Rolling Machine

We've had so many new developments in Zainland.  Since we got back from Ohio, he finally mastered rolling in all directions!  Practically overnight.  He did a few tummy-to-backs over the course of a week, but was still struggling a bit.  But then one day, he just suddenly was a master roller!  Now he is all over the place - on the change table, in the crib, in the bathtub.  He used to move a few inches at night.  Now we regularly tune into the video monitor to find him upside down or completely off the screen.  There was a brief transition period where he would roll onto his stomach in the crib and sleep there for awhile, but then wake up and be incapable of rolling onto his back.  So he would wake us with cries of "Mommy, please help me right myself! I'm freaking out."  Several times a night.  Thankfully, now that he has become a rolling machine, that has passed. 

Last week, we were dealing with Zain's first cold.  It didn't affect him too badly except for a very runny, snotty nose and a little trouble sleeping.  The little guy is usually a very accommodating fellow.  We can pull shirts over his head and cut his nails and bang his head into doorways and he doesn't make a peep.  But he reaches his limit at anything that has to do with his nose.  He hates Kleenex, Q-tips, and especially the evil nasal aspirator.  He saves his big-boy-super-sad-can't-be-consoled cry for that occasion.  Despite it all, he was still pretty happy during the cold.  He is really just a ridiculously happy little guy. 

Other new developments... Zain can sit up really well now - he rarely boofs anymore.   He's starting to try to pull to a stand.  Shif sat him in his crib the other day as she did some bedtime preparations, and she looked over to see him up on his knees peering over the railing.  We did some very quick alterations to lower his crib mattress before bedtime!  He is also a total chunk now - 18 pounds, 15 ounces at his doctor visit last week.  His height is now off the charts - over 95th percentile.  But his weight is still around 50th percentile, so it looks like basketball may be more likely than his former projected career as a linebacker.  :-)

 

Some pics from the last couple weeks:

 

Now capable of destroying toys

Shif and my mom doing some pack 'n play repairs

Out for a walk to celebrate the arrival of spring

We had a big event for our little family this past week.  We went to court to finalize my second-parent adoption of Zain.  The court appearance was short and sweet.   The judge said she had reviewed the application and found it "in the child's best interest" to issue the adoption order.  Feeling thankful to live in this very civilized and accepting country!  Once we receive the court order, we'll be able to get a new birth certificate with both me and Shif listed as Z's parents.  We did a little pre-celebrating in Ohio to officially welcome Zain to the family.  We were lucky to have my mom visiting Toronto last week and she was able to come to the court date, as did Shif's mom and dad.  We had a little dinner celebration afterward. 

 

Newly adopted boy entertaining himself at dinner with Aunty Fem's purse

Zain's first restaurant order - a few slices of avocado

Let's talk about socks... and feet.  And genetics.  Zain has inherited his Mummy Shif's feet, biomechanically mysterious feet on which socks are not meant to stay.  Shif routinely has socks that are twisted, heel to the top.  On Zain, they just slide off, possibly due to his chunky cankles.  He also sometimes "helps" the socks off.