Bubbles
My mom taught Zach all about bubbles when he was a wee lad of about 4 months. She said she probably shouldn't do this (after all, it's not very ladylike), but she introduced him to - yes - spit bubbles.
Fast forward 5 months.
Every time I say the word "bubbles" now, Zach stops whatever he's doing, stares at my mouth, forms Cheerio lips, and says "oh". And he will stare and stare and stare until a bubble comes out of my mouth.
Well, normally, I only do bubbles with gum, which Zach finds intriguing. But, alas, yesterday, I found myself without gum, and I found myself in need of trying something new to entertain Zach.
So, yes, I resorted to the Spit Bubble (me hangs my ladylike head in shame).
BOY did he laugh. And laugh. And laugh. And giggle. And giggle. And laugh. And laugh. Belly laughs galore - as if he had a million of them stored up for the winter and was letting half a million loose.
The more I blew, the harder he laughed. And the harder he tried to "catch" one on my lips.
After about 20 minutes of this (I think my spit supply actually ran dry), I stopped, much to his dismay. He pulled himself up to face level (I was sitting, of course) by grabbing my shirt in both hands, formed the Cheerio mouth, and gave an insistant "OH!"
"Mommy has no spit left, Sir Zachary. The supply has run dry. It only refills overnight."
"OH!"
"Mommy's lips are dry, Prince Zacharoo. If I blow any more spit bubbles, those lips will fall off and I won't be able to blow any tomorrow."
"OH! OH!"
"Um... bubbles can only be blown midday - and it's 20 minutes past midday."
"OH! OH! OH!"
His face got closer to mine...his grip tightened on my shoulders...his tiny fingers probed my mouth, in search of bubbles.
So I succumbed and started the Bubble Factory again. Giggle. Giggle. Belly Laugh.
Fast forward to night time (well, 2am).
Zach was having one his nights whereby he half-awakens...sits up in his crib...and cries out until Dale or I pick him up.
So I laid Zach on the big bed with me, with hopes that he'd drift off to dreamland again, but he still fussed. So I whisper, "Zacheeeee....BUBBLES!"
Suddenly, his eyes open wide, he stares at my mouth, and smiles. So here I was... at 2am....blowing more spit bubbles (quite the visual, eh).
Regardless, I must say...this technique helped during his 9 month wellcheck as well because at one point, he would not let the nice pediatrician listen to his heart. He kept moving his arms and trying to grab the stethoscope. So I gave the "Bubbles" war cry - and sure enough - he was drawn to my lips the way a sailor is drawn to a mermaid's song.
Who needs toys!
Bubbles
[IMG]http://i531.photobucket.com/albums/dd358/jokeel/z.jpg[/IMG]
Happy 7 Months, Zachary!
Happy 7 months to my little prince!
I love you so much!
I love how you...
sleep with your little bum in the air, all curled up like a bug in a rug
stare up at me with those big eyes and long lashes - especially at night when I sing the lullabye song to you - in the dark - you and me lying on the big bed - your little face only inches from mine - so serious as you peer into my eyes and stare at my mouth
sometimes stick your fingers in my mouth as I'm singing, as if you're trying to catch the words in your hand (or perhaps your practicing to be a dentist as you yank on my bottom teeth. Regardless, I love it!)
belly laugh when I wiggle my hair, my fingers or my toes in your face; when I talk in a high, squeaky voice to you; when daddy's kisses your belly and toes, when daddy plays airplane with you; when daddy or I do anything silly
bounce up and down in my arms and smile and shriek when I sing the alphabet song (or any song for that matter, to include my attempts at rapping)
open your mouth like a baby bird for more baby food or cereal when you're hungry...sometimes grabbing the spoon out of my hand as you try to feed yourself...or touch the cereal and get it all over your fingers as I attempt to pry the spoon out of your hands - what a strong grip you have!
make loud raspberries and gargling noises and screams ... just because
yell out angrily when we're not paying attention to you - and then a big smile erupts on your face when we look at you
grin with your mouth closed at times - you look so mischievous
rub your eyes when you're tired and burrow your head into my neck while sucking your thumb as you begin to drift off to sleep
grab at everything, including my glasses, beer bottles, my hair, daddy's hair, daddy's foot, and yes, your wee wee
observe everything - nothing gets passed your line of vision
pull your bottle to your mouth when you're extremely hungry
jump up and down in my arms when we dance - squealing with delight
get excited to see me and daddy, and when when we pick you up, you give us bear hugs
roll, scoot, and move all around
sing and babble and coo
pull on the string of the Mother's Day balloon you and daddy bought me (which is still inflated after all this time) and bop the balloon up and down in your face, laughing
play in your exersaucer, touching and feeling every toy, inspecting every angle while babbling to yourself
laugh while you watch cartoons
smile every time i put the camera to your face
smile at videos and pictures of yourself
smile at everyone
fill me and daddy with so much love and bring us so much joy that we could cry happy tears every time we look at your angelic face.
