Merry Christmas All

It's my first Christmas. I am not sure what that means, but everyone seems to be rushing around. They are buying lots of things, and wrapping them in colorful paper. I hope that someone gets me some holiday milk. That's all that I really need this year, maybe some bigger diapers too.

Mama took me shopping nearly every day this week. She put me in the Baby Björn facing outward so I could help with the shopping. I have been on my best behavior, apparently that's a good thing for Santa. Papa has a week-long vacation from work, yay. It will be like when we first started out. Everyone home, every day. Both parents, me and Zadie, the brown dog. Happy Holidays to everyone, may it be a safe one.

I'm all thumbs

I've been searching for them. They've eluded me for more than three months. But now they're mine. I have finally discovered my thumbs. It just happened yesterday morning. I had been sucking my hands, the knuckles, my index finger, sometimes even the palm. Who knew how enjoyable my thumbs would be? They are always closeby, warm, and just the right size. Dare I say that I love my thumbs? I guess time will tell, but for now they are some of my favorite things. Ahhh.

Warm and comfy

Sometimes when we go outside, we have to wear big clothes. Mama purchased a fuzzy hat and matching mittens to protect me from the elements. Occasionally it gets cold in Northern California - not Montréal cold - but cold by our standards. Here I am with Papa at a charity event staged by some friends for the leukemia and lymphoma society. The event was held at a mock western town, complete with barbeque, saloon and gambling. Papa has his big clothes on too. I was so comfy in my hat and mittens that I fell asleep.

Three months already

This past week I turned three months old. A quarter of a year! Hard to believe. Mama and Papa still marvel about how they are Parents. I hear them. They shouldn't be so concerned, they are both doing just fine.

Notable changes - Mama and Papa measured me for length, but it seems my height has not changed since the two month update. Personally, I think it's due to measurement error. On the other hand, Mama had a girlfriend weigh me with an accurate scale - since our kitchen scale is now woefully underrated. I am definitely over 15lbs. Considering that I started at 7lbs 6oz just a few short months ago, that's better than a 100% return on investment. No solid food yet, but I've been watching Papa eat his cereal in the morning. Mmmmmm.

I am also improving my manual dexterity. Still haven't worked out sucking my thumb, but the backs of my hands are close enough. I can tightly grasp objects like my washcloth or burp towel. I also like to pet my stuffed animals or pretend that I am hiding something in between my hands. TeeHee.

Boing-boing

Add one more item to the circuit gym. The usual workout circuit contains the activity mat, swing, and vibrating chair. Add one bouncy chair to the mix. They are also called doorway jumpers or baby bungees. If you are not familiar with these, it's essentially a spring loaded chair which is suspended by a doorway jamb. My legs are free to poke out of the bottom of the chair and I can bounce freely in my, er, en-lightened state. Yippie. It's like walking on the moon without the spacesuit. Boing-boing.

Good night, sleep tight...

As I've said before, I have been sleeping longer through the night but less during the day. Papa caught me napping here. You can tell it's a daytime nap because I have not been swaddled. That's ok, sometimes it's nice to stretch out like in the picture.

As of today it has been nine days straight that I've gotten a full night of uninterrupted sleep. That's from 11:30pm or so until 7:00am when Mama comes to get me. Eventually I'll drop the 10:30 feeding, aka the "big easy", and sleep right through from 7pm to 7am. I am so considerate of my parents' sleep needs.

Happy Thanksgiving

Sorry I haven't posted in almost a week, I was entertaining. Granny Martha and PopPop Bob were visiting this week and there has been a flurry of activity in the house. There was lots of cooking, hikes on the coast, and leisurely strolls through the neighborhood. Thank you to the grandparents for the treats, my parents surely appreciated it. The first picture is of GrannyM holding me in front of the house. I am looking for Mama bacause I have become very attached to her. The second picture is when I found Mama and decided to clutch tightly onto her shirt so I wouldn't lose her again.

Actual Thanksgiving dinner was shared with the family of our friends Anna and Edward. Anna's brother and sister-in-law have a baby boy about my age so I was able to spend some time with another small person. Dinner smelled fantastic but I have no idea how it tasted, maybe next year. There were both traditional and non-traditional foods on the table; a giant bacon-basted turkey, sourdough stuffing, a literal mountain of mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole (which Papa had a second serving), and cranberry sauce. Additional menu items included savory ravioli, four-cheese macaroni, green beans with shallots, and gravy (or grefi if happen to speak Welsh like Edward). Did I mention there was so much gravy I counted at least three serving boats on the table? A good time was had by all, we have so much to be thankful for. I slept all the way home in the car.

