tres leches

Zane switched to whole milk this weekend, so now we're going to have 3 different gallons of milk in our refrigerator at all times.  That's the big news story at our house :)  Our pediatrician recommended just switching him all at once instead of gradually switching his bottles, and she was right - it didn't even phase him.  We did get a little overzealous and tried to give him a sippy in place of one of his bottles yesterday, and he got pretty mad about it.  He drinks water from sippy cups pretty well, but apparently it was downright unacceptable to put his milk in a sippy.

I thought his 8th tooth had broken through when I was brushing his teeth tonight, but there's still a thin sheet over it... soon!  Maybe tomorrow.  He's been chomping a lot, so I wouldn't be surprised if it appears in the morning.

We had Zane's one year pictures taken on Saturday with the same photographer that took his picture with Santa.  We started out all bundled up at one of our favorite parks to get some fun outdoor shots, but on the way there it started snowing.  So, we were there for less than 15 minutes before heading to her studio.  We were there for well over an hour, and he was pretty giggly for most of it.  I can't wait to see how they turn out because I think she got some really cute shots!!

I was getting all nostalgic about how tiny Zane was this time last year when I saw pictures of our friends' brand new tiny love bug... and then I had to pin Zane down to change his diaper, which is a very different experience from a year ago. He's gone from being our very own cherub fountain to a WWE wrestler (both dangerous in their own right!) during diaper changes.  Even with toys, something to chew on, and one or both parents singing and/or making silly sounds and faces, it's a workout!

Here's a picture of him falling asleep while having his bottle before nap yesterday.  Don't worry, he made sure to finish the last drop before he completely passed out:

bottomless pit

Three meals, two snacks and four bottles... and he just keeps eating!  I thought this wasn't supposed to happen until he was a teenager, but Zane is turning into a bottomless pit.  I think he's making up for everything he didn't eat and the weight he lost while being sick.  Just today he ate some yogurt with peaches, an entire waffle + the rest of his yogurt, mixed veggies + cheese + raspberries + mum mum crackers, tofu +cheddar bunny crackers, and butternut squash soup + more veggies + a roll.  And his 4 bottles.  I'm not sure how it all fits into his little body.

We got to go to the pediatrician yesterday for Zane's one year check up!!  He's 22 lbs 2 oz and 31 inches tall (39th and 84th %).  It's amazing how much has changed in one year - he started out at 7 lbs 1 oz and 20 inches...  he's been busy growing! 

So at one year, he has 7 teeth, has gained 15 pounds, grown 11 inches taller, sleeps about 12 hours at night, takes a single nap for 2-3 hours, waves, high fives, claps, rolls, crawls, cruises, stands, giggles uncontrollably, babbles, says a few words (officially, unofficially... how do we know??), bangs things together, empties drawers, "helps" unload the dryer, splashes around in his personal sensory table (aka, Molly's water bowl), climbs into your lap when you sit down with a book, turns the pages.... he's generally busy.  All the time.  For the 10 hours he's awake :)  Actually, I take that back; he's busy moving in his sleep too.

His check up went really well, and I had to laugh when she asked if Zane was showing interest in walking - like using walkers, while holding onto our hands, etc.  Zane uses anything that he can push as a walker - boxes that we bring in from the porch, us, chairs, his new rocking horse...  Here's a short video of how we spent part of our morning (between eating) for our snow day today.  He started out going up and down the hall with the walker we got him for his birthday:

Then he moved on to using a new activity table that he got as a gift (clearly it's more maneuverable):

zero no longer...

My boy is a one-year old! Sure, technically at 7:51pm today, Zane joined the one-year club. But, all day, he has been treated like a king. From being awoken in the morning (a beautiful sunny day I might add, just like the day he was born!) by a singing "Happy Birthday" card from his grandparents to smashing his first sugar-loaded cake (picture below) into his mouth with one big grab of his hands (picture above), it's been a good day for the little man. I get a little wistful knowing my boy will never be "zero" again and he is growing up faster than we ever thought possible, but also excited at all the possibilities he has ahead of him in his life (whether professional sports-related or not). I'm so proud of that little guy. And I'm proud of his tireless mom too, who spent the better part of this week preparing for his 1st birthday party (and weeks prior researching!). She even stayed up till 3:30am this morning to finish his cake so it would be perfect for him. We're lucky to have her in our lives!