I could go on and on and on with all the things you do that I love... because I love everything about you!
Happy 7 months, Zachary Adam Keel - you are truly the love of our lives!
First Crib Nap
Zach took his first nap in his crib He's been sleeping in his bassinet at night, but I thought I'd lay him in his crib (inside this secure sleeper thingamajig) because he seems very content in his room, and wa la...he fell asleep for a few hours!
The funny thing is...whenever we take a field trip to his room, he gets transfixed by the ceiling fan! It's not even on - but as soon as we walk into the nursery, his eyes immediately focus upward, and he just stares and stares at this fan! I have no idea what's so intriguing about it (is he seeing angels playing on the ceiling? aliens? another dimension?)! All these super cool stuffed toys and rattles and the kid likes the ceiling fan. He'll be very easy to please come Christmas time.
On a good note, since he was so focused on the fan (and thus the ceiling), I, too, focused on it, and I noticed a crack in our ceiling that wasn't there before, so I told Dale about it and he will have to fix it (may have been caused by the cold weather - who knows). So little Zach helped us identify a home improvement project
Zach turned 4 weeks yesterday. His milestones are that he can really hold his head up during tummy time (in addition to falling asleep), and he can now find his binky at times on his own when it falls out of his mouth during Tummy Time. In addition, he's really got some smiles on him! Just today he was practically laughing as Dale tickled his chin and talked to him - more than we've ever seen, and this morning when I wiped his bottom with a warm cloth, he grinned and grinned (who doesn't like their bottom wiped with a warm cloth)!
Oh - and Zach can operate the snow blower now - which is a good thing - especially on a day like today!
Zach - the Birth Story
Dec 30, 2008
2:04pm
8 lbs 6 oz
21.5 inches
We arrived at the hospital around 11 a.m. and headed to Labor & Delivery. I was led to the recovery room, told to take off all my clothes except my socks, and directed to put on one of those lovely and fashionable hospital nighties (that sexy lingerie).
A nurse – Julie (who monitored me a few times in L&D earlier in the pregnancy) , hooked me up on the ever popular monitors – so by noon, I was lying in bed, ready to go.
So there I lay, listening to Baby Z bump and be bop around in side me while Dale studied his scrubs. He looked so handsome in them, like a hotty doctor from ER (yes , I’m biased, but my whole family, well, the females, always comment on how handsome Dale is. Although he’s 45, he looks very young, and sexy as a doctor - even one of his sister's said the same - heh heh).
We took a few pictures (won’t post mine, I look like a real goof, especiallly with the hair covering on my head. Me without hair is a step below me with hair - a rather huge step).
So time passes, and I really have to pee. In comes the nurse to unhook me so I can go attend to nature's calling. Then right back to the monitors. Time passes. I have to pee again. So Dale and I unhook me, not thinking that we’re setting off some kind of alarm at the nurses' station (they get alerted if something changes in the heart beat). In comes another nurse, to see what happened. I’m all, "Sorry! Had to pee!" In addition, I kept moving my legs and knees so it would knock out the monitor a bit, and in would come Julie, laughing, because she knew it was me being fidgety vs. something not being right on the monitors. How can I help it??!! I'm moments away from meeting this little guy!
So it’s 12:45…15 minutes until show time, when Julie walks in and says, "we have more time. Dr. R just went to delivery another baby."
Huh?? But…but….I’m on for 1pm! I’m all psyched up to have this baby! I can’t stop peeing! How dare another woman decide to go into labor right before my big show! What if it takes her hours to push??
Dale summed it up best: "What can you do."
So again – I have to pee. Another nurse unhooks me – and off I go.
I call my mom to tell her to pass the word to the family because we’re behind schedule.
