Boys Who Wear Glasses

Zane has been enjoying wearing my glasses lately. He doesn't seem to be bothered by looking through the lenses, which I think is odd. He has fine eyesight, though, as we know he can see little things from far away.

Last Sunday night Zane got feverish and had a cough again. I think now it was just a little relapse of his old sickness, as it's now all gone. We've been having some weird behavior this week, so I think he's having some neural rewiring and maybe a growth spurt. Zane is generally really good about going to sleep (and lately staying asleep), but this week he had two days of great difficulty in going to sleep. He was also extra clingy and toddlery, and has had several sudden shrieking crying fits over what seems like nothing. One day I had to hold him down and wrestle him into a diaper and clean clothes so we could get to daycare and work (late). I am not liking this. I hope it is a pretty short phase. Luckily he's his normal cheerful self in between.

The weather in Seattle has been cold and snowy, and we didn't get out and do much. Today, though, Zane and I went to a family contradance where we just watched the musicians, and Zane had fun exploring. Also, his favorite dump truck was breaking down, so Daddy went out and got two new ones, which had Zane squealing and clapping and being very impatient for them to be washed so he could use them.

Ahh, the small pleasures of life. Such as soap.

I Want That!

I worked this weekend, and then there was sickness drama Sunday evening, and no-nap drama today, thus the late post.

This morning I was trying to teach Zane how to play with Play-Doh. Here his is learning about its stickiness. Mostly I made the Play-Doh into "rocks", and Zane spent a lot of time dumping them in and out of his dump truck.

This past week Zane has slowly been getting better. He's had a number of days with champion 3-4 hour naps and then 10-11 hour nights of sleeping without once waking up! Unfortunately, Michael has gotten really sick which is bad for him, and bad for me as his snoring is monumental. Someday I'll sleep again, I keep telling myself.

Tuesday we had Zane's 18 month checkup, and it was not a fun visit. Zane was still extra-sensitive to life from being sick, and he writhed and screamed anytime anyone came near him. His weight and height seem to be the same as they were 3 months ago, so we need to go back in a couple of months for a weight check. Zane had been under the weather and not eating well for several weeks, so I'm not surprised. Earlier in the year he had no size change for three months, then had a period of sleeping really well followed by a growth spurt, so I'll bet some growing is coming soon. Other than a bit of a fungus in his frontal diaper area, Zane is doing well and didn't even need any shots! He's getting athlete's foot cream on his nuts now, and that should hopefully clear up soon. He'd been yanking on them and telling me they hurt.

Wednesday afternoon we went to the aquarium for another fish visit. Last time when we saw the octopus, it wasn't moving and I don't think Zane knew it was alive. This time it moved, and he was mesmerized. Then he declared "I want that!" I think this qualifies as his first sentence. We came home with an encyclopedia of ocean life which had nice pictures in it, and a slinky.

We were having fun with Zane, saying "I want that" to his body parts:


Zane eventually pointed to his own ear and said "I want that," and then tried to pull it off.

I'm off to try to get some cold weather yard cleanup in!

Sick and Stunned

Poor Zane has been really sick this week. The cough and mild fever of the preceding weeks came back with a vengeance on Monday. We skipped swimming on Tuesday, dance class on Wednesday, and Zane stayed home from daycare on Thursday and Friday. His cough was awful, a fever would come and go up to 104, his chest was congested, nose was running, he had diarrhea, and he was just generally miserable. He hardly ate or drank. Other times that he's been sick he's been tired or snotty but generally cheerful, but this time you could tell he felt awful. Nights he spent coughing, whimpering in his sleep, and having nightmares. Days he was tired and wheezy. One night he threw up a bunch of mucous which had been dripping down from his sinuses. After that, he just sat in my lap with his arms around my neck sobbing "Mama." I took him in to the doctor to make sure he didn't have anything too bad, but he just needed rest. We watched a lot of videos on buses, garbage trucks, dump trucks, and fish. A neighbor lent us a 30 minute road construction video which has been a favorite.

Today, Sunday, he seems to be finally on the upswing. He had enough energy that this morning we drove out to a park to walk in the trees. Zane has been very keen on saying "don't" lately, and every time a person approached us on the trail he held his arm out in a stop signal, and said "Don't!". I explained to him that it was OK, the trails were for everyone. Luckily, everyone thought he was being cute and waving, so they all waved and said hi. We also saw a dog take a really long pee on the trail right next to us, and that made Zane laugh and laugh. The outing was good for both of us as we were a bit stir crazy. When we got home Zane crashed for a three hour nap, and the photo above is of him still trying to come out of his stupor.

Here is evidence of Zane's TV stupor this week:

Superbowl Edition

Zane demonstrates the proper way to watch the Superbowl. He really only watched a little, mostly the half-time show. He liked the dancing and tried to do some, but his dancing ended up being running around in a circle and flinging himself to the floor. It was pretty entertaining.

This week we had a great time at swimming and a clingy time at dance class. Zane's favorite part of dance class is the music, though, and he loves to grab the shakers and make sound. This week he learned to say "music", and now he is even asking for it when it's not on. Here Zane practices his DJ skills:


Saturday we had an 18 month developmental testing session with Marni at Parent Trust. Really it was just an excuse to visit with Marni, since I have no worries or questions about Zane's development. He is of course, doing fine. He is beginning to do imaginative play, and while we were there he dutifully fed a bottle to several baby dolls, and later shared some of his snacks and an empty cup with some bears. At home I sometimes have his bunny Bob do play, and Zane always thinks that is funny and has Bob do more stuff. This morning he gave Bob and Kitty a whole pile of crayons while we were drawing, and later he was sharing a book with them.

Zane seems to be starting another little virus of some sort, so we stayed inside all of today, which is pretty rare. I almost always plan some sort of outing, even if it is a trip to the grocery store or a walk around the block. It's hard to entertain a toddler all day long inside! We managed it, though. Lots of books, crayons, and videos of buses, dump trucks, and garbage trucks.

After Bath Boys

I worked all weekend -- sorry for the late post! Actually, not much happened this week that I was itching to post. Last Monday night Zane started a minor to middlin' bit of congestion and cough and maybe a low fever. We stayed home from cold swimming lessons on Tuesday and had kind of a subdued time at dance class on Wednesday. I got a touch of it, too. There's been some major crud going around Seattle, and the library has been full of coughing sneezing people. We'll be lucky if that's all we get.

Zane has been continuing to say new words just about everyday. He's also been having a hard time going to sleep at night, and I wonder if the two are connected? He's not upset, just rolling around his crib, scratching at the bars, and mumbling to himself. I sometimes have to resettle him several times before he sleeps, and last night when I was at work Michael had to resort to the vibrating bouncy chair. I'm thinking maybe all of his new language synapses give him a lot to think about when he goes to bed.

Here's a fun collection of videos of Zane and Daddy goofing around after bathtime. The "thumper" Zane talks about in the beginning is the massager that he really likes, and "hot" is the heater.