To Jedo's and Baba's

Last weekend we visited my Dad and Kathi up north. They were so sweet and had tons of toys for him to play with all cleaned and ready to go...which he loved them all. He crawled all over the house exploring and seemed very happy (minus the ever lasting pain of teething). They own chickens, dogs and two cats. He must be used to Bentley because he didn't really seem to interested in the animals. Their Yorkie got into his face a lot but he would just try to push the dog aside, so funny, like it's a toy!

He went through each toy learning how it works and how he could use it to stand up!

He played really well with Jedo. They sat on the floor a lot together smiling, laughing, building blocks and Zackary knocking them down! Zackary also fell in love with the Winnie the Pooh. Luckily we have one for him at our house too, but he had never been into stuffed animals until this weekend. He would hug pooh and lay on top of him, cuddling...so cute!

So it's hard to see in this picture, but I actually caught on camera his first 10 second stand without holding onto anything. We were all screaming, and he was looking at us like, "what, what did I do, what's going on." It was so funny. I couldn't believe we ALL saw it. I love witnessing the milestones taking place in my muffin man!

As we were packing to venture on home he crawled into his suitcase and just sat there. Isn't he precious in his pj's!!!

On our way home we stopped for a break and had a photo opp. One week away from his 1 year old birthday. You can do so much now. Feeding yourself (doesn't last long though), you know your bib when we ask where it is, and your head, and all our names. You are not liking vegetables as much right now but I just have to start becoming more creative with how we are cooking them, but fruit, well that's another story! You'll eat any fruit. You have four teeth (the top two came in this past week) and have two more coming in on the top too. You like to go on walks in your stroller, like to crawl in the sand, run with mommies help from the waves, swing, flip the pages of your books, babble still only saying DaDa,and NaNa, listening to your elvis prestley CD in the car, and you are very attached to mama right now-which secret between us, it's perfectly ok with me!!!!

Little All Star

Well I have been incredibly lazy about keeping up my blogging. I need to become better at it. It is challenging for me because I am so tired at the end of the night when I usually post something and I just fade into bed and feel entirely to uncreative. But I am determined tonight to post some. Zackary is just growing leaps and bounds. As you can see above he is standing and has been since probably beginning July...but is very quick at it now. All he does is crawl, stand, play, and explore every room in its entirety. We finally baby proofed and that has helped with the cupboards. He loves balls still, any and all. It's funny cause we got a diapers.com delivery in a big box that he throws his toys into and sits with them in it and plays for a good while. We play peek a boo a lot, and hide and seek. He walks Bentley with me in the morning around 7 (an hour after he's woken up). The we eat at 7:30, and soon after 9 he's down for a nap. He get's a snack at 10 (breast milk-am trying whole milk, not going so well), lunch at 11:30, nap at 12-1, snack at 2:30 (yogurt and fruit usually), dinner/bath at 4:30 and bedtime ritual starts at 5:30 with bed at 6. He loves his routine and it is easier for me to arrange my day accordingly!

In this picture he crawled under our bar stools and stood up and could not for the life of him figure out how to crawl out. It was so cute. He finally got frustrated and we helped him, but got to capture those moments, you know!

We were playing peak a boo in our bed covers and he was loving it!

Two weekends ago we had a friend in town, Kristina. She has been very supportive since the beginning and recently moved to another state. So we loved having her stay here and hang with us for the weekend. The first time Zackary ever belly laughed she was over sitting right next to us on the couch and she caught the moment with me. It was so special and I think that minute of pure, raw laughter will bond us together forever. Zackary loves her too, they had a lot of fun playing! He still has a really hard time with other people holding him, so it makes me feel good when he has a good moment sitting in someone else's lap.

Playing, Swimming, and Great Grandma and Me

Zackary's Great Grandma (Eleanor) turns 90 this week so the family celebrated her birthday today. We played a trivia game about her life to see who knew the most and it was interesting learning new facts about her growing up. Zackary had a great time playing with my cousin's kids and just watching everyone. They look so cute together in the picture huh? So surreal... a 90 year old and a 11 month old together...reminds you to enjoy each moment best you can cause they fly by!

