Golden Pig Tales

Ezra’s Birthday Party was a fun, but tiring even. The party began on time yesterday at 2.  Of course Ezra, the purpose of the party, was napping until 2:45, after friends arrived. He woke to kids running around him playing with his toys and adults eating and drinking and talking. It took Ezra a few minutes to wake and adjust. Then Ezra was smiling and laughing and playing with his friends.

The party went until 6, but it was done by 5:30 for everyone, including the adults, left to take naps. Before 5:30, Ezra ate cake, opened presents, played with his friends in the main living area and the kitchen and dinning area. He went for a ride in his Radio Flyer Wagon. He blew out his number 1 candle, ate his birthday cake and got chocolate all over his face. He played with new books and blocks and things with wheels. He played and chewed on wrapping paper. We had fun.

Any day is a better (and some times more stressful) day with Ezra!

Happy Birthday EZRA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No, Ezra is not picking up habits from Jigga aka Jay-Z. He is not trying to get the dirt of his shoulders, nor is he big pimpin’ yet.  We have a cat, Jigga, who (if he is not sleeping) really doesn’t live by anyone’s rules but his own. He thinks he needs to show that he has street cred by not drinking water out of the lame water bowl on the floor. No, Jigga prefers to get his water the hard way. He will immediately run and jump up onto the kitchen counter to get to the kitchen sink the second he hears the water being turned on. He will then proceed to lap up the water coming out of the faucet. Sometimes, he even tries to drink from the faucet when the water is not turned on, and ends up licking the faucet itself. This sort of grosses me out, except then I remember that I let the cat lick my face, so it can’t be much different. Anyway, lately when I take Ezra to the sink to wash his hand either before or after a meal, he leans in and wants to drink from the faucet in EXACTLY the same way Jigga does.  This leads me to believe that we have definitely reached the point where we need to be very thoughtful of our actions and words around him or else he’s going to get some more bad habits, but I never really thought he would be taking behavioral cues from the cats!

Ezra is nearing 1 year old and finally. YES, finally, when Ezra is in need of comfort and needs to be held he actually reaches from me even when -v- is near. He has even reached for me while being held by his obvious favorite -v-. Of course, when this occurred and I held him in my arms, he immediately reached for -v-, but that’s not the point! The point is this shows me that I am his second favorite person in the world!

Ezra went to bed at 7. He woke fussing from either teething or gas and poop around 7:50. Gas and poop we suspect because he was farting a lot after waking and he hasn’t had a big poop since yesterday. For whatever reason, he woke at 7:50 with tears that soon dried. Then he was full of fun and energy and excitement. SO, he ran here and there and there and here. He even pushed around his Baby Walker with shouts and laughter. He played the Soccer Ball Game. He ran through the kitchen. He laughed. He cried. He played.

Now we are tired. We think Ezra is finally ready for bed. We hope he is for we don’t have much energy left to play with Ezra and chase him around.

Ezra still has some resistance to having his teeth brushed. He resists by covering his teeth with tongue, shutting his mouth and grabbing the tooth brush and fussing.

He does still have resistance to teeth brushing, but -v- and I have found ways to show him brushing teeth is fun or at least something not to cause fuss. We have shown him by giving him own tooth brush to hold while we brush his teeth with another one. This allows of him to grab a tooth brush and feel like he is resisting. I have also begun to brush my teeth while we brush Ezra’s teeth. I open my mouth wide and smile and brush, brush, brush away. Sometimes I do a teeth brushing dance. Even if this means brushing my teeth two times more a day that is OK for the act of me brushing teeth before Ezra while -v- brushes his teeth seems to be working because he does open his mouth for longer and stops using his tongue to force the tooth brush out. We now also brush his teeth twice a day to make sure those teeth are clean, so Ezra can avoid cavities and teeth problems that will only cause more fussing and pain.

It was about this time a year ago that I first felt the contractions that brought us Ezra…72 hours later. I can’t believe Ezra is almost 1! It doesn’t feel like a whole year has passed, but then again, when I look at Ezra and see how he’s grown and changed I can’t believe all this has happened in just a year.

Today Ezra tried on a pair of Nikes that Uncle C bought for him before he was even born. They are still a little too big. Ezra is used to being barefoot or wearing Robeez, so these Nikes seemed like they must have felt like bricks strapped to Ezra’s feet. He finally managed to stand up, but once he got up all he did was look at the shoes on his feet, picking up one foot and then the other, then looking at me with this very serious expression, looking back at the shoes, and looking at me again.

Finally he just sat back down and reached for a foot in the Nike, and brought it up to his mouth for a taste : )