The Adventures of Zac Attack

[scarymary48]

Now that Amelia has a journal too, Zac was officially the only baby without one, so here we go! I don't think I have ever got around to posting my birth story, so I'll start with that.

I had a Dr appointment on Thursday night, because I'd had some mild pain in my old c-section scar. I left that appointment feeling extremely depressed, because my cervix was still long and closed, and labour looked like being a long way off! The Dr had asked me to come back in the next morning though, just as follow up for my scar pain. Scar pain could be indicitive of a rupture, which can kill both baby and mama, so he was taking it very seriously.

So I went in the next morning, and to everyone's surprise, I was 3cm dilated! They transferred me up to birth suite, where the midwife suggested Scott and I go grab some breakfast and do some walking around for a while to get things moving. I had a cannular in my arm though (um, needle thing ready to connect the drip to? I think you guys call them something else) so I looked really gross, but we still went and got some pancakes at the cafe then walked around and around the hospital.

After an hour of walking I was still at 3, so they decided to rupture my membranes to get things moving properly. That part was pretty gross. I sat on a birthing ball and read magazines with Scott for about 5 mins, then suddenly, I realised I was in a bit of pain. I requested the gas, which was the most tame form of pain relief available, and started using that to get me through my contractions. Over the next half hour or so they got extremely intense, but Zac was caught behind a lip of my cervix, so I wasn't allowed to push. I ended up being posed in all these weird positions to move him- up on all fours, squatting on the floor, on my side with one leg up in the air. If I hadn't been in so much pain, I would have found it funny!

Finally, after an hour of that, he was finally in position. Important information for all ladies who plan on using the gas- when it comes time to push, they TURN IT OFF. I didn't know this and therefore had to do the actual birthing bit med free. IMO, pushing was a lot less painful than just contracting, but it still wasn't fun.

I pushed and pushed for half an hour on my back, but nothing. So they switched me over to the most dignified of all positions (not), on all fours, and I pushed that way for another half hour. Still nothing. I was exhausted and turned myself back around and pushed on my back again for about 10 minutes, then the midwife made the decision to go fetch the Dr, who explained that I was going to need an assisted delivery as I had been pushing too long.

The Dr came back in with a giant needle and a vacuum and started walking towards my vagina with them. Apparently that was enough of a threat to make my body start doing it's job properly, and finally, after 2 more pushes, at 4.50pm, he was out!

We stayed in birth suite until 7pm, I had my shower and some dinner and everything up there, and Scott's parents bought Ella in for a visit (my folks were out of town :(), and at 7 we were transfered down to the ward. Zac had a brilliant night, only waking for a couple of hours, but I really hate hospital, so by 8am I was ready to go home. They discharged us at 11am.

Some pictures
http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss307/SarahandScott/002.jpg
First sleep in his bassinette

http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss307/SarahandScott/015-1.jpg
Cuddles with big sister Ella :)


One of the photos from his newborn shoot. One of my employees has just started her own photography business and did these for free as a gift to us. She did a beautiful job :heart:http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss307/SarahandScott/Zac.jpg

[Docsgirl]

What a beautiful little boy! Congrats! :toast:

[Goin2thechapel]

Oohh..You topped me...You added pictures to your journal...LOL

Yay for starting a journal and sharing your birth story. Scary stuff about the vaccumm. I would have cried. LOL. Thank god your body cooperated!

[FFC]

That picture of Ella and Zac is priceless - brought tears to my eyes :wub:

I think what you were talking about for the drip is called a hep-lock here but I can't be sure..

Thanks for sharing your story - so how long were you in labor total? It sounds like it went fairly quickly!

And I gotta add - your kids are. freeking. adorable!

[WBandMe]

I'm glad you started a journal! Zac is just so sweet. I love the picture of him and Ella.

And by the way, one of my biggest pregnancy fears is that I'll have to get on all fours and push! I'm crossing my fingers that if the time comes I'll be so ready to get baby out that I won't care--but right now, the idea of it is mortifying! :laugh2:

[Danielle9608]

Thank you for sharing your story with us. Zac is beautiful! Congratulations again.

[amisteratwisterandme]

I just want to put him up to my cheek and feel all that softness and smell all that beautiful baby smell!

[Heywie]

Yay for starting a journal! Thanks for sharing your birth story! Sounds like quite an ordeal!

Zac is absolutely adorable! I can't wait to watch him grow up!

[DanDanNoodleBowl]

They turned my epidural off at the hospital I was at..I had to do it med free too :( I dont know what the contravtions feel like though...! So, I guess I cant compare hahah

but i had the vaccuum....youre lucky your body cooperated first!


he's adorable.

[FutureKelley]

He is beautiful, congratulations!

[scarymary48]

Zac and I are off to see a lactation consultant this morning.

Breast feeding was going fine until the weekend, when suddenly my breasts got really, really sore and red. I felt fine, so after a bit of research decided it was probably blocked ducts rather than mastitis. I was in a wedding on Sunday afternoon, and so missed a feed, so that made sense to me.

But things have just gone from bad to worse. Now I'm feverish, lethargic and in agony- I almost certainly have mastitis. And even worse, Zac has suddenly developed latching issues. It takes us forever to get a good latch, and half the time because I'm so sick, I just give up and end up letting him latch however, which is doing a number on my nipples. And at every single feed he will suddenly detach himself, and start rooting around to get back on, but just wont re-attach. He is needing to eat every hour and a half or so because he isn't filling up properly at every feed. Even though he looks fine, I'm worried that he is losing weight from it because he is never getting the hind milk :(

So I'm off to the Dr in about half an hour to get checked out for the mastitis, and then at 11.30 we are off to see the lactation consultant. I really hope we can resolve it, because I want to continue breast feeding as long as possible.

In less miserable news, Zac had his first road trip on the weekend! We had to drive up to a wedding about 4 hours away. He did really well in the car, he pretty much slept the whole way up and back. And he looked so freaking adorable at the wedding! I'll post photos when I get back from all my appointments.

[gwenshack]

What a beautiful family - you should be so proud! Congrats to you and welcome little Zac! :soppy:

[Heywie]

Your latching problem sounds very similar to mine! I was in so much pain every time he'd latch on and he'd move his head all around and thrash my nipples to pieces! It was so painful. I called the lactation consultants on a Friday and missed their office hours. I went the whole weekend without hearing from them because they were closed, then Monday night they called me back and I missed the call. They were so hard to get a hold of, I gave up and just started pumping my milk instead of latching him onto me. He's doing great feeding from the bottle and I'm in much less pain. Plus, he's staying fuller longer and not needing to eat every hour anymore!

I hope your appointments go well and you can continue feeding from the breast! I wish I had been able to work it out, but now things are going well for me. Just had to do what I had to do!

[lize566]

Zac is adorable!! I love the pic of Ella and Zac...they are both beautiful!

And your BF issue sounds like what my Zach was doing when I had Mastitis; the LC I saw said it was a result of the Mastitis, and he has done a ton better since the Mastitis went away. I hope you get to feeling better soon, and the BF issues get resolved!

[Qtpie]

ah bummer, I hope the mastitis goes away soon.

[scarymary48]

Zac is one month old today! I can't believe a month has gone by already, it seems like just yesterday. He has grown 4cm and is definitely gaining weight well- he is being weighed tomorrow so I'll be able to tell you just how much he has gained after that :)

Breastfeeding is going so much better since I saw the lactation consultant. It turned out to be something really simple in the way I was holding him, so it was easily fixed. The place I went to was fantastic, they have midwives working one-on-one with women who are having difficulties. It's a bit like a little house, all homey looking, and you can book in for the day if you have a fussy baby or one that wont sleep, and the midwives help you find a way to soothe baby, or get a baby to sleep. I don't need that at the moment, but it's nice to know that I've got somewhere to turn if I ever need to. And the lactation consultant was lovely, I was worried that they would think I was an idiot, but she was just really nice and helpful. Best of all, it's a part of Queensland Health, so it was totally free. I wish I'd known about all these free services when Ella was a baby.

Zac has had a great couple of days. He has had good neck control from birth, but the last few days he has also started to push up to lift his head and shoulders off the ground and have a good look around when he has tummy time. I've had a rough couple of days with the mastitis though- I had no idea that it was such a serious thing. I've always thought it was just painful breasts, and had no idea that it would make me so sick! I went back to the Dr today and she was concerned that the area was still hard and painful, so I'm on another 5 days of antibiotics and have to go for an ultrasound to make sure there is no abscess there. I'm just sick of feeling so lethargic all the time :(

[gwenshack]

Happy one month Zac! :soppy:

[Qtpie]

yay one month already. happy one month

[Nekochanpurr]

First off.. Your kids are adorable!! :)

Second.. I really hope you fee better soon! That sounds like no fun. :(

[lize566]

I'm glad the BF is going better, even though the mastitis isn't going away. I really hope it does soon!! I felt awful for like the 24 hours before I started antibiotics, I can't imagine feeling like that much longer and having 2 kids to care for!

[ikkin510]

That midwives program sounds great!! Such a big help to moms I'm sure!

