PS

I haven't really mentioned it lately, but we're battling thrush. Well, actually, cross fingers, we're on our way out of the woods. I say "we" but the truth is *I* have thrush and Zachary keeps giving it to me. See? A mother must have guilt ammo that starts somewhere. And I have two terrible doctor stories. And many of you have already heard them. But first? A shout out to the MOST INCREDIBLE DOCTOR ON THE PLANET. Dr. Mona Gabbay is a doctor who specializes in breastfeeding (gasp, what a concept) and is a trained lacation consultant. She earned her way onto my "List of Favorite People" by telling me I wasn't crazy. Hoorah, not crazy. Then? Then she told me how we can get the thrush gone. She even explained why it had stuck around for so long. (For those of you who may be suffering thrush and googling like mad trying to fix it? Don't boil your bras. I'm just saying. I mean, I didn't. But I was almost that desperate. Don't say I didn't warn you.) Here's hoping medicine works. Now on to the complaints. ;)

We first tried to get the thrush taken care of mostly by his pediatric practice. They prescribed nystatin, which it turns out is pretty well known to not be uber effective these days. Fine. That combined with (hard earned) oral medication for me took us back from HORRIBLE PAIN I WANTED TO DIE FROM to "Huh, this is sort of uncomfortable". Great. An improvement. When I called his doctor to ask what we could do to finish it off? His impatient reply was, after we clarified it was the thrush on my breasts that hadn't gone.....

"Your breasts are not my problem."

Awesome. I managed not to burst into tears until *after* I hung up the phone.

I found a much kinder Ob/GYN who had prescribed the oral medication I was on. When I called to ask her she wasn't in, but very kindly called me from home (where she was obviously home with her kids). Above and beyond the call of duty. Her response, several weeks later when we hadn't managed to kick it with her "cure"?

"I'm a bad mom. I didn't breastfeed my kids. I don't know what else to tell you."


Now, first of all, I don't think she's a bad mom, or a bad person. I think you decide what you can do to feed your kids. It's your body and your family. Breastfeeding does take energy (physical & emotional) and time. It is not all bunnies and roses. I do not care that she didn't breastfeed. But? I care that she couldn't be bothered to doctor. Did my orthopedic surgeon have his hip replaced before he replaced mine? No. No he did not. Yet somehow he managed to find it ok and even get the new one in. I get it. Not that many women breastfeed. Fine. Isn't there, oh, I don't know, a community of people you could talk to? Oh wait. YOU COULD JUST GOOGLE IT. Because actually that works too. I googled it. But I can't write myself a prescription. Because that would be against the law.

Ugh. Who knew there were so many ways to get it wrong?

But now its right. So everyone can rejoice. Hoorah! Rejoice.

Mark says I have to post a good video. Tomorrow, I promise, back to baby content. He'll be chipper, fun will be had.

Official Weigh In

Drumroll please.....
20lbs 8.8oz, naked weight.

26.5"

He's a little post vaccine fussy, but tylenol rocks.

Oh, and mom, his head is 44cm.

Not going to win any marathons...

Not yet, at least :)

UCSC t-shirt fashion shoot!

happy face 3
Originally uploaded by m0nk3yphd

He lit up for the last few photos when Sarah walked in to help. Up until then he'd been pulling silly grouchy pouty faces.
Also we have a great high chair.
Furthermore 21 and a half pounds of pure blubber. It's what keeps him sitting upright.

Couldn't be happier

happy sloth baby
Originally uploaded by m0nk3yphd

There are a bunch of new funny pictures up on Flickr. It was a hard choice, and I was tempted by the plumber's crack picture but... Zachary looks so happy in this one. Mark was crawling around wearing the Ergo... and Zachary was chillin. He's starting to mug for the camera a bit, or at least to mug for us. Other pictures up include comparisons between the bassinet (we just put it away) and the crib... And of course, another in the series of "things we put on Zachary's head to annoy Debbie & add to his years of therapy". This time it was a tea cozy elephant. We've never used it as a tea cozy, but it turns out its a *perfect* Zachary hat. Good for those trips out in the kitchen... i mean the cold...

Happy Purim Katan

Well it's Purim Katan and to celebrate Sarah pulled out the adorable Hanna Anderson Skunk suit....And it fits! Zachary "da Skunk" Collins was mucho pleased

But wait, there's more!

1) You should check out the sheep. No joke. If you go to the pictures, you will see the cutest baby goats in all of the world. If we could fit a goat in the apartment... they could sleep in the bath tub, right? Or the way things are going, by the end of the night, they'd be on the bed along with eveeeeeryone else. Ha.


2) Zachary is officially sleeping in his crib. The co-sleeper is detached. We probably would have left him in the co-sleeper longer, but he's actually so giant that his elbows hit both sides. It seemed like it was probably time, before it collapsed from his weight. That giant car seat suddenly seems like it was definitely the right choice. Since otherwise, at 4 months, our darling boy would have outgrown it already. Oy.

Ring Thang

Zachary cracks me up. First of all, he's really started to notice the camera. He'll be doing something cute, and I get out the camera, and then he stops and stares at it. Well, except for this video, since he was taking the rings very seriously. He's also getting some motion when on his belly. We aren't talking real motion. Just backward scootches when what he wants is forward. It bodes badly for the forward. If we catch it on video you'll see it here first. Obviously ;)




PS - I don't know if anyone notices. But some ridiculous amount of the time, the background you can hear is Radio 4.

