A Quarter of a Year!

Here is Zayd's first day as a three month old. My how time flies!

He started with a "Really, this dumb hat again, mom?" expression.

But eventually warmed up to the day's festivities...

The hat was never far away!

Here we are posing together! My little lentil almost always has his hand in a fist near his face. If not, it is surely in his mouth.

After tummy time in our newest itti bitti tutto dipe! *You guessed it - he's looking at the fan!*

Here little Zayd-y is mesmerized by the light up sun in his Baby Einstein gym. That was before he realized he could lick his hat (see second picture). But mommy eventually got it out of the way of his mouth (third pic).

And here is the end to a long day of photographs:

So, there were three diaper cover changes, three different outfits, two pairs of socks and one hat. What a day! (And for the record, I wasn't changing him for the photos - he kept messing up whatever he was in!)

What a Day!

The little man is really on a roll. Today he displayed two new skills just one day before he hits the three month mark!

First, while driving in the car and chatting away to my dear El, I suddenly heard rattles galore! Zayd was spinning the rattles on his car seat toy bar. He has never touched them before and barely noticed them before this weekend. I was gleeful and so was he.

Second, he picked up a rattle today. I think it surprised him and he had no idea what to do with it. He also didn't seem to notice he had dropped it till it hit the floor but either way, he picked it up and held it for at least 20 seconds.

Now, I do not have photos of either of these events BUT I do have an adorable collection from our tummy time this afternoon. First, I had to use the flash to get him to look away from the fan. So, here's our first shot (fan-obsessed):

Then I shot away while he looked at me a bit puzzled.

And finally, I started singing our new favorite song. (I made it up and it has no title...maybe "Cause we are Mammens!") Here's a smile that will melt your heart.

Zayd's Newest Skill

He can clasp his hands together! He cannot yet control himself when he hears my phone camera start beeping before a picture. Shocks him everytime!

Fluffy Mail!

Sam and I both agreed that we needed a few more diapers! Yay!

So, away I went. Here are our newest additions!

Some tried and true Bum Genius One Size Aplix pockets:

Grovia All in Two prints that I am SO excited about! These come with optional disposable liners so they will be our diapers for El's wedding in October. No diaper laundry on vacation!

Two mistakes with the Grovia though, I thought I ordered velcro on all of them... And I forgot to get inserts!

And a diaper the store threw in free because I bought so much! The quality is amazing!!!!

Wheezy, Sneexy, Terrible

My little lentil is sick. So, forgive the posting dirth but I have bigger matters at hand.

:(

Elimination Diet X2

So, my lovely husband has agreed to play along in the "What is Zayd allergic to this week?" game show. Starting tomorrow, for the next seven days, we will both be schlupping our way through Dr. Sears Total Elimination Diet. The one I have been subservient to for 44 days. (But who's counting?)

I think this will actually be great for me. Instead of subsisting on rice cakes with sunflower spread, rice cereal with rice milk, and sweet potato chips, I am actually going to work on cooking MEALS. It is important to me to have family meals, and now that we are eating the same things, I have worked out a couple of menus!

1. Potato Kale Enchiladas (without sauce but with roasted pumpkin seeds!) - That's right I have added corn and so far, it seems ok! So corn tortillas are now on the list! I am considering pureeing some corn and adding the fake cheese (Dairy-free, Soy-free, Gluten-free) I have discovered to make a sauce of sorts. To bad tomatoes are a big no-no. There will be a side of black beans.
2. Quinoa with Roasted Zucchini. I will skillet-fry some ground turkey to add to Sam's portion. I might add spinach. I have eaten it once without incident but I technically wasn't adding it. It was just a moment of weakness. And I am up to add a new food on Tuesday so we will see. I might let Sam pick the food! We will have baked sweet potatoes alongside our meal. (No butter, even the fake stuff comes from soy.)
3. Zucchini & fake cheese fritters with basil and mint. Yum! (I bought a potato ricer last week and have been making the heck out of some hash browns.) I had a plan for something to accompany this... Maybe it was herb and olive oil rice pasta. Can't remember. I will get back to you.
4. I just made a gluten free corn bread mix. All I had to do was substitute oil for butter, rice milk for milk, and flaxseed meal for eggs. Ha! Tastes like the real thing! (Minus the butter.)

