Too Big for His Britches

Mister Zekers. Oh goodness, where to start? Having just turned a year old I guess he's decided to grow up in a hurry all the sudden. Over the past week he's been pulling some real stunts around here!

1. He discovered how to open my Mom's back door and escape to the porch. I'm serious.


2. He then figured out how to crawl through the doggie door to get out of the enclosed part of the porch.


3. He can hold his breath and go under the water.


4. He kicks to motor his little self around when he's wearing the float.


5. When asked, he can give the sweetest kisses. But only if he's in the mood.


6. The other day he crawled over to touch the night light plugged in the hallway outlet. He knows better as I've told him 'no' 100 times. When he approached it he reached out to touch it, then turned to look at me, shook his head and said "uh-uh" with the same intonation I use when I tell him no. Oh yes, they can learn what "NO" means at this age!


7. I came in the living room recently to find him crawling around on the coffee table. How did he get up there? Why did he not fall off and bust his face?


8. Speaking of busted faces... on Friday night he fell down just 1 step on my parents' deck and got his first fat lip. Sad day.


9. The next morning he cracked his head against the bathtub faucet and got a nice knot.


10. He knows how to climb stools to reach things that are too high for him. He did this yesterday to see what I was doing at the kitchen counter.


11. He loves to stand 6 inches from the TV, holding on to the entertainment center and watch kid shows with his mouth gaping open.


12. He loves puppets!


13. He got his first haircut last weekend and I really miss his soft baby locks.

Post Edit: Zeke went to see Dr. T this morning and weighed in at 22 pounds, 12 ounces, and is 30 1/4 inches tall. (That's 50th and 59th percentile.) He also got 4 shots- poor sweetie- he screamed his lungs out at that mean ol' nurse.

The main reason for our visit though, is a concern I've been having with him. I had noticed a few months ago that sometimes, at random, he has an involuntary spasm, or what I call a jerk movement of his head to one side. He sometimes repeats the movement several times. Although I've noticed it frequently when I'm feeding him at the table, I've seen it when he's playing or just exploring around the house too. So I don't think it's any one situation in particular. It happens at all different times of day too. I considered that maybe it was triggered by being sleepy, or having an ear ache (because he tends to jerk it as if to touch the ear), or frustrated, or even trying to shake his head to say "no".

So the doctor checked his eyes, ears, muscle tone, reflexes, spine, feet, hands, and all the other important body parts for any visible problems. She asked me lots of questions and gave him a good once-over. Her conclusion is that he's perfect. His muscles and reflexes are healthy. He moves the way he should. She thinks he might do it when he's excited or intense. Or maybe it could be a habit that he'll outgrow. Either way he looks fine. And that's what I needed to know. We'll keep an eye on his development and make sure the spasms don't get worse and aren't accompanied by stiffness or flailing of the limbs.

p.s. I noticed the very tip of one more little tooth peeking out on the bottom this morning.