Zoe Turns Five (Months) and Uses a Spoon

On August 7th, Zoe’s five-month birthday, we took the opportunity to re-open The Baby Book to make sure her development was on-track. We had pretty much stopped reading the handful of baby books we have because their advice wasn’t in line with our natural baby raising skills. For example, I still think putting the talcum powder and the baby in a pillowcase and shaking is a great way to make sure all the crevices are coated. Some of Zoe's advanced skills are gleefully pulling out handfuls of Alison’s hair and shoving her entire fist into her mouth. She is also a pro at grabbing her toes and standing unsupported for .5 seconds. (I hope soon to publish the dramatic videos of these events.) According to “The Book” she is performing these actions as well if not better than a six month old, and is on track to becoming either a doctor or a tattoo artist. She also clearly understands what we are saying. For example, she knows what, “Up? Up? Up? 1, 2, 3 Up!” means, although she seems less sure about, “Fetch Daddy another beer then go watch TV.”

We recently tried feeding Zoe her first solid food. The word solid should be used loosely, since it’s a 1 to 3 ratio of solid to liquid. But since it is “solid” food, we have to feed it to her with a spoon. This requires that Alison hold her steady while I try to get the spoon into her mouth, a moving target. Remember back in the 80’s those little cocaine spoons that seemed to be popular as jewelry? No? Well the point is the amount of food that I am putting into her mouth would fit in one of those spoons. However, the amount that comes out of her mouth is about double that. The quantity of food I prepare is about a tablespoon of milk to a teaspoon of cereal. After fifteen minutes you couldn’t tell that any of the food was missing from the bowl, yet her bib seemed to have about three-quarters of a cup of the mixture spread over it. Ultimately she didn’t like it, and not only did it not put her into a deep sleep, which was the whole reason we started her on solids, but it gave her constipation. I’m not sure how a quantity of cereal that would fit on the head of a pin could give her constipation, but we’ve decided to wait a couple more weeks before trying again.

Addendum: Since I wrote the above post (often a week or more before it’s published) we have again tried to feed her solids, and we’ve expanded our repertoire to include carrots. The carrots have not been a big hit. She actually makes a gagging face when we put them in her mouth. After three spoonfuls there were carrots across Alison’s shirt and pants, the bib was coated and I don’t think any actually went down her Zoe’s throat. The big success was a bowl (think very large thimble) or rice cereal that was completely gobbled up. Although there were no ill health effects, it still didn’t make her sleep through the night. I think the next bowl will be one part cereal, three parts brandy.

See photos of Zoe at http://picasaweb.google.com/dbglass.

Travels with Zoe, Part 2

I’ve mentioned this before, but thank heaven for boobs. (Actually, I’ve probably mentioned this in more than one context, but for the moment I’m referring to Zoe’s sole food source.) We have just returned from a four-day trip to Seattle (to visit Jill, Martin, Karin & Charlotte—see photo), a two-hour flight that was a test run for our six-hour flight to Boston in September. The flight out went fine, but our return flight required more attention and a lot more boob. The problem with flying with an infant these days is that most flights are full, so instead of being able to spread out over three seats you get crammed into the window and center seats, with some overweight smelly person in a deep sleep on the isle. If we were to take the center and isle seats, the window person would inevitably have a weak bladder and Zoe would inexplicably want to sleep. As I mentioned in a previous post, it is almost preferable to have ones bladder burst than to wake a sleeping baby.

On this flight, as well as our previous trip to LA, we flew Southwest, which, if you didn’t know, has open seating (at rock concerts this usually means a dozen people will be crushed to death attempting to get the front row seats). Now that we are allowed that restricted honor of pre-boarding, we must guard our third seat in the off chance that it is not a full flight. For those of you about to travel on Southwest with a child, here are some tricks to keep that third seat unoccupied.

• Strap you child into the seat and pretend you don’t know them.
• Change their diaper during the boarding process
• Pinch them so they scream. No one wants to sit next to a screaming baby.
• Pile the middle seat with all the baby paraphernalia and try to look harried (which shouldn’t be difficult).
• Sing “The Wheels on the Bus” song in a loud and enthusiastic voice. If someone looks like they are going to sit anyway, let them know that they will be required to join in and do their part to entertain your child.
  

