Zane Walker, Ballard Ranger

Zane is really working on walking this week! He needs to hold onto both of my hands, so I don't think solo walking is super imminent, but it is definitely on the horizon. When we are outside I think Zane recognizes the value of walking as a way to not bang up his knees. He really seems to enjoy it. At storytime on Wednesday he forgot to hold on and took one step by himself, and then later at daycare he did that again but crashed and burned. We'll get there!



Today we went to ReclinerLand in Lynnwood, which turned out to be very exciting for Zane. Miles of soft furniture and carpets. We got a new chair to replace the rocker/glider I used for Zane's first year. He doesn't need so much rocking and effort to get to sleep these days, and we wanted something soft that everyone could enjoy. It'll be delivered Friday or Saturday and I can't wait! I've also ordered something to organize Zane's toys and I received a new bookshelf for his books. Now they're all accessible to pull out at any time!

Tuesday I managed to finish getting a baby bike seat (Thanks, Sabina!) installed onto my bicycle, and we went out for a ride on Tuesday and Wednesday. It was fun! The first day Zane said "Ahhhhh" for a while and seemed to be playing with his bumpy voice. When we got going fast down a hill he put his hands and feet on my back. A backseat driver putting on the brakes! Wednesday we took an early morning jaunt to a park overlooking Puget Sound (now also the Salish Sea) and had a nice time talking to some people and exploring. This morning we went to the Locks and saw many dogs, joggers, and rushing water but not many fish. Once I get my bike legs back (I haven't been biking for about a year and a half), we can go to Golden Gardens. Zane looks like a little boy, not a baby, in his big bike helmet.

Eating and sleep have been wonderful! For most nights in the past week he has slept 9-11 hours straight. Zane has become a pea-fanatic and now I give them to him as an appetizer while I'm preparing his meal. It helps cut down on last minute Oh-god-I'm-hungry whines. I've started trying foods that he disliked in the past with some success. Lentils with ham got urped up, though. I'm not sure if it was yucky or a thick texture thing. I'm adding ground chicken to meals, too, so he's getting more protein. Today he had tiny star pasta and had stars stuck to his lips after dinner.



On our way to the post office on Monday I picked up a sorter toy at a yard sale. The little shapes are rattly, which is fun. I showed Zane how to put the toys in, and when I point to the right hole he can manipulate them the right way and push them in. He seems to think that's pretty cool. On his own he doesn't quite get the idea of the right shape and color for the right hole, but this toy might help that light bulb go in. These are also a nice size to practice throwing!

This week's mischief has been learning to open the toilet lid and fish around. A toilet lid lock is in our future, but hopefully not a complicated one so I don't pee my pants trying to get into the toilet.

Wednesday was our last baby story time at Shoreline! Shoreline's story times are on break until September, so we are going to start going to a young toddler story time at Ballard during the same time. We can bike to the library!

Graduating to the next level of story time is one of many almost-birthday changes. I've been thinking a lot in the last couple of weeks about what I was doing last year at this time. Last day of work. Mom comes to visit. Big and pregnant during a heat wave. No idea what's coming!

Mr. Engineer

Michael helped to engineer Zane, but of course he has an older baby, too.

People are always asking me about how Michael's software MoI is doing, and what the heck is it anyway? Here is a nice big 5 part series all about it.

A Stand Up Guy

More pictures from Maine! A couple of professional portraits, some at the lake, and some with Zane outside and inside the L. L. Bean aquarium.

Zane continues to get a bunch of new skills. I wonder if his improved nutrition is helping these come out? He now loves to play with lids: he takes them off, he puts them on (correctly!). He is also beginning to precariously let go with both hands while standing. Friday morning he stood for 3 seconds, standing tall and straight! This week he learned how to let go of a toy and hand it to me. The first time he did this he laughed and laughed! We had to do it over and over, and he still thinks it's pretty good fun. Sort of related is that he will also feed me some of his food (as long as he isn't eating bananas).

Poor Zane got pretty sick earlier in the week. He had a high fever, excessive drooling, runny nose, and no appetite from Saturday night through midnight Sunday. Monday the fever and snot were gone but the drooling and lack of appetite continued along with severe unhappiness. He may have had a sore throat. Only a bath would make him happy, so we had some extras. It was sad to see our happy boy feeling so poorly. The only plus is that he was so limp and tired JoJo felt confident to hang out near him. Wednesday afternoon he broke out into a little bit of a rash, so it may have been Roseola.