Glad BFing is going better. I hope you start feeling better soon!

[Danielle9608]

Happy one month Zac! I hope you are feeling better soon Sarah!

[Brian's Bride]

I agree with Justina. Zac AND Ella are sooooo cute! I also came down with mastitis and at first thought it was the flu. I hope the antibiotics work fast and maybe you're already feeling better! Congratulations on your little bundle!

[f77g4]

Your children are adorable. Congrats again!

Hope you are feeling better!

[scarymary48]

A bear broke into my house!

http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss307/SarahandScott/001.jpg

Scott bought this for him before he was born, and it is only just now cool enough in the evenings to wear it :heart:.

Zac is doing great! He has gained 1.8 kilos and grown 9 cm (4.5 pounds, 3.5 inches) in five weeks, which is good. He has big hands and feet, so I think he is going to take after the men on my side of the family and be very tall. Scott is average man height, but my brother and dad are both huge.

My mastitis has cleared up, so Zac is having a much easier time feeding now. I'm still feeling very blah though, turns out my iron levels are very low. I am on supplements and have a special diet to follow for the next couple of months to get my iron back up to a safe level. I hate the diet because it has a lot more calories in it then I would usually consume and I have already noticed a weight gain, but I'm sucking it up because I hate feeling so tired all the time, it sucks the fun out of the time I spend with Zac and Ella. I have my 6 week post partum check up on friday, so hopefully my levels will have increased a little.

Scott and I have an appointment at a daycare next week for when I go back to work. The daycare is actually in the early education centre at Ella's new school, so it will be very handy. I already know I'm going to love it, because I love that school. We pulled Ella out of her public school and put her in this private school at the start of term 2, and she is doing so well there- she even got straight A's on her first semester report card! Best decision we ever made. Plus when I was pregnant I did aqua aerobics with the lady who runs the early childhood centre and several of the other teachers, so I don't have to feel nervous about leaving Zac with strangers.

It makes me sad though that I'm already having to think about childcare, and returning to work. It's a year off, but still- time is passing soooo quickly :(

[starsthrumysoul]

Oh my god, that face kills me... He is absolutely beautiful!!!!!

That bear picture is going to haunt him as an adult :laugh2:

[FFC]

He even looks like he's trying to do a bear face :wub: Adorable!!!

[Goin2thechapel]

That is the CUTEST picture EVERRRRR!!!!!


I feel for you on the daycare :( I'm heading back to work in 7 weeks and it's making me SOOOOO sad to think about it. It's going by WAY to fast. I almost want to be a stay at home mom. ALmost...LOL

[lize566]

That has to be the cutest bear I've ever seen!!

I'm glad your mastitis is feeling better. I hope your iron levels are up at your appt. My iron was low throughout the pregnancy and I was exhausted b/c of it (even more so than I would've been otherwise), so I feel for you!

[Nekochanpurr]

Oh my goodness thats so adorable! XD

[scarymary48]

Confession time- I have a terrible case of the baby blues or something. It's not post natal depression bad, but I have never felt as sad about myself as I do right now.
I hate my post baby body. Since I'm breastfeeding, I feel like all I ever want to do is eat. And because I have such low iron, I feel too tired to exercise, and I am getting bigger by the day. It's so depressing. I feel really down about how I look all the time. One wall in my bedroom is a giant mirror, and I've actually taken to avoiding looking up when I walk into my room so I don't have to see my reflection. The other day I saw myself in the bathroom mirror just as I was about to get in the shower, and I started crying.
DH tells me that I look as good as I always have, and he can't even tell that I've gained any weight. He's lying obviously, because he is lovely and he loves me, but not even that helps. I know I'm being stupid, and I know that I can't really look that bad, but for some reason it is really getting to me. Usually all I have to do is go out and look at my kids to cheer me up, but I have days where I just feel sad all day.
I'm fairly confident that I will feel better once I can exercise again, since running has always cheered me up, but in the meantime I am just really sick of being such a downer :(.

[ikkin510]

I'm so sorry to hear you are feeling down lately. I wonder if the low iron levels could also be affecting your moods? I know when I'm really tired and can't do much my moods tend to go down hill too. I hope this passes quickly for you!

[Danielle9608]

I am sorry you are feeling so down. I feel that way when I am stagnant and don't exercise. Hopefully you are feeling better soon and can get back into running.

[WBandMe]

I'm sorry to hear you've been bummed out. I'm sure with a little exercise you'll feel like yourself again, and in the meantime just try to focus on the positive--your kids! :)

[scarymary48]

Zac is now 2 months old! It feels longer than that, like he has always been here. He had his 2 months check up yesterday, and now weighs 12.12 pounds (:notsure: used an online converter, have no idea how to write that properly) and is 23.7 inches long. He took his vaccines like a champ, barely even crying during either needle, and he gulped down the rotavirus mixture like it was the best tasting stuff he had ever had!
I'm happy to report that breastfeeding is still going well. Zac has been sleeping longer and longer stretches overnight, so I am getting quite engorged overnight and therefore get the occasional blocked duct, but so far I've managed to deal with it early enough that it hasn't caused any problems. I'm just happy that his sleeping pattern somewhat matches mine at the moment. He goes down for a nap at around 8pm, then wakes up at 10pm wanting a feed and a cuddle. Then at 11pm he goes back down and sleeps through until 5 or 6am, has breakfast, then wants another 2 hour nap. I'm a real night owl, so I don't mind the 10pm wake up at all, because I'm usually just on OW or FB anyway. And the 2 hours from 5-6 are a blessing because it means I can focus on gettng Ella, the Worlds Worst Morning Person up and ready for school with minimal stress.
We've been looking at daycare centres for when I go back to work, and I think we've decided on the one at Ella's school. It's a bit expensive at $65 a day, but you get a good government childcare rebate over here, so it's not as bad as it seems. The waiting list is unreal, people actually register their yet-to-be-conceived children at this centre, but because Ella is a student at the school, we move to the front of the line.
I've got a couple of photos to share! Big sister and Superman, hanging out on the floor-
http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss307/SarahandScott/IMG_0157.jpg

And one of Zac smiling for mummy :luxlove:
http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss307/SarahandScott/IMG_0164.jpg

[WBandMe]

Aww, what a sweet little guy! And Ella is beautiful. I'm glad you've gotten on a pretty good sleeping/eating schedule with Zac--I'm sure that cuts out a lot of potential stress in your life! Good luck with the daycare--it's awesome that Ella being a student gets Zac in quicker! :)

[FFC]

Wow that's awesome Zac's sleeping through the night already!! Way to go Mama and Zac! Love the pics! Thanks for the update :)

[FutureKelley]

What an adorable little guy!

[scarymary48]

I feel like I only ever post negative things in this thread, which I hate because my family is amazing and I'm filled with so much love for them...But I've had such a stressful week. I just need to get it all out!

Where I live, we basically get about 5 cold days each year and that's our winter. Those cold days occurred earlier this week, and sure enough, even though my winter was over before anyone even had time to complain about the cold, I got sick. Which means of course, that Zac got sick too :(

Poor little guy has been coughing and sneezing, and pretty much sleeping all the time. DH is the worrying kind, and since upper respiratory illnesses are said to increase the risk of SIDS, he has been on edge these last few days. Even though Zac has an Angelcare monitor which would let out an alarm if he stopped breathing, DH has been leaping out of bed and clambouring over to the bassinette randomly during the night, to make sure Zac is breathing. Since I am already up twice during the night to breastfeed, this seriously affected my sleep, but I didnt say anything to DH- no point making him feel bad for worrying about his baby.

Then the other night, my beautiful but extremely accident prone Ella decided to practise doing spins on her skates in our tiny single garage. She fell over and landed on her wrist, bending it in towards her arm. It looked so awful we thought it was broken, and rushed her up to emergency. In the end it was only bruised and sprained, but still, no one likes to see their child in pain. She is now worrying because the interschool sports carnival in on Wednesday and she might not be able to compete in any of the events she qualified for if her wrist still hurts.

To top this off, my Great Grandfather suffered two strokes and died last night. He was in his nineties, so it was hardly a shock, but still, very sad. My poor grandmother was by his bedside and got to say goodbye to her dad. I'm very glad he didn't die alone. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to go to his funeral though, which is upsetting. The rest of my family live 1600km away, so it would take me two days to drive there on my own, which is impossible with a sick baby, and flights are over $1000 at this short of notice.

So! That's been my week. Hopefully next time I'll have something to report that isn't depressing.

[Qtpie]

I am so sorry to hear about your Great Grandfather. My thoughts are with you and your family. I hope Zac is feeling better soon.

[f77g4]

I'm so sorry for your loss! And sorry that you guys have been sick.

I hope you all feel better soon!

[KMS]

You have been going through a lot lately! I hope that things take a turn for the better. I'm so sorry for the loss...no matter the age it is such a hard thing to deal with.

[FFC]

I'm sorry for your family's loss. That's great that your grandma was able to be with him when your great grandfather passed.

