Happy Half-Birthday, Ezzy!

Ezzy at: 1 week; 1 month; 2.5 months; 4 months; 5 months; 6 months

Half a year already! You've been doing a lot of growing this month, both in body and in mind. I've packed away all of your 3-6 month onesies and jammies, along with your newborn socks to add to the collection of clothes that no longer fit you. You've also been busy putting together new pieces about the world around you. You're learning that when the screen door opens in the evening, it means Daddy's home, and you turn around to watch the door expectantly before your face lights up in a huge smile when he walks in. Unless you're in a bashful mood, in which case you'll turn away and act like you're embarrassed until Daddy coaxes a smile out of you. You've also become more attached than ever to Mommy and Daddy. You like to keep your eyes on us at all times and make sure we never stray too far from you. You are officially in the grabby stage of life, and you are extremely interested in whatever Mommy or Daddy has in their hands. Even if you have your own water bottle (yes, you still love those!), you want the one we are drinking from. This makes eating dinner with you on our laps increasingly difficult. Your personality shines through more and more each day, and your daddy and I can't get enough of how silly and giggly you can be. We love to make you smile and your laugh is so infectious we can't help but laugh when we hear it. You celebrated your first Halloween last month, and now that we're in the midst of holiday season, your Daddy and I are so excited to experience the holidays through your eyes and to begin new family traditions with you.

Some 6 month stats: Ezzy weighs exactly 14 lbs, so he's gained 10 ounces since his last doctor's appointment. I'm not sure how long he is, but he suddenly fits in his six month pajamas, so he definitely sprouted in the last few weeks. 

Our 6 month daily routine: Ezzy has been waking up about every 2-3 hours at night, and then waking up for good really early - like sometimes before 6 am. If that happens, I'll put him on the couch with Joe and go back to sleep for as long as possible. Once I'm up I feed him and then he'll usually play in his exersaucer while I have some breakfast and coffee. Around 11 am I nurse Ezzy in our bed in hopes that he'll go down for his afternoon nap. On good days, his naps last two hours or more. On bad days I'll attempt to put him down for a nap 3 or 4 times, with him refusing each time. Then when 5 or 6 pm rolls around he's super tired and cranky and Joe and I have to try to keep him awake until at least 8:00 otherwise he'll be up all night. We generally run errands and/or do chores in the afternoons. We also do one or two walks around the neighborhood in the afternoons/evenings. I start dinner around 5 while Ezzy plays in his exersaucer or his swing.  Around 6 he's hungry again, and I either nurse him, or feed him some pureed food if I didn't feed him cereal that morning. Joe gets home around 6:30 and we usually eat around 7:00. Around 8 pm it's time for Ezzy's bath, jammies, and story time. Before he'd fall asleep between 9-10 pm. Nowadays I never really know what to expect. Sometimes he'll fall asleep at 9, but then wake up again at 11. 

Some notable changes from last month:

• Ezzy is still exploring the world of solid foods. So far he's loved everything except avocado. We've tried it twice and it got the same disgusted "what the heck is this?!?" reaction both times.
• He's sitting up on his own! He can go from a reclined position to sitting, and when he's lying on his back he'll try (unsuccessfully) to sit up. He's had a few times that he topples over headfirst though, so I have to keep my eye on him.
• I've caught him pushing himself up to the crawling position for a split second a few times now. The thought of him crawling around on our floors has me in nesting phase 2.0. Pre-Ezzy I can count the number of times I've ever scrubbed the floors on my hands and knees on zero fingers. But I've actually cleaned all the floors more than once in the past month! (That's a big deal for me.)
• He is louder than ever. Instead of babbling, as they say babies do, our baby prefers yelling and shouting like a disgruntled old man. It cracks me up.
• Ezzy has learned to wave at people. Or sometimes he waves to nothing in particular. Every now and then he'll accompany his wave with a smile, but more often than not he gets a really serious/spaced out look on his face while he's waving at people. It's kinda creepy and cute at the same time.
• He's officially found his feet. It's crazy how babies are flexible enough to gnaw on their own toes. Also, this makes diaper changes a ton of fun now that I have to wrestle his feet out of his mouth long enough to get a new diaper on him.

Ezzy likes (in addition to his 5 month favorites):

• Pounding his chest like Tarzan.
• Bouncing. That video cracks me up every time I watch it.
• Sticking his tongue out (like Miley Cyrus).
• Water bottles (he loves them so much, it was worth repeating again this month).
• Practicing his beauty pageant wave.
• Walking outdoors. Well, technically, being carried around outdoors. If he's in a fussy mood he'll instantly calm down as soon as we walk out the front door.
• The rattle app on Joe's phone.
• Cars. Not car rides, but he likes to watch cars drive by.
• His vibrating teether toy.
• Flinging his toys around wildly. Whoever is holding him better take cover!
• Raking his nails across everything he can get his hands on. His favorites (in no particular order) are: the couch, the table, our faces.
• He still likes diving headfirst into pillows while screaming. Not sure if other babies do this or it's just an Ezzy thing.

