Golden Pig Tales

This is how Ezra shows his love for Jigga. Either that, or Ezra was trying to use Jigga as a step-stool to get up on the couch.

For the first 7 months of Ezra’s life, Jigga mostly sat and observed Ezra in his chair, or Ezra lying mostly motionless on the floor. Now they almost seem to play together. Once Ezra started crawling, he decided that the cats are the coolest things, and would crawl after them. This doesn’t bother Jigga at all - in fact, he now chases after Ezra to get more attention and/or give Ezra some headbutts. Ezra reciprocates by throwing himself on top of Jigga with a squeal and a laugh. So far, Jigga hasn’t reacted badly to this game - he just pulls himself out from under Ezra, and occasionally will come right back for more.

Yesterday Ezra stood on his own! He stood on two feet, and did not use anything to prop himself up, and his hands weren’t grasping onto anything or anyone for support - in fact, he was clapping. It was super cute, and I wish I had a picture of this, but there was no time. The stand alone adventure lasted only a few seconds, before boom! down he went onto his bottom. He has been able to increase the number of times he has stood alone, but not the duration of the stand. I bet there will be more and longer standing next week, and then it’s only a matter of moving those legs…

I have been noticing -v- and I have been saying, ,,No,” more and more. He hits the window, we say no. He wants to teeth on our hands or shoulders. We say no. He wants to stand and chew on the side of the cat’s scratching post or play with the diaper waste basket, and we say no. He grabs for hair or glasses resting on face. We say no. He bites on the glass of drinking water and we say no.

I find it weird and a little disturbing that the word no is a word we use more and more often. It’s obvious that the need to say no and teach him that there are certain things he can not do for it is a necessary part of parenthood else he may break a window and cut self, or bite too many kids at daycare and hurt some one, or chew on the side of the diaper bucket and get shit or piss residue on face.

I do think of all the words we speak to him daily no is probably the second most word said to Ezra after the word Ezra. He recognizes and reacts to his name, so no isn’t the only work he understands. I have noticed he doesn’t hit the window as much nor bite on the drinking cup when drinking. I only hope no isn’t the only word we teach him, so I am trying to speak many other words besides no.

Hyper-Baby Ezra must have exorcized the Fuss from his body while crawling around the house and walking along the walls and standing up and down during the early and late day for Ezra slept all night long last night without a Fuss!

Ezra’s been up since 5:45 this morning. He has had a total of two naps that sum to an hour and a few minutes. It is 21:14, and Ezra is still fighting to remain awake even thought -v- and I are wanting for sleep, and though he has been to daycare, which usually tires him out, and though he has crawled around the house since arriving home, he is still awake. We want sleep. Sleep not just for Ezra but for us. Sleep so we can relax and wait for Ezra to wake, so we be rested and can follow Ezra  tomorrow as he crawls from the main living area, to the kitchen, up the stairs, to the dinning room table area and back again over and over and over and over…

The Memorial Day long weekend is almost over. It has been a long weekend. Ezra was very active, energetic, fussy, moody, happy, funny, fast, hard to handle, drooly from teething, sweet, sour, hot, cold, and totally wore us out. So much so that Kalab and I were hoping that daycare was open today so we could take him there and drop him off and have a day to ourselves. Not like we had anything crazy fun planned…we were going to install baby proof drawer locks…but I think were were a little disheartened this morning when we realized we were not going to get any Ezra time off because daycare was closed for the holiday.

So tomorrow we will get Ezra up and get him ready and take him to daycare and then go to work, and it will be a long time before we have another long weekend with Ezra.

Ezra passed out for a nap after he returned from a birthday party. It was a birthday party for a one year old.

The birthday girl, a two month old baby and Ezra were the only kids at the birthday party.

Before lots of adults showed up, Ezra had fun playing with the birthday girl and some of her toys on the patio. He even played with one of the birthday girl’s birthday toys.  He crawled around outside and ate a Mum-mum. But then for two hours more adults came and the place became full of adults, and then Ezra got fussy for sleep and probably because there were too many adults.

Instead of needed to leave the party because some one got too drunk and needed to be driven home, we left the party because Ezra needed a nap, which is good because I don’t wake up with a hangover.

