We are all growing up too fast

Ben turned 32 in February and we had a fun evening together while Grandma babysat. But we made sure to come home and have candles and cake with Zackary. He loves light right now, so I knew the candles would be a big hit. He was all dressed up for his Dad's big day and we enjoyed the first candle moment with him.
This past weekend Zackary got baptised at my Serbian Orthodox Church. It was such a special experience. There were 8 different symbolic moments throughout the ceremony. He did really well. Mama had to hold him in the beginning until he calmed down and realized it was ok and then Uncle Ryan held him for the rest. He was dunked up to his chest in the warm holy water, but what was interesting was how fasinated he was with the church and everything that was going on. He was looking all around and taking it in like he knew that God was with him and holding him tight! We all went to my Aunt's house after the ceremony for lunch. It was a special moment for him and I am so happy we did it.

It's funny because in the beginning of his life he would just watch Bentley while smiling and talking to him. Now he reaches out for him and guess what, Bentley runs away as fast as possible and hides. I guess that is what I have to look forward to in the future when he can crawl and walk. Bentley's going to have to come up with some great hiding places! I hope they become friends at some point.

"I'm cool like Dada!" I read that it's really important to protect their sensitive eyes from the sun so we bought him some UV protected glasses and he loved them. It was so funny! What a stud!

"Outside with Mama." I decided to take him outside with me in his saucer during one of our unseasonably hot winter days and we had fun! He loves going with me outside and looking at all the flowers and leaves. We started doing that around the 3-4th week of his life. Nature really distracts him and pulls his attention and it's so fun to watch!


So, Ben and I just went through the past month and a half of pictures and wow, time flies fast when you are raising a child. Things have definitely gotten easier than what they were the first three months. He does not cry as much. It's only if he's tired, bored or hungry. Some of his favorite toys are his jump and go swing, his exer-saucer, his drums mommy made for him and a Graco swing that sits him upright. He loves his Bijorn and stroller walks with daddy and story time before bed.

Some of his latest developmental achievements are:
sitting up on own, standing with help, push-ups, crunches, laughing, rolling over (with help), reaching for mom and dad, smiling all the time, blowing bubbles and little spitting, talking more frequently, stares at us while we eat and drink, drops things and picks them back up repetitiously, loves running water, and bath time and attacks his Tasmanian devil that his Uncle Chris bought him. Everything goes straight into his mouth, and he really loves his HABA toys.

He is exclusively breastfeeding still every 3 hours during the day. We put him down for bed around 7-7:30pm and he wakes around 4am to feed and then back to bed until 7am. I really think he is awake at 6am but I leave him to hang out with his friends in his crib until 7am. We are still double swaddling him as well, which when we try not to he HATES it. We might cold turkey it this weekend, and stop...will update about that next time!