Bath Time with Mommy & E. (again)

Ezekiel has been teething. Lots and lots of droll combined with lots and lots of fussing. It sometimes makes for a long day. Tonight, he wouldn't stop crying so I took him in the bath with me. I put him on my belly for a little impromptu "belly time". When I saw how cute he was, I hollared for Marty to get the cam for me. Here are a couple of pics:






side note: today is mine and Marty's 7 year anniversary!

come on summer!

We are tired of the cold, snowy days! We say, Summer get here! Today, since summer seems further and further away, we played beach party. We cranked up the heat, threw open the windows, got into our summer finest and maxed and relaxed on our beach towels.

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Just a few pics for the day.

Here's belly time on the bed. Ezekiel is starting to get a bit tired. Of the camera, belly time, AND mama.



Here's our close up! Ezekiel might get tired of me, but he always gets a kick out of me too.



Here's Ezekiel being sassy. Notice the change of clothes...a particularly mean dump had us changing his outfit.



And then there is this one - this is just to prove where my silliness come from. Here is my mom and niece, Em being doggies on my livingroom floor today.



Ezekiel has also discovered that his mouth makes noise. Lots and lots of noise.

March 27, 2007

I guess you shouldn't chat on the phone while trying to teach your infant how to sit up.....

A Silly Day of Silly Faces

What a fun day we had today! We decided to head to the riverfront to enjoy the nice weather, when it occurred to us that we hadn't seen my sister Mandy is a couple of days. We turned the car around and headed over for a surprise visit. It turned out to be a great visit (making two in a row - last night Angie swung by to visit Ezekiel. Ezekiel happens to be right in love with Angie).

While at Mandy's, I pulled out my camera while the family pulled out the funny faces.

Here's Kevin - you can tell that Marty and Ezekiel are NOT impressed. Kevin is very impressed, however - with himself.



Marty moves in for the snuzzle. E. looks surprised by this.



Grammy whips out her grammy-gloves and manages to put Ezekiel to sleep for a quick snooze. She also whips out the perma-grin for the photo op.



Mandy decides to whip out her belly for the camera. That's her baby Kevin next to her. In her belly are "The Twinies" - Ashley and Isabella.



ohhh boy, Marty is getting upset. It was about now that he requested some headache medicine "Asprin? Tylenol? ANYTHING. Just go ask your mother for some pills for my head".



Next we tried the family photos:





After a few tries, Mandy mentioned that she really could take the photo of us...that I didn't have to take the photos myself. Hmmm, interesting thought.

The night ended with Ezekiel collapsing into a fit of giggles while sitting (quite plumply) on Grammy's lap.



ahhh, what a great day filled with silly faces and loads of laughs.

New Schedules

Marty switched to a day shift which is wonderful but it means that Ezekiel and I also have to switch to a day shift. This is proving to be very difficult. I usually make it into bed by 2:45 and then I get back up at 5:45 to pump and see Marty before work. Then I pass back out until 9:15 when Ezekiel wakes me up to eat. Then, it becomes a crapshoot. Does Ezekiel let me go back to sleep or not? I love it when he does. When he doesn't, we spend the entire day soothing and trying to figure out ways to keep him from screaming for hours on end. Every day, he gets a little more used to the hours and a little less likely to scream. I look at and take cute pictures of him to keep up my morale :) This is a series of photos of him taken yesterday. He is in one of his snowsuits - it is supposed to be a lamb, but as it is way too big, we have dubbed it the "Marshmallow". Enjoy....

Dear Dr. Tony; is 2am too late to call?

We have the best pediatritian in the world. Dr. Tony. Ezekiel loves him. When we leave our visits he always says "remember, we are open 24 hours a day!" Marty is all gung-ho and ready to give a call to ask our "pressing" questions that aren't really pressing and could wait until tomorrow morning when the office is open. oh, and did I mention that I used to work for his answering service (Dr. Tony doesn't know that) and I'm pretty sure that they wouldn't love getting woken up at 2:00 on a Thursday morning to ask a mundane question.

Anyway....here is the thing. Ezekiel was born Dec. 5th. That makes him 3 months and 1 week. He is a hungry bug (you've probably seen the pictures) and he happens to love to eat. We give him stage one vegetables and fruits. He has his favorites (squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, and peaches). When I give him a mouthful and he finishes it, he sits there with his mouth open waiting for the next spoonful. I decided before he was even born that I was going to make his baby food but to try it out, we have just been buying Gerber already made. So, tonight, I look up to find out how to store homemade baby food and what not and I read this:

Babies don't need solids until 6 months of age. Breast milk has all the nutrients babies need. For babies who are not breast fed, iron-fortified infant formulas provide complete nutrition for babies.

Solid foods given too early can cause food allergies. The foods are not digested properly by young infants. Then the baby's body treats them as "foreign bodies" by producing an allergic reaction.

