Closing the deal

For the longest time now, Zachary has been rolling from his back to almost his front. He is oh so close to getting to his tummy. This morning I told Phil that Zachary doesn't seem to have a career in sales, as he just can't close the deal. Zachary disagreed! He made it all the way to his tummy for the first time! Here he is, contemplating the final movement.
Let's see if he remembers how to do it tomorrow!
Oh, and I realize that this picture is really really loud!

Christmas Day

looking cute in matching jammies

When Alex came downstairs and rounded the corner of the chair and saw the tree with all the presents under it, he stopped in his tracks, yelled "presents!" and ran over to start tearing the paper! It was great! We managed to stop him and had him and Zachary open up their stocking items first. After that and a (really) quick breakfast, we were into the present frenzy. Zachary likes to pull a piece of wrapping paper off, wave it around a bit and then eat it (here, he forgot about his binky and the tape stuck to it). Alex just likes to tear the paper off as quickly as possible (I love the action shot).



Their contrasting styles meant that Alex was often trying to "help" Zachary finish opening his packages. In the beginning, Alex was all about open, open, open. But soon he started to become more interested in what was just opened and wanted to play with everything! I really didn't expect that, and I definately didn't expect to still have presents to open after his nap. But, we did.

a look at the mayhem

After all the excitement inside, a walk seemed like a good idea. I say seemed because when we got out there, the wind was still whipping and the air was really cold. We still had a nice time saying hi to the other crazy folk out walking and gathering sticks. This picture of Zachary sums up how we were all feeling.

Christmas Eve

After dinner, we took a walk around our neighborhood to look at Christmas lights. I was disappointed in the lack of light displays, but we still enjoyed our walk. Because of the cloudy and rainy weather, the airplanes flying into and out of Oakland Airport were "going the wrong way". They usually take off heading north, but in bad weather they take off south and land from the north. The sound is different and when they are landing, they are over our house much lower to the ground. This allows Alex to see them better and he really liked watching them fly by. Even though it was cloudy, the rains held off for our walk. Once we got back home, there was time for one gift before bed. My mom's tradition was (is?) to have us open a gift on Christmas Eve that was jammies. I found cute matching jammies for the boys and decided to borrow this tradition (for this year at least). Zachary and Alex both enjoyed opening up their present and looked super cute in their jammies!

Because of Alex's present opening talent, we didn't put the presents under the tree as they arrived, but kept them in the pack and play and out of harm's way. So, after the boys were in bed, Phil and I put out the presents and cleaned up so we would be ready to go first thing in the morning. Here's a picture of our tree and of our stockings. I didn't quite get Zachary's stocking completed for this year, but I took the partially completed face and lazily basted it together so that Santa could leave presents. There had been a blank spot on the fireplace (yes, it is hidden by a bookcase) waiting for it, and I was so happy when I hung it up, even if it isn't perfect yet.

Togetherness

Here are a few pictures of Alex and Zachary having fun together.

playing together at Wee play.

decorating with window clings.
check out that sitting action!

hanging out at home.

Today at Wee Play, Alex took a pretty big tumble. I gathered him up and had both boys in my lap. As Alex was crying (more from being scared than hurt), Zachary reached out and touched him on the head. It was so precious. I feel so lucky to have these two little boys in my life!

Shout out

I have to give a big Thank You to the Walmart at Supermall in Auburn, WA.
Back at Thanksgiving, Alex lost his shoe at the store. Phil and then Phil and I spent hours and hours at the store looking for it and asking everyone working there if they had it. Many of the workers thought they remembered seeing it, but it was not to be found. Before we returned to CA, we gave the shoe department and the lost and found department my parents' phone number and a description of the shoe.
Yesterday they called and said they had found the shoe!!! After a month of shoe sadness, my dad went to the store today and left with Alex's shoe.

I know some of you are probably thinking "why get so caught up about a shoe" but you don't recall my slight obsessive-side. Besides, they were (are!) really cute shoes!

Work party

Phil's office had a little holiday party that families were invited to. It was a fun potluck with raffle prizes and the always entertaining white elephant exchange. Zachary tried out a high chair and found it quite to his liking. His chair at home is reclined, but he sat upright in this one very well.

During the white elephant, Alex and his friend Brook helped everyone open up their gifts and Alex was even a proxy for someone who had to leave early. One of the funniest gifts was a pirate hat and accessories....it was made even funnier when the Captain choose that gift and had to wear the hat for the rest of the party!
Ever the helper, Alex helped clean up afterward, and wound up with a bow on his bum!

Trim the Tree

Phil and I are trying to establish some holiday traditions for us and the boys. That said, we have decided that the 2nd weekend of December will be "Trim the Tree" weekend. Alex was a big help in putting up the ornaments, and Zachary enjoyed sitting in his chair watching the excitement. Next year I'm sure we'll have all the help we can stand! Alex found a school bus ornament when we were out shopping (imagine that!). When I asked him if he wanted to put the bus on the tree, he was surprisingly willing, and then he decided that some other vehicles should go on too....and maybe a ball or two!

