Sometimes I even amaze myself

I slept 10 hours straight last night. Yes, T-E-N hours. 7:15 PM to 5:15 AM. Wow, I'm good.

Oh yes, and I napped in my cradle again today. Mama took everything out of the cradle and washed it, and she aired out the room and freshened it up for me. So now I like it again. The only problem is that when I stretch out, my feet touch the end. I'm not going to fit in it for much longer, so mama will have to find me another place that I deem adequate for daytime naps. Good luck mama!

What a boy wants

I really don't like my cradle right now. I used to like it when I was just a little baby, and then when I was about a month old I didn't like it anymore. After awhile, I decided it was OK again and mama has been letting me nap in it every day. But since last weekend, I have determined that it is the last place I want to be. In fact, even if mama puts me in there when I'm fast asleep, I'll wake up within 2 minutes and scream to be taken out. And then I'll fall back asleep immediately, as long as I'm not in the cradle. I can't pinpoint what it is that I dislike so much...I simply don't like it.

But I know what I do like. When mama puts me in my crib, I get to visit with my friend the happy little star, who lives on the crib bumper. I stare at him, talk to him, and yesterday I even laughed with him. He's great.

I also like mama's friend Jen. She has the prettiest blonde hair. Mama and I went to visit her yesterday for a coffee break, and I practiced my best flirting on her. I stared at her until she looked back, and then I'd slip her one of my most charming smiles. She'd always smile back -- she was putty in my tiny little hands. Just wait until the pretty little girl in her belly comes out and meets me in a few months!

I think I might be starting another growth spurt. I'm hungry all the time and I don't like to nap anymore. Last night, I kept mama up all night because I woke up every 2-3 hours and wanted to eat. I think mama's getting tired, but I'm a growing boy! I'm already at the end of my 3-6 month jumpers, and my goal is to grow out of them completely by the time I'm 5 months old.

It's another sunny day today, so maybe I'll take a little snooze when mama takes me on a walk. Or I'll just stay awake all day like I did yesterday.

To sleep or not to sleep

I've got some catching up to do, but I've been very busy so I haven't had a lot of time to post. Plus, I've been spending a lot more time asleep in spite of my best efforts to keep mama and daddy on their toes at all hours.

Mama's tried the magic car seat a few times (letting me fall asleep in it while I'm in the car, and then moving it to a dark room for me to continue napping once she gets home) but so far I haven't slept in it overnight again. However, she's been putting me down for bed by 8 PM every night and for some reason, I can't stay awake to complain! I get myself nice and riled up around 7:30 PM because I know what's coming, and then suddenly there's the milk-drug and the next thing I know I'm waking up several hours later. And then I'm still too tired to yell for mama, so I just call her (she responds to a few words now, like "coo" and "gaaa") and she appears with more of the milk-drug.

Last night, I didn't wake up for over 9 hours. Actually, I might have slept longer except that mama woke up at 4:45 AM and panicked because I wasn't up. She tried to sneak into my room to make sure I was OK, but it was dark and she ended up poking me on the side of my face when she bent down to feel for my breath. I was too tired to wake up, but I let her know my displeasure by whining and kicking. Then I woke up and called for some food 30 minutes later. She thinks I don't know that she came in and disturbed me.

Now that I'm sleeping more at night, I've decided to stay up more during the day. I like to divvy my awake time up between crying, fussing, talking, kicking, and staring at the wall. Lately I've been really enjoying the crying and fussing, so I've been spending more time on those. I'm quite good at it now, if I may say so myself!

Speaking of which, it's time for me to get busy on my bedtime fuss. I find it helps me scream more loudly if I take lots of nice deep breaths before I start. In...out...in...out...

Magic car seat

Last night I went to a Girls Night with mama. I think they only let me come because they think I'm too small to know what's going on, but trust me, I was paying attention.

