our week with zeeke

Zeeke is extremely aware of his surroundings.  He'll track our movement through the room both with his eyes and by craning his neck.  Even in a dark room, he always locates even the tiniest glint of light or a moving shadow.  When we let him watch a minute of television, he become enraptured, completely forgetting anything that was upsetting him a second before, and when turn it off he becomes very annoyed.  We joke that his favorite show is the ceiling fan above the pack & play.  He'll lay on the changing pad, just staring at it and spacing out happily.  

On Monday, Karen brought Zeeke out to Distrito in West Philly for Steve's birthday lunch with the folks at work.

Wednesday was Steve's birthday.  Karen and Zeeke took Steve out to Hawthorne's for delicious pancakes.  After that, they went to Washington Square and then caught a matinee of "Moonrise Kingdom" at the Ritz.  Zeeke was very well behaved for his first movie, sleeping through the first half on Daddy's chest and quietly feeding with Mommy for the last half.  Afterwards, we had a late lunch of delicious sushi!

On Friday, our friend Maria who sold us the house came to meet Zeeke.  It was great to welcome her back to the house she grew up in.  She seemed to like what we had done with the place, especially the nursery, which used to be her room.  

That night, Joanne, Laurie and Tiffany came over to see Zeeke and then take Karen out to dinner.  He still missed his mommy, but it went much smoother than last time she went out.  

On Sunday, we walked Zeeke up to the antique store where Karen used to work to meet the owners Stacey & Scott.

We finally gave the little guy a bath.  There had been lots of sponge baths on the frequent occasions when he peed on himself (and Steve) during diaper changes, but this was the first tub bath.  He was not crazy about it.   

Zeeke is getting better and better at pushing himself up during tummy time.  He does these mini-pushups where he lifts his head and shoulders fully off the ground. 

On Wednesday, Sarah brought Riley and Bella over for a visit.  The six of us went out to a local playground and then ordered a pizza.

On Thursday, we went out to Chesnut Hill to hang with Jen and the twins.  When Kim got home from work, we had a lovely dinner outside at Chestnut 7.

On Friday, Dena brought us hamburgers from Whole Foods.  After that, Karen drove Steve to D&D to show off the baby and hang out.

On Saturday, Steve's Mom and Dad came by for a visit.  That night, Karen went out for the first time without Zeeke.  She had a blast at a librarian happy hour.  Unfortunately, back at home Steve found that no amount of bottles and walks could take the place of Mommy.  Everyone was much relieved when Karen returned home a couple hours later.  

We've been getting pretty serious with tummy time this week.  Zeeke is starting to lift his head while on his belly.   He'll also bat at the spinny toys that hang from his gym. 

Monday was Steve's second day back at work.   Laura and Karen started trying to teach Zeeke night from day and get him on a schedule, as opposed to just letting him eat and sleep whenever he feels like it.  It was a tough enough job alone, but Karen also had to hire a plumber when one of our toilets broke.  

On Wednesday, the five of us went to Franklin Square for miniature golf and Square Burger.  When we got home, Steve and Emma made oatmeal cookies.

On Thursday, we went to the Art Museum and Laura treated us to a lovely lunch at the Water Works.

Friday was our last day with Laura and Emma.  Before the visit, we'd been a little worried about having houseguests while managing a new baby, but they were a fantastic help, great fun and we didn't want them to leave.  We got cheesesteaks, then drove them to the airport. 

On Saturday, Steve's Aunt June came up from Wilmington for a visit, which was really nice.

Zeeke is spending more and more time awake without needing to feed each day, which is fun.  We started doing tummy time, brief sessions where we put him on his stomach for a little while, but he gets upset fairly quickly.  

Steve and Zeeke go for regular walks in the morning now to give Mommy a little alone time and everyone in the nieghborhood loves to check out the handsome baby.  By the end of the week, we were all three sleeping on the second floor of the house, Karen on the big bed and Steve on an air matteress in Zeeke's room.  Zeeke has started sleeping very well in his crib and seems to really like his room.

On Monday, Karen's Dad & Joy came over and took us out to lunch at Las Bugambilias.  

On Tuesday, Steve started back at work (one day a week), which was tough for all of us. Fortunately, Karen's mother came to visit and help with some chores.

On Thursday, we went to Chestnut Hill for a visit with Jen & Kim & the boys. Unfortunately, the drive home was tougher (ie screamier) than usual on Zeeke.

On Saturday, our friend Laura and her daughter Emma flew out from the west coast to help to visit and help us out with the baby.

On Sunday, the five of us went out to Hawthorne's for breakfast and visted Isaiah Zagar's Magic Garden.  After that, we met up with Steve's parents for the Rittenhouse Square Art Show.  It was a lot of fun and we bought Zeeke his first painting.

We've started taking turns, one of us sleeping downstairs with Zeeke, the other upstairs in bed.  It's only a little extra sleep each night, but it makes a big difference.

On Monday, Sarah brough the girls by.  Riley looked around the nursery and declared, "Zeeke had weird toys."  We didnt' think they were all that impressed with him at first, but they apparently talked about him all the way home.

