Golden Pig Tales

During these past days while we have all been trapped inside the house Ezra has walked Valerie and I to the bathroom four or five times a day to brush teeth.

He won’t exactly brush his teeth, but rather he wants his tooth brush topped off with a kid friendly toothpaste, so he can suck the toothpaste from the tooth brush and sort of move his tooth brush over his teeth as he watches Valerie and I either brush our teeth or act like we are brushing are teeth.

We are able to help him actually brush more than his front teeth throughout the day, so it is worth the time. And it is kind of cute and a good habit for the future if he wants healthy teeth and gums and fresh breath.

Ezra has created his own sign for milk! It is only used for “mama milk” - Ezra hasn’t yet developed a drinking relationship with cow’s milk and he currently only uses it to wash his hands or squirt on his high chair tray. The first time he did this was last week when Grandma O was here visiting. I had come home from work, and was sitting in the living room with Ezra, Grandma O, and Kalab.   Ezra walked over to the couch and grabbed a pillow - one that I have frequently used to prop him up while he is nursing. I thought maybe he was just going to flop down with it on the floor, but instead, he walked it over to where I was sitting, and practically threw it at me! Then he waved his arms in the way he does when he wants to be picked up. So I thought this was cute and decided that since he had figured out a way to ask me, I would let him nurse. This might have been a mistake. Now every time Ezra wants to nurse (which has been often the last few days because it’s been so hot and he is teething), he picks up a pillow and gives me the sign for milk. And if I refuse him, he gets sort of upset!

Ezra’s sign for “mama milk” is so great I wish I had it on video! Maybe Kalab can help with this.

To better show and tell Ezra how to brush teeth, and to distract Ezra with entertainment and props while I brush his teeth, I give Ezra a tooth brush when I brush his teeth. This has never helped me brush his teeth until tonight when he stuck the tooth brush he held in my mouth and brushed my teeth. Then he opened his mouth, and I was easily able to brush his top and bottom teeth. Then he brushed my teeth. And he smiled and kept smiling while I brushed his teeth.

I can only hope this happens more than just to night.

…Ezra’s brushing of my teeth was light brushes and chaotic movement that made me gag when he brushed for the molars. Even if I have to choke to brush Ezra’s without Ezra becoming fussy having tooth brush in mouth then I will choke.

Ezra still has some resistance to having his teeth brushed. He resists by covering his teeth with tongue, shutting his mouth and grabbing the tooth brush and fussing.

He does still have resistance to teeth brushing, but -v- and I have found ways to show him brushing teeth is fun or at least something not to cause fuss. We have shown him by giving him own tooth brush to hold while we brush his teeth with another one. This allows of him to grab a tooth brush and feel like he is resisting. I have also begun to brush my teeth while we brush Ezra’s teeth. I open my mouth wide and smile and brush, brush, brush away. Sometimes I do a teeth brushing dance. Even if this means brushing my teeth two times more a day that is OK for the act of me brushing teeth before Ezra while -v- brushes his teeth seems to be working because he does open his mouth for longer and stops using his tongue to force the tooth brush out. We now also brush his teeth twice a day to make sure those teeth are clean, so Ezra can avoid cavities and teeth problems that will only cause more fussing and pain.

We bought Ezra a used baby walker to help Ezra walk around the house without the need to be supporting himself with a wall or door or a piece of furniture or the need to have full balance control all the time.

The baby walker is a vintage plastic Fisher Price Baby Walker. It looks like a right angle triangle on four plastic wheels topped with a single handle for both hands. On the front of the walker is a mirror next to turning circle with holes around the outside that looks like a rotary phone dial. Above the mirror and rotating circle are flat colored panels that spin. Below the mirror and rotating circle are colored cylinders that spin on a rod.

The toys on the front he likes, but the biggest show of pleasure and joy he expresses is when he is walking around the house with the help of the baby walker. His mouth is open wide with a smile letting loose short bursts of laughter.

For a couple of months, -v- and I have been using both a sippy cup and cup, so Ezra can drink water for Ezra is no longer getting lot of liquid by breast feeding.