I'm glad Ella's wrist isn't broke!! That sounds painful anyway though. I hope you and Zac feel better quickly and your hubby can sleep peacefully. :hug:

[Danielle9608]

I am so sorry for your loss! Don't worry vent to us anytime! I hope things get better soon!

[scarymary48]

Thanks everyone, it's been a rough few days but we're doing ok.

Zac is still snuffly, but is feeling almost 100% better. I sometimes have to use a nose spray to clear out his nose so he can breathe through it to feed, but generally he is much more cheerful. I found a playgroup that meets in a park near my house, so I'm hoping he is feeling up to going to that on Thursday. All the other babies there are girls, so he might win some hearts!

[FFC]

Glad to hear he's feeling better! And that's too cute his play group is a bunch of little girls, hehe!

[scarymary48]

I got quite the fright yesterday.

Zac was feeling a bit off all day, showing very little interest in feeding, throwing up a lot when he did feed. Because he didn't have a fever the pedi wasn't too concerned, and had made us an appontment for 5pm. After lunch I realised that I hadn't changed his nappy for hours. I'd been checking it, but it was bone dry. I decided to change it anyway, and when I opened it up I discovered that he had very recently peed- and it was pink, like his urine was full of blood. I freaked out and called the pedi back, who told me to come sraight in. Meanwhile while I was on the phone to him, I was also googling 'blood in babies urine' and OH MY GOSH you don't want to know the things that I thought were wrong with him! By the time we got to the Dr's office, I was shaking and felt like I was going to be sick. I hadn't been that scared since Ella was a baby and rolled off a bed and I thought I'd brain-damaged her.
Turns out though that pink urine is totally normal. It's a sign of dehydration, but Zac still had a nice moist mouth and his fontanelle hadn't sunk, so he was pretty much fine apart from feeling rotten. The Dr sent us home with antibiotics, and Zac seems much better this morning. But gosh. As much as I love this baby stage, I wish he could talk already- I hate not knowing how to help him :(

[f77g4]

Oh wow that is scary....glad he's ok!

[gwenshack]

:flower: It's gotta be hard being the one in charge of a little one. Sounds like you did all the right things and I'm certainly glad it ended up not being anything serious. :)

[Danielle9608]

What a scare. My heart skipped a beat reading that you found blood in his diaper. You poor thing, that must have been awful! I am so glad that he is okay and on the road to feeling better!

[FFC]

What a read.... I'm glad to hear he's alright and it wasn't as bad as you thought!!!

[Heywie]

So glad to hear he's ok! Must have been soooo scary! Now drink up, little Zac!

[FutureKelley]

So glad little Zac is okay!! I can't imagine how scary that was.

[scarymary48]

Zac is feeling much better now thanks everyone! He is feeding normally again and he is his usual cheerful self again. Being ill has turned him into a bit of a mumma's boy though, he wants to be with me constantly.

It's fathers day on Sunday, and I am very excited! I took Zac to the newsagent today and looked at all the cards. I picked out 3 that I thought were cute, then let Zac pick one of those. He 'picked' by drooling and looking at one longer than the other two, so we got that one. The other people in the store probably thought I was insane, but oh well. Ella made him a card at school, it's a really cute photo frame card. For a present, I managed to get my hands on tickets to a Guns and Roses/Korn concert.

Also, Zac has found himself a girlfriend, a 4 month old named Sienna. I'm not sure if I approve of him seeing an older woman though :snide:. No not really, they are really cute playing together and I get along with her mum, so it's all good :)

[mj512]

hehe so I read your post and thought... wait... Father's day? What month is it? And I seriously questioned for a few moments if maybe it was June! haha Then I realized your father's day much be different than ours :)

[Danielle9608]

Aww so cute that Zac has a girlfriend!

[FFC]

Awwww that's too cute that Zac has a girlfriend! We need to see some 'date' pics!

Also, that's awesome you were able to get something special for your hubby for Father's Day... Some GnR would be FUN!!!

[scarymary48]

I didn't take any date pictures, I'll have to next time. But that reminds me that I haven't put an updated picture up for a while...
At Ella's school parade (where she was receiving an award for excellence :luxlove:) He thought it was WEIRD there.
http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss307/SarahandScott/014.jpg

Hanging around in his bouncy chair
http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss307/SarahandScott/010-2.jpg

And on the swing with Ella (and Missy, who likes to be in photos too)
http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss307/SarahandScott/002-1.jpg

[gwenshack]

Cute, cute, cute! I love the "weird" picture. :)

[scarymary48]

We have rolling!! He was having some tummy time, and he gets himself right up high on his arms to have a good look around. Then suddenly, he just rolled! Once I calmed down I put him back on his belly to see if he would do it again, and he did straight away with the biggest grin on his face. Now he has spent the better part of the afternoon on the ground, rolling around all over the place. He is slower to get from his back to his front, but he gets there :D

Downside though, I popped him in his bouncy chair before and he tried to roll out of it, the little monkey!

[ikkin510]

yay for Zac rolling! Sounds like you are really going to have to watch him. Already trying to roll all over the place.

[Nekochanpurr]

Hehe, looks like someones trying to prefect their new trick! How cute. XD

[Danielle9608]

YAY Zac! Now don't roll around too much and give your poor mama a scare! :frantic:

[scarymary48]

My poor little buddy has a tongue tie :(

I noticed the other day that he can't stick his tongue out very far, and earlier I was poking around inside his mouth (we thought he had something in there) and realised that the string bit that connects the tongue to the bottom of the mouth is really much further up than it should be. That does explain some of the breastfeeding issues I was having at the start too

The midwife I spoke to about it said that cutting it wasn't strictly necessary, because generally all it really means is that he wont be able stick his tongue out to like, lick an ice cream or whatever, and an increased risk of a speech impediment. But we've been thinking about it and are leaning more towards getting it snipped. It apparently doesn't hurt because there are no nerves under there, and Scott is very concerned about the possibility of a speech impediment because he had one as a child and was teased for it. We're confident that we're making the right choice, but I'm still worried that it will hurt him regardless of there being no nerves.

[FFC]

Awwwww poor little guy! Katie (Megan's little girl) had a tongue tie and they had her tongue snipped twice I believe. I can't believe that something like that wouldn't hurt... but I know it would make up for a lot of future pain if he did end up with a speech impediment.

[Heywie]

I'm sorry to hear about the tongue tie, but at least you found out now and can do something about it! I should check Ollie's mouth... he never sticks his tongue out...

[scarymary48]

Thanks for the reminder Justina, I knew I'd heard of another baby having a tongue tie! That's how I knew what was wrong when I felt it. I just couldn't remember who it was! I went back and re-read little Katies journal and now feel very confident about the snip. His appointment is next Tuesday, but I'm not sure if that's a consult or if they'll actually do it then.

I think I'm getting mastitis again :realmad:. My left boob is really sore to touch and painful when he feeds. Boooo! Back to the doctors I go to get the worlds most inconvenient antibiotics- 3 times a day on an empty stomache indeed :realmad:.

[FFC]

No problem! :D

Aw shucks I'm sorry you're hurting again :( I hope you can catch it before it gets too bad and ward it off!

[scarymary48]

Check out these two gorgeous kids:

http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss307/SarahandScott/EllaZac1.jpg

Time to retire the bouncy chair I think, he is getting way too big for it! Ella dressed him that morning, she calls it his Old Man outfit :D

[Nekochanpurr]

They are so cute!! :) He sure is getting big!

[starsthrumysoul]

Lol, too cute...

Kids grow out of everything so fast :p

[FFC]

Love it! And yeah I'll say he's getting a little big for the bouncy chair! I think your bouncy chair matches my swing :)

[melissa1031]

he's a georgous boy.

[Danielle9608]

You have beautiful children Sarah!!

[scarymary48]

Well Zac is having the worst day ever, and it's only 9.45am :(

First, he rolled out of our bed at 3.30am. Scott had him in the snuggle nest on his side of the bed, but I guess he somehow wiggled out of the nest, and off the bed. We were woken up by a THUMP and then hysterical screaming. I knew that the fact he was screaming was a good thing as far as head injuries go, but we still raced straight up to emergency to get him looked at. We have to watch him for the next day or so, but they said he seems fine. I just have to wake him up every half hour whenever he sleeps today to check his responsiveness. Scott feels horrible for dozing off with Zac in the bed, but he was in the snuggle nest, which is supposed to make it perfectly safe so I don't hold it against him, poor guy.

Then at about 7am he was screaming again. I almost put him straight in the car because that was one of the things they told us to watch for, but when I picked him up I realised he was wet, so his nappy had leaked. Which, ew for a start. But when I undid his pjs to get at the nappy I saw that he was bright red, and covered in crystals. The nappy had torn somehow, and the filling was all over him. I jumped straight in the shower with him, and the redness went away within a few minutes, but it must have been burning or itching until then. So now I feel awful because he was screaming for a good 5 mins before I realised the nappy had leaked.

And to round out his morning, he happens to turn 4 months today which means we are about to go get his needles.

