Tee Ball 2011

Zach played Tee Ball for the first time this year. He played in the 5-6 year old league and they had 6 games. This was our first sport that we had pratice one time a week. Right before the final game, I grabbed the camera before getting in the car. Zach asked why I was bringing the camera. I told him the other pictures I took hadn't turned out too good. He asked, "Why? Because I'm so fast." I said, "Yep, I think that's why."


This picture is of Zach after the game enjoying his after game treat of a Capri Sun and some Cheezits. Please note the dirt all over his hat. You might assume he has made some great sliding play. See photo below...nope, just building a dirt pile. I couldn't get close enough but wanted to capture this priceless moment.



Zach had a great time playing this season. Who knows if he will choose to play next year. Before the last game he announced he would be retiring from tee ball. After some investigation, he said he had a hard time paying attention. (I don't think you're the only one buddy!)
I did think he had a play or two that was pretty exciting for a mother to watch. The last game he managed to get an out at second (when he spent a serious time building sandcastles that does seem a bit amazing). He managed to stop the ball with a bare hand and then. shocked that he stopped it, looked into the stands at Craig and me to see what to do. Thank God Craig was paying attention. Craig yelled, "Zach touch second." I then joined him at waving arms and pointing to second base. He figured it out and ran over and triumphantly stomped on second base. A clear out. I asked him on the way home, how did you do that? He showed me by putting his hand out to one side, turning his head the other way and closing his eyes.
I love tee ball!

Boring Shoes

I was preparing Zach for his first day of vacation bible school at our church. I told him he was going to church the next day. He turned his nose up and said he didn't want to go to church. I said, it's not like on Sundays. You'll get to do fun stuff and play games. He said, "Do I have to wear my boring shoes?" I just laughed and said, "No, you can wear your running shoes." Oh, good.

He clearly did not want to wear the "nice" black shoes we have that he obviously only wears on Sunday and they are boring b/c you can't run in those! :) Too funny, I think I will always think of his dress shoes as his boring shoes from now on!

Conversation with Zach

I wish I remembered to write down everything Zach is coming up with these days. I've decided that moms in general think our children are amazing and genius (b/c mine are, but I digress) because we remember when they physically couldn't hold their heads up on their own. Any progress after that seems miraculous and especially the thoughts they are able to develop on their own as they get older. Also the fact that they start to develop independent thoughts and actions after being 100% dependent on you. For now, I'll try and remember last nights bedtime discussion.
Zach got in a little tiff with his good friend, Grant. I can not get to the bottom of how this "great' fight began, but it ended with Grant telling Zach that his Dad was going to not let him be on his soccer team b/c his dad is the coach. See Zach, you better watch who you cross...Grant's got connections! :) Anyway, I chose this moment to teach Zach that friends can argue and still be friends the next day. He didn't seem too concerned about not being on the team and when I pressed him a little more to find out how it started, he clammed up. I asked him, "Did you say something that hurt Grant's feelings?" He returns with, " I can't remember that now Mommy. Some times I can only remember one thing. Like today I remembered my sunglasses." Well, what more could I expect from the boy!?!?! It just cracks me up how he comes up with his reasoning for not wanting to share his feelings/thoughts. Boys. They start early with this don't they! :)

Please don't go, I'll eat you up, I love you so.

Okay, so I had to think twice about posting this one. I found it the most endearing moment as a mother, but don't want it to embarrass him when he's older. This one is for our private blog book and to share publicly for now since he's little and can't read yet (nor can most of his friends).

We watched "Where the Wild Things Are" tonight. To be honest, I had a hard time staying awake. Mostly because I was so tired, but it was a little slow to start. The movie definitely had some fun parts, but it was much darker than I had thought it would be. We didn't see it in the theaters because I thought the big Wild Things would be a bit much in a dark theater, but at home he could handle it. He did and he wasn't scared at all except for maybe one or two scenes that got a bit intense. I will say it had a good message for kids that are a bit older (maybe 8+ could get the deeper meaning of anger management, complexity of parenting etc). I really didn't think Zach was paying too much attention to it, but towards the end of the movie he had climbed into my chair with me and we were cuddling. Almost the very end, Max is getting ready to sail away back to his home. "Please don't go, I'll eat you up, I love you so." Carol, the main beloved Wild Thing, comes running at the last minute to say goodbye to Max. They have had a fight and Max doesn't think he's coming. He reaches the edge of the water and Max and Carol share a look that says "It's all good, I still love you even though we fought. You're my buddy." Zach turns his head around and looks at me and I'll be darned if he didn't have little tears in his eyes. Really. It made me tear up. Here is my son becoming emotional for the first time about any story. Reading, TV, movie or otherwise. It touched me so much to see that he "got" the unspoken looks between the characters and the deeper meaning of friendship. Of course, being a boy, he quickly turned away and was embarrassed that I had seen him. The look he gave me though was one of surprise. I don't think he really "knew" why he was crying. He just "knew" that the emotions were there and kind of turned around to check and see what I was doing.
What a cool moment to be a Mom! In the end that's why I wrote about it. What better memory to keep and share than the first time your child showed a complex, almost adult-like emotion.

