Two Months to One

Three months ago I posted the Seven Month Update about our Zane. Three months! It is a truism that infants change by the minute; but it is also true that, as time passes, and if you pay close attention, babies become less a mystery. The more things change, the more they stay the same... So, here is what is still true about our little man - three months later:

• He is still the happiest and smiliest child I have ever known.
• He still LOVES people.
• He still has 100 different variations of his smile, and I love that his face is so expressive.
• His fingernails still grow faster than mine.
• Blowing raspberries still cracks him up.
• He is still a very good eater. He will eat most anything we prepare for him, but his favorites are lentils/brown rice, yogurt, squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, peas, pears, peaches, applesauce, bananas and apples with any other mix-in. We have not tried the prunes again (no need) and we do not push the green beans (there is plenty of time for him to learn to love them...)
• We still call him "baby bean", "stinker bean", "lovebug", "little buddy", "Ziggy Zane", "Peter Z.", "little man", and "punkin-head." I've added "bunny" to the mix...it is shorthand for "hunny bunny" (which becomes "funny bunny" when he is being silly...) and that just becomes "bunny."
• He still feeds himself, and he still loves the Gerber stars. But his new favorite thing is the Gerber Yogurt Melts.
• He still loves his crib.
• His still has his Papa's legs, and his Mama's cheeks.
• He still hasn't had a fever.
• He is still a very content, secure and confident little baby.

Now, the big changes:

• He is on formula exclusively now. We breastfed for a full nine months, and I'm really proud of both of us. At nine months, Zane was giving me all the classic "I'm ready to wean, Mama" signs and it was time. Plus, he had cut two teeth by then. Nursing a distracted baby with two teeth equals OUCH!
• We are EXTREMELY lucky that Zane will drink the store-brand formula (small rant: I spent 30 minutes comparing ingredients. It's the SAME stuff, 1/2 the price.)
• He is sitting unsupported, crawling, and pulling up.
• He is now in full-time daycare, and he loves it!
• He has four teeth: Fred & Ethel (bottom teeth) and Lucy & Ricky (top teeth)
• His babbling is starting to make more sense: "ma ma ma," "ba ba ba," "pa pa pa"
• He loves to hang upside down - he just laughs and laughs and laughs when we hold him upside down
• He goes to sleep at 9:00pm and sleeps until 7:00am-ish...(God never gives us more than we can handle...)
• To his Mama's GREAT delight, he is a blanket boy! Woot!
• To his Pop's great delight, he LOVES the pool!
• He understands "Mama" and "Papa" and will look for us when our name is mentioned. We both love that he will crawl to us - always with a smile on his sweet face.
• His parents are his favorite people, but he also loves his Pappi, his Auntie Ashley, his Uncle Kevin, and especially Kyle and Todd.
• He also loves Miss Diana at school and his buddies Landon, Kai and Griffin. Little Megan loves Zane, and Z indulges her by holding her hand on the buggy rides.
• "Lookout" (the teddy bear), his "drumsticks" (two wooden spoons), and his plastic alphabet links are his favorite toys.
• Oh, and Zane is now bi-coastal and international: he enjoyed a wonderful vacay in British Columbia with his main peeps back in August, and he's heading to Hope Town for Thanksgiving with PopBoot and Kent. He doesn't mind that his passport photo was taken when he was only 6 weeks old...see note above about "content, secure and confident" little guy...

PG and I are still having the time of our lives. Parenthood...who knew?