He will be wondering what he did to deserve us as parents by the end of the day, poor little guy!

[f77g4]

Oh no - what a day!

I'm glad he's ok and hope that the rest of the day goes better!

[Danielle9608]

Aww Sarah, I'm sorry today was just a awful day. Poor little guy. I am glad to hear he is okay. I will pray that tomorrow is a much better day!

[uptowngirl]

Oh Sarah!! I can't believe Zac got out of the snuggle nest! Hannah sleeps in one - so that story is a good reminder to keep it in the middle of the bed! Scott must feel awful!

I hope the rest of the day was better!

[FutureKelley]

So sorry you have been having a bad day! Poor little Zac, I'm glad his is okay!!

[scarymary48]

Thanks guys, the rest of his day was a bit better. I guess the old saying about things always happening in 3's was true for him that day :( Scott does feel horrible, and it isn't helping that his dad keeps making jokes about Scott tossing Zac under the table or out the window or whatever. He isn't being vicious, he is being light-hearted but Scott is secretly taking it a bit personally.

Zac's check up went fine, he took the first needle with barely a wimper! The second one has the Tetanus shot in it though, so that stung him a bit. We were also given the go ahead to start feeding him solids. I offered him some rice cereal but he isn't too keen, so I rang the child health hotline and they told me to try him on singular safe foods, like mashed avocado or pumpkin. He LOVES his avocado!

We're off on a date today with his little girlfriend Indiah-Rose :hearts:. I'll try to get some pics of them being cute together!

[Danielle9608]

Wow I can't believe Zac is 4 months and eating solid food already! Time sure flies. Glad to hear things are going better!

[scarymary48]

Guess who can sit up by himself? <3

Well he can't get himself up into a sitting position on his own, but if we sit him down he can hold his balance for about 2-3 minutes! He usually loses his balance trying to lurch forward to crawl, but he is not ready for that yet and so usually just face plants into his mat.

Also, it loos like we have found him a daycare centre for in case I get this job I'm interviewing for next week (I'll update my journal about that later). It is ridiculously posh :boggle: but was $5 a day cheaper than the one at Ella's school at $68 a day. They have an excellent program and provide all meals, nappies and sunscreen. And they have an ironing service. And chefs. And when you drop your kid off you can choose something off the 'resturant menu' and a chef will cook it for you so that when you pick the baby up, a chef has prepared your family dinner for you. So like I said, ridiculously posh. But the people were LOVELY, none of the kids were dirty, crying, snotty or otherwise unkempt looking and everyone- staff, kids and parents- looked so happy to be there.

But, now the more I think about it....The more I'm pretty sure I'm not ready for him to into care :(

[f77g4]

Wow that does sound rather posh!

[Danielle9608]

WOW that sounds like a AWESOME place! My daycare I have to provide EVERYTHING and it's still crazy expensive. YAY Zac for sitting up!

[scarymary48]

You're not going to believe it, but Zac started crawling last night!!! He can only go about a metre or so at a time, and it takes him ages to get going, but it is sooooooo cute to watch! He initially did it because he was trying to get at some toys I'd put out of his reach, the cheeky monkey :D.

[NOTKT]

Awww yay! My mom taught us how to crawl and walk using tupperware and plastic bowls turned upside down so we could slide with them on our kitchen floor.

[KMS]

Woah! That's amazing!! He is way ahead of the pack.

[FFC]

How exciting is that!!!! What a big boy!

[Heywie]

That's incredible! Go Zac, go!

[FutureKelley]

Way to go Zac!!

[scarymary48]

We took Zac and Ella to one of those huge indoor play centre places today, and they had an absolute BLAST! Zac's little girlfriend Indie was there, and a couple of other friends too. Ella was happy to spend most of the time in the baby area just playing with her little bro :hearts:. Zac spent most of the day in the ballpit- he loved it in there! He kept grabbing as many balls as he could reach to try to pile them all around him. I can't wait until he is big enough to go in the big kids area, it looks like so much fun! Ella would kill me if I tried to get in there with her though.

Some photos from today-

http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss307/SarahandScott/73807_487425912663_536747663_7141153_888237_n.jpg
Zac and Indie trying to climb up onto the mat to get to the bouncy castle.

http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss307/SarahandScott/71980_487423962663_536747663_7141094_1333726_n.jpg
Driving!

http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss307/SarahandScott/73114_487407987663_536747663_7140662_5107411_n.jpg
Bouncing with Big Sis:hearts:

http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss307/SarahandScott/40128_487410982663_536747663_7140768_1755088_n.jpg
Boo!

[savepaws]

Oh how cute! He is getting so big!! Ella is such a good big sis!

[WBandMe]

He's gotten so big! I love that Ella spent her day with him. She sounds like a pretty awesome kid!

[scarymary48]

Yesterday was Zac's Welcoming Ceremony! The Mayor officially welcomed all the babies to our city, then presented them all with a certificate, a native plant (to watch grow as our babies grow) and a gift bag full of goodies and information. And a professional photographer took free photos of all the babies being presented with their certificates by the Mayor, and the city is going to send those out to us in a few weeks time. My mum took this photo for us, it's a bit dark because it was late afternoon under a very shady tree, but you can still see.

http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss307/SarahandScott/054.jpg

I'm hoping the photographer managed to get one of him looking up at least. But oh well if he didn't, at the end of the day Zac was still officially welcomed and the photo with the Mayor will be cool for him when he is older!

[Danielle9608]

Zac is getting so big! That is so cool that your city does that! I can't wait to see the professional photo, but I think you Mom did a good job.

[NOTKT]

That's really neat! What a happy family!

[Nekochanpurr]

They are really cute! :) And that last picture is really nice!

[scarymary48]

More photos! I'm in a sharing mood this week, lol.

Halloween Zac-
http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss307/SarahandScott/071.jpg

And swimming lessons-
http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss307/SarahandScott/029-1.jpg

http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss307/SarahandScott/020-2.jpg

Swimming lessons are going really, really well. Zac is a brilliant kicker, and the teacher thinks he has great natural talent. Not sure about that since he is only 5 months old, but it's still nice to hear good things about your kids :D

[f77g4]

Cute! My coworker has his daughter in a similar swim class - I guess she just loves it!

[amisteratwisterandme]

He is such a beautiful combination of his parents!

[Nekochanpurr]

Aww! His little face in the water!! These are seriously adorable. Thanks for sharing. :)

[savepaws]

He's so cute! its amazing that babies can start swim lessons so early! Sounds like he's a pro at it!

[scarymary48]

We started him early because pretty much everyone we know has a pool, and there are public lagoons, pools and water parks all over the city, plus the beach. At this age it's just to get them used to the water and to teach them what to do if they fall in the water. They teach them to turn themselves around, get back to the side and reach for the edge and hold on and shout for help, or scoot along the edge to the steps so they can get themselves out. Ella started lessons at about 2 months, and could get herself out of trouble had she fallen in from about 10 months, so hopefully Zac should be about the same even though he started a little later!

[kgvettegirl]

I have to say your Zac is just too cute. Give those cheeks a kiss for me.

[scarymary48]

I'm having a hard time with Zac lately. He has become very clingy and whingy. If Scott is holding him, he is frantically looking around for me and when I walk close he literally leaps out of Scott's arms to get to me. I left him with my in-laws for 2 hours the other day, and he screamed the entire time I was gone. To the point where their neighbour (who they have never met before) came to the door to check that everything was ok because she is a midwife and thought he sounded so distressed that she felt she had to do something. It's a bit exhausting to be honest. I'm hoping it's just a phase. My mother has suggested that it might be because he is exclusively breast fed. I don't pump at all because I'm so terrible at it, so I have just never left him for more then 2 hours at a time, and I am the only one who has ever fed him. I'm not sure what I think about that theory :(

In some more postive news, we have a new trick- climbing in and out of the bouncy seat. The first time he did it, I had put him down to crawl around on his mat while I did some dishes. He was out of my sight for less then a minute, and when I turned back around, he was laying in the bouncy chair, playing with the toys on the toy bar! I stood there confused, wondering how he got in there, but he answered that question about five minutes later when he got jack of being in there and climbed out again. Now he does it all the time, whenever he wants to play with the toys on the toy bar. Little monkey!

[SkippyNXC]

That theory of yours actually makes a lot of sense... just thinking about it from a psych perspecitve... when you leave him, you're taking away his only source of nutrition and security... your boobs right now are sort of his world...

and if you haven't left him much yet, he doesn't have that sense of trust that you and his boob will return...

[smileyone2002]

I dont know how I missed seeing what your little man looked like!! OH MY GOODNESS he is adorable!! I love his chubby cheeks.....I just want to kiss them!! He is seriously a cutie!!

I love all the pictures...and the swimming lessons that early is amazing! That is one thing that I am worried about cause I cant swim (very traumatic childhood experience!) and I worry about what we are going to do once he gets old enough to go to the pool. :coolblue:

[scarymary48]

We had a family photoshoot on Monday, and the photographer put this on facebook yesterday as a sneak peek:

http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss307/SarahandScott/75348_174545109229707_152166838134201_676008_38352 68_n-1.jpg

I'm in love, I can't wait to see the rest of them! I :hearts: my kids so much!