These Girls Nights seem a lot different than daddy's Boys Nights. There's no poker, beer, or sports on TV and no one yells or roughhouses. It's just a bunch of women standing around chatting, eating finger foods (last night was crepes, fondue, crap dip and crostini with olive tapenade goat cheese, among other things) and drinking champagne. How civilized.

Anyway, I charmed the ladies for a bit and then got cranky because I was tired. So mama put me in my car seat and set me in a darkened room while she got ready to take me home. I fell asleep while I was waiting. When I woke up next (because I was hungry), I was still in my car seat! I thought that maybe mama forgot me, or she was drinking champagne and couldn't drive home. But then I realized that I was home! I was in my crib, in fact (yes, my car seat was in my crib). And the craziest part is this: it was 4:30 AM! I'd slept for 8 hours in my car seat! I cried to get mama's attention, and when she came to feed me she was so happy that she was practically dancing around the room.

I wonder if my car seat is going to end up in my crib more often now.

Nice try

Last night, mama and daddy moved my co-sleeper to my own room so that I would sleep there. It's the first time I've slept anywhere other than their room, and I don't think I'm a very big fan of it.

I did OK at first because mama drugged me with her milk. She knows I can't resist it and I don't know how to control myself once I get started, so she just let me drink to excess until I could barely keep my head up. Once she got me good and groggy, she plopped me into the co-sleeper, kissed me good-night, and walked out of the room! Leaving me there! Alone! I couldn't believe her audacity, but I was so out of it I couldn't react and I passed out before I could do anything.

I woke up at 2 AM and was ready for a fight. I screamed for attention and mama FINALLY showed up (it's not like it used to be, when I could scream and she was there within 10 seconds). I was planning to express my displeasure at the new sleeping arrangements, but before I could protest she already had the boob out. And I couldn't resist.

At 4 AM I was up again and ready for battle. This time when mama came, I was prepared to ignore her offer of the milk-drug. But then I smelled it, and I couldn't help but start jonesin' for it. And can you believe this -- she wouldn't give it to me! She said something about trying to teach me to go for longer stretches between nursing at night, but I know that was just an excuse. What's she's really doing is establishing her control by giving me all I want until I'm addicted and then taking it away. Soon she'll be having me working for it, dealing to other babies on the playground so that I can get my fix.

Anyway, she just held and rocked and sang to me for about 30 minutes, then daddy came in and held me for a little bit. But I wouldn't stop crying -- I needed the milk-drug. After another 15 minutes, I guess mama decided that I'd suffered enough and she finally gave me my fix. I was fully planning to discuss the whole "sleep in my own room" thing right after I got the edge off, but once again mama filled me up until I passed out.

I popped up again at 6 AM. Same thing as 4 AM -- screaming, denying of the milk-drug, holding, rocking, singing until I fell asleep. Mama fell asleep too, while holding me in the glider. I thought that this might be my big chance to escape back to their bedroom, but I was just too tired and fuzzy-brained to move.

So last night was a draw. They may have put me in my own room...but they sure didn't get the rest they were hoping to get! And today I'm going to work on my self-control so that I'm ready for mama and her addictive milk-drug tonight.

Ha-ha-happy New Year!

I thought I'd start off the Chinese new year (which is my mama's year, the Year of the Rat) with something special: my first laugh. And boy, if you thought I was cute in the pictures, wait until you hear me giggle. I'm downright adorable.

Baby phat

I'm doing a pretty good job of growing, if I may say so myself...

Yummy rattle

So my mama keeps waving things in front of me and trying to hand them to me, but I haven't really been all that interested. Today, though, I decided that maybe I'd take a look at that colorful rattle thing. I grabbed it and stuck it in my mouth and it was pretty cool. Mama got SO excited about it. What's all the fuss about?

Mama's trying to stay on top of things too, so she just put a bunch more pictures up from the last week. I'm officially an infant now -- not a newborn anymore! (I guess "newborn" is only 0-3 months old).