Conversations with Zach

Tonight during his teeth brushing with his Dad...Zach asked, "Does your tongue go all the way into your tummy?" (Good question if you think about it...where is the "end" of your tongue?) Craig said, "No, it ends about here." Zach looked at him with a bit of disbelief, "Well, Hulk's goes all the way into his tummy." That would be in reference to his Incredible Hulk toothbrush he was using. Seriously, what will they think of next!?!? :)

Zach quote

Okay, I'm not sure if this will be as cute when I write it down, but it made me kind of snicker at the time. One of my mom tactics to get Zach going when he's whining or not wanting to change gears to a new activity is to make it a game. Usually it involves the phrase, "I bet I can do it faster than you can." To which, I usually get a mad dash for clothes to put on, teeth to brush, shoes, etc. The other day I was on the computer doing some "important" email I'm sure. Zach was begging (whining) for me to play Mario with him on the Wii. I kept saying, in a minute, in a minute. After about 10 mins of laying on my lap and whining while I feverishly typed away, he looks at me and with this fake excited voice (similar to mine when appropriate) he says, "I bet I can get there fasser!" He won. I got up and went to play Mario. How can you resist that?

Zach's Birthday Weekend

I can not believe how little I wrote in December. Here's a go at catching up on a month of activities....
It seems like the minute Thanksgiving was over, we hit the ground running into birthday and Christmas month. As you can see, there was quite a bit of planning and preparation for Zach's birthday party. His friend party was on Saturday the 5th and the 6th (his actual birthday was even crazier!). We started out by letting him open his present from us. That was actually just going out into the garage, because we got him a new bike, the Power Rangers Jungle Fury bike to be exact. (The last one at Toys R Us and they were clearanced out - to be even more exact...the stress of it all!)
Craig's good friend, Brad Franchione, was in town coaching the Junior College National Championship game for Blinn Junior College, so Craig left a little after Zach opened his present from us and rode around our freezing cold garage to go watch Brad's game. Which they won in a last minute play - very exciting!
Zach and I got ready to go to the Candy Cane Invitational - his first gymnastics meet and really first sporting event to participate in. He was so excited and I was a little nervous. Especially when we got there and the crowd was rather large. Zach was a champ though. He waited patiently while all the other kids went before him (or so it seemed). He got up and did his routine with such confidence. I was just so proud I didn't even pay attention to his score. The mom next to me (from our class) told me he had one of the higher scores (I believe it was a 9.5). At the end of all the kids routines, they had everyone sit on the gym floor and get their awards. They organized it so every kid got a medal and a chance to stand on the award stand. Even though it was set up like that, Zach still would have ranked fairly high without the weighting system! :) The girls who had the actual top scores were only 9.6. He did get 1st in his division and got to stand up and get his medal. He was so proud. He loves wearing his Candy Cane Invitational t-shirt and showing off his medal. They also mentioned as he was getting on the podium that it was his birthday. I have it all on video but didn't manage to catch many snapshots. It's a little hard to manage both and make sure he was getting up to get his medal etc. :) I really have to buy a SD card for the video camera to do double duty.
Off to our next event which was his preschool open house. Thank goodness it was pretty laid back and didn't matter that we were running in at the last minute. They gave us all of Zach's art projects and work from the semester and told us what each one was and what unit it went with. (We also had a teacher's conference, but I think I'll make a separate post since this is getting so long!)
Zach and I then ran back to CeCe's to get Dylan and get ready for the family to come over and celebrate Zach's birthday. Again, thank goodness we went super laid back. Just pizza and cake and presents. I think it's safe to say, Zach had a great 4th birthday.
Here are pics from Zach's b-day party with kids friends.

Zach is 4!

