Happy 1st Birthday!

Happy 1st Birthday, Zachary Ryan!

In some ways your first year of life has flown by and in other ways it has tip toed in S.L.O.W motion. You made your entrance into this world a little ahead of schedule. Eleven weeks and 3 days early to be exact. Mister, you were/are one prayed for child! You spent 10 weeks and 4 days in the hospital on an accelerated growth program. You left WMC weighing a whopping 5 lbs 4 oz. Pretty big growth considering you weighed 2 lbs 3 oz at birth (your lowest was 1 lbs 6 or 7 oz). Your nurses called you fiesty. I have absolutely no earthly idea where you would have gotten that from. None. Clueless. I believe (so do a few others) that's what got you through some rough days and home to us by your due date.

You are a spritely little thing! You are happy when you wake up and happy when you go to bed. I love going in your room in the mornings to get you. You seem to be so happy to see me. I hope you always feel that way. I know I will. You will eat anything. I mean anything. You are polar opposite of your big brother who eats a very limited list of things. Speaking of your big brother... he loves you very much. He wants nothing more than to show you the ropes and teach you everything he knows. I'm not sure this house can handle 2 "Indian Jones", Kung Fu Pandas, Tarzans, Batmans, Spidermans and the likes. If Andrew has his way, you'll be his partner in crime. Oy vey!

You're working hard on getting around. You have no fear of the stairs and sometimes don't wait for us to go up with you. It won't be long before you're walking. Maybe, just maybe, you'll be walking by your adjusted b-day (October for those of you that haven't mastered adjusted and calendar b-days). You love to look at yourself in the mirror. You still haven't figured out that the cute baby staring back at you is yourself. You goober! You love to take a bath and splash. You have a limited vocabulary right now, but I know we're in for non-stop chatter the way you babble. You say the most important things: Ma ma, Da da, bye bye and hey. You look like your daddy when he was a baby. You have his eyes, hair color and skin tone. I have no doubt you'll be as handsome as your daddy when you grow up.

I could go on and on. Happy Birthday, little monkey! Your mommy, daddy, brother and rest of the crew love you beyond words. You are a super, duper, precious gift from God!

Something Big is Happening

TOMORROW!

Do you know what it is?

Happy Birthday!

Happy 32nd Birthday to the most fantastic husband ever! I hope you have a wonderful day.

Your little monkeys and I love you MUCHO!

PS. Zachary gave him an early b-day present. He now blasts Da da da da da da loud and clear. Sunday, July 26th marks the date.

Dear OFZ

Sweet darling, you make your mama's heart do loop-de-loops! You dazzle me with that infectious smile and you make me melt every time you call my name. Oh, I love you so! You and your brother have me right where you want me...around your little fingers. I had the great pleasure of taking you to your 1 year appointment at Duke. Every time I pull into the parking garage a flood of memories rush over me. Most of them good. One day we'll chat about it, but for right now I'll keep them to myself.

You're 18 lbs on the dot and you are 26 inches long. You've come a long, long way, baby! Your old doctors and nurses cannot believe how adorable you are and how well you are doing. You didn't disappoint when it came to all of your tricks. If they had stairs you could show them how you now know how to climb up them. You called my name, you clapped, you waved bye bye and you moved around the room like you owned the place (I have bills that honestly show I do own a small portion of DUMC). The physical therapist and the developmental therapist didn't have anything they thought we needed to work on. You, my buddy, are right on par and exceeding in many areas. You little rock star you! We can now give you regular formula (my wallet thanks the doctor for this news) for just another 3 months and then it's whole milk. To Dr. Malcolm you're really only 9 months old, so we have to hold out just 3 more months. Keeping up with your calendar age and adjusted age isn't rocket science to me any more. They couldn't believe the mouth full of teeth you have (8 total!). Today's appointment made me more proud than you'll ever know. My little miracle!

After your appointment we made a little detour to your old stomping grounds. Luck would have it that your very special nurse was working. You haven't seen Stephanie since August/September 2008. Needless to say she couldn't get over how big you've gotten and how great you are doing. I'm so glad I can brag about how blessed we are and how well you've done since day 1. We love Stephanie! We heart her a whole, whole lot! She loved you like you were hers. She took the greatest care of you for many, many weeks. Duke University ICN hit the mother load when they hired her. I know many babies are thriving because of her care. Hopefully Stephanie can make it to your 1st birthday party in a couple of weeks. I cannot wait until you understand how special she is to our family. She is a part of our family.

Our next stop took us to the 7th floor. This was where I stayed for 5 weeks hoping to keep you in my tummy a little longer. Again, as luck would have it, my favorite nurses were working. You dazzled them with your smile and tricks. Colleen and Britney took really good are of me. They were sunshine on some of the cloudiest days last year. We picked right up where we left off. They were delighted to see us and even happier that you're doing so well. During our visit we ran into Joanne. She took pictures of you twice a week and monitored your progress while in my tummy. You turned out to be everything she imagined. Handsome, strong and thriving. I always enjoyed her visits. I knew at each visit I would get to spend 30 - 45 minutes with you and see just what you were up to. The pictures from our visits are treasured pieces. I'm so glad to be off the 7th floor, but the friendships will be with me for my lifetime.