Pictures: February 3, 2008

Now THIS is cool

I discovered something new recently: my hands! They are attached to me so I never lose them, and they each have five fingers! Five glorious fingers, most of which I manage to get into my mouth at once. It's wonderful.

Yesterday, I figured out a way to put my two favorite things together. Mama looked down at me and saw that I'd managed to stick my hand in my mouth while I was nursing. Hand and boob. Heaven.

Busy week

It's been a pretty busy week for me! Now that I'm bigger, I'm going out more with mama and her friends. I met my Auntie Rosetta, went to the mall with Oliver, walked around the lake with Benjamin, watched a movie with the Middlemisses, and hung out with Meg. Someday soon I hope to have my drivers license so that I can just take off with Oliver and Benjamin and we don't have to be seen with our mamas all the time.

I've decided that it's pretty cool to sleep on my own now, so I don't complain too much anymore when mama puts me in the co-sleeper or cradle. But last night I was super hungry and cranky, so I made mama get up every 1.5 hours to nurse me. I don't want her to forget who's boss.

There are more pictures up from last week. Mama's been a little behind in getting pictures uploaded but I think she's caught up now.

Pictures: January 27, 2008

I don't know how they did it...

...but they got me to sleep on my own last night. I went to sleep at 9 PM without fussing at all, woke up at 2 AM to nurse, and then woke up again at 5 AM to nurse. And each time I went back to sleep with barely a fuss at all. Hmmm. They must have put something in my milk.

Maybe I'll get back at them tonight. We'll see.

Oh no, they di-in't

So mama and daddy have this crazy idea that they are going to teach me to sleep on my own in my co-sleeper all night long. And, get this, they are going to encourage me to stop nursing every 2 hours throughout the night so that I can start sleeping for longer periods. HAH! Good luck, parental units!

In our first stand-off last night, I didn't go to sleep until 4 AM. That means that mama didn't either (daddy slept in the guest room since he's the one who has to get up to go to work). Since I get to make up for my lost sleep through naps during the day, I'm pretty sure I will outlast mama.

Bring it on!

Oh yeah, I've put some more pictures up so that you can see just how handsome I am.

Pictures: January 20, 2008

This works well for me

After my 3 AM meal this morning, I grabbed mama's nightgown, pulled it open, and spit up down the front of it. It's so much more comfortable for me when I don't get spit up on myself! I need to remember to do that more often.

Managing expectations

Even though I'm not even 3 months old yet, I've already figured out that if I manage expectations well, it's really easy to impress my mama and daddy.

I've very carefully laid out the groundwork over the past 11 weeks. I refused to sleep on my own under any circumstances. I'd sleep happily in a carrier or in someone's arms, but the second I was put in my crib or cradle I'd wake up screaming. As icing on the cake, I was particularly fussy at night, waking up as frequently as possible to nurse.

The result of all of this hard work has been that mama and daddy have gotten accustomed to holding me 24 hours a day. This has been great for me because I love being cuddled. After all, I'm still in the "4th trimester" -- that 12 week period when I am learning how to live outside of the womb. But now that I'm reaching the end of my 4th trimester (shouldn't they be called "quarters" instead?), I think it's time to assert some independence.

All nighter

Last night I was a very hungry and fussy boy. I woke up every 1-1/2 to 2 hours to nurse, and even when I'd had enough and spit it up all over Mama, I still wanted more. I barely got ANY sleep! I think I'll go take a nap...after I nurse one more time.

Gosh, Mama looks kinda tired too. She really needs to get more sleep.

My peeps

Yeah, this is the crowd I roll with (click for big).



I went to my baby class reunion last night (Mama wrote more about it and posted some pictures on her blog). I hung out with my bud Benjamin (he lives a couple blocks from me and we rule the 'hood...or at least we will, once we've gained neck/head control) and checked out Oliver's sweet hairstyle. It was fun.

And yeah, I'm small. Does everyone need to make such a big deal about it? I mean c'mon -- putting me next to Amadea to compare how much bigger she is even though she's two months younger? That's just insulting. She's such a CHILD...how could you even begin to compare us?

