Golden Pig Tales

Ezra went to the doctor today for a hearing test and a consultation with an ENT NP for his ears. The recommendation: Ezra should get tubes. Like I didn’t see that coming. Fortunately, the hearing test turned out well - his hearing is slightly compromised but maybe only because he currently (still…always) has some fluid build-up in both ears, and it was just barely detectable.

We took Ezra to a Baby Loves Disco baby dance party last Sunday. It was a fun time - Ezra got to run around, eat snacks, play with hula hoops, shake some music makers, and grab bubbles. But I wonder, how well did he hear the music?

…And sometimes so does Ezra. Like today and last Tuesday when I was baking while Ezra was sleeping, and the oven and food created a minimal amount of smoke in the kitchen area triggering the smoke alarm to make a high pitched noise that beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeped until I knocked the smoke alarm from its mount. And Ezra woke up.

Ezra, -v- and I went to an event called Baby Loves Disco. It was a local thing put on at a concert hall for parents to bring their kids, so they could play to music and dress up in their Halloween costumes.

Ezra didn’t dress-up, but Ezra did have fun though Ezra didn’t dance much if at all. He did play with a hula-hoop and an egg shaped thing that made noise when it was shook that he want to chew on, but it was too big to fit in mouth. He ran around and stared at people. He ate some chips. He played in the chillout area that was filled with pillows, books, paper and crayons, blocks and various other toys. He did dance but mostly when -v- and I were holding him and dancing and then he just bounced around and smiled.

I think his biggest joy of the event was when we got a clear scarf and began tossing it over his head nearly blinding him. At which time, he would run around the dance floor screaming joy from his mouth until the scarf fell off to reveal a smile. He did like swinging around the hula-hoop, but the scarf over head was what made him laugh every time, which isn’t a surprise because for some reason Ezra really likes having a blanket or cover over his head while he walks and runs around and then to have that blanket or covered pulled off, and the wide and long dance floor made for a great place for Ezra to run around with a cover over head. It made him like the Baby Loves Disco even more.

I can tell when Ezra is growing because my arms and legs hurt more at the end of the day. My muscles are getting bigger as Ezra gets bigger. I wonder if the relationship between Ezra’s growth and the ginormous gunz I pack on each arm could be correlated by some fancy mathematical equation? hmmm…..if only I hadn’t slept through calculus so often.

Ezra is getting so big, he is able to crawl up on the couch, on chairs, and on the guest bed.  He is also able to walk up the stairs, one foot per step, just like a big kid, as long as I am holding his hand. We’ve had to bust out the 18 month old clothes and I think we’re about ready to go up a shoe size. I’m glad that throughout the ear infections, teething and such, Ezra’s still been eating enough to keep growing big and strong!

Days ago Ezra had brought me my shoes. I was sitting on the ground staring at the computer screen and here comes Ezra with one of my shoes in his hand. He let it drop to the ground near me me then left and returned with my other shoe. He dropped the shoe. Then he left and returned with his shoes.

I smile and said, ,,THANKS! Ezra,” with a big smile.

It took the wisdom of -v- for her to enlighten me that it was his way of telling me that he wanted to go outside, which I found to be true because he went and stood by the door, so we put on shoes and went outside.

I thought it was a one time thing, but since that day he has brought me my shoes almost everyday.

Ear Infections fucking suck because they cause Ezra pain; because they wake Ezra often during the night; because they prevent Ezra from napping; because they create a Fussy Ezra; because they fear use to antibiotics; because they worry a parent about surgery on their child to ‘get tubes’; because they make a parent paranoid about their child’s health; because they create cries that no parent wants to hear; because they cause Ezra pain.

I was changing the diaper of a fussy Ezra, who had a HUGE poop that filled his diaper and stuck to his skin. I pulled off his diaper and blindly moved it to the top of the diaper pale. Immediately my attention was focused on the fact Ezra then had his hands covered in poop, and his hands were moving toward his mouth. I grabbed his hand and a wipe. I wiped his hands, then held them as I tried to wipe his butt as he moved there and there spreading his poop over the changing station. His fussy levels went from a seven to a ten. He wanted his hands to be free, but I wanted to sanitize them after I finished cleaning his butt and cleaning the station. Then my foot slipped.

My foot was smearing Ezra’s poop over the rug and my sock (thankfully I chose not to take my socks off earlier) because during the hurry to put aside the diaper to catch and clean Ezra’s hands the poop of the diaper fell on the floor, and I was spreading it around.

At this point, I called down to Valerie for help. After the laughter calmed to the state of her being able to function, she helped me clean up the mess.