You were tuckered out after our visit. Our visits at Duke are never short. We won't have to go back for another check-up for 8-10 months on account of your fabulous growth and health! We actually didn't have to schedule your next appointment. They will call us. WOOHOO! You do have to have your hearing checked in September, but that's standard. I'm sure you'll pass that test with flying colors as well.

Little man, I love you. I love you so much my heart could explode with joy. You are a special piece of my life. A perfect example of God's goodness. Thank you.

Always your #1 fan,
Mama

4th Fun

The "Peak of Good Living" has a 4th of July bash in the downtown area. We try to go each year (well, DUMC incarceration nixed that last year, but other than that...). Each year this bash gets bigger and bigger. They had a ton more bounce houses, which you know made one 4 year old happy. Zachary enjoyed his first taste of a snow cone. He's not really sure what to do when something cold hits his mouth. The look is priceless! We enjoyed ourselves immensely!

This year we hosted the eating festivities at our house. We dined on fried pickle chips (I out did myself this year if I say so), hamburgers (Inside Out style), hotdogs, baked beans, pasta salad, chips and for dessert we had red velvet cupcakes and banana pudding. It was D to the ELICIOUS!

Fireworks topped off our evening. What a nice, relaxing day.

Happy Belated Independence Day! Thank you to those who serve our country so that I can enjoy freedom and independence. Happy Belated Birthday, America!

Happy 4th, Andrew!

Happy 4th, Zachary!


Trying to wrangle the boys for my mom's annual 4th picture. I was very unsuccessful. Hopefully someone else got a better pic.

Andrew after the water bounce house.

Everyone needs a bounce house like this. It sprays water at you while you jump.

Words

Zachary had some words with me this weekend. No, he didn't get saucy with me. He said, "Ma ma ma ma ma ma!" That's right! He looked at me and called my name. Music to my ears. He also says bye bye now. Robbie is trying to get him to say Da da, but I think he's working on fine tuning his Ma ma. Why? Cause she RULES!!!!!

Also Known As... Bruce Wayne

I've been bad. So, so bad about posting about my other wonderful monkey. I am ashamed!

My little man is GROWN! He will be starting kindergarten a year from next week. I cannot wrap my head around that thought. He has taken so well to being a big brother. He loves Zachary and wants to show him how to be a big boy. I do believe Zachary is doing so much because he watches Andrew and what he does. Andrew has finished his stint in day care. Yesterday was his last day. He will be staying with Nonnie until preschool starts at our church in August. He'll go half day preschool and then he'll be with Nonnie in the afternoon. He is very excited about being with Nonnie. Those two are something! He loves his Nonnie. If I didn't know any better I would think she is his best girl. I'm ok with that, though. There's no other woman that I'd want him to love as much as me (at least right now).

Andrew has a new fascination each week. He was "Indian Jones", then he was Peter Parker/Spiderman, Clark Kent/Superman and now he's Bruce Wayne by day and Batman by night. And let me tell you, he is one cute Bruce Wayne/Batman! Who knows who he'll be next week.

11 Months

OFZ hit 11 months yesterday! Can you believe it? Where has the time gone? Here's what he's up to:

• Has started using his hands and knees to crawl instead of the "swim" crawl
• He is HAPPY, happy, HAPPY, happy, HAPPY! He goes to bed happy and wakes up happy
• He's learned to wave hi and bye bye
• Sounds like he says hey. It's a drawn out hey.
• We clap now and will sometimes clap on demand
• Eats us out of house and home - Breakfast - Bottle plus fruit and cereal, Lunch - Bottle plus veggie and fruit, Snack - bottle, Dinner - Bottle, plus fruit, some cereal and veggie or veggie/meat. Can you say, "How do the little piggies eat?" Oink oink!
• He's wearing 9 month clothes quite nicely
• He loves the water - proven by bath time and pool time
• He thinks you should stand while taking a bath
• Hates having his ears cleaned
• Not a fan of diaper changes
• Stong as an ox
• He's stood up very briefly (2 secs at most) without holding on to anything
• He cruises all over the house
• He thinks Maggie's kisses are fantastic. Gross!
• Sleeps from 8:30pm - 8:00am most nights. I got a 9:00am out of him this week
• He loves his Nonnie mucho
• He's a mama's boy and I'm proud of it
• Loves electrical outlets and pulls all of our nightlights out. No, we don't actually let him do this for fun.
• Sits in a high chair when we go out
• Loves his voice
• Is starting to get hair and it's brown like his daddy's hair
• Has 4 more teeth coming in and hasn't shown any bad signs of teething. We'll have a total of 6 teeth soon
• Sucks his thumb when he gets tired
• Loves to go running in the stroller and falls asleep most of the time
• Loves his big brother and wants to crawl all over him. Thankfully Andrew loves him just as much
  

ETA - June 7, 2009

• He definitely crawls on his hands and knees now
• He has 6 new teeth and not 4. Needless to say we've had the worst case of diaper rash/burnt fanny in the history of man
• Said ma ma on July 3rd

Water Baby

Zachary took his first trip to the pool on Sunday. He thoroughly enjoyed himself! He's always loved bath time so we were pretty sure he'd love his pool time too. Well, he really enjoys his pool time. He lounges in float like he's been doing this for ages and kicks and splashes. He doesn't mind getting splashed with water and really likes to twirl around. Looks like we'll have many more trips to the pool in our future!

Can you stand the Über cuteness? I, for one, cannot.