Inevitably your efforts will fail and one of you will spend your entire trip in the center seat with your tray-table piled high with drinks and snacks and your lap covered in toys and blankets, trapped by the snoring football player in the isle seat, and needing to use the bathroom as if you downed a couple of Super Big Gulps® as you were boarding.

See photos of Zoe at http://picasaweb.google.com/dbglass.

Changes 2

Back in April, on the 28th to be exact, I posted two photos of Zoe in her car seat that showed how much she had grown in seven weeks. These three photos span four months. They were taken March 23rd, May 11th and July 20th. Click on each picture to see it in full size.

See more photos of Zoe at http://picasaweb.google.com/dbglass

High Jinks

Zoe has decided that her one sleeping-through-the-night experiment was a failure, and so joins us in our bed every two or three hours for a snack and a poop. Last night was more of the same, but with a little special something to top it off. After one feed and change I pulled Zoe close trying to calm her down so she would go back to sleep. After twenty minutes of her pulling out handfuls of my chest hair, flailing her arms and legs around and practicing using her vocal chords, Alison decided to try feeding her again. That often puts her to sleep. But she pooped again (followed by a burp worthy of a Quarterback). I got up to change her. I should note that I don’t own pajamas. I picked up Zoe and get about a step from the bed before she throws up everything she just ate. Did I mention I was naked? Zoe of course thought this was all a lot of fun.

The other day I tried to teach Zoe how to pet the cat. Given her propensity for ripping out my chest hairs I should have know that this was not a good idea. Instead of gently touching Tucker, she latches on with both hands. Oh, I forget to mention that these days her hands are always in her mouth and so are always wet. Anyway, Tucker is unhappy but seems to recognize that it is Zoe and does not bite her, what he would have done (and has done, to me) when he is touched in ways he prefers not to be touched. I quickly pry her fingers apart but so much fur has stuck to her hands it looks like she is wearing back mittens. I managed to rinse her hands off before she stuck them in her mouth again. I think she was just getting back at the cats, which are always trying to step on her.

See photos of Zoe at http://picasaweb.google.com/dbglass.

Zoe Learns to Read and Write!

Since my last post Zoe has learned to read and write. Okay, she hasn’t, but when I started typing this post I realized that two weeks have gone by since my last post. And I thought I had just submitted it a few days ago! So much for getting them to you every week. Anyway, after Zoe’s amazing roll from back to stomach she decided that she had done that and didn’t need to go there again. For two weeks she stayed solidly on her back, then two days ago she spent the entire day flipping to her stomach. She would then cry, we’d place her back on her back, and she’d do it again. Good thing we are still enthralled by her rolling, otherwise we would have duct-taped her to her play mat. No news yet on a reverse flip.

Now that Zoe is over four months old we could start feeding her solid foods. We’ve been encouraged by our pediatrician to stick with a breast-milk only diet for as long as possible, or six months, which ever comes first. But since she is still not sleeping through the night we are thinking that maybe some solid foods would sit a bit heavier in her stomach. Which is why I’m in favor of skipping the rice cereal all together and going straight to pureed sirloin. Of course that would immediately move her diaper contents into the superfund realm.

I’ve also noticed a cute little detail about her bottle feedings. As I mentioned previously, she will drink down the entire contents of a bottle without pause. I think if I put a nipple on a gallon jug of milk she could get through it (followed by a 6.2 on the Richter scale burp). So, she’ll slug back her four ounces and I’ll stand her up for her burp—she likes to stand, although she sways as if the milk gave her a handsome buzz—and as I’m pounding her back I can hear the milk sloshing around in her stomach. Given her propensity for throwing up on us and on the furniture (and once on the cat) I always aim her away from milk-sensitive items and I never play airplane or elevator after a feeding.

Last week Zoe had her four-month check up. All is well, and for those keeping score, here are her stats. She weighs 13 lbs 7 oz (almost as much as our larger cat) and is 24.5 inches tall, putting her solidly in the 50th percentile for both categories. And the doctor also confirmed that she is indeed the cutest baby in the world.

On a side note, I’ve added a link on the left to a very entertaining web site called “Sneaky Business,” a blog put together by a friend of mine. He describes it as, “The Economist meets The Onion.”

See photos of Zoe at http://picasaweb.google.com/dbglass.