During the couple of months, -v- and I have discovered Ezra has not taken to either. The sippy cup is beginning to be an object Ezra can use to do more than just slam against a surface for he is now actually drinking from the sippy cup. He is now able to lift the sippy cup to his mouth sometimes and drink from it, but sometimes he needs help lifting the bottom, and Ezra still likes to bang and throw around the sippy cup that can cause for water spills and messes. The cup appears to be more conducive to Ezra drinking water, but the cup requires more help from -v- and I for him to drink, which isn’t conducive to an independent Ezra, but it works. They both work. I only hope soon he can drink from either without the worry of needing get out the mop or towel to soak up dropped water.

Since Ezra has been crawling we have been corralling Ezra in a section of the house I call the main living area, so he can roam around on his own, so he won’t find something that will hurt him, and he won’t find something that he will put in his mouth that he should not put in his mouth, and we know the area he crawls upon is mostly clean until he is walking more than crawling, and we know where he is. On Saturday we opened up the corral area to include the kitchen for he long ago figured out how to open the swinging door to the kitchen from the corral, and he was refusing to remain in the corral when -v- leaves for the kitchen.

The new part of the corral, the kitchen, is still an area that we need to closely supervise Ezra while he tries to find things that could hurt him like the objects in the drawers we have yet to fix with fasteners. The kitchen is not yet fully Ezra proof. It is only part Ezra proof and fully clean of all the dust and small bits decaying food under the bookshelf, fridge and stove that Ezra would put in his mouth or rub into his eyes. It is also clear of any sharp objects that once rested on the lower shelves of the bookshelf, and those heavy cook books he was so eager to reach up and try to pull off the shelf on top of him.

He seems to enjoy the new area of the corral. He gets excited when we allow him to crawl beyond the swinging door. He enjoys throwing around the plastic lids and wooden bowls we have put on the shelves within reach. He enjoys being able to be by -v- when she is in the kitchen.

We have sectioned off a part of the main living area using a couch, a coffee table, a chair and the walls creating a corral for Ezra. Electrical cords once laying around on the ground of the corral are now put high out of reach or outside the corral area. The pile of shoes once stacked in the corral area have been moved to areas outside the corral area. The corral has been cleaned every other day, but the corral floors don’t seem clean enough. No matter how much I clean he has an ability to crawl and find little bits of carpet fuzz or small pieces of paper hidden under the couch or the coffee table. The corral area has been good to help control Ezra as he learns to crawl and keep him safe, but soon Ezra will leave the corral area, and then the real fun will begin.

I had to find the Golden Alarm’s snooze button which just happen to be a pacifier. I found it. Then I talked to the Golden Alarm. Then his loud whine became silence, and the Golden Alarm was off.

Ezra was like “no way!” on the oatmeal today, so I tried some banana. He did eat a little banana, but not much. I was hungry after trying to feed Ezra, so I made myself a turkey sandwich with cheese, which I ate while holding Ezra. He kept grabbing for my sandwich, so I held it up to him, and he took a bite of my sandwich! He really liked the crust of the bread. He got mad when I took it away, so I let him chew/suck on it, and when he finished it, he whined and grabbed at my sandwich until I gave him a little more. But he seemed to try and swallow chunks that were too big, too often, and he kind of gagged and threw up. But still wanted more bread. I am not sure what I should try and feed him tomorrow…

Ezra has been training us to fetch his pacifier or a toy as he sits high upon his high chair.

He will suck on, wave around, or hit against the surface a pacifier or a toy while sitting in his high chair. Eventually, the object in his hands or mouth will drop and fall to the ground.

Ezra will then get fussy. His feet will fidget. His arms will sway. His face will become tense and wrinkled. Ezra will then begin to create high pitched, stressed, short sounds that sound like, „Eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh,” while he reaches toward the last known location of the pacifier or toy. If he sees it on the floor below, he will reach for it.

Playing fetch with Ezra usually occurs while -v- and I are eating dinner, so minutes, usually seconds, after the object falls to the floor -v- or I will succumb to the clues of discomfort and retrieve the object that is on the floor and give it back. Then Ezra will suck on the object, bang the object on the surface or wave it around in the air then let it drop to the floor. This usually happens several times until we refuse him the object because we are trying not to play his game of fetch. We try to hide the object he just dropped. And if he whines, we give just let him whine, or we will give him another object to occupy his time. But when one is tired or eating or both, it is difficult to sit through the Tension of Ezra, so we give in to his desires.

