my jigsaw puzzle days

I was talking to a good friend of mine from college on the phone 3 days ago and she explained her life with children as piecing one jigsaw puzzle together after another and it's so true. For the past two weeks Zackary has been sick. This cold accompanied a fever though, our first fever as parents. We figured out the medicines, which worked better, how to get him to sleep (on me) and as I thought no ear infection or sore throat said the urgent care doctor. Well this virus certainly has changed him. I was lucky that I was warned that his diet might be different now well after he's feeling better and its so true. He won't eat! He won't eat anything I make him. He likes bread, cheese, fruit (and he's even becoming finicky with fruit), Fillet Mignon (ha!), yogurt, pancakes/french toast, quesadilla and sometimes lentil soup. I can't believe how much his appetite has changed. And I'm hearing that it will be like this for around 6 months. Great!
His naps are all messed up too...trying to get him back on one a day with the repercussions of him now not wanting to fall asleep at night and waking up again around 5AM. His eczema is a bit better but I really have to watch the acidic fruits he eats (which are his favorite).
Wonder what's the next jigsaw puzzle I'll be attempting to figure out!

19 months

Zackary brought his 19th month to life with a fever, and nasty cold. We felt so bad for him, Sunday was definitely his worst day by far. He's slowly mending, fever gone but his nose has it's own agenda. The amount of goop coming out of it is unreal! This was the first fever he had ever had. When it reached 104.5 at one point I freaked a bit and decided that I have never loved Motrin more in my life. We finally figured out a routine for the fever and for his aches. He slept on me and once his fever got over 100.5 we would give Motrin or Tylenol. I am a believer of holistic medicine but these past couple of days I needed modern medicine to help us all get through. Ben and I were also getting over rough colds so we were all a bit of a mess.
He has never wanted mom more and although I don't want him to be sick it's so sweet and very surreal to me these past sick moments we have spent together with him either asleep on me or cuddling with me.

Here is what Zackary is doing at 19 months:

-He's in a class called "My Gym" were they run around and play on mats, trampolines and anything gym like. He was very timid in the first class, but he's getting more comfortable now. He loves to watch the other kids and mothers...and I love watching his mind work.
-He is over pear and really into mango, banana and berries.
-He's becoming a bit more picky with meals that I make him..doesn't like slimy or big bites.
-He is acting more like he's ready to be pody trained.
-Still loves flowers, balls (throwing them especially), stacking blocks, reading books, listening to music and his new love are ladybugs.
-He loves to draw now with crayons and pens.
-He still loves his burp cloth and pacifier!
-He's 28 pounds and 34 inches.
-He likes to hide in our closet and play peek a boo!
-Loves the park, walks, driving in the car and pointing out all the flags we pass, eating his yogurt, and Elmo.
-He blows kisses, high fives, shows us how much we love him by throwing his arms up in the air when we ask, splashes in the bath and waves bye bye!
-He helps me make our bed and likes to turn our radio on full blast!
-He's good at hugs and kisses
and he has become really good at using straws and drinking normally out of a cup.
-He thinks it's fun to walk backwards towards me and fall into my lap..very trusting.
-He was transitioning to one nap a day (12-2:30) but with this cold it's back to two (9 & 1) .


Happy 19th Birthday Monk!

Easter Traditions

Last Easter Zackary was only 8 months old so I was excited that this year we were able to do so much more with him being 18 months! The day before Easter we dyed our Easter eggs. Zackary had a different agenda. He wanted to spill everything, drink all the dyes and eat all the eggs. I have tried to give him egg in the past but he did not like it. This time he took the egg and had fun getting the shell off and then pretty much eating the entire egg until he had shoved so much yolk in his mouth he started to gag. He had gagged and then vomited the week before with me when I gave him some spinach. Watching others vomit has never been an easy thing for me so naturally when he started gagging I got up and ran. But then I heard him crying so I scooped the yolk out of his mouth, made him drink some milk and had to remove him from the situation. It took him a good 2 hours to pull out of his crankiness!

Christmas and Easter by far are my two favorite holidays and sharing both through my child's eyes are now going to make them even more fun and special each year!

I asked Ben what he remembers the most of Easter growing up. His father used to leave a trail of jelly beans that lead him to a basket. Church and a huge Easter egg hunt with all his cousins summed up the day! I remember my mom hiding baskets all over the house and there was always one special basket. They were filled with candy, money, and special stuffed animals or whatever. I remember Easter egg hunts, and my father does this fun Easter egg roll down his steep driveway.
Ben and I wanted to incorporate each of our past memories into our new traditions. We decided a jelly bean trail wouldn't yet be appropriate or leaving candy in the Easter eggs...but we did leave Cheerios in them!

