A quick post-November update

Oh November, where did you go?

November was a big month for Zane. He graduated to a new big-boy car seat (which he seems to really like a lot), got two front teeth (guess Santa came a little early for Zane), started picking up finger foods and feeding himself, and started scotting around the floor mission command style. Yep, watch out folks, we are mobile.

And I wonder why I had no time for blog-writing?! I barely had any time for picture-taking. But, I managed a few. Here's a quick look at some fun November days.

Showing off his standing skills. Working on his "music". (this reminds me of a Friend's episode with Ross and his terrible keyboarding).


A little fun in the leaves while Dad rakes on a pretty fall day.


Some Thanksgiving day fun. I pretty much kiss Zane every time I pick him up. He's started "kissing" back. Or maybe he's a cannibal? By the way, that's Dallas in the picture in the background. We were trying to get a picture of Zane next to the picture of Dallas. It is pretty amazing how much he looks like D did as a baby.

Taking a picture of an 8 month old...

....while sitting in a chair takes a great amount of patience and an empty flash card.



*Mr. Universe onesie made by the wonderful and talented Jay. I think Zane takes the Mr. Universe title very seriously, don't you?

A little bit of fall-time fun

So, even though October ended on a sad note, despite our deepest wishes and prayers, we still managed to sprinkle in a few moments of joy. All in thanks to one fantastic little guy.

We missed the first trick-or-treat night in our new house (thanks to Mark and Candy for handing out our candy and letting all the neighbors know that the new kids on the block are not haters. Thanks to you, our pumpkin remained intact and there was no tp in our trees when we got home on Saturday). We were probably more sad for ourselves, since Zane wouldn't remember his first door-to-door trek around the new 'hood. Instead we visited our local mall a few days before Halloween so that Z could step out in his costume.

M's knickname is Mouse. Has been since college and I'm pretty sure I knew him as this, and not his real name for a couple of months until I finally learned his real name. So, it was only fitting that Z (who I used to refer to as mini-mouse before we knew what his name would be) dress like a mouse. I'm pretty sure this will be the last year that I'll actually get to select his costume for him. Next year I have a feeling he might have some strong opinions on the matter. So, for now, I present you with the world's most adorable mouse:

He also dressed up as Superman in honor of his Pop3.

And it wasn't all costume fun. We took Z to his first pumpkin patch (where he got to "pick" apples out of a giant bin which I made into his favorite snack, applesauce) and made his first art project at school (handprints on a pumpkin and footprints turned into ghosts).



Hard to believe that November is here already. I'll be back later with pictures of our *8* month old. GULP.

A letter to my son

My dear sweet Zaney-boy,

If you notice Mommy hugging you a little closer this week or that your normal silly songs are replaced with Army Air Corps battle tunes you should know that it is with good reason.

You were a lucky little boy to have had the chance to meet your great grandfather. Your pop3 as your dad calls him. He loved you so very much and in the short time the two of you had together you got to share some fun family holidays together (your first Easter at your Pop Pop's house in Mountville and your dad's first Father's day) and you even shared a meal at one of PopPop's favorite restarants for his birthday (you sat in a restaurant high chair for the very first time, right there at the head of the table next to your Pop3).

You spent your first Memorial Day at your pop3's most favorite place in the whole world - his cabin on the river. You didn't learn to fish yet, but when you get old enough to learn your PopPop will take you out and tell you all about his dad. I should warn you that fishermen have a habit of telling tall tales, but when your PopPop tells you that your great grandfather hung the moon, he is absolutely telling you the truth.

Your great grandfather, was a super hero. He loved big hugs, superman, family celebrations (especially the dessert portion), rivers, history, bad jokes, reading the comics, watching the news, and singing. I should warn you now about the Happy Birthday song. Newcomer's don't do it sweetly.

You won't get to share all of these things that I got to share with your great grandfather. But we will tell you all of the stories and you will know him. You won't remember him holding you on his lap and smiling with pride and how he searched his collection for the perfect coin to give to you commemorate the occasion, but I will and I will tell you. The last thing that he told me, the last time I saw him, was to "hug that baby and hubby" and to take good care of both of you. So that hug, that extra tight one I gave you the other morning. That one was from him.

Love,
Your mom

October, you seemed so promising...

It started off that way anyway. We started our month off with a family trip to Cape May for the wedding of two wonderful friends from Baltimore, Chrysi and Benny. They had a beautiful beach-side wedding and a wonderful reception with great food (and our wedding photographers!) and we were all set to enjoy the rest of the weekend in Cape May with my parents (who had come with us to watch Zane during the wedding). We had just barely managed to squeak in some fun photos on the beach when we got the call that my grandfather was in the hospital and needed emergency heart surgery. The past two weeks have been filled with ups and downs of dealing with a sick family member and lots of trips to Lancaster to see him in the hospital. He pulled through surgery but since then has had to deal with Pneumonia, some memory loss, and now a feeding tube and things have been especially rough on my parents who are dealing with this so amazingly. We're taking things day by day and remembering that life is precious.

