The Zany Zukowski Weblog

Theo is one month old and grooving right along. We use both Theo and Teddy as the name issue still isn’t settlled. He seems less scheduled than our first two kids. Some nights he will sleep for 5 hours at a stretch then other nights we’re on a 3 hour schedule. I may have amnesia, but as I remember it, Stephen and Freddy gave us the 4 hour stretch right away and gradually built up so that 4 hours stretched into 5 then 6 and 6 hours felt like a night’s sleep.  I, of course, crave the regularity of a schedule, but really I have no complaints. I feel really good and not nearly as constantly exhausted as I did with Stephen. About once a week I find myself in need of a nap, and thankfully Mike is around to take care of our two big boys or sometimes all 3, so I can catch up on my sleep.

Theo’s a happy guy and has been smiling from day one. I believe babies smile for the same reasons you and I smile, happiness. Sometimes contentment, but mostly happiness. They tell us when they’re not happy too, so if they can be angry they can be happy. He certainly let’s us know when he’s unhappy, and his big brothers are quick to tell me he’s crying and I need to feed/change/hold him or give him a binky. Theo probably cries less due to the fact that instead of one insistent voice, I have 3 telling me to pick up the baby! And right now! He’s unhappy! I must therefore drop whatever I’m doing and go to Theo or else I’ll never hear the end of it. 

There is no doubt this baby is loved, and I have to threaten ‘time out’ to keep his brothers from kissing and hugging him. (Could we please wash our hands and get the mud off before you touch your brother!) Freddy made the observation that Teddy is still little, not big yet. I think Freddy may have been hoping to have a new playmate sooner rather than later, but I keep explaining it won’t be long now, and Teddy will be running around with him. Time is a funny thing so slow when we are young and so fast as we get older, and my dad tells me to just wait, it gets even faster, because it was just yesterday I was born. 

Theo’s eyes are very blue, and we’re watching them closely to see if they change. As a baby Mike’s eyes were very blue, then around a year they changed over to the hazel green eyes he has now. I doubt Theo will have my gorgeous brown eyes, only because Stephen’s were brown really early and never really blue. That’s ok Stephen and I like being unique in the family.

It’s always interesting around here and that’s probably why I don’t post everyday. Here are some overheard pronunciations and rules of life spoken by children in my house. 

Piano  pronunciation – pee-an-ee-o

really pronunciation – re-wee

binoculars pronunciation – by- noculars

anything pronunciation- any-fing

When asked to not climb on the side of my house a child responded: but spiderman dooze! (can’t argue with that except the child in question is not spiderman and will fall to the ground)

And finally, I am breast feeding our young Theodore, so Freddy asked, if that was milk Theo was eating and I responded yes, and with out hesitation Freddy pointed to my other side and said then that’s the food. Um sure that’s how it works, milk on one side, food on the other.

I have had several questions about the name, Theodore Audric. Let me explain our thinking. Mike decided he wanted our baby’s initials to be TAZ, and thus a possible nickname in TAZ. We played around with Timothy, Thomas, and Thaddeaus, but eventually settled on Theodore. (Thaddeaus was not my first choice) Theodore had many nicknames to choose from and means God’s Gift. Audric was an alternate name for Fred, but of course we choose Fred and appropriately so since he looks just like his namesake, my dad. Audric is a french name and means old and wise ruler. The other more common derivatives included Aldrich, Aldrick, or Eldrick. If we had used Audric for a first name the nickname would have been Rick. My maiden name, LeBrun, is french for the color brown, and I liked the idea of a french derived name. Its unique and we like it. Freddy calls Theo by his full name of Theodore Audric all the time, and it sounds so cute. Theodore comes out more like “FEE-O-DOOR” but Audric sounds right. (When a friend’s little boy says Theodore, it sounds like “Eeyore”! Too cute!) I am sure in time Theo or Teddy or Ted or Rick will have his own opinions on what we call him. For now, we are enjoying our baby with a big name to grow into.

We  hosted Aunt Lea, baby Katie, and cousin Liz right after the new year. It was fun to see the cousins together, and at this point there’s no bickering over toys! Katie is almost 5 months, and it’s amazing to see the two different babies together. Below are some of the great photos we managed over the weekend. We went sledding, although it wasn’t for long as the wind was terrible! You can see from the close up of Freddy that things were really chilly! Stephen kept on sledding down the hill, and loved every second! There were a couple of dinners with family and have extra hands around the house was great. Liz is a big helper and the boys were happy to show off for their big cousin. Playing Wii with uncle Ed is always a highlight!

Theo/Teddy/Theodore is doing just grand! At his 2 week check up he had gained 5 oz in a week instead of the typical 7oz, so they asked us to come back for a  weight check a week later. And if you’ve seen my first two kiddos you’d know I wasn’t too concerned. In week 3 Theo gained a whopping 12 1/2oz and looks just great! 

Teddy is our third boy and you’d think I’d know better, but it’s been a while since I’ve had to deal with a real little one, and he’s sprinkled on me several times. The first time this happened we were in the laundry room, he started peeing and I just wasn’t ready, but I quickly pointed him away and grabbed a wash cloth to cover him up. I giggled but was proud of my quick thinking. So just to show off, he stopped peeing and started pooping. He  is his father’s boy since he managed to poop all over a cute/ridiculous christmas outfit! I think it’s cute, but his father thought it was ridiculous. Needless to say Dad thought it was very apropos to poop on it. I hear tell there’s a pee pee – tee pee to cover the boy parts while changing them, maybe I”ll look into that!

It seems my husband I are of two different religions, and it can quickly become an issue at this time of year. I really want to respect him and be at peace with his religion, but it makes my life difficult in a very physical sense. You see we were both baptised Catholic and raised in the Catholic traditions, but at Christmas we have some very strong opinions and what have become religious beliefs. The longer we’re married the more it becomes an issue, and we’ve been married for 12 and 1/2 years. One would think these matters would have been discussed before marriage thus allowing both parties to seriously consider the ramifications of different ‘religious’ beliefs. 

You see Michael believes christmas ornaments need to be hung with christmas ornament hooks, EVERYTIME WE HANG AN ORNAMENT! I do not believe we need hooks at all! The problem is you have to buy the hooks every year, and you loose them every year despite the fact that you pack them away together with each ornament. I could overlook all of this if it weren’t for the nasty fact of the hooks getting caught up in the carpet and it’ll be Valentine’s day before I get all the darned hooks untangled from the carpet, the vacuum, and away from the toddlers in my house. An occasional hook for an ornament I don’t mind, but every ornament? Oh sure he will hold the fussy baby,  change dirty diapers, do the dishes, and cook the dinner, but this christmas hook issue is really a problem in our marriage. This is just as important an issue as which way the toilet paper comes off the roll, and I am sure marriages have crumbled under less stress. We also have issues with where the tooth floss is kept, but I’ll save that for another blog. I’ll close with a quote by Charles Swindoll: 

Big problems frequently strengthen marriages…. It’s the little things…we seldom even consider that cut away at the heart of a home.

For now I’ll make my peace with the Chritsmas hooks and my husband, until next Christmas season when I’ll despise them again with a 1 year old running around.