-Dad


P.S. Note from mom: Our baby is a year old!!! Zane had a pretty good week with a few rough patches due to the big classroom switch at daycare, but it sounds like he's loving the extra outside time. He even got to break in his new rain pants for the first time - a must-have for all PacNW toddlers. It's hard to believe that he's moving into the toddler stage! And we now know that he likes cake. A LOT. He devoured his whole smash cake. Then chased it with some water from a sippy, and then proceeded to down a bunch of blueberries. I think it's safe to say his appetite is totally back.

I'm glad we took tons of pictures of Zane's first year - he's changed so much in such a short amount of time. I know this next year will bring many more adventures and more daily changes... which means even more pictures :) "ba-bye" for now...

happy valentine's day!

Zane celebrated his very first Valentine's Day today. I might have had something to do with his outfit... He got to give his classmates Valentines at school today.  Too cute :)  It's hard to believe this is his last first holiday!  Hope everyone had a warm and fuzzy day!

baby piranha

It's dangerous sticking your finger in Zane's mouth these days... he's up to 7 teeth now!  His fourth tooth on the bottom broke through on Thursday, and it looks like the one above it is lurking just below the surface.

We think we can also now say that his first word is "bye bye."  He's been saying it off and on now for a while, and he now says it, with a wave, in response to his toys that say "bye bye" after he stops playing with them for a couple of minutes.  It's pretty cute!  He does say "mama" and "dada", but it still doesn't seem like it's associated with either of us.  He says "baby" a lot, but I think it's just a fun sound for him... I might be wrong, but it started at Christmas when his older, wiser cousin Mary (she's almost 3!) said "hi baby!" and "no baby!" to him a bunch.  I'm pretty sure I heard him trying to say "Molly" this morning while he was talking to her through the door of her crate (aka, her safe, no babies allowed space).  He's also been throwing "la la la" into his conversations too.  I'm pretty sure he's going to be talking back to us in no time... he already vigorously shakes his head no at us several times a day. :)

So... February didn't start out as kind health-wise as I had asked it to.  We got hit with a second stomach virus!  Yuck.  Zane got it first and the worst of the 3 of us, and he was home from daycare all week except for a couple hours on Tuesday morning when we thought he was doing better....  He did get to go to swing at the park with his "da-dee" while he was out of school and starting to feel a little better.  Thankfully, his appetite is coming back now finally, and the diaper situation is far improved. 

We have to get his appetite back to normal before he gets to smash his very first cake in a week!!! 

50 weeks!!!

Zane is 50 weeks old today!!  It's been a big week for him too.  We thought he was getting better over the weekend, and then he woke up with a fever Monday morning.  It turns out he got his very first ear infection. :(  We almost made it a whole year without one... so close!

Then he went back to school on Wednesday, and it's official...Zane's no longer in the infant room!  He's now a waddler!  He's been visiting the waddler room lately getting ready for his transition, but we weren't expecting him to move there full-time until later this month.  Nobody was more surprised, though, than his dad who had to cope with the change of a new sign-in and lunch drop off routine and got a bit flustered trying to remember all the new information!  But, Zane's been doing pretty well.  He now eats lunch at a table in a chair (a very short table and very small chair) and naps on a mat!  No more highchair and no more crib!!!  Apparently he's handling those changes better than I am. :)  He's struggling a little with the change in classrooms, but next week should go even more smoothly for him.  Hopefully for us too!

I'm also very excited that I just discovered that my favorite homemade baby food website (www.wholesomebabyfood.com) has a related toddler food website: www.wholesometoddlerfood.com.  It's especially exciting now that his lunch is more of a lunch.  It's weird only packing one meal (with lots of options still) for him now since he can eat school snacks in the morning and afternoon.

I also can't believe I forgot to post last time that he has 2 new teeth (mostly for my own recording purposes).  The tooth just to the right of his top and bottom middle teeth broke through last Tuesday.  He's up to 6 teeth now.