On Tuesday, we brought Zeeke to the pediatrician for a weigh-in.  We weren't scheduled to see the pediatrician, but since we had come armed with the questions we forgot last week, she saw us and convinced us we had nothing to worry about with out little guy.  That night, Tara brought us a lovely cheesey chicken casserole.  Dena & Joanne came by too.

On Thursday, Joanne came back with Ren and a pizza.

On Friday, Micaela, Carl & Harper brought us a delicious lunch of grilled lamb and brussel sprouts.  When Steve lamented that the Ergo carrier was small for him, they insisted that we break out the Bjorn baby carrier and showed us how to use it.  From the first try, it was like magic.  Zeeke loved bouncing against Daddy's belly and he walked and danced around the room.  Later in the day, Sally came by for a visit, bearing diapers and an amazing chicken pot pie.

On Saturday, we headed back to Chestnut Hill for more of the same (Trolley Car, sleeping babies, relaxing on the patio).  In the evening, Tara & Rachel came by with a food delivery for Jen & Kim and we all hung out for a good long time.  Unfortunately, Zeeke got upset on the ride home.

Zeeke makes the cutest little cues when he's hungry.  His little tongue starts popping in and out of his mouth, sometimes curling up a little.  

On Tuesday, Zeeke had his first appointment with our pediatrician, Dr. Kiefer, who calls him "Zeeke Man."  We were happy to find out he was in perfect health and steadily gaining weight.  When she asked if we had any questions at the end, our minds went a little blank.  Of course, once we got out of the office, we thought of a million things we should have asked.

On Wednesday, we took our first walk around the block, which felt great.  Then we had visits from Jen B. & Liz (who brought us Indian food which Karen had been craving).

On Thursday, we took Zeeke out to Chestnut Hill for his first playdate with the twins, Jack & William.  The three of them slept through it, but we adults had a great lunch at the Trolley Car Diner and some much needed parent talk and relaxation.

On Friday, Karen's cousin Lisa was in town with her kids, so we took them out to Birra for pizza.  When Zeeke melted down a little, Karen took him down the street to Nice Things for a little feed.

On Sunday, Steve's mom and dad showed up for a visit, bringing beef stew.  Dena came by too for a little baby fix.

On Tuesday morning, May 8th, we went to a routine checkup with Dr. Shawl.  After he took Karen's blood pressure, he said he was sending her to the hospital.  "For tests?" she asked.  Nope.  Her elevated blood pressure meant the baby needed to come out today!

He scheduled us for a c-section that afternoon (as soon as Karen's stomach was empty enough for the anesthesia).  We went home, made a few calls and headed out to the hospital.  While we waited for the big moment, Karen kept herself calm with meditation and Steve by having a glass of bourbon.

Finally, at 3:46 pm, Zeeke was born!  Seven pounds, fifteen ounces.  He was crying and pale, but totally healthy.  To calm him down while he sat under the heat lamp, Steve sang David Bowie's "Kooks" to him like he used to do when Zeeke was still in the womb.

Karen's legs were numb for a long time after surgery and they couldn't take us to our room until she wiggled her toes.  Her blood pressure was still really high too.  Fortunately, they let Zeeke hang out with us for a while before they took him away.  Steve's mom and dad came and stayed with us while we were in recovery, although they only got to see Zeeke through the glass wall of the nursery that night.  Kim came too, which was amazing of her since the twins had been born just a week and a half earlier.

The hospital stay was rough at times.  Karen was in a lot of pain from the incision and gas trapped in her shoulder.  On the second night, Steve had a mini-breakdown when he couldn't get Zeeke to stop screaming and crying, but Karen saved the day, overcoming all of her pain, and calming them both down.  

There were good nurses and bad, good doctors and bad.  Karen's sister and mother visited, as did Steve's parents and niece, but mostly we kept visitors away, wanting it to be just the three of us for the first few days.  We spent all of our time and energy keeping him alive and staring in awe at the little person we had created.

Zeeke's weight went down eleven ounces from his birthweight, which was expected but scary.  Thursday morning, Steve went to a very informative breastfeeding seminar in the hospital and asked the instructor, Tammy, to come see Karen.  She helped us a lot, clearing up some misconceptions and showing us how to get a good latch.  When they weighed Zeeke the next day he had gained two ounces.

On Saturday, we finally got to bring Zeeke home from the hospital.  It was so great to be home, but kind of scary too, since we no longer had a parade of nurses and doctors to save us if we had a problem.  Karen's incision meant avoiding stairs for a while, so we decided to all camp out in the living room with Zeeke sleeping in the Pack & Play.  

Dena swung by for a visit and got drafted into being Zeeke's first official babysitter while we ran out to the pharmacy to get Karen's medications.

On Sunday, Kris & Ed came by with a ton of food (lentils, chicken stew, pasta & turkey meatballs, corn bread, couscous), guaranteeing we wouldn't go hungry in the coming weeks.