Zoe Turns 4 (months) and Rolls Over

In my July 2nd post I noted that Zoe was working hard to turn over. I’m happy to report that on July 4th she accomplished that task three times. I was able to catch rollover number two on video, which you can watch above. I believe this short video will receive best cinematographer and best actress Oscars at the next Academy Awards. Unfortunately she has not repeated her performance, although some tummy-time almost produced a stomach to back roll. I will keep you updated as this skill is perfected. On the subject of videos, Alison and I don’t own a video recorder, but there is a video feature on my camera. Now that Zoe is getting older and a little more animated, and is beginning to perform tricks, I’ve started using this feature more often. I’ve noticed, however, that when you hear my voice in the background it always has this baby-talk lilt. I don’t intend to speak that way, which might just mean that that is how I actually sound when I speak. If so, I apologize to everyone that has had to listen to me over the years.

Zoe has also learned to recognize the camera, and will go from laughing with a full-face smile to a deadpan stare that will last until the camera is put away. When I was young my father was often taking pictures of us kids, but back then cameras required manual focusing that always took a minimum of five minutes per photo. We weren’t smiling because we had worn out our Zygomatic major muscle. As I am now a father myself, I understand why my father was always taking pictures. But my camera is instantaneous and shouldn’t produce any of those oh no, not the camera responses. I aim, push a button and voila, I have a photo, so there us no excuse for not smiling. There is a small orange light that glows if I perform a half-press (you know, to pre-focus) that Zoe stares at like I am aiming a flashlight at her (which I guess I sort of am), and I think that was distracting her. Now I don’t pre-focus, but like Pavlov’s dog, she’s conditioned herself not to smile when I lift up the camera. I’ve resorted to stealth photography, so what looks like artistic angles are actually my attempts to keep her from seeing the camera.

I’d also like to ask a question about this whole getting dressed activity. I understand why adults need to change out of their pajamas and into real cloths, but I’m not sure why it’s necessary for Zoe. The reason why I bring this up is that Zoe hates getting her shirt on. I squeeze this tight piece of cloth over her head, where it usually gets stuck or I scrape my wedding band across her scalp, then I have to twist her little arms through the sleeve holes. Just so she can look cute in a shirt that has some schmaltzy phrase (No offense intended for anyone who gave us one of these cute shirts.) Why not just leave in her pajamas? They’re more comfortable and she’s really cute in them, with their little feet. What’s the point of struggling with real cloths? All in favor of pajamas all the time say aye!

Today, July 7th, Zoe is four months old. Happy Birthday Zoe!

See photos of Zoe at http://picasaweb.google.com/dbglass.

Fathers Day

It’s three weeks since my last post, which will give some idea about how much free time I have. I started to write an entry on Fathers Day, June 16th, but didn’t get very far and somehow three weeks have gone by. Alison has been back at work part time for almost a month and Zoe and I have established a very loose routine. Basically, though, the way it works is I cater to her every need and hope she won’t break down completely before Alison gets home.

The biggest hurdle we had to overcome was the eating issue. Zoe really wasn’t taking to the bottle, plus I was always struggling to heat a bottle under hot running water while Zoe was screaming and twisting in my arms, which wasn’t working and was using so much water it was making me meshuga (that’s the Jewish environmentalist in me talking). And if the milk were not warm enough she would reject it. When she’s hungry she really isn’t very patient. We finally invested in a bottle warmer, and although she still screams and squirms in my arms, it’s only for a couple of minutes and I use only an ounce of water. And not only does she no longer reject her bottle, she drinks it like a frat boy in a chugging contest. She used to drink an ounce, maybe two. Now she chokes down four ounces like she has a wager going. She then gets a glassy-eyed look and remains supine until I haul her over my shoulder, where she burps loud enough to shake loose a couple of tiles.

On the 7th of June she will be four months old. I stopped reading all the baby books we have, so I’m not sure where she is supposed to be developmentally. I think she is right where she is supposed to be, unless she should be talking or reading by now, in which case she is a bit behind the curve. Right now we are focusing on rolling over, something Zoe has been struggling unsuccessfully with for about two weeks. She makes it about two thirds of the way before getting stuck. I tried giving her a nudge with my foot while I was videoing one attempt, but no-go. She is now sleeping between six and eight hours at a stretch, and will usually fall back asleep pretty quickly after her very early morning snack. That means we (meaning Alison) are only woken up once during the night. Unless one of the cats (meaning Harry) brings us a present, then we (meaning me) has to get up and chase the injured rodent or bird around the house and haul it across the street to the park. If you see a man running down the street in his boxers swinging a mouse by its tail in the wee hours it’s probably me.