[gwenshack]

Adorable!! :flower: :soppy: Zac has gotten so big.

[smileyone2002]

That is an awesome picture!! I LOVE professional pictures....well I love pictures in general :) I bet the rest of them are going to be amazing!! Your kids are adorable!

[Nekochanpurr]

They are so cute!! Can't wait to see more. :)

[scarymary48]

My child is an acrobat.

He has been climbing in and out of his bouncy seat for a few days now, so I really should have seen this coming- He tried to escape out of his cot :boggle:. I was in Ella's room having a chat with her and could hear Zac crying. He was safely is his cot and Ella was in the middle of telling me something important, so he ended up crying for about 5 minutes before I went to grab him. Well I walked into my bedroom and he was halfway over the cot rail, with his arms, shoulders and head on my bed, with his tip-toes scrambling to push himself totally over the rail. I FREAKED. Thank goodness his cot is right by my bed is all I can say! He would have smashed onto the floor straight onto his head if it hadn't been :( We lowered the mattress straight away, so he shouldn't be able to do that again in a hurry.

His sister was an escape artist too, but even she didn't start this early. I have a feeling he will be giving me a few grey hairs before long :anxious:.

[f77g4]

Wow you are definately going to have your hands full with that little monkey!

[gwenshack]

My sister was like that. We caught her climbing the drapes one time. :bbeek:

[Danielle9608]

Wow he is definitely going to keep you on your toes!!

[scarymary48]

I had a 'worst mummy ever' moment earlier today :(

Zac was sitting on my lap, when he suddenly just dove forwards and smashed his little face right onto the edge of the coffee table. He has a massive, angry looking bruise that extends from the corner of his mouth all the way up to his ear. It looks so bad and I feel so awful for letting it happen. I was distracted, and he just moved so quickly :(. Poor little guy.

[f77g4]

Aww poor little guy - don't beat yourself up though. He bound to get lots more bumps and bruises over the years.

[NOTKT]

Sounds like you have a little monkey on your hands! Sorry he bumped his head!

[scarymary48]

Off to the doctor today. Zac has a cough I want to get checked out. It comes on when he is laughing or crawling, or doing something physical, never when he is just sitting there. And in bed this morning Scott and I thought we could hear a bit of a wheeze. I'm a bit worried :(

[ikkin510]

Hope he is ok! Let us know how the appointment goes!

[scarymary48]

Zac's appointment went ok, it turned out he had the tail-end of a bronchial infection. He is fine now, back to his usual daredevil self. His latest trick is that he can pull himself up using the couch, then turn around and grab hold of the coffee table and walk himself around it. He has the best look on his face when he gets himself up there, he is so proud of himself! Oooh, and he has started sticking his tongue out! This is big news for us because we didn't know that he could, we thought he might still be tongue tied.

Today we are off to Billabong Sanctuary. It's a kind of a zoo place for native Australian animals. Zac can cuddle some koalas, baby crocodiles, wallabies, kangaroos and snakes, and look at some wombats and big crocodiles and other animals. It's one of those embarrassing places that usually only tourists go to, but it's not like we see those animals everyday, so it will be fun to take Zac there. Plus it's for one of his little friends 1st birthday party :) I took Ella when she was 2 and have the best photo of her trying to pick up a wallaby, she wanted to bring him home :hearts:.

[gwenshack]

Glad he's feeling better! Hope to see pics of him with the animals! Sounds like fun!! :jphappy:

[scarymary48]

Zac had a great time at the birthday party :) Here's a few photos-

Patting a koala

http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss307/SarahandScott/154684_463196286774_599136774_5730754_8237879_n.jp g


Getting up close and personal with a crocodile. Zac was :coolblue: about it, I was internally freaking out!
http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss307/SarahandScott/138.jpg

Meeting a kangaroo, or a wallaby. I'm a bad Australian who can't tell the difference. I think it's a kangaroo...

http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss307/SarahandScott/162.jpg

And having a play with his pal Snappy

http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss307/SarahandScott/170.jpg

He also met and patted a wombat and a snake, but I don't have the photos of that yet. I can't wait to take him back when he is old enough to appreciate the fact that he is touching a crocodile!

[amisteratwisterandme]

I just love his little dimple and those ears!!! How adorable.

[scarymary48]

Thanks Jan, I think he is pretty adorable! :hearts:

I found the photos of the snake and the wombat to share too.

http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss307/SarahandScott/128.jpg

http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss307/SarahandScott/151.jpg

Zac LOVED the snake, he was facinated by it. I'm actually now really paranoid about a snake coming into the yard and Zac thinking it's a good playmate . I live in a city, so the chances are tiny, but I do live near a golf course that is surrounded by bush. Not that Zac is ever outside unattended of course, but still.


I just realised that I worry about some insane stuff.

[mitch]

How cool that he gets to meet the animals close up and personal. You Aussies have some great natives. It's the Spiders and Snakes that put me off a visit lol. He looks like he had a great time. Thanks for sharing.

[Danielle9608]

Wow you guys got to see and touch some pretty cool animals! Looks like a blast!

[f77g4]

That's so cool...great pics Sarah!

I wish we had something like that around here.

[scarymary48]

How cool that he gets to meet the animals close up and personal. You Aussies have some great natives. It's the Spiders and Snakes that put me off a visit lol. He looks like he had a great time. Thanks for sharing.

Lol! You know, I'm 27 and I have never seen a snake anywhere except in a zoo etc. Just don't go blundering about in the bush with no shoes or pants on, and you will be safe ;).

[KMS]

Oh my gosh! I'm a tourist that has been there! Haha that's so neat. Awe, I want to go back to Australia so much. You live in a magnificent place!

Zac is too cute and paired with the cute animals - out of this world cute pictures!!

[smileyone2002]

Awww he is such a cutie!!:hearts:

[scarymary48]

I'm so nervous, today will be the longest I have ever been away from Zac. Scott and I are going to a Korn/Guns N' Roses concert so Zac will be staying with my mum from 5.30 until at least 11ish. I'm having visions of him screaming for hours at a time :(. Poor little guy. I bet I spend the whole time at the concert worrying about him instead of having a nice time. I'm also dreading going that long without feeding or pumping :boggle:.

As dumb as it sounds, I'm also worrying about him hurting himself at my mums. He is a total Houdini now- he can escape from anywhere. We have our christmas tree in a playpen so that he can't pull it down on top of himself, and he has even figured out how to wrap his legs around the bars of the playpen and push himself up to the top. If Scott and I hadn't been in the room to grab him, he would have toppled straight over the top and into the pen! He looks so funny when he is doing these things, because although he has great co-ordination, he is still only 6 months old, so he wobbles around like a drunk. On the downside, I'm going to need a taller, more expensive playpen with like steel mesh sides or something if I ever want to contain him in it, lol.

[f77g4]

Have fun at the concert - I'm sure Houdini will be fine! lol

[scarymary48]

I forgot to update how Zac went while we were at the concert! Apparently it was terrible. He cried for most of the time, refused to eat dinner and wouldn't even take a bottle. I'm forced to admit that I have accidentally turned my son into a total mumma's boy, it's very embarrassing. I'm going to have to bite the bullet and put him in daycare for one day a week, or leave him with family and friends for a couple of hours at a time to get him used to being away from me.

Oh well, I'll catch you up on everything else while I am here. When he is with me, he seems very happy and independant, always off exploring and getting into mischief! His favourite thing to do is to stand by the window in my lounge room and look out at the yard. The dog is usually out there doing something weird, so he generally has something interesting to look at. In this photo, that is rain on the window, not dust, just in case you were thinking I was gross, lol-
http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss307/SarahandScott/005-2.jpg

Mum and dad bought a new puppy, Lily. She is a maltese x shitzu, the same as their other dog, Jazz. We took Zac over to meet Lily, and they LOVE each other! It was so cute to watch him patting her. There was a hairy moment when Zac tried to pick her up and put her in his mouth, but we caught him in time.

http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss307/SarahandScott/024-2-1.jpg

And this one is just cute, it's Zac with his best friend Indiah
http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss307/SarahandScott/033-1.jpg

Also Zac has finally cut his first tooth! He is no longer bald and toothless, lol. The teething made him a little miserable but no where near what I was expecting, so I'm going to call us both lucky there.
And this morning he got a little treat when we had the fire brigade turn up. I can't tell you why, I'm too embarrassed. If we are FB friends have a look at my status. But anyway, while the firies were here, they showed Zac their truck and put the lights and siren on, and he got to beep the horn and took some photos with him, which was really nice of them.

Oh well I think that's us all caught up now!

[savepaws]

Awww, he's so cute!! That is so sweet that the firemen showed Zac their truck!!! That's awesome!!

[WBandMe]

He's such a cutie! I love the picture of him and Indiah.

I just popped over and checked fb--too funny with the fire department! But I'm glad it was fun for Zac! :)

[mj512]

The picture with him in front of the window is so stinking cute!

