Molarity

Poor Zane is getting even more teeth. His first lower molars are burbling up, so he's now working on four molars and two incisors all at once. Luckily the two incisors are through and about halfway up. The molars seem to be taking forever, though. The good news is that Zane is not otherwise sick, and he's a tough cookie, so we just have some crankiness but not much more.

As a result of the teething, I think, Zane has been constantly asking for "boob" (I swear to you that for months I tried to teach him to say "nurse" or make the sign for it -- when I finally said it was a "boob" he immediately picked up on it). It's pretty cute when he goes into the bedroom and starts dragging the Boppy to the living room chair. My milk production has slowed to a literal trickle, so I don't think he's getting much out of it other than comfort. I hope he's not just asking to nurse a lot because he's not getting enough -- that makes me kind of sad. Pumping at work has almost become an exercise in futility; I realize I'm going to have to give it up soon. I guess Zane can just nurse in the morning and evening when I'm home with him. I think that's pretty normal for second year nursing, but it's a little hard for me to let go of something that was so crucial for his well-being for so long.

This week I signed Zane up for swimming lessons and dance lessons that will both start in the first week of January. The "dance" class is really just a movement class, and I think Zane and I will have a lot of fun: "Parents/caregivers and children explore the joy of dance together through fun warm-ups, games, folk dances, music, instruments, and other exciting props." Both lessons are just a few blocks from home, which is one of the benefits of living here in the metropolis!

Next weekend we will be on our way to Maine, so there is a good chance there will be no posts for a while. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

WHO's Healthy

This week we saw a pediatrician who said Zane is just fine the way he is and is not too skinny. He compared Zane's weights to the World Health Organization's charts, and on those charts breastfed babies don't look too skinny. The pediatrician said Zane looks very healthy and is just "expressing his genome." Zane ate pizza to celebrate.

For some mysterious reason Zane has been waking up at 5 or 5:30 this week. I wish I knew why. I thought it was a random bad morning, but so far it has been 4 days in a row, so I've been going to bed at 9:30.

Going to bed and sleeping in general are good, though. Here at bedtime Zane tells Daddy all about elephants. Zane loves to sit in a chair to look at books, so we created one on the bed out of a boppy and some pillows, and he settled right in.

Well, it's after 9pm and my coach is about to turn into a pumpkin, so I had better get going. Here is a last photo of Zane practicing to run the universe.

Fishy Kissy Tissue Boy

Last week I mentioned that Zane has perfected his kiss. This week he's been kissing everything. I saw him pull out his finger puppets and kiss each one. He kisses us in the morning and after he bites us to make amends. He kisses us instead of biting, which is better. His daycare mom Marie said he was sitting at a table with the only younger baby, Allen, and Zane leaned over and gave him a kiss. What a sweet boy!

I brought a book home from the library called There are cats in this book, and Zane's favorite part is the two page spread filled with fish. I was pointing out all the fish and saying "Fish fish fish fish," and so he learned the word ("sish")and the concept of fish-ness. He can now pick out pictures of fish in books and other places. Monday I took him to Swanson's Nursery to see their holiday camel, donkey, and reindeer, but Zane got most excited about the koi pond that is always there. Those are some big sish! We've been back to see them two more times.

After the previous weeks' sicknesses, Zane has become an expert nose wiper. Left to himself he will pull out tissue after tissue, or many many Boogie Wipes, and delicately wipe his nose once before tossing the tissue and going for another.

After finally getting over his sicknesses, Zane has been a champion eater and napper this week. At the same time, all sort of his clothes have become suddenly too short. He can now just barely reach the doorknobs, although luckily he can't do anything with them yet. I'm pretty sure he's gone through a growth spurt! Monday morning we have an appointment to see a pediatrician about Zane's slow weight gain, and I'm very interested to see how big he is now, just 3 weeks after his last visit. Maybe we'll get a nice big number and be sent on our way!