Week 24

Lots happened this week.

He met his first dog, a very gentle standard poodle named Henry. Zack was enthralled. Looks like we'll have to get another pooch.

(Imagine a picture here. As usual, Rob or I were totally unprepared for a photo op outside the house. I'm going to have to start carrying the camera with me at all times.)

He started rolling. One evening, I put him down on the kitchen floor while I was doing a few things. When I looked back, he was about 2 feet from where I'd put him. He's also started rolling over on his belly at night in his crib.

We had a nice jaunt on Saturday where he "helped" me pick out another pair of glasses (I wanted a 2nd pair because a certain someone is very interested in my current pair and I could just see where that was headed sooner or later. Probably sooner.), we ran a few errands and had a nice lunch. Sunday we went over to friends' house for dinner, where I barely got to see him. He was his charming self, as usual.

We went for walks.
We fell asleep on walks.
We read the newspaper with Dad.
"Hmmm.....what's this black and white stuff? It's kind of fun to pull!"
We chilled out before having dinner (We walked in to find him leaning over like this. And he wasn't stuck because he pulled himself up a minute later).
We played while waiting for Dad to make dinner.
We decided that avocado wasn't our favorite.
But other stuff?
Other stuff is a different story. Carrots are yummy.
And so are potatoes.
Hopefully they're good for the complexion, too.
Want some?

Week 23

There's a list of about 10 foods that we're supposed to introduce to Zack first, to make sure that he's not allergic to anything. Then we can mix and match and try other things. We try one food for 3 days and move onto the next if he's been fine with the first food. We gave him bananas for at least 3 days and he was just fine and really seemed to like them.

So last night we moved onto avocados. He's been getting very excited when Rob sits down with the food and gets the spoon ready. Last night was no different.

"Bring on the food, Dad"
"Geez, Dad, hurry up!"
"Whoa, what's this?!?"
"What happened to the bananas?"
This went on for every spoonful--excitement, then questioning, then wrinkling up the nose. Every spoonful. But he ate it.

He's getting so big! He can roll from his back to his front now, though not quite as reliably as from front to back. He's trying so hard to pull himself up to sitting and keeps getting a little further. After I nurse him, he wants to sit up and usually has a gleam in his eye as if to say "Hmmm....what can I get into now?". And then he lunges for something. He's doing well at daycare. When I've gotten there every night this week, he's been sitting in a bouncy seat with the other older kids standing around him, just fascinated. I'm greeted with "You're here to pick up the baaa-bee!".

Update

Zack, being the clever boy that he is, has discovered that he can combine his two new skills. So, yes, he is raspberrying while he eats his bananas and cereal.

He weighed in at 16 lbs, 8 oz this morning--nearly 2 lbs in a month!

22 weeks + a few days

What a busy week!

Two big highlights: yesterday, he enthusiastically ate rice cereal with bananas that Rob made for him. (And yes, some did make into his tummy)
This just confirms what we already knew, that Rob is a better cook than I, since Zack was barely interested when I made it for him a day earlier.

He also learned to raspberry last Wednesday. And hasn't stopped since.
Grandma and Grandpa came down to visit this weekend, which was great. With the extra hands around, we got started on cleaning out the garage and digging a few more flower beds. I'm not sure why there aren't any shots of Grandma and Zack, but we got some of Grandpa.
I think they wore him out because he slept through the night last night (though I didn't; I kept waking up worried about him!)

He's studying everything much more closely these days, on the road to understanding relationships between objects. The tassel on his bear is the subject of much scrutiny these days.
He likes to read while I putter in the kitchen after we get home in the evening.
Bath time is a bit more challenging these days since he is quite the wiggly worm.
He's too big for our sinks, so we've just taken to getting in the tub with him.
This week we've also switched over to the regular strollers, rather than sticking his car seat in a frame. He seems to really like looking forward as we cruise along.

Last night he completely flipped from his back to his stomach. He's been working on this for awhile but kept getting stuck trying to figure out what to do with the arm that kept getting trapped underneath him. I suppose it's not long before he puts the tummy-to-back and back-to-tummy flips together into one big 360-degree roll. Uh-oh.

"Awww, Mom. Not more kisses!"

13 adults + 8 babies = 1 crazy afternoon

We hosted a reunion of our Bradley method class yesterday afternoon. It was fun to see everyone that we'd gone through 10 weeks of birth classes with, to see what had come of all the big bellies, to see how everyone was doing.

Of course, we had to line up all the babies* on the couch.
That's Ursula, our instructor in the middle. It was fun to see how the babies reacted to each other and how much variability there is among all of them.

Zack seemed to enjoy it all, even though he was asleep when everyone got there, and fell asleep in my lap before everyone left. We'll have to work on his hosting skills.

*one baby left before we got to snap the shot.

21 weeks

We haven't forgotten about the pooch.
He's grown a little, huh? And can do a few more things.

He started daycare this week. It's probably been harder for Rob and I than for him. We're still hoping for an opening in one that would work better with our commute, but this one works for now.

He's turning into a real wiggle-worm, reaching for everything, putting everything into his mouth (he's gnawing on my wrist and playing with the mouse as I type). We're really going to have to watch him or he's going to end up on his head. He can push himself up so that his entire tummy is off the ground. He wiggles and twists so that he can reach his toys when he's playing on the floor. He's getting closer to sitting on his own but isn't there yet.

We started putting him in his crib in his own room, which works for part of the night. And we tried a bit of banana this week. He seems to like the flavor and will suck on a piece broken off for him (don't worry--I'm holding onto it the whole time, very careful he doesn't put too much in his mouth), but isn't really interested in eating much of it. He still pushes it out with his tongue rather trying to swallow it, so it's still a little early for solids.