We are trying not to play his game of fetch because some times his smile is too wide and bright when we fetch for him the object he dropped. A smile that is more coy and mischievous than happy for pure joy, so I beginning to think he is getting some sort of joy at manipulating his parents. I am sure this is only the beginning of Ezra trying to manipulate us.

Ezra is still taking his Zantac 2 times daily, but Ezra is becoming good at spitting out the Zantac as soon as it hits the back of his mouth, so some days he only takes it 1.3 times daily or 1.7 times daily or 1 time daily.

I have tried shooting the Zantac from the syringe to the cheek, roof of mouth, tongue and back of mouth. Back of mouth and roof mouth work best. A roof of mouth injection will still give Ezra enough time to move tongue to dam the Zantac and spit out. Back of the mouth shot of Zantac makes him gag, but he swallows the Zantac, but he is becoming good at controlling the gag reflex, and he can spit it out.

He is becoming very good at working his cheeks and tongue to purge the Zantac from mouth.

Some times I have to surprise Ezra and hope that he won’t be able to think and not swallow and just react and swallow after I shoot the Zantac into his mouth. But it is hard to surprise him because he knows what is about to enter mouth, and he turns and twists neck and lifts his head this way and that way to move mouth further from the end of the syringe that injects the Zantac into mouth.

I am successful more often than not getting Ezra to swallow the Zantac, but there are moments when I thought he had swallowed it only to see a stream of Zantac flows from mouth to cheek to chin to neck.

Teething is now another cause of fussiness, so it too must be inserted officially into Ezra’s Fussiness Discussion Chart

Bored? —> Yes —————> Play
    |
    No
    |
Hungry? —> Yes ————–> Feed
    |
    No
    |
Need Burping? —> Yes ——-> Burp
    |
    No
    |
Diaper Change? —> Yes ——> Change Diaper
    |
    No
    |
Tired? —> Yes ————–> Nap or Sleep
    |
    No
    |
Snotty Nose? —> Yes  ——-> Suck Snot From Nose
    |
    No
    |
Teething? —> Yes ———–> Clean Up Drool; Find Teething Toys; WAIT!
    |
    No
    |
Fever? —> Yes ————–> Call Doctor
    |
    No
    |
Other? —> Yes ————–> Call -v-

Pacifiers are awesome, but pacifiers don’t always pacify Ezra. There are times when he so fussy that he seems to get lost in the chaos of his own screams. There are times when he will just refuse the pacifier by spitting it out again and again until we understand he has no desire to be pacified. During the past this meant walking around and damaging the hearing a little more as he screams and screams and scream until he calms down. While vacuuming the living area around the sofa today, I discovered the wonder of vacuum white noise.

I had heard that the sound of a vacuum could calm a baby, but I never actually witnessed it until today. -v- was holding fussy Ezra on the sofa. I was vacuuming around the sofa. As I turned on and off the vacuum, Ezra’s crying turned off and on. Then about an hour later Ezra was in fussy overdrive because he needed to nap, but was too fussy because he needed a nap to calm down to nap and began screaming and screaming, so I went into the room with the vacuum, plugged it in, turned it on. Ezra calmed down. He went from screaming like a primate, face all flush with crying rage, to a calm and quiet baby looking off into white noise land. Seeing the change so fast makes me believe vacuums are magical.

After being a father of a newborn, I have realized why they are called pacifiers. And I have found the name to be accurate. Yay! for pacifiers!

Ezra went to the pediatrician on Friday. He’s gained more weight - he’s more than 8lbs now. The Dr. told me that his goopy eye was an entirely normal newborn affliction, caused by immature tear ducts getting clogged up, and that made me feel better. The Dr. also told me that a little breast milk in the eye has been known to help resolve the goopy eye. So this morning, after Ezra finished feeding, I looked down at his little goopy eye, and with a quick flick of my boob, landed a drop of milk in the goopy eye. Ezra just looked at me and blinked a couple times, then went back to falling asleep.

I just looked, and Ezra’s eye is now goop-free! We’ll see what it looks like tomorrow, but this just could be further proof that breast milk IS best for babies!

PS - I was sort of afraid to take this first blogging step - hence the fact that all the other posts have been by Ezra’s dad. But this wasn’t so bad, so maybe I will be able to do this more often!