Buddies

Here I am with my bear again. The first time I appeared with bear was when I was only one month old and he was much more startling (07-Oct). Today we are just hanging out, being buddies on the couch. I am trying to imitate his facial expression of blissful wonder. I have a feeling that we are going to be good friends and grow old together.

As the weeks pass by, I find I can interact better with my surroundings. For instance, this week I discovered my hands. They've always been there, but I didn't have the fine motor skills to position them effectively. Usually I would just hit myself in the head or scratch my face, but this week I placed them in my mouth. I haven't found my thumb yet, but the back of my hand and index finger are adequate surrogates for my pacifier. slurp-slurp-slurp. They are comforting to me, sort of like bear. Life is good.

Akira namesake

So my middle name is Akira. I am not sure why my parents chose the particular name. It has both Japanese and Scottish roots. In Scotland it is usually a female's name and means anchor. In Japan, Akira is used for either gender. 日 is one of many Japanese Kanji characters used to represent my name. The meaning varies depending on how it is written and its context, but my name was chosen for "brightness" or "morning light." Apparently I was enamored of the sunlight entering the window of the delivery room in the minutes after I was born. I still enjoy looking at lights; we babies do that. I stare constantly at the table lamps in the living room where Mama and Papa entertain me. I love the blinky lights on my swing and activity center which coordinate with the music. Outdoor light is still my favorite though.

Mama takes me on strolls down to the post office or runs along the beach during the daytime. On the weekends Papa carries me in the BabyBjörn (see entry 30-Oct). If I am lucky Mama will hike alongside and I get to watch her. There is so much to see in the World I sometimes forget to nap. It's a surprise I sleep at all.

Two-month checkup

Today Mama took me to see the pediatrician. There was good and bad news.

First the good. I have made considerable gains in height and weight since last time. I am now 24.5" long (95th percentile), my weight is 13lbs 3oz (75-90%), and head circumference is 40.2 cm (50%). All on breastmilk. Strong work Mama, more than ample production.

Then the bad. I didn't realize I was going to receive five different immunizations, each a separate shot. Ouchy. If you look closely at the picture, my thighs are riddled with injection sites. The five shots were; IPV (inactivated polio virus), Dtap (diptheria, tetanus, pertussis), Hep B (hepatitis B), Hib (Haemophilus influenzae type b), and PCV7 (pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, 7-valent). Even though I got a Peanuts® bandaid for each injection, they still hurt going in. Wah. They made me sleepy too, I was pretty much checked out this afternoon. Maybe I'll get up tonight after my parents have gone to bed. Payback time.

Icthyphobia

Uncomfortable around fish? Strictly speaking, icthyphobia refers to an unfounded fear of fish. Mama doesn't like to eat fish, while Papa loves it. I am not sure if I'll like seafood, right now I only know Mama's milk. Anything else is simply not milk - I'll have to wait for a few months before trying solid foods. Papa is secretly introducing me to new foods in order to expand my taste palette.

Meet Mr. Crab. The crab sitting next to me is still alive and looking for a fight. Papa's friend John invited him to harvest some fresh Dungeness for the season opener this weekend. Papa enjoys fishing the Northern California coast, he's also caught King salmon, Albacore, Lingcod, and various rockfish from John's boat. That's a lot of fish to eat considering Mama doesn't like it. Maybe I'll help Papa eat the fish someday. Just not today... tomorrow doesn't look good either.

Stylin' hairdo

Mama thought my hair was getting a little long in the back. It was starting to look like a mullet - you remember the hairstyle epitomized by Billy Ray Cyrus and the WWF? Basically it's a two tiered haircut, shorter on top and sides, long down the nape of the neck. Definitely a fashion faux pas. This is Mama's answer - a reverse mullet. Very short in the back, leaving the top and sides alone. Papa was at work when this happened. It was quite the crime scene when he got home; hair on the couch and new hair clippers on the side table. No worries, I can't see the back of my head.

Itsy-bitsy?

Here I am on the activity center again. This time I am spying on a spider. Last time it was the oddly colored chicken, now it is a spider/lady bug straight out of Alice-in-Wonderland. Regardless, I am becoming more aware of my surroundings and better at holding my head up. As a caveat, I am also spending more time awake during the day. It's a trade off, I sleep longer during the nighttime but my daytime naps are becoming shorter. Mama seems to be happy about the longer nights but daytime play leaves little for her personal time.

My first halloween

Just a short update on my first Halloween. Mama and Papa decided to have a scary face contest. Papa won.