It's official. Zach turned 4 last weekend. We had such a busy weekend for his birthday weekend, but we had a blast. On Saturday, we had his first birthday party with friends. We pretty much kept it to friends from his preschool. Turns out his class has 15 boys and 4 girls. The teacher said that on Monday's 3 of the girls aren't there. God bless those teachers! :)
We had the boys over for Power Ranger Training camp. I had a lot of fun coming up with activities for them to do to "earn" their Ranger badges. They had to complete 6 tasks, earning them a colored piece of the pie for each activity. They colored masks, decorated walkie talkies, crossed an alligator river, did hopscotch, bounced balls in a bucket and threw bean bags at the "bad guys" (or stuffed animals). After all that fun, we had cake and ice cream and opened presents. It was somewhat controlled chaos - okay, at times it was just complete chaos. :)
The boys did really well and I think they all had fun. I know Zach had a blast showing his friends his toys and his room, etc. We are officially not doing friend birthday parties except for every 4th year - 4, 8,12 and 16. It's just too much otherwise. Next year, I foresee a trip to the movies with one or two friends and a family birthday party.
Sunday was the craziest day by far. We let Zach "open" his birthday present from Craig and me which was a new (you guessed it) Power Ranger bike. He was pretty excited, but it's a bummer having a winter birthday. We turned on a space heater in the garage and he got to ride in circles for 45 mins or so before we were too cold to stand out there any more. He keeps asking every day to do it more and it keeps getting colder every day. Craig had to leave to go watch his friend Brad coach his Blinn College team to a national championship - winning in the last seconds by running back a 90 yard punt return (but I digress). Zach and I packed up and went to his first gymnastics meet. Dylan stayed with CeCe and got to take a nap. Zach did a little routine and did such a great job. I thought he might be too nervous, but he was a champ. He ended up placing 1st in his group (they divided them all up so they each got a medal, but he was first in that 3 person group). He scored a 9.5 and I believe was the 3rd or 4th highest score. He just missed a trophy by .1 of a point. I really was just proud of how brave and confident he was to get out there in front of a very large audience and do his routine!
After that, we headed to his preschool open house and saw all the projects he had been working on all semester. Then the finale was a birthday party with the family. He had a great time and got to open up more presents. He was exhausted and thrilled.
I will definitely post pictures as soon as I get them downloaded. We are too busy writing thank you cards, Xmas cards and making teacher gifts...but someday I will download my little Power Ranger/gymnasts pictures!

Zach B-day 2009 (19 photos), by Jill Ward

I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
Click here to view photos

I went ahead and just posted the pics on Snapfish. Browse away. Zach had fun doing this, although he has some goofy faces in the pics! :)

Picture This!

I stole a great idea from my friend Christel and her blog. She had her son do his wishlist for his birthday by taking pictures of whatever he wanted and posting them on her blog. I loved this idea because I always forget what he's said he wants when family asks what he wants for his birthday. The funny thing about Zach is that he never has been too extreme about wanting toys. Last year, Grammy and Granddad took him to Target to pick out (within reason) whatever toy he wanted. He looked for 20 minutes between the 5-6 aisles and could barely commit to anything. We will never do that again - plus it was the Friday or Saturday after Thanksgiving...agh!
So we went through Walmart taking pics, but truly didn't get as many things that I thought he'd want. But he did pretty good and was very selective as I mentioned. Last night, Craig was watching TV with Zach and a commercial came on for some remote control car for littler guys that when it hits the wall it turns over or something. Zach showed Craig and said, "We need to take a picture of THAT!" Today I did spend some time discussing how we might not get everything we took a picture of...I'll let you know how that turns out on his birthday. :)
Downloaded pics of presents to come...

First, First Day of School

Monday was the big day for Zach. He had his first day of preschool. He is a Little Gorilla at PSU. After playing with Grant in the afternoon on Saturday, he was all ready to see his new friend and go to his new class. (unfortunately, Grant doesn't go on Mondays...oops, forgot to tell him that) Another oops, I had a massive migraine (the worst I've ever had) to the point I was getting sick every 10 mins. I managed to stumble downstairs to find his backpack, the camera, a change of clothes to throw in the backpack and his clothes for his first day. I tried to ask Craig nicely to take a pic of him outside with his backpack on. I'm not sure if it came across nicely or just pathetically. I think he did a great job capturing the moment that I missed. Maybe it was a good thing, since I couldn't get emotional, I had other things to worry about.