Yay, Ezra has returned! Ezra was gone for a couple of night visiting grandparents while we had some windows replaced and painted in his room. Now the work is complete, and he is back!

Now he as returned and excitement and chaos has returned. He has returned with smiles and hugs and talkie sounds…And he has returned with a runny nose and possible cold, which could be nothing, but even with a cold and a runny nose it’s good to have him back running around the house filling the house with life!

I think Ezra had really smelly farts yesterday, now that I think back. Valerie and I were walking around the house after work last night smelling whiffs of poop smell that smelled like Ezra’s poop. We thought some thing could be rotten or that there was some how a dirty diaper hidden some where in the main living area of the house, which could only be true if one of the cats sneaked into Ezra’s room, took a dirty diaper from the bag or basket and then hid the dirty diaper some where. …Now that I think back to the past days and of hearing Ezra fart, I now realize the smell was probably stinky Ezra farts.

Ezra went with Kalab and I on a field trip Sunday morning to get his pumpkin for Halloween. We went out to the farmlands, to a place that has a big pumpkin patch, along with a animal barn, hay rides, and a corn maze. So much to do! Ezra got to run through the dirt and pumpkin strewn fields and find the greatest pumpkin out there:

A good time was had by all, even though we did not go on the hay ride, or through the corn maze.

Today Ezra and I were home alone, due to daycare being closed in “observance” of Columbus Day (like, huh?) and Ezra would go up to his pumpkin every hour or so and pat it, or try and sit on top of it. I can’t wait until next weekend when we get to the carving!

A couple of weeks ago I realized how many time I say fuck during the day after almost saying fuck after I stubbed my toe near Ezra. It was then I realized him saying hi and uh-oh is cute, but him saying fuck wouldn’t be cute after people other than me heard him say fuck. And knowing that he learns by the environment and repetition, I realized that I need to stop my excessive use of the word fuck, or I will be the parent of the kid who teaches all the other kids the word fuck. In an effort to stop my out loud voice from saying fuck, I have began to try to use the word fudgesicles. Why fudgesicles? I think because it begins with fu. I said it days ago after stubbing toe near Ezra. As the fu for fuck started coming out, I realized Ezra was near and fuck became fudgesicles.

Ezra is 14 months old today! yay! yay! yay! This time last year I was in Wisconsin with Ezra, and starting to think about getting ready to go back to work.

To celebrate this day, Ezra and I stayed home. Well, we stayed home because Ezra woke up with a fever at about 4am this morning. The fever didn’t stick around and Ezra didn’t seem bothered by any teething pain, so we had a pretty fun day together. My favorite part was him sleeping until 8:30 this morning : ) We also had fun at the park, looking at dogs and cars. (Ezra LOVES dogs and cars more than anything right now.) Hopefully Ezra will wake up tomorrow and his first day after being 14 months old will start off with a smile.

For the past days Ezra’s threshold of being trapped in the highchair has been dwindling. He’s been making his raised-arms-flapping-hands sign that means GET ME OUT OF THE HIGH CHAIR many times during a meal. And he’s also been climbing everything within reach: chairs, baby gates, beds, couches, stools and the highchair. And we have been using the booster seat when we eat, and he’s been eating from his table during other times.

Yesterday, while Ezra was climbing the high chair when both -v- and I had our backs turned for nearly a second, he saw an opportunity to climb the highchair and maybe reach the top before -v- and I could tell him not to climb the highchair because it could tip and fall on him. In stead of being able to tell him that the highchair could fall on him, the highchair fell on him. I freaked out. -v- comforted Ezra. Ezra was fine because the highchair is light.

Now the highchair is a thing of the past. I removed it from the kitchen, and his table is now in its place. In fact, this morning he was sitting in a chair at his table eating breakfast with no raised-arms-flapping-hands sign that means GET ME OUT OF THE HIGH CHAIR!

Teething is pushing Ezra to not want to sleep for more than a few hours at a time. Teething makes food more of a tool to help Ezra bite down on the gums. Teething makes Ezra want not to eat. Teething causes obvious pain that a pacifier can’t sooth away.

This afternoon I took Ezra outside to watch the rain. It was sort of sunny, and then all of a sudden it just started to pour. Little Ezra could not be satisfied to just stand on the covered porch and watch the rain - he had to go out into the front yard and down to the sidewalk to feel the rain on his head, splash in some puddles, and touch the wet cement. Seeing how much fun Ezra was having and hearing him laugh with the splish splash of the puddles made me smile, and I started having fun too. And then the sun came back out : )