BabyBjörn happiness

This is a view of me riding in the BabyBjörn. It's a baby carrier that straps onto the front of my parent's chest to allow for close contact and hands free operation. Since I can't really hold my head steady yet, I am facing inward. Someday when I am able to hold my head up, I'll face outward to see the World. Mama and Papa have taken me on some pretty neat coastal hikes with the BabyBjörn, the first hike was so long that my forehead was rubbed raw. Because of that incident, I now have a green burp cloth in front of me for forehead protection. Thank goodness. Nobody likes babies with "owies" on their foreheads.

The age I am

As much as I love being the age I am - seven weeks old, I think Papa wants me to be a little older. He's been trying to put me in a chair that doesn't quite fit. In this sequence you can see that the rocking chair is too big; I can perch upright for a few seconds, but my posture degenerates quickly into a reclining position. I think I'm going to wail if I am left this way for much longer. I've heard Papa talk about how he wants me to remain forever young, but then he does things like this. Watch it Papa - I can't be both small and big at the same time. I am the age I am, which is just fine.

Tummy time

Although it is suggested young babies not sleep on their stomachs due to a higher incidence of SIDS, short periods of tummy time are encouraged for muscle development. I am playing in my activity center here, on a green patchwork pickle. Suspended above my head is a strangely colored chicken which I like to swat because it activates motion-sensitive blinky lights and classical music. When the music stops, I swat the bird again - more lights and more music. It's fun for about 15 minutes, after which I let my parents know it is time to do something else. To this end, they have set up a circuit gym in the living room. A swing (also with lights and music), a vibrating chair, and the playmat complete the circuit. It's enough to make a baby exhausted. Hey, do you think it's intentional?

Splish, splash...

Bath time is an either-or event. Either I enjoy it and lie contentedly in my sinktop bath hammock, or I wail continuously for the ten-minute duration. Admittedly I am not even sure why I do it. Sometimes it really is a pleasant experience, others not so. The bath water always feels the same - it is warm, but not too warm. Mama and Papa use J&J baby wash so even if they get some in my eyes there are no tears. They gently wash my face, cleanse my hands and feet, even scrub my head with a special brush to reduce the onset of cradle cap. I like the routine but sometimes I just have to wail. Out loud. As LOUD as I can. WaaaaaAAAAAH! I guess I do it because I can and it's what we babies do.

Let's stay up late

Sometimes when Mama goes to sleep, Papa stays up with me. We are supposed to have a big bottle of milk, a nice burp, a clean diaper, and then it's back to bed. Sometimes we stay up just a little longer, catch the eleven o'clock news and maybe even Jay Leno. Papa is back at work this week, which is sad because we used to spend every day, all day together. Now he gets up in the morning and I don't see him until he comes home - at least 5 feedings later. That's a long time for a newborn baby. Don't get me wrong, Mama is handling her role as sole caregiver with astonishing and admirable ease. It's just the family feels a bit fractured when everyone isn't home. That's why I stay up late with Papa - to let him know I miss him.

Happy one-month birthday

Well here I am at 1 month old. Mama thinks that she isn't producing enough milk, but my weight suggests otherwise. In the picture, Papa has placed me in a bread basket and put the basket on a kitchen scale. 10lbs 4oz. Almost a three pound gain since I started, which isn't too shabby considering my initial losses. I haven't been measured for length, but my first set of onesies are feeling a bit snug. Mama and Papa will be needing a bigger bread basket and heavier duty kitchen scale soon.

Bear, oh my!

Tomorrow is my one-month birthday. I am swaddled in my Miracle Blanket® so I am not so easily startled while sleeping. Young newborns can exhibit a Moro reflex whereby they will startle or "jump" for no apparent reason. If the arms are held in place by swaddling, this response is virtually eliminated. Studies have shown swaddled babies tend to sleep better, longer, and safer.

Where did this white polar bear come from? He is awfully closeby and awfully big. How startling.

Fall weather on the coast

We have been blessed recently with some fantastic weather. This photograph was taken while hanging out at the Ebb Tide Cafe in Miramar, just south of Pillar Point Harbor. It is a cute cafe that sits directly across the street from the beach and has cozy couches for lounging and myriad books for reading. You can tell by the strong sunlight and blue skies that we were having a great day weather-wise. This is, by far and away, the best time of year to be living along the San Francisco Coast. We had just taken a three mile hike along the path that parallels the beach and were re-energizing ourselves with milk for me, a large chocolate brownie for Mama (no nuts), and spice-pumpkin bread for Papa. Yummy.

