Recent Firsts

I haven't posted in two weeks, so I've got to catalogue some of the things that Zeke has been busy doing.

* First Thanksgiving
We had a great trip to North Carolina. He got to see great grandparents, grandparents and great aunts and uncles. We had stops in Greenville, Raleigh and Charlotte. He was the absolute center of the universe it seemed for a couple of days there. Were it not for all the car travel, it would have been even better, leading us to...

* First Bout of Being Carsick
I admit to being really lucky. Zeke is almost 9 months old, but has never done more than spit up a little. On the way home, I must have overfed the Sprout or the car made him a little quesy. The poor guy got pears everywhere leading to an unexpected stop in South Carolina. Wow, babies are so yucky.

* First Cold
Speaking of yucky, the baby had his first cold a few weeks ago. It wasn't too bad, though he I worried his nose might run all winter long. We are really very lucky that he has been so healthy aside from this one thing. Because of his cold, I made my first call ever to the pediatrician to get his advice -- I can't believe it took so long for me to do this.

* First Foods
Zeke loves eating and has ventured into foods beyond the purees. He now regularly eats whatever Cheerios happen to make it to his mouth and not to the floor, as well as teething biscuits and sweet potato fries. (Recipe: Roast sweet potatoes that have been tossed with olive oil at 400 for 40 minutes. Sprinkle a little cinnamon if feeling a little crazy. Yields: Ability to eat dinner without having to hold baby the whole time.) I've also let him munch on some apple.


* First Moves
Zeke has (almost) worked out how to get from sitting to being on his stomach. He still occasionally bonks his head on the way down sometimes, but always is braced for it. It's pretty funny to watch him practice as he is absolutely concentrating so hard. This is what he is doing in the picture. Doesn't he look proud of himself? The hard part is that he wants to do this all the time. I can no longer sit him somewhere without him immediately trying to get down on his tummy.

Zeke also loves practicing pulling up and standing (both with our support). On his own, though, he has finally been able to lift that giant baby belly (like I said, he likes to eat) and just this week has finally started getting on his hands and knees and rocking. I think we are probably still a little while off from full on crawling, but that is perfectly okay with me.

* First Pictures in Paper
Zeke made his debut in the online edition of the Greenville Daily Reflector for their recent cute baby contest. I can't find the link to the contest as it ended last week, but Zeke's great grandfather submitted a close up of Zeke reading with his dad. I don't know that it showed his cuteness full force, but who can look at the sun straight on? It's like that. He didn't win, but I like to think it's because you had to pay for each vote. In a free democratic contest, it would have been his. He also made an appearance in the AJC's coverage of the anniversary of the aquarium. I just had to submit the penguin picture.

We're still waiting for the first tooth. He was a little cranky for part of our trip and now that we are home. Also lots of ear pulling and some attempts to bite me (ouch!), but still no toofers. He is the last of his friends to get teeth and now even the new baby panda at zoo has teeth. Silver lining: I get a little more time with that perfect gummy smile.

Prince Fan 4Ever (37 weeks, 3 days)

This picture is of a baby that:

a. digs "Purple Rain" and his mother's music
b. let his mother put him in this onesie that she and Aunt Dawn got at a Prince concert

I'm going to pretend "c"...all of the above. Zeke does like some of the Prince songs I hum him, by the way, so I might not be making this up entirely. And, until further notice (and he starts having opinions on such things and thus make me realize that my child is not just an extension of my own self), the baby not only digs the funksoulpsychedelic genius, but Zeke is also a vegetarian and liberal. Yay, baby for having such good sense! Funk on -- don't let the d-elevator bring u down!

On the occasion (35 weeks, 4 days)

(Jamie's Note: As you can tell, I wrote this some time ago, but didn't have a chance to post it until now with editing and traveling and day to day business. I have a lot of photos and tidbits to post and will try to do at least a post a day for awhile to catch up. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!)

Dear Zeke:

On the occasion of your being eight months old, I want to write you a letter to put down some of the things that you make me think about. There are things that are probably easiest said now, most clearly felt, though it will be a long time before you read this and you may never understand me. I may also need to remember these things later. I plan to write you more letters in the upcoming months.

