A Wicked Good Time

Helloooooo everyone from Maine! It was wonderful visiting with you all, and we miss you already.

We had a wonderful time in Maine. Zane was an excellent traveler, weathered the time change, and slept and napped pretty well considering all the changes. It was hot hot hot, though, and a few cranky times were due to that and not being able to sleep well in the heat. A few times we went to the library to play and cool off. We're glad to be back in cool Seattle.

Zane's brain seemed to get really stimulated by the travel, as he started doing a bunch of new things. First, at Pa Jim's he learned to climb down stairs by navigating the two steps from dining room to living room; then he applied that to other steps and even a couch! Later on he climbed up onto the rim of Grandma's bathtub, which was a little precarious. He's really into climbing now, and tried to climb out of his high chair and crib last night. Saturday morning I put him in his exersaucer for my shower, and when I got out he was standing by the tub. Little Houdini!

Zane has really begun to babble in a way that clearly sounds like language. There were enough times that he "coincidentally" said what sounded like a word right after we said it, that I think he is beginning to copy words. He also clearly knows some words, such as "cat". Cats were a big highlight of the trip: 2 at Pa Jim's, 1 at Grandma's, and 2 at his cousins' house. One day Zane was crying after waking up from a nap, and nothing would console him until I said "Do you want to go find a cat?" He immediately stopped crying and got a big smile on his face. He's definitely got Henderson/Robarts blood in him.

With all the new sights to see, Zane also developed his point while in Maine. Now he points to lots of things, and I'm trying to name everything he points to. The power of pointing is also the power to say what you want; Zane also points to things he can't have, and then fusses when I don't give them to him. I will not give in! I will not cultivate a whiner!

Uncle Aaron asked if Zane could stand on his own yet, and I said no. Aaron then gave Zane a try, and got him to stand in sumo stance for a few seconds! Aunt Colleen and cousin Ian also got him to repeat the performance. When Zane stood, we all said "Yay" and clapped, and Zane even clapped a bit! Zane won't do it for me, though; he gets rubbery legs around Mom. But, today he was fussing for me to pick him up and let go of his support to reach for me -- he accidentally stood for a second! Now that Zane is home he's also walking a bit if I hold his hands while he is facing me. If he faces away he gets rubbery legs again.

We also had many wonderful firsts: Swimming in a lake (which was awesome!), crickets, fire flies, real ducks, the moon and stars (it's been too light in Seattle), Maine blueberries, bug bites, cat scratches and band-aids. On the first night in Maine I took Zane out after dark; we heard crickets, smelled the ocean, and saw fireflies, stars and the moon. Zane said "Aahhh!"
This was also Zane's first time to meet most of my family and friends Ann and Jon! Above Zane reads with Grandma and cousin JuJu. To the right he meets his Great-Grandma Robarts! Oh yeah, and two more teeth up top!

I also had a restful time. While we were in Camden my Mom took Zane in the mornings when he woke up, and I got to sleep an hour or so extra. Just four days of that and I really felt refreshed! Mom and Zane got quality time, and I got rest. Everyone wins! When Zane had naps I didn't have all my chores waiting for me at home, so I actually got a lot of reading done. My book is languishing again, but I'll get back to it soon ...

I feel like so much happened in Maine I could write a book! When I get more pictures from other people I'll post more.

Meanwhile, before we left for Maine, we had some adventures and experiences. We had another developmental assessment which was fun as usual. Zane is zooming along and ahead of his benchmarks on all stuff except Communication. I need to work with him more on language games like nursery rhymes and finger plays. I think his week in Maine gave him a bump up, though. We go again at the end of August.

We went to a visit with the nutritionist to explore Zane's skinniness. The upshot is that he seems to be grazing and nursing a lot and so is not interested in eating. The grazing and mini-nursing is just enough to take the edge off his hunger so he can go play, but not enough to give him the calories he needs. To make him eat more, I need to feed him less often. I've been working on that plan since then, and Zane is eating more solids (and pooping more). He's also nursing less, so my milk production is dropping. That's a little scary for me, but I'll adjust. It will be nice if he only nurses in the am and pm so I can stop pumping at work. Meanwhile, maybe I can go to just pumping once at work during the day.

We also had a day trip to Fiddle Tunes, which was awesome. The day was beautiful and we were accompanied by Bee. Zane missed the ferry rides due to sleeping, but he had a great time listening to music, playing in the grass, and dancing with Laurie.

Then, the day before our Maine trip, we took a break to go to the Ballard Seafood Fest. Zane got to play in the water park at the Ballard Commons. He was more mesmerized by the other kids than the water, but I think he still enjoyed it. It will be super fun when he can walk on his own.

And that's the roundup! This week we have an appointment with a speech therapist to somehow check Zane's eating, and then we have a regular checkup. Let's cross our fingers for some chubbiness!

Oh, and Zane has a fever today that started last night. :(

Bean Pole

Mom, is this how we get to Maine? Are you going to mail me? Nope, but we are going to fly out next Sunday! I'm nervous about how it will go but looking forward to the adventure. I may not get a blog post in next week if I'm too busy before we go, and I may not get them in while I'm away, either.

We had another checkup on Thursday, and Zane is now 2'5" and 17lbs 1oz. He only gained 6 ounces over 6 weeks, and he has now dropped to 1% in his weight for length. So the doc says we need to have tests done, but after consulting with a pediatrician, he says no. The pediatrician said that if Zane had a metabolic problem we would have seen more problems by now. His lack of adequate weight gain is just classic for not getting enough calories. Gack! I'm starving my baby! But he won't eat! At least I'm not stunting his growth, since he's a bit taller than average. We have an appointment with a nutritionist on Tuesday, and I'm hoping to get a lot of help. Then at the end of the month we have an appointment with a speech therapist (!) who will watch Zane eat and nurse and thus deliver some sort of wisdom. A co-worker with a wife who is a speech therapist says they do a swallow analysis of some sort.

I've been trying extra hard to get some high calorie foods like avocado in him, and after I did he has had several nights of sleeping really well. It seems that our accelerating sleep problems may well be firmly linked to Zane simply not getting enough calories and being hungry. Today I failed to get much food in him (I tried!), and he also nursed less than usual due to holiday distractions, so we'll see if we have another bad night.

Despite being starved by his mom, Zane continues to thrive and get into all sorts of stuff. Dumpster diving in the recycling bin is his favorite. We no longer put cans in there. Pulling off toilet paper and eating it is also a joy. Zane has started to move his feet a bit while standing (cruising), so he's starting to figure out the whole walking thing. He prefers to hold onto things rather than to let me hold him in walking position. We'll get there someday!

Monday we have another one of the free and fun developmental assessments. Wednesday we take a day trip to visit our friends up at Fiddle Tunes. Saturday is the Ballard Seafood Fest. Sunday we fly out to Maine! Yikes!