A rough week for Zachary

My head is always looking around for my big sister and brother, and almost always smiling this much

I'm a big boy and can sit up in my Bumbo much better these days

I love to "fly" with my arms up and feet in the air

I also play so hard that I wear myself out--crashed in the swing this morning. Notice just how many toys my siblings thought I needed to play with, they never want me to be bored or w/o toys!

Zach had his 6 month doc visit yesterday. He is up to 14 lb 3 oz now (still not on the charts)!! The big news of the day was his height, he is 26" which finally puts him at 10th% compared to other 8 month old babies!! Yeah for tall genes for the Z-man. How can he not end up long and skinny if he is anything like his daddy. His % for head circ. is leveling out and is now only at 10% instead of 30% last time. Maybe that is why he is able to hold his head up better these days. :) His neck is getting much stronger. Zach has been able to sit for short periods in a bumbo we are borrowing and even sat in the jumperoo yesterday for the first time. He really likes being able to see things out in front of him. We still need him to work on those leg muscles, as he is not a fan of standing. We did postpone his 6 month shots until after his surgery next week.

My poor little man. Within 7 days he is having 2 sedations, a surgery, an MRI, and getting his shots. Bleck!!! Many have asked what his surgery is for. He is having his circumcision done and is having some other work done on his little boy parts. He has what is called a Hypospadius. This means the doctors get to move some skin around, removing it from one area, and positioning it to another area that is lacking. They also have to bridge the hole he pees from to the correct place. It will be about a 2 hour surgery if all goes well. We are praying and hoping that all goes well! The surgery is scheduled for Tuesday, August 25 (time still unknown).

Then, the following Monday, August 31, he is set to have an MRI done on the base of his spine. We are praying they don't find anything wrong in this area! We won't know immediate results from the MRI, but will meet with the neurosurgeon on Wednesday, Sept. 2 to discuss what he found. I think I will be a little nervous until we found out the results!

With both of these things, we can't feed the poor boy any food when he wakes up. How do I explain to my poor baby boy that he can't eat, and that I'm not just being a wicked witch?? He is going to be one hungry munchkin when he wakes up!

Zachary has been babbling more lately, putting together a lot of "ba ba ba's" and "ma" sounds. I think he is trying really hard to catch up to his chatty brother and sister. We also finished up on size 1 diapers yesterday. Not bad to last 8 months and just now be leaving size 1's--something some babies come home from the hospital wearing! He is mostly in size 3-6 but can wear a very few 6-9 month items.

Dr. Mike agreed with us on waiting a little while on starting cereal. We hadn't started yet mostly due to his lack of head control. We were also hoping to get him closer to his 6 month adjusted age. It was recommended to wait until after the MRI before starting on this new item. We just don't need to worry if he ends up with a fever or reaction whether it was his shots, the anesthesia, the surgery results, cereal, or a normal illness (especially since big sis is back in school and exposed to more germs). We will just control one of those things if we can.

If you have a free moment, say some prayers for our little boy. It is going to be a rough week around here. We pray that he handles the anesthesia well and that he doesn't have any complications with any of his upcoming procedures. You can also throw in a prayer that momma keeps patient and sane, especially when it comes to dealing with the big kids. It really does feel kind of minor, all of these things, compared to what some of our friends have gone through lately!