A Letter to Zach - Month 7

Dear Zach,
On Monday you turned 7 months old and you weighed 23lbs 13oz and were 29.5 inches long...
Oh my these weeks are speeding by. We've had a very busy summer and I can hardly believe that pretty soon I'm going to have to start thinking about a costume for your for Halloween!
At the beginning of last month we started trying out some solids. I watched you very carefully for a few weeks up to that point and felt that you were ready. You didn't exactly go for it with the gusto I envisioned you would. After all, you've been such a good eater to say the least. But I'm sure eating solids and drinking breastmilk are two very different experiences for you, so I'm patient and don't put much pressure on you. We started you on rice cereal which you seemed very interested in. And when I say 'interested' I don't mean excited, jumping-up-and-down-with- anticipation interested. It's more like hmmmmmm-this-is-different interested. You would roll the cereal around in your mouth and sometimes swallow it and other times push it out onto your chin. Then we moved on to bananas - something I was sure you would love. And while you seemed more into the banana than you were the cereal, you still seemed a bit UNDERwhelmed shall we say. Avocado had slightly the same reception. And then we tried the sweet potato. Holy cow do you ever like sweet potato. After one bite you were hooked - every time the spoon came your way you would open your little mouth and lean forward against the restraints of your highchair. Each bite you swallowed as quickly as it entered your mouth. You can't get enough of the stuff! By day 2 of the SP as soon as you saw the spoon you leaned forward, mouth agape, and reached out with not just your arms but your legs too! Each spoon full was received in much the same manor until we ran out of the stuff!
So I'd have to say we're off to a good start on the solids front.
On the teething front...
More teeth started coming in last month. The two neighbors of your upper front teeth started poking their heads out of nowhere. You certainly do keep teething to yourself these days. The drooling and gnawing hasn't even been that excessive - yet you seem to be growing teeth like mad. In addition to those two teeth, you started cutting your two front uppers near the end of the month - so you're pushing out 4 teeth all at once! And it seems as though you could care less. Which pleases me to no end - it gives me great pleasure knowing you're happing and comfortable.
And the fact you're not keeping me up at all hours is great too.
Saves on the liquor bill.
This month was full of visitors to say the least. Grandma came out from Colorado for a long visit and we saw her at the beginning of her trip before she headed up north to visit your Uncle Dana. We saw her again right before she flew home which was nice. Even though our visits are short, I'm glad we've gotten to see her a few times now since you've been born.
Aunt Nisa and Uncle John stopped in for an unexpected impromptu visit - this was your first time meeting them and we had a nice quick visit. And then later in the month Uncle Dana stopped by while he was in town. You had a great time with him, finding him particularly hilarious (as most people do), especially when he rubbed your feet on his 5 o'clock shadow. And in true Dana fashion he taught you how to make smacking noises with your lips.
I'm sure next time he'll teach you how to make farting noises in the crook of your arm.
Near the end of the month your dad and I took a day off from working on the bathroom and went with Grandma Carola to the Dale Chihuly exhibit at the De Young in San Francisco. I was super excited to go check it out as I have been a big fan for years, but it was also fun because it was your first trip into San Francisco.
Which I'm a bit ashamed to admit come to think of it.
We live across the bridge from the damn city and it took us nearly 7 months to take you over there??
Anyway.
It hadn't occurred to me prior, but during the exhibit I kept thinking what a great thing to take you to! You're not mobile yet, so you couldn't run around threatening to knock all the glass over...and consequently giving me a heart attack every 5 seconds. So you just sat in your carrier, leaned against my chest and looked out at all the beautiful colors and textures. You didn't nap until we were done - and boy were you tired. So glad I could share something like that with you.
All the love and kisses possible,
Mama

