No Moons, Just Months

So finally we get to talk in terms of ‘months’ and not ‘moons’…at least for another three weeks. Ezra turns two months old today!!!! Wow, it so hard to believe that 8 weeks have passed already – we can’t seem to remember what life was like without him; or when we do, it seems like someone else’s life.

We were out to dinner last night with Mary, discussing a few events of one year ago…thinking that it was more like 7 years ago. There certainly have been moments that we wish would pass quicker than others, but neither of us really want time to keep at this pace. If anyone knows how to control it, please pass on your suggestions.

Mary came down to the house yesterday morning to spend the day/night with us. She recently returned from 5 weeks in Mexico, so it has been a while since we have had the opportunity to spend some quality time together. 

In the mid-afternoon we went to the doctor’s office for Ezra’s two month check-up. This visit was set to include Ezra’s first round of shots – which shots? That was still to-be-determined as we walked into the office. Since Mary was down visiting us, she joined us in the exam room and was able to experience the event along side of us (she is responsible for the photographs of the visit). As with all of the visits, the nurse started us out with the quick round of important information gathering (weight, height, etc…see the list below for the details). Needless to say, Ezra is growing nicely and Ahna is doing an amazing job of nourishing him. When Dr. Sheehan came into the room, she performed her well-baby check-up and then we had a question-and-answer session to provide us with some information that we needed. Basic stuff: does is flailing at night mean anything? (not especially) can we take him into the pool? (yes). 

Then the discussion ensued about the shots and which vaccines to give to Ezra on this trip. We have been in conversation with Dr. Sheehan from the first time that we saw her about being on an alternative schedule for vaccines, and she has been extremely supportive. I can’t even remember the litany of shots that the AAP recommends, but we have been reading Dr. Sears’ book aptly named ‘The Vaccine Book,’ and are looking to follow his alternative schedule. Thus far, we haven’t given Ezra any shots or vaccines, but in the book the two month visit includes the DTaP and Rotovirus vaccines, so we discussed this with Dr. Sheehan.

The conversation took a while, but she sat patiently and talked with us about several different things, including even delaying some of the shots further, or mixing up the book’s schedule a little. In the end, we decided that the best course of action would be to follow the book’s recommendations up to the 6 month point, and then we would talk more and probably change some stuff up a little (the book has Ezra getting shots every month for the first year, and we think that we can combine a month or two, give him a break, and elongate the schedule a little.) We are fortunate to live in a place that doesn’t provide too much risk for some of the diseases. There is no diphtheria, no tetanus, but there is pertussis. Unfortunately, the drug manufacturers have decided to not offer a pertussis-only vaccine. Argh.  

So, as any good pediatric doctor would do, she left and the nurse came in to do the dirty work with the patient. One nice thing about the Rotovirus vaccine is that it is an oral intake, so only the DTaP would be a shot. He did the Rotovirus first and took it with no problem. Then Ahna comforted him on the table while the nurse gave him the DTaP shot in the left thigh, and as we anxiously awaited the inevitable cry, Ezra gave us a little “what the heck just happened to my leg” look, then slipped back into contentment. No crying, no fussiness, no problems. Even through the night…no issues so far. He’s really cool. 

In the evening, we enjoyed a nice dinner at Carlos Miguel’s here in town, then sat down and watched a movie: Akeelah and the Bee. I won’t write a long review of the movie, so here is a short one: don’t waist your time unless you are watching it with your fourth-grader. Mary spent the night with us, but unfortunately I had to leave early for work before saying good-bye to her. 

In keeping with the tradition of the significant date stat lists, here we go:

Ezra’s Birth Weight: 9 pounds 1 ounce

Ezra’s 2 Month Weight: 12 pounds 10 ounces

Percentage Weight Gain In 8+ Weeks: ~44

What That Percentage Would Look Like For You (If you weighed 180 pounds): 79 pounds

Ezra’s 2 Month Length: 24 inches

Number Of Consecutive Days Over 90 Degrees: 23

Number Of Days Over 100 During That Streak: 5

Percentage Of Ezra’s Life That Occurred During The 90+ Streak: 38

Number Of Times Using A Dryer Sheet Will Ruin The Absorbency Of Fuzzi Bunz Diapers: 1

Number Of Days Until A New Order Of Liners Comes In: 3 (hopefully)

Number Of Ezra’s Bedroom Furniture That We Have, Out Of Two: 1 (still no dresser!)

Number Of Times Oren And Ahna Forgot The Car Seat Base, Out Of Two Possibilities: 2

Number Of Digital Pictures Kept Of Ezra: 415

Here are some of those pictures (all photos in this post taken by Mary).