ScrumpyDaddy

So Zach is now 18 months old almost 19 months on February 1st. Sorry for the late post on this. He is turning into such a little boy. I love watching his physical changes as he loses the baby look and gets the toddler boy look; he is 27.4 lbs and 32 3/4″. I also love watching his personality come out. He’s definitely like his father. Always wants to try everything, get into everything, and figure out how everything works. Maybe it’s a guy thing.

Physically:
Zach is now a toddler. No more baby, *sigh*. He can walk and he can run (sounds like a kids book) and he can climb! He climbs on everything. One of his favorite things to do is climb up on one of our couches, sit on the back of it, and look outside. I love how much he loves the outdoors. Though, right now he is not a big fan of the snow. We go outside with him and most of the time he just stands in it and cries until you pick him up. Zach has enjoyed riding down our hill on the sled with Mommy or Daddy or just being pulled around in the snow, but it is short lived.

He also loves to sit in any and all the chairs in the house. Zach and Abby have actually begun fighting over who gets to sit where when playing in the living room. We are beginning the tedious chore of teaching both of them to share. Didn’t really have to worry about this when it was just Abby; no sharing of stuff or parents.

Zach’s style of playing is also changing. He is getting really good at doing some of the puzzles we have. We have a zoo one and he loves to do that one best. He makes the animals walk before placing them in the right place. He still needs to work on turning them so the fit properly, but he recognizes where they go. He also loves playing with the plates and play food. Maybe he will become a great cook like his Dad! Zach definitely wants more interaction while playing and doesn’t just want to go off on his own. He wants to be a part of everything and has to play with whatever anyone else is playing with. What he has is never good enough.

Zach still loves to eat and insists on feeding himself no matter how messy it may be. His favorite food is noodles of any kind and waffles. He is getting better at using a spoon and fork, though half the time he still hold the utensil in one hand and then grabs the food and shoves it in his mouth with the other.

Communication:
Zach is learning new words by the day. He is getting so much better at communicating with us and letting us know exactly what he wants. I am sure he will be a talker just like his sister. He loves to babble in the morning while in his crib and on car rides. Some notable words he says is Mama, Dada, Draco (our cat), waffle, noodle, more, bubble, ball, moo, owl, cat, milk, beep, no, bah bye, hello (while holding a phone) and tickle. There are a few words he tries to say, but just can’t get yet, but we know exactly what he is saying. He will try and say banana, but just gets the ba part and jibbers the rest. He points to where we keep the bananas though when he is asking for one. He also says ba ba for Abby and baby for his pacifier. He shakes his head no when he doesn’t want something or doesn’t want to do something. Lastly, he can sign thank you and more.

Zach is learning his body parts and if you say, “where’s your belly?” he will lift up his shirt and say tickle tickle. He also says tickle if you ask him where his toes are and he grabs them. Zach knows his hair, mouth, nose, ears, and eyes.

Zach has begun to do so many wonderful things and it changes daily. I can’t wait to see what the next 6 months bring until he is 2!

On Wednesday Dave ended up having to work late and I mean real late. I don’t think he left his office until after midnight. Unfortunately, with him being the IT guy at his company if a critical system fails he has to fix it no matter how long it takes. Because of that the kids and I had a night to ourselves.

We made pancakes and sausage for dinner and then had play time. I found out that night that Zach was getting very good at the zoo puzzle we have. Zach is now 18 months old. He is able to identify where the pieces go even if he doesn’t always turn the animals exactly right to fit in the spot. He did the puzzle about 3 or 4 times in a row. I think he was just showing off for me.

After puzzles we played dress up. I think I need to find a better way to store the dress up clothes to encourage this play time. Half the time I think Abby forgets they are there to play with since they are in a large plastic container over in a corner. Maybe some kind of clothes rack or something…not sure yet, but I will figure something out. Anyways enjoy our fashion show below.

We had a great New Years weekend in New York with my side of the family. We arrived late Thursday night and of course the kids wanted to play for a bit when they got there. After being stuck in the car for 5 1/2 hours how could I say no. This meant a very late night for all since we didn’t get there until 9:30pm.

