-v- removed some child proofing locks from the cabinets today. It is weird being able to open the cabinet door to throw away trash and not need to push an annoying lever lock, which served a purpose, but is now just annoying because Ezra could push the lever back to open the cabinet door to the trash.
I am awake late because I napped for two and a half hours while Ezra napped yesterday. I am not awake because Ezra is sleeping his first night in the fire engine bed without the crib bars to contain a flopping and wandering Ezra, but it is something keeping me aware.
The sounds Ezra has been making for the past hour are sounds he makes when he flops during his sleep in his crib, but now that he is in the fire engine bed I have been hoping not to hear a thud against the floor during these flop sessions. A thud created by Ezra flopping then wanting to stand or crawl or do something while sleeping in the fire engine bed that he probably never does while sleeping in his crib.
I will be able to sleep once I tire, but I will sleep light and aware to hear Ezra when he wakes to be sure he has not gained the reach and the strength to open the high and stiff door knob from his room.
Tomorrow or the next day we will likely be installing a gate before the stairs down for he could be a sleep walker.
Ezra’s binky broke today…there was a hole in it. I told him that because it was broken he couldn’t use it anymore and it needed to go in the trash. It took a few minutes of explaining this, and a few minutes of sucking on the broken binky, but eventually he accepted that the binky was broken and he agreed to put it in the trash. I was super surprised to see him toss it in the garbage can. After the fact, he was a little upset about it, and we needed to find an alternate binky for bed time. I’m hoping that maybe maybe maybe we can convince him that now his binky is just for bed time and no other time because that’s the only binky he has left. Incidentally, this last binky is the longest lived binky. I think it’s the one we got at the hospital.Â
Ezra wore sneakers today for more than a few seconds for the first time. He has been wearing Robeez, which are a lot like moccasins. He likes wearing the Robeez and actually tries to put them on his feet if he sees one laying within reach.
This seemlingly like of Robeez and the Robeez light and flexible base worried -v- and I when putting on his sneakers to wear for the first time for a day. The weight of the sneaker, and the ridged sole, made Ezra walk like his feet were moving his legs and his balance and movement as stiff as the soles. He looked at his feet a lot this morning when walking around. When departing for daycare, the sneakers made his feet wave like pendulums swayed by the heavy soled sneakers.
I did have images of Ezra taking his shoes off and running around searching for a pair of Robeez, but all stories of Ezra’s day tells a story of Ezra okay with his weighty sneakers. He had them on when I arrived home, but did walk faster and freer once the sneakers came off and bare feet were able to touch the ground.
Ezra started a new daycare on Monday, and today was the end of his first week there. Overall, I think he liked it. Or at least, all I can do is hope he liked it and hope that we made a good decision to switch. (It makes me feel a little guilty to say it, but the impetus for the switch was initially financial. When we went up to 4 days/week, KC charged us for full time, which was a ridonkulous amount of money. But then I started looking at other places and thinking about the different things Ezra could experience that would be fun for him and help him learn and grow into a good person, things that he might not necessarily get at the KC place just because of the way those places are set up and run. So after a lot of looking around, I found a small bilingual daycare sort of near our house, which had a smaller class size, more staff stability, and it was significantly cheaper. And bilingual!)
Ezra has cried each morning when I drop him off, but that was the case at the KC too. When I come to get him in the afternoon, he has been very happy to see me, but that was also the case before. He has smiled and waved at the teachers when we are leaving, but he was starting to do that before as well. The teachers say he is a great kid and very active and playful and they are happy he is there with them…but that’s the same as before too. His naps are a bit erratic, but that is true unless he’s at home the whole day. So the only things that really seem to have changed are the new faces and places where Ezra spends his days. Well, that and the language thing.
I took Ezra outside tonight after dinner for a walk, one where I walked AND Ezra walked!
We didn’t go very far, but Ezra was so excited to be out for a walk, walking on his own! We walked from our street corner down the sidewalk and stopped for a moment to squat near the big lily plant, eat mulberries and look at some ants. Then we stood up and continued our walk past our house and our neighbor’s house. Then we walked down the neighbor’s driveway to tap the bumper of the neighbor’s shiny red truck. Then we walked back up the driveway, turned around, walked back to the truck, tapped the bumper again. Then we returned to the sidewalk and Ezra was moving so fast - he almost seemed close to running at times - waving his arms up above his head, wind in his hair, smiling and laughing with such great joy. It was enough to a tear to my eye of mostly joy, but a little sadness, at how quickly my son is growing up!! Then he turned the corner, looked back at me, and seemed to wave as if to say “try to keep up, mom!”
We tried the sippy cup, but Ezra used the tip of the sippy cup to chew on and the handle of the sippy cup to slam the body of the sippy cup against the nearest surface.
We are trying to use a cup that we hold, which appears to be more effective. And by effective I mean he inhales water up his nose and sucks water into his mouth while he bites on the edge of the glass then swallows some water while most flows out of mouth. …But he does swallow some water unlike the sippy cup.