A Letter to Zach - Month 6

Dear Zach,
I'm ashamed to admit that I am 3 weeks overdue with writing your 5 month newsletter. And it took me getting sick and confining myself to bed to do it.
But that's the way it's been for us lately - busy busy busy.
When you turned 6 months you weighed 23 pounds and were 29 inches long. I took you in for your 6 month check up and when the doctor was done the nurse came in and gave you a shot - and for the first time you didn't cry. I couldn't believe how brave you were! There were tears in your eyes, and you looked at me for support - but you didn't cry. You let out a little sigh and the redness in you face went away and then you saw me smile at you and you smiled back as if to say 'well that sucked, but I'm over it now.'
This month has been full of house related projects - which is probably the biggest reason why my blogging has gone from hardly at all to NOT at all. As mentioned last month we started our bathroom remodel upstairs. So far so good - in fact we're probably going to be ready to install our new tub on Saturday! I'm especially looking forward to that mainly because once that's in I can leave you and your dad alone while I go and take a long deep soak. I haven't had a bath in forEVER - the idea sounds particularly appealing as I lie here trying to ignore my aching muscles thanks to this stupid cold I've got. Well, in part due to that, and in part due to the aching muscle spasm that has taken up permanent residence in my lower back - a side effect I suspect is due to lugging around a rather large infant. I take it all in stride though - I take great pride in your healthy rolls of pudge - and I let the aches and pains remind me that I just need to do back strengthening excersizes while I'm at the gym.
Aside from growing (a given at this point) you've been busy working on other tricks. Blowing raspberries is probably my favorite. The day you learned how to do that you were so excited - you had watched your dad and I do it probably a million times, each one eliciting a big smile from you. So when you finally figured out how to do them on your own I could really see the joy and excitement in your eyes as you then sat there and kept blowing them for a good 10 minutes. I folded the laundry and you blew and blew and blew, alternatively flapping your legs and arms in celebration of your accomplishment, until you had a frothy spit mustache and were tired and ready for a nap.

Now you blow them whenever you feel like it - usually when you've just woken up from a nap, or when you're bored and are waiting for me to come and pick you up. And sometimes you blow them when you're really upset - like the time we were driving home in the car and you were upset and wanted out of the car. You were fussing the whole way home, ending each fussing yell with a raspberry. I snickered the whole way home. You certainly don't understand this now, but someday when you're a parent you'll see how hard it is to take a 6 month old's cries seriously when they're each punctuated with a long raspberry.
Much to my dismay you've learned how to wriggle out of your bouncey seat. The very same seat that enabled me to eat breakfasts, take showers, and just have a safe place to put you when you were very young. I haven't quite motivated myself to pack it up just yet. But each time I put you in it you seem to last less and less time, either ending in loud fusses or you wriggle out.

In a very exciting development, you've started sitting up on your own this month. It was very early on, so the news seems a bit old to me now - but it's still important! Sitting on your own means so many things to you! It's an important criteria to meet before we can start you on solids...you used to love sitting with help, so now that you can sit on your own you're that much more happy...and my favorite - you can now go in the swing at the park and not look like a sack of flour about to tip ass over eyeballs out onto the tanbark. A few weeks ago I parked you in a playground swing and you seemed to enjoy yourself. I use the word 'seemed' because you mostly just sat in the swing and thought about what was going on. As your mom I've come to learn that this means you're curious about what's going on and eventually will learn to love it. But for the time being you just want to think about it and will tolerate thinking about it for a long time. In this case I pushed you for about 15 minutes until the other baby we were with got bored and fussy.
We went to the beach for the first time this month. It's hard to believe that it's taken me this long to get you to the beach given our bay front beach is only a 10 minute walk from our front door. When I was pregnant with you I used to have all kinds of grand romantic ideas of walking with you to the waterfront on a warm breezy day...curling up with you on a blanket under an umbrella, and while you slept peacefully taking in the fresh bay air I would catch up on some reading and maybe snooze with you. Dreaming and doing are two totally different things. For one, I realized that walking to the beach with you was a totally different challenge if I intended to STOP and sit AT the beach. Have you noticed how pathetically small the cargo space is under your stroller? I barely have enough room in there to stow our farmer's market goodies, so it's pretty obvious to me that a blanket, an umbrella, jackets if it gets too cold, hats and sunscreen if the umbrella won't stay up in the breeze, and a book are all a bit on the big side cargo-wise. And did you notice that part about the sunscreen? I hate sunscreen. Hate putting it on, hate feeling it on my skin, hate reapplying it. So you can imagine I'd hate putting it on you, hate feeling it on you, and hate reapplying it. In fact, multiply that times 10 because you're squirmy and I'd feel much much worse if I got it in your eyes.
It took nearly 6 months, but a friend of ours planned a playdate with some other friends, so I packed all our things in the CAR and drove over to the beach. It was nice to finally share that part of our world with you - being we're Californians and all. And even though it was a bay-front beach, it still gave you a good idea of what to expect. Someday we'll make it out to the ocean and you can really see what I'm talking about. But that's a longer drive, a longer day, and a lot more sunscreen.
The last big accomplishment this month was cutting your first tooth. Which was quickly followed with cutting your second tooth. Two cute little teeth keeping each other company on your bottom gums. I hardly even knew you were cutting them - you were such a good sport. You've been drooly for a few months now, so that was nothing new. But one day your dad pointed out that he could feel a sharp little tooth just below the gum line - and sure enough just a couple days later we could see it poking it's little head out. Then a few days later the other one joined it. You drooled, and gummed your toys and our fingers a little harder than usual. But other than that life was pretty normal. Let's hope you cut all your teeth with as much of a sweet laid back attitude as you have so far!
All the love and kisses possible,
Mama

