Almost crawling

Funny how I am almost eight months old and haven't yet learned how to crawl. That's okay, I am showing signs of pre-crawling activity, like spending time on my tummy, doing baby pushups, rolling back-to-front and front-to-back, even rocking and pivoting. We babies develop at our own pace and most reference texts don't give a timeframe for learning to crawl since this milestone is highly variable. Some infants skip crawling altogether, instead scooting on their butts or graduating directly to walking.

Either way, I am happy on my handmade quilt (Thank you Kem and Uncle Misha). I especially like the fish pattern on the big squares. Mama and Papa like to place toys just out of reach to encourage crawling activity. How mean. Sometimes I get frustrated because I can't get to them, but life is not always a bowl of cherries.

Oooh, forgot to mention that my first two teeth have come in. Another baby milestone under my belt. I haven't given Papa a chance to take a picture yet, besides they're just little nubs at the moment. Someday I'll be able to use my teeth on solid food - mmmm meat.

Pssst, Zeke

[Ali] Zeke, your Mama loves you very much.

I know Mama. I love you too, that's why I am so happy.

Avocado icky

Blech. I am okay with foods like puréed fruit or rice cereal mixed with formula. Although I have a limited taste and texture palette, most foods are acceptable to me. Pear, prune, carrot, green beans, sweet potato - all down the hatch. Not avocado. Aguacate in Spanish if you will. Maybe it's the texture - a little fattier than what I'm used to, maybe it's the color, it could even be the taste that is disagreeable. Whatever "it" is, I am not enjoying avocado. Please don't make me eat any more. You can have this bit on my tongue back. Yecch.

In-service day

My daycare was closed today. They occasionally have in-service days where all the clients (like me) stay home while they give the school a big scrub down. Not that daycare is dirty, but these intermittent days are necessary. Mama is on a business trip to Idaho, so I am home with Papa. He was aware of the in-service day today, but did not realize tomorrow is Good Friday. It looks like another vacation day for Papa and me.

We decided to play in the new activity center. Essentially it is a big plastic donut with a rotating seat in the middle. I can turn toward whatever toy is most interesting and play with it until I get bored, rotate and choose a different one. Ah, the whole donut is positioned on a wok-shaped bottom making it a little tippy. Evidently some of my playgroup friends will happily spend hours in theirs. I am not so easily amused.

Shopping cart fun

Now that I can (almost) sit upright for extended periods of time, I have graduated to the shopping cart seat when we go out. This is the fist time that I have been placed in the child's seat portion of the cart. I like it. I can see so much more stuff from here and what better place to see stuff than the market. Thousands of food products specifically designed to catch your eye are lining the aisles.

Mama thinks shopping carts are dirty - and there have been many studies conducted to demonstrate that this is so. Imagine the previous clients had purchased a tray of raw chicken, or another baby had a poopy diaper. Babies like me put stuff in our mouths including shopping cart handles and whatever else we can get our little paws onto. We're going to have to be diligent about disinfecting the cart beforehand or purchase a seat cover so that I can travel in style (and in good health).

Off to the land of colors, textures, good smells, and endless aisles of fun. Baa, baa, bah!

Morning light

In Montara, one has to make the most of sunny opportunities. We have not often seen the Sun this Winter/Spring, instead being inundated with incessant grey and rain. Saturday morning brought a beautiful break in the weather so Zadie and I stopped to bask in the glory. We are sitting in front of the sliding glass window of the master bedroom looking at the sunshine streaming in from outside. It is warm and bright; days like these are precious and good for the soul.

Puzzles and wrapping paper

Mama and I are unwrapping presents from my cousins in New York City. It is sort of like Christmas in April. Someday I'll get to meet my East Coast extended family and show them how good I am with puzzles. Apparently Suzannah and Amiee (the NY cousins) were big fans of puzzles when they were little. I am going to practice so that I can do them quickly and accurately. But first I am going to play with the ribbon and wrapping paper. Sometimes the wrapper is just as fun as what's inside to a 7-month old boy. I am happy.

Commuter woes

Okay, I have to vent some frustration. I am spending way too much time in the car. Why is that? Northern California has been experiencing a very wet spring. In March, San Francisco had 25 out of 31 days of rain, smashing a previous record set in 1904. April is turning out to have a similar weather pattern - wet as an overnight diaper.