Tuesday he was better and eating again, which was good because we had a weight check coming up! Wednesday Zane went to see Dr. Globerman, and he is officially chubbier! At the last visit Zane had only gained 6oz in 6 weeks and had dropped to 1.35% for weight for babies his age. This time he had gained 13oz in 4 weeks and is up to 1.99%! Yay! We are really making progress now, which is a relief to me.


Sleep has been totally awesome! I've been trying to get Zane to bed consistently earlier, and we've been shooting for 8pm, and getting there at about 8:15pm. Tuesday night we got to bed late but slept until 9am! That has never happened! Wed, Thu, and Fri nights he slept about 11 hours with just 2 wake up breaks! I'm feeling really refreshed and hopeful that this is a new trend. Many many people tell me that if I can get him in bed by 7:30 he will most likely still sleep until 7:30am. This would be wonderful because I would have more time to get chores done in the evenings, and maybe even a little down time.

We are just back from a Sunday stroll, and Zane now has his first bike helmet so he can go for rides on a seat on the back of Mommy's bike. Hopefully we can go tomorrow!

A Wicked Good Time

Helloooooo everyone from Maine! It was wonderful visiting with you all, and we miss you already.

We had a wonderful time in Maine. Zane was an excellent traveler, weathered the time change, and slept and napped pretty well considering all the changes. It was hot hot hot, though, and a few cranky times were due to that and not being able to sleep well in the heat. A few times we went to the library to play and cool off. We're glad to be back in cool Seattle.

Zane's brain seemed to get really stimulated by the travel, as he started doing a bunch of new things. First, at Pa Jim's he learned to climb down stairs by navigating the two steps from dining room to living room; then he applied that to other steps and even a couch! Later on he climbed up onto the rim of Grandma's bathtub, which was a little precarious. He's really into climbing now, and tried to climb out of his high chair and crib last night. Saturday morning I put him in his exersaucer for my shower, and when I got out he was standing by the tub. Little Houdini!

Zane has really begun to babble in a way that clearly sounds like language. There were enough times that he "coincidentally" said what sounded like a word right after we said it, that I think he is beginning to copy words. He also clearly knows some words, such as "cat". Cats were a big highlight of the trip: 2 at Pa Jim's, 1 at Grandma's, and 2 at his cousins' house. One day Zane was crying after waking up from a nap, and nothing would console him until I said "Do you want to go find a cat?" He immediately stopped crying and got a big smile on his face. He's definitely got Henderson/Robarts blood in him.

With all the new sights to see, Zane also developed his point while in Maine. Now he points to lots of things, and I'm trying to name everything he points to. The power of pointing is also the power to say what you want; Zane also points to things he can't have, and then fusses when I don't give them to him. I will not give in! I will not cultivate a whiner!

Uncle Aaron asked if Zane could stand on his own yet, and I said no. Aaron then gave Zane a try, and got him to stand in sumo stance for a few seconds! Aunt Colleen and cousin Ian also got him to repeat the performance. When Zane stood, we all said "Yay" and clapped, and Zane even clapped a bit! Zane won't do it for me, though; he gets rubbery legs around Mom. But, today he was fussing for me to pick him up and let go of his support to reach for me -- he accidentally stood for a second! Now that Zane is home he's also walking a bit if I hold his hands while he is facing me. If he faces away he gets rubbery legs again.

We also had many wonderful firsts: Swimming in a lake (which was awesome!), crickets, fire flies, real ducks, the moon and stars (it's been too light in Seattle), Maine blueberries, bug bites, cat scratches and band-aids. On the first night in Maine I took Zane out after dark; we heard crickets, smelled the ocean, and saw fireflies, stars and the moon. Zane said "Aahhh!"
This was also Zane's first time to meet most of my family and friends Ann and Jon! Above Zane reads with Grandma and cousin JuJu. To the right he meets his Great-Grandma Robarts! Oh yeah, and two more teeth up top!

I also had a restful time. While we were in Camden my Mom took Zane in the mornings when he woke up, and I got to sleep an hour or so extra. Just four days of that and I really felt refreshed! Mom and Zane got quality time, and I got rest. Everyone wins! When Zane had naps I didn't have all my chores waiting for me at home, so I actually got a lot of reading done. My book is languishing again, but I'll get back to it soon ...

I feel like so much happened in Maine I could write a book! When I get more pictures from other people I'll post more.

Meanwhile, before we left for Maine, we had some adventures and experiences. We had another developmental assessment which was fun as usual. Zane is zooming along and ahead of his benchmarks on all stuff except Communication. I need to work with him more on language games like nursery rhymes and finger plays. I think his week in Maine gave him a bump up, though. We go again at the end of August.

