Daddy's Boy

All of our stuff that had been carefully secured in locking Tupperware is no longer secure. Zane figured out how to get in, and by the look on his face it seems he clearly had the idea that maybe he wasn't supposed to be getting in.

Not such a big enormous language jump this week, but we're having fun with what he's got. Now we're starting to understand him a bit when he mumbles to himself. Friday night after I put him in his crib I lay on my bed to keep him company in the room while he fell asleep. I heard: "Mumble mumble. DAH-dee! Heh heh heh. ... ... Uh-oh, Bob. ... mumble mumble." I worked this weekend, and Saturday while I was away Michael said he heard Zane say "Ma-Ma" a couple times in the midst of mumbling to himself. Then, after spending the day with Michael and Kyrin, Saturday night after I put Zane to bed he just kept saying "Dah-dee" over and over with a few giggles thrown in. In the middle of the night I heard him wake up and say "Uh-oh" and go back to sleep. Then, Sunday morning when he woke up, he was right back to "Dah-dee, dah-dee, dah-dee!" He's started to say "dah-dee" when he sees JoJo or me, too, so we think that right now "dah-dee" might mean fun things in general. I guess "Ma-ma" just means having your butt and nose wiped and getting hugs.

At meal times I try to give Zane a little something to work on with a spoon or fork while I'm also popping stuff into his mouth. He's doing pretty well!

Monkey See, Monkey Do

In addition to Zane becoming quite the budding talker and communicator, he really likes to imitate things he sees us doing. He will now hold the phone up to his head, scrub the back of his head with a brush ('til it's red), try to squeegee the tub (but only make things wetter, not dryer), try to put diaper cream on my arm, brush my teeth, poke the dirt with garden tools, throw toilet paper (and one other thing) into the toilet, and sometimes successfully use a spoon and a fork but mostly just stir food up with them. He's very observant! His maturity is also making him crankier than usual since he has wants and desires and is starting to communicate but can't really do much of it. Plus, he often wants stuff I won't give him.

Monday we went swimming with Uma and her mom Olivia. We were mostly free swimming, but the kids got in their little water saucers so Olivia could watch them both while I took photos. This is the only shot I could get with Zane not chewing on the toy boat; he has a fish shaped ring on his head purely for decoration. The swimming was very fun, but that night while in the bath he accidentally turned on the shower and was not at all amused by the water.

Later that day I figured out that he was saying "appoo" (apple) to mean food in general, or maybe fruit; he also will now go to his high chair when he is hungry, which is helpful to know. Then he said "bee" really loudly while we were looking at some, and I hadn't even said it yet that day, so he wasn't just parroting! He has also unfortunately begun to say "no", but I don't think he really understands what it means yet.

Tuesday morning Zane woke up early and could not go back to sleep and was trying to get me up. Finally at about 5:30am he said loudly, "Up-up-UP!" Cute in retrospect. Also cute in retrospect is when he peed on the floor, and about a minute after I exclaimed about it he was talking to himself and I heard "Go pee." Just a mimic at this point, not a sentence I imagine!

Wednesday I made the useful discovery that if I take Zane in the stroller to a construction area, he gets so amazed I can cut his nails; this is pretty hard these days so that is a major discovery. Language-wise, he's started to answer "What's that?" with the name of an object. I'm not sure if he gets the question or is just saying what he sees ... He also began naming brooms with a kind of raspberry b "bbboo" which is different than plain "boo" for balloon.

Today we went out for a quick walk in the rain which was pretty exciting.


Finally, this morning during a yummy snack of grapes I figured out he was making the sign for "more!" I thought he had for some reason begun clapping during meals this week, but I just figured out he really has been saying "more." Yay! All of this communication, especially around food, is very exciting. This week has been a big one for language!

Oh, and one last thing. Did you know I am saving a paper copy of this blog, all nicely color printed and in sheet protectors, for posterity? Like a weekly baby book. So keep those comments coming, because those get in there, too!

Walk the Walk, Talk the Talk

Zane has had a pretty exciting week full of adventures. Monday morning we biked down to Golden Gardens beach and park. It was a nice long bike ride, and when we got to the park we got to see dogs and kids and ducks. Zane also got to have his first experience of walking in and feeling sand. Unfortunately it was cold and blustery, so we didn't stay very long.