Giving solids too early might also cause choking. Babies aren't yet ready to swallow anything but liquids. Their tongue and cheek muscles are designed for sucking at this early age. They do not move solid food from their lips to their throats to swallow it. Instead, their tongues have a thrusting action that pushes solid food out of their mouths.

You'll know your baby is old enough for solid foods when he can sit well with support and has good head and neck control. He can turn his head away on purpose if he doesn't like the food or has had enough to eat. This usually happens around 6 months of age.

So, now I'm all freaked out thinking that E. isn't really swallowing, he is just letting the food fall down his throat. oh, and that I'm giving him life long food allergies to potentially his favorite foods on earth. And Marty wonders if we push him too much. Now that I'm a mom, I seem to be able to find guilt in the oddest places......he's growing quite nicely though

Here's a video too:

Home

Every day, I am thankful that I get to stay home and raise Ezekiel. Marty works so hard to help make that happen. When I first left my job, I was so worried about how that will look in 5 years when I go back into the work force - then I was like, 'you know, I don't care. I'd give up my all for this kid..not just my resume'.

So, anyway.. everyday, Ezekiel changes so much. He is growing so, so fast. He is no longer content to just lay back and look at me (although, late at night, he still loves his 'nuggling. My little snuggle bug). We have been giving him "big kid food". He LOVES peaches (which is funny. I was allergic for years to peaches. When I got pregnant, I had such a craving for them - so I ate them and didn't have an allergic reaction!). He HATES peas (what a good boy! Mommy hates peas too!!). And he just discovered carrots. He seems surprised by the taste:



But then decides he must love them:



He also likes to do things. It is tough to find things to do with three month olds. I put on more puppet shows with stuffed animals then I can begin to describe. Honestly, I'm not sure who enjoys them more - Ezekiel, or Marty when he gets to witness them. He (Marty) gets a kick out of all my voices. Out of desperation two nights ago, we pulled out his jumperoo. We thought he would be too little for it, but he LOVES it! Here he is jumping (that's right, it is a motion shot):



And here he is 15 minutes later, totally tuckered out:

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And just one final shot for your viewing pleasure. Daddy snuggling up the Bear:

I days off (part deux)

pictures are in part one. This is a video of today. It might be a tad long, but it is of Ezekiel practicing his talking and ending it all off with a puke.

I days off

Today was Marty's day off, so we spent a nice, relaxing day just hanging out and going places like the fish store. Ezekiel was particularly spicy today. He made sure to show off when my mom came over to visit. In this picture w/my mom, he doesn't look too impressed:



Daddy and E. managed to hang out and do some silly faces and what not too:



After a big meal of pears and cereal, it was pass out time:



side note: I realize that E. is wearing a different outfit in every pic - these really were all from today, I change him a lot.

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Last night was a great night. Frank and Rhianna came over for dinner with their two little ones. Gwen is such a little bitsy angel and Little Frankie is anything but little - he is a bruiser! He is 6 weeks older than Ezekiel, so it was hilarious to put them side by side. They looked like two little brutes (or two little weebles laying side by side). He is a little charmer though - and he is sitting up (on his own) and pulling himself into a standing position - at 4.5 months old!!! I hope E. can do all of that at such an early age.

We bought Ezekiel a Bumbo chair so he can practice sitting up. He is simply hilarious in it. He sits there like he thinks it is his recliner and bobs his head around, smiling. Here he is, he looks a bit silly but it was the only picture we got of him in his Bumbo:



We went to Ezekiel's pediatritian last week for E's two month appointment. He weighs 15.85 lbs (97th %) and is 24.5 inches tall (97th %). He had his FOUR shots and he was a little trooper (but more composed than either me or his Daddy). We talked with Dr. Tony about how Ezekiel eats SO much (and I have to pump EVERYTHING, so it is getting a little rough). Dr. Tony asked a bunch of questions (like, does he open his mouth when you are eating and try to get your food? can he hold his neck up on his own, etc etc). After the question session and explaining to us about Ezekiel's size so he needs more food, Dr. Tony told us that E. is ready for food! Like, for real....not in his bottle (which we had a problem with anyway). He wanted us to start him on rice cereal in a bowl with a spoon. So, we listened and started it. The very first night, Ezekiel opened his mouth wide after like the third spoonful. He "got" it. He loves his food like his daddy loves his food! It was so awesome, but so sad too. We both cried watching our little tyke open his mouth wide for the spoon. He has nights when he doesn't want anything to do with the cereal, he only wants his bottle and that is ok with me. He is only 11 weeks old, after all. Next, we will try Rice Cereal with Banana.

Tonight, he is a little cranky. Here is a pic of him tonight in his pjs though:



This is another of him tonight in hs pjs. Yep, different pjs. This was before the poop-pant-mishap of 2007. You will notice the big smile; he knew what was coming....



I am so in love with this kid. It is crazy.