We went to a visit with the nutritionist to explore Zane's skinniness. The upshot is that he seems to be grazing and nursing a lot and so is not interested in eating. The grazing and mini-nursing is just enough to take the edge off his hunger so he can go play, but not enough to give him the calories he needs. To make him eat more, I need to feed him less often. I've been working on that plan since then, and Zane is eating more solids (and pooping more). He's also nursing less, so my milk production is dropping. That's a little scary for me, but I'll adjust. It will be nice if he only nurses in the am and pm so I can stop pumping at work. Meanwhile, maybe I can go to just pumping once at work during the day.

We also had a day trip to Fiddle Tunes, which was awesome. The day was beautiful and we were accompanied by Bee. Zane missed the ferry rides due to sleeping, but he had a great time listening to music, playing in the grass, and dancing with Laurie.

Then, the day before our Maine trip, we took a break to go to the Ballard Seafood Fest. Zane got to play in the water park at the Ballard Commons. He was more mesmerized by the other kids than the water, but I think he still enjoyed it. It will be super fun when he can walk on his own.

And that's the roundup! This week we have an appointment with a speech therapist to somehow check Zane's eating, and then we have a regular checkup. Let's cross our fingers for some chubbiness!

Oh, and Zane has a fever today that started last night. :(

Bean Pole

Mom, is this how we get to Maine? Are you going to mail me? Nope, but we are going to fly out next Sunday! I'm nervous about how it will go but looking forward to the adventure. I may not get a blog post in next week if I'm too busy before we go, and I may not get them in while I'm away, either.

We had another checkup on Thursday, and Zane is now 2'5" and 17lbs 1oz. He only gained 6 ounces over 6 weeks, and he has now dropped to 1% in his weight for length. So the doc says we need to have tests done, but after consulting with a pediatrician, he says no. The pediatrician said that if Zane had a metabolic problem we would have seen more problems by now. His lack of adequate weight gain is just classic for not getting enough calories. Gack! I'm starving my baby! But he won't eat! At least I'm not stunting his growth, since he's a bit taller than average. We have an appointment with a nutritionist on Tuesday, and I'm hoping to get a lot of help. Then at the end of the month we have an appointment with a speech therapist (!) who will watch Zane eat and nurse and thus deliver some sort of wisdom. A co-worker with a wife who is a speech therapist says they do a swallow analysis of some sort.

I've been trying extra hard to get some high calorie foods like avocado in him, and after I did he has had several nights of sleeping really well. It seems that our accelerating sleep problems may well be firmly linked to Zane simply not getting enough calories and being hungry. Today I failed to get much food in him (I tried!), and he also nursed less than usual due to holiday distractions, so we'll see if we have another bad night.

Despite being starved by his mom, Zane continues to thrive and get into all sorts of stuff. Dumpster diving in the recycling bin is his favorite. We no longer put cans in there. Pulling off toilet paper and eating it is also a joy. Zane has started to move his feet a bit while standing (cruising), so he's starting to figure out the whole walking thing. He prefers to hold onto things rather than to let me hold him in walking position. We'll get there someday!

Monday we have another one of the free and fun developmental assessments. Wednesday we take a day trip to visit our friends up at Fiddle Tunes. Saturday is the Ballard Seafood Fest. Sunday we fly out to Maine! Yikes!

Funny Face

Zane has started making a couple of faces that we're a little unsure about. They seem to be a united pair, as he usually does them both in a short space of time. The one on the right is like an open faced "Gee this is exciting" face which he could do as his first smile, but I'm not sure why it has been resurrected now. The one on the left began to appear when Zane realized we were (or might be) unhappy with something he did. I think the face on the right is Zane saying "This is OK, right?" and the one on the left is "Why did you yell OW really loudly? Is that bad?" Sometimes he makes the face even when we don't disapprove, as if to say "Was that wrong?" I guess he's got some new brain connections about right and wrong. He'll also sometimes pause before doing something and look at me to see if I'm going to stop him.

Zane has learned to go up on tip-toe, and now can reach all sorts of things that were formerly 1.5 inches too high. It's a surprisingly large amount of things. We're going to have to make another round of moving things and adding latches to higher drawers (like the one above, which he is not supposed to be getting into). He owns one drawer and one cupboard in the kitchen, but that is never enough.

