Party like its .... 2007! (for the last time)

Pictures on their way, but this video? Well, let's just call it a preview for the music video....

Because education starts at home...

Today we had big adventuring. Zachary got his first trip to a climbing gym... he's still a little small, but its just a matter of time (they do have pretty little climbing boots....). We also got a book of Mother Goose Nursery rhymes. We've been reading through (some of them are less common than others, some we can all sing along to...) but Grandma Jackie brought us a more creative version of one:

Three rodents with defective vision
Three rodents with defective vision
Observe how they perambulate
Observe how they perambulate
They perambulated after the agricultural workers spouse
Who severed their posteriors with a kitchen utensil
Have you ever observed such a phenomena in your entire existance?
As three rodents with defective vision...

*grin* Hm, possibly not as politically correct as you might expect from the special ed teacher, but there you go.

super-zach
Originally uploaded by m0nk3yphd

And so we figure, I should upload a few more photos and write up what we've been up to in Santa Cruz, for those grandparents across the pond. Yesterday was an open house for Jackie and Michael's friends to come meet Master Zachary. He got a lot of attention but was so well behaved considering the noise and number of people grabbing him to cuddle.
Today, he slept during our tour around the cliff and beaches of Santa Cruz county. That of course was the point though, He'd woken up at 8:30am and played almost non-stop until one. His interactive awake periods are getting longer and he started oohing more and possibly aaahing. He has not yet managed however to realize that when he is tired, getting all worked up and flustered doesn't help and that an mid-morning nap might be the key.

Play Safe!

Play Safe!
Originally uploaded by m0nk3yphd

Zachary got his introduction to West Cliff Drive this afternoon. It was a beautiful day. By noon it was warm and the surfers were coming out en masse. It was hard to remember it is christmas eve and just a few days past the solstice. I haven't checked on new york weather in several days - I hope the cats are staying warm in what is inevitably colder than this weather! We figured this sign was a good life lesson *grin*... Be Cautious... Play Safe! Zachary has obviously got it down. Napping, the safety pasttime...

We made it (part deux)!

happy squirrel
Originally uploaded by m0nk3yphd

We finally got to Santa Cruz! Via the wonderful highway one. And found new clothes awaiting zacharroni's arrival.

We made it!

the painted ladies, and SF skyline
Originally uploaded by m0nk3yphd

Tada! This is a picture of the three of us in Alamo Square Park, right near Debbie's house. The houses behind us are called "The Painted Ladies". We had a lovely day, wandering out to Fort Point (more pictures on flickr), visiting the Sea Lions on Pier 39. We wrapped up the day visiting the shops at Ferry Building market... yummy desserts came home with us for dinner. Also? Sourdough bread is amazing. No joke. Tomorrow we head to Santa Cruz. More later. We're still trying to figure out what timezone Zachary is living in....

Off we go.....

The diapers are clean, we all seem to be wearing clothes, and so far no one has yelled (very loudly, and that was mark, and it was at his toe, so it doesn't count). We are all clean (by some sort of miracle, since the hot water seemed to go off before we left. Awesome) and have packed most of the universe... California, here we come!

Morning fun

Daddy Reads
Originally uploaded by Niais

Zachary is still recovering a bit from his vaccines, so sleeping more between feedings. This morning though he had a burst of interest so he got lots of play time. Mark read to him, we sang songs, and as the video shows, he even got to play "track and grab". Ok, maybe its "track and fling". You be the judge.

How can we tell when he's hungry?

chewy mum shoulder, mmmm tasty
Originally uploaded by m0nk3yphd

:) He's not so subtle....

Good morning Grandparents!

Flame Chaps
Originally uploaded by m0nk3yphd

Let's make it a two baby early morning feed. We have an ice storm. It'll be rain by the next time we wake up. But the flaming chaps were too cute to keep to ourselves....