Meanwhile, one of my sister-in-laws came up around noon to be there with us – but she’s not allowed in the recovery room. However, at one point, after Zach was born, she walked in with Dale to see me – only to get "disciplined" by the same nurse and ushered out quickly :-D My SIL acted like no one told her, so Julie was all, "I KNOW I told her! It’s like a slap in my face! She didn’t even listen to me!"
Dale and I got a chuckle out of that, although we understood why you can’t have just anyone walking in. There are other patients in the room as well (at least, there was one at the time when I was there). However, to be fair to my SIL, another nurse told her it should be ok if she went to see me.
Finally, at 1:30, I’m up. Nerves nervling…juices flowing….brain and heart pumping – SHOW TIME!
I’m wheeled into the operating room. Dale cannot come in while they give me my spinal. The room was very … well… operating roomish. I get up on a small table, and we have to wait for the anesthesiologist and a few other team members to arrive. So we wait. And wait.
Nerves start building again. About 10-15 minutes passes, when lo and behold, we have us a spinal guy!
The spinal felt odd … it didn’t really hurt… just was a tad uncomfortable. I felt a burning/stinging for a brief second … then pressure on a small part of my spine. They then laid me onto my back, and Dr Spinal asked if my legs felt tingly.
Yep … and warm. Good. That’s good.
He pokes me with a tiny pin on my chest – can you feel that? Yes. Good.
Then he pokes my abdomen. Can you feel that? No. Good.
Meanwhile, oxygen is put into my nose through a tiny tube, a huge blue sheet is lifted to separate my line of vision from my abdomen, and my arms are laid out on either side of me so I look like the letter T.
In comes my doctor …all smiling and happy … says hello … and on tape, he says, "This is Dr R. I am doing a caesarian section on Joanne. Is that correct, Joanne?"
Yes – you are absolutely right.
"Let’s start the incision."
"Wait! My husband’s not here!"
The nurse had already gone to get him … the doc told me not to worry …they would not let him see the start of the cutting, and before I know it, Dale is by my head, rubbing my arm and holding my hand.
I tell him how bizarre I feel because I can’t feel my legs … yet I’m wide awake.
On the other side of the sheet, the doc and his team are having a conversation … about life … as if they are socializing at a dinner! I’m thinking, how can he cut and talk? I’d need to concentrate! I guess years of practice! But even with years of practice... I mean, the guy is multi-tasking with my uterus and his staff.
Every so often, he’d say "time out" –… then they’d pause … then continue. I'd feel a tugging and pulling - but no pain.
Before I knew it …within 15 minutes … I hear Zachary’s beautiful cry! The staff tell Dale to stand up – and I hear him say, "Oh my God!" And he starts to cry … so I start to cry!
A member of the staff grabs Dale and takes him to see the baby.
Dale cuts the umbilical cord as I turn my head to try to see everything. All I can see are green scrubs everywhere. But I can still hear Zachary's beautiful and hearty cry.
Meanwhile, the doctor is busy stitching me up, now multi-tasking with staples, my skin, and his staff.
Dale comes back over to me, and one of the nurses hands him our son to hold. What an amazing sight! Dale places Zachary by my face so I can see him as the staff take our camera and start snapping all kinds of photos.
Then it’s time for Zachary to get weighed and measured, so they take him to the nursery. Dale asks if I want him to stay with me. I tell him, "Go with our baby."
It only takes about another 15 to 20 minutes to stitch me up, and before I know it, I’m back in recovery. I got a tiny bit sick (tossed my cookies just a tad) from the drugs in the spinal… but other than that, I’m fine.
A nurse comes in and wipes me down (boy was I sweating!). Turns out, this nurse used to work out at Bally’s near us. We recognize each other. She’s very pretty, so later I tell Dale he missed my sponge bath from the former Bally’s hotty :-D His comment: "Oh man. I missed all the fun!"
About 45 minutes later, Zachary is in my arms, and we’re bb-feeding for the first time. I’m new to this, so I need help, but he latches on and shakes his head like a tiny puppy shaking a rag in his mouth. Adorable!
Eventually, I’m in my room … hooked up to my IV and other tubing (talk about feeling like a science project) … and the rest, as they say, is history.
Everyone’s advice for a c-section was great … TAKE THE PAIN MEDS! I did – and often – and while it did hurt to laugh (Dale, of course, kept making me laugh), and cough. etc., I healed fairly quickly and was walking around by the 3rd day (another great piece of advice – walk when they tell you to walk!).
