twinkle, tinkle

Noah is now officially 2 1/2 years old. His personality is really taking off. He always talks in complete sentences, although he is still confused by some concepts. It's fun to have a conversation with him. Every night he tells Daddy all about his "day". Sometimes the events of the day were something that happened long ago (like a trip to the zoo) or sometimes he makes them up completely (this usually has something to do with Thomas the Tank Engine). It's amazing to hear what goes on inside his head.

He's also become really interested in singing. He's learned "Jesus Loves Me," and sings it spontaneously - especially in public places like the park or outside the library. He loves an audience. We recently got some CDs from the library of Sunday School songs, and so he's picking up on some of those as well.

Noah is also being potty trained. We started last Saturday, and we've had mixed success. I'll spare you the details. I will say though that it is very difficult to keep things clean when you have a ten-month old who loves playing with the potty chair.

In closing, here are some recent photos of Noah from when we went to the zoo.

10 months

Zach is now ten months old. The child is walking, expressing opinions, and generally jovial. He is one amazing kid. The walking is the most fun. He is just so proud of his newfound ability. He loves to be chased by Noah all over the house and scream out of sheer merriment. So fun!

Zach still eats everything in sight, and still wants to nurse! His favorite food right now is grapes. He also enjoys cheese, bread, and anything that anyone else is eating. He just got to try a smoothie today and couldn't get enough of it. Unfortunately, he reached up and found Noah's and proceeded to drip it all over the house. It's amazing how much ground the kid can cover in those few moments.

We've also had a few fun outings this last month. Here's a picture of him at Volunteer Park in Capitol Hill.

We've also recently renewed our membership to the Woodland Park Zoo, and Zach really enjoyed the Shake, Rattle, and Roll time at Zoomazium. We'll have to be going back there soon. Anyone want to join us?

9 months

My baby is already 9 months old! I can't believe that he's been out of my tummy for just as long as he was inside. Zach is a happy, healthy, and heartily hungry boy! The kid eats a ton! He now has 3 adorable teeth that adds enchantment to his already captivating smile. He's loving mobility, and spends most of his time pulling up on whatever object is close at hand. He's super close to walking, but we hope that it will take him a few more days while we wait for his daddy to get back from his "business" trip to Hawaii. (He really is on business, but that doesn't mean that he doesn't have time for play!)

We just had Zach's well-baby check up today. He is 29 inches tall (75%ile), and 20lbs 13oz (60%ile). His head is really big at the 97%ile.  Here are some pictures of him today at the indoor playground.  He pulled up by himself on that unstable ball![gallery link="file"]

This is the last week the indoor playground is open until next year.  Zach's a pretty different person than he was during it's first week of opening!



Happy 9 Months, Zach!

far too long

It has been far too long since we've had any decent posts up on our blog. So, instead of writing a thousand words, I thought it would be best to give you a photo history of the last couple of months. Enjoy!

Playing at St. Edwards Park






Enjoying the nice weather


Visiting with Phil's family


Going to CA for Easter...

Daddy still had to work


Hanging out with Alisha's family














Zach meets Great-Grandma Broach for the first time




Hanging out with old friends












Zach's growing like crazy. He's crawling, pulling up, climbing stairs, and driving!










More to come...

baby zach is growing UP

Zach is getting so big.  He's already 7 months old, and he's a mover and a shaker.  He's been scooting since before he was five months old, but as of the last few weeks he's both pulling up and crawling with his belly off the floor.  He's going to be walking before long.  He thinks that if he can get himself to a standing position that he doesn't need to hold on to anything.  Of course, he falls down right away, but it always seems to shock him that he's not perfectly balanced.  I can already tell he's going to be a climber.



He also just got his first tooth, and the second one will probably be in by next week.  He seems to love any food that we will give him, and is currently enjoying the Gerber Puffs.  He's definitely going to be our eater.

Besides pulling up, Zach also loves to blow raspberries on anything or anyone!  It's super cute, but now that he has a tooth, it kinda hurts if he tries to do it on your arm.  He also loves everything that his brother is doing.  They are often trying to play with the same toys.  Noah does pretty well with him - he loves to give his baby brother hugs and kisses.  So cute!

In closing, here's a picture of our 7 month old playing at the kids area at Seatac airport:

first foods

Winter Squash!

I wasn't thinking that I was going to start Zach on solids until he was at least 6 months old, but he seemed really ready. So, when Phil got back from his trip, and my parents were around to watch, we started him on squash.

Getting ready


Trying it out


Hmmmm....


He definitely wasn't sure what to think of it that first day, but he's really taken to it since. He eats a whole thing of baby food at a sitting, and would probably eat more meals if I was ambitious enough to try.

I can't believe he's getting so big already!

california trip

Since Phil had a business trip that he was going out of town for, the boys and I decided to go down to San Diego to visit my family and see their new house. Noah loved Grandma and Papa's house. There were stairs, a lot of rooms to discover, a gazebo, and a playset outside. Not to mention all the attention from grandparents and Uncle Nate. He also got to see his second-cousin, Aubrey, which is always a big hit.

Playing with Nate and Aubrey


Calling Daddy on the phone


Outside





As for Zach, this was a big event for him. It was his first plane ride, and he discovered his toes while he was there. He also had just learned to scoot a couple of days before we left so he started mastering that skill as well.

Happy mobile boy


Yummy toes


Lots of love


We also got to meet Elijah (who is exactly 6 months older than Zach)!


The plane ride down was great with the two boys. Zach slept most of the way, and Noah was happy watching Monsters, Inc. on my laptop. Unfortunately, the trip back was a little more interesting. We were supposed to leave San Diego on a 10:30AM flight out. On the way to the airport, I came down with an intense abdominal pain. We stopped on the side of the road, but I still didn't feel any better. We decided to go to an urgent care facility, but it wasn't yet open. My pains were increasingly getting worse, so my dad called 911. The ambulance came and picked me up and took me to a local ER. They hooked me up to IV, gave me pain meds, took blood/urine samples, and did an ultrasound. Everything checked out good, and three hours later my pain was mostly gone. We finally got to the airport at 2ish, but all the flights were delayed because of the bad weather. We caught a plane via standby at 6PM and got home and transferred the sleeping boys to bed at 9:30PM. Thankfully, my parents were on the trip with me so I didn't have to do this alone.

It was a great trip overall, but I don't think I'll be taking the boys on a plane flight alone again anytime soon.