I don't know why, but I think the backpack makes him look so old!

He loved his new school and three days later he's still liking it a lot. He has made new friends and has already made a beaded necklace for his Mom. I'm so relieved that the transition has gone so smoothly.

A Busy Thursday

Zach had a busy Thursday this week. We started off the morning by going to visit his new preschool. He's going to the University preschool four days a week. The whole family made the trip to go check out the school and meet his teachers. It's an interesting preschool because it's the lab school for the students studying Early Childhood Education. Zach will have a lot of different teachers and one lead teacher all year. They have a nice facility and the teachers were very welcoming. Zach was excited to see that his "friend" Grant was there too. He had only seen a picture of Grant and been in a two week swim class with him. That's all he needed to say Hi and follow Grant around the entire time we were there. His first official day will be on Monday. I can hardly believe that my "baby" is going to preschool already.Craig, Dylan and Zach @ Zach's new preschool

Zach and Grant on the tire swing

Later in the afternoon Zach got to go to his new session of Gymnastics at the YMCA. It's amazing the difference a year makes. This year Zach jumped into class (without Craig or me) and participated readily. He seems to like his class. What's not to like about climbing and jumping around for an hour?
Finally, I had to put in a little blurb about Zach's newest request. I was in the other room, but from what I can gather, he was tired of Dylan trying to get a little ball that he had gotten at the grocery store that afternoon. He came searching for some paper and his pen. Zach wanted to write a note to set the record straight. He dictated to me what was to be on the note.

Is this smile a sign he's enjoying this a little too much? :)

Summer Activities 2009

Zach has had a fun summer this year, since his Mom has not been growing a baby in her tummy all summer like last year. Last year, that seemed to be about all I could manage (oh, and moving houses). This year however, we managed to do two sessions of swim lessons, make it to the library about every other week and some times every week. We have had a weekly swim play date with our friends at the Davis' house. And managed to fit in two weeks of day camp at the YMCA. It's all about keeping a little 3 year old busy and wearing him out. We even managed to make it to family swim night at the Aquatic Center last night. Zach and I got to take a ride around the Lazy River while Daddy and Dylan watched from the "shore". I hadn't been able to take Zach before because there was no one to hold Dylan and I couldn't manage both of them in the river itself. I brought my camera to the pool to take pics and was bummed to find out I left the memory card in the computer. No fun pics at the Froggie pool (as Zach likes to call it).Swim Lesson Certificate - 2009

The library has a summer reading program like most libraries and we have taken full advantage of it. We missed the end of the season program they do, but Miss Gayle was nice enough to let Zach pick out a book when we were at the library yesterday and he got some crayons and a certificate for reading so well. He really was excited to go every week and get his weekly prizes for reading 10 picture books. This summer Zach has really gotten into reading books about insects, beetles, fish and sharks. I think this is a fun new area to explore in the library. I like watching Zach get excited about discovering the world around him through books and of course, the internet and the best part "hands-on discovery" (i.e. digging in the dirt in the backyard and catching all kinds of bugs). Little boys really are so much fun to watch!

Fun Little Monster Craft from Library Story time

Certificate for Summer Reading program

On that same note, I've included some fun pics of our day with capes and the inflatable pickle. Dylan (Dill) got the pickle from Grammy. And the cape was for Zach. The cape was from a Jaycee convention back in the day, that my mom and dad attended and for some reason needed to have costumes for everyone. Anyway, of course, Gaynell kept the capes and sent them to Zach when she was cleaning out the storage unit. (Special note: there were pockets sewn in the cape for cigarettes (gotta love the 70's/80's). Also there were velcro closures so you could play volleyball, so versatile.) Zach ran around for days with the cape and really wanted to take it to swim lessons and his "school".

Zach w/cape and the pickle
At least he can wrestle with the pickle without getting hurt.

Super Zach
Caught this pic mid-run around the living room...what a ham!

Dylan has enjoyed watching Daddy mow the grass and Zach "help" by driving his car around. He has literally stood/sat by the front window watching them go back and forth for 20 minutes. You just know he can't wait to get out there next year!
Here's the fabulous Mater that Aunt Shannon got Zach for Christmas and now Dylan is using it to ride on too. Too bad Mater is "broken" and you can't hear all the great sound effects he makes. :)
Zach's first year of preschool will start at the end of the month, so just a couple weeks left of summer for us!