Have we ever shown you his comb-over?
We're hoping this isn't a precursor to what he'll look like in 70 years.


"Geez, Mom"
"If you're going to start showing pictures like that....
...this show is OVER!"

20 Weeks

It was Zack's first Fourth last week. It was also his first exposure to fire.
He seems to have the typical male reaction to it.

And this next picture? This has to be the direct result of those drinking songs...I mean nursery rhymes that Nonnie sang to him while I was away.
He didn't discriminate. He was after my citrusy tequila drink, too.
We watched the National Fireworks from the rooftop of a friend's apartment building in Dupont Circle. It's a great way to do it--no crowds, no traffic. Even though it was past Zack's bedtime, he was watching them, too.

So aside from turning into a mini-pyromaniac, what's he been up to this week? Well, he decided to totally throw us off kilter by changing his sleep patterns again--waking up every 2 hours during the night seemed like a good idea to him, not so much to us. However, last night he slept 6 hours straight, so maybe we're back on track.

He's making more noises, some reminiscent of a squeaky gate. He's reaching for everything, including my keyboard as I type this. Did I mention that he's scooting across the bed if we put him on his tummy? We tried a bit of rice cereal last weekend and you would have thought we were trying to poison him from the looks on his face, so we'll put off trying solids a little longer. He's increasingly easy to distract, both a good thing (when he's cranky) and a bad thing (when he's eating).

He starts daycare next week at a small in-home setting where I think he'll do very well.

Oh, and he found his feet.

18 weeks + a few days

What a busy week! I went to a conference in Louisville for a few days, so Nonnie and Nonno came down to help Rob with Zack. Nonnie taught Zack Italian drinking songs, I mean nursery rhymes. Something about zucchini and getting tipsy in one's crib.
There are a whole lot more pictures of Zack with Nonnie than with Nonno...
...but I guess she shared him every now and then.
I'm told that they went on lots of walks, and to the Butterfly House at Brookside Gardens.

It was hard to leave Zack, though it was nice to get several nights of uninterupted sleep. I knew he was in good hands and he seemed to do just fine while I was away. By Saturday, however, I was ready to come home. There were thunderstorms in the forecast both in Louisville and DC, and I could see them coming closer as we drove to the airport and as I was waiting to board the plane. Boarding went according to plan and I was all set for a short flight home. Until the flight attendant got on the loudspeaker and said we all had to get off the plan--there was a fuel leak and they couldn't figure out where it was. Ack! Of course, I immediately thought how I'd have to stay one more night, etc., etc., but remarkably we were back on the plane pretty quickly and only delayed about 40 minutes. To top it all off, the thunderstorms in DC held off until we were driving home from the airport. Whew! It was good to see my boys when they picked me up at the airport!

I couldn't believe how much Zack changed just in the few days I was gone. He started holding his bottle by himself (kinda looks like he sang a few too many of those drinking songs, er...nursery rhymes).
He started making quite a few new noises. This morning while we were walking he sounded like a creaky hinge. He's getting a lot better at reaching for things. He also really likes reaching out and touching faces. He's getting better at putting his binky back in his mouth, though his accuracy still leaves something to be desired.
And now, the moment you're all waiting for: His vital stats! He went to the doctor this morning for his 4 month checkup (he's very healthy and cute--that's the official report) and he is 25 3/4 inches (70th percentile) and 14 lbs, 15 oz (50th). So he's nearly doubled his weight and grown about 6 inches! I think I gave birth to a weed!

17 weeks

Last Sunday was Rob's first Father's Day. Zack took him out to brunch at Jackie's--and then proceeded to fall asleep at the table.

Zack did, not Rob.

We took a little walk after eating. (This is an alley, not the main street of Silver Spring). He's getting way too heavy to be carrying around like this, but we forgot the stroller at home.
This week Rob got Zack to belly laugh just a little bit. Zack is sooooo close to getting his toes when he's lying on his back. He's starting to really reach for everything--our faces, our arms when we're changing him, things on the table. He's also starting to figure out that if he whines, someone comes and gives him attention. He likes to be outside, but we've got to be careful because he's fresh meat for those nasty skeeters we get around here.
He's also moving, though he doesn't know it. He started out 90 degrees from where he is in this picture.
And here he is, fresh from his bath in the robe that Ojen and Rose sent to him.

16 weeks

Time keeps flying by! I started work part time last week, which I wasn't too excited about and was about the most exhausting thing I've ever done. But it was a little easier knowing that Rob was home with Zack while I was at work. And clearly, Zack loves spending time with his dad.
Our friends Mark and Judy came down this past weekend--they hadn't met Zack yet. I think they were charmed by him. Are there any pictures? No. Clearly we're failing as the kind of parents who document all aspects of our child's lives.

He's starting to sleep longer at night, though that's not happening quite as consistently as we'd like. He's starting to think about scooting places, both on his back and his tummy, though I'm not sure he realizes what he's doing yet. Which may be a good thing. He's reaching out to touch our faces, which is really pretty sweet. His latest trick is us holding hands while he's on his back and I pull him to sitting and then he pops up to standing. I started this intending just to pull him to sitting, but he was all ready to keep going!

We also thought he might like to join us at dinner (and we wanted to eat without him in our laps!), so Rob put his "throne" together last weekend.

Woodstock, part 2

Just a few more from this past weekend.

Zack is making friends with Zoe.
Zoe's parents are the ones that got us a fabulous gift after Zack was born--chocolate, cookies, coffee and scotch.

And this one is for those of you who think Zack takes after me.
Looks like a pea and a paternal pod to me. You can also see Zack's Woodstock themed outfit with a psychedelic bus on his shirt and peace signs on his shoes*.

*They were both gifts, we didn't go buy them special. We're not that crazy. :)