Today we took JoJo to Rabbit Meadows to meet her betrothed, Sebastian. Sandi of Rabbit Meadows will do the bonding process over the next few days or a week, and we should be able to pick up a bonded pair.
As I told Michael, it's a gamble, but we could double our bunny!
Well. Last Sunday we went to visit Zane's buddy Finn, and Finn showed off how he could now stand. The next morning, Zane did it, too! It's not the first time he's learned a new skill after watching other babies do it. He's very observant. Here he is at bath time, where he kept escaping to go check out his bath, which he loves. You can see his standing skills.
This week Zane's Uncle Brady came by for a visit. You can see that Zane says Uncle Brady is #1! When Brady came by last year at this time, Zane was still a bun in the oven!
Zane's increased mobility means he's getting into more and more stuff. Like swords! Is there a way to baby-proof a bucket of swords? And today he almost tipped over our mammoth tusk. Clearly, we will need to be changing our lifestyle a bit.
Monday we did not end up having a checkup after all. I thought we were supposed to go every two months, but the Dr's office called and said really we weren't supposed to come until Zane is 9 months old. So, I measured him myself, and he is about 27" tall and 17.5 pounds. Now that Zane is standing he can be "tall" instead of "long."
Monday we did go to free development test done by the Parent Trust of Washington. It was very fun! Zane got to play with toys, and I answered questions about his behavior. Zane is doing very well, as I thought! I was given a few things to concentrate on to make sure he hit some milestones, and we are goin
g back in 3 weeks for another screening. Really the only things he doesn't do yet for the 7-9 month old category are picking little things up with pointer finger and thumb, standing, and banging toys together. Well, now he's standing! And I showed him how to make godawful noises banging things together, and he does that with glee. I've been giving him Cheerios to practice picking up.
His buddy Finn came by again on Saturday and modeled feeding himself which Zane hasn't been a fan of. Now Zane picks up crackers and puts them in his mouth, but most of it comes back out again. Someday he will feed himself!
Sleep has finally gotten way better with just one quick waking at night. Except last night when he seemed to start to fight a new cold, hopefully a short one. He seems better already today!
Today we were on an outing and Zane got to have an al fresco diaper change and nursing session. It was lovely!
On the fifteenth Zane was eight months old! This coming Monday we have a check up to see how he's growing. Even if he's still a skinny Bean, he's definitely happy, curious, and physically fit. I also signed up for free developmental testing through the State of Washington and we'll be doing that on Monday as well. The idea is to make sure that any delays are caught and worked on early. I fully expect to find out that Zane is a superstar, and it will be nice to know for sure that we don't just have parent blindness about a trouble spot.
On Monday we went swimming again and ran into Diego and his mom who we know from story time. I noticed a big difference in Zane -- now that he's crawling, he seems to have taken that skill right to the water! When he saw something he wanted to get to, his arms and legs would mill around in the water in a kind of proto-dog paddle (puppy paddle?). I don't think it really propelled him (I was holding him), but it's a great start! One of these days we'll have to sign up for actual swimming lessons.
Wednesday he managed to get himself into a sitting position for the first time. He seemed pretty pleased with himself. I think babies usually do this before crawling, but Zane is such a mover and a shaker that he doesn't have much use for sitting. I think he got that from his fidgety, twitchy, zippy Mom.
We've been having trouble sleeping lately, and Zane has been acting like his mouth really hurts him. I end up letting him sleep in our bed just to get some sleep, and I hope he doesn't come to expect it. I'm not sure where his next teeth might be coming in. Some sources say the upper incisors are next, some say the next two bottom teeth. Maybe it is his upper teeth since those are really big and he seems to be in a lot of discomfort. Poor pumpkin.
No news is good news! I can't think of anything major to report this week. Zane continues to zip around faster and faster on his hands and knees, and he's started pulling himself up to a kneeling position, too. This kid wants to stand and run!
Zane proofing the house is difficult, as he can dismantle most efforts. I tried putting corner protectors on the coffee table, but they actually create a hazard. Zane sees them, crawls over, yanks them off to chew on, and then he is hanging out right by a sharp little corner. I've put some of his foam letter squares around the coffee table for now, but it won't last.
Zane has also started to create a mental map in his head of the house. He knows to crawl around the coffee table to get to JoJo's stuff or to follow me to the bathroom. He knows how to get to me in the kitchen so he can hang on my leg and look up at me with puppy eyes. He's getting really good at clutching and hanging on to me now. I've been calling him my little monkey.
Our latest fun discovery is that blowing raspberries in Zane's armpits and knee pits is very funny. Maybe it tickles!
He's getting used to eating more and more, which is useful since he doesn't seem to like to take a bottle on the weekends that I work. He will nosh on yummy food, though. At least when I get home he'll be only thirsty, not hungry, too.
Cheerio!
Okay, so I can't get to JoJo anymore? Fine, then. I'll just try to pull your computer down onto my head.
Zane is really crawling well now, with no belly flops and only the rare stumble. He isn't quite speedy yet, but he's got it down. I've got a better barrier on the stairs now that has a gate in it for easy access. No more stepping over a gate and hoping not to fall down the stairs.
This week's drama involved buckets of vomit. His first! How cute! In an older post, you may remember I fed him some yogurt with strawberries in it. That was bad (strawberries are not recommended in the first year), so I shared my other flavors with him until I read the label and found out they had honey in them, another no-no. So I made a big label-reading effort and found some fruit yogurts sweetened only with fruit juice. He really liked the first one and ate a lot, but ended up having two bouts of massive spewing. The first one in my bathroom, and the second one in a complete stranger's house while we were buying a used baby gate. Luckily it was on a hard surface, and as parents they completely understood. Poor Zane got worn out and a little dehydrated, but by the next day he was fine. I'm not totally sure it was an allergic reaction, but he didn't have a fever so I don't think it was a bug. I'll wait a week and try a few spoonfuls of another flavor and see what happens.
Today we went to a baby group (Q&A for moms) and it was so fun to see the babies crawling all over each other now that they are bigger. It was kind of like a pile of really cute maggots writhing around on the floor.
Zane has slept through the night again for several nights, so I'm hopeful that will continue. Even when he does get up, it's not for long. I feel a lot better! I've also been getting alarmingly thin, and I've been bulking up on nuts and whole milk and protein bars, and that makes me feel better, too. I hear that babies' growth slows down around now, and I won't need to be using so many calories each day to produce milk. We'll see!