Our relationship and our love will go through different phases. I know there will be a natural ebb and flow to how close we will be as you grow, though I trust we will be close. We probably won't spend everyday thinking about how our relationship works either. Now that I am a parent, I have new lenses by which to see my relationships with my parents and those that have parented me. As their child, I don't know if I have always remembered the primacy of what is the sure foundation of our interactions: their love for me and their instinct to love their child. (I am learning so much these days, though nothing compared to you.)

So, please know first in everything I do or say for you is my love. My whole undivided love. A love that I would love to wrap you in every day. A love for you to find when you don't even know you need it in every corner, every pocket, every box in the closet. A love you can set down for a moment, but always come home to. An invisible thread that we can both hold onto even as it links us.

My love for you is these things and more. It wasn't love at first sight, however. It certainly wasn't that I didn't have feelings for you, but there was just something like a blank space when I saw you in the first minute of your life. There was uncertainty, some fear, and definitely the stupor of surgery and sleep deprivation. However, as these little days pass through into larger weeks and then into months, your growing presence makes me forget the past and I hardly remember any love than this one I feel now. As you grow, you fill the blank spaces in my life.

So, the first thing I want you to know is love, but there is also hope. I have many hopes for you. You're going to have to sort through them in your life and see what fits and what doesn't. I'll write about some of those hopes in my next letter to you.

Remember: I love you.

- Mommy

Little Weirdo (35 weeks, 2 days)

As I mentioned yesterday, the baby does seem to have started developing a strong sense of self. He is also developing some strange tics, though, too. Here are a few prime examples:

* Zeke is highly amused by the motion sensor in the master bedroom. A teeny little red light goes on when anything above a cat-sized object moves. Now that Zeke is bigger than our cats (no easy feat as they are huge), it appears he can set it off. I have no idea how he would have come to have noticed this as it is small and high on the wall or why he would think it is funny, but he sat on the bed with Aaron yesterday and laughed and laughed as Aaron and he set off the sensor. Motion sensor = baby giggles??

* Zeke is having a fascination with big toes. First, when he was sitting with Aaron on the floor the other day, he was grabbing for Aaron's big toe and then pulled away in total surprise when Aaron wiggled his toe! In the following days, he is continuing to grab for Aaron's toe and now mine as well.

* When he is on the floor, we let him crawl around on top of an old quilt to protect him from all the piles of cat and dog fur. Recently, he seems to be crawling of the quilt to touch the area rug and then back to whatever game he is playing and then back to the area rug. It's like he is playing some game of tag that I don't understand, where homebase is the area rug.

* Then today....It appears that Zeke and the cats and dog have caucused and resolved that the vacuum cleaner is pure evil. Now, the animals have always hated the vacuum cleaner and scramble to get out of its way when it escapes from the coat closet. But Zeke has never seemed to be upset by it in the half dozen or so times that I have vacuumed since he has been born. Today, I started vacuuming in the bedroom and he started shrieking and crying. I turned off the vacuum cleaner off. He stopped. I turned it back on, he started up again.

I guess you just have to expect a little weird from my baby. After all, I do make him dress funny and wear warm bear hats now that it is cool!

Santa Baby

Today, Zeke and his pals Parker and Ewan went to meet the Santa at Phipps. I really appreciate Parker's mom for helping to plan this. (Thanks, Traci!) We had to make online reservations to see this Santa -- no waiting in long lines for this popular Santa. Apparently, as you get closer to Christmas, parents have been known to sell their appointment times to see Santa. For a closer look at this Santa, you can see a photo essay in the local paper (You may have to register to see it.)

I made Zeke wear a special holiday outfit complete with collared button-down shirt, reindeer sweater, and brown cords. (I love the perfect hand-me-down sweater from Zach and the new brown cords! Zeke is going to have to wear this often.) As Ewan's mom and I shared beforehand, it was little nervewracking to wait for the pictures not knowing how the babies would react to this "first." According the the woman who sets up the photos and tells Santa the kiddie's name, about 45% of all of the children who come to see Santa are terrified or nervous about seeing Santa. What a rough job for Santa.

