36 weeks: Happy Halloween!

There's a local babysitting co-op that we'd like to become members of, so we went to their Halloween party last Sunday afternoon to check it out. I whipped up a batch of cupcakes (chocolate chocolate chip with ginger cream cheese frosting....mmmmmmmm)...
...and off we went.
We met a lot of very nice people and had a nice afternoon, but I seem to have only taken pictures of our little dragon.
ROOOOAAAARR!!!!!
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He's been doing an awful lot of this lately, combined with rocking back and forth.
Including last night when we were supposed to be going to bed. I finally had to restrain him in my arms so that he'd stop climbing around and go to sleep. I'm sure I'll regret saying this, but I hope he learns to crawl soon so that he can sleep better at night!

He's been looking pretty dapper.
He's been jumping (and Mom still hsn't learned how to hold the camera to take these videos).


He broke his sippy cup (it landed on the floor about 15 too many times), and we haven't had a chance to get another one yet, so last night I gave him a little water in a cup. I helped him hold it, then got the pleasant surprise of finding out that he could do it all by himself!
While he hasn't quite perfected it yet...
...he did handle the cup better than the sippy cup, so I guess we won't bother getting another one.

Aaaaaah!

35 weeks

I'm moving pretty quickly these days.
It took Mom awhile to get me to sit still for this shot. Isn't my hat cute?
I went on my first fishing trip recently. Dad took me out on a boat while Mom went and looked at these guys.
That's me, Captain Zack!
Steering a boat is hard work, so I sat back and let someone else take over for awhile.
I didn't catch anything......but that was OK because look at the view!
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Last night I tried to get pictures of Zack on his hands and knees, but the camera just blinked at me and wouldn't let me take a picture. So I'll try again tonight. Suffice it to say that the frequency and duration of that particular stunt is increasing (the hands and knees thing, not the blinking camera).

If he's awake, you can be pretty certain he's moving. Squirming here, twisting there, checking everything out. The amount of calories he burns in proportion to his body size must be enormous!

He's started making this noise that sounds like the Count from Sesame Street..."Ah Ah Ah Ahhhh".

And he's starting with the separation anxiety. I've had to drop him off at daycare this week, and he's cried each time. Thankfully it doesn't take him long to get over it. I'm curious to see what he does when Rob drops him off tomorrow.

34 weeks: In which a few more years are taken off my life

Yo, yo, yo. Just the ZackMan here, hangin' with his dawg.
Just chillin'.
You talkin' to me?
No, man, I'm hip. I do not look like an elf.
Word.

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Ok, so Mom's never going to be a gangsta rappa. Anyone surprised by that?

Movin' on, to this lovely picture of hydrangeas picked from our bushes. They've turned these amazing shades of pinks and rusts and purples and blues and greens.
I've been meaning to pick some for awhile, to bring them inside to enjoy, and I finally did that last Sunday. I put Zack in the sling, got my clippers and out we went to the bushes on the side of the house.

Snip, snip, snip.

Then we walked around the house to the bush at the front of the house.

Slurp, slurp, slurp.

Wait, what?

Slurp, slurp, slurp.

At some point, Zack had grabbed a hydrangea leaf and was sucking on it. I quickly grabbed it out of his mouth, while remembering what I'd just read about hydrangeas being poisonous. I got on the internet which was less than helpful. "...need to eat lots of leaves to be poisonous..." "...most poisonous plant for infants...." Thank goodness for Mary Beth at the Poison Control Hotline. Not only was she helpful and gave me the info that I wanted, she was pleasant and reassuring as well. We learned that Zack would have had to eat a lot of the leaves to maybe get sick, we just had to watch for any skin irritation (there was none).

We also learned that he's getting faster and sneakier and we need to be more careful and aware of his movements.

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He got weighed yesterday, when he went to get some of his shots: 18 lbs, 9 oz.

He has discovered the letter B. As in "b b b b b bb bbbbbbb blah bleh blah bbbbbbbbbbbbb."

His sleeping has gotten worse, but from everything I read and hear, that is to be expected for this age.

I feel like I always say this, but he's getting more adept at moving. Not crawling yet, but there's lots of purposeful scooting and rolling and down-dogging, all getting smoother and quicker. He gets on his hands and knees more frequently, though I don't think he realizes the potential in that, yet. He's interested in EVERYTHING. We've been going to the playground in the evening, where he likes to swing and even just sit and watch the other kids. I'm quite certain that he's planning his moves for next summer.

33 weeks

He had another new experience last weekend...Rice!
Which he took very seriously.
Probably more got on me than in his tummy, but that's to be expected at this point.

I also caught him spellbound by his Dad's guitar-playing.

He just had to try it himself.

He's moving around more than ever--a combination of rolling, scooting (usually backwards), and inchworming. He's been getting up on his hands and knees a little more often, but he doesn't stay that way for long (yet). When he's scooting around on he's been reaching up to things, as if to pull himself up, but he hasn't done it yet. He continues to love food and eats very well and he's doing great at daycare. While we get ready in the morning we usually put him in his crib, and we've caught him cracking himself up. Apparently it's an inside joke. He also thinks it's the funniest thing to be turned upside down. Come to think of it, he just thinks a lot of things are funny. With all of the sad and discouraging news in the world these days, coming home to his smile is so refreshing. I hope that he never loses his joy and sense of humor.

32 weeks: with pictures

Last weekend we went up to Pennsylvania to my parents' house because there were still some people who hadn't met Zack.

My dear friend Deb's parents hadn't met him, so we spent Saturday with them. Here is a picture of Deb's daughter's Haley and Kayla with Zack. I'm sure you're thinking "Such well-behaved, obedient children, to sit so beautifully for a picture!"

I suppose I could allow you to remain deluded, but in the interest of full disclosure, we had to take about 20 pictures like this....

...this (yes, Zack is kicking Haley as she tries to get up on the couch)...

...this...

...and this...

...before we got that good one.

How Deb can say "No" to this face is beyond me!

Sunday was another day of new people. Zack hadn't met his Great-Grandma yet, so we remedied that.

Too bad no one looks alike in our family.

Zack got to spend lots of time snuggling with Great-Grandma...
...and he was in full raspberrying form.

32 weeks

The little guy was 32 weeks yesterday.

(Insert lovely pictures of him meeting his great grandmother last weekend HERE.
As a preview, there will be no taking the Wizard of Oz in vain this week.
No guarantees for next week, however.)

Rob took the camera and all of the lovely pictures along with him to New Orleans yesterday. I'll try to remedy the situation this weekend.