Ezzy dislikes:

• Sleeping more than two hours at a time at night.
• Avocado.
• Being startled. He's not a fan of being picked up from behind when he can't see who's holding him.
• Scooting backward on his playmat when he's trying to get to a toy in front of him.
• Watching Mommy or Daddy leave the room without him.

"Mom, what did you just feed me?!?!!"

"Hey mom, watch this!"

"AAAAaaahhhhh! Pillowwww!!"

"Not really sure why I just did that..."

Mmmm, baby toes!

Practicing two of his new faves: sticking his tongue out and waving.

Cuddles with Daddy!

Sleep.

Actually, lack of sleep, would be more accurate for this post's title. You may remember that right around 5 months I was really excited that Ezzy started sleeping 7-8 hours through the night. Well, like all things baby-related, that was just a short (but blissful) phase. Not too long after I wrote that Ezzy started waking up every 2-3 hours throughout the night, and would want to nurse for an hour each time. Pre-Ezzy, eight hours was the minimum amount of sleep I needed to feel good. Anything below 6 hours and I wasn't even functioning. Nowadays, six hours is pretty much the max amount of sleep I get. And it's not even six straight hours. It's six hours of sleep spread out over a nine hour span. Naps have been pretty rare too. And lately my naps are a sleepy tango between dreamland and groggy awakedness (yeah, I know that's not a real word) where I'm always half listening for Ezzy to wake up. Honestly, this sleep deprivation is way worse than when Ezzy was a newborn. Even though he woke up every few hours, he still slept a lot throughout the day when he was a tiny baby. Now he'll wake up before 7 and be up for the day, getting by on just a few 20 minute cat naps here and there.

In case you've been wondering why there haven't been any new blogs for the past week or so, it's because I've been in a zombie-like barely-functioning state over here. I consider it a good day if I manage to make dinner, wash the dishes, AND shower. More likely it's a combination of just two of those things.

All of this is likely the result of Ezzy going through wonder week 26, also known at mental leap 5 - The World of Relationships. Ezzy is exactly 26 weeks today, but wonder week 26 actually begins around week 23. There's a whole book about wonder weeks, which I haven't read. I only know about them from reading what other mommy bloggers who have already been through this stage have to say. If you're interested, here's a chart explaining all of the wonder weeks. So far the wonder weeks have been pretty accurate and right on schedule. Basically they outline mental growth spurts, when babies become super fussy and clingy and refuse to sleep because there's so much going on in their brains. It's probably similar to knowing you have to give a huge presentation in front of tons of important people in the morning, so instead of sleeping you lie awake worrying and planning - or in Ezzy's case, you scream and fuss until someone puts a boob in your mouth. In this particular wonder week, Ezzy is learning about distances, which sounds really simple, but it's a pretty big deal for babies. He's starting to learn that even though he can't see something, it still exists. Apparently before, when Joe or I left the room, Ezzy would just forget about us. Now he knows that we do still exist, he just can't see us, which usually makes him pretty upset. It's around this time that babies start to have fun playing peek-a-boo, and also when they start getting stranger anxiety - both are true for Ezzy.

On Saturday night and Sunday morning Joe gave me a much much much appreciated break. I really can't emphasize enough how much I appreciate Joe. On Saturday night, Ezzy fell asleep around 9:00, and then woke up at 11:00, just as I was getting ready to go to bed. I fed him for about 30 minutes, put him back to bed, and he promptly woke up again just as my head was hitting the pillow. Joe took over and walked Ezzy around for 2 or 3 hours while I slept. Best. Dad. Ever. And then Sunday morning he took Ezzy on a little sunrise nature walk to the reservoir near our house while I slept like a baby. I didn't even know they had left the house, that's how deep I was sleeping. I spent Sunday feeling rested and productive while Joe walked around like a zombie with (I assume) a greater appreciation for the coffee maker we just bought. By the way, a coffee maker should be on every soon-to-be mom's registry (if she doesn't have one already).

Now that Ezzy is 26 weeks we are (hopefully!) on the other side of this wonder week. Last night he went to sleep before 7:00 pm and didn't wake up till 2:30 am. And he's actually napping right now. Fingers crossed this trend continues!

Homemade Baked Veggie Burgers

Vegan Beet Burger Patties

Beet "Western Cheeseburger"

Mmm, satisfied my Carl's Jr craving.