Do you see the hidden egg around the corner. Oh my gosh, Zackary did such a great job finding all the hidden eggs. I hid some harder than others and he found those right away! He had so much fun looking for the eggs and putting them in his basket. Ben had to work and then we were leaving to go to my mom's so Zackary and I did his Easter egg hunt early in the morning. He ate breakfast first and as he was eating he was screaming and pointing to all the eggs he already saw! We made 3 baskets for him and I hid two for him to find early and then Ben hid one when he got home. Zackary loved each basket and had fun going through all the goodies that filled them. I even hid a basket of beer for Ben...obviously harder than the other baskets that I hid for Zackary and Zackary found Ben's basket before his own!


We went to my mom's for her annual Easter egg hunt and dinner. Her front and back lawns are huge and Zackary enjoyed searching for flowers, secret hiding spots and just running from mom and dad! Doesn't he look cute in his Easter outfit!

Here he found a secret hiding spot...

All the eggs were hidden in the backyard on one side of the yard for the two little ones. He filled his basket with about 5 eggs and then he was done. He wanted to eat all the cheerios out of the eggs and dump them out of the basket repeatedly!

This year Easter had a whole new meaning for me. I can't wait to experience it over and over again each year in new ways through his eyes.

Sweet Moments of Play

Zackary loves to have visitors come over especially when they get in the middle of all of his toys and start playing with them. My friend JS came to visit and in the wonderful way that she is introduced Zackary to his toys in new ways. She made him laugh and laugh...it was so adorable. He has cards that have a different animal on each one and she was making new animal sounds and showing him each card in a unique way that he though was great! Thanks girl for playing with my boy. Note to self...ask her to babysit!


My Dad was over one afternoon and he as well gets down on the floor and starts building with Zackary's blocks and just like my friend he makes the new funny noises, and does things that crack Zackary up. It's so much fun to see.

It's been really special for me to watch my family and friends that are such a part of my life start to initiate a new connection/bond with my son.

Me at 18 months

I always say this but I can't believe that Zackary's 18 months old now. He's 28 pounds, 34 inches tall (90% for height) and doing good. He loves loves loves his food. There are only a few things he does not like. Favorites include lima beans, peas, broccoli, zucchini, spaghetti's, avocado, crackers, cheerios, peanut butter, yo baby yogurt, hummus, all fruits except cantaloupe and much more. He gets upset while his meals are being prepared because he does not want to wait. We hold him over with his grains like bread, crackers etc...and it works. In the morning for breakfast he loves to feed himself his yogurt...it's slightly stressful for me but it's fun too.

His new thing is to climb into Bentley's bed and just relax either with a toy or without. It's so funny. He'll walk into our bedroom and I will wonder where he went cause it's so quiet and there he is just sitting in Bentley's bed! To cute. The toy in the picture above we took off his saucer to put batteries in and he loves playing with it now...it's like he has never seen the toy before. Keeps his interest for awhile.

As maybe you can tell we have moved our rooms around. Ben and I moved upstairs and Zackary's new room is our old bedroom. It took him some time to adjust but it's going better now. He was also teething (and apparently still is with 10 teeth total 3 of those molars) and had a cold during the move so we weren't sure what was upsetting him but probably a mixture. He smiles and laughs all the time and has become more silly. We play peek a boo a lot! He helps me take off his shoes, put them away, put his clothes on and brush his hair. He loves going to the park-sand is his new passion. No more swinging...he wants to be down in the sand and he enjoys picking some up in his hand and bringing it to me over and over.

We have been teaching him to brush his teeth for awhile now. We entice him with a Winnie the Pooh toothbrush (he loves Winnie) and he is pretty good at helping us help him with his teeth. He's a good sport for the flossing as well.

He still has a fascination with balls-collecting, throwing, kicking and bouncing. He has formed a bit of stranger anxiety but to be expected. Music is still a big part of his play time and I swear he has become a bit of an Irish dancer.

Dada Time

More books please.

AHHHHHHH

Best Friends Already!

My good friend MM and her son Jackson came to visit us a couple of weekends ago. Jackson is 3 months younger than Zackary and they were so cute together. Jackson definitely tried to interact more with Zackary than the other way around. We took a trip down to the beach in our new red radio flyer...that was precious.

Come visit again soon!