And not that anyone cares (No baby content past this point)..
But I'm starting to rock the whole baby + rest of life thing. Yesterday? I took care of the baby and made pizza. Today? Baby + pea soup. Dude. We might not starve to death after all. Look out martha stewart... Oh wait. Right. I would have to also do the *dishes* for me to win a death match with her. Shoot.

buffalo thighs

Swim Diaper = Biker Black Lizards
Originally uploaded by m0nk3yphd

We'll got a swim diaper last week. So now we just need to find out when the pool is open for babies, and splishsplosh off we go. Oh and Sarah will need to figure out membership since columbia is DUMB and the membership at the morningside campus gym is not the same as membership for the medical campus gym, go figure! Back on topic, what, I hear you ask is so special about a swim diaper. Well really it is just a way to contain the pooooooo with out sinking the baby. And the fabric lets everything else thru..... see the other picture for proof and realization of why he is pulling such a funny face in this photo.....I love that Sarah indulges me and paused in her rush to change him and herself.
Also the super cute penguin butt was uploaded too.

One third of a year old!

No joke. Isn't that amazing?
In honor of this *obviously* momentous occasion here are *two* videos for your viewing pleasure. *gasp* Two videos?!?! Doth your cup runneth over?




Don't get used to it ;)

What you can't see because this is compressed... At the very end? Where mark for no visible reason pulls his head to one side suddenly and we all laugh hysterically? That would be the place where Zachary drool dangled ALL THE WAY INTO MARK'S MOUTH momentarily. And in that moment where it would have gotten super gross? Mark noticed, moved, and got spit allllll over his face. It was a close call, even for those of us that shout POO with glee throughout the house on a daily basis. You have to have limits.



This video (as you can tell from mark talking) is from right after the superbowl. We *totally* freaked him out by shouting when the giants won. I was trying to help him go to sleep and he just started talking. I think its the tape he would send to the U.N. explaining that these people just WON'T LEAVE HIM ALONE and they MUST SEND HELP. And he looks so serious. I wasn't going to upload it, since it seems like either an angry diatribe or a plea for help, but he's so chatty. And since the first one is pure comedy... ya gotta have balance.
We also really wanted to show you a funny sketch from manstrokewoman. But apparently no one else thought it was funny enough to steal to the internet. And I won't bother to describe it, because it'll kill the fun.

Secret agent man: Code Name; the squirrel

Our boy looking surly with his dual citizenship and passports

Rawhide strips & Serapes

I laughed so hard when I read this.

It's a comment on a rather dull article about banning strollers in a bar (seriously? ths is something you feel entitled to?)... We have all clearly got too much time on our hands.

How adorable!

knitted by sarah.

Teething

On the left,

and right.

It's hard to see but there are little bumps just down from the top of the gum, they're red at the base and a little white at the peak. The bump is easier to see on the right side, its smack in the centre of the shot. On the left it's back almost in the shadow of his mouth, level with the edge of his tongue.
No baby was harmed in the process of taking these shots.

How cool is it to be a parent?

We've started Zachary on a bedtime routine. For what its worth. Two days, so far so good. We cuddle, and change his diaper, and read a story and then he gets his bedtime snack. I was singing and rocking him and realized that parenting is a little bit like prayer. You build up routines and some days you just get through it because its rote and you're tired and the only way you get there is by following the tracks. But sometimes? It is the very fact that it *is* so ingrained that allows you to step back and realize how truly incredible the moment is. Sometimes you can muddle through on intention alone, and other times the structure allows you to discover the intention that we often don't have time (or energy) to appreciate. He's figuring things out and changing so fast. The hidden moments are all around and sometimes its when we're the most burned out or when he's been crying at the top of his lungs and they just flit in and out. I wouldn't trade this for the world.

Super Wednesday (Warning, Nekkid)

Seriously. Zachary has been a little out of sorts lately, and we just weren't sure what was up. Turns out? He was apparently saving up.




We've been trying naked tummy time on the suggestion of a friend. Turns out totally the right choice. After he did his tummy to back trick he managed one from back to front (he was hunting the octopus toy). I suspect that it'll be a little while before it gets regular but... whoo!

am I holding my bottle while you take a picture dad?

am I holding my bottle while you take a picture dad?
Originally uploaded by m0nk3yphd

thats right he grabbed it from me. Also did we mention he is DEFINITELY teething... we had an external examiner (ie linda, the parent of a 2 year old with all his teethes) to check the couple of bumps we'd noticed in his mouth. Yup teeth are coming, they will take a while, but they're on there way.

Because we're hysterical, that's why.

It looks a little like Mark is holding him against his arm. He's not. He wouldn't let go of it to save his life. The video is shaking because I was laughing like crazy.

Happy Super Tuesday.

a new nursery rhyme for super tuesday....

I been singing this to Zachary for a little while but finally got the last line or two down this morning.....

o ba ma, o ba ma
see how he runs, see how he runs
he chases hillary in the polls
both are amazing, democrates extol
experience versus change, pundits cajole
vote o ba ma

Sisters, Sisters...

Debbie, this is for you.

You'd be a Jackalope.