A Rash of Teeth

We've had a cold week -- I thought Zane looked pretty cute in his toasty sweater, flannel lined jeans, and wool socks.

Zane continued to have a rough time earlier this week. After having a fever all last weekend, he acquired an itchy rash all over AND started erupting four teeth! Two of them are his upper first molars and so are very big and painful. The other two are his second lower incisors. In a week or two he should have a new smile! The rash went away in a couple of days, and by Thanksgiving he was happy again. Just teething is OK after all the other stuff!

This week brought real stick-on-the-ground now. We tested out Zane's snowsuit and boots. It was a bit of overkill for our snow, but I wanted to know if they fit well before we go to Maine. Good thing I did, because his snow suit is really too small. I thought Zane would have fun in the snow, but he was so miserable health-wise that he did not like it at all. Maybe next time.

Because of all the snow I put out trays of seeds for the poor little birdies. I put one on the back porch which is right next to a big window where Zane sits and has his meals. We have had lots of squirrel and bird visitors, and as a result, a frequent cat visitor. Zane has been really, really excited about this! After he got over being sick, he's been eating more because he stays in his chair to watch the animals.

Zane has had some nice developments this week. He is now giving very nice kisses; not slimy open mouthed ones, but sweet little smacks. I've even heard him say "kiss." He can now ask for help ("hup") when he needs it; it's fun to have him ask for what he needs. His word for book is now "cook," and once in the middle of the night when he couldn't sleep he asked me for a "cook", which I thought was pretty funny. This apple did not fall far from his trees!

Twice this week Zane has "hupped" me do a bit of cooking. For Thanksgiving I mixed up a bean casserole, and on Friday I made banana bread. You heard right. I squished up bananas. The things I will do for love. Michael says it is very good, and Zane has eaten some, too. For the cooking I let Zane tip in some ingredients, and I had him standing on a step stool next to me. I think climbing up and down the little ladder was more fun for him than cooking.

Michael bought Zane his own little laptop-esque toy, and right now Zane can use the music feature. Too bad the music bits are so short, 'cause he was starting to get a little cha-cha going:

Poor Baby

Zane has been sick all week. In the picture above he was feeling pretty good and being silly with Mom's slippers and PJs. Last Sunday night he started coming down with a cold. Monday we went to the doctor for his 15 month checkup, and Zane got 4 shots, including a flu booster. I didn't do a good job of holding his hands, and he grabbed the needle after the first shot; he didn't hurt his hand, but he put a big scratch in his leg. By Monday night he was limp, feverish, snotty, and his legs were sore, scratched, and bruised. I took a sick day Tuesday to be home with him, and Wednesday I don't work any way. Those two days he was kind of low key, but not feverish anymore. Meanwhile, I got the cold. Thursday and Friday we managed to get off to daycare and work, but neither of us were doing well after being up all night with Zane's coughing. I left work early on Friday to try to get home and rest at a decent hour. Zane's daycare Mom mentioned he had been feverish again on Thursday.

Friday night Zane and I had really nice sleep with only two brief wake ups and a nice sleep in. I thought we'd be OK! But no, Zane has been feverish all day Saturday and Sunday, and Saturday night was crap sleep again with Zane coughing and whimpering and crying. He's also not eating well, which is pretty stressful, since he's already too skinny. Thank goodness I still nurse him, and we did lots of that this weekend.

The only ray of sunshine in all of this is that Zane has been so limp that he nestles into our laps and sits with us for quite a long time. Our little zippy boy hasn't done that since he was just months old and unable to move. Michael and I watched a lot of TV with him. Zane and I watched 3 PBS shows on dogs, crows, and elephants. He loved it and responded to the animals with barks and caws and hoots. He even repeated a few words he heard that he knows, like "hot" and "up". I figure the sin of TV with a baby is not so bad when he's sick and I make it an interactive activity.

The doctor visit revealed that in the last 2.5 months he's only gained about 13 ounces and a half an inch. His weight percentile compared to other babies went down again. Rather than go ahead with blood draws which are painful, we are first being referred to a pediatrician to see if he thinks the tests are necessary. Our doctor is a little puzzled since Zane is so clearly an otherwise very healthy active bright baby. Probably he's just built like me, eats like me (not much), fed healthy food, and is very active.

Zane got to see his first snow today. We had some beautiful fluffy flurries. Unfortunately, he was too sick to do more than a quick step out onto the porch. We have a snowsuit and boots, though, for when we go to Maine over Christmas! I'm hoping to get some good snow play time in.

A New Verb!

Monkey boy reminds you to floss. The only photo I took this week!

Zane has many many noun words, but for a long time his only verb has been "up" (and maybe "out"; I'm not sure if that is a verb or noun for him). I keep asking him, "When are you going to get another verb?" Well, he has one now, and boy does he use it a lot! I'm already kind of tired of it.

"I want! I want! I want!" Actually, what he says is something like "Iant" or "aunt" (not pronounced ant), while madly opening and shutting his outstretched hand. It has largely replaced his point. Things like this that we haven't worked on show up all of a sudden, and I think they come from daycare. Like calling a phone "call" instead of "phone", or saying "No, don't!" Hmm, now that I think of it, "don't" is a verb, too!

Saturday night I got to be a big girl and go out to see a play with Sabina. We saw "Dancing at Lughnasa," and it was really wonderful. I was out way past my bedtime, but I never once looked at my watch. Michael and Zane had a nice evening together, and Zane even went to sleep in his crib without Mama! Bravo to them both!

We had fun earlier in the week when Michael brought out the "thumper" for his sore back. Zane was instantly smitten. The video is a bit long, but has a lot of silly bits.

Standard Time Zane

Zane is still anxious about Mama going anywhere, but he is starting to relax his grip just a bit. Last Monday we went to our monthly toddler group, and Zane uncharacteristically sat on my lap for about 20 minutes before he would mix with the baby mosh pit. This weekend Daddy was away at a cousin's wedding, and Zane's cousin Kyrin babysat while I worked. Zane cried when I left, but was otherwise cheerful. He asked a bit for Daddy, and wondered where he'd gone! We both got home Sunday night after Zane was asleep, but then he woke up a lot, I think to check on us.

Sleep continues to be mostly really good! I've been slowly moving his bedtime over the last month, so the change back to Standard Time seems to have gone well.

He started to use the words "cup" and "hat" this week. He also started to use "ow" for himself when he falls or hurts himself. For the first time he started to point to the right things when I say "Where is ..." That's pretty fun -- I feel like two way communication is really starting.

Our neighbor let us know she is pregnant, so now there will be about 20 kids on our block not including teenagers! It's like a neighborhood from the 1950s! I don't see how we can afford to move soon, so it will be nice for Zane that we live in a place with so many other kids.

Here's some pre-bath time fun!