The best part of my day

The best part of my day lately has been Dylan waking up in the morning and after his naps. The smile that greets me when I come in the room is pure sunshine. It's so fun when they still think Mom and Dad are the best two people in the world.

Although a close second today was Zach worrying that Daddy and CeCe aren't going to feed him dinner while I'm gone this weekend. Going on a girls weekend trip to Colorado and I've been telling Zach about having his Grandma watch him and Daddy and somehow he got concerned he wouldn't get dinner. You can tell who does the cooking around our house! :)

Loving my boys!

Conversations with Zach

Okay, these are the things I always say I should write down but forget. Bear with me...they may not be that funny to you, but as a mom they are always so priceless coming out of the mouth of a 3 1/2 year old.

Lightning Bugs
The scene: Sitting outside on our front porch "eating" a Popsicle. (Zach was actually running around like crazy talking about spiders and lightning bugs and I was trying to get him to eat his Popsicle.)

Mom: I wonder what lightning bugs eat?
Zach: I don't know. Maybe...they don't eat anything. I think they don't eat nothing.
Mom: Well, they have to eat something that's how things live and grow.

No comment from Zach...he was quiet for awhile and we talked about what kind of dog he wants, etc. (we aren't getting a dog for a long time.)
Zach: I think they go to stores.
Mom: Who goes to stores?
Zach: Lighting bugs. They go to stores...with carts.
Mom: Oh, like we do, just smaller.
Zach: Yep, they live inside the trees and go to stores.
Mom: I see. So they eat just like us. Like tiny hot dog buns and things.
Zach: Yep.
Problem solved.
FYI...at the library today I looked up lightning bugs (see firefly). Zach was right. Not about little stores, but male lightning bugs don't eat anything. The female, of course, eats the male of other species of bugs. Fun fact who knew things could live without eating anything.

The Birthday Cake
Scene: Bedtime. Zach and I are reading several of these mini-books that he has with numbers. Each number book ends with a picture of a birthday cake with the corresponding number of candles. We start talking about what kind of cake Zach would like for his next birthday. Square? round? Batman? etc.
Mom: What kind of cake do you think we should get Dylan?
Zach: I don't know. Maybe a square one.
Mom: I think we should get something Dylan would like on it. Elmo? or maybe Donald Duck? He likes Donald.
Zach: (with big eyes and very serious and whispering) He can hear you.
Mom: Oh! Is it a surprise?
Zach: Yes and he can hear you.
Dylan was asleep in his room next to Zach's. I had no idea your birthday cake was such a secret. This from the boy who could barely keep our Father's Day gift from Craig.

Guilt Post

Okay, every time I hang out with my friend Christel, I feel like a blog slacker. Add that to the fact that I took some fun pics of Dylan yesterday and of course, here I am updating my blog.

Dylan has been busy crawling everywhere he can manage. I forgot how fast they can crawl, especially when they shouldn't be going there. He's also mastered pulling himself up on everything and he's even attempted to push a little footstool around the kitchen. He just gets 1 or 2 steps, but it scares me to think he'll be trying to walk soon. (Scare, in a good way.) His little personality just keeps developing a little more every day. He seems to be so relaxed and laid back. He hardly ever cries except when he's really hungry and you are not getting the picture or Zach yanks a toy out of his hands. He is easily distracted though and okay with whatever toy you replace it with! A couple of people have asked if we forget about him sometimes. I hate to say we "forget" about him, but he is easy to get sidetracked from...yeah, I've forgotten him sometimes. Not actually left him anywhere, but more like forget to get his food while he's in his highchair b/c Zach has asked for 15 things or I'm making my coffee. He quickly reminds me with some cooing and grunting that he's hungry.
He is super ticklish too. Under his chin and his toes are sure ways to get him to smile and I love it! He is starting to be a little more cautious about smiling at everyone. He definitely gives them the once over before giving them a smile. Still such a joy to have around even when he's crawling straight for the toilet for the 15th time.
Zach has been going to an "adventure" camp at the YMCA. He loves it. He did a craft every day and got to play outside in little pools this week. He made a visor with his name on it and decided we should take a picture of it. He was very proud of his work.