It's a party!

Most of our playgroup friends have their birthdays in November and December so we decided to celebrate! The group rented out Ruby's Tumbling for a couple of hours of fun. We had a chance to see some of our friends who can't come out to play on Wednesdays too! It was so much fun to watch the kids explore and try out the gymnastics apparatus. There was a balance beam, a "high" bar, rings, a climbing rope, trampolines, and lots of mats! Alex's favorite was the trampoline, complete with a toddler sized Pooh Bear, and Zachary enjoyed the rings.

Of course there were cupcakes, baked by our own ace of cakes, and some yummy food too. I think all of the kids had a great time!

Happy Birthday to all our friends!

What a gorgeous day

The boys and I went to the zoo today with Dominic and Kristin. The weather was perfect! And the zoo was practically ours alone. As usual the monkeys and giraffes were a big hit with all the boys. We even saw something none of us had ever seen before, an elephant drinking. When he (?) would suck the water up into his trunk, it sounded just like one of us sucking the last bit of drink through a straw, and then the rushing sound of water as he poured it into his mouth. It was really cool, although the boys probably weren't as impressed. Alex was disappointed that he didn't get to see his friend Tarantula. But strollers aren't allowed in that building and I couldn't just leave Zachary outside! We spent a bit of time just playing in the children's zoo play area. What a fun, fun day!

Wee Play again

Playgroup decided to invade Wee Play again this week. As promised, I remembered the camera and have documented the mayhem. Alex enjoyed riding the roller-coaster this time, in addition to pushing and riding everything he could get his hands on. Zachary even got in on the fun and joined the music circle with Dominic and his Mommy, Kristin.

How old are you?

That's right Zachary, you are 5 months old!
Zachary's doctors appointment went well, aside from the crying jag caused by his vaccines. He is 16 pounds 15 ounces and 26 inches tall! Those numbers put him in the 50-75 % range for both categories, a very well proportioned boy.

Did I win?

Alex competed in his first road race today! Phil took him along in the jogging stroller for a 5K along the water trail. Zachary and I were their official cheerleaders. Despite getting trapped behind a wall of walkers at the beginning, the guys posted a very respectable time, and beat out the other stroller-runners. Not bad for a first-timer!

A comparison

Alex 3 3/4 months 5/27/2007

Zachary 4 1/2 months 11/30/2008

Going Home

We have come to the end of our vacation. Our trip home was kind of a fiasco, but we all made it home safe and sound.
Thank you Gma and Gpa! We had a fun time and miss you already.

Happy Thanksgiving

Turkey day is here. Auntie Nichole came 'home' for the weekend. We had our typical low-key family dinner. Just a quiet day around the house, except for Alex's piano recital.

Pike Place Market

Rain? What rain? You must know by now that won't stop us! Today was Seattle shopping day. We headed up to the Market for fruit, flowers and crafts. Once we convinced Alex that pushing the stroller through the crowds wasn't in the plans, we all had a fun time. Of course there were fruit samples, and flying fish. But Alex and my favorite was the mini donuts! Yum. Before I had even paid for them, he was pulling them out of the bag. Then he saw the famous Brass Pig and ran up to it, put his hand on its back and waited for his photo op! You'll notice he didn't let go of his donut. For lunch Alex had a ham and corn humbow from the little Chinese shop, which he ate overlooking Puget Sound, watching the ferries. Next we headed down to the Waterfront and while Zachary and I stayed behind, Alex and Phil went in search of the carousel. Apparently it spins faster than any Alex had been on before, but I think he had fun. Then they played games at the arcade and Alex won his first arcade ticket playing a disco dance game. We all met up again to get chowder at Ivar's. Yum. Lastly, as the boys slept, we drove around our old neighborhood checking out the changes and the things that have stayed the same. It was a long, fun, tasty day!

First Flight

Today was the day I've long thought would be crazy. We took 2 lap babies on an airplane. On the plus side, having them both be lap babies meant we only had to pay for two tickets. Next time, Alex will probably be 2 and we'll have to buy him a seat too. As is our routine, we planned to take the bus to the airport. A bus schedule reading error caused us a bit of stress, as we didn't actually get on the road until an hour before our flight. Yikes! Some deep breathing exercises and short lines at the airport kept the stress level resonable. The flight wasn't full, so we ended up with 6 seats all to ourselves.
This was Zachary's first flight. He was perfect! As we were going down the runway, he was drifting off to sleep, but as the wheels started to go up, his eyes flew wide, wide open! Then he smiled at me and slept for the rest of the trip!
Alex has flown before, but this was the first time that he was interested in what was happening outside the window. He had fun looking at the cities far below and spent some time coloring too. On the way out, he got to peek in at the cockpit.