While Ezra has yet to perfect his crawling technique, he has perfected his technique from laying flat on his stomach to sitting upright. This is no small feat because it took him a time to learn to sit upright, and it took him a time to lift up his chest with his arms. AND it took him a time to roll over. All these techniques are used as he lifts his chest off the ground with arms, swings a leg around (like he is rolling over) and plants his bottom on the ground and lifts his torso upright with arms and chest. He has become so good at this sitting upright technique that he can move across the floor by laying on stomach and sitting upright, laying on the floor, sitting upright, laying on the floor, sitting upright, etc…
I bathed Ezra yesterday for the first time in months. And it is the first time I have participated in bathing Ezra in weeks.
I realized yesterday that he has more skin to wash now. The washcloth once covered his body. Now the washcloth doesn’t even cover his head.
Yay, yay, it’s Ezra’s birthday today!
Yay, yay, it’s Ezra’s birthday today!
Yay, yay, it’s Ezra’s birthday today!
It has been a week of change for Ezra. First Ezra got in the high chair and new what it was like to be high. Then Ezra ate rice pudding as his first solid food. Then the location where Ezra’s bath tub is placed during Ezra’s baths was moved from the kitchen sink to the tub. THEN we began to try to get Ezra to sleep through the night to begin a sleeping schedule for Ezra. AND last night another change for Ezra: he began sleeping in his own big boy room.
Yes, big boy Ezra is now going to sleep in his own big boy room and big boy bed. It was a change that was planned to occur in a couple of weeks because we didn’t want all this change to occur in such a short span of time. We wanted to wait for Ezra to adjust to the change of seating, eating, bathing, and sleeping time. But last night -v- moved Ezra from the travel crib in our room into the crib in his big boy room after a night of Ezra talking in his sleeping and waking up at two and three and wanting to talk to very tired parents.
Ezra had his first unassisted rollover today. No, Ezra was not driving home from daycare and took a turn too quickly causing the car he was driving to rollover. Rather, Ezra was laying his stomach and rolled to his back all by himself.
It was a big moment. Up until now he hasn’t been able to create the momentum need to begin the roll from stomach to back, or back to stomach, but today, with out any help from -v- or I, he rolled from his stomach to his back.
Now he only needs to perfect this roll over skill. And experience his first back to stomach rollover.
The back to stomach roll over gets stalled on his side when he tries to roll over his own arm wedged between his body and the floor.
I went to pick up Ezra at daycare on Wednesday. While I was getting him ready to go, I was overhearing the two women working with the infants talking about getting their paychecks this week. They were debating the pros and cons of the various check-cashing places. Because neither of them has a bank account. They are willing to pay at least $15 every payday to get their checks cashed. This says to me, among the many possible explanations, they most likely either a) can’t manage their money well enough to meet minimum requirements to keep a bank account open, likely because of their massive drug/drinking habits; or b) they are criminals living under false identities and don’t have the right paperwork forged that would allow them to open up a bank account. Either way, do I want them looking after my son? Maybe not, but what can I do?
Well, just this morning I found out that Ezra got in off the wait-list at another daycare facility that is more conveniently located. And also a brighter, happier, possibly cleaner, maybe more stimulating place, staffed by people who hopefully have bank accounts. I would think this is a strong possibility, as with what this new daycare will be charging us, hopefully the staff are being extra well-paid.
Hopefully a new start on Monday will be OK with Ezra!
Today was another stage in the growth of Ezra. For the second time since his life began, Ezra has moved up a diaper size. After one too many poop bombs exploding everywhere, and after a few poop leaks during the past days when the diapers were unable to contain the mighty force and mass of Ezra poop, we decided it was time to move him up a size to contain the madness that occurs under the cover and protection of those diapers. No longer will my boy be wearing those new born or almost new born diapers. Not my son. No sir.
After a tense couple days of Ezra and I adjusting to another again after almost a week apart, the weekend has proven to be both a bonding and relaxing experience. Even with the potential of Ezra being sick or feeling bad because of his immunization shots, the days have been relaxing, and Ezra didn’t become sick or fussy. He has slept a lot this weekend, which could have a little to do with me being sane and happy 
but it’s not the only reason. He’s been more calm during the day. He got fussy, but after two months I am have become more confident and proficient at knowing what he wants and needs. And though there was a lot of poop pooped yesterday, and today Ezra seems to have been a spit up factory creating many new abstract pieces of art that will soon wash away, it was just life.
Ezra has been reported as doing fine. Calm and not too fussy.
Ezra is missed. I don’t feel the tension of being on call to action by Ezra. I feel I am weaker by the days he is away. For I am getting lazy. I have been sleeping eight hours without stop. I have been sitting around in the same place for long periods of time. I haven’t felt the rush of tension when Ezra needs have me march round the house and bounce to calm him. I don’t feel the instinct to awake and check to make sure Ezra is alive. I have lost my edge.