Other than having no time to do anything, staying at home with Zoe is a lot of fun. I only wish Alison were able to be here as well. Everyone (with kids) keeps telling me that it will get even better once she is mobile, however I think it’s pretty nice that I can put her down and she is still in the same spot when I come back. It certainly makes using the bathroom easier. It also took becoming a parent to understand why sometimes 9:00 pm seems like a reasonable time to go to bed.

See photos of Zoe at http://picasaweb.google.com/dbglass.

Alison Returns to Work, Part 2

Today started my second week of being an official stay at home dad. Fifteen minutes ago I lay her down in her crib and she fell asleep almost immediately. Up until recently she has resisted naps, and would only fall asleep in our arms. I’m not naïve enough to think I have the magic touch, I just think that at three months babies begin to settle into more defined routines. So I am going to try, over the next couple of weeks, to figure out what her preferred routine is, and if that fails I’ll force her into a routine that is more convenient to me. A lot may depend on when she initially wakes up and if Alison is able to feed her before she leaves. Today she fed her around 7:00 and when I put her down she was not acting hungry. I expect when she wakes up from her nap she will be in a grouchy mood and will be even more upset when I offer her a bottle rather than a boob. (Which reminds me, I should start warming up the bottle now so it’s ready.)

The first week was easy at times and difficult some of the time. I spent my entire morning trying to predict her moods so she wouldn’t start crying. The problem is, one moment she’ll be laughing and smiling then I’ll turn away for just a second and she’ll start crying. Sometimes I would try to feed her and she would scream louder, but I wouldn’t know if it was just the bottle / boob issue. But by the end of the week I was beginning to figure it out. She really didn’t want a bottle but she was hungry. So I would give her the bottle, she would push it away, I’d wait a few seconds and try again. Eventually she would latch on and suck away while staring up at me with red, tear filled eyes.

Last night, for the first time, Alison and I went out together and we had a babysitter come in. Actually we had two babysitters, to women Alison works with who are both registered nurses. I was definitely more relaxed having two RN’s watching over our angel than a local high school student. I was told that they had no trouble feeding Zoe her bottle. In fact she drank a lot. I’m thinking that maybe I should hire them full time. But the point is that they took the bottle with no problem, which means that maybe she is actually getting used to the bottle and it will be easier to take walks with her knowing I won’t have a battle every time she gets hungry. And the fact that I successfully predicted that she was tired enough to go to sleep before she fell asleep on one of her toys, and that she actually lay down in her crib without crying or fighting (too much) means that I might actually get through this without going crazy. But here I am, being naïve.

I realize that I still have three and a half hours to go before Alison gets home, and that one good half morning is not really a benchmark I should base my future on, but for the moment I can pretend that I have this baby thing under control. In fact when Alison goes back to work full time I might even be able to handle Zoe for a full day.

By the time I posted this at the end of the day on Tuesday I had made it through seven days. I can’t say it will be easy, but so far I haven’t had a major crisis. But I know there will plenty of fodder for future blogs in the days to come. Stay tuned.

I would also like to welcome Charlotte "Charlie" Elaine Savitz, born May 23rd to Amy and Andy Savitz, and Audrey Madeline Sonta, born May 25th to Shari and Bill Sonta. Congratulations!

See photos of Zoe at http://picasaweb.google.com/dbglass.

Poo, et. al.

There must be a study out there that links the birth of a child to a physiological alteration in parents. No, I’m not talking about the many well documented changes that happen to a woman when she gives birth, but the lesser known and studied change that allows one to go from gagging at the thought of certain bodily excretions to scrutinizing the color and consistency of their child’s poop. I’m not saying that parents necessarily enjoy it doing this, although I’m sure many do, but that this task becomes routine so soon after birth. For example, I am amazed at how quickly I found myself doing snuger patrol, our cute name (everything has to have a cute name) for digging into Zoe’s pinky sized nose without gagging. Let’s be honest, snot is universally disliked (maybe even more so than poop, but since I don’t want to lower the standards of this blog I’ll leave that philosophical question for another place) but it’s almost fun twisting a tissue into a petite spade and digging for tiny treasures.