Sleep has been a little better, but eating has gone down the toilet. At one point I was getting him to eat smooshed food three times a day, or at least his breakfast. Now he refuses everything I offer him on a spoon. He wants to have the spoon, which just creates a big mess. I think he will only eat what he can pick up and put in his mouth himself. Dinner last night was about 3 skinned peas. Tonight was actually fairly successful with several bites of cheese, a few crackers, and some tastes of jello. I plan to breastfeed for two years, but I was hoping it would begin to be supplemental at this point. I guess not.

Wednesday Zane and I walked down to the Ballard Locks. We saw squirrels and boats and seagulls and booming waterfalls and fish swimming up the ladder. It was pretty exciting. Actually, the water roaring over the dam was the most interesting to Zane since he is such a hydrophile. He wanted to get very close, but I didn't want him wiggling out of my arms and going ker-sploosh. That would have been bad.

It's only 8:11, but Zane is in bed and I'm heading there, too, hoping to rack up 8 cumulative hours of sleep .... Yawn.

Toothy Bean

I tried to get a good photo of Zane's new teeth, but he really wanted to get the camera, so it's a bit fuzzy.

Zane got sick *again*. Last Monday he came down with his first fever, and he was at 101-103 for about 30 hours. It then morphed into a cold with a yucky cough. Michael got the cold, too, but I've escaped this time.

I had just embarked on a new sleep plan (The No Cry Sleep Solution), but I wasn't able to follow it religiously because of Zane being sick. I brought Zane into bed a lot since he was plenty miserable and needed comforting. By the end of the week, though, I've either made a breakthrough or he's just done with a fussy phase. I'm now just wrapping him in a blankie instead of swaddling him, which I wanted to get away from. For the last several days I've been able to lay him down in a warmed up bed and he often turns over and goes to sleep. If not, I use a mini cry-it-out routine that is also working. I leave him in the crib, and I go lie on the bed. He'll carry on and cry, but eventually lie down and sleep. I stumbled upon this one night when I was so tired of trying to make him sleep that I just took a mental break and put him down in the crib while I lay on the bed. After about 10 minutes of screaming he fell asleep. Last night it was just 5 minutes of medium crying and mumbling to his bunny Bob (see Bob at my shower). He threatened to throw Bob over the side, but then in the gloom of the room I saw Bob quietly slip back into the crib. Zane decided he didn't want to sacrifice Bob just for his anger. This mini-cry method seems to be good because I'm not leaving him alone and he can see me, so he's not scared.

I'm still not having much luck getting Zane to eat consistently, but here's a video of Zane feeding himself a banana for the first time.


Well, Zane's in bed and sleep-time's a wastin'. Have a great week!

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

Well, we've had to say goodbye to Sebastian bun. Michael really worked with the buns to get them to bond. Sometimes they would groom each other and be nice, and then they would fight. We kept hoping there would be a breakthrough. Well, there was -- a breakthrough into JoJo! A really bad fight erupted last Tuesday night which ended with JoJo in the emergency room for stitches. Michael had to sit and wait in the same room where we helped Bijou die.

We really liked Sebastian, but it is now clear they won't bond. Maybe sometime we'll try again with another less dominant rabbit, but meanwhile JoJo just needs to recuperate and join us upstairs again. I've missed her while she's been all penned up downstairs with Sebastian.

Fruity Bean

Zane has been making good use of his new teeth to bite into yummy fruits. Sunday we walked to the farmers' market, and I gave Zane fruit to hold on the way back since it keeps him entertained. He's done that before without molesting it. This time he went to work with his new teeth, producing this little work of art that looks like a mouse got to it. Yesterday I gave him a nectarine to try, and that went over pretty well, too. I was impressed with his one-handed fruit eating skill.

Zane has also unfortunately been exercising his teeth on me. He always used to gum me and that was just fine. Then he got the bottom two teeth, and they were a little sharp, but not too bad. Well, holy guacamole, now that he's got a matching set up top he's biting the bejeezus out of me. See exhibit A of my left arm. Three areas are quite bruised and there are some raised welts you can't see in the picture. Starting today I will no longer stand for it. I say "Ow!" really loudly (that part is easy), and then I put him down and walk out of the room for 30 seconds or a minute (that part is hard). He seems to be getting the picture pretty quickly. Not only does it hurt, but I don't want him to be a social outcast with the toddlers.

Monday we went in for our latest developmental testing, and Zane scored above average in fine motor, problem solving, and social skills, and average for communication. I'm supposed to work on simple word games with him. The idea is to get him to begin to copy sounds I make, not just make them randomly. He certainly talks a lot, but as far as I know he doesn't copy me. He wants to do all of his own talking. Tuesday he began sticking his tongue out at me when I waggled mine at him, so that's a start.