Wednesday we got out some crayons and tried to do drawing, but Zane was not that interested. He made a few marks, but mostly he wanted to figure out how the crayons came out of the box and how they fit back in and how they tasted. The result was some very purple teeth!

Later that afternoon we went to the zoo for a short visit, which is extra easy now that I have a membership. The zoo is nearby so we can just drive over for a short walk. Zane loved the penguins and the big cats most of all. At a bear exhibit he spent more time looking at a man with long red hair and a bushy red beard than at the sleepy boring bear.

Saturday we went to two parties! Such a social whirl we live in. Zane's friend Uma turned one, and we went to her party and met up with two other babies Zane knows from story times. Zane helped with the birthday gifts and of course refused to eat any cake or any food for that matter. He did have his first orange juice and his first drinking straw experience, both of which were very good. That evening we went to a neighborhood party to say goodbye to some long-time neighbors who are moving out. There are a bazillion little boys on our block, and most of them were there. Zane loved it, and I felt bad making him leave early, but I knew he really needed to get to bed. He was tired but had a very hard time going to sleep, I think due to all the excitement in the day.

This past week has seen a big improvement in walking and talking. Zane had been saying a few words but not always in the right context. All of a sudden he seems to be using them correctly more often than not. He definitely says Momma, Daddy, JoJo, and up. He says boo for balloon. I'm pretty sure he also says car. One day I was changing his diaper, and he was looking intently at it. He's been paying attention to what I do with them these days, especially while the contents are getting flushed. I said, "Zane! Oh, you pooped!" Zane said, "Poo." I got excited and said, "Yes! Poop in your diaper!" Zane said, "Diapah." I was floored. He never said those sounds before, so I don't think it was random. He hasn't repeated the performance, but it shows how much he is paying attention these days.

Zane is also surely a toddler now. He can walk quite a ways on his own and no longer needs sticks or hands, although he still likes them. Saturday I scored a $2 mini scooter that converts to a stroller/walker, and he loves it. Two short videos of his prowess!



And finally, we leave you with a little bit of dancing and singing to the B52s.

Healthy Chub

Can you believe we took no photos last week? Here's a first bubble bath from the week before. He wasn't too impressed since he couldn't see his toys very well.

Zane had his one year checkup on Tuesday, and he continues to gain some healthy chub. He gained 14 ounces over the past month and is now 18 lbs 12 ounces and 29.5" tall. He got his weight percentile up to 2.74. It's nice to know he's going in the right direction so that when we have days that he doesn't eat very well, I don't worry so much. He got three vaccinations at his checkup and coupled with a crappy cough he's been off his feed. Unfortunately, since he's nursing less he also has been dehydrated a bit, so we need to develop some water and cow-milk drinking habits. It should help keep his poops from looking like little pebbles in his pants.

Walking is progressing steadily. It seems like I hear from some people that their kids just took off walking one day. Zane seems to be more of a steady improver while he works hard on a skill. Every day he takes more steps in row before plopping on his butt. So far no major wipe-outs while walking. However, he did keel over twice while just sitting down and got his first bloody lip as a result.

Another area where Zane is slowly crossing over into learning is talking. He definitely understands some words, but we can't yet say for sure that he can say words. He has some words that he uses a lot, but not always in the right context, so does that count? He says Momma, Daddy, JoJo (we think), and lately Up! "Up" is said with a very pronounced final "p" and seems to be an all purpose verb rather than really meaning up. If he wants to do something or for us to help him do something he says "uP!"

Right now Zane takes two naps a day, but I think he may be starting the move to one. On Friday he took one enormous three hour nap from 10:30-1:30 and then stayed up until bedtime. In fact, he seemed incredibly well rested and was pretty zippy all afternoon. I wasn't ready for such a long nap and didn't use my time as well as I could have. It will be nice to have Zane take one long nap once that develops. The morning nap gets in the way of some adventures I'd like to do with him, and storytime is currently at 11:30 when he is often sleeping.