our week with zeeke

Zeeke has brought back the primal scream. The latest variation is an absolutely-ear-piercing shriek that sounds like he's being murdered, but is not actually indicative of his mood. He's also learned how to blow raspberries and does them all the time, even in his sleep. His teething has picked up again, but still no teeth have broken through. He's been jumping like crazy in his jumperoo. One day, he managed to do a sit up. And while his crawling still involves plowing his face into the ground, he did manage to get up on all fours for a few seconds one day.

Zeeke's book of the week: "Stop Snoring Bernard!" by Zachariah OHora

On Monday, Karen & Zeeke went to her old branch, South Philadelphia, for Miss Joanne's storytime. It was great and they've been singing "Tick Tock, Tick Tock, I'm a Little Cuckoo Clock" ever since.

During Steve's lunch break on Tuesday, all three of us went out and voted together. That night we started him on his second solid food, carrots, which he liked just a bit better than yams.

On Wednesday, Karen & Zeeke went to Miss Liz's storytime at Fumo.

Thursday was Zeeke's half-birthday! Jen & the twins came for a surprise play date and lunch.

On Friday, we went to Underdog for lunch and pushed Zeeke in the swings for a bit at the park across the street (our first visit to both). That night, we introduced Zeeke to his third solid food, steamed mangoes. At first, he was a little hesitant, but once he got that sweet taste in his mouth, he was in love. He devoured a ton of yam-mango puree.

On Saturday, we went to another kid clothing swap. We saw Tara and Sharri, Paul & Nate there. It was great, getting rid of some old stuff and finding new clothes for when he's a little older. That night our friend Colleen visited with her husband Sean. Colleen came bearing gifts by cartoonist Kate Beaton: an "Ain't Give a Damn" t-shirt for Karen and a "Shut up about babies!" onesie for Zeeke. We took them out for pizza and beers at Birra and had a great time.

On Sunday, we drove out to Chestnut Hill with Dena to Jen & Kim's baby brunch. There were soooo many babies there! It was fabulous and surprisingly drama-free.

Zeeke's been enjoying connecting to his parents with his feet lately, sometimes pushing playfully at them, sometimes kicking. Karen's been working on Zeeke sitting without the boppy and standing up from sitting without having to be completely lifted up. He's been getting more and more determined to pull down the butterflies from his activity gym, most likely with the intent of putting them in his mouth and he's been practicing his chewing even when he's not eating.

Zeeke's book of the week: "Go Baby Go!" by Marilyn Janovitz

Zeeke survived the hurricane well, sleeping like the proverbial baby the night it passed over us. Hurricane Sandy mostly kept us in the house on Monday, but we snuck out for tea and cinnamon roll biscuits at Allison's house. Jenifer and Eric came by for a visit later in the day.

On Tuesday, while Steve was working from home, Zeeke & Karen went out for a walk and ran into Katie, Dave & Greta then joined them for a visit to Jenifer & Eric's.

On Wednesday, Sharri, Kate & Nate and Jen & the twins joined Karen & Zeeke for Halloween storytime at Fumo. There were monster stories and a costume parade. Jack and William were Thing #1 and Thing #2 (from the Cat in the Hat), Nate was a monkey and Zeeke was a very serious pumpkin. That evening, Dena came by with doughnuts and helped us hand out candy to trick-or-treaters.

Thursday, Karen & Zeeke went over to hang out with Sharri & Nate. Later, they took a stroll to Termini to pick up a cheesecake and visited with the nice lady who gave us a tour of the kitchens way back when Karen was still pregnant.

Friday, Steve's parents came to visit. Steve's dad did some measuring and planning for attaching all their bookcases to the walls before Zeeke gets too mobile. Then they took us to lunch at Green Eggs.

On Saturday, we gave Zeeke his first solid food, steamed yams, which he happily devoured.

On Sunday, Steve & Zeeke strolled Manayunk while Karen got a nice massage. He wasn't as happy about solid food the second day, but despite making faces, he got it finished.