AMAZING

Our baby is *amazing*.
:)
He has *so* many tricks. Yup.
Besides the standard baby tricks (eating, pooping, sleeping) he comes with an enhanced set... we have smiling, and laughing, and crazy cooing sounds.. not to mention our two new favorites, fist in mouth (with great repeatability) and as of this evening... grabbing! Ok, its a new trick, and its not one hundred percent but... definitely grabbing. And he has long conversations with my boob, but that's a different post....

Oh, I forgot!

Our baby ate all the other babies.
No joke. According to the CDC.

As of today, he's 15lbs 12oz.
*grin*
To be fair, its because we're freakish and exclusively breastfeeding. That means especially now at the start the percentile results are a bit skewed.

And he's hitting the baby tylenol. After eating this afternoon he looked up at me and screamed. Screamed like I was actually torturing him. For a long time. At which point I gave him baby tylenol, because frankly? With tears and snot and spit up, it was clear even without a fever he may not being having a fantastic time.

He's doing much better. Cuddling his daddy and napping. Thank goodness.

All but one...

Why, you ask, did our charming boy get only two shots instead of three? Oh, that's right. Because the third got recalled this morning.
Seriously. This morning. How unreal is that? Mm. Anyway, he was a superstar. He yelled (duh, he got a jab in each thigh) but then I fed him and he looked a little dazed and fell asleep. Because he's amazing. :)
Also? The weather is currently a wintery mix. As we walked home it was hailing & snowing AT THE SAME TIME. Weather is whack. Let that be today's lesson.

The world at his fingertips.....

one passport down, one to go
Originally uploaded by m0nk3yphd

Now if only he could move more efficiently than by wriggle.

But he can't. So at least we'll know where he is for now.
Today was lots of excitement. Zachary & I went to lunch with the girls, and then had some quality lab time. Ok, cleanroom for me, napping for the boy. When's the mommy get a nap, hmmmmmmm? *grin*

All is well, channukah was lots of fun, we're getting excited about california, and the last picture was *not* a doll, :P

DON'T PANIC

8th night 2
Originally uploaded by m0nk3yphd

zachary is still here. sorry there was no post yesterday :-P

the trouser, for contrast

I had to go back and look how baggy they were and wow he's growing fast!

Zachary Zoo

Zachary Zoo
Originally uploaded by m0nk3yphd

Happy Chanukah Zachary Zoo. So this week has been an exciting and I'm sure sarah will fill you in on all fun things, like zachary sleeping 6.5 and then 7.5hrs, then he got a cold and had his first green boggie. He has also started to verbalize (making OH and occasionally AH sounds) on what seems like purpose, and now I get to play a game of repetition with him. And just for a omg reference he came home from the hospital in these trousers but then they were around his armpits!

Zach's first cold...

Be grateful there are no pictures. I definitely almost took one of the snot.
He was a little laggy yesterday and I was a little worried. But Mark had been a bit sick, I felt like I was getting a little sick, so we weren't entirely surprised. And so he slept and fussed for much of yesterday. Until night time. More fussing, less sleeping. He'd slept 7.5 hours the night before... maybe that was flukey and part of being sick. We were all excited that it might mean real sleep ;) We're so easily tricked. He woke up this morning and was *just pissed*. *grin* Not in the english sense. I got up and walked with him and he suddenly got quiet.... Oh, that's right. He screamed out the big giant lump of green snot and now... Big smiles! *laugh* Babies are amazing. We should all be so instantaneously fixable. Poof, no more snot, bring on the fun! He is such a happy baby, it is astounding.

For Debbie...

I think we've found the perfect job for Zachary.... or maybe this one....

*Don't* wake a sleeping baby....

Start your laughing now.

Zachary is doing fantastically. So well, in fact, that his night sleeping is quickly stretching out. No huge surprise, really. He's a good eater, he's the size of a small sheep, he's turning two months old on saturday. And he's been a good sleeper, even when he was waking up frequently to feed. He's been sleeping ~5 hours at a stretch at night, and we were pleasantly surprised when that started (because 2-3 hours is just a little on the short side, frankly).

Last night, he slept a whopping 6 and a half hours. Whoo!

His parents, of course, slept more like 5.

5:05am

Me: "Is he awake?"
(woke up through some combination of too much milk, squeaking baby, and hyperactive mom silliness)

Mark: "I don't know. He could be hungry."
(who knows why he's awake. Willow, probably. She has a sense of when her meowing is most effective/annoying)

(a long pause, during which the baby makes baby noises. Sleeping baby noises.)

Mark: "I could wake him up."

Sarah: "Don't wake the baby."

Mark: "Maybe he's overheated?"

Sarah: "Could be. Don't wake the baby."
(although at this point it would be bliss if he fed. Certainly more comfortable...)

Sarah: "I think this is an ok length of time for him to sleep. We should be happy. We're going back to sleep"

(ten minute pause)

(the baby makes some sort of noise. A sleeping baby noise.)

Sarah: "Is he hungry? Is he awake?"

Rinse and repeat.

Mark & Zachary are back in bed :)

So much news! So little time!

Hola World
Originally uploaded by Niais

Ok, first things first.
We went to the otolaryngologist. Whoa. Say that five times fast.

ZACHARY IS ABSOLUTELY HEALTHY.

:) See? In caps, so there is no concern. The very nice doctor put a babysized scope down Zach's nose (yes, he loved that. Lots & lots.). It was very cool to watch what happened when he breathed - and what happens you might ask? Well, this little bit of muscle that isn't yet rigid closes up over his airway as he takes big breathes. And its fine. And it should go away around six months, or at least by two years. Here's to several more months of nursing next to loud machinary.

In much more *fun* news - Zachary suddenly noticed the world. Poof. The last few days he's been smiling at us, and looking around a little more. Yesterday was like the day the world was born. Suddenly he's staring at objects (and us) for ages. We got out this toy that was a gift (when received we thought it was so big it would eat him - he's caught up to it) - anyway, this video is a little clip...he's started to play. He gets frustrated because he knows he wants to grab, but his body hasn' t worked it out yet. But he spent a bunch of time (ok, several minutes, several times) staring at it (it has big eyes, and a mirror on one of the feet), waving his arms, making cooing talking sounds to it. Absolutely incredible.




We're such new parents. It is so much fun.

Snowbaby

First Snow
Originally uploaded by Niais

It snowed a grand total of 1 inch today in NYC. So of course we figure a prime opportunity to take Master Zachary Collins out in his beautiful red snow suit. Now for those of you have finally figured out the confusing technology that is flickr.com we've thrown up a new hurdle. Sarah (ie niais) has posted her pictures to a different flickr account. And just to keep you on your toes I took my camera out too and those pictures are on my account (m0nk3yphd).
We wander up to the park and then back making a snow angel on the way. Enjoy both sets of pic's.

Your moment of zen

Especially for the grandparents.
We figure there is nothing better than sleeping babies.



And with the WGA strike in the US, no watching "The Daily Show" , so we make our own fun. :)

Back to work

Back to work
Originally uploaded by Niais

Indeed we are. Back at work. Sort of, in our kludgy trying to figure it out kind of way. The first two days were fantastic. Monday I worked from home, Tuesday I worked from work for part of the day. Ok, so we did lots of catching up (Mark brought the baby for a bit) but it was a good start. Ugh, and then today. Sucko. I had a doctor's appointment (my last! hoorah! I got a clean bill of health.) But meanwhile... My appointment was at 9:30am. In the morning. Which is practically the earliest an appointment can be. This strategy was employed much through my pregnancy because doctors in new york, in particular our doctor's practice... the later in the day, the more likely you should have brought two meals & a sleeping bag. Anyway, 9:30am.

She was TWO HOURS LATE.
Awesome. Awesome awesome awesome. So that was a huge chunk-o-rama out of the day. Because I didn't manage to eat before we left the house (Mark was at work, and i have not yet mastered the art of leaving the house with infant) I was *desperate*. On the upside, we had a fantastic adventure aftwards, off to the post office to apply for Zachary's american passport. See evidence in the pictures. But of course, by the time we got home, it was pushing 1:30pm.