A Letter to Zach - Month 5

Dear Zach,
Um, a couple weeks ago (ahem) you turned 5 months old and you weighed 21lbs 13oz and were 27.5 inches long...
It seems that your growing like a weed status has tapered off a bit and now you're growing at a much more manageable pace. Although this didn't really happen until you graduated on to size 12 months in clothing.
Now that I've said that you'll start another growth spurt tomorrow and I'll eat my words.
As I'm writing this you're rolling around in your play yard while sucking your fingers which brings me to one of the most exciting monuments you accomplished last month - rolling over! It had been a while since I had forced tummy time on you one afternoon, so I decided that while we had some free time I would put you down on your belly and make you get a little much needed belly wallowing done. No sooner had I placed you on your belly did you promptly push up so your chest was actually off of the ground and then you toppled to one side and rolled over.
Like you had done this every day for the past month.
I nearly fell over.
I rolled you back over again and watched as you repeated the same exersize again - flawlessly. It was as if you had learned how to remedy you mother's nasty habit of putting you down face down - just roll over! I then got out the video camera, rolled you over so you were on your belly again, and you started bawling until I picked you up. So I basically have footage of you crying on your stomach. But I think I got some footage later in the day of you rolling over so I'll have to dig around and post that once I find it.
While your growth has slowed down a little bit that still hasn't saved us from having to upgrade to a larger means of bathing you. I've picked up a little inflatable tub that seems to be doing quite well and you seem much happier in it with the additional wiggle room. I'm also pleased that I didn't have to worry about torching our old tub in order to satisfy myself that it was sterile enough. Which as it turns out wouldn't have mattered as your dad demolished the upstairs bathroom a few weeks ago and there is nothing more than studs, sub-flooring, and a toilet in the upstairs bath. So we spend our bath time these days downstairs in our new fancy bathroom that your dad and I built with our own two hands. Quite handy your parents are as it turns out.
In addition to your rolling around you have also met the milestone of grabbing your feet and occasionally shoving them in your mouth. Which is just about the cutest thing I've ever seen.
Although just about everything you do is the cutest thing ever.
This is how it works. I am your mother - therefore everything you do is adorable to me.
Except for tantrums. But I have yet to deal with that yet.
As it turns out, this whole foot-grabbing trick of yours is one of the handiest things ever because you are endlessly amused by your feet. I can put you down and the second you get cranky I'll just hand you a foot and you'll be totally distracted. Many times I have been able to put you down to take care of something in the other room and I'll hear you crowing and babbling at your toes. It's like you have this little audience cheering you on - you never feel lonely anymore.
All the love and kisses possible,
Mama

