6 and 1/2 months part 2

The other exciting thing this past month is Zechariah cut two teeth and started eating solids.

Zechariah has been grabbing things out of our hands and so Elizabeth decided to pretend feed him with a spoon and he seemed excited and acted like he knew what he was doing so we decided to take the next step.

Zechariah's first solid food was organic butternut squash (2nd picture below also showing off his new teeth). Followed by organic green beans which he absolutely loves (as you can see in the picture below he is leaning towards the spoon). He has also tasted organic applesauce (not his favorite) and organic peas with the same response as the green beans.

We also had his 6th month check up and he now weighs 15 pounds 2 ounces and is 27 inches long. He is still working on being able to sit up without help, it seems like his back gets stronger every day and the other thing is he loves trying to eat his toes when he is getting changed.

He is also begining to learn the art of communication.

6 and 1/2 Months part 1

Elizabeth's beautiful birthday bouquet from John 10/26.

Almost every Tuesday friends from church come over to do laundry while the mommies talk and the babies play.
These bath pictures are for you to better see how much Zechariah has grown.
This one was taken May 25, 2011 a few days after coming home from the hospital after surgery, when Grandma Carolyn was still here.

And this one was taken October 13, 2011.

Zechariah no longer needs the sling and his head is over the top and he really wants to sit up, but that makes Mommy a little nervous because he isn't very stable yet.

This picture is one of our favorites taken September 29, 2011.

5 Months Old

Zechariah is 5 months old today!

He is starting to hold on to stuff when he is sucking whatever might be his favorite finger(s) at the moment.

This is the dog that Elizabeth's brother Tommy got for Zechariah when he was born. He loves chewing on the paws and ears and tail until it is sopping wet.

Below are pictures of a very cute onsie family friends of Elizabeth sent Zechariah.

FRONT

BACK

We started letting him cry it out for naps and bedtimes last week and Zechariah is doing very well with the change and Elizabeth is feeling like she is more productive with her days and more scheduled.

Baby Dedication

Today we dedicated Zechariah at church. John's parents were able to come and then we spent the rest of the day at their house celebrating the occassion. Zechariah turned from his back to his stomach for the first time while we were there. Great Mom-mom gave Zechariah his cute outfit.

4 Months!

What do you get for a baby when they are 4 months old? An ExerSaucer!

We have also moved his booster/highchair to a more upright position because he loves to see what's going on around him. Sitting up unassisted and rolling over consistently will most likely be his next major milestones.

Just yesterday he began sucking on his right thumb, but still not consistently. We are wondering if he will ever start putting himself to sleep with his thumb or finger sucking.

Naps are definitely becoming more regular (even though Elizabeth still has to help him get to sleep, the crying, if any, is usually less than 5 minutes before he is out for 1-3 hours most of the time).

Zechariah continues to grow. At his doctor's appointment yesterday we found out that he is now 12 pounds 10 ounces and 26 inches. We also got permission to start solids before his 6 month appointment. We will probably hold off as long as possible because the possibility of allergies resulting from introducing food too soon, and the surgeon who did his surgery said there might be some issues when he starts eating solids so we are a little nervous about that, and Elizabeth needs to read a little more about introducing solids. We don't think that he is ready yet and mama's milk is still his favorite, the cheapest, and the easiest.

He is talking more every day (sometimes it sounds like he might even be singing).

John Got the Camera Fixed!

Zechariah is learning about toys. He started grabbing for and holding on to toys while we were at Elizabeth's sister's house in Arkansas August 10-13. Someone gave us some Boomerings from Discovery Toys and we have used them to help Zechariah's toys be more accesible to him and stay off the floor and help him learn his colors because Elizabeth often sings a rainbow song when he plays with them.

Here he is in his highchair/booster seat playing with his toys, but he took a break to look at the camera.

We actually caught him in motion playing with his toys in the Pack N Play. Which is set up in the kitchen at the moment so that Zechariah can be near his mama while she works or takes time to eat a meal.


This is our very cute boy!

John was letting us know that he fixed the camera. Elizabeth is trying to put Zechariah down for a nap and so far the only way she knows how to do it is to lay down with him until he is sound asleep and then slip out as quietly as possible or just go ahead and sleep right along with him.