After seeing Jen & Kim do so with the twins, we've started sitting Zeeke in his boppy (a crescent-shaped pillow). At first he would tumble over a lot but within a couple of days he had developed the balance to sit without falling. We lay out his toys on a blanket and he sits there, carefully choosing which one he wants, sometimes grabbing the toy bin and pulling it towards him to search through.

We're also making use of the coffee table to help him learn to stand. We get him to his feet and then set his hands on it and he can happily stand there on his own for as long as he wants. By the end of the week he had mastered standing with only one hand, which left the other free to grab the tv remote.

He's really manipulating his toys too, playing with them in different ways and exploring what he can do with them. Our friend Nadeen gave him a set of plastic car keys that plays music and he's learned to play the song whenever he wants.

He got a lot of presents this week. Aunt Betsy mailed Zeeke a beautiful knitted blanket (yellow, his favorite color). Our neighbors Mary and Jane gave him a stuffed bear dressed as a skeleton for Halloween. Gina gave him a monkey that lights up and plays music. And Karen's mom sent Zeeke his first piece of personal mail.

Karen and Zeeke did a lot of library storytimes. Zeeke is into them more for the people watching than the storytelling and Karen is learning tricks for her own storytimes. Monday, they picked up Dena and went to Central where they met up with Jen & the twins. Tuesday, they met up with new friends Leah & her son Zack and hiked over to the Santore branch. Wednesday, they went Liz's storytime at Fumo, where Zeeke is always a big hit with the assorted grandmothers.

After lunch on Wednesday, Karen dared to drive Zeeke all the way out to her sister's house in New Jersey. Zeeke cried a bit at first, but then slept for most of the forty minute drive. They had a great time playing and making sushi with Sarah & her girls Riley & Bella, and Sarah's sister-in-law Dawn & her twins Vincent & Dominic. Sadly, the ride home was not as tranquil as the ride there. Zeeke pitched a fit all the way to the bridge, then finally calmed down when he saw he was back in the city.

Thursday, Karen's high school friend Gina visited from Germany. They had lunch at Green Eggs, where he was admired by many, and then went to the park.

Friday, Karen & Zeeke met up with Leah & Zack and Jen & Amelie for coffee at Ultimo. Later that evening, while mommy met up with friends for a much deserved drink, Steve & Zeeke went to the grocery store to stock up on food for the so-called Frankenstorm, slowly making its way toward the city.

There was a lot going on in South Philly Saturday.  We took Zeeke to a big flea market in Columbus Square Park.  One family of Karen's patrons gave Zeeke a swim vest.  And then we went to the East Passyunk Fall Festival to peruse the arts and crafts.

Sunday, Karen and Zeeke met up with Dena for brunch at Miss Rachel's Pantry.  And then it was back home to prepare for Hurricane Sandy.

Zeeke has become highly fascinated with watching us eat.  He'll drop whatever he's doing, stare intently at our mouths, and even practice chewing.  So, even though he's thriving on a diet of pure breast milk, we figure we'll start feeding him some solid food when he turns six months old.  

It's fun to watch him in his exersaucer and bouncy chair.  He plays so intently with the toys attached to them that it looks like he's at work in some laboratory.  This week we started practicing sitting and crawling on the floor, which is a big change from the bed.  

With the change in season, he's been wearing shoes.  Karen took Zeeke to the park and pushed him in the swing for the first time and they've started on a new chapter in the yoga book (yoga for the almost standing).  

He's added grunting to his assortment of noises (gooing, cooing, crying, sighing, laughing, and primal screaming).  His grunts are very bossy and do not please his mommy one bit.  She's not so hot on his full hand pinching either.  

Monday, Zeeke & Karen went to Jenny's baby shower at Central.  They saw lots of librarian friends and the twins.

Tuesday, they went to storytime at Rittenhouse Square.and visited with Miss Karen.

Wednesday, after storytime at Fumo, they went to the park, where there were lots of people playing for Zeeke to watch.  Karen saw another baby swinging fearlessly, so, with much trepidation, Karen actually pushed Zeeke on the swing for the first time.  Zeeke enjoyed the new view of the world it gave him.