Wednesday our friends Uma and Olivia came to play. Uma is one month younger than Zane, and we know her from a support group and from library story time. Mostly they played near each other and not together, but that's what I understand babies do. It's called parallel play.

Zane's top two teeth are both finally through, and his cold is gone, so we expected to have some good sleep. Sigh. Now something else is going on which mystifies me. I can go through the going to sleep routine for night or naps, and he relaxes and falls asleep, or almost asleep. As soon as I try to put him in the crib he wakes up, and starts crying and writhing. I pick him up to lull him back to sleep and he bucks and writhes and cries and screams, all with his eyes closed! This happens in the middle of his naps, too, and I used to be able to shush him easily for another sleep cycle, but not anymore. He's so clearly very tired, but doesn't want to be asleep. I can't tell if he's hurting, or afraid to be alone, or afraid to sleep, or what. I don't want to give in and always hold him for naps or bring him to bed for sleep. I hope this is just a weird phase and not something actually wrong with him.

I'm working on Elizabeth Pantley's No Cry Sleep solution book, so I hope to work on our nighttime sleep and get it better under control. I'm so tired I'm getting very cranky, and I worry I'll get sick, too. Her no cry nap solution really cleaned up Zane's naps, so I hope the night sleep will follow. I did a sleep log last night, and although he was in bed from 9pm to almost 7am, he really only got eight and a half hours of sleep. This is pretty normal for Zane, but not enough for babies his age who should be getting 11-12. At least he's getting his nap quota now.

Well, right now he's had an almost 2 hour nap, but we had about 15 minutes of bucking and crying in the middle of it. I wish I knew what was wrong ... Hopefully tonight will go well. Every night I hope.

Monday morning. Phew, a pretty good night. Zane asleep at 8:30 and me at 9:30. Up for nursing at 12:30 and 4:30 for only 15 minutes each. He started to fuss after the 4:30 nursing, so I just brought him into bed so I could sleep, and we slept until 6:45! Yay! We both feel pretty good today.

Hoser

Zane did end up getting a yucky cold. That plus cutting his fourth tooth made for last week's nasty (non) sleeping. I ended up staying home from work for one day and getting him much better. He's got a burbly cough and a little snot, and now so do Michael and I. Naps are *much* better, though. Today was the champion of nap days with three long naps (totaling over 4 hours!) and early to bed. A sleep book I've been reading has convinced me to try to get Zane in bed earlier than his usual 9:30 or 10. I have noticed that he actually seems to sleep longer the earlier he goes to bed, so this might just work. Today I did our routine one hour earlier, and he was in bed at 8:30! And now I have time to blog.

We've been having a pretty sad wet Spring, but a few warm days have cropped up. Last Monday we got some surprise sunshine, and Zane and I headed to the backyard with Michael and the buns. I turned a hose on just a bit and Zane had a great time playing with it and getting muddy. This was really his first chance to get dirty outside like a kid should. The picture on the right shows the aftermath.



On Monday I also finally put up a swing for Zane that I got from a neighbor down the street whose boy is now too big for it. I've had it lying around for over a month, and of course it only took about 5 minutes to put it up. Oh well, we really haven't had nice weather to use it before now. I think we'll still go to playgrounds to swing because that's an adventure.

Today was another warm day. I've been looking forward to hot weather so that Zane can get outside for some naked baby time in a pool. He loves water and bath time so much I figured this would be super fun for him. This morning we went out and got an inflatable pool and some sunblock. I was so excited to try it out! But, it ended up being a bit of a bust. The water was cold, and Zane has only experienced nice warm bathwater. He whined and didn't want to be in it, even though I only filled the pool with an inch of water here and there (the ground is lumpy, so it just made puddles in the pool). I guess next time I need to wait for a hot day and put water in the pool ahead of time so that the sun can warm it up.

Today during Zane's nice long afternoon nap I did some kitchen cleaning. There were some pretty yucky areas around the bottom of some appliances. It was fine for us, but Zane puts his fingers in everything and it needed to be cleaned. I got the bottom of the 'frige cleaned off for our new science alphabet magnets! I'm very excited about them. Not the best for actually learning the alphabet (we'll get the classic ones for those), but really cool for the geek factor. I haven't figured out what each letter represents. E.g., J has jade and Jupiter on it, and E has evolution, electricity, Einstein and Earth, but Z is zeros and what, bacon? Hmmm.