I have to admit that before baby came along the thought of having to deal with our baby’s secretions had me, um, worried. I tend not to like gross things, and although I wouldn’t say I have a weak stomach, a few of the things that would be leaking (or jettisoning) from our baby had the potential to gross me out. It doesn’t help that babies have no manners. When they sneeze they don’t cover their cute little mouths with their cute little hands, so you always get a cute little shower. I don’t know about all babies, but Zoe poops like an old man in a public restroom, long and loud. Like she invented pooping. But instead of grossing me out, like when the bum on the subway did this, I laugh at how cute our baby is.

Occasionally there are not-so-cute events, such as the so-called blow out. This is when your baby poops and it shoots up the back of her diaper and up her back. I know what you’re thinking; gross and can we change the subject? I promise to wrap this up quickly, but for those soon to be parents out there I wanted to pass along a few pieces of advice. First, always bring an extra outfit. Always! Second, dads, always claim incompetence. You may be mocked, sometimes scorned, and you may suffer, but there really is no question, moms just do a better job changing diapers. For example, one middle-of-the-night change I put the diaper on backwards. Alison has never put a diaper on backwards.

Parents devote a huge amount of time into the inspection and discussion of what is coming out of their child. I never really understood why this was until I became a parent, but if someone were to ask me I would probably tell them that our child’s various outputs are an indication of her health. Truth is, it’s just an excuse to avoid those tedious discussions about politics, art, etcetera that childless couples must endure. Trust me, it’s fun to talk about diapers and your child’s pooping ability’s. It’s like grade school playground talk for adults.

I think this is a topic that could stretch on for quite a while. I haven’t even gotten onto the subject of throw-up down the back of my shirt. Or the constant flow of drool, also down the back of my shirt. And since we have a girl I don’t get to discuss boys peeing issues. But I have years ahead of me and have just touched the tip of the diaper-berg. I will leave something for future blogs, when I return with Tales from the Diaper Pail.

See photos of Zoe at http://picasaweb.google.com/dbglass.

Alison Returns to Work or Yikes, I’m On My Own!: Part 1

This may sound cliché, but wow, did Zoe’s first three months go by quickly. Really, I’m sitting here trying to get my mind around the fact that she is already three months old. My Zoe is three months old! I realize Alison and I have been watching her change daily. We notice that she is sleeping longer at night (but not yet through the night). She seems to be trying to grab things (but isn’t quite, yet). She is smiling often and has a very cute though abbreviated laugh. She’s filling out and has actually grown out of some of her cloths. And suddenly her head looks big. But it’s still hard to believe that she has been around for three months. And now Alison is heading back to work and I’m going to have to change all the diapers and try to get her to drink from a bottle and dress her. These are things Alison usually does. I suppose I could just keep her in her PJ’s, but there really is no getting around diaper changes and feedings. It’s the feedings I’m really worried about. Right now she really likes the boob. We give her the boob all the time. If she’s fussy she gets the boob. If she cry’s she gets the boob. If we want her to sleep we give her the boob. I don’t have a boob. When I’ve tried to give her a bottle she screams loudly and only takes the bottle after fifteen or twenty minutes of crying and pushing it away.

I know Zoe likes me. She laughs when I play with her, and she seems to like being held by me, at least most of the time. But sometimes she wants her mother, and only her mother. I can spend fifteen or twenty minutes trying to sooth her, holding her this way and that, but she’ll cry until the moment I hand her to Alison. There will be a sniffle or two, then calm. And this is before the boob even makes an appearance. On the few occasions when Alison has left me alone, I have had to deal with long periods of crying because nothing I do seems to satisfy her. I spend the entire time pacing across the living room with her in my arms, watching the clock, just waiting for Alison to get home.

It is now Sunday afternoon. Tomorrow morning Alison returns to her job. Early on we had talked about preparing Zoe—and me—for this day. I was supposed to start feeding her regularly from a bottle a month ago, to get her used to it, but haven’t. We were going to have her sleeping in her crib by now, but she seems to like sleeping either in our arms or in our bed (with us). And I was really hoping Zoe would be toilet trained by the time Alison returned to work, but she doesn’t even seem to recognize where the bathroom is. I’m sure everything will go fine. I’m not so worried about taking care of her, but that she will become upset early and I will spend four hours trying to calm her down. I expect that the first week or so will be the hardest, while we both adjust, then things will get easier and we can start really having some fun. But just in case, this is an open invitation for visitors to come by in the mornings for the next month or so, preferably visitors who like to sooth crying babies.

See photos of Zoe at http://picasaweb.google.com/dbglass.