Thursday, Karen & Zeeke had a great time catching up with her boss David over pancakes at Black & Brew.  While they were there, Karen noticed a group of moms with younger babies and wrangled herself an invite to their future get-togethers.  That evening, Karen & Zeeke picked Steve up at work and took him out for Vietnamese food.

Saturday, we took advantage of the beautiful autumn weather to take a hike through the Wissahickon and enjoy the fall foilage.  Afterwards, we hopped over to Chestnut Hill to have lunch with Jen & Kim & the twins at our usual spot The Chestnut Grill.

Sunday, we went to Olde City for lunch at PBR and then met up with Karen's friend Lorissa.  While Karen and Lorissa went to the Clay Studio and some art galleries, Steve and Zeeke walked around Penn's Landing, went to the comic book shop, and got some ice cream. 

The colder nights and shorter days have been messing with Zeeke's sleep schedule a little, so it was a tough week at times.  It's a good thing he's so darned cute.  Zeeke's getting better and better at entertaining himself, even while driving in the car.  It's great to see him concentrating intently on his toys even if he's just trying to figure out how he can get it into his mouth.  We figured out a few new ways to make him laugh this week.  He gets jaded fast if we try something too many times, but it's so much fun to hear him giggle that we can't help ourselves.  Oh, and Zeeke has started pushing his arms through sleeves himself when we're dressing him, which is very nice.  (Legs and pants are a very different story.)  

Monday, Karen & Zeeke joined up with Dena & her mom to go visit Jen & the twins in Chestnut Hill.

Tuesday, Karen & Zeeke went to Miss Karen's storytime at PCI.  And in the afternoon, Steve's parents came by for a visit.  While Zeeke and the ladies went for a stroll.  Steve and his dad fixed Zeeke's door which had pulled itself out of the wall.  Thanks, Dad!

Wednesday, Karen & Zeeke went to Miss Liz's storytime at Fumo.  

Thursday, Karen & Zeeke bumped into Dena & her mom while hanging out at the fountain on Passyunk.  Then the two of them went out to West Philly to take Steve out for lunch.  Zeeke had a great time with the Annals staff and then the three of us grabbed a delicious lunch from the Cucina Zapata truck.

Saturday, Steve & Zeeke got some quality time (playing, walking, grocery shopping and napping) while Karen went on a house tour with Sally, Dena and her mom.  

On Sunday, we joined Katie, Dave & Greta for a trip to Linvilla Orchards.  We went on a hayride, picked pumpkins, and ate apple cider doughnuts.  We brought home a bag of apples, a big jug of cider, and a caramel walnut apple pie that was amazing.  When we got back, we visted David & Steve, and then later Marci dropped by.

Between trouble getting him to sleep and way too many early wake-ups, we had a pretty sleep-deprived week, except for Saturday morning when he let us sleep in late. To combat his contant growing, we raised his exersaucer to the tallest setting. For a few days, Steve was able to get Zeeke to crack up laughing by lifting him into the air and then lowering him quickly.  Karen taught Zeeke a new yoga pose called The Bridge.   And finally, though it's hard to believe, he somehow loves to suck on his toes more and more each week. 

Riding a wave of success in driving solo with Zeeke, Karen took him to storytime at the Central branch on Monday. They had a great time with Jen & the twins and Dena. And then Tara joined them all for lunch at The Kite & The Key.

Tuesday, Karen and Zeeke went to Dena's for muffins and gingerbread and then hit storytime with her mentor, the original Miss Karen, at the Rittenhouse Square branch, where everyone enjoyed meeting Zeeke. They came home with a stack of books for his nightly storytimes.

On Thursday, Karen and Zeeke had a play date with some kids who used to come to her own storytimes.

On Friday, we took Zeeke to a librarian happy hour at the Public House, where we saw Jen (sans twins), Tara, and Liz & Kate.

On Saturday we went to Harper's first birthday party. Carl and Michela did a great job with the Up theme, including pictures of the kids floating away in a basket lifted by balloons.

