Ezra’s audio and video entertainment these past weeks as been mostly Clifford the Big Red Dog and episodes of Caillou. On average he watches three a day for a total of twenty seven minutes of commercial-free audio and video entertainment, which pacifies him for enough time to get ready for work or sit and be mindless after work or to slow the many questions of why for a few minutes.
After twenty minutes of, ,,MOMMY, MOMMY. I WANT MY MOMMY,” after he woke from a nap with mom out for a bit, I got him out of the crib by eating a granola bar in front of him then telling him if he wanted granola that he would have to get out of crib. He let me take him out of crib then he ate the granola then he walked the hall and pointed to television and said, ”T V..” We were going to watch Sesame Street, but the U.S. Open was on the channel last viewed, and he seemed and seems to like it. He is content watching it. The only thing he has said was, ”Where’d it go?” It being the tennis match when braking for commercial. And he has said, ”Beer,” while watching a beer commercial.
Ezra attended his first ever da vinci days gathering this weekend. As Kalab said, this experience included the Daddies show on Friday night. It also included more music, ice cream, french fries, bouncy walks, mazes, balloons, walking, carrying, running, crying, almost losing a binky, an aborted trip to the wave science research center, bike-sculptures shaped like cats, slugs, tiki bars, and other weird things, a lot of fish art, and several trips to the new Corvallis transit bus that was on display at the entrance to da Vinci days. All this in just 2 days!
I think Ezra’s favorite part was where we sat on this new bus, and I sang many many different verses of “wheels on the bus”
Outside we seen firetrucks, trains, planes, motorcycles, buses, houses, sidewalks, dandelions and the bright and shining SUN. Outside we walked, strolled, picked weeds, looked at trees, waited for trains that we heard then seen. Outside we played at a park, and Ezra slid down slides.
Ezra’s cheeks are red from being outside. Outside was the word most spoke by Ezra today for if he was not sleeping inside he wanted to be outside and said ,,Outside, outside, outside, outside, outside, outside…” like a vinyl record skipping. This was okay until it was time to come inside and eat dinner and ready for bed then outside became a word to cry.
Ezra woke in fuss I haven’t seen for some time. We are still awake. I think the last time it was this bad a fuss was with teething, which feels to be the cause of the fuss. He has the signs: rubbing jaw, lots of saliva, wants to put his entire hand in mouth, pain. Lots of pain. Lots of fussing. It took a while to calm him. We looked at books. We listened to Johnny Cash. He had a snack. We went to go look at cars, but at 11:20 P.M. there aren’t many people driving. Now he is near calm again. We will try to see if we can get him to bed, to sleep. I feel sleep will be something that we won’t get. That is okay. As longs as Ezra feels some comfort during this pain.
I am leaving Ezra and Kalab at home and taking off for a brief work trip. They will be without mom for about 36 hours. Hopefully they will not set anything on fire or lose anything important, and will have some time for fun father-son bonding. Ezra and I had our bonding time today - his daycare was closed for Veteran’s Day (really? Veteran’s Day? I didn’t know people outside of government, or Veterans maybe, got that day off). We stayed home together and played and played and played. And read some books, ate a little, and then played and played some more. Kalab came home and looked around at all the stuff everywhere. I think he was a little shocked-and-awed by the amazingly small amount of floor space left uncovered by Ezra’s toys, books, about 30 pages of newspaper advertisements, and miscellaneous other things that Ezra wanted to play with today and I didn’t have the heart or energy to pick up after he was done playing because I was sort of proud of the fun we had today.
Today Ezra turned 13 months old! Kalab is refusing to recognize this milestone, but I must commemorate each month until he is at least 2.
Ezra celebrated today by being a little fussy. I think his teething of more than 1 molar at a time is a lot to endure. But he did have a fun afternoon at the ice cream social at the park. He got to see some marimba players and play with a number of different percussion instruments, play with his friend M and also with some pretty cute little dogs. He was happy the whole time we were at the park, which made both of us smile : )
To better show and tell Ezra how to brush teeth, and to distract Ezra with entertainment and props while I brush his teeth, I give Ezra a tooth brush when I brush his teeth. This has never helped me brush his teeth until tonight when he stuck the tooth brush he held in my mouth and brushed my teeth. Then he opened his mouth, and I was easily able to brush his top and bottom teeth. Then he brushed my teeth. And he smiled and kept smiling while I brushed his teeth.
I can only hope this happens more than just to night.
…Ezra’s brushing of my teeth was light brushes and chaotic movement that made me gag when he brushed for the molars. Even if I have to choke to brush Ezra’s without Ezra becoming fussy having tooth brush in mouth then I will choke.
Ezra has become too cool and apt at walking to use his Baby Walker to help him walk. The Baby Walker has been laying with front on the ground in the same spot for days. Before that the Baby Walker rested with the rear axle resting above the ground against a bookshelf near its current location and state. The only reason the Baby Walker is now laying with front on the ground is because Ezra played with the spinning objects and dial on the front of the Baby Walker while standing then he tipped it over and walked away.
Any one need a late 80s early 90s Fisher Price Baby Walker?
Some time during the past couple of days Ezra has been called Prince Ezra by -v- and I. I have been thinking this and calling him Prince Ezra for days. Days after needing to carry Prince Ezra around to prevent him from entering in to a fussy fit of snot and tears when X reason was causing Prince Ezra to be in a fussy fit of snot and tears. I have called him Prince Ezra after waking for the third or forth time during the night to try to calm a crying and fussy Prince Ezra from calling out for his parents. I have called him Prince Ezra while he was sitting on his high chair throwing one toy after another on to the floor only wanting another toy to throw on the floor.
Now Prince Ezra sleeps. In fact, Prince Ezra may have gone back to the kingdom. His mood today is less Prince Ezra like and more like the Ezra I know and enjoy. The Ezra that doesn’t need to be attached to -v- or I to sleep, be calm, eat, sit, stand or exist. The Ezra that sleeps through most of the night. The Ezra that wakes with loud talking noises and not loud screams and shouts. The Ezra that smiles more than frowns. The Ezra that sleeps through most the night for more than one night.
Only time will tell if Prince Ezra is truly gone. Even if Prince Ezra returns, I will love him all the same as I love Ezra. I am after all King.
Yo. EZ-O moved into his own crib this weekend! Awwww yeah! He’s livin’ large now. His spot is the best place in the whole house for shizzle.
Yes, Ezra made the move from the porta-crib to his real, sturdy comfortable crib this weekend.Â
It all happened so quickly, at least according to Kalab. However, I’ve been working up to this for weeks. It just happened abruptly this weekend because I woke up on Saturday night 4 times before 3am-  Ezra was alternately snoring and talking in his sleep, or would lose his pacifier and wake up and decide he wanted a snack - and by 2:30am felt that he had to be moved right then and there.Â
I have personally been trying since Grandma O left to only get up once to feed Ezra and otherwise have been trying to get him to soothe himself back to sleep when he wakes up(Kalab was just not informed of this). This is hard to do when he’s in the room with you and every move he makes causes you to wake up. And I think it’s hard on him as well - I’ve read that your baby can smell your milk from up to 2 or 3 feet away, so when they wake up and smell the milk, they probably feel like they might as well get some. Kind of like if you’re a coffee drinker, the smell of coffee brewing can wake you up and get you out of bed.
The other reason for the move is that I had this thought a week or so ago that took hold and wouldn’t leave me alone -  part of the reason he was so stuffy and snoring was because he was too close to the floor and the level of the heat vent, in front of which both our cats like to nap . So I imagined that he was inhaling a huge amount of dusty, dirty, cat-dander-filled air and this was causing him to sleep badly, and would probably lead him to develop allergies or asthma or some other lung problems later in life. This may or may not be true, but at 2:30am on Sunday this was all I could think about and this is what actually sparked the big move to Ezra’s big crib this weekend.
He seems to like his crib, and I think he’s OK with being in his room alone. Although he has been putting up something of a fuss at night, that could be attributed more to his teething - another of life’s abrupt changes he’s got to go through.
Despite the Western New Year, it is still the Year of the Pig until February 6, 2008.
There may be some dispute if it is the Year of the Golden Pig. Some claim it is. While others claim it is not. I suspect those who claim it is not the Year of the Golden Pig didn’t or won’t have a child during The Year of the Golden Pig thereby becoming very lucky.
Translations of the type of pig do conflict. Our translation of time defines this year to be the Year of the Golden Pig.
Ezra and I are having a New Year’s Eve Party.
The party begins at 6 P.M. with The Dinner. After The Dinner is The Dance Party. The Dance Party will only last until Sleep Time or Write Time. Ezra will be sleeping. I will be writing.
After Sleep Time or Write Time will be Happy New Year. Ezra may not be awake for Happy New Year for he may be sleeping. We have a bet that he will sleep through Happy New Year. He seems to think he will be awake for Happy New Year. If Ezra loses the bet then he has to go sleep in his own room the day after the curtains are hung in his room. If I lose, and Ezra is awake, I may not need to do anything because Ezra hasn’t told me what I need to do if I lose the bet.
I hear it between 4 A.M. and 6 A.M.. By this time the Golden Alarm’s snooze button takes more than a tap on pacifier to quiet.
The golden alarm is not annoying. It can be fun. The golden alarm’s sounds can be like beeps and whistles. Some times a snort. Most of the time the golden alarm sounds like talking.
During the morning hour, the golden alarm can usually only be turned off by playing with the golden alarm. Standing practice, rollover fun, talking, reading, smiling, and noise making makes the golden alarm’s snooze button work as the golden alarm goes back to sleep.
At night, the golden alarm goes off couple times. Most of the time changing a diaper or feeding the golden alarm will be the golden alarm’s snooze button. Most of the time, but not all of the time. -v- has most, if not all, the experience with the night time golden alarm.
Ever since waterboarding Ezra, he has been fussy and been crying while I have been giving him his bath. While Ezra has not said to me that the waterboarding of two weeks ago has caused him to cry when I bathe him, I suspect it is the reason his once growing love of the water has become something of obvious displeasure.
He did cry when I was washing his face, but that could have been because it was the first thing I washed and therefore he wasn’t adjusted to the water, or it could have been because he associated cleaning of the face with waterboarding. Once I cleaned and rinsed his face and began to wash his arms he became calm.
-v- did help clam, too. In fact, if -v- wasn’t there talking with Ezra while she was waiting to dry and cloth Ezra after the bath I don’t think Ezra would have been as calm. The more -v- talked the calmer Ezra became. So Ezra not crying after I cleaned his face yesterday could have been because -v-’s words began to calm him. Of course, -v- is always by my side when I bathe Ezra talking to him while she waits to cloth and dry Ezra, so her talking doesn’t help explain his past fussiness during bath time with me after I waterboarded Ezra.