[Danielle9608]

OMG that last picture is just too adorable!!

[f77g4]

What a cutie!!!

LOL re the fire truck...I saw that on FB last night. At least you know your neighbors are on top of things in case it ever really does happen.

[KMS]

That picture of him by the window is beautiful! He looks like he has a very sweet playmate. They are so cute together!!

I'm so glad that teething wasn't so bad! I hope we're as lucky over here!

[scarymary48]

We had Indiah and her parents here yesterday afternoon, and Zac was so busy playing that he didn't have his 5pm cat nap. After they left I put him in his high chair and gave him his dinner. He was his usual, hungry, happy dinner-time self and then suddenly....

This happened!
http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss307/SarahandScott/009-2.jpg

He even still had a mouthful of food! I got him out of the chair and because he is a very messy eater, we had to wash him, so I jumped in the shower with him. He went straight back to sleep in the shower! I guess that 5pm cat nap is very important if you are 6 months old and have spent the afternoon playing, lol.

[WBandMe]

Aww! That's too cute. Poor little guy was pooped! (That's a horrible expression, by the way... hmmph.)

[uptowngirl]

That is too funny! I guess now you have a sure fire way to get him to nap! Haha!

[britTANNY]

That is so adorable :)

[KMS]

I wish that Paisley would do this! Instead of passing out, she'll just freak out! He is so adorable. He was one darn sleepy little guy.

[Danielle9608]

Aww, so adorable!!

[f77g4]

What a cutie!

[scarymary48]

:realmad: I HATE TEETHING!!! :realmad:

[scarymary48]

Well the tooth that was giving Zac all the trouble has FINALLY broken through. What a rough couple of days though! I could deal with teething if it was consistent, but so far every tooth cutting through has a different impact on Zac. The first one was ok, a bit of whinging but nothing too serious. The second one was awful with screaming and sleepless nights. Then tonight within the space of 2 hours, we went from a having a smooth gum with no sign of a tooth and Zac being his usual self to a full on tooth poking out and Zac not showing any signs of discomfit at all. It does my head in!

[scarymary48]

I think the time has come to wean Zac :(. I had all these grand plans to BF until he was 12 months, but now he has both top and bottom teeth, it is really not working out for us any more. I feel quite sad about it because I feel like I'm being weak- after all lots of other mums manage to BF just fine when their babies get teeth- but Zac bites, and he bites hard. He has actually drawn blood on a couple of occasions. Breaking point came last night after that random top tooth came through unannounced. He was feeding then he bit down and I could not get him to unlatch for a good 30 seconds or so. The pain was excrutiating.

I never thought I'd be so upset about it to be honest, but I am really feeling very sad.

[Danielle9608]

I am sorry Sarah! I know I was crushed when I had to stopped EPing because of my milk supply. It does get a little easier with time though.

[scarymary48]

I am sorry Sarah! I know I was crushed when I had to stopped EPing because of my milk supply. It does get a little easier with time though.

Thanks Danielle. It doesn't seem like anybody else thinks it's that a big a deal, but I'm depressed by it. I'm starting slow, substituting one feed a day for a couple days, then I'll increase it from there. I hope to be able to keep BFing for his late night feed, but I'm mentally prepared for my supply to dry up altogether.

[f77g4]

Good luck with the transition Sarah!

[Danielle9608]

If the drying up process gets painful, you can take sudafed, it will really speed up the drying up process.

[britTANNY]

I know what you mean my supply was low and i didnt even get a chance to BF past the first 2 weeks :(

[scarymary48]

Zac said his first word!!!!!!!!!!

He crawled up to the couch I was sitting on, pulled himself up and shouted "Boo!" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He was giggling and had a big grin on his face, it was the cutest thing ever! :hearts:

Now to try to get him to say 'mum' though. Ella said Grandad, Kaidan (dogs name), no, yay and block before she said mama, it drove me nuts. And my dad has never shut up about grandad being her first word.

[ikkin510]

Yay Zac! Love that his first word is Boo. That's too cute. Hope he says mum soon for you though!

[f77g4]

Aww that's cute!

[gwenshack]

Boo! :giggle: Too cute!

[britTANNY]

AWWW adorable!!! :) BOO
and dont worry mum will come sooner or later!

[Brian's Bride]

Too cute!! Boo! And then for him to giggle about it, too. :hearts:

[scarymary48]

So last night, Zac had been asleep in his cot for about an hour, and Scott, Ella and I were all in the lounge room watching TV. Suddenly we hear a little rustling noise, then up pops a little head with a big grin on his face. "Boo!''. Our first reaction was to be charmed, because no matter how many times he does it, it is still cute and funny. Then a fraction of a second later the Angelcare alarm went off and it dawned on us all at the same time. How did he get out here??!!?

Yep, Houdini has worked out how to climb out of his cot even though the base is fully lowered and the sides are all up. We put him back in there to watch him to see if he'd do it again, and eventually he showed us. He reaches up to grab the top of the rail, then wraps his little legs around the bars and just pulls up until he gets to the top, then just topples himself over. Fortunately his cot is still by our bed, so he just flopped straight onto that, then we assume he crawled down to the end and as the bed was un-made, used the covers to get off the bed without hurting himself then just crawled straight out to the lounge room.

This puts a serious spanner in the works, because we were going to put his cot in his own room this month. Now we are worried that he will climb out of it, but there wont be a nice soft bed for him to flop onto. The side of the cot comes up to my chest, so it's a fair way for a baby to fall and he could really hurt himself :( So now what are we supposed to do?? Leave him in our room? Buy him a toddler bed? Put a lid on the cot and turn it into a cage? Argh!!

It's just so frustrating, because I worry about him as it is, so him being able to escape from supposedly escape-proof contraptions is really doing a number on my sanity. Is anybody else's baby an escape artist? Or am I the only one??

[SkippyNXC]

wow that's impressive! could you maybe put some mats down around the crib so he has something to ease the fall?
honestly i think if he did that drop once, he'd prolly never try it again! BUT of course that would require him to fall and no one would want that...

[mj512]

My goodness he is still so young to be doing that! You certainly have a climber on your hands!

[f77g4]

Wow 7 months old and escaping from the crib already - yikes!

You are going to have your hands full! Good luck finding a solution.

[gwenshack]

Ah, you've got a monkey! My sister was like that. She would climb out of everything - we even caught her climbing the DRAPES one time. :bbeek:

[f77g4]

Ah, you've got a monkey! My sister was like that. She would climb out of everything - we even caught her climbing the DRAPES one time. :bbeek:

I think Sarah's dealt with that too if my memory is correct.

[ikkin510]

Wow! Ryan still hasn't figured out how to climb out of Carter's crib while he plays in it. Carter hasn't tried, that I know of. Honestly, if he can climb out that easy, your safest best, IMO, would be to get a toddler bed for him. I'm sure now that he knows he can do it, he will do it all the time. My word, you have your hands full with him! But I gotta admit, him popping around and yelling boo like that is rather cute!

[KMS]

I couldn't help but to have a little grin on my face as you were describing the escape. It just sound so devilishly cute! I know it is a serious, not to mention frustrating, issue though. I don't have any advice. :bbconfused:

[Danielle9608]

Wow you really have a little monkey on your hands! I agree the toddler bed is probably the safest way to go. If and when you do move him into his own room, I suggest bolting all the furniture to the walls, just incase your little monkey gets any bright idea to climb on the furniture.

[britTANNY]

Awww that was cute but definately scary! He is certainly very smart! I cant picture Lexi doing that, no way! lol Hopefully the toddler bed will help when you move him to his own room!

[lize566]

Holy moly, I'm excited that Zach just started pulling up on stuff, even though he still can't crawl, I can't even imagine him climbing out of his crimb!! I agree, though, sounds like a toddler bed might be the safest choice. Good luck!

[scarymary48]

Oh yeah, he is definitely Mr Mischief!

We have decided to leave him in our room for now and in a few months time we'll convert the cot into a toddler bed and put him in his own room. Ideally we would have liked him in his own room by now, but we both feel a bit weird about putting him in a bed on his own at 7 months. It just seems too young, you know? It would have been fine if we could trust him in the cot, but we can't so oh well. I'm glad the cot converts into a toddler bed because I was really sour about buying one, I think they are the biggest waste of money.

Of course, this plan is entirely contingent on us not needing the cot for anyone else to sleep in ;). There are vague plans in the works! But shhhhhh, don't tell anyone!

[f77g4]

I couldn't imagine having to put a 7 month old in a toddler bed - I'm like you it just seems too young and so odd but I think it's probably safest for him in the long run.

Good like with your "vague plan in the works"....lol

[scarymary48]

Zac has done himself a mischief :(

He started letting go of stuff and standing on his own for really short periods of time a few weeks ago. These last few days he has been trying to walk, but because he hasn't mastered his balance yet, what he does is barrells himself forward in a run, manages 2-3 steps upright then falls forward. Up until tonight, I've always been there to catch him because he has always just been 'running' to get to me, about 2 feet away from him. I was too far away when he threw himself forward, and he went splat on the tiles. He has a massive bruise on his forehead above his eye, and he skinned it a bit too so the middle is all red. Poor little buddy!

