Golden Pig Tales

Today was another day of trying to find what Sesame Street segement Ezra wanted to watch. While he once loved to watch I’ve Got Two, now he can’t say, ,,No,” fast enough until I’ve Got Two is turned to another Sesame Street segement (which is too bad because it was really cute to see him mimic Susan and Bob). There is the one with Little Bird and Big Bird he liked for about two days. He didn’t like that one today. He didn’t like the segment from the first episode about milk that he use to love to watch.

In fact, he didn’t want to watch more than a few seconds of anything today except the segment about the number three, and then he only wanted to watch it once, which is fine, but it is not like he wanted to watch it once, stop and do something else. That was not the case. Instead he expected -v- to skip through the segments with him watching a few seconds before he said, ”No.” If she waited for a few seconds more before she hit the remote to show the next segment then he said, ”No, no, no, no…” until it was turned. So one would think that he didn’t want to watch anything, so we turned it off and he said, ”No, no, no, no…” and became fussy as if he only wanted a few seconds of everything.

Ezra finally got into the bathtub for his bath! With no tears or fears! We’ve been trying for weeks to get Ezra to take a bath in the normal tub, as opposed to the infant/toddler tub he’s used since birth, which is now totally too small. Ezra looks like a giant when he’s in that bathtub. Anyway, tonight I enticed him into the real tub with bubbles, toys, and my own two feet. I had to get a little wet in the process, but it was worth it to finally get him in the tub where he can stretch out. And now I can stop trying to clean that stupid infant/toddler tub with all the crevices and odd shapes where dirty water pools up and gets yucky.  Next goal: overpower the fear of the shower!

I believe Ezra knows I’m his daddy! Yes, there was a time when it felt like he was calling everything daddy. Now, however, he points to me when I get home, when he wants me to stand up and dance with him, when he wants the food in my hand, when he wants to go upstairs to listen to Johnny Cash, when he wants to watch me play Futsal but has to leave for home because it is his bed time and says, ,,Da-dy.”

It did take some time and more training. Much like the way -v- and I point to our ears and nose and eyes while saying the words ears, nose and eyes to teach him to associate words with objects, we have been teaching Ezra that I am his daddy. It feels to have work. Sure, like today, there have been a few time during the past month when he has pointed at the odd thing and likely, probably, said daddy, but more often than not, over ninety percent of the time, I am, ”Da-dy!”

Took Ezra to the doctor today for his 18 month check-up.  Didn’t have to get any shots, but there were still lots of tears shed. First it was because I tried to put him on the scale so they could weigh him. Then it was because I tried to get him to lay on his back on the bench so they could measure him. Then it was because we tried to wrap a tape-measure around his head to get his head size. The only results were tears and a bunch of numbers that were more like guesstimates than anything else. So Ezra maybe lost a pound, maybe grew an inch, and apparently his head shrunk. The only thing I think we know for sure is that he doesn’t have an ear infection and that he is not anemic. Yay for that! I thought maybe we could go do something fun after the doctor, but Ezra was so tired he fell asleep in the car about 3 blocks after the doctor and I had to wiggle him out of his car seat and take him upstairs for his nap all passed out asleep like a really heavy rag doll.  Speaking of which, I think I hear him making noise upstairs!

The weekend was great fun. Saturday’s fun began with a trip to the park. I got to see how Ezra now climbs the ladder to the plastic spiral slide. After a few times down the plastic spiral side Ezra then was bored and wanted to slide down the other two metal slides. The access to these two slides is more difficult. There is no steps or easy path to travel for someone Ezra’s height, but that didn’t stop Ezra because he began climbing up the slides. -v- and I were both a little freaked out, but there was no stopping him, so we both showed him that he needed to hold on to the sides of the slide and not walk up like it was a ramp. After one try he was climbing up the slide like a pro with both -v- or I hovering near and one of us at the top. We didn’t stay at the park too long for it was cold. We then went to go get a bagel and a hot drink. Ezra got a warm cider that he sipped and drank as we sat in the coffee shop. The remainder of Saturday was a few more trips outside, dancing to Johnny Cash and watching I’ve Got Two. We talked. We ran around the house chasing each other. Ezra then slept.

Sunday was rainy, so the first trip the park was short after Ezra couldn’t climb the slides, so we watch cars for a time then walked around seeing a few planes. We saw some dogs. For most the day inside, Ezra was playing with toys. He did have a span of fussy time when we took away his pacifier. It was a beginning to try to wane him from his addiction. It sort of worked, but after having only one pacifier Saturday night we did get two more pink Soothies. The night ended with more dancing with Johnny Cash and watching I’ve Got Two.