Ezra had a lead test during his 9 month doctor checkup. With all the toxins in the world and lead tainted toys being sold, it is relieving and comforting to write that Ezra has a lead rating of 1, which is normal and far below the rating of 10 (above 10 is not normal).

It is another childhood danger -v- and I have protect Ezra against.

Now we can focus on protecting him from knives, fire, toxins, claws, cars, psychos…

Today was the first day I dropped off Ezra at daycare without being with -v-. I had to make a song of the security code and the food instructions to remember what to write to fill out the log book, fill out the daily daycare sheet and food labels.

I had to set Ezra down once I got into the daycare room and fill out his daily daycare sheet. Ezra then cried and crawled to me. I picked Ezra up and completed the daily daycare sheet. After that I set him down by some of his daycare friends, and I finished getting his food and bottles labeled and stored.

Ezra began to adjust by the time I left the daycare room. His attention had been on the other kids and the daycare people, so there were no tears.

As I was putting on my shoes, I panicked and forgot if I had set out the milk bottles with the nipples on the counter by the fridge where they should be, and I went back into the daycare room really fast to check and seen I had set the milk bottles out then I tried to leave without Ezra seeing me, but Ezra seen me, and Ezra began to cry and cry and crawled to me, and he was picked up by another, and he reached for me in a fit of tears as I was leaving.

Yes, I was sad he was crying, but I have to admit it felt good to be cried for. It felt good to be reassured that I am at least number 2 in Ezra’s life, and as long as -v- is number 1 then number 2 is good for me.

Since Ezra has been crawling we have been corralling Ezra in a section of the house I call the main living area, so he can roam around on his own, so he won’t find something that will hurt him, and he won’t find something that he will put in his mouth that he should not put in his mouth, and we know the area he crawls upon is mostly clean until he is walking more than crawling, and we know where he is. On Saturday we opened up the corral area to include the kitchen for he long ago figured out how to open the swinging door to the kitchen from the corral, and he was refusing to remain in the corral when -v- leaves for the kitchen.

The new part of the corral, the kitchen, is still an area that we need to closely supervise Ezra while he tries to find things that could hurt him like the objects in the drawers we have yet to fix with fasteners. The kitchen is not yet fully Ezra proof. It is only part Ezra proof and fully clean of all the dust and small bits decaying food under the bookshelf, fridge and stove that Ezra would put in his mouth or rub into his eyes. It is also clear of any sharp objects that once rested on the lower shelves of the bookshelf, and those heavy cook books he was so eager to reach up and try to pull off the shelf on top of him.

He seems to enjoy the new area of the corral. He gets excited when we allow him to crawl beyond the swinging door. He enjoys throwing around the plastic lids and wooden bowls we have put on the shelves within reach. He enjoys being able to be by -v- when she is in the kitchen.

They are now showing signs of growing. The teething has been. Or the teething is.

I was able to sooth Ezra from two likely fussing moments caused likely by teething before 11 P.M.. The third instance of Ezra fussing was near or after Midnight. During third instance, Ezra was beyond my ability to sooth for he was standing and crying and stressing about teething and detachment and tiredness at night, and that usually means -v- will need to sooth Ezra from the teething and the detachment and the tiredness and the fussing fit that is keeping Ezra awake. Ezra slept soon after the sooth of -v- near or after Midnight.

Teeth #8 and #9, #10 Are. They are probably causing pain as they push through the gums, so Ezra can fuss, and we will help sooth for sleep.

Trying to sit down and write a blog entry is hard when Ezra is always clinging to your arm, or even when he is holding onto your leg, because when you’re writing a blog entry, you are not entertaining Ezra, or you are prohibiting Ezra from entertaining himself by playing with the keyboard.

Lately Ezra has been very attached to me. When I’m in the room, he generally likes to be very close by.  Most of the time I don’t mind this, because he’s adorable and I love him and find almost everything he does endearing. But there are times when I would like to, or need to, do other things aside from serve as Ezra’s personal jungle gym. Kalab can sometimes fill this role, but only while I am in the room or when I have magically disappeared from the room without Ezra seeing me go. If he sees me go away from him, Ezra puts on a good display of sobs and tears - even if I just go into the kitchen for a glass of water!