When it rains like this the ground gives way on steep slopes - mudslides. Unfortunately there are only two ways out of Montara where we live, North on Hwy 1 to Pacifica or South to Half Moon Bay. Between Montara and Pacifica is a stretch of highway prone to mudslides, so much so it was given the moniker Devil's Slide to keep people away. Well, the road bed has given way and will be closed 'indefinitely' or for an 'extended' period depending on who you ask. Caltrans does have plans to bore a tunnel through Montara Mountain as a more permanent fix. The tunnel project was started last year, however it will not be completed until 2011. Which means I am spending way too much time in the car.

Normally my drive over Devil's Slide to daycare in Pacifica takes about 10 minutes. Now It is much longer because we have to drive all the way around via Half Moon Bay. Papa was in the car for almost three hours on Tuesday - one way! We left the house even earlier (6:10 am) on Wednesday and it still took 2:10 to get to work. Thursday I stayed home with Mama, and Friday we tried at 5:45 am, only 1:45 and Papa was happy. I was not. I don't like getting up so early and sitting in the car for so long. That is why I am making a funny face.

I can still see you

There was an earlier post which looks very similar to this one. This particular photo was taken on the 26th of March, the earlier one was taken back in January. Although the photos don't appear much different, the changes in me are subtle and real. If you alter your time perspective, I have only been on this Earth for about 7 months; January was three months ago. The difference in time is 3/7ths of my lifetime. That difference is huge.

Almost forgot. At the beginning of March, I had my 6 month checkup with Dr. Humphrey Lu at Coastside Medical. He checked all of my vitals and measurements. I am still on the big side of things; 19lbs 6oz weight (75-90%), 28.5" long (>95%), and 45cm head circumference (75-90%). Nobody likes skinny babies.

Graduating from the playmat

There was a time when my parents could put me down in one spot and expect me to be there when they came back from whatever they were doing. Not so much anymore. I have figured out how to roll over pretty efficiently, and mysteriously move around. Mind you, neither Mama nor Papa have seen me move translationally, but they know it happens. In the morning I am always near the bottom of the crib, happy as can be, but clearly not where I was originally planted. I'll never give up my secret. In this picture, I have already rolled over, and arched my back so that I could catch the blue and zebra-striped fish-like mammal (the big one has a blowhole) and yank on it with all my might.

The playmat's days are numbered. It has no such containment apparatus, so I could sneak off to elsewhere. I am getting to the point where the toys come off the hooks too, it is a small victory when they come down off their suspension. Too bad, I used to spend so much time here, listening to music and swatting the bird/insect menagerie. Mama has added a bunch of new toys that were not originally included (like the zebra-striped fishy thing and plastic keychain) to extend the playmat's lifetime, but those are small band-aids on a larger, more fundamental problem - I am Zeke on the move.

Identity switch

Last entry I was trying to swap places with Bear. This time Mommy was in on it, she bought a big doggie towel for my after-bath drying. It has big floppy ears, a black nose, paws on the corners and even a small nub for a tail. A much better disguise if you ask me. I wonder if Zadie will think I am a new dog friend. Maybe Papa will think we went to the animal rescue shelter and adopted another dog. Do you think he'd wonder where his son went?

Life is passing so quickly these days, each one is slightly different than the last. I am not sure how much the World is changing, but I certainly am. I may not be experiencing the large weight gains like when I was really small, but developmentally there are always little things. Like rolling over back-to-front, and maybe even front-to-back. Singing little songs to let my parents know that I am trying to formulate language. Being able to grab my feet and stick them in my mouth. All of these events are new (to me) and bring joy to my parents no matter how small a feat they may seem.

p.s. Happy birthday to my uncle Misha and uncle Billy. They both share the 16th of March as their birthday, how auspicious.

Hardware problems

[Papa] For all of you that have been checking in regularly, I apologize for not keeping the Zeke blog updated recently. I see that it has been almost a whole month since the last post. I have been taking photographs, but my (fruity!) laptop has ceased to work. I hope to have it repaired and back online soon so that I may resume the regular weekly (or better) posting schedule.

In the meantime, Zeke is growing quickly. Definitely too fast for his parents. He is eating solid food - mostly carrots, pear and apple puree as well as the rice cereal. He seems to enjoy going to day care in the morning. I know all of the caregivers over there are enamored of his free smile and chubby cheeks.

This is a link (Niz Lopi) to an incredibly cute cartoon about a boy and his dad. It is a massive download (15 MB), but worth it in my mind. Apparently JCB is a European brand for construction equipment, sort of like Caterpillar or John Deere stateside. Now that I am a parent, the video has so much more meaning than before. Hopefully, Zeke will be able to figuratively ride along in my JCB someday.