Lots to tell

I can't believe it's been so long since I posted last. Zane has his first serious cold - an upper respiratory infection. He'd been kinda stuffy since the beginning of November but when I took him to the doctor then, he didn't have any kind of infection, just a little congestion. After Thanksgiving it got worse - coughing, sneezing and moaning. And then he started pulling on his ear so I had a feeling he had an ear infection. Sure enough - fluid in his right ear, a VERY red throat and very congested. We started an antibiotic so hopefully he'll start feeling better soon. Since this was his first time on any medication we found out something interesting - this medicine makes him hyper - the same way it affects his daddy! He hasn't been to bed before 3 am since starting the meds. In the evenings he refuses to do anything but sit in his bouncy chair and kick and kick and kick constantly while laughing and squealing - for hours. He's going to have some amazing leg muscles when he's over this cold.
Since posting last time, Zane's Papaw (Charlie's dad) has been scheduled for surgery on January 5th. For those of you who don't know, about 6 weeks ago Mr. Minter went to the doctor for stomach pains. He was admitted to the local hospital and they found a mass in his bladder. They did a scope and took a biopsy and found that it is cancer in the muscle wall of his bladder and blocking flow from one of his kidneys. He was referred to a doctor in Houston to do the surgery. They will have to remove his bladder, not an easy surgery - especially for an 85 year old. They did several pre-op tests including a bone scan to make sure the cancer had not spread anywhere else because if it had he'd need to do chemo before the surgery. Thank GOD all the tests came back negative and they scheduled the surgery. Charlie likes this doctor, he was very straight forward with all the risks and told them exactly what they will be doing in the surgery (removing the prostate also since 85% of people with bladder cancer end up with prostate cancer) and answered any questions they had. Charlie said he's a very confident guy and this is his specialty so Mr. Minter is in good hands. We had planned to take Zane to Georgia after Christmas to see my extended family, but since the surgery is scheduled for the day we would get back, Charlie is going to stay home and spend those 10 days with his dad, which we feel is most important.

Last friday night Charlotte, Nathan and Tyler (Charlie's sister and family) came over and got to play with Zane for a little while. Charlotte is pregnant and due in April. A few weeks ago they found out that they're having a boy! You can tell Tyler's getting excited. He has never come near Zane in all the time he's seen him. But since finding out that he's about to have a little brother, Tyler's started getting closer to Zane - talking to him and trying to make him laugh. Here's Tyler playing around with Zane's bumbo on his head. Zane was confused at first, but then thought it was pretty funny and started laughing.
Zane is still gnawing on anything he can get his hands on and his mouth around. He's been perfecting getting his foot into his mouth any chance he can. (Notice the death grip on his foot)
Poor GG said her knuckles will never be the same. She thinks he'll get all 4 teeth in pretty soon, if not before Christmas.
It started snowing late this evening here on the coast. We got Zane bundled up and took a quick picture. Sadly, by midnight it was all melted. The last time it snowed down here was on Christmas Eve 2004.
From now on I'll try to post at least every other day. There's just too much to tell after a whole week.