Zechariah also started to stick out his tongue this week, but he can't get it out very far because he is tongue tied (we've been told he inherited it from Pa's, his great-grandfather). It seems like every day he starts practicing a new sound so he has been practicing raspberries and has the front of whatever he is wearing sopping wet in a matter of minutes.

A New Semester

The camera isn't taking pictures and calling John at work to see if he had any ideas didn't help nor did looking in the manuel. John will try to fix it when he gets home today.

John's first week of classes went very well and he thinks that it is going to be a good semester (15 more weeks to go).

Zechariah isn't the easiest person to get down for a nap but the last few days after he is done eating and it's nap time Elizabeth has held him and laid down with him in her bed until he is asleep (it took less than 10 minutes this afternoon). Maybe everything is starting to click! :) He is quickly growing out of his 3 month clothes and the next size has been washed.

Elizabeth has felt a little more productive this week with getting things picked up around the house, but there is always something else that needs to be done, but being a mother and wife are the priority.

Pictures

We call this the "Adventure Seat" because we always go somewhere when he gets put in.

The toy hanging from the handle we call "Crazy Mouse" and Zechariah loves to look at it. We were almost home from our trip to Arkansas Sunday night to visit Elizabeth's sister's family and brother in Branson, Missouri and Zechariah was not happy and got a hold of one of Crazy Mouse's legs and for the first time pulled it just because his arms were going up and down and he stopped crying as it rattled back up (The parents were laughing in the front seats). (Someone else usually has to pull it.)

John putting Zechariah to sleep. Zechariah is sucking his finger(s)/fist more every day and he gets the biggest smile on his face when we praise him. (Most often it's the right hand he puts in his mouth.)

While we were at Karyn's Zechariah began to grab the toys on what we call the "Jungle" before he would just look at them and sometimes would kick his feet and they would swing.

Sleep and Schedules

We need sleep at our house. The books say that Zechariah needs 16-20 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period at this age and we are lucky if we can get him to sleep for 9-13.5 hours per 24 hour period (usually it's closer to the 9 hour end that we get and most of it takes place at night thankfully). At his 2 month appointment his doctor says that we need to focus on getting him on a eating/sleeping schedule and he eats every 1-2 hours (occassionally he can go 3-4) when he is awake which is most of the time but the sleeping is a completely different issue.

"Adventure Is Out There"

We have had several adventures since the last post, but no pictures to share.
Over the 4th of July weekend Zechariah attended his second wedding and went to a Bed & Breakfast to help us celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary (a little bit early), both in Indianola, Iowa.
Yesterday, July 8th, Zechariah actually went into the Moby without screaming and even took a 20-30 minute nap (the length of most of his day time naps). We also went out for an evening walk to return some of the dishes to friends who brought us a meal. Zechariah loved the walk! (and he even took another short nap).
Today we took Zechariah to the library.
(We didn't think of pictures until after the adventure was over, hopefully we will remember next time.)

Pictures of Zechariah, Etc.

Zechariah taking a bath. He usually likes them, but he hasn't been so happy during the last few. They taught us in the hospital to wrap them in a receiving blanket to help keep them warm during bath time.This is a picture of Zechariah taken on Father's Day sitting on his quilt that his mommy needs to finish putting the satin binding on.

This is a sideways picture of Elizabeth April 21, 2011 because we thought Zechariah was on his way and that it might be our last pregnant picture. (She still got bigger before Zechariah was born, most of it was amniotic fluid).

This is a picture of Zechariah with Dr. Shaaban, the surgeon who connected Zechariah's esophagus with his stomach. We had a follow up appointment June 23, 2011 and everything checked out fine and so we don't have to go back until next year! :)

We Love Being Parents!

We love being parents! But I think it is harder than either of us expected. Elizabeth's mom was able to come May 4th and stay until June 10th and we survived the first weekend without her (of course we didn't go anywhere) and John's mom is coming 3 mornings this week and 2 next week while John's dad teaches a robotics class. We have been eating 3 meals a day thanks to church, friends, and family and the dishes are staying washed and the dirty clothes haven't piled up yet. Hopefully we will post again soon (remember we aren't first borns who can do everything it seems and we are really thankful for the first borns in our lives because they have really helped us since we have become parents). :)

Zechariah loves to lay in his crib and just look at the quilt hanging above. (No Elizabeth did not make that quilt.)