Then, Zane brought home a nice present from school - his first tummy bug which he lovingly shared with first his father and then his mother (but luckily not at the same time so there was always someone well enough to make gatorade and soup trips). We ended up missing out on Zane's first trip to Penn State (although, given that it snowed there for homecoming, it probably wasn't the worst thing in the world to miss it!) and we still haven't been able to do those fun fall things like take Zane to his first pumpkin patch and pose him in front of a huge pile of pumpkins. (although I hear there is a shortage of pumpkins this year due to a rainy growing season, so maybe we're not missing out on too much).

But, it's not all bad. We still have this amazing 7 month old and we've been able to spend a lot of quality time at home with him and he doesn't seem to mind if all we have the energy to do is lay on the floor with him and let him use us as his personal jungle gym. I've never known a baby who loves to play with his toys as much as Zane does. Shape sorters and musical things and things with buttons can keep this kid happy and entertained for hours. If there was an olympic sport for rolling, Zane would be the new champ he is all over the place and it is reminding us that soon, oh so very soon he will definitely be crawling.

So, I guess I shouldn't write October off yet. There are still two weekends to go and one of them is Halloween. We've heard that Halloween in our new 'hood is a blast and that all the neighbors really get into the spirit of things (if you don't believe me, come check out the Griswald-esqe Halloween display next door!).

grammy makes a guest appearance on the blog:


reaching & rolling:

Some mommy ramblings

We've been having some stressful nights as of late. And by "nights" I mean 2,3,4 am. We've haven't had nights like this since Zane was a newborn, and I feel like it has been all my fault.

You see, for the past month or so, Zane's been getting up once to eat. And life was fine. But at his 6 mo, the pediatrician said that he didn't need to eat and suggested that we should start phasing that out. He told me that Z was really looking for comfort/time to hang with mommy and probably wasn't really hungry. He convinced me, so we tried. We've tried having M go in istead of me, going in and turning on music, CIO, etc. etc. But the awake time has been lasting at minimum of an hour each night, sometimes 2.5. And this mostly resulted in me wanting to cry along with the poor kid. Hmmmm...perhaps he really was hungry after all?

Last night I decided to revert to the old routine. As soon as I heard him awake and talking I went in (before awake turned to REALLY upset and angry), fed him for about 10-15 minutes until he was back to sleep and I was able to go right back to sleep as well.

I can't even tell you how much more relaxed I was this morning, even with that 20 minute break in my cozy sleep pattern. So, for now, I think I'm going to stop getting upset whenever I hear someone talking (bragging?) about a baby STTN and just accept that Z isn't ready to do it. I would rather 15 minutes of snuggles and eating than 2.5 hours of awake and crying. I've accepted it, I'm happy with it (ok, I will be happy with it), and I'm going to try my hardest not to do the baby comparison!

I think that is the worst part. Hearing so many other babies who STTN (and babies much younger than Z). And it's such a commom question - I feel like everyone is always asking me "how is he sleeping?". That it was making me feel like I was doing something wrong as a parent. So this is me, accepting.

Plus, soon enough he won't even want to walk next to me in the mall, let along snuggle at night, so I might as well just enjoy it instead of being mad that I'm awake at 3am. So, I'm going to let Z take the lead on this one. Next time you see me, feel free to continue to ask me "So how is Zane sleeping these days?" I promise I won't bite your head off for asking ;)

The elusive family photo

We had our first big party at the new house this past weekend. It was a blast and although the weather and our football teams didn't cooperate, we still managed to have a great time with many family and friends. We learned a few things about party planning (a party doesn't need to start before 4, about 30 people fit comfortably in our downstairs, and you don't need 9 bags of rolls) and we also discovered that we haven't had a family photo taken since moments after becoming a family of three.

To get ready for the party we spent the last week putting some finishing touches on the house. We are unpacked for the most part, but the walls were still rather naked. We had a few empty frames and M thought it would be nice to actually hang up a family picture. Um, yes, it would be nice, wouldn't it....if we actually HAD one. The only picture we actually have of the three of us was taken moments after Z was born. I had it in my hands and actually contemplated putting in in the frame when my dear sweet husband looked at me thoughtfully and said something to the effect of "yeah, you don't look so hot in that photo". Ok, I'm sure he said it a little more tactfully than that (or not), but it was true. I had just given birth and while the moment was sweet and one that I'm certainly glad I have a photo of, it probably isn't meant to grace the walls of our living room for the next 18 years.

We've taken probably 8,000 photos or so over the course of Zane's life. We have Zane in his crib, Zane on his playmat, Zane in his swing, Zane in his highchair. You have seen all of these and even if you haven't you know how many photos a new mom takes. I am not unique in this. There are even quite a few of Zane with me and probably a few more of Zane with his dad. But, what we just don't have is photographic evidence of our happy 3-person family unit. Until now.



Oh well, at least we have one, right?!