Zackary started swim classes this past week. Great Grandma came with us for support and he loved having her there. He got ready for his class (see the cute speedos...love it!) and sat on her lap watching all the children in the pool. When it came time to start class he just had a blast and fit right in perfectly. He kicked and learned to float on his back, and we played humpty dumpty and fell into mom's arms in the water, and tried holding our breath. He had a good nap after that class! They say it's really important for children to learn at a young age how to hold their breath and turn over and float on their back in case they ever fall in a lake, pool, etc. So we are learning! And it's summer so it's a fun activity for us to do. Our music classes are over, doing swim now, hum...what class should we try next?

He was watching every move going on in the pool...patiently and skeptically waiting his turn.

His new favorite thing to do over and over is flip through pages of books and then throw them all on the floor. It's so fun to watch. He really is looking like a toddler to us in this picture.

Our Family Trip to Illinois

Ben and I just braved our first trip with Zackary on a plane and man it was so worth it. We flew to St. Louis for a 10 day vacation in Illinois. Not only did Zackary flourish when we were there but so did Ben and I. It was nice staying with his parents. They were very supportive, and our permanent babysitters for 10 days. Ben and I were able to go out with some friends and spend a day in St. Louis for a wedding that all his friends were at. Zackary loved all the family surrounding him while we were there and became a more sociable young boy. He slept a lot, and ate his solids really well. Here he is with Grandma. They look so cute in their blues.

About a month ago I taught Zackary how to kiss and he has mastered it. He loves giving everyone open mouth cheek kisses. It's so cute. Here he is giving Grandpa one! We were able to visit Zackary's other great grandma which was very special. She lucked out and got a kiss as well!

Zackary loved baby Leah! He would stare at her and give her some kisses too. It was adorable! She is the most beautiful baby. Ben's sister and brother in law are great parents. We went over to visit them one day and Zackary decided that his favorite room in the whole house was Leah's room. Aunt Maggie got all her toys out and he had a ball playing with them and investigating each one. Ben and I decided that maybe we needed some new toys for him.

It was so much fun seeing Zackary interact with all of his second cousins. He loved watching them and showing them all his new tricks. He can pull up now and is determined to master it. He is clapping, waving, taking things out and putting them back in, and so much more. He just found his ears sticking one finger in them to see what happens.

Below is a pic with Aunt Maggie, Uncle Derek and Ben at the park. We had some good times. Can't wait to go back.

I'm 10 months old

Our cutest Zackary has turned 10 months. He is growing so much each month. Right now he loves his mama. If I leave the room he starts crying unless you are distracting him. No worries though cause after a few minutes he realizes all is ok and is back playing. His new favorite game is peek-a-boo (can you say adorable). We are trying to teach him to hold his own sippy cup and bottle, he's not used to it since I have been exclusively breastfeeding him. I love breastfeeding too. It's such a bond for us not to mention it surpasses any other immunity. He's very good at it now, his record time is 8 mintues. It used to be a bit of a break for me too, nice to relax, ya, not anymore!!! Now I just enjoy watching him and relish in our quiet time together. No biting yet either, thank gosh. He loves taking walks (stares at the trees moving in the wind, and crows fighting in the sky) eating his solids, and spending time playing with anything that makes noise or he can chew on...as apparently he's constantly teething.

He loves his Dada...that is all he says too in verying octives...dadadadaddaadadadada! It's so cute. We sound like a record back at him, mamamamamamama...to no prevail. Dad and him play games together crawling and walk a lot...and Ben just started running with him in the jogger. He puts him to sleep every night since birth and Zackary gets so excited. It's nice and important for them to have that special bonding time too. Ben is very hands on and loves spending time playing with him...I think he can't wait to teach him golf!

This is Zackary's favorite thing to do of the month...climb under the table. It's so funny...I love it. He also will bounce balls off of it. I am trying to help him learn how to pull up, which he does well on us but is still learning on other things.

This saucer is a godsent. He loves it, and goes round in circles and plays with everything. We have started standing him up on the outside of it too which he's doing well learning to walk around it (with assistance of course). He also loves visitors, being tickled, going up and down one step inbetween one of our rooms, his bouncer, and much more. We just lowered his crib too! :) We love you monkey...stay 10 months for awhile now, k!
Oh and I am starting to plan for the 1 year big birthday bash-for me and family of course...cause he won't remember!...any ideas let me know!

PICTURE OF THE WEEK

I am loving my solids (especially avocado, nectarines and peaches)!!!!

PICTURE OF THE WEEK