Bye Grandma! :-(

Charles cooked us breakfast this morning and then took Grandma to the airport. They got there early and were able to get her on an earlier flight, so hopefully her trip back to Erie will be uneventful with no unplanned layovers!


Here is Zachary hanging out in the Bumbo seat his grandma got for him while she was here...


He can't quite hold up his head enough yet so we'll have to save it for a little while before he can really use it.


He's definitely working on it though!

My daddy is so funny!!

Happy boy!

We're having a good week with Grandma - today we went and fed the ducks (with plenty of bread this time! They were a little calmer than the last time we tried).

Blue eyes

His hair looks kind of red here too, but it still looks light brown.

My angel baby

Hi Grandma!

Zachary finally met his other grandma today - she flew down from Erie, PA to see him. She finally made it here after getting stuck in the Atlanta airport overnight! We were all glad to get her here safely.

Happy birthday to Grandmother!

Here you are with Zachary on his birthday...

Granddad and Grandmother with Zachary on his birthday...

And here is Zachary singing on your birthday - make sure your sound is turned on!

Six week checkup

I went to the doctor today for my six week checkup - she said the incision looks great and I can go ahead and ease into my exercise routine. I've already been walking with Zachary for the last two weeks. I have no excuse anymore! Said as I sit here watching The Biggest Loser and eating chocolate pudding. :-)

Zachary really enjoys eating too, just like his mom - here he is after a particulary satisfying meal...

Smiles

I'm still trying to catch a smile! This is the closest I've gotten so far... Zachary is smiling a lot more now, but I'm still not sure any of them have been on purpose. They sure are cute though!

Separation anxiety

Today I left Zachary and ventured out by myself for the first time to go to my friend Carolyn's baby shower. I was a little worried leaving him with Charles since yesterday he had been extra clingy with me and cried whenever I put him down. It was nice to get out but the whole time I was worrying and wondering how they were doing. I stayed through all the opening of the presents but left just as they were about to cut the cake. I raced home, expecting to find a frazzled dad and crying baby... I opened the door and there they were, Zachary sleeping peacefully on Charles's chest as he watched football. Humph! I should have stayed for cake!!


Here is Carolyn with Zachary when she came to see us a couple of weeks ago... She is having a baby girl and is due in October.

I'm ready for our walk Momma...

Future UT Kicker?

Zachary has really been working out that leg! Now I know why I always had a bulge under my rib while I was pregnant with him!

Stylin' baby

Daddy brought this cute outfit home from his trip to San Diego. He wore it for our family outing to Babies 'R Us today. He did great - he slept in his carseat the whole time and he was the cutest baby there. :-)

Big boy!

Zachary has been grabbing things and holding his head up a lot - this was the best picture I could get of it yesterday...

Storytime with Daddy

They are reading 'Where the Wild Things Are'.

Zachary loves his Boppy!

One month old!

Hook 'Em Horns!!

Daddy and Zachary are ready for the big game!!!

Four weeks old

Where has the time gone? Zachary is four weeks old today. He is becoming more and more alert each day, and likes to study my face intently. He can track things with his eyes now and is much more interested in the toys hanging above him on his playmat. This morning I put a rattle in his hand and he grasped it and shook it for about half a minute. When I hold him up to my shoulder he lifts his head and can hold it up for quite a while. On his tummy he can move his head from side to side but still can't hold it up for too long. He looks like he is thinking about rolling over but is not quite there yet.

He still seems to have his days and nights mixed up a little bit - he takes a nice long nap in the afternoon to late evening, then at night he only sleeps for two hours at a time, max. This is making for a tired Momma! I've been reading some different books about how to get babies to learn to sleep and/or on a schedule, but have not attempted to implement anything yet. I'm still just kind of winging it and working under the theory that babies under three months can't be spoiled, so I just feed him when he wants to be fed and hold him when he wants to be held, although that can easily take up most of the day! We have gone through a few crying spells, but he is still a very easygoing baby for the most part. Anyway, I am open to suggestions in the whole sleeping area.

Good news! His blocked tear duct seems to be cleared - we've had clear eyes for six days now. It was really goopy for a couple of weeks - we kept thinking he must have an infection, but we just kept cleaning it and massaging it and then voila! Pretty clear eyes. We were told it could take up to a year to resolve, and if it hadn't by then they would have to do a procedure to poke it open, so I'm very thankful that it seems to be okay now. I waited to report this for a while so I wouldn't jinx myself - hopefully it'll stay fixed!




As for my other, furrier kids, Tootie is still feeling a little neglected but he loves the baby and just wants to lick him. I've been trying to pay a little more attention to him. Timmi keeps trying to jump in Zachary's swing, and occasionally she'll jump up and sniff his head, but for the most part seems unfazed. Rupert is just hanging out on the porch, having been finally banned from the house after years of bad behavior. He seems perfectly happyand as far as I know is unaware of the baby.


The Kitty is the one I'm worried about - he is my neurotic, special needs kitty, having been my baby the longest and having his position repeatedly usurped by a series of ever more unsettling creatures, first the pig and most recently this loud, hairless thing that Mom never puts down and won't let him step on to access my face for licking. He finally gave up trying to get my attention and I didn't see him much for a week or so. When I finally did get a good look at him the other day, I noticed his chin was swelled up to an alarming degree. I decided to watch it for a couple of days, but yesterday it was looking particularly nasty (I won't elaborate), so I took him to the vet (my first outing alone!). The vet (Dr. Streed) took one look and said 'Ugh, that is nasty!' Thanks, I didn't feel quite guilty enough yet! He gave us some antibiotics to give him twice a day for a week, so hopefully that will clear it up. Poor Kitty! He seems happy to have gotten some attention from me though, and has returned to his sleeping spot by Zachary's bassinet in our room.

Andrew's photos

A couple of weeks ago the Austin American-Statesman had a pet photo contest. My nephew Andrew, the budding photographer, had two photos chosen for the 63 finalists out of over 1000 entries! We all dialed our fingers off but to no avail, the ones with the goofy pets won. But, since the paper cropped them (and because I am just a proud aunt!), I wanted to post them here in their full glory...

This is Woody:


and here is Sara:

and because this is Zachary's blog, here he is with his big cousin Andrew: