Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Today I require an essay....

please compare and contrast the videos below :-)







editted by sarah for clarity :

first video is once he got the hang of rice cereal.
second video is early on in a peaches adventure. Whoo peaches. They are not *nearly* as sketchy as his faces would have you believe.

No babies were harmed in the making of these videos.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

happy monday morning....


Lapping like the cats
Originally uploaded by m0nk3yphd

A Glowing Personality

Our lovely, lovely son does not transition gracefully.
(if you listen carefully you can hear his California Grandma smirking loudly).

It's alright. I don't rock the transitions. I feel his pain. Sometimes though? Sometimes it makes me want to sell him on ebay SO BADLY. Just for a second.

Tonight he was special tired. I have no idea why. It was not a special day. We did normal house things. He went on a quick Gristede's run with Mark. Apparently? Exhausted. How do I know?

Well, first we put him in the ergo back carrier. He arched and whined and danced. Nevermind. Then we tried the sheepcow chair. It held him briefly, with the vibrations going (its like low grade shaken baby. I'll take it). I managed to do a load of dishes before he broke down.

What could you need, little ball of misery? I picked him up and he latched onto to my face. Like a leech (ps - i almost linked a picture here. But they were officially too gross). Those of you without nursing children may not remember how large baby mouths can go. Let me tell you. First? They dislocate their lower jaws. Then they can open their mouths BIGGER THAN THEIR HEADS. So he latched onto my cheek. Funny/Scary - you be the judge.

My mom-tuition binged "What, you're hungry? Why didn't you say so!"
We skip off to the couch for a dinner snack. He nursed just long enough to spill milk all over both of us and then hung his head backwards off my lap to stare fixedly at the arm of the sofa. Trust me, it is not exciting. I tried to nudge him back to nursing. But he had planned ahead and locked his neck in this brokenneck way just in case CPS popped in and needed immediate proof of abuse. Sweet.

We tried nursing in the dark on the bed. This is the refuge of desperation, the last ditch prebed routine to convince him to eat before sleeping so he doesn't wake up at some ridiculous hour. The prettypretty please of parenting. We settled in. He nursed for something like 2 minutes. And then went crazy. Craaaaaazy. Except he kept eating. Apparently it took both hands and one foot (in a tractioned footy pajama) and his mouth to get my boob. I had NO IDEA a stationary breast was so wiley. Pretty freakin wiley. And his other foot needed to fold his feet up to his head. Except I was in the way. And his third hand kept trying to pull the blanket on the bed over his head.

It was very relaxing.

He's asleep now. Not dead, I checked. I put him wild eyed into his crib. He cried for three whole minutes before his brain was like "THIS IS WHAT WE WANT" and then thud, down for the count.

I'm going to lay on the floor. My brain says "THIS IS WHAT WE WANT".

*THUD*

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Out to play..

... because it's been so hot and sticky in the afternoons, without A/C, in our apartment. Zachary and I have been heading over to the Tower's garden. Tower 2 provides the perfect shade with a lovely breeze blowing off the hudson. It is a welcome break from the greenhouse, with the sun shining directly in. And it turns out that all there other tower babies come out to play. So yesterday I bumped into Claire and Pearl. And today I met Manny and Mary, as well as Braken and Penelope. Both Manny and Penelope are a little older than Z. And are crawling/walking around making all sorts of naughtiness. And Zachary just sits watching, with a checky grin that say "hmmmm, so thats how I do the crawling thing" ...I suspect more fun in the future.


towers garden
Originally uploaded by m0nk3yphd

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Good to know

Apparently Zachary is Zachary and not Zacharina because...
I eat cereal in the morning. Or was eating (quite well) in france when I first got pregnant.

Because boys are harder to grow? Or harder to starve later, so we set the nutritional bar high? The real question here is "MOM, WHY DID YOU TRY TO STARVE ME OUT SO EARLY ON??" *grin*
Right. Just checking.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Parallel Play Rocks


face off #2 - 1
Originally uploaded by m0nk3yphd

Ok. Tuesday recap of our wild weekend.

Friday night we had a wonderful shabbat dinner at our house with Shane, The Zlotoff family, and two new friends. It was our first foray into anything dinnerparty-ish and we think it went rather well (that's a little fib. We had the Basu-Zychs over while Debbie was here. But we didn't bake bread for that). No pics, but the babies did well post temple. We'd gone to a pre-passover sing along before services. Zachary wasn't quite old enough to hop like a frog but hey... he was willing to make a go of it. Maybe Zachary would have gone to bed earlier if he'd have known what was coming.....





1st food - 4
Originally uploaded by m0nk3yphd



Saturday morning brought... food adventures! Oh yeah. Gritty breastmilk is awesome. Z got his groove on after a few funny faces and by the end was lunging for the spoon. It'll be a gradual process but he's starting to lean towards our food... it turns out maybe not just toys go in the mouth.




Professor Pony
Originally uploaded by m0nk3yphd



Saturday night ... first night seder fun. Zachary was a hit (The Burch Seder = one of our favorite traditions). He got superfun toys (including a pony whose head spins all the way around - we explained the cats do not work this way)... even Kenny gave him a ride. He was so tired when we went home that he slept the whole way on the subway.





Zachary's 1st train ride
Originally uploaded by m0nk3yphd







And on Sunday.. out to New Jersey to meet his cousins and join in the first annual raviv seder. That's what the picture is at the top, a meeting of the minds. *grin* It was fantastic to see what we have to look forward to - the 6 week difference means Daniel (besides having 3 teeth - wow...) is dancing when he stands and plays like a superstar. We headed home tuckered out from all the fun. Zachary closed his eyes when we got on the NJ transit train and didn't open them till we hit windy Broadway. Even when Mark held open the A train doors while carrying him. (I was a little miffed - the woman sitting behind us smiled and said "He didn't even wake up, don't worry". I had to crack up).

Whoo. We all slept pretty well. We might be caught up by tomorrow.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Content free content


Stuck that way
Originally uploaded by m0nk3yphd

Ok. We're really tired. It has been a crazy weekend involving a wonderful shabbat dinner on friday (at our house) and two great seders (one in Chelsea and one in NJ). We're really tired. I think I mentioned that. Zachary had his first "real" food on saturday morning (by real food we mean gritty breastmilk. Real is a strong overstatement here). We thought we'd warm him up on friday by giving him a big spoon to play with. It obviously went well. Lots more later. The pictures are up on Flickr, but the stories will have to wait till we've slept. Happy week we're totally unprepared for! That's the best part of Jewish holidays on the weekend. You don't have to miss work, but you spend all of monday with your head resting on the desk while you surf the internet and drool.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

What you can't tell


Musical Dad
Originally uploaded by m0nk3yphd

from this picture is that they are on the last page of the book. It has allll the animals (the book is Moo, Baa, LaLaLa for the uninitiated). Every time Zachary hit an animal, Mark made the sound. Zachary was flailing wildly for a minute... and then he figured it out. It was pretty entertaining.

More pictures up on flickr, including a Zachary sized book, and me making ridiculous faces. Its the only way to combat the household paparazzi.

Oh! Also Doctor update. Zachary had his 6 months appointment on wednesday. He survived vaccines round 11 thousand (or just round 4). He's 22 1/2 lbs and 28".

Watch this space for excellent photos. We're starting solid foods on saturday. (I say solid foods. However solid rice cereal is...)

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Say WHAT?


Hanging Out
Originally uploaded by m0nk3yphd

We almost forgot.

Zachary is now six months old. It is official. As of Sunday. He's very nonchalant about these things, as you can tell.

Auntie Debbie IS AMAZING


Auntie Debbie IS AMAZING
Originally uploaded by m0nk3yphd

True story. Aunt Debbie is amazing. She just visited us over the weekend and we were all so sad to see her go. Who else will teach Zachary about chillaxin? (That would be chilling and relaxing, for the uninitiated). Or the high quality of photos taken by oneself at arms length? I recommend clicking this picture through to flickr because there is much cuteness there... including, but not limited to... a velour track suit... and bath time..and m0nk3y pirates.. just to name a few.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

The big green monster rears its ugly head..


Who's Dat?
Originally uploaded by m0nk3yphd

Oh yeah. That's a look of jealousy in our lovely son's eyes. Mmmm hmm. His friend Abigail Z. was over for fun - she discovered his chair (she's 2 1/2 months old) and he discovered her.. sitting in his chair.. which was a little overwhelming. Not as overwhelming though as when she squawked. She made a cute and wonderful baby sound (at a volume which he believed only he could make) and he startled. And paused. And then screamed SO LOUD and when I scooped him up he kept sniffling and then looking at me and looking at her. *grin* One of the funniest things I've seen in ages. Other babies have sat in that chair, but I guess playgroup has enough distraction to keep him less concerned.
In other news...
Happy 6 month birthday! We don't know how we got here, but we can't imagine being anywhere else.
PS - People should comment. Otherwise we feel like that crazy guy talking to himself in the subway. Because there's only that one...

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Debbie says "turkey thighs" ......


....... and also "where is his knee?" that's all I have to say.

Da Scootch



As promised, I finally videoed the scootch. Just watch out for the surprise in the middle, Sarah wasn't impressed that I didn't stop filming to wipe up :-)

Who do the Tuttles Support?


Obama 2008
Originally uploaded by m0nk3yphd

Just in case you were wondering. Zachary can not quite reach the giant lever box and Mark is still holding back on taking the quiz. But Zachary is willing to look adorable to try to help bring this primary season to a close.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Mind the Gap


ASBO hoody waiting to happen
Originally uploaded by m0nk3yphd

So it's finally gotten sunny enough for us to get the sun hats out and stop our boy going all lager lout lobster :-) This was a cute hat that we modified for our urban-styling babe.
Then he and I went to the garden at the hospital to relax, enjoy the spring weather and watch the pretty cherry blossoms blow in the breeze.
What a lot of illiteration...ok it must be late...there are photos up.
luv m&s

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Ride 'em, dadboy!


Giddyup
Originally uploaded by m0nk3yphd

Gotta love this action shot. A video to follow tomorrow. Mostly I love that he looks a little bit like a dog hanging its head out of a car window. He hangs on to Mark's hair and steers. I spend the entire video laughing like a hamster.

Stoic Dad


Stoic Dad
Originally uploaded by m0nk3yphd

That sort of says it all. Mark was stoic before the spit up. The spit up just gave him a good reason for stoicicity. Even though that isn't a word. Stoicism. There we go...

Weekend Omnibus - Part II


Standing AND Grabbing
Originally uploaded by m0nk3yphd

Zachary really wants to stand up. With all of his heart & soul. Or he has a lot of gas. Either way. Mark indulged him by letting him chill out on the couch with backup. Because when he stops standing, it is still a catastrophic failure :)

The weekend omnibus.... Part I



Still no good video of the backward round about wiggle. Apparently its become too commonplace to entertain us enough to get the video going, sorry. Zachary has had a fun filled weekend though - daddy shoulder rides galore, and an intricate game with a mirror toy. I say intricate. What I mean is... he couldn't decide if he should look at his reflection or chew on it. So instead he went for the middle ground of smooshing it as hard as he good against his face and rubbing it around while looking at the reflection of his very close eye suspiciously. There was a lot of drool. Mark was sitting with him and ended up having several puddles on his trousers. Fun was had by all.
Zachary has also been deeply distracted by the aforementioned fun. He's starting to need reminders to do things like eat & sleep. It could be for moments like these that the words "strung out" were coined... Mark wants me to tell you that when we took this video it was dinner time and Zachary hadn't taken a nap so had been up for 7 or eight hours. Can you tell? CAN YOU TELL? CAN YOU CAN YOU CAN YOU CAN YOU?!?!?! :D We could. It is amazing how instantly reliant new parents become on naps. They are the sweetest nectar. Its like sneaking into an R movie. The baby wakes up and you feel like you've been busted enjoying something fantastically illicit and now real life calls.