So, lately, when I get Ezra off to sleep, or he is playing with Kalab, I find I prefer to do things that do not involve reading or writing about Ezra or things babies do. Mom needs to think about non-mom things!!

I have found myself at a disadvantage when it comes to soothing Ezra because I don’t have breasts to cuddle him or to give him the soothing suction surface of a natural nipple that produces milk for I have no breasts and my nipples are too small.

My lack of breasts has had me envious for I couldn’t calm and quiet a fussing and crying Ezra like -v-. While my lack of soothing accessories or talent has during the past allowed me to remain sleeping when a fevered or sick Ezra wakes fussing during the night, deep inside there was some envy and there is also the reality that there are times when -v- isn’t around to help sooth a fevered or sick Ezra.

I am happy to write that I can now take a crying and screaming fevered or sick Ezra and turn that Ezra into a calm and sometimes sleeping baby.

Instead of breasts, I use the baby carrier. An Ergo Baby carrier purchased for Ezra now that he is too big for the BabyBjörn. A baby carrier that is easy to attach to me and easy to put Ezra in and take Ezra out for the shoulder harness slips on and off with ease.

Of course, the new baby carrier isn’t the only thing that is helping sooth Ezra. I have also learned the baby walk bounce, and I have a technique of laying down on a bed or couch and slipping Ezra off my chest onto the bed or couch when Ezra is sleeping, so I can sit by and calm myself after a fussing fit of Ezra. There is also the slow and steady laying-down-sleeping-Ezra-in-crib technique that has improved over time. AND -v- has shown me that rubbing Ezra on the back will help Ezra return to sleep if he wakes when he is put in the crib.

Though my new found soothing techniques now have me up very early in the morning to sooth a fever stricken Ezra to sleep, I can at least help out and feel more like a dad once Ezra calms and returns to dreamland.

We left a trail of Cheerios and pacifiers where ever we went on vacation. In the hotel, in Grandma O’s car, in Uncle Dylan’s and Aunt Summer’s car and house, and the planes to and from Washington D.C. Cheerios were dropped and pacifiers lost.

What was gained was being with friends and family, a cold and a slight fever for Ezra and a realization that four hours and fifty minutes in an airplane with Ezra can be tiring. And it can be even more tiring if you are -v-, who Ezra used as a personal jungle gym the entire flight home when he wasn’t eating Cheerios or sleeping. I tried to take some of the burden from -v-, but Ezra would begin to reach, stretch and whine for -v-, so it was just easier to let him attach himself to her.

My contributions during the entire flight was being the Cheerios feeder, the one with the Dragon hand puppet and changing Ezra’s diaper in the lavatory of the plane, but only after -v- had done it on the previous flight, so I had the confidence and some instruction on how best to perform the act. It was pretty easy to change the diaper in the lavatory of the plane because unlike other times when I change his diaper he was happy to lay on the change mat, which was spread on top of the airplane toilet lid. I also had it easy because I didn’t have to change a poopy diaper just a pee diaper, so there wasn’t much fussin’ or much time needed to make the change and clean up.

…I am happy I need not clean up after all the Cheerios we have left behind on a journey because there were more than a few stepped on and mashed into carpet, cloths, and carry-ons.

We do not miss the Cheerios lost, but we do miss the pacifiers, but we are comforted in knowing that if we lose a pacifier or two at home chances are it eventually will show up. And if not we can always score more at Target.

We lost a pacifier some where in the hotel room in Washington Hilton. We lost a pacifier in some Ivy out front of Uncle Dylan’s and Aunt Summer’s Place. So we bought Ezra four more pacifiers at Target.

No wonder Uncle Troy laughed at the fact -v- and I brought only three pacifiers for Ezra during vacation time.

It is comforting to know that Ezra can find a cold during vacation time. It is comforting that even on vacation he can still smile through a cold.

It is also comforting to know teething and fussing over teething doesn’t stop during vacation time. And that even during vacation time a cough from a cold and fussing over teething will make Ezra wake during the night.