Mama Ali

Tonight is the first time that Mama Ali has gone out without baby Zeke. Our friends Anna and Edward are celebrating their wedding engagement in Berkeley. Being a three-week old baby makes it hard to stay up for dinner. Besides, Mama deserves a night out, she spends so many nights up with me. I'll stay home with Papa, eat whatever I want, watch TV, and wear poopy diapers - just don't tell Mama. Maybe I'll take a bath so she doesn't suspect anything.

Yesterday, I visited the pediatrician for my two-week check up (actually three weeks old). Since I visited her last time, I have made strong gains in my weight. I was almost 9lbs, up 1lb 9oz despite losing some weight the first week. The nurse practitioner called me a "chunk." Ha!

Two hands

Here is a picture of my hand (the small one) nested in Papa's hand. I've been wondering what I'll really look like when I grow up. Certainly I have lots of Asian features; dark hair, round face, darker skin tone, eyelid creases. I also have some Occidental features as well; detached ear lobes, upturned nose, steel blue eyes, pointed chin. I really feel both Mama and Papa are represented. Another certainty is that I am changing. I was weighed on a kitchen scale yesterday and came in at 8lbs. 13oz. That's quite a difference from three weeks ago. Mama's milk is pretty tasty and offered frequently. I do get a big meal from Papa too (resulting from Mama's pumping efforts during the day). He gives me the "big easy" as in 4 1/2 oz of warmed breastmilk from a bottle. A quick feed from a high flow nipple, a good burp, and a new diaper sets me up for a big sleep. Ahhh.

Getting used to a schedule

Well, time to think. I've been home almost two weeks. Mama and Papa have been taking pretty good care of me. One complaint though, I am constantly being awakened from my warm sleep. On schedule, my parents will come in my room, open the curtains, unswaddle my blanket and get me out of bed. Wah. Having said that, they do feed me and change my diaper every time. But... then they try to keep me awake as long as possible. You see, I tend to fall asleep while I am feeding.

As quickly as I was awakened, they re-swaddle, close the curtains and put me back into my crib. I overheard them talking about Gina Ford's The Contented Little Baby Book. That book outlines a pretty militant schedule to a baby's sleep/wake/feed cycle. Mama and Papa don't follow it down to the minute, but my life definitely has a "timed" quality to it. Off to bed for now.

Zeke visits Stanford

My bilirubin levels came back from the labs a little high. They were borderline when I left the hospital last week, but the test on Monday (12-Sep-2005) revealed mine were still climbing. Bilirubin is a breakdown product of hemoglobin found within red blood cells. Sometimes when babies are born, their livers are not mature enough to deal with bilirubin. The nurse practicioner suggested I get some phototherapy. Blue light (450-460 nm wavelength) can help break down the existing bilirubin to managable levels. Since all of the beds were occupied at Sequoia hospital, I went all the way down to Lucile Packard Childrens Hospital at Stanford. I like to think of it as my first tanning session.

Zeke takes a bottle

In order to spread the duty of taking care of little Zeke, Mama and Papa have devised a plan. Papa will give the last feeding of the evening by bottle, Mama will give a 3-4am feed directly, and Papa will get up in the morning for another feeding from the bottle at about 7-8am. In this scenario Mama gets two decent stretches of sleep, Papa gets a single long one.

Here I am taking my first bottle from Papa who is still unsure of his abilities as a father. I just like being held and fed warm milk.

Mama and Papa

I didn't realize that the Weblog puts most recent items at the top of the page. Here is a picture of my parents on my first day, and me sleeping in my cool grunge band hat. If I could, I would tip my hat to the staff and doctors at Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City because they are just great. The whole birthing event was indeed a miracle. Everyone had been telling my parents what a wonderful experience it would be; they weren't lying.

Family pictures

We mustn't forget the fourth member of our family, Zadie. She's the brown dog in our life, species unknown but is often called the "cat-fox" for her behavior and appearance. We believe that she has some Pembroke Welsh Corgi in her, a little Aussie Dingo, and perhaps a pinch of Chow (see her spotty tongue). We adopted her from ARF, an animal rescue foundation in Walnut Creek when she was just six months old. We love her to tears.

Welcome to Zeke Akira Amagasu's Weblog

Hello World!

My name is Zeke Akira Amagasu, I was born on 08-Sep-2005 to two loving parents, Mama Ali and Papa Shanti. So far I haven't been able to do much besides sleep and eat, but papa has been taking some photographs to share with everyone. We all live together in a small coastal town called Montara just a few miles south of San Francisco, California. Check back here often for new pictures and a dialogue of my life.