Ezra’s not losing pacifiers as much as he is chewing through them. He even chewed through the pink Soothie pacifier we bought him a time ago because their stiff and tough nipples were made for kids with teeth, but the pink ones were never something he enjoyed being pacified with for he as soon as he realized they were not the soft and the natural-nipple-like green Soothies he would throw the pink Soothie to the ground and insert a green Soothie in his mouth and go on is sucking way. Of course, with growth comes change. And change comes fast. Couple of weeks ago with no provocation he picked up a stiff pink Soothie and began sucking on it. But despite its stronger and stiffer makeup the pink Soothie is in the trash along with all but one of the green Soothies because he has chewed through them. I am willing to let time and sanity judge and provoke a quick trip to the store to find a pink Soothie pacifier for Ezra. I just hope the last pacifier will last until the morning, so we can at least have day to cope with the fact he has no pacifiers if he finally chews through his last pacifier.

This is not the picture from today, but I think this is generally a pretty accurate image of what Ezra’s hair looks like when he goes down any of those plastic slides that are ubiquitous on today’s playgrounds. Anyway, today we went over to the park with little J and her mom, and Ezra wanted to do nothing but go down the slide. Usually this means that I climb up to the top with him and either go down after him or go back down the stairs. There were several other kids about Ezra’s age, maybe a little older, at the park today who also wanted to go down the slide,  and they were climbing up all on their own. So of course, Ezra had to climb up the slide stairs all by himself. I was a little nervous and tried to hang on to him from beside the slide stairs…but it wasn’t really necessary because he climbed all the way up, all by himself! I think he had way more fun than usual coming down the slide. So much that he started getting all crazy and inventive about how he was going to go down the slide…head first, backwards, on his stomach, etc.  Hopefully Ezra will be content with this slide for a while, because the other slides at the park are I think just still too big, plus they have no real “stairs” so he’s always trying to walk up the slide itself…

Whatever the pharmacists put in Ezra’s Amoxicillin and Clavulanate Potassium for his ear infection has got him reaching for it when the fridge is open. It is like his new dessert. Gone are the times when we would have to try to shoot the stuff into his mouth as he twisted head side to side then hope he wouldn’t spit it all out. No longer. Now he wants it. He will even calm down from a fussy mood if he sees the syringe full of Amoxicillin and Clavulanate Potassium. Even after all of it has been injected into his mouth he will like the syringe wanting every last drop. Too bad for him that he only has a few days left of taking Amoxicillin and Clavulanate Potassium.

Ezra is still requesting ‘Happy To Be With You’ by Johnny Cash like mad by saying, ,,Happy, happy,” throughout the day. If we are near the radio in his room that has the compact disk with the song we will play it. We did this today more than once. And more than once we listened to ‘Happy To Be With You’.

And more than once we listened to a new favorite song Ezra likes to both listen to and see. The song is from the early seasons of Sesame Street. The song is named ‘I’ve Got Two’. We discovered this song on a set of compact disks Grandma O got Ezra for Xmas. It stars the characters Susan and Bob. Valerie and I like the song. Maybe not as much after listening to it nearly seven times in a row today after going for an out door adventure to the park with Ezra. Ezra wanted to listen to the song over and over and over… He wanted to listen to it an eighth and a ninth and a tenth time but we stopped. It was fun watching him both listen and see the song because on the last verse when Susan stands to dance showing off her two feet, so does Ezra, and then the final time when both Susan and Bob sing, ,,And we’ve got two eyes, and they’re both the same size!” Ezra makes a soundless surprised expression with his mouth almost being an O. The video is below. Hopefully it won’t get removed from YouTube because it is a great song and dance…

We have Monday off for Prez Day, so this is a long weekend with Ezra. But even a long weekend is too short. It’s hard to stay on the same schedule we keep during the week, so on the weekends its sometimes hard to tell when and how long Ezra will want to nap or sleep. By the time you feel like you’re getting in a good routine and getting some good quality Ezra time, the weekend is over and it’s back to work. Boo! Friday Ezra stayed home and had a fun day with Gramma T, and Friday night we played race-stroller in the house with Ezra, which will probably some day come back to haunt us. Saturday morning we had breakfast with Gramma T, and then….no one can really remember exactly what we did the rest of the day after Gramma left.  Anyway, today I took Ezra out for an adventure. We went to the top of Powell Butte (an extinct volcano!) with the intention of going on a little hike. But Ezra indicated he was unimpressed after about 3 minutes of standing around outside the car in the cold wind, and wanted back in the car. So then we headed to Ikea, where they were giving away free breakfasts! But, we didn’t get that either because there were too many crazy people standing in line. Ezra tried to cut the line and got us in trouble. We ended up running up and down the sidewalk in the parking lot for 45 minutes, looking at cars, trains, and airplanes. I told Ezra we were at Ikea, and he repeated “Keea?” After Keea we went home, with Ezra falling asleep in the car on the way. This messed up his schedule for the day, because the nap was way too early and too short. I had a nap when he was supposed to be napping. Then when I woke up, I took him out for a walk, and he ended up falling asleep in the stroller with some sun on his cheeks, even though the weather forecast was for rain today. Even though Ezra’s sleep schedule was all weird, and he had a hard time falling asleep tonight, today was a fun day with Ezra. And we have a whole extra day for fun tomorrow!

