Antidote to the Dow Jones Blues

Enjoy.

Growing Up

The new skills seem to come fast and furious these days. Mr. Ez really starts to be getting the hang of the whole sitting-up thing, and it's kind of bizarre to see how grown up and autonomous he looks when he does it. Of course, he can't get into that position on his own yet, but once one of us balances him he can play happily before toppling over. He's also itching to be mobile. He's starting to get into all-fours position and has learned how to scoot himself backward. Guess we should really start to think about picking up all the stray pieces of glass and nails and Ginsu knives lying around on the floor. (Just kidding. But we do have some major baby-proofing to do, and I wouldn't be surprised if there is a piece of glass hiding somewhere.)

We entertained our friends Kelly and Darrell and 9-month-old Emelia this past week and got a chance to look into the future. Emelia is so adorable crawling and standing! She's also got a good set of lungs on her and enjoys squealing at high decibels, something that I (Ash) am convinced Ezra picked up from her, because he's enjoyed yelling at the top of his lungs in recent days. 

And Ezra's beginning his journalism education early. On Friday, he attended a panel on radio writing that was part of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs conference. I was asked to be one of the participants (Little did the organizer know that he picked the wrong parent and that Ezra's daddy standing in the back of the conference room, wearing the Baby Bjorn, is the one who should have been up front presenting!). Right as the presentation started, Ezra let out one of his shrieks (see above), which deteriorated into a wail, and the organizer said (in mock outrage), "Whose kid IS that??" I shrank back in my seat, face red, and the whole audience burst out laughing. But on the whole, he did remarkably well and slept for much of it.

Nowadays, some solids seem to be making their way into his digestive tract, instead of just getting smeared onto his face and spat out onto everything in a 2-foot radius. Applesauce is a hit! Hooray! And the poop report reflects that: smelly, slimy, the color of burnt orange. 

Happy belated Valentine's Day, everyone!

Love,

Ash, Gabe and Ez

Hold the guacamole

Ezra's interests seem to wax and wane like a fickle adolescent's. One week he's totally into grabbing his toes, the next week the toes are old news and he's moved on to kicking. Or, take raspberry-blowing. He flirted with it at 3 months, forgot it until 5, then forgot it again. Until today. Specifically, until we decided to introduce him to the joys of the avocado. He'd move the green goo thoughtfully around in his mouth ... and then atomize it into a fine mist. I actually wore safety glasses (well, sunglasses) while feeding him. When I took them off they were flecked with green, as were my face and hair. 

In other news, almost out of nowhere, the kid has learned to sit up. Witness the video below. Of course he has his tippy moments (as does his dad), but overall he's remarkably stable (like his mom). The kid has core strength, as we have long suspected. 

Ez has had an active few days, visiting such exciting destinations as: WBEZ, play group, the Mexican restaurant, the lakefront, Costco, and others too numerous to mention. He has gotten so, so much better in the car. He still treats us to the occasional backseat meltdown, but generally he's much more placid. On days when he goes to the nanny, he sleeps nearly every car ride. And lately even when he's awake he seems to manage to keep himself busy for decent stretches. This all breaks down on longer trips, such as last weekend's schlep to Wisconsin (that was a flashback to the bad old days). But more often than not, car rides are perfectly bearable. 

As ever, 

Gabe, Ash and Ez

For he's a jolly good fellow ...

Today, the lad has reached the half-year mark. We reckon our main job is to keep the child alive and more or less intact ... so we take today as a notch in our belt. This is an amazing thing: Six more months and he won't even be a baby anymore. He'll be a toddler! As I (Gabe) thought about that today, I was a little surprised at the pang I felt. We just love him so much as he is this very minute, it's hard to imagine him as such a different person in 6 months or a year or 10 years. But, as I understand it, I don't have much say in the matter of his growing up ... so I am prepared to accept and enjoy it.

We celebrated his half-birthday with a grand excursion. We traveled up to Wisconsin to visit an old, dear friend of Ashley's and his phenomenal family. Pat and Sarah have two little boys: David (3) and Arthur (5). They are sweetness personified. And, they were really into Ezra. It's amazing to watch an adorable 3-year old look at your 6-month-old and say, "Ezwa's weawy cute!" That statement itself is a new category of cute. We had great fun eating, playing and Wii-ing.

Saturday Ash and I took Ezra out for his first cross-country ski, strapped to Daddy's back. He seemed to enjoy it thoroughly for a while, and then passed out. We had a great old time gliding around the woods. We had so much fun that we stopped in Madison on the way home today and skied some more.

In other news, we continue to make halting progress on sleep. On the positive side, putting him down at night has gotten so, so much easier. It is a blessing. And, he's finally starting to take naps at his nanny's, which is a huge relief. Babies are supposed to nap 3 - 3.5 hours a day. Most days at Najiba's, he wasn't napping at all, or maybe just a half-hour. That seems to be improving. On the not-so-positive side, we've had some difficult night wakings lately, and we're not seeing the kind of improvement there that we'd like. We're still slightly on-edge about the whole thing. But on the whole, it feels like progress.

We've also had some success with the rice cereal. Ezra is learning to swallow, and his, um, leavings have begun to reflect that. We haven't had him weighed in a while, but it feels like he's filling out.

Last weekend we spent a wonderful afternoon with the

Skokie cousins. Somehow, Ezra had not seen Cathy and Joe since his bris. We were pleased to imprint him with some more positive images of his cousins.

Oh, and Ezra watched part of his first Super Bowl tonight. I chose to flout the

recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics and allow the boy to take in a little boob tube. I don't think his mom approved. I think Ezra like the Bud Light commercials the best.

Gobs of love,

Gabe, Ash and Ez