On Sunday, we drove out to Cherry Hill, hit the Silver Diner for pancakes and eggs, filled a cart at Babies R Us, then scoffed at the prices, and went to Kohl's instead. We got a lot of fun toys and books for Zeeke on sale, then went back to Babies R Us for just one thing. Zeeke slept all the way back to South Philly, but we pushed our luck, picking up a pork butt at the Italian Market for pulled pork sandwiches.

 

 

We've been learning more and more ways to get Zeeke to laugh.  It's such an amazing sound to hear.  When playing he's also manifested a new sound that we call his happy primal scream, very full of joy and extremely attention getting.

Zeeke's been doing so well in the car this week.  He can ride in the backseat by himself now for short trips.  Karen just gives him a few toys and he'll mostly entertain himself.  

We've stopped swaddling, giving him the freedom that he craves, and he's starting to get a hang of it.  There are more wakeups because he can now get his hand into his mouth to teethe, but it's getting better and better.

We think that yellow is currently Zeeke's favorite color.  His favorite toy when he's in the car is a yellow bear that plays classical music.  And one of his favorite games involves playing with this super soft yellow blanket.  His eyes light up as soon as he sees it.

This week was Steve's first work-at-home Tuesday.  Zeeke loves it when he has us both home and it was a great day.  Later, Zeeke had his four month checkup at the pediatrician.  He was seventeen-and-a-half pounds (82nd percentile) and twenty-seven-and-a-half inches long (96th percentile), and healthy as an ox.  He took his vaccination shots without a tear, just a little shout on the last one to make sure we knew he wanted it to stop.

Wednesday, Elspeth and her son Augie came to visit for lunch, storytime at the library, and a nice trip to the playground, where Karen introduced Zeeke to swings and the sliding board.

Thursday, Karen & Zeeke joined Jen & the twins at the Zoo.

On Friday, Karen's mom came down for a visit.  She joined us when we met up with friends for dinner at Seorabol, a great Korean barbeque restaurant.  We had a great dinner with Jen & Eric, Katie & Dave, Stephanie, Nadeen and Quailan, all of whom were more than happy to hold Zeeke for a while during dinner. He did a great job staying calm and pleasant during a long meal. 

On Saturday, there was a big block party (specifically a traditional Italian wedding serenade) in front of our house, so to make sure Zeeke didn't have trouble sleeping through it, we went to Chestnut Hill and spent a lovely evening and morning with Jen & Kim & the twins.  

 

After having Daddy with him 24/7 on vacation, Zeeke was not happy about losing him to work again. The first few nights back, when Steve would arrive home from work, Zeeke would shun him. The baby who loves to stare at people's faces wouldn't even look him. He'd just turn his head in the opposite direction and when Steve would turn Zeeke's body to face him, he'd just snap his head around the other direction. He finally stopped punishing him on Thursday night, but not before Steve arranged to work at home on Tuesdays (as well as Fridays).

There have been a lot of other things for Zeeke to get used to this week. With the weather turning cooler, our little heatwave baby has had to get used to wearing pants and socks. Socks are especially interesting when one of your hobbies is sticking your toes in your mouth. He's also said goodbye to being swaddled.

Zeeke got his first cold, not too surprising given how often his hands and feet get into his mouth. For a few days he had a hacking cough and some wet sneezes, but it never seemed to make him unhappy.

And everyone in the house loves his new bouncy chair, which keeps him happily occupied while Mommy and Daddy eat.  Another life-saving hand-me-down from Aunt Sarah.

On Monday, Joanne, Laurie, and Renee came by to visit Zeeke before taking Karen out to dinner. On Tuesday, Pam came to meet Zeeke. On Wednesday, Zeeke and Karen went to Miss Liz's storytime at the Fumo branch. On Thursday, they had lunch with Kate, Sharri and Nate. On Friday, Steve's parents came by for a visit. On Saturday, we took Zeeke to Scott & Stacey's antique store, then met up with Sally and Dena for sushi. When we got home, Steve's best friend from high school Mike came by to meet Zeeke and give him a lovely sweater knitted by his wife Shannon. And then on Sunday, Kate, Kelly, and Cynthia visited and took Karen out to brunch.

