and you can see the snot burbling in. Zane absolutely hated it, but it did clear his nose. I'll only use it if he's really having trouble breathing, since he hates it so much.

In better news, we went to our first library story time! It is at the Shoreline Library where I work, which is extra fun for me. It's on a non-work day, so we should be able to keep going. Zane had a great time watching and listening to us sing songs, and he loved the other babies. When Miss Laurie got out a book, he stood up and quivered. Definitely our son!

And finally we leave you with some giggles:

Quadpod

Our Little Angel has been working on sitting up on his own this week. He can do what Ann Keppler from Birth & Beyond calls tripod sitting, although it really is quadpod sitting. The first day I propped him up, he wavered and fell a lot, but each day he gets better and can sit for quite a while without toppling over! Today he started trying to straighten up, but he goes a bit too far back and ends up lying down. I think he just tries to straighten his body to stand (his favorite activity), and doesn't quite end up where he planned to. He'll get it it soon! I can't wait until he can sit on his own to play with his toys.
Meanwhile, I got out the highchair again, and while he's still tiny in it, he can now use it! He sits there with me while I eat, and I give him tiny bits of flavors from what I'm eating. So far he is not impressed. I got out one of his own spoons so he can get used to the idea. I won't try to really feed him for another 5 weeks or so.
The other day we all went on a walk together, and Zane was especially cute.
Going for a walk:


Friday our friend Sabina was an angel and babysat Zane for 4 hours while Michael and I went on a date for the first time since Zane was born. We went to see Avatar in 3D on the IMAX screen at Pacific Science Center, and it was amazing! A really beautiful movie. See it in 3D if you can

Bijou Update

It has been very discouraging over the past months in that we have not been able to get Bijou's diabetes under control. She's had many, many all-day visits to the vets to check her blood sugar levels, she's been shaved and had an ultrasound, and we even switched types of insulin, but nothing seemed to be working.

Today we got good news! For the first time, Bijou's blood sugar levels are finally coming down. We are on a new insulin and are closing in on the right dosage. Yay! She'll still need to go back to the vets a few more times over the next month to check her levels and get her dosages adjusted, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. She'll still need two shots daily for the rest of her life, but hopefully she'll pep up, reverse the neuropathy in her limbs, and stop drinking and peeing so much. Hopefully we can move her litter box back downstairs so it is no longer in the living room. Right now litter gets tracked all over.

Today I went to a meeting and Zane went to his daycare for the first time for about 5 hours. It seemed to go well! He'll go once a week for the rest of the month to help him (and me!) get used to it before he goes for three long days a week starting in February.

Comparing Babies

I've always heard you shouldn't compare babies because they all develop on their own perfect schedule. But ... I was wondering when Zane might first get teeth, and my Mom mentioned I should check in my baby book for when I got my first teeth. It was really fascinating to see similarities and differences for Zane and I (so far) for our baby growth!

	Julia	Zane
Birth time	5 days late	3 days late
Birth weight	6 lbs 10 oz Didn't lose birth weight in first few days.	6 lbs 13 oz Didn't lose birth weight in first few days.
Birth length	20.5"	18-21" (differing results)
4 weeks	8 lbs 5 oz	About 10 lbs
6 weeks	9lbs 1oz, 22.5"
2 months		11.5 lbs, 22.5"
3 months	10lbs 10oz, 24"	12 lbs 4oz, 23.5"
4 months		13lbs 4oz, 25"
5 months	14lbs 4.5oz, 26"
Teeth	First ones at 4.5 months
Sits	6 months
Crawls	6.5 months
Ba-ba, da-da, ta-ta	7 months
Walks w/ support	8 months
Walks alone	13 months
Potty training	Bladder control at 21 months, and potty training at 2yrs, 3 mos in just 3 weeks.

One concern our doctor has about Zane is that his weight/height ratio percentile has dropped a bit. Zane seems very happy and healthy, so he is probably just a skinny boy. Looking at the stuff above for me, I weighed even less for the same or longer heights! It seems that it is just how we are built. Thursday Zane and I went to a lactation consultant, and she said Zane is getting plenty of food and looks very healthy, so it is most likely just how he is built. Still, we are keeping an eye on his weight, and we are going back to the doctor for a check when he is 5 months old. Meanwhile, I'm trying to get him to nurse as much as possible.

A couple of other interesting things from my baby book info: I got my teeth pretty early! Michael's niece Kyrin got them early, too, so I'll be watching for that in Zane. Also, it sounds like I was pretty easy to potty train -- I hope Zane is!


Saturday Zane and Michael had 5 hours of guy time while I went to the Sound of Music Sing Along with Sabina. I've been wanting to go for years, and I loved it! Still, the whole time I missed Zane and worried about how Michael was getting along. They were fine, of course! If this show ever comes your way (it happens in many cities and several countries) you should go!