All about Zachary

Yesterday was Zachary's 4 month birthday! His checkup is later this week, hopefully we won't get in trouble with his doctor for some of our recent decisions. ;)
One of our playgroup friends offered us the use of this little Bumbo chair. I'm not sure how I feel about the chairs in general, but I know how Zachary feels! He loves it and is so happy to be sitting up and in the action.
We decided to offer Zachary some rice cereal for dinner now that he is 4 months, and always hungry. He took to it right away, and knew what to do. He even tried to take the spoon from me and do it himself!

We just treated ourselves to a new Flip and hope to get the video up and out soon. So many projects...

Tailgaters

We took the boys to their first football game! The Oakland Raiders are not a team I would choose to root for (as I'm sure you know), but they are so bad I almost feel sorry for them. We stopped for sandwiches on the way and had lots of other yummy snacks for our tailgate party. Unfortunately we didn't get a very good parking spot and there was no room to spread out, but we opened up the back of the Highlander and ate on the actual tailgate!
When the cheerleaders came onto the field, Alex started to clap. What a little flirt! I'm going to hold out a bit of hope that he was just mesmerized by the shiny silver pompoms. Throughout the game he cheered and clapped, and not necessarily just because everyone else was. He really seemed to enjoy it. Towards the end he did get pretty antsy and tired, in fact at the 2 minute warning, he fell asleep! Zachary had a little nap somewhere in the middle and charmed everyone around us with his big smile.


Diehard Raider fans were quite impressed to see us walking out at the end of the game with one sleeping toddler and a sleepy-eyed baby in tow. We put Alex in the back of the car (that tailgate sure came in handy today) to rest while Zachary had dinner and a little snooze of his own. Once the traffic was cleared up, we woke everyone up and got them into their seats.



Both boys were super troopers! Sadly (or yay, depending on how you look at it) the Raiders lost. This drops my NFL record to 3 of 4 (games I've attended that the home team has won) and Phil is a dismal 1 of 4.

Wee Play

It was a bit chilly yesterday, so our playgroup decided to meet at Wee Play. The boys and I had never been before and didn't really know what to expect. When we got to the sign up table and Alex got a peek into the play room, it was all over. He couldn't/wouldn't/didn't wait for me to sign in and pay, but took off into the land of push-toy heaven! There was every kind of pushing thing you can imagine in there. Picture the elementary school cafeteria, you know the kind, with the stage on one end, full of lawn mowers, vacuums, ride on and ride in cars and pull toys. That's what we experienced. Needless to say, Alex had a wonderful time. Although he didn't try them out, there was also a play house, 2 slides and a tunnel to crawl through. And, when Zachary is a bit bigger, there is a blocked off babies area too! We will probably be buying a drop-in pass soon. I didn't capture the mayhem in pictures this time, but I'll give you a peek after our next adventure! But since a post doesn't seem complete without pictures, here are a couple just for fun.

Are you European?

I think Alex might be European. He always gives me kisses on both cheeks. Such a sweetheart!

Rain walk

The rainy season started quite abruptly last night. It has been raining with periods of pouring all night and now all day. Rain is great! However it does limit our outside play time. So this afternoon during a break in the downpour, we bundled up and went for a walk. Before long it was pouring again, but the boys didn't seem to mind so we kept on going. The bonus of rainy weather in sunny California is that everyone stays in, making the world seem like it is all ours! The downside is that our patio completely floods. But again, on the plus side, we have a newly cleaned blank slate (patio) for our chalk creations!
Alex actually rode his tricycle during the "walk", the picture above is when we got home and he found his stroller in the garage.
Next time it rains, try an adventure!

The 3 days of Halloween

Happy Halloween!

Alex and Zachary had the opportunity to celebrate Halloween Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday this week. (We got our money's worth on costumes this year!)
The 1st day of Halloween was Wednesday at playgroup. I overcame my fear of getting dirty and dressed the boys up to play in the park. Most of our friends were dressed up too. Without prior consultation among Moms, we had 2 Peter Pans and 2 Turtles! Here they are getting ready for lunch.

Seamus, Zach, Dominic, Katy, Alex

The 2nd day was the Child Development Center parade around Coast Guard Island. Phil escorted the boys along the parade route, and I took his place at the office handing out treats. They made some friends along the way, which involved a co-worker carrying Zachary while Alex hi-jacked her daughter's push cart. (At least it was people we know, and they were happy to help Phil out!) Eventually Alex ended up riding in a side by side stroller with a different co-worker's daughter. Such adventures! Zachary was coveting Alex's snacks just after this picture.

And finally, the 3rd day of Halloween was actually Halloween! The shopping center down the street hosts a store to store trick or treat, which is much easier than going door to door. We did a little candy collecting and a lot of running around, up and down the stairs at the dock. There were some great costumes. One little girl was a peacock. (I have got to find that website for next year, right now, I don't remember it.) And Alex's favorite was a boy with suspenders holding up a car frame around his waist. So the boy was the driver and the car was around him...can you see it? Anyway, Alex wanted to push him because he looked like a car. Crazy kid!

All the Halloween celebration made the boys tired, so they had to take a break.

Hope your Halloween was fun too!