[ikkin510]

What a dare devil you have! He has no fear, does he?
The joy of boys, they always have some sort of cut, bruise or "battle scar" on them.

[britTANNY]

OH no thats what im afaid of!!! I dont want them to get hurt!!!
LOL i guess its just something they have to learn!

[savepaws]

OMG that is just crazy to me that he is trying to walk already!!!

[gwenshack]

Aww poor kid. :(

[Nekochanpurr]

Aww, poor little guy. I guess thats how they learn..

[WBandMe]

Brave little guy, isn't he? I'm sorry he got hurt thought!

[Danielle9608]

Sarah I was a lot like Zac as a kid, according to my mom. I was getting on and off the couch at 6 months and completely walking by 9 months. Sounds like you have a little monkey on your hands for sure!

[scarymary48]

We have first steps!! He just walked from his playpen to the couch, about 6 steps, and didn't pitch himself forwards like he usually does! Aaargh!

[scarymary48]

Aaaaaand he just stood up completely unassisted! Could not be any prouder right now!!

[lize566]

Woo-hoo!! Go Zac!!

[NOTKT]

Yay! That's awesome! Good job, monkey! :D

[britTANNY]

We have first steps!! He just walked from his playpen to the couch, about 6 steps, and didn't pitch himself forwards like he usually does! Aaargh!
WOO HOO hes growing up so fast!!!

[savepaws]

OMG! Way to go Zac!! You are going to have your hands full now Sarah!!

[scarymary48]

This might sound lame, but I get secretly crushed when people don't show interest in my kids. I mean, I know that no one cares about them as much as Scott and I so I don't mean with every day stuff, but when they do something special and no one reacts, my heart breaks a little. I've got this cousin who had her fb status about her baby the other day as 'Stella just farted, haha!'. She got 40 comments on it saying how cute her kid is. 40! About a fart! I had that Zac was walking and all I got was the sound of crickets chirping. I know everyone can walk, but he is only little! I don't know. I just thought that walking topped farting.

And poor Ella. She goes to this brilliant school where she gets straight A's, learns Japanese and French, is on the athletics, swimming and rowing teams, plays the flute in the band and still manages to be popular. But whenever I tell anyone how good she is going, all I get is negative stuff, even when Ella is right there. No one ever says "Oh wow, good work Ella!". It's always, "oh, why bother learning Japanese, at my kids school they learn Indonesian, it's way more useful" or "No one cares about rowing, just concentrate on swimming." etc. She goes from looking so proud and confident to looking awkward and sad. It gives me the crappers. She's 9, for goodness sake, is it so hard to give her some freaking credit???

Anyway, sorry for the rant, it's just something that has been bothering me about my family for a while and I needed a safe place to get it all out.

[britTANNY]

The nerve of some people!!! How can they say that right in front of her??? WTH is wrong with people, sounds like they need to go back to manners school so they can teach those people how not to be snobby!

I think it is amazing that Ella is doing those things, i cant do any of those! And Zac is already walking!!! Thats amazing plus walking is better than farting, heck im sure he can walk AND fart!!! :lafhard:

I hate how even with me its a yay lexi said momma and then i get 20 comments well so and so said momma when he was born so my kid is better than yours and now they are doing this so your kids not smart blah blah... Its silly but i feel a little crushed too when people put her down already and shes not even 8 months old...

Everyone here on OW is very proud of both Ella and Zac :)
I think they are both really amazing!

[Nekochanpurr]

Poor Ella!! :( Thats hella snobby to blow off her accomplishments!! Shes doing good, and more i could do at that age, too! Good job Ella!! :sob:

[Danielle9608]

Sarah who the H3LL said that about Ella?! Want me to punch them in the nose for you? I think Ella and Zac are fantastic and obviously very advanced little people!

[f77g4]

Ugh that sucks Sarah! I'm sorry!

I think Ella is so smart for doing all that stuff and Zac seems to be doing so much for someone so young.

[WBandMe]

Wow, I had no idea Ella was involved in so much stuff. I can't speak for those other turds, but *I* am VERY impressed by her! It breaks my heart imagining her just kind of deflating when people say stupid sh*t about what she's doing.

And of course Zac is a pretty amazing little monkey himself. I'm still not over the bed-escaping, and now he's walking. I bet he's going to be a professional trapeze artist -- well, at least to pass the time until he's old enough to go to school! ;)

[saltyveruca]

Well, I think Zac and Ella are awesome! Really and truly, you have some great kids!

[scarymary48]

Thanks for cheering me up :) It just gets to me sometimes. I have an aunt and uncle who have recently discovered that they can't have babies, so now everyone on that side of the family tries to make them feel better about it by never ever ever mentioning babies. Not even to ask about Zac. It's the same family members that act like Ella's achievements are no big deal, all in the name of making this aunt and uncle feel good about not being able to have children. It's weird, and it hurts my feelings, but I can't change it so I guess I shouldn't dwell.

Thanks again!

[savepaws]

Wow, I personally am amazed at all the things Ella is doing and learning. I know schools around here don't offer half of that stuff so I personally don't know any 9 year old that can do most of those things!! She sounds like a very bright young lady. And Zac, I am blown away that he's already walking. I can't believe family isn't flipping out with excitement!

I understand how you feel though when your own family won't make a big deal out of it. I still have family members (my brothers & their families) who haven't even met my girls...neither has my MOH. Their lack of interest really hurts. :(

[ikkin510]

I have to agree with Danielle! Ella is amazing all she is learning and doing! Such a smart young lady you have.
And I love readying updates about Zac. He is too adorable and just amazes me with how he climbs out of his crib already and says "boo" to you.
You have to great kids hon!!

[scarymary48]

A couple of photos from our afternoon at the little local waterpark thing-

Zac and I hanging about under water. Don't mind the look on my face! I'm not the biggest fan of being under water, lol.

http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss307/SarahandScott/168899_498811056774_599136774_6309014_5805947_n.jp g
And Zac and Scott going down one of the slides. I don't know if you can tell from this photo, but Zac LOVED going down the slides! Scott and I took turns, and Zac giggled the whole way down every time :p

http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss307/SarahandScott/167515_498810906774_599136774_6309010_4145105_n.jp g

And just because it's cute, Zac walking up the hall with his bike. He and Ella usually take turns pushing each other up and down the hall on it.

http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss307/SarahandScott/167524_1704383923110_1043348446_1972331_505508_n.j pg

[gwenshack]

Awww fun! :)

[mitch]

OMG you should have heard me the other day telling friends about your Zac. I was telling them about him at the Zoo with all the critters. They were like wow, lets see. And the look of love between Ella and Zac is beyond words in the photos you share here.

So even without FB (Which i don't have btw lol) It doesn't need a FB status for me to gush about your kids. They have international love from OW. Which IMO blows FB out of the water. ;)

[KMS]

Girl, you come on here and brag about your amazing kids anytime that you want! I love hearing about what they're doing and what a beautiful family that you've created. It's exciting knowing that Paisley is going to be Ella's age one day.

I love the water park pics! I cannot wait for the summer...I think that Paisley is going to love the water. Did you do baby swim lessons for Zac? We've been thinking about signing Paisley up for Water Babies.

[ikkin510]

You have quite the water baby there! HE is so adorable!

[Danielle9608]

LOL that picture is priceless! That is awesome that he already loves the water!

[NOTKT]

Those new pictures are great! He looks so cute in the last picture, so happy! You are such a good mama to him! :D I think its adorable that he giggles going down the water slides, haha. What a little daredevil!

[DanDanNoodleBowl]

Wow! I can't beleive someone said that about Ella...she is SO smart! I don't know any kid her age learning so much! I'm impressed!

And I am impressed with Zac!!!! How did he do underwater!? I wannt take Lily swimming but I am scared.

[scarymary48]

Zac loves his swimming! I highly recommend taking Paisley and Lily off to classes. Zac has been going underwater since he was about 2 or 3 months old. He sits on the side of the pool and flops himself in, then turns around and reaches for the wall. He can't pull himself up once he gets there yet, but the motions are all there so it wont be long. I have some photos of Zac at swimming lessons in this journal somewhere if you want to have a look at them.
Have a look at my walking boy-

http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss307/SarahandScott/387.jpg

He has done himself another mischief, on his little forehead again. Now that he has worked out how to walk, he has decided that walking is for suckers, and running is the go. But he doesn't have anywhere near enough co-ordination for that just yet, so he only manages a couple of steps then BAM, he face plants. Considering how often he smashes to the ground every day, he hardly ever actually hurts himself. But he always looks so surprised and crushed that he didn't manage to run to his goal, lol.

[savepaws]

I love all the pics!! I can't wait to go swimming with my girls. I really want to get them into water baby classes but I don't know if any are offered around here.

