Bragging Parents

Little Z Man had a busy week last week. He met two potential future girlfriends -- Molly Rosenthal and Zoe Johnson. Of course there wasn't much flirting going on. Pretty much just a bunch of grunts, coos and the usual poops and pees. The courting may begin in a few years. We'll see.

Mommy also had her first OB appointment in a month. She's doing great and the doctor cleared her to start exercising. She's very excited.

So here's the bragging part. Mommy and Daddy just walk around amazed at how cute this little guy is. Mommy's favorite line is, "How cute is he right now?" Well, you judge for yourself. More pics below. In the bottom one, you can see he is really close to giving us a real smile (not the one caused by gas).

A Week of Firsts

As you can imagine, we here at Little Z's house have had a whole week of firsts. This will probably go on for, oh, at least two years. But here's a list of things that he did for the first time in the last week:

1. Met his GaGa Lois (a/k/a his Great Grandma Lois) and a whole ton of Lynch family members including Aunt Pat & Uncle Eric, Uncle John, Aunt Beth & Cousin Christina, and Uncle Craig, and the entire Conley clan of cousins (Ray, Jenny, Colton, Mickela, Trent and Kadie).
2. Rode on B.A.R.T.
3. Shopped at Nordstoms
4. Experienced his first earthquake (and man it quaked!) Zain was unfazed but Mommy and Daddy were pretty shaken (pun intended) and immediately contemplated Earthquake Insurance
5. Went to his first non-profit fundraiser on Saturday night and got to watch his mommy introduce his Grandma Barbara
6. Smiled, for real (well sort of). Seriously, he is very close to giving us a smile. Pictures will follow.

And just to keep the photos flowing, here are a couple of cute ones from the past couple of days:

Zain meets GaGa (Greatgrandma Lois)

In Mommy's Arms (photo by Grandpa Stewart)

The Many Faces of Zain

The Little Z Man is now almost 4 weeks old. As any parent will tell you, babies are all about routines. Our little guy has started those routines as well. Right now, it's all pretty simple -- he sleeps, he eats, he poops and pees. In between these, he shows us glimpses on the personality that is underneath. He is becoming more alert each day.

During these routines, he gives us a few faces that we've learned to recognize (well, we think we know them). Why don't you take a look and in the comment section below this post, tell us which letter corresponds to which number picture.

Here are your choices (or you can make up your own):

a. Don't bug me, I'm poopin'
b. Man, I need a nap.
c. I can't wait to have the boob (i.e. I'm hungry)
d. I'm not sure Einstein's theory of relativity was correct.
e. Hillary or Obama in '08?
f. I'm almost asleep and man am I happy about that
g. Open up the window, it's hot in here.
h. Get me away from daddy, his breath stinks!

By the way, if you double click on any photo in this blog, a new window will open with a larger photo. Also, you can post a comment to any of the blog entries by clicking on the line that says, "0 comments." There is also a little pencil there. We want to hear from you!


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Guest Blogger -- Mommy Checks In

Mommy and Daddy had a chat about what would be appropriate for this blog. The biggest question was do we keep it to only the "happy" items. I think you probably got the picture from the circumcision post that we were going to give it to you all -- happy, sad, or otherwise.

So today, Mommy decided she wanted to weigh in on her week. Just an editorial comment from Dad -- it's been a tough week and Mommy has taken one for the team -- again!

So here's Mommy's post:

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Mommy Reporting In

Well, it has been an interesting week. On Sunday night mommy got the chills, aches, pains, and fever really bad and very suddenly. I decided to pump from bed instead of directly feeding the little guy and I discovered blood in my breast milk. When I called my Doctors office, the nurse on call sent me directly to OB ER. I turns out I have an infection from breastfeeding. They prescribed me antibiotics and plenty of rest, but that I must continue breast feeding to help clear the infection. Monday I was so sick and in bed for as much of the day as I could be. Little Z man was so fussy, he cried the entire time he was awake – for at least 5 hours at one stretch. Daddy TOTALLY deserves an award. He was so wonderful, patient, loving and fabulous while all I could do was groan. Nana came over around 5:30 to give Daddy a little break and so we could eat dinner.

Aunt Maureen took the whole week off work and has really saved the day. You should see her; she has been flying around this house like Mary freakin' Poppins!! Up and down the (three) flights of stairs about a hundred times a day. She did all the laundry, cooked, burped, diaper changed, cuddled, cooed, the whole nine yards! (Laughing all the way, of course.) Here's Auntie Mo with the little buritto man.

Mommy and Zain have had a few issues trying to breastfeed since, but we got some help today from an expert and we seemed to have turned a corner. It has been a tough one, but we are doing better now. Thanks to everyone for all your love and general support! I can’t imagine doing this without such a wonderful family.

In other news… Zain had his first bath in the big tub this week with Daddy and he LOVED it!!!! He just floated around so calmly.

Little Z Man's First Visit to Cal -- Go Bears!

