All I want for Christmas....and the rest (40 weeks, 2 days)

What a busy few weeks it has been! Or, should I say, what a busy baby Zeke is! He has been a veritable explosion of baby development. He has (maybe!) said his first words, he creeps, he climbs, he tries pulling up on everything, he cruises some furniture, he mirrors some signs, he babbles incessantly, and he never NEVER likes to sleep. He also waves, pulls things over his face to play peekaboo, and takes turns when "talking" with us. We have also had some new baby experiences. Our lovely neighbors, friends and purveyors of baby couture across the cul-de-sac babysat Zeke -- special Sprout Shout-Out to the 4 Moes -- so that Sprout Mama and Daddy could go to our first movie out in seven months. (We saw Scorese's The Departed. I really enjoyed it.) We had a personal workshop on using sign language with babies and I have dragged Zeke through that special holiday tradition of rampant commercialism that is Christmas gift shopping. We have also been changing his/our sleep habits, so lots going on. Plus, Zeke is now nine months old.

I've been writing blog entries in my head about all these going-on's for a few days now, but I can't promise to get them written down yet as we are traveling for Christmas and spending tomorrow getting ready. I'm also a little under the weather. One witty entry was going to be on Zeke's teeth and his lack thereof, hence my allusion to the classic 1946 tune about the little girl who wishes she had teeth so that she could wish you a Merry Christmas. Zeke is now nine months old and started teething about five months ago as evidenced by crankiness, ear pulling, incessant drooling and the need to mouth everything he can put in that maw of his. As the months have gone by, we have anticipating the arrival of his first teeth, sure they would come anyday. All of Zeke's playmates got teeth in October at seven months and some of the younger babies we know already have teeth. But, week after week and no teeth showed up. We stopped looking for those shy teeth. We figured that we would eventually need to investigate getting some baby partials if Zeke was ever going to eat anything other Cheerios and soft vegetables.

However, my planned post may be rendered obsolete as those teeth are now on their way. And, in what I project will be in line with my son's character, their appearance is unique and not to be rushed. Today we had our nine month well baby visit and the good pediatrician noted that Zeke has two teeth that are just starting to erupt from his gums. What is unique? It looks like the first tooth will be an upper tooth and the second will be on the bottom! (The most common arrangement is for the bottom front teeth or central incisors to come in first.) I'm sure he will look silly if they really pop out as it looks like they might. However, it could be worse....I've heard of babies who have their top outside insisors come in first so that they look like vampires! I'm posting what I anticipate will be one of the last pictures of that delicious gummy smile!

Other news from the well baby visit: Zeke was for the first time quite personable with the good doctor, smiling and giggling when tickled. Zeke also tried to pee on the doctor, but as experienced as the doctor is, he was too quick for the little whizzer. Zeke only screamed when having his ears prodded, and only looked a little startled when he got his polio shot. The good doctor okayed some items to add to Zeke's diet: yogurt, chunks of fish, steamed vegetables, cooked beans, food off our plates. He just asked that we not add anything that might be a choking hazard like raisins or chunks of hot dogs -- I think we can swing that. Zeke is now 21 pounds and just short of 30 inches. Though I'm not quite sure, this means that Zeke is just a little heavier than the median (something like 60th percentile) and he is somewhere close to the 90th percentile for height. Still has a giant melon head. Still has a blue butt and the bump on the back of his head. (When I asked the doctor about this bump, in his usual anti-inflammatory style, he said, "You won't notice that when his hair grows over it.") As usual, the good doctor emphasized that Zeke looks happy and healthy and is growing as he is supposed to. Our next visit won't be until Zeke is a year old!