That time of year

Zach is such a helper!

18 Months Update

Here's what's new in this day and age:
* knows that you “fuff, fuff” blow out a candle
* gargles, “buss” teef,
* Wears “pants,” a “sheut,” and “sahks and soos”
* Pulls his wagon on walks, which is MUCH faster than letting him walk on his own
* Climbs (and falls off) furniture, ugh!
* Let’s out a “WO-OW!” when seeing something new or exciting
* Summersaults!
* Can “dump” (jump)
* Spins in circles, then wobbles around for the next few seconds
* “Bonk”s his bean, while letting us know what he’s doing
* Asks us to blow his nose “nose hep”
* Says “ah-kay” after taking a tumble (we must have told him “you’re okay” after his falls in the past?!)
* Loves his friend “El-LAH” who lives up the street, calls her name when we drive or walk remotely near her house
* Wears #4 diapers
* Weighs 26.1 pounds (80%ile), Measures 33.5 inches (60%ile), head circumference 90%ile
* Has a bunch of teeth, most recent one arrived Sunday, October 1st (after the tell-tale runny diaper and diaper rash and fever)
* Was baptized October 1st at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Littleton
* If he doesn’t like what we’ve told him, he
* Can be a little terror: toothpaste snatcher, pulled keys off keyboard, more...
* Likes to “kiss” animals he sees, in person, in books, on TV. Sticks his chin out and runs toward the animal. Calls them “sahf” (soft)

Vail, September 2006

We had a family trip to Vail when Scott had to attend a trade show up there.
Actually, Scott only had to work a day and a half, so we had a good time enjoying the mountain air.

Cute & Not-so-Cute ALL BOY

Our ALL BOY, Starting with the Not-so-Cute:

Tonight was "interesting." Scott returns later from his 3-day trip to Chicago, so Zach and I have had some QT. Most of it was fun and cute, but tonight was something else.

A sampling of his antics while I made dinner, cleaned up, etc.:

• Open the sliding door and step out into the rain (while I was at the grill); go back inside and pad Zach-prints on the clean floor
• Hop onto the coffee table, stand up, stay quiet for a while, and smile at me as I notice him
• Use the pulled out drawer to climb onto the side table
• Knock over the lamp on the side table
• Turn on the fireplace switch (apparently), and (perhaps?) burn himself on the fireplace glass. I didn't know what was going on until he came crying into the kitchen. :(
• Whack everything (chair, me, toys, table, etc.) with his (plastic, thank goodness) golf clubs
• Pull the tape out of a VHS cassette tape, Meet the Parents
• Poke at the flowers in the pot on the kitchen floor
• Bat the flowers in the pot on the kitchen floor
• Behead the flowers in the pot on the kitchen floor
• Smoosh those flowers all over the floor (I know, why not move that flower pot??)
• Run in circles around the kitchen island with both the popcorn popper toy and (Ella's borrowed) vaccuum cleaner which says things like "clean you later" and "uh-oh, you made a mess." As if we need to be reminded! This was actually cute, but loud and annoying...
• Get into the diaper bag and remove my lip gloss and hand lotion, dab those all over his face, the couch, and places I haven't get discovered
• Open the roll-top desk and pull out whatever he can from the pen drawer before I can grab him, extra points for banging on the keyboard too. The key does not seem to lock the top closed!

But he's darn CUTE too:

• He imitates Daddy (please come home soon!) in the bathroom, stomping his feet as the alcohol stings his cleanly shaven face (Dad's shaven face, not Zach's)
• He "gargles" like Daddy: throws his head back and makes a choking-on-a-hairball noise, after doing his "please can I have some mouthwash" noise and been given a finger-licking taste
• He giggles and runs over to bury his head in my lap when he sees the cat across the room, as if the cat (minding his own business, staring out the window) has just told him "I'm coming to get you, Zachary!"
• He still won't say certain words: preferring to do the Baby Sign for "frog" (tongue in and out of mouth) at any mention of the word or frog siting; or when we tell him to say "thank you" he just slaps his open hand over his mouth, not even quite getting the full Baby Sign -that hand should actually then be extended out in thanks to the person.
• He laughs whenever anyone else is laughing; he gets the joke!
• He'll give anyone a kiss, as long as there isn't something more interesting to do, pursing his lips, sticking out his neck and humming at the kissee.

So, all in all, it evens out. But we still miss Daddy when he's gone.

Ack - I just saw the bullets are flowers...not by choice. Sorry.

"Tsoo, tsoo, tsoo"

Zach and I went to Old Navy last week. We passed some shoes on a rack, and he swiped them off the display. "Tsoo, tsoo, tsoo!"

I put them back and wheeled us away, but he kept shouting "Tsoo, tsoo, tsoo." So finally I let him hold them.

That wasn't enough. He started kicking off his shoes, and wanted to put "his new shoes" on!
Mommy gave in, and he got the shoes, though it was a tense few minutes as he had to WAIT while I figured out which ones would fit.

Now, at home, he will take off whichever shoes he's wearing and bring over his new shoes, "Tsoo, tsoo, tsoo," to have us put on the new ones. They're his FAVORITE!

"Let's go fly a kite..."

We enjoyed a sunny September 4th day at the park...though there wasn't quite enough wind, or kite, or both...

Torture!

It's TORTURE - Furniture Shopping! Why do we put our children through such a process?

Poor Zach was strapped into his stroller several days in a row, until there was no elevator and he had to run like a madman through the showroom. Terrible! He was mad and sad and grumpy.

But we finally found an armoire so Scott's clothes can move out of the guest room and into our room, and Zach can move into the guest room in time for the new one to arrive.

Zach with the Zebras at the Zoo

Zach went to the zoo for the first time over Labor Day. What fun to see all the animals from his books in real life! He loved the bears, which also happen to be his "security animals" right now at home as well - "buh, buh, buh."


Click the title for more zoo pics!

Catch Up, September 2006

More September photos. Click title for more.

Zach's News