Oh yeah, and I have to explain about my style. I got to wear my cool Jayhawks pants, but my Daddy pulled them up to my armpits and made me look like a Poindexter. It doesn't look so bad in the picture I posted here (Mama fixed them), but there are a couple shots on Mama's blog that are pretty embarrassing.

Early morning wake-up call

It is currently 6 AM and I am crying for no reason. Mama has been nursing me since 4 AM, and every time she tries to stop I start screaming again. Keeping 'em on their toes!

Zachary: 2, Adults: 0

There's a new sheriff in town

Helloooooo blog world! It's me, Zachary! I decided that I'm tired of letting Mama do my talking for me, so I'm taking over this blog. After all, she has her own blog. Does she need two? I didn't think so.

From now on, this blog is all about me and my thoughts! If you're curious about what Mama's doing or what she's thinking (even if it's about me), head on over to her blog to find out. Otherwise, stick around to see what I'm up to!

Keep in mind, these posts might be short because I'm not quite as wordy as Mama. And there's the small detail that I don't actually know how to talk, let alone type, yet. So how are these posts getting written? Magic, my friend.

I'll end this with a little snippet to tide you over until my next post:

I did something new last night, just to keep Mama and Daddy on their toes. At 3 AM, I suddenly started screaming at the top of my lungs. Not crying, mind you, just screaming. Without waking up. I screamed like I was in excruciating pain for about a minute, then stopped and continued sleeping peacefully. Of course, Mama and Daddy were jolted awake and couldn't get back to sleep afterwards because they were so rattled. But I slept like, well, a baby.

Mama called the doctor today to see if there's something wrong. He said that it sounds like night terrors, but that I'm far too young to be experiencing those. I guess I'm not supposed to have nightmares until I'm at least 6 months old, and night terrors won't start until I'm at least a year old. So I've confounded them all. Hah!

Zachary: 1, Adults: 0

Sleeping baby

This may be a small achievement, but I'm excited about it:

Zachary fell asleep! By himself! Lying down! Alone! For the first time in over two months!

I nursed and changed him and he started to yawn. So I swaddled him and placed him in the cradle, which I've moved to the guest room (the only room in the house that had full blinds and thus can be darkened a bit during the day...the enormous skylight in the nursery is going to be an issue as Zachary gets older and needs to nap in his own room). He started kicking and crying, so I sat with him and sang to him but didn't take him out of the cradle. He eventually calmed down, and I tip-toed out of the room. He started crying again, but stopped pretty quickly (less than five minutes). I peeked in and saw that he was awake and staring around the room, but he wasn't fussing. A few minutes later I looked in, and voila! He was asleep!

And now, he is awake and crying. Hmmm. Baby steps...

New pictures added - Jan 13

It's been awhile since I've added pictures, so I just put a bunch up from the last two weeks. You'll see that Zachary is getting even more handsome every day! His eyebrows have really filled in, which make his expressions so much funnier. And his eyelashes are now thick and long. I'm jealous.

Zachary is still not happy about lying down on his own, and we're not quite sure how to fix that. Everyone says that he'll outgrow it, so we're hoping that's true. He does manage pretty well in the swing every once in awhile, and when he's wide awake he likes to lie on his play mat or in the crib and kick wildly while he looks at the mobiles or mirror. But he gets bored after awhile and starts to fuss, and he has yet to actually take a nap lying down alone in his crib.

He also does these funny little "sleep screams". That's when he's fast asleep and he suddenly wails loudly for a couple seconds without waking up. It's startling to me (it's a very loud and purposeful cry, not a sleepy murmur or grunt) but it doesn't seem to bother him.

In this latest batch of pictures, he's really starting to show his personality. Sometimes I'm amazed at how mature he looks! Not the way he did when he was born (and he looked like a little old man because he was so skinny and wrinkly), but like an actual child instead of a baby.

Pictures: January 13,2008