What? I'm not in control of my life? Wha? Schedule?
:)
Yeah, I know. We're working on it.

The midget continues to be continuously entertaining. Lots of smiling now when he's awake, which is fantastic fun. We're starting to believe that he means it. :)

... don't you tell me to smile ...

Mark found some time to catch up on his "Dad Book" today. One of the highlights is a chart of baby reflexes, most of which start to fade around now (Zachary is a whopping six weeks old today! Amazing.). He took it upon himself to test a variety of reflexes and when that didn't go as planned (some day bribe me to see the infamous "Orange" video).... Well, he discovered a new reflex, which I've declared the "Collins Clown Face" reflex for obvious reasons....






Oh yes. Yes indeed. On the upside, think how helpful it will be to have documentation when he's in therapy. He won't even *have* to explain....

It's hard out here for a pimp....

happy face 2
Originally uploaded by m0nk3yphd

Seriously. Life is really hard. It's hard to tell, from this picture. He just hides the suffering well.

Flashdance anyone?

Flashdance anyone?
Originally uploaded by m0nk3yphd

And I'm pretty sure this speaks for itself.

On the road again...

passport please
Originally uploaded by m0nk3yphd

Oh yes, we're deep in the land of documenting the birth of young Zachary. Now that we have accumulated the initial paperwork, we're now generating all sorts of secondary bits and drabs - note exhibit a. We tried today (in a burst of errand doing) to get to the post office to file his american passport paperwork. Ah, perhaps another day. We did however open a bank account for him (hoorah!) and I had a successful doctor encounter (don't you love not feeling crazy? I sure do.)

So slowly slowly we entangle our son in the global network of existence.
Really, I'm just fond of this picture because 1) It will be his passport till he's 5, and a little more like a person and 2) Because of his desperately concerned face, which looks to me like "Um, mom? That raptor looks hungry..."


PS - I totally get the irony where I'm slightly bemused/annoyed at the huge amount of "registering" and document gathering now associated with existing, and here I am generating all this content related to my itsy bitsy five week old baby. Just meeting demand here, people, nothing to see. This is what happens when you indulge a crazy person :)

I haven't broken him. I swear.

purple tongue, originally uploaded by m0nk3yphd.

Ok, a little. Please don't freak out when you see the other pictures. It's all ok. It's just because he eats a little bit like "Animal" from the muppets. Its Gentian Violet. Just file it under "Another Strike in the war against thrush".... Please don't freak out because I'm getting medical advice off the internet. :) I promise I tried 3 doctors first.

Guess why I'm posting this...

This post has no Zachary content. Just one link. The first person to guess why gets a cookie...... MARK'S FIRST NEW YORK TIMES PHOTO CREDIT!!!!!

Oh wait. I might have given that one away.

I suck at surprises.

A thumb to suck

A thumb to suck
Originally uploaded by m0nk3yphd

During a feeding at somepoint before I went to work, sarah yelled "mark, quick get your camera" so in I ran grabing the nikon on route. Really this picture doesn't do it justice, you'd need a movie, maybe next time. Zach had found his thumb in his mouth and realised just for a minute that this was better than boob. But sucking like crazy he just couldn't quite get the milk flowing from his thumb, and he lost interest.

Teach... your children well...

Mark sings to Zachary. All the time. And the two songs in rotation currently have been "Stand By Me" and "Sim Shalom". Sorry, correction from Mark. He's also been singing "End of A Century" by Blur. There you go. "End of A Century" is the only song he knows all the words to. In the hunt to diversify (and find the words to "Stand By Me" because there are rules.) Mark found two excellent examples of english music (here and here). Weirdly enough, both videos are in black and white. But by far the best find....




And, because Mark didn't understand the title of the post...

Back to feeding the baby.

