Nothing new...

Dear Kate and Riley,
I always feel bad when I don't write for a while but nothing much has been going on around here! Zach is getting faster and faster and has apparently decided he is too big for his mom to carry him around any more! The problem is he really isn't THAT fast and he gets distracted very easily so a simple walk to the car would take him 20 min.! Instead I usually let him walk for a minute and then pick him up. He proceeds to kick and scream all the way to the car. Can the terrible two's start at 11 months? Tantrums are getting commonplace around here, they can happen for any reason but mostly getting into the carseat, getting dressed, getting his diaper changed and having anything taken away from him (like knives that he always seems to grab any time the dishwasher is open). I'm not really sure if an 11 month old can be disciplined but it is definitely teaching me patience as I try to keep my cool with all of his screaming. Grandma Janice tried to tell me that he is just like me but I refuse to believe that I was anything but a completely pleasant child!

We have been having a heat wave here and I have to say I'm just kind of ready for fall. We go to the playground at the mall a lot because it is nice and cool but I'm ready to go to the park and do other outdoor adventures without having to get really sweaty! We are planning Zach's birthday party (less than 2 weeks!) and that's about all that is going on around here!

Love,
Mom

First Haircut!

Dear Kate and Riley,
We've been talking about it for a while, well pretty much every time I try to comb Zach's hair and have to tuck it behind his ears. I know it may not have seemed long but messy hair is my pet peeve and I love a clean cut look! So we decided to take Zach to the mall for his first hair cut. I used to make fun of people who would shell out money just so their kid could sit in a rocket ship but I can assure you it is WORTH the money to have him occupied and have no clue what was going on around him. He was so happy to sit in that ship and play with the toys and the lady was so good at just moving around with him and letting him turn this way or that, it would have driven me nuts! I like the results but just one more way he is growing up, he looks so OLD now!

Love,
mom

before...

during (loving the rocket ship!)

after!
(ok so it doesn't look that different on camera, but I swear it does in real life!)

11 months!

Dear Kate and Riley,
How can your brother possibly be 11 months old!? Where has the time gone? It seems like we just brought him home from the hospital yesterday. He is So much fun right now but he is into SO much mischief. If he can't destroy it, he doesn't want to have anything to do with it. Getting things done around the house while he is awake is pretty much impossible. But he is really cute while eating dog food, splashing in the toilet, unfolding clean laundry and writing with highlighter all over my coffee table! He is walking really well, he's still about 50/50 walking and crawling because he is still much faster at crawling. Mama and dada are staples, we're working on baba and I think he's pretty close to Bella. He has his own little version of "Uh oh" which is more like uhh uhhh uhhh but I know what it means! He has decided to assert his independence in many ways like spitting out green beans and deciding when he will and will not nurse. For some reason he will NOT walk in front of the real video camera so I had to sneak in a video with the cell phone so sorry for the poor quality. We love our little guy and can't believe he'll be one next month!



love,
mom

Pirates and First Steps!

Dear Kate and Riley,
What an exciting weekend! On Friday afternoon, just out of nowhere, Zachary let go of the toybox and took two steps all by himself! I screamed and cheered and he looked at me like, "hey, I must have just done something pretty cool but I'm not quite sure what!" I kept telling myself it was just a fluke and he wouldn't do it again but sure enough that afternoon he would take two or three steps to me at a time. By tonight he was up to seven steps at a time. It is so exciting and also pretty sad as I realize how fast he is growing up. We tried hard to get a video this morning but Zach was camera shy. We'll try again tomorrow.

We also got to go to the Tall Ships festival in Dana Point on Saturday. It was cool to see the ships and something we'll definitely have to do again when Zach is a little older and not so terrified of pirates (although the pirates we saw were pretty scary so I'm not sure when that will be!).

Our good ole friends at Huggies sent us coupons this week that said "your baby is 18 months!" Its hard to believe you'd be that old (by your due date). I used to get so mad when I got those things in the mail but now I am sort of glad to get those little reminders. I made some hair bows this week with my neighbor and put one on Zach along with his pinkie binkie (its the backup one we got from a friend). I was just being silly but he looked so cute as a little girl I just had to wonder if its how you would have looked.

Love,
Mom

Dad will probably be mad about this picture, Zach as a girl.
Have to wonder if you would look like him!

Tall ships

Scary pirates! Zach wouldn't take his head off my shoulder, they were so scary!

Labor Day Weekend!

Dear Kate and Riley,
We went down to San Diego for Labor Day weekend at Uncle Adam's. Zach loves swimming in their pool and we had fun hanging out, roasting marshmallows and spending time with cousins. Zach was so brave this time, he loves "jumping" (aka falling) off the edge of the pool to mom and thanks to Addie's life jacket he also got to go off the slide for the first time! I can't decide if he LIKES going off the slide but he never cried, he just hated the life jacket and the fact that it made him float with his face in the sun.

We also got to spend a little time with Jessica, Clint and Owey when we went to say goodbye to Keri and Rick. We are sad that Keri and Rick are moving to Colorado, we will miss them a LOT. We wish we had more time to let Zach and Owie play, they were so cute but seven at night was just not prime time for either of them!
Love,
Mom

"Jumping" to mom

First time on the slide

Slide with dad

Being "rescued" by Uncle Adam and Dad

Mom, Zach, Keri, Jess and Owie
(yes that is a Diet Coke bottle Zach is sucking on, NO it is not open!)