Ezra’s become attached to Ted 3 to no encouragement of my own (really). He has other stuffed animals that once in a while during the past months he would want to hold for a time. It was with these stuffed animals in Ezra’s crib that Ted 3 was placed to be. For some reason, Ted 3 is some one he reaches for now when he needs a friend to squeeze and carry with him. He has even been sleeping on Ted 3 as a pillow. If he is feeling fussy, he wants Ted 3. Sometimes when he wakes in the morning, he reaches for Ted 3. Ear infection causing pain…He reaches for Ted 3. He carries Ted 3. He sits with Ted 3. This week Ted 3 every went to playcare with Ezra after Ezra was not wanting to leave for playcare after a long morning with -v- and insisted Ted 3 come along with him.

I do really enjoy seeing him become attached to Ted 3 because Ted 3 was never really my teddy bear for I had Ted 2. And I know longer get tense when he drags Ted 3’s head across the floor while holding Ted 3 because Ted 3 is now his. So much so that his name in the future may not be Ted 3 if Ezra discovers Ted 3 is not the teddy bear’s real name.

Ezra slept almost the ENTIRE night. He only woke for a few minutes, which woke -v- and I for a few minutes. Thankfully, we didn’t even need to get out of bed. Then he went back to sleep and slept until morning.

The night of sleeping must have gave him lots of energy at playcare because he didn’t have his nap until 3, which was great. It was great because Ezra was happy, playful, excited, talkie and wanted to play, play, play once he got home from playcare. FUN. We played Run Around, Crazy Fun Ball and Clean Up. We unloaded the dishwasher, cleaned and the he went to bed listening to Happy To Be With You.

According to -v-, Ezra’s favorite new song is ‘Happy To Be With You’ by Johnny Cash. I believe she is correct because he does get a little more excited when the song is played. He dances a little more, which is difficult to tell because he does have a fondness for many Johnny Cash songs  and dances to many. ‘Happy To Be With You’ is one of the songs that even in a fussy mood will make Ezra want to stand and step in a circle, jerk hips and sway head (not necessarily at the same time or in that order). For a while,  ‘Ring of Fire’ was seeming to be his favorite song, but I think Ezra likes the intro  ‘Happy To Be With You’ maybe because everytime it comes on (after Ezra turns on the music player and points at it until he hears Johnny Cash) I sing along. I sing along because I am happy to be with Ezra.

Ezra’s 18 month birthday was this weekend, as Kalab posted as a result of my forgetfullness when it comes to blogging. Anyway, on Ezra’s 18 month birthday, we had a family day out and about. Kalab and I took Ezra down to the Esplanade to look at boats, cars, bikes, and even a submarine! We ran around after Ezra as he explored the grounds of OMSI, and walked with Ezra up and down and up and down the boat launch/dock ramp by the fire station. It was one of those beautiful spring teaser February afternoons. We finished up our celebration with Burgerville. Ezra enjoyed the fries, and also the special sippy-style cup that was included with the meal that had an awesome straw. Alas, Ezra knows not his own 18 month old strength, and he threw down the cup today in a fit of discombobulation and cracked the bottom of the cup resulting in irrepairable damage to the cup and a 2 minute fit of inconsolability until he forgot about the cup and I was able to put the cup out of sight in the trash. But at least he still had the straw as a memory of his 18 month birthday.

What we thought/hoped/wanted to be teething is instead a fucking ear infection. A fucking ear infection that kept Ezra, -v- and I awake nearly all night with cries that varied from neighborhood waking screams to small whimpers as he slept.

Now we are all tired. And another night is before us. He is sleeping now. He was a little less fussy. He was rubbing his ear and jaw like he was trying to polish it. The only thing he’s polishing it with is the snot that covers his face.

We were going to begin to limit his use of pacifiers this week, but with the ear infection and the pacifier’s soothing ability the pacifier is needed. He is on antibiotic, so hopefully with them and tubes the infection will be gone soon, and we can begin to wane Ezra from pacifiers.

I fucking hate ear infections. I wish it were teething then at least we would know there would be an end to the pain, cries and sleeplessness. And if it were teething then at least he would be getting teeth and not just a fucking ear infection.

Ezra woke in fuss I haven’t seen for some time. We are still awake. I think the last time it was this bad a fuss was with teething, which feels to be the cause of the fuss. He has the signs: rubbing jaw, lots of saliva, wants to put his entire hand in mouth, pain. Lots of pain. Lots of fussing. It took a while to calm him. We looked at books. We listened to Johnny Cash. He had a snack. We went to go look at cars, but at 11:20 P.M. there aren’t many people driving. Now he is near calm again. We will try to see if we can get him to bed, to sleep. I feel sleep will be something that we won’t get. That is okay. As longs as Ezra feels some comfort during this pain.