I like to experiment a lot when it comes to cooking. I hardly ever make the same exact recipe twice. In fact I hardly ever follow a recipe. I like to use them more as inspiration, and mix it up depending on what I have on hand. This doesn't mean I'm a good cook. To be honest, sometimes my recipes come out really bad. Like this no-noodle zucchini lasagne recipe (minus the meat). Something went horribly wrong with the texture. The flavor was ok, but it was not at all lasagne-like in its consistency. Joe asked if we were having dip for dinner (as in - just spooning dip straight into our mouths, minus anything to actually dip into it), and that's exactly what it looked like. He politely ate it anyway. That's true love, right there.

The beauty about veggie burgers is that there's a super simple, tried and true formula that works every time, while still allowing experimentation with the type of veggies and seasonings you use. I know it's easy to buy the frozen burgers at the store, but it's actually even easier (and much healthier and cheaper) to make your own.

Here's the super-easy veggie patty formula: throw equal parts veggies (steamed and pureed or shredded), cooked grains, and beans or lentils, plus seasoning to taste, in a food processor until it reaches desired consistency, which will look similar to raw ground beef. If you're going for vegan burgers, throw the "batter" (or whatever you want to call it) in the fridge for at least thirty minutes. If you're ok with eggs, add one beaten egg to the batter. In my opinion, the egg makes it hold together MUCH better. Usually when I'm making veggie burgers, I'll use one can of drained beans or a tub of flavored hummus, two cups of cooked rice or quinoa or whichever grain you prefer, and two cups of either shredded or mashed veggies. I use my half-cup measurer to make 4-6 patties, which I place on a baking tray lined with foil that I spray with Pam. Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 20 minutes, flipping over halfway through.

Some combinations that I've tried and love include:

• mashed sweet potato with white or kidney beans, brown rice, and spicy cumin and chili seasonings 
• black bean quinoa burgers with shredded zucchini and taco seasoning 
• mashed eggplant burgers with hummus and curry seasoning 
• shredded beet and kidney bean burgers with brown rice and worcestershire seasoning (pictured above)

Here are some recipes that I've used for inspiration:

• Quarter Pound Beet Burgers
• Vegan Baked Eggplant Burgers
• Butternut Squash and Chickpea Burgers
• Easy Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers with Avocado
• Lentil Quinoa Veggie Burgers

October Obsession Part 3: Our Lil' Raccoon's First Halloween!

Aww, my matching father & son duo.

Ezzy's first Halloween candy.

My little helper handing out candy to trick or treaters.

Grumpy raccoon.

Ezzy has been a good sport this Halloween season. We've dressed him up in his raccoon costume not once, not twice, but three times. That's right, we were dressing our lil guy up in a padded fleece hoodie in our crisp Southern California 85 degree weather. And he didn't even get candy out of the deal. Just lots and lots of photos to add to our Ezzy archive which is already numbered in the thousands. As you can tell in that last pic, he finally reached his breaking point. But hey, you only get one first Halloween!

We spent our Halloween night at home with the grandparents eating this yummy butternut squash lasagna plus chocolate cheesecake and handing out tons of Halloween candy that we stocked up on at Costco. After it got dark and we didn't get any trick or treaters, I was worried I'd be stuck with 500 pieces of chocolate, but then we got wave after wave of adorable little trick or treaters and we actually ran out of candy before 8:00. We had to shut off all the lights and sit quietly in our dark living room pretending to not be at home.

We gave Ezzy a piece of candy to "hand out" to trick or treaters, but that kid has an iron grip and will put anything in his mouth, so obviously that crunch bar didn't make it into anyone's trick or treat pail. Ezzy put the (still-wrapped) candy straight in his mouth, made the most disgustingly awful face, pulled it out of his mouth, and then promptly tried to eat it again! Maybe it will taste better the second time around? Silly Ez.

October Obsession Part 2: Foxy Family

Sitting up on his own!

Apparently foxy style is in this season, because after I bought Ezzy his fox beanie at Old Navy, I found some adult ones at H&M, which I sadly didn't buy right away, and then I had to go searching at two different stores when I couldn't stop thinking about them. The photos of Ezzy by himself were taken on our visit to UCI a few weekends ago. He was actually sitting up by himself in most of those pictures. And today I caught him on his hands and knees in the crawling position for about half a second! He'll be a mobile baby pretty soon, which is both sad and exciting.

The ones of us as a family were taken on our most recent pumpkin patch visit at Cal Poly Pomona. I let Joe pick which color shirts we wore, so we wound up in Pepperdine colors. Surprise, surprise...

Happy almost-Halloween! We having the grandparents over for dinner and plan on handing out candy to trick-or-treaters.

Weekend Recap: Gangy & Grandpa's Visit in Pictures

Round 2 of Pumpkin Patching

Ezzy & Grandpa

Hamming it up at Brunch

Can you tell Ezzy was waaay more interested in the hay than the camera?

Ezzy got hooked up!

Mommy made out pretty good, too.