Number 9, Number 9

Nine weeks today! Even though I just did a post, Zane has still acquired a few new skills. He's added squealing and possibly giggling to his repertoire of sounds, and he's started to work on sitting up and standing. He leans forward and insists on being pulled up to standing over and over. He helps by pushing with his legs. He's a hard worker -- he does it until he whines about being tired, but he still wants to keep going!

Because he is so strong, we've added folding laundry to his chores:

He's also snoozed a few more times in his crib, which is good for getting used to it. Someday it will be his bed!
Zane sends more greetings to Maine!

Zane's World! Zane's World!

Here is Zane in his crib which I call the Entertainment Console. He gets entertained while I sit nearby at the computer. We listen to the Row Row Row Your Boat mobile a million times while I check e-mail. I was going to say that he doesn't sleep there yet, but he just fell asleep as I was working on this post! Don't worry, if he sleeps there more "officially", I'll take out all of the toys.

Throughout this post will be pictures of the things Zane loves to look at. Zane's World! Most of these will bring a spontaneous smile to his lips. The bedroom light fixture (like a giant, luminous breast); the cherry tree outside his changing table window; Uncle Abraham's volcano painting in our bedroom; Zane's Cranes, which are right behind the chair where we nurse; shiny brass plates, dragons, and a horsechopper; plants in the livingroom window.

Zane is two months old today! Sometimes it seems like it went quickly, sometimes forever. Like when I'm changing the 8th poopy diaper of the day, that's forever. I think to myself, only 100 weeks to go before he might think of being toilet trained! When I look at pictures of him from when he was born and realize how much he's changed already, then it seems like the time has just flown.

Zane had his two month checkup on Monday, and the doctor says he looks wonderful. In fact, he and his nurses were really happy to see a happy healthy baby in for a checkup after a long busy day of sick people. Zane is now 22.5" long and 11.5 lbs. He's just a little smaller than average, but that doesn't really mean much. Just statistics. He got four vaccinations, and then was feverish (up to 101.3) for about the next 24 hours. Zane is really good even when he doesn't feel well. He even managed some occasional smiles. Other than screeching on the changing table (probably sore legs), he just wanted to be held. We did Illegal Sleeping all night, and he slept in bed with me so I could hold him.

I've managed to find childcare for Zane starting in February when I go back to work. Three days a week is going to run us $936 per month or about $11k per year. Yowza! It's still better for me to go back to work as that is about a quarter of my income, and I have the insurance. The childcare is an in home daycare 1.5 miles from our house. It is small, but the rooms are filled with pictures and letters and music, and the two ladies who run it had very good references. It'll still be hard to leave Zane there!

Zane and I have been getting daycare practice because I started going back to the gym two weeks ago. The gym has a really good daycare, and I can get exercise, socializing, and a shower all in an hour and a half for $4.50.

Since Zane is so much older (ha), I've signed him up for a GET account: Guaranteed Education Tuition. I'll be just putting a little by every month for now, only enough for 1.5 years of school, but later we hope to increase the payments. Plus, people can always put in gift payments (just an idea ...). School will be so expensive! If I were to pay monthly, right now, enough to pay for 4 years of Washington state tuition, I would have to pay $350 per month for 17 years! Wow. I hope he's really smart and gets full tuition somewhere ...

Octo Babe

8 weeks old in October = Octo Babe! Zane has been getting very chubby in the cheeks lately, and is about 11.5 pounds. On Monday we go in for Zane's 2 months doctor's visit, and he has to get 4 vaccinations. Yikes!

I'm putting aside more and more clothes that no longer fit, but of course I have a huge reservoir of clothes to pull from. So many donations and baby shower clothes! It's fun discovering new outfits as I rummage through his bureau.