A Letter to Zach - Month 4

Dear Zach,
Um...like a week ago? you turned 4 months old and you weighed 20lbs 1oz, and were 28 inches long.
This may be a short letter as my ability to sit down in front of the computer for extended periods of time has been reduced dramatically. Although, when I think about it, it's more out of choice that my time spent in front of the computer has been reduced, rather than something that has been forced upon me.
This can be explained in two parts: 1) a fantastic new development that you have achieved (YOU NOW TAKE NAPS ALONE), (yes, alone), (as in alone, alone), (like, you don't have to have a living, breathing person pressed against you, alone), (seriously), (couldn't be happier), and 2) we were out of town for your 4 month birthday and therefore I am behind schedule as it is and rather than try to crank out a regular letter and put me even further behind I am going to make this short.
And to any normal person reading this the question might arise: "what does taking naps alone have to do with why this blog is going to be short?". Well, this can be explained like so: now that I no longer have a little cute baby shaped tumor attached to me I can now get more things done around the house. So when said baby shaped tumor is napping I can do things like move crap out of the formally-known-as-the-office-and-now-referred-to-as-the-nursery, or seal the grout to the bathroom floor. Which means less time in front of the computer.
And to the same normal person reading this blog the thought might arise "it would appear that this blog is going to be no shorter than usual at the rate it's going, given that I have been reading for how long? and so far there is not as much depth as there is just a bunch of explaining."
Not to insinuate I ever have much depth to my blogging.
But I will admit that I have a tendency to, shall we say...ramble?
(Notice how I am now rambling about rambling.)
Um.
Well, I'm supposing we should get back to this here post.
Your 3rd month proved to be a bit more on the trying side. Not to say that it was difficult, but we did some learning and there were a few times where I wanted to lock myself in the closet with a bottle of wine and my iPod.
And it was really just one week, near the end of your 3rd month, that was difficult.
It was the week where I got a stomach bug, then you got a head cold, and then we wrapped things up nicely with a growth spurt.
There were a few moments in there where I wondered where my sweet calm adorable baby was and why was this alien with this sudden opinion of his own in my house? You went from being easy going and laid back about pretty much everything to only wanting to eat and sleep. Sounds easy enough...only you went even further and only wanted to nurse in bed - on a certain side of the bed. Imagine my consternation when your father suggested that perhaps you were fussing because you wanted to be nursed on your side of the bed (instead of where I was nursing you - in the middle) and when I humored him and moved you over you shut up. I damn near fell out of bed - the only reason I didn't was due to the fear of moving even in the slightest might disturb your happily nursing (and falling asleep) - something I was desperate to avoid at the time.
But we made it through that week - albeit with a few more bed sores than we went into it with - and now you're bigger, I'm wiser, and we're both getting along just fine again.
In addition to growing a little bit you also picked up a few more tricks during that week. You suck on just about anything you can get your hands on. But mostly you suck on your fingers. In fact, you'll be interested in pulling something to your mouth and then when you get that object to your mouth it's as if you're just discovering your hands all over again and you get all excited, drop the item you were deftly trying to maneuver into you mouth, and start sucking on your fingers.WOO HOO fingers!
The drool is an interesting side effect. It gets everywhere, and I'm busy trying to remember to put a bib on you whenever I can so you don't soak your clothes constantly. But you seem happy as ever, drool or no drool.
And I'm just happy to see you developing right on plan - drool and all.
Another fantastic trick is your talking. You are one little chatter box these days. Mostly only to me though. In public you are more concerned with people watching and observing your surroundings. But at home you are busy busy busy. You've got so much to say and you love it when we have our little conversations. I love talking to you, and I'm learning so many new words and nuances and fluctuations to your voice - it's making giving you what you need/want just a little bit easier. I make a point to talk to you just about every opportunity I've got. I've become quite good at narrating everything I do. Which, to an outsider, has got to be amusing - especially when wandering the aisles of the grocery store discussing at great depth our agenda for the rest of the day.
We wrapped up the last week of your 3rd month in Virginia with Michele and John. This was a very exciting time for me because not only was it our first plane trip together, but it was also the first time you met Michele. The plane ride went off with only one hitch - the airline (VIRGIN AMERICA) lost our seat reservation and put us in the very last row that DID NOT RECLINE. At first I was quite irritated, but the seats are pretty comfortable on their own, and the proximity to the galley proved to be quite useful as I could jump up and down as needed with you. I tried nursing you at take-off to help keep you calm and reduce discomfort with your ears, but the moment the engines flared up and the cabin started to rattle you leapt up in my arms and stared at me with a look of pure fear. It was incredibly endearing and I couldn't help but smile as I rocked you and told you everything was ok. You settled back down and for the next hour you flirted with the gay flight attendant over my shoulder. I finally stuck you in the baby carrier and bounced you in the galley to get you to sleep - and you slept peacefully the rest of the flight.
Thank God.
Now if only I could say the return flight was as easy and successful. But that is a story for a whole post in itself - not something I'm going to get into here.
And that just about wraps it up. It only took me a week of taking snippets of time here and there to get this thing cranked out. But there we go - so is the life of the mother of a busy now 4 month old!
All the love and kisses possible,
Mama