This week was Zeeke's first vacation and we discovered that a week at the beach with a teething baby is first and foremost a week with a teething baby. The poor little guy had some tough pain at times and there were some fairly sleepless nights, but he was a trooper. Mommy didn't get her usual beach time and Daddy didn't get his usual writing at the tiki bar time, but the weather was lovely and there were still a lot of great moments, including Zeeke's first trickles of unrestrained laughter.

On Wednesday, Elspeth and her son Augie came down to visit so Jen & Eric invited everyone to hang out at their place. While Elspeth was holding Zeeke out on the deck, Augie ran towards him, grinning, and Zeeke cracked up laughing. It was so great that we made him do it again and again. It was marvelous seeing our often stoic baby so gloriously giddy.

Zeeke's been getting more and more fascinated with our mouths and watching us eat, sometimes even trying to grab a piece of our food. We'll likely introduce solids foods next week after our four month pediatrician visit. He's showing better form at crawling this week, holding up his head and using his arms instead of pushing his face into the ground. He's still having trouble getting the necessary propulsion out of his legs though. He's also gets easily distracted by anything that looks like it might fit into his mouth (including his hands which always tend to be present).

We took a lot of walks this week with Zeeke facing forward in the Baby Bjorn (instead of towards Steve's chest). He really enjoys having a full view of the world around him, but he still likes it both ways. Oh, and Zeeke graduated to size three diapers this week.

On Saturday, we packed up early and headed home after Zeeke had breakfast. He was not digging the car ride at first and we worried it was going to a very painful trip for everybody, but fortunately he fell asleep by the time we hit the A. C. Expressway. All three of us were relieved to be home.

Zeeke only had a few hours respite from teething pain before a second molar started moving in on the other side of his mouth. He's producing gallons of drool a day and we are getting used to being wet.
To keep things interesting, he started expelling saliva by doing lots of raspberries. He's doing shorter, more efficient feeds. He discovered his feet a while back but has really gotten obsessed with them this week. He spends a lot of time in the "happy baby" yoga pose. After spending a lot of last week exploring Daddy's face with his hands, this week he's moved onto Mommy's face. He's also really loving Karen's jazzy rendition of the ABCs and Steve's version of Nina Simone's "My Baby Just Cares For Me."

On Monday, Zeeke went to two Labor Day parties. The first was at Liz & Kate's house. We admired their decorating and homemade pickles. The second party was at Sharri & Paul's house, where Zeeke had a great time playing with baby Nate while his parents had fun with the adults.

On Tuesday, Steve's parents came for a visit and brought us some lovely New Jersey corn, peaches and tomatoes. Zeeke rewarded them with a little showcase of the skills he's picked up.

Karen's dad and his girlfriend Joy came for a visit on Wednesday. They took Karen and Zeeke for lunch on Passyunk and had a great photo shoot between naps and bouts of mouth pain.

Thursday was a tough day with teething.

Friday, Karen and Zeeke went to the library, where Zeeke is really getting at home with all the library staff. The rest of Friday was spent packing for the shore, a massage for Karen's overworked back, and a visit from Dena.

On Saturday, Steve's brother Jay, his wife Brenda, and their daughter Avery were in town for a visit. We took them to the Sister Cities Park and they treated us to brunch at the Four Seasons. After getting home and packing the car for the trip, we went to Steve's parents' 50^th Anniversary Party. We had a great time celebrating and Zeeke picked up lots of new admirers, including Steve's Aunt Cissy who seemed pretty smitten with the boy. After the party, a tuckered out Zeeke slept for the entire rainy drive to the beach and slept pretty well at our shore rental.

On Sunday, we woke up bright and early and got breakfast at the Chicken and the Egg, where almost every table stopped up to admire Zeeke. Vacationers are going to give this guy a big head. After a walk on the beach, we met up with Jen & Eric and Laura & Paul for lunch at the Holiday Snack Bar. Later on Katie, Dave & Greta bicycled by for a visit and then we met up again later for dinner at the Blue Water Cafe. Sadly, most of the restaurants here have been proving a bit noisy for Zeeke to relax at, except for Holiday despite lots of bumps to his stroller as we made our way through the crowd.