Developmentally I haven't noticed much different from last week, except maybe that he really spends a lot of time with his hands up by his mouth these days. He loves to suck on his hands, and I have a hard time getting them out of the way to feed him when he's half-asleep at night. He is very smiley and fun to play with. He says "Ah Goo" and "Goo" a lot, which is pretty cliche, but very cute. JoJo and Bijou continue to tolerate him. JoJo gets annoyed when Zane's stuff is in her territory, though. Today she hopped in the bouncy chair, which I thought was kind of funny for a bouncy critter to do.

The weather is cool but still pretty nice, and several times Zane and I have gone with Michael to walk up and down the stairs to Golden Gardens park. Zane just conks out in the Baby Bjorn, and doesn't really get to enjoy the scenery.

Yesterday we went to a baby reunion for all of the babies born to our labor and parenting class. Zane is the second smallest, but was born at around the middle of the pack. The baby on the far upper left is 9 weeks old and *16* pounds! Actually, it's good Zane is small, because many women had big babies, and they had to have C sections. I'm happy to have had a small one to pop out! I did envy the hair on other babies, though. Oh well. Zane's is soft and velvety, and he has double galaxy whorls on the top of his head.
Today we had some visitors, and here Zane is with his adoring fans:
A simple game I've been playing with him lately, is fun for both of us. I call it the Busy Buzzy Bee:


And finally, lest ye think all is roses and sunshine, here is what Zane thinks of his car seat.

Lucky Seven

Today is seven weeks of Zane. Above, he is being pensive while looking out the window from his changing table.

This past week was kind of a gassy and spit-uppy week, but I think we're solving those issues. One night he did projectile vomiting and scared the crap out of me, but I think he just had a lot of stomach gas and too much milk. Really, it could happen to any of us.

The weather has been getting cooler, and I've enjoyed rummaging around in his clothes and finding new things. Here he is in a really snazzy turtleneck, and then snug under a blanket for a nap.



















This week we've had Brady and his girlfriend Ashley visiting. Brady is an experienced uncle, and Zane smiled at him right away.

My friend Sabina has also been helping keep me sane, in exchange for getting to snuggle a baby again!
And finally, not a video so much as a tone poem. Happy nursing sounds:

ChickenBun

A new species: the ChickenBun.

Publish Post

Doesn't she looked kind of like a plucked chicken ready to be stuffed and trussed? Mmmmm. Delicious!

Six Weeks of Zane

Yay, we made it to six weeks! A pediatrician in the hospital and another baby maven told us that six weeks was a major milestone to make it to in terms of weathering difficult sleep cycles, crying, and the like. Actually, Zane has been a really good boy, so it hasn't been hard. In the picture above from this morning, Zane is being a very happy baby in bed. In the early mornings I treat Zane and myself to a final snooze in the bed together. It's very snuggly and some of my favorite time with him. He sleeps on my chest so he isn't in danger of suffocating or being smooshed.

Football season is here, and I never thought I would love it so much! Several times when Michael was watching, he'd take Zane and I'd be Free Free Free! Last Sunday Grandpa Gibson was here, and they all had some football time together.














Zane has recorded a message for all you family and friends -- enjoy!

Five Weeks

Well not a lot has happened since the one month post. As you can see from today, being 5 weeks old is a lot of work which requires napping. Here he's watching football with Michael, giving me a much needed break.

The biggest difference I notice this week is that Zane is definitely smiling at us now! That is really wonderful. I thought he might be, and then one day he woke up from a nap to see me leaning over him, and he opened his mouth in a big wide smile! He's doing it more and more often, and we are also playing monkey-see-monkey-do with face expressions, which is pretty fun. He also looks at things more intently now, so I think his vision is really sharpening up.

Today I jokingly told Bijou to keep an eye on Zane, and when I came back into the living room I saw this:What a good guard kitty! Actually, she was staring at JoJo who is hiding behind a chair ...

One Month Old

Today Zane is one month old! He has had some exciting firsts, even since Saturday!