If you know what's good for you...

Drop everything and go out and buy the FURminator right now.
A long time ago I was standing in line at Petco when I was intrigued by the video of the FURminator they had playing near the check stands. At the time, while impressed by the device as shown on the video, I was not as impressed by the $39.99 price tag and I promptly checked out with the bag of kittie food and only the bag of kittie food. Sure I like the idea of a shedding tool that would rid my house of the baby Bartleby's rolling all over the place. And sure I'd love to not have to look at my curtains every morning, as the morning sun shines through them, and be reminded that I need to brush them.
Yes.
Brush my curtains.
And then there's the copious amounts of fur left on our furniture, the same fur that during certain times of the year leaves my husband looking red and puffy as though he just had a crying jag while watching Beaches over a pint of Chunky Monkey.
But there's the skeptic in me that knows better than to believe every little video I see while standing in line at the pet store. And I'd be pissed to spend $40 on something that did no better than the cheaper brushes I have taking up space at home.
So what changed my mind?
I was reading Dooce and she mentioned having gotten the tool recently and loving it. Which reminded me of having seen it before. So I did a little internet research and found that there was in fact a whole ton of people who also liked the tool.
And it comes with a money back guarantee - so what the hell.
I went by Petco today, picked one up, and grabbed the feline for what had to have been one of the messiest brushings ever.
And I have to admit I was impressed with the first brush stroke when I lifted the brush to see a wad of fur that looked like the product of a mauling. And then I brushed again and again and again and kept coming back with more fluffs of fur balls.
Bartleby on the other hand wasn't quite sure what to think of it. Mostly I think he was confused that I was touching him given his demotion in the family food chain since we brought Zach home. But once he got over that he seemed to vacillate between being super hyper excited that I was touching him and being slightly turned on.
I tried to ignore him as I was too damned excited to be pulling SO MUCH FUR from him.
Fur that would not end up in the corners of my house. Fur that would not end up smeared all over my curtains. Fur that I would not have to brush from our couch cushions before guests come over.
And I think this is well worth the $39.99 and the scratch marks all over my forearms from a crazed and aroused feline.

Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream...

