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.

Dr. Porte Visit - finally

After some scheduling struggles, we finally got to follow up with the NICU doctor. Dr. Porte didn't actually get to see Dylan, but the "new" doc followed up. She was great and spent quite a bit of time observing Dylan and asking developmental questions. She was really impressed with him and said that if she hadn't seen his chart she wouldn't have any idea that he had had any issues. They checked his muscle tone (they explained that they look for them to be too tight or too loose - he definitely had too tight the first few days in the NICU). They checked his reflexes of course and his eye tracking. He passed all of those with flying colors and even impressed them by standing up next to a flat wall (not pulling up with a ledge). (He practices on the sliding door and our mirror/closet doors in our bathroom.) It was quite a relief and we will check back with them in 6 more months just to make sure nothing has changed.
I made some time on this trip to Joplin to stop by the Ronald McDonald House to say hi and see the brick we had placed in Dylan's honor. It was because of everyone's generosity that we got to have a brick engraved. Here's the picture I took.

Thank you to everyone who donated in honor of Dylan!

Next week is his 9 month pediatrician appointment. Time sure does fly!

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

Zin, Zin, Zin A Violin

We had a special treat this weekend and went to the Children's Symphony done by the SE Kansas Symphony. It was neat to take Zach to the auditorium and sit for something so grown up! It was a really fun show they did. They put the book Zin, Zin, Zin a Violin to music and introduced all the instruments. After the music, we could walk around and speak to the musicians and ask them questions about their instruments. Zach wasn't too into talking to everyone, but he did sit quietly through the music. One of the only things he said was, "Where is the guitar?" One of the only instrument he knows about. :) Also towards the end, "I'm ready to go to Tropical Sno." (You have to have some incentive for a kid to sit through chamber music!)
And we did get to enjoy a Rainbow tropical sno after!

Why can't I be more like Dylan?

Just watching Dylan eat Cheerios makes me want to have the mindset of a baby. He intently picks up the Cheerios and gets it to his mouth. On average 2 of 5 actually get in his mouth and don't fall in his high chair. He never gets upset, never loses his focus, he just keeps on picking those suckers up and putting them to his mouth hoping one will get in. If we all had that kind of drive and determination and good attitude about life...I wonder where we would be today.

Dylan Milestone - Crawling

While we were on vacation, and unfortunately after Craig had left, Dylan decided to become a full fledged crawler. I think it was officially the 15th of May. 7 1/2 months. As I'm writing this on June 2nd, he is also starting to pull himself up in his crib. It's a bit sad because he gets "stuck" holding himself up and doesn't know how to let go and lay down. I had to sit with him a little while tonight to lay him back down so he knew it was sleep time.
He LOVES being mobile. He loves just crawling around the house and following us from room to room. For those of you that have seen our new house, I'm in trouble with trying to figure out where to strategically place our gates. We have two sets of stairs that are just two stairs and then a full flight of stairs up to our bedrooms and then the basement steps (easiest b/c we just leave the door closed for now).
In the video, you can see my parent's kitchen and great tile. Loved their house, although I'm not sure I'd love to live in it with small children. Lots of walking around and hard to "find" everyone...kind of like a maze.

The Griswolds Go to Disney (aka - Florida Entry #2)

Look at this optimistic family
dry and planning on a great day
(don't mind that giant storm cloud hanging over Cinderella's castle)

I think it was decided that maybe I was more excited about my first trip to Disney World than Zach was. Craig and I had never been, so it was a first for all the Wards. I was glad that I waited until I had kids to take, because Zach made the whole trip that much better.

We arrived in Orlando on Sunday afternoon with plans to see Disney World Magic Kingdom on Monday. So Sunday we just spent some time at Downtown Disney shopping and met our Uncle Rich and Aunt Lila on Sunday evening for dinner. Uncle Rich, Aunt Lila and Dylan

And that's when the rain started. We got sprinkled on at Downtown Disney, but the torrential rain started Sunday night. I was so sad we were not going to be able to go to Disney on Monday, but nothing stops the Griswolds when you have a mission

Jill and the Loch Ness Monster made of Legos

The one day whirlwind trip to Magic Kingdom was well worth it. I had a great time and we managed to ride Dumbo, Peter Pan, Tomorrowland Speedway cars, Buzz Lightyear, Monster Inc Laugh Floor, Big Thunder Mountain Roller Coaster and Zach's official first roller coaster ride - Goofy Barnstormer. Zach also managed to get his pic taken with Buzz Lightyear and Mickey and Minnie Mouse. The Disney gods were smiling on us. All of those pics were by chance encounters and did not involve long waits in any lines.

My personal favorite part of the day was the parade. We waited for about 15 mins and got a good spot - luckily the crowds were slim because of all the rain. I positioned Zach right next to the rope and had my video camera going. He got lots of high fives from lots of characters, but the best was the wicked stepmother. She came by and I believe she was trying to stretch out her time because a float had broken down behind her so there was a bit of a gap in the show. She walked over to Zach and in a loud theatrical Wicked Stepmother voice said, "Girls, look at this one. One of you should marry him. And next thing you know, one of them (don't know which one) gave him a HUGE kiss on the cheek. Even better, he immediately took his hand and gave it a big wipe to wipe off the kiss. Luckily I caught it all on camera and as soon as I can figure out how to download it, I'll see if I can cut it down and put it on here.

Disney Ponchos - $8 EACH
Stroller Rental - $12
Disney Tickets - $60
Overpriced Disney Beach Towel - $22
Being proposed to and kissed by the wicked stepsister - pricelessThe Griswolds at the end of the day - and we were still speaking to each other

Thank you Grandad and Grammy for a great trip! Thanks Amanda for your insider tips on a great day at Disney!