An ode to my mom

Heads Up, originally uploaded by m0nk3yphd.

First - tada! This is a picture of pre-breakdown tummy time. He's actually putting up with quite a while being on his belly. His little limbs fling wildly and eventually he works out the push up. Mark said the other day "Look, he's trying to crawl!" which I suppose is true in the vaguest sense of the word. It's like when foals are born. They flail wildly for a few minutes and get their legs stuck up their noses and then finally figure out some coordination. Except it takes a little bit longer with babies. Ok. Maybe a lot longer.

This whole new parent thing is pretty funny. Because clearly this happens with babies every day, even at the moment our son is figuring out how to track the rattle and turn his head and hold our fingers and our gaze. Somewhere else, it's happening too. And somehow? That doesn't make it less special.

Clearly the hormones of birth have done some serious and permanent work.

And the ode to my mom - Just for the record, today we had the first incidence of footie pajama foot filled with poo. I say filled. It wasn't really filled because its sticky stringy breastfeeding poo. So it had more tar dripped alllllll the way down to his toes. Oh yeah. It was *awesome*. It was. I blame this on the hormones. We both just laughed and tickled him. Whoa. What is *wrong* with us? :)

Just a blip

Zachary had his one month doctor's visit yesterday. He weighed in at a whopping 12lbs 9oz and 23" long. Our doctor called him a "butterball" (in a good way ;>) and told us if anyone mentioned butterball this month to take the baby and run (for the non-american readers - butterball is a kind of turkey. Making thanksgiving time a dangerous time for butterballs everywhere). He's average weight for a 3 month old. Really, its quite common for breastfed babies to get big fast and then even out. Or at least that's what we keep telling ourselves. :) More pictures soon, we promise.

mummy made redundant

mummy made redundant, originally uploaded by m0nk3yphd.

Oh yes. Today was the day. Zach was four weeks old yesterday and Mark goes back to work tomorrow. Which means 2 more weeks and I'm up for joining the real world too. We had been read the riot act by lots of people about the tricksy step of introducing bottles.

We so should have known better. Nothing gets between Zach and his food. Noooothing.

Who knows if he'll continue to be so nonchalant about change. He certainly didn't get that from me. We can only hope :)

So here's a picture of Mark, concentrating very hard on making sure milk happens. It was adorable, I felt totally at loose ends, and I should be thrilled but really was a little sad to not be quite as special.

Mid late night feed inquiry

Why is it any sort of intenstinal track activity involves a huge amount of limb flinging? We're talking huge. An amount which we should be able to harness and sell back to the utility grid. And it clearly helps. The efficacy is increased hugely if he makes a crazy face in which is forehead is screwed up.

And yet, babies this age DON'T KNOW ABOUT THEIR HANDS OR FEET.

So how can it help?

I'm stymied.

Baby Starfish ...

Baby Starfish
Originally uploaded by m0nk3yphd

What more is there to say, this the the beautiful sleep sac knitted by Antara. The other new photos also show the awesome quilt from Jen.

Don't Decapitate, it hurts Zach's little head!

re-posting this with new settings so it doesn't cut off his head. ---- Yup it works now :-)

And as for hurting his head. Papa monkey has not had such a good dad day. I banged his head on the arm of the chair, and earlier today he wiggled free as I was putting him on the couch for head lifting time. His 1st freefall skydive!

All dressed up

baby, originally uploaded by m0nk3yphd.

and just going to bed. :)
There you go. An up to date picture. With a duck. Can't go wrong with ducks.

By far the big excitement of the day was the baby shooting poo, mark trying to clean it up, and getting his head peed on.

That's what he gets, for posting a cranky picture of Zachary.

What I'm awake, Gah, hungry, hungry NOW

What I'm awake, Gah, hungry, hungry NOW, originally uploaded by m0nk3yphd.

this is a test?

Ask and you shall receive

Seriously. You people are intense. I had no idea.

We'll try to put up some pictures & anecdotes with regularity. We promise. To try, anyway.