Of course, Zeke didn't really get it and didn't even really smile at the kind Santa, but it was still pretty cute! I'm looking forward to getting the official photo at the end of the week and will share that later. (Grandparents will be getting wallet-sized photos.)

I'm really looking forward to sharing the holiday season with Zeke and have already started taking out decorations and planning what toys he will get. This is a big deal, as we don't really celebrate Christmas -- you know, secular humanists blahblahblah. If the photo is any indication, Zeke might be the same way about Christmas that we are. Though we don't know many others doing this, we aren't going to "do Santa". That is, we're not going to tell Zeke as he grows up that there is any all-knowing, all-seeing being who gives gifts (other than his mama). However, I hope we can still enjoy Santa and let him know that Santa is make believe but represents how much people love each other. That, at least, is my take on it. Needless to say, I'm glad that Aaron didn't oppose my taking Zeke to seeing the Santa. I think Zeke will still be okay for it. (For those that have been asking like my mom, many children in America don't have Santa and turn out okay. I know a few Jewish people who will agree!)

So, no matter our plans/feelings about Santa, I just couldn't pass up a photo op for Zeke and to capture this first. And, funny enough, there is part of me that wants to go to other Santas and get more pictures just for the fun and the chance to wear the cords and sweater more!

What Sprout Likes to Do

This post might alternately be called is "Things I Don't Enjoy". Zeke is now 8 months old....sigh. And he already likes to exercise his independence, make his voice heard and maintain his dignity. Everyday, I have to take a deep, calming, cleansing breath to get through some of the most mundane everyday tasks. Here's what Zeke likes to do:

1. Pull away and scream when having his face cleaned/nose wiped.
2. Squirm away during diaper changes.
3. Fuss when getting dressed.
4. Protest and twist when getting into the infant carseat.
5. Pull my earrings out.
6. Yank the hair above my neck when I am carrying him in my arms.
7. Try to get the dog to lick his hands when he is eating.
8. Pull my glasses off and get them into his mouth.

Good thing he isn't crawling or walking or I would probably get to experience him walking away from me! But, I am heartened to know that it is just part of his development to want to exercise greater control over what is happening to him. On the upside, it is also teaching me knew skills. I did not know, for example, that sometimes the easiest way to change a baby is with one hand when the baby is standing. I think Maggie really gets the short end of the stick: Zeke keeps trying to get her to lick his hand, and, as Maggie is better trained than my progeny, I just keep telling her "Maggie, leave it. Leave it." How tempting, how confusing!

Also, Zeke's actions are not limited to me and Sprout Daddy...he shares these skills with others.


Zeke spent most of his visit with the Santa today trying to pull his beautiful beard. Zeke, there are just some things you shouldn't do! Look how Santa has to recoil!

Last Call (35 weeks, 1 day)

Today is last chance to participate in my fundraiser for the United Way VIP! I'd still like to raise another $150. If you would like to donate, please let me know by posting here or emailing me. Thank you again to those who have given already -- I've babysat for some, catsat for one and then been graced by donations with nothing expected in return.

You may consider this a donation to my weekly attempt-to-keep-my-toe-in-the-nonprofit-community or my-non-mommy-spend-time-with-a-whole-room-of-adults-time. However, in any form, it is a donation to an effective United Way program that benefits nonprofits and the people they serve in Atlanta.

Hmmm....maybe I should have threatened to stop posting pictures of Zeke until I raised all my money! I might have been done weeks ago, but I can't keep those photos from the world. Thank you again for your consideration.

Catch Up Post: Patrick vs. Zeke

At the Halloween party last week, it was great fun to let the babies interact with each other. I'm always so curious to see how he will react and play. Zeke gets to see Ewan (see his blog to the right) and Parker once a week at the Little Gym, but also got to see Patrick this time and spend some quality time playing. Patrick is the oldest of the four, but they are all just separated by days. Patrick is nine days older than Zeke. Out of the four boys, Patrick is definitely the most precocious and hits all the milestones before the others. He sat unassisted first, got on his hands and knees, crawls and sits up all by himself. He is just an amazing little boy, and you can keep up with him on his blog to the right. (Patrick was also the one in dressed as a monkey at the party.)