Zach is turning out to be a great big brother. He helps me a lot with Dylan and is always quick to help make Dylan happy by offering toys or playing a game with him. The other day I was picking up Dylan's room so I put him in his crib to keep him in one safe place. I threw a couple of toys in there to keep Dylan occupied and Zach saw what I was doing and threw the rest of the toys in the toybox in and jumped in with him. They were having a blast. Zach of course turned it into a pirate ship and a spaceship and all sorts of adventures while Dylan chewed on everything in sight. Meanwhile I grabbed the camera and took some pics and even managed to get the laundry put away and the trash can emptied. Not bad at all.We have also gotten a chance or two to go to the pool. Dylan is quite the swimmer. He loves the water and loves getting his face wet and splashing all around. Zach is warming up to the water this year and I'm looking forward to swim lessons for him. I think the friendly peer pressure and instructor other than me or Craig will be helpful.Craig and DylanZach enjoying poolside

Video of Craig and Dylan enjoying the pool

Borrowed Camera

Brotherly Love - capture it while it lasts!


Okay, so I got to borrow a camera that I can't afford on my own and got to play around with it. I got some cute pics of the boys and thought I'd throw them on here. I wish I could find a reason that I needed a $600 camera other than taking cute pics of my kids, but alas, I can not think of one. The good news is, I think my source will let me borrow it again should the occasion arise. These are just playing around pics and I think it got the goofiness of Zach and the sweetness of Dylan. Perfect for the ages that they are right now. Next month, may be totally different. :)I think this series was hysterical....Zach was just being silly and I just kept taking pics.

I'm Zach and this is my brother Dylan and my other brother Dylan

Old Newhart reference for those of you playing at home...

I came downstairs from putting Dylan down to bed and Zach was talking up a storm to Craig. Zach then introduces me to his "babies" (all imaginary). "I have 5 babies." In his baby voice which is all high-pitched like every self-respecting woman when she talks to a baby...
Zach - Come on babies, you need to come over here.
Craig - Tell Mommy what their names are Zach.
Zach - This ones Dylan and this one is Dylan and that one is Dylan - they ALL Dylan.
Jill - Well, that's going to be confusing.
Craig - Tell Mommy how old they are Zach.
Zach - They 3...no they all 5.....5 months (Dylan's age)

He proceeded to tell them good job and praise them for picking up their toys. He also gave them time outs and told them, "No" for making such a mess with their toys. I believe the quote was (in a very exasperated tone), "What I going to do with all these babies?" Hands in the air appropriate for the situation. They ate dinner on a stool in our kitchen while we had dinner and I have to "kiss and hug" them all good night. Luckily a group hug and kiss was acceptable. Craig just came downstairs and declared that he had them - meaning the babies. They were all in bed, but Zach kicked them out and made Craig bring them downstairs while he went to bed. Again, luckily 5 imaginary babies fit in your hand when cupped appropriately.

Before Dylan was born, we had 1 baby that we had to take everywhere. To the pool for swim lessons, in the grocery cart (he would sit in the back so they could sit in the baby seat in the cart)...he has a very vivid imagination. So the baby is back and brought friends...they are completely imaginary and therefore do not take up space. You can also just pick them out of thin air when the need arises. Like, Zach says, "UH OH! I forgot the babies." Always when you are buckling him in the car seat and late for wherever you are going. You can simply say, "NOPE, I've got them right here." All is right with the world. Thank goodness!

Look out Octomom, I'm close on your tail with 7 babies. Even Zach knows that 5 babies is a lot...maybe he should give her a call.

Can you call the dentist?

Another cute Zach story (3 is a fun age)...

Craig was finishing putting Zach to bed tonight (we each had a turn helping him with something). I think Zach bit his lip or something and has a place that hurts. Tonight he showed it to Craig and said he needed "sumping". Craig tried to say he put something in the water that would help and gave him a drink. Zach didn't buy that for a minute. He told Craig to get Mommy. I came up and looked intently at his lip and gave him Chap stick. This seemed to buy us some time, but soon Craig was called again (do you see how he wears us down?). He asked Craig if he could call the dentist. "My wip hurts, do you fink you could call the dentist to see if he can fix it?" Craig said he'd see about it in the morning. Zach asked Craig if he could call tonight while Zach was "sweeping".
I love his little mind and how it's working out how the world works. When you're sick you call the doctor, when your mouth hurts, I guess, you call the dentist.

Zach on wheels

Zach did get the little driving car for Christmas. Some friends had one their boys used and sold it to us for a great price. Thanks Grammy and Granddad! After some adjustments to the front alignment...Zach really has the hang of it now. Here's his first try through the gate of our fence.




Second try was much better. We learned to tell him to look straight ahead instead of down at the wheels.