As I was wiping the sleep out of Zach's eyes this morning I was suddenly hit with a memory from childhood I hadn't thought of since, well, probably childhood. One of the many great things I'm finding about motherhood is that it brings back so many memories of your own from when you were little.
When I was young, I'm guessing about 5 or so, my mother used to warn me that if I didn't go to sleep the Sandman wouldn't come. In all the naiveté of a 5 year old I would dutifully obey because I didn't want the Sandman NOT to come. I had no idea who this Sandman guy was, or why it was that he made a business out of delivering sand to children while they slept, but that didn't matter. My mother would deliver the line in such a way that it made it clear to me that I surely did in fact want the man to come.
Note to self - it's all in how you deliver the line to your kid to get them to buy into whatever crap you are giving them.
So my mom would turn out the light after we said our prayers together, kiss me goodnight, and leave the room. And I would lie there trying to picture this Sandman, and he was always HUGE with a sack slung over one shoulder. He was also redheaded with a big bushy beard, and wore clothes like he was something out of J.R.R. Tolkien book. With his sack in tow he would leap in my window, nimbly sprinkle sand into each corner of my eyes, and then out the window he would disappear on to the next child's house.
Why on earth I pictured things this way is beyond me. But I look forward to sharing the same fun with Zach when he's older.
And somehow figure out how to explain to him that while the Sandman is allowed in his bedroom at night, if he actually SEES a man (other than his dad) in his room at night that he should react by kicking that man in the balls and asking questions later.
If it turns out to be the Sandman, then we'll just deal with that when the time comes.

Bathroom vs. Blogger

A miracle has happened.
Sensing that Zach was on the verge of nap time, I put him on his playmat so I could go peel an orange and top off my water in preparation for his mid afternoon nap. His mid afternoon nap typically occurs around 5pm and lasts for maybe an hour where I hang out with him on my lap. I either read or catch up on some Tivo - but the bottom line is that he naps ON me. Not near me. Not in another room. He has to be on me. This is something that became abundantly clear the day we came home from the hospital - our baby is one of those babies that needs to be in constant contact with a living breathing person in order to be content enough to sleep.
I never let it bother me because 1) it's pretty damn cuddly and nice, 2) you eventually learn how to get things done and 3) I figured he'd grow out of it at least by the time he turned 30.
And besides, my philosophy about parenting is to not make a big deal out of things. Eventually you'll either figure it out, or it will work itself out. And by getting all antsy and anxious about something only stresses your kid out and in turn they become more obnoxious and difficult to deal with.
Where was I?
Rereading my rambling...
Oh ok.
So I saw Zach was getting a little heavy in the lids so I put him down to go peel an orange and came back to this:
I'd been noticing since his 3 month growth spurt that he'd been sleeping a lot deeper, which is typical. But I was still pretty surprised when I came into the living room expecting a cuddling session and nap time and this is what I came across.
And now I don't know what to do with myself.
My internal dialog went something like this:
Ohmygod
OHMYGOD
Don't make a sound...back up out of the room quietly and maybe he'll stay that way.
Wait...but we don't want to tip toe around a sleeping baby or he'll never learn to sleep through noises.
Ok...walk casually out of the room like you meant to go in there and then turn around and leave. Like there's nothing unusual. Juuuuuuusssst checking the living room to make sure it's still there.
(in kitchen)
Ohmygod
OHMYGODHE'SASLEEP
and not on me!
I can get something done now!
(looking around)
What needs doing?
Seriously.
What needs doing??
Oh for the love of...have I been unable to do things freely for so long that I no longer have an ongoing list of things to do?
Although I suppose this also means that I am pretty damn efficient at running this house regardless of having a 17lb weight strapped to me most of the time.
This is crazy. Like KUH-razy.
(looking around more, hoping something will leap out at me)
I could clean the bathroom...
Ok, something other than cleaning the bathroom...
I could tile the other bathroom floor.
Let's not get in over our head here Mary. He COULD wake up in 5 minutes.
But what if he doesn't? What if he sleeps for an hour and we just wasted an hour standing dumbfounded in the middle of kitchen going over a list of all the things we could be doing in our head instead of actually DOING something.
When did 'I' become a 'we'?
And there it is. The first time I'm left to my own devices in three months and it only takes me 5 minutes before I've split personalities and had a fight with myself.
Ok, this is stupid. DO SOMETHING.
And then I sat down and decided to blog about it.
Because what better way to procrastinate on cleaning your bathroom than to blog. Screw you bathroom, I've got more important things to do.