Even though Zach lost weight in the hospital (10% of his body weight...which led to us supplementing him with formula in addition to bb-feeding), Zach now weighs 8lbs 3oz… and to quote the nurse who visited us yesterday in our home, "He’s perfect! Absolutely perfect!"
I have to agree :)
Welcome To the World Z.A.K.
December 30, 2008 @ 2:04pm
So here I am - broke outta prison - well, they gave me parole with a pat on the butt for good behavior.
It happened so quickly. One minute, I'm kickin' the Mother Ship in the control panel, the next minute, some cold hand-like contraptions have me and yank me up and out!
I won't lie - I was a bit p'o'd at first. Here I was... all warm in my pod... and then the rest, as they say, is history.
The Dad Person cut my network cable to the Mother Ship's life-support system. He had this look on his face as if he'd never seen anything so amazing. But of course! I'm super amazing! 41 weeks of forming and shaping and growing - it ain't easy being me!
The Mom and Dad person looked a bit teary-eyed - at least from what I could see. Then all these other creatures had me and put stuff in my eyes and did things to me that - well, I'm a gentleman so let's just say it was a tad unexpected.
Regardless, after a few days of bonding and getting to see what these parent-entities are like, I decided I like it outside. Yeh....yeh.... they worry a lot cuz I wasn't eating enough at first. You think it's easy trying to get milk out of some flesh-mounds? Like trying to suck an elephant through a straw!
Once we got me on the bottle - I was hooked -and now I'm a happy camper.
I weighed in initally at 8 lbs 6 oz (yeh - mom filled her face with some good eats) and 21.5 inches long. Hey - I had 41 weeks to get to this size!
I left the hospital at 7lbs 12.2 oz - which was actually a gain for me because I had lost some weight. Again - elephant...straw....
So that's my story and I'm sticking to it! Now if only this Mom Person would stop crying each time she looks at me! Wuz up wit dat??! I'm the baby -and she's got the water works going. I know I'm a cutie...but can you say HORMONES??
Talk to you all soon!
Cheers!
Today Is the Day!
Since labor is not progressing on its own (my cervix is sealed like Fort Knox) - and my contractions are few and far between - the safest route to evict Baby Z from Keel's Kubby is to go the "C-Section" route.
So today at 1pm is the big day!
My doctor explained that I'm not "inducible" (meaning if they try to induce me, chances are I'd be in labor for quite some time - and it would end in a C anyways) - so based on that and my age, etc. , etc., we are going in for an extraction.
I don't know if Baby Z will be too happy when he hears someone sawing away at the walls of his home, but it's time. Officially 41 weeks today!
Baby Z is estimated to be about 7lbs 14 oz (give or take a pound in either direction).
My sister is taking a poll to guess his weight/length.
Me: 8 lbs 5 oz, 20 inches
She: 8 lbs 1 oz 19 inches
Dale: 15 or 16 pounds, 4 feet (ok - we got him to commit to 8lbs 3oz and 20 inches)
So there ya go - will post a picture when all is said and done - be home in about 4 days - off to see the Wizard (a.k.a. my doctor)!
So the latest on Baby Z....
Seems like he is very comfy in his Uterine Apartment. Went to Labor & Delivery yesterday per my doctor's request to check things out since we're so close to my due date (tomorrow - woo hoo)! Seems like the only thing dilated on me right now is my mouth.
Baby Z was super active during said monitoring. The nurse said he probably doesn't like the monitors. Can you blame him? Probably cramps his style.
Heartbeat and activity levels are great (which accounts for my pliable stomach distending in all directions). The spouse said he thinks there's an alien in my belly, and he threatened to serve Baby Z with a 3-Day "Leave the Premises" notice before final eviction. However, Baby Z is still sitting "high" - so I don't think he gives a rat's ass about any eviction notices. He must know how cold it is outside. He's certainly Dale's and my kid - hates cold weather already.
If Baby Z does not embark down Uterine Hall by end of week, the doc says we can induce Sunday. He does not want to induce earlier as you increase your chances of a c-section, so he wants to give the baby a chance to get this party started on his own time.
Here's a recent belly shot - 39 weeks and 4 days. I figure I can't get much bigger than this (or CAN I?)... so this will probably be the final belly post.