[FFC]

Oh Sarah little Zac is adorable - and Ella seems like quite the genius! I'm sorry your family isn't as supportive as they should be. I get just about crushed when someone calls Katie a boy - I couldn't imagine what I'd do if I went through what you are going through with your family.

That is AWESOME that Zac is swimming - I'm thoroughly impressed! 2-3 month old swimmer, who'da thunk! I totally gotta get Katie into swimming! I love that idea, not to mention I was a fish when I was younger. We even have a swimming pool but it's not heated so that'll have to wait for a bit lol.

[mj512]

Awe what a cute picture!!

[mj512]

He looks so great in the water!!!

[scarymary48]

Poor Zac tripped and put one of his little teeth through his lip! It doesn't seem to be bothering him too much, he hardly even cried when it happened, but OMG the blood! It was all over his face and his hands and shirt. Just about gave us all a heart attack :boggle:. We went off to the Dr but there is nothing to be done but some baby panadol if he seems like he is in pain. DH suggested we start wrapping him in bubble wrap. I think he was only half kidding.

[gwenshack]

Wrap him in bubble wrap so we can call him Bubble Boy! :)

Poor kid - that's what happens when you're a daredevil!! :frantic:

[KMS]

That crazy kid! Oh my gosh, you have your hands full!!

[Heywie]

I love all the pics! He's getting to be such a big boy! He always has a bit of mischief on his face when he's up and doing things! I love it!

[scarymary48]

Yesterday we went to an indoor play centre, not the one we usually go to. It was grubby looking, with no one bothering to clear the food off the tables and plastic balls from the ballpits all over the eating area. We stayed for a bit, then when Zac and Scott were in the ballpit, Scott scraped away some of the balls from the side and OMG you should have seen the mould, gunk and dirt that was stuck to the side of it :boggle:. Every other playcentre in town scrubs and disinfects their ballpit and balls every single day, but this one clearly hadn't been cleaned in a very long time. We left straight after that.

Fast forward to last night, Zac gets a sore on his lip and starts acting really sooky and weird. He had been in bed for about half an hour when suddenly he starts to scream, like something is really wrong. Scott beat me in there, and apparently Zac was on his tummy, struggling to get up but he couldn't use his left arm at all. Scott picked him up and he went rigid and started having a seizure. We were so freaking scared. We have friends who had a perfectly healthy son who was developing normally until he had a seizure when he was 2, and now he has the motor functions of a 6 month old baby and will for the rest of his life, so that was definitely in the back of our minds as we rushed Zac to hospital.

Millions of tests later, and it turns out that Zac has picked up an infection that caused the seizure, but is going to be totally fine. I've not gone anywhere or done anything all week, so the only place he could have picked it up the that germy cesspit of a playcentre. I'm disgusted by it, but also blaming myself a bit, because I feel like I should have just turned around and left the minute I got there and saw how gross it was. These things usually have such high standards of cleanliness, so the eating area should have been a giant red flag. I'm reporting them to the council though.

Other then that, Zac is going great. He is walking everywhere, and is a very curious little boy. I think he has great problem solving skills for his age, he is always escaping from places or getting his mitts on things he shouldn't be able to reach! He still wont talk though, except to say 'Boo'. He will be taking his first ever plane trip next week, we are flying down to my hometown to surprise my grandad for his birthday.

[f77g4]

Wow how scary...glad he's ok.

I had a seizure as a little one as well - scared my parents...Had a temp of 102.

[britTANNY]

OMG did u call someone they need to be.shut down immediately! I can't imagine what it would be like to watch lexi have a seizure!glad he's ok!

[gwenshack]

OMG. That's such a scary story. Our poor little Zac. :bbeek:

I'd have that place shut down.

[Nekochanpurr]

Thank goodness hes okay! O_O I'd def want that place shut down, too!

[mj512]

Wow I can't imagine how scared you must have been! I hope the place either cleans up or shuts down.

[NOTKT]

Wow! How scary!! Poor little guy! I'm so glad he's OK!

[WBandMe]

Oh my gosh, how terrifying! I am so glad he is going to be just fine.

[Qtpie]

so scary, i am glad that he is ok though, i would definately report that place.

[scarymary48]

Thanks guys, it really was pretty scary. He seems pretty good now, just a little under the weather from the infection. I'll be calling my city council first thing in the morning to report the play centre though. At the very least they can force them to disinfect the joint so no other kids get sick.

[scarymary48]

I was mucking around with my new camera and editing software yesterday and took some snaps of Zac in the park over the road. I'm no photographer, but I am pretty happy with how our little amateur photo shoot turned out!

http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss307/SarahandScott/040-1-1.jpg

http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss307/SarahandScott/006-3-1.jpg

http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss307/SarahandScott/018-4-1.jpg

[gwenshack]

Aww cute :soppy:

[NOTKT]

Hehe! Adorable pictures!

[Danielle9608]

Aww how cute!

[lize566]

I'm glad he's feeling better...I can't even imagine how terrifying that must've been.

What a cutie! I love the first one. He looks so much bigger than 9 months!

[FFC]

Gosh that woulda scared the daylights outta me. I'm glad he's doing better. Did you turn in that playplace? How'd it go with the city?

[scarymary48]

I dobbed them in to the council, but I didn't leave my name so I haven't heard what happened. And I definitely wont be heading back there to see it for myself lol. I'm confident that they have been inspected and at the very least, issued with an order to clean the place up and improve their standards.

But in exciting Zac news.....

:confetti: He said Mama this morning!!!! :confetti:

After months and months of nothing but 'Boo!', it was the most exciting thing ever! He is a little behind the curve with his speech, but the dr isn't concerned because he 'displays excellent problem solving skills' which I think was his nice way of saying that Zac is a cheeky escape artist (He didn't believe that Zac had climbed out of his cot, so he set up a little test in the office. He was impressed!). So even though we weren't worried, it was still really awesome to finally hear that little voice say 'Mama!' :hearts:

[NOTKT]

Aww! That's great! :D

[gwenshack]

Yay for mama! :baby:

[Danielle9608]

Aww yay Zac! And yay for mama!

[britTANNY]

What a great feeling :) yay

[savepaws]

Awwww, yay!!! :heart:

I totally missed about what happened at that nasty play place! I really hope they got that place cleaned up. And that is so scary about the seizure. I hope he is ok now and won't have anymore problems?

And the photos you took are beautiful - great job!!!

[WBandMe]

Aww, yay for saying mama! Go Zac!! :)

[scarymary48]

OMG I just had my grossest, most revolting, spew-worthy moment as a mother. I was washing the dishes after dinner. Zac was sitting on the floor by the back door in the semi darkness, talking to Missy, our dog and chomping on a rusk. I assumed that Scott must have got the rusk out for him, so I asked Scott why he was giving Zac a rusk this close to bedtime. Scott looks at me blankly and says "I thought you got the rusk?" So we are like, ew he must have had it hidden in a toy box or somewhere, and we go to get it off him. Just as I switch on the main light, Zac looks up at us and gives us his best cheeky grin. At which point we discover that the 'rusk' is actually....







A GIANT HALF-EATEN MOTH! Spew. Spew spew spew. So gross. I can't even try to describe it. Scott rushed him straight into the shower to wash his mouth out and brush his teeth, while I screamed hysterically until Ella put a tissue on what remained of the moth so I didn't have to look at it anymore. All the while Zac is looking around like "what? I was just having a snack."

Ella was always such a girly princess even as a baby, she didn't go near anything gross! So it was a shock, lol. Shudder. I am going to be having nightmares about that for years.

[mitch]

Moths are full of protein. :laugh2:

Sorry Hun. I shouldn't laugh. I know it's gross. The thought of it is bad enough. But for you to actually SEE it is enough to make anyone scream. Zac will be OK. I assume it's not poisonous. I know critters in Australia are different to other countries. And Ella coming to the rescue too is enough to make you go awww instead of the O.M.G when you saw what was happening.

[kgvettegirl]

Please give Zack a big hug from me. His antics have given me the bright spot of laughter that this gloomy day was missing. I know he will turn you gray well before your time but at least you will never be bored. While you are giving out hugs give one to Ella for being so sweet.

[gwenshack]

Ew!! :blink:

[britTANNY]

OH no!!! I would probally freak out too lol

[NOTKT]

Oh gross! :boggle:

[f77g4]

Oh no! You'll have your hands full for sure!

[Nekochanpurr]

Gross!!!! Sorry, i did laugh a little too, though. lol Good on Ella for helping her mom out!

[WBandMe]

Omg grooossssssssss! I'd have been hysterical!

I gotta ask though, what are rusks? When I was a kid my grandma had these things called rusks and they were delicious and then they just kind of disappeared. And the rusks I remember aren't likely to be confused with a moth (still giving me the willies, by the way!) but maybe it's the same thing???

[NOTKT]

I looked them up on Wikipedia last night, they are like hard crackers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rusk

[scarymary48]

I thought rusks was one of those universal words like Coke lol. They are the things that look exactly like little french bread sticks and they are really hard, to help with teething.

[WBandMe]

They still exist! Woohooo!!!! You've made my day.