And for some inspiration -

Our first father's day!

Happy father's day to all the proud daddy's out there. Especially my dad and my wonderful hubbie!

Car seat shmar seat

Ha ha. After changing little Zayd in the back of the SUV, I propped him up while I tidied up. He just looked hysterical hanging out in the back seat.

Thought I'd share...

Mama and the Silly Boat Noise

yes, i have a stuffy nose...

Desi Represent!

Zayd's Auntie and Uncle just returned from Pakistan and brought him his first shalwar kameez-es and the cutest little shoes! I layed him out on the ja-namaaz and had a Pakki photo shoot.

Sadly, he does not like wearing shoes!

11 Weeks - One Week to Go!

I know, "One Week to Go!" sounds like we will be returning him at 12 weeks. That's not the case. We plan to stick with him at least till 18 (years not weeks). BUT 12 weeks is supposed to be a magical time when you notice that their "colic" just magically disappears. Now, I have already made the "colic" disappear with my starvation, ahem, elimination diet, but I am hoping we see changes that maybe allow me a tortilla... (I would never be so brazen to hope for ice cream, though.)

So, 11 weeks?

• The little lentil is smiling up a storm! You can see that from my previous blog post.
• He also focuses much better on our faces and we have lengthy cooing conversations.
• He has learned to shriek; that is new. I think I prefer a break from crying though so I am ok with the shrieking every once in a while.
• He has outgrown a whole slew of clothes. This made me tremendously sad.
• Today he took two 1.5 hour naps. This won't stick so I had to be sure to mark it down. He still wakes every 2-3 hours at night. But, who knows, 12 weeks is right around the corner.
• He is getting the beginnings of rolling over. He can get his legs to roll over but his face stays planted on the floor. It is a little bit like yoga.

Want to see exactly how he's changed. Here is a 4-week and 11-week shot in his elephant towel.

A smile a day...

...makes mommy blissfully happy.

My little guy is talking and smiling up a storm these days!

Also, I'm pretty sure he's figuring out that those feet below him are his. They've been receiving extra attention lately. And just now in his carseat, he was wiggling the left and looking at it. Then he looks at his right foot, wiggles it and watches it move.

Waking Up with Baby

Here he is one month ago. This was when he first started moving and becoming the little wigglw worm that we now adore.

And just yesterday:

We do lots of hand motions with this one so its a bit choppy!

Goodbye to Gluten

So, we tried adding flour tortillas and flour pasta to our elimination diet. We didn't try bread because of the yeast.

Fail.

The lentil seems miserable and his poops don't look much better.

We'll try again in three months...

Zayd is so grown up!

Hold your horses folks. Tonight, for the first night ever. Sam put the little lentil in his crib (a first) and Zayd put himself to sleep (something so first it should be called a zero-st)!!!!!

He is sleeping there now but I will take him to bed with me when I go. Yay! This afternoon, we also took a ridiculously long nap for a Mammen man - 1.5 hours! Of course we were all snuggled up so that helps the little guy sleep.

He has new stats to report as well from his check-up on Friday. Zayd Mammen is officially

• 11lbs 15 oz (55%)
• 22.75" long (40%)
• with a head circumference just above 16" (60%)
• can support his head when you pull him to seated by his arms
• can push his shoulders and head up when you lay him on his tummy

Zayd's First "First Friday"

We took Zayd to the First Friday Art Festival in South Town yesterday and he hammed it up with all of our friends. This little guy is quite the flirt, but he hasn't quite learned who to flirt with and who not to flirt with. For that matter, he also hasn't learned not to throw up on our friends. Sorry Andre!

Here he is enjoying the sunshine and actually trying to jump off people's laps. :) He is definitely one active baby!

And here is a shot of Sam's "good side".

We are going to a Superhero themed birthday party today so stay tuned!