At the party, everyone was so interested in watching Patrick to show off all of his skills. Zeke was clearly interested and scooted after Patrick a few times, and the two of them interacted and played while Parker and Ewan took naps. Apparently, boys will be boys, though, and we had our first instance of some roughhousing.

In an unexpected attack, Patrick grabs Zeke's hair and gains the upperhand.

I've forwarded these two photos to our attorney.

The Sly Sprout plots his countermove.

Zeke's caught Patrick by toe and has gotten him down for the count.

I think all was forgiven and forgotten in the end, but it looks like Patrick should still keep an eye out for the Revenge of the Sprout!

Catch Up Post: Another Aquarium Trip

Zeke's grandmother came to visit the weekend before Halloween. It was a good visit and she has a great knack for getitng Zeke to laugh uncontrollably. Frequent About Sprout commenter Trish (or "Tish" as she is trying to teach Zeke to say), Zeke and I went back to the Aquarium while she was here. No penguin encounters this time.

I really enjoy the aquarium more each time we go and am going to have to fit in a few more visits before the end of the year when our annual pass expires. As in the post below, I have to say that we took some great photos of the exhibits, but... you know the rest as to why they aren't posted here. The tank where we took these pictures is the same one pictured in my post from last December, a whole lifetime ago.

And, yes, as you can see from recent posts, we totally got our money's worth out of Zeke's Halloween onesie. I'm now on the lookout from an appropriate Thanksgiving onesie. If you see a cute one, let me know!

Here's a great photo of Zeke mid-laugh

Catch Up Post: Halloween Parade (34 weeks)

It may be the week after Halloween. Yes, the good candy is gone (Laffy Taffy, anyone?) and the jack o' lanterns have landed in the herbie curbie for trash day. The pictures remain, however, and I still have more to share.

One of our Halloween activities was to walk in the children's parade at the park. We knew going into it that it was really more of a trial run rather than a full-blown family activity. It was a trial run to see if we could get Zeke into the whole koala costume and also a trial run for us to interact with other families en masse. It was a nice walk around the park and at the playground there was a storyteller, hot dogs and a bake sale. There was a pretty good number of families with infants who must have been going through the same practice session as us.

So, we changed him in the car and loaded him in the stroller. To our surprise, Zeke was really okay with being in the huge koala costume. I think he was just so tired, though, he couldn't resist. This was actually a reoccurring situation with getting in him in the costume. Every single time we put it on him, he was sleepy. He was so sleepy at the parade, he couldn't even muster a smile and Sprout Daddy had to help him out. By the time we got back to the car, Zeke had actually fallen asleep in Aaron's arms. Of course, it could be that the humiliation of being a living stuffed animal caused my child to go to his "quiet place". He might also have been trying to play possum (and not koala).



Just so you know, we did take pictures of other children... it's just my favorites are of Zeke!

Halloween trick

Oh, no! Half the baby has disappeared! Is this some sort of Halloween trick?

Yes, Mr. Baby got himself wedged underneath the couch.

He army crawled away from the comfortable and clean quilt on the floor a few feet away to get on the hardwood to chase Maggie's Kong. Somewhere along the way, he started slipping backwards and then ended up under the love seat. Mobility is fun for everyone. And efficient! Think about all the time I will save not having to Swiffer under the furniture.

And, yes, somewhere in the past week and a half Zeke has ratched up a notch on the pursuit to mobility. He now does a couple types of proto-crawling. He pushes himself with frog kicks, he pulls himself with his arms and then does some belly crawling with alternating arms and legs. Nothing on his hands and knees, but he is working on it...in his sleep at least. At least once a night, I find him with his knees tucked underneath him.

Three little pumpkins (33 weeks, 2 days)

One little, two little, three little pumpkins...

...on my baby's first Halloween.

I like this picture. It appears that Sprout is saying, "See, these are mine."

The jack o'lanterns all lit up on Halloween night. Aaron carved the scary one, and I carved the goofy one.