This morning Daddy went to play some football and I put Zev down on Monkey Island for some play time. He really does like this toy a lot, and I have been putting it in the floor instead of the bed because it provides a harder surface and I though it might help him with his pushups to build his neck strength.
So we’re playing and all the sudden, Zev rolled over from his tummy to his back! He looked shocked and so did I. After I cheered for him, I …

What an exciting week! On Monday, Zev and I met our friends Lucy and Sophie and we went to the Natural History Museum. We will definitely be back. We went to a special Darwin Exhibit, which was nothing short of spectacular. They had a really cool set up – when you enter the exhibit, you go into this giant cocoon, which houses the collection. Your ticket is a lightweight flexible card, and at each display in the exhibit, you can save data to your card and then look it up …

Wednesday’s baby school was baby massage – the next 2 weeks are the same thing so we get really good at it. Zev loved it! He was calm and relaxed during the whole thing, and when I started massaging him, his face lit up and he smiled and cooed. It is pretty basic stuff, but good to know the actual techniques. I felt a little weird asking the baby for permission to massage him, especially when he didn’t reply, but apparently this is really important. The idea iis that you …

Wednesday’s Baby School was about how to resuscitate a choking or arresting baby. Not the most pleasant topic, but really good to have the knowledge. After the Community Resuscitation Specialist (yes, really) demonstrated the techniques, we had a chance to practice on Baby Annie. Since this was a class for babies under 12 months, most of the babies didn’t care if their moms were tossing around a life sized, realistic looking baby doll ,but the oldest baby freaked out when her mom started whacking Annie on the back. Poor little …

Zev has been smiling for weeks now, but just recently started doing it with more purpose. Before it seemed like he would smile for a few seconds for whatever reason, but now he does it as a response to something, and he will absolutely beam. I have been lucky enough to be the reason several times now (since I am his primary caregiver and source of milky goodness). So this morning, Michael came in to say goodbye as the two of us snuggled sleepily in bed, and when Zev saw …

I got it in my head that I should get a breast pump so I can do things such as get a haircut without leaving Michael with a screaming, starving baby, or go out to dinner without having to wear a shirt with easy access. I also thought Michael might like to feed him from time to time as a way to bond. With this in mind I did some research and found the Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature Manual Pump, which was supposed to make all my dreams come …

Why do people always give you the most obvious advice? I was on the bus on Wednesday and it was raining pretty hard. An elderly lady got on after me and sat down next to me. She commented on how peaceful he looked sleeping in the carrier, and then she was quiet for a few minutes. Then she looked over and said you know, you should really cover him up when you go out into the rain. Really? Really? Cover a baby in the rain? Wow, I wouldn’t gave known …

Its funny how having a newborn can turn completing a few simple tasks into a very busy day. But it was also a great day. Baby school was “Music Therapy,” and the lady who helps special needs kids develop was there to teach us how to use music in our own childrens’ lives. It was a really good session. We started by learning some songs and actions – basically how to teach young babies to use turn taking and anticipation via songs. Then she brought out some small instruments. Zev …

Zev can get quite angry sometimes – hunger, dirtiness in the pant region, and being awakened (versus waking up on his own) all get him pretty irritated.

When babies are born here, they give them a routine hearing screening a few hours after birth. They wheel a little cart to your bed and perform a test. Zev’s left ear passed, but the right ear was inconclusive, and therefore did not pass. This meant that he would need to be rescreened with more sensitive equipment later, and he had this appointment yesterday. Interestingly, a few hours after the initial test, several drops of brown liquid came out of his right ear, and I have to think that it …