I know the little guy is only 2 weeks old but he needed to get his first taste of Cal. So Mommy, Daddy along with Little Z and Big Z headed over to the campus to check it out.

As you can see from the photo above, it looks like both Zs will be headed to Cal. We did calcuate that Big Z would be in the Class of 2017 (starting in the Fall of 2013, which is frighteningly soon if you think about it).

The day started with lunch at Raliegh's. As you can see, Big Z had a bacon, cheeseburger (with the Cajun fries of course).

We then popped into a store to buy some Cal gear. Big Z cleaned up when Aunt Amy and Uncle Doug bought him a few t-shirts and very cool Cal hoodie (which is just a sweatshirt with a hood on it). Zach also picked out a Who t-shirt, which I swear is the same one I had when I was about his age. As I say all the time, Zachary was born 30 years too late.

After shopping we walked through the campus, while I explained to both Zs the history of the Free Speech Movement. Here we are in front of the famed Sather Gate.

It was on to Memorial Stadium where Little Z got his first taste of Cal football. He didn't throw any passes but he did watch as his cousin, Big Z, and his daddy ran a few pass plays, kicked some field goals and ran a 100 yard dash (Daddy won).

All in all, it was a good day.

Two Weeks -- Some Things Are Becoming Clear -- Well Sort Of

So we've just passed the two week mark in Little Z Man's life. While Mommy and Daddy are still trying to figure it all out, Little Z Man is helping out.





Like all newborn babies, he's pretty much a sleeping, poopy, eating machine. I think the difference is in schedules. We've talked our friends with kids who say their baby eats every 3 hours on the nose. Not our little guy, sometimes he eats after three hours, sometimes after five. And during those five hours, he sleeps.





The other thing is that he doesn't like to eat when he's trying to poop. So after he wakes up, we have to wait a good hour sometimes while he "does his business." This can get old but he just won't take the breast til he can enjoy it, and not worry about pooping! Classic.





So mommy and daddy are getting along and at some point we'll finally get it down pat. In the meantime, he's a lot of fun.





Here's a shot of tummy time.

The concensus is building that he looks most like Grandpa Stewart!

Umbilical Cord Goes Bye-Bye

Another day, another little milestone for the Little Z Man.

On July 4th, the Z Man the remaining stump of his umbilical cord fell off. Pretty cool stuff. Mommy wants to save it. Daddy's not sure why.

In other news, Auntie Nicole B (his other Auntie Nicole) and his cousin Big Z (Zachary) got to meet Zain for the first time. The Big Z has an aversion to holding babies so he passed (by the way a lot adults, even parents, have the same aversion).

Day 12: Some New Tricks For Parents

It's a bit past 24 hours since the big cut and the Little guy is beginning to be himself again with something extra: spit up.

The first 11 days of his life have seen very little in the way of spit up. We've managed to burp the little guy real well but now he's added the "surprise sauce" as Mommy likes to call it. My guess is this is going to be a very common scene -- daddy and mommy needing to change clothes many times a day and baby Z having to be changed. I promise pictures that show just what we're talking about.

Here's another little secret to parenting a newborn that has only recently become the thing to do: swaddling. For those of you that haven't had kids in the last four years, swaddling is basically creating a burrito out of your baby. A blanket acts as the tortilla and the baby is the carnitas (or whatever filling you like).



Once the little dude has been put in his swaddle the whole world slows down a bit. The whaling cries become quiet murmurs and the parents' shoulders come down about 4 inches.



The other thing we've learned is that the swing is your next best friend.



Finally, Daddy has very quickly learned that nothing beats the feeling of having your baby sleep on your chest!

July 2: "C" Day

So today was the big day -- time for Little Z to be circumcised. Yeah, I know, in a way this is way too much information. But the parents of the little guy feel the need to share their pain. So try to bear with us.

First the easy to read news...Before the big operation, our Pediatrician, Myles Abbot, gave Little Z a 100% bill of health. His weight is up to 7 lbs. 11 oz (from 7 lbs 1 oz 6 days ago). And he is now 20 inches long. He's grown 1 inch, which is 1 inch more than his dad has grown since he was 15! He only needs 43 more inches to pass me.

After the check up, we moved Zain to the "operating room." The procedure itself took about 10 minutes. He was given local anesthetic and some sugar water to take the edge off. Zain did great. Only a little yelp when the pain meds were given. Mommy and Daddy were by his side the whole time, holding his fingers and making sure his binky didn't fall out. All my friends have told me, watching your child suffer is the hardest thing to do. Well I can now say this is very true. We both shed a couple of tears during the procedure.

He's been pretty fussy since but has finally fallen asleep. Mommy is sleeping next to him now. Hopefully we're in for just a few painful days and then back to normal.

The only other piece of news the doctor provided was that from now until 8 weeks of age, Baby Zain, if he's average, will have 3 hours of fussiness per day. Yikes! Just 10 minutes of baby crying is enough to make the parents pull out their hair. I guess we'll just have to hope that in this case, he's a bit better than average....

If he isn't, you'll read about it here.