He had his first bottle of breast milk, and he took to it right away! He seemed a little perplexed at first, and his little eyebrows furrowed, but then he sucked almost the whole bottle right down in just a few minutes. Such a good boy. Now I know that I can have a bottle of milk with me if we need to go somewhere for a long time, or if I need to go away and Michael needs to provide food. I've been using the breast pump every morning for the past week now, and freezing one serving of milk every day. Hopefully I can build up a pretty good bank of milk for daycare in 6 months.

We also had our first foray out to a restaurant. Michael and Zane and I went to Caprice Kitchen (we call it Caprice Chicken) on Sunday for brunch, and Zane snoozed peacefully in his car seat the whole time. Zane has developed a sometimes hate of his car seat, so that wasn't a given. We hope he'll do some nice repeat performances, though!

Zane had his first walk in the woods, too. Yesterday I put him in his Baby Bjorn, and Michael and I and Zane walked down and back up the steps to Golden Gardens Park. Boy am I out of shape! I was toting 10 extra pounds of Zane, and 10 extra pounds of myself (mostly boobage), and it was dang hard gettin' up those steps.

Today we took our first trip to Costco, and Zane slept while I Bjorned him around the store, but then he whined in the car seat on the way home. I got some shopping done, though, which is pretty good!

Four Weeks Old -- With Pants!

Today Zane is 4 weeks old! I guess I can't quite say a month until August 15th. If I count months by four week chunks, then he would be 13 months old at his first birthday! He's doing great with lifting his head, and is still generally a cheery baby. We had a cranky week at week 3, but now he seems back to being a pretty good kid. I think I got to be a better burper, and that has helped us out a lot. We sleep pretty well at night, with about 3 or 4 wake ups for feeding. I stay in bed for a long time, and I generally get enough sleep that I don't usually need an afternoon nap. This morning on the bathroom scale he weighed 10 pounds! He looks longer, too.We like to sing together, and do some exercises on one of his lovely quilts. Yesterday evening we read our first baby book together! I had been reading to him from Archaeology magazine, just to have him hear my voice, but now I'll try introducing baby books. I was amazed that he actually paid attention to one! I have also introduced pants! He's been lazing around in PJs all day for long enough. Plus, he is now big enough to finally start fitting into some of his clothes that people gave us.

I noticed a change in myself: I was in a store where a baby Zane's age started to wail and cry, and for the first time ever my urge was to pick it up and cuddle it, not to run away from the infernal noise. I guess I'm a Mom now!

I managed to get a nice set of Zane's footprints, but alas, the hand prints were too hard. How do you get a baby to unclench his fists?
I took a photo of Zane this week that reminds Michael and I of a picture of Zane's cousin Riley when Riley was about 6 weeks old in 2005.














Zane on his frog quilt:
Hello to friends and family!

Three Weeks Old

Zane is three weeks old today. Yesterday his Social Security card came in the mail, so he is a bona fide member of society! It's fun to see mail come addressed to Zane Xavier Gibson.

In preparation for his big 3 week birthday, Zane had his first bath yesterday. He wasn't totally filthy, as I'd been washing him with a washcloth, but his last belly button scab fell out, so now he is eligible for immersion baths. I was a little nervous, but it worked out just fine. He may even have liked it! Here's a video of the beginning of the bath:


In general life is going along pretty well. However, we seem to have ended a sort of two week honeymoon where he hardly ever fussed or cried. Now he does. We've had several instances of downright crankiness and refusal to sleep or be comforted. I think it's gas, and I've been trying to do a better job of burping him. So far, today is going well, knock on wood. Unfortunately, he also seems to have developed a dislike for his car seat, so taking him out has become a bit chancy. Maybe if he keeps going in it, he'll outgrow whatever objection he has.

Some photos from the week:
A nap with Mommy, 18 days old:
Visiting with Auntie Laurie, 19 days old:
JoJo says, "Hey! This is covered with bunnies! Isn't it for me to sit on?"