New Years Eve day:

We started the day with a very nice breakfast and some playtime as we all got ready to over to a local garden store to see their train exhibit. It was the last day it would be up. It was a very nice display and the kids loved it. Zach kept pointing at the trains and smiling. They also had a very nice green house with exotic flowers in it. The orchids were beautiful and if I thought I could keep one alive I might have considered getting one, but with the price they were and my luck with flower well…none were bought.

After the trains we went back to my parents house and opened presents. Zach and Abby were very excited about it. Zach loved opening presents now that he had the right idea. I think Abby’s favorite gift had to be her pillow pet that she got from Aunt Becky. It is a penguin pillow pet and she hasn’t let it leave her side since she got it.

That night we went over to my Aunt Barb’s for dinner and social time. It was a very nice time with my 2 aunts, 2 uncles, and grandparents. Unfortunately, my other cousins were in town for Christmas and couldn’t stay until we came for New Years. We had fun showing off the kids and socializing. The food was great too. We made buffalo chicken dip. I love that stuff!

After dinner we went back to my parents for our traditional time. We played scrabble after the kids went to bed until Dick Clark’s Rockin Eve started. We then had shrimp and when the ball dropped we toasted with our sparkling grape juice. Then Dave and I went and passed out.

New Years Day:

We just hung out all day and enjoyed the Rose Parade and then that night the Winter Classic. Though, of course I was very disappointed that the Penguins didn’t win. Over all it was a very nice day.

Unfortunately, all must come to and end and on Sunday we headed back home for work on Monday. Thanks for a great weekend!

Merry Christmas! Abby woke up at around 6am and joined us in bed until about 6:30. She got up and went down stairs to see if Santa had come. He had! She said that he had eaten the cookies she left him, drank the milk, and the reindeer ate the carrot. Zach heard the noise and got up.

We all headed downstairs. Dave got the coffee started and Abby began to look at the presents. She was reading all the names on them and played Santa handing out the presents. She needed a little help understanding the to and from part of the tag in order to know who it should be given to. She was very excited to start opening gifts and didn’t want to wait. I just love the excitement, though a little patience would have been nice. We wanted to put Christmas music on and didn’t get to before she started opening gifts.

Zach on the other hand could have cared less about opening gifts. We kept trying during the whole present opening time to get him to rip and pull the paper off the gifts, but Abby ended up doing most of it for him. He liked the paper after it was off the gift, but didn’t really help get it off. At his 2nd birthday or next Christmas I am sure he will be just like his sister ripping the paper off and immediately wanting the toy opened.

After gift opening we had a wonderful breakfast of cinnamon rolls and sausage links. Yum!

After breakfast Abby tried her new WII game and controller. It was great they make kid size WII controllers that come in pink or green. We of course got pink for Abby. The controller is slightly smaller and fits perfectly in her hand. Check her out playing Nickelodeon Fit. I would recommend this to any parent. It is wonderful and really gets them moving while watching some of their favorite characters. It has the Backyardigans, Dora, Diego, and one that we didn’t know Kai-lan.

We headed over to my inlaw’s house around 10:45. Dave’s sister and brother-in-law were already there (they stay there when visiting – live in Raleigh, NC). My father-in-law was out picking up Dave’s Grandmother. She moved back to the Pittsburgh area last spring. It is great having her in town. We were waiting on Dave’s brother and his family to come over when we got call from him around 11:30 saying they weren’t coming over. Unfortunately his brothers son was up all night getting sick so they weren’t coming over. Bummer! It is always hard to get sick, but especially around the holidays. Hopefully we will see them again soon when everyone is healthy.

We ended up having a very nice day. Zach did much better in the afternoon actually opening his gifts. They got some wonderful gifts like a little people zoo and fire truck. Abby got a pink Barbie BW Beetle. Not too much, which was nice considering how crowded our playroom already is. I am going to put away some of the baby stuff that Zach doesn’t really play with anymore. He likes to play with whatever Abby is playing with, which at times causes quite the problems.

We left the in-law’s house around 4:30pm to come home and play some more with our new toys. Dave’s brother and his family were heading over there and we didn’t want to take the chance of our kids getting whatever they had, especially since we are heading to Rochester for New Years to be with my family.

We spent the rest of the night playing with toys and then Dave and I enjoyed watching “It’s a Wonderful Life” together after the munchkins were in bed. We had a great Christmas together!