1 year, 34 weeks

Last weekend we went for a walk at Brookside Gardens. Autumn is very distracting for Zack because there are LEAVES!!!! That need to be picked up!!!! So we'd be zooming along and then come to a screeching halt because a particular leaf caught his eye.



He likes to pick up leaves, pods, and horse chestnuts at home, too, where he puts them in his bucket and carries them around.

He has mastered the slide at the playground. There is a slatted ramp (rather than a ladder) that he's gotten very good at climbing, and then he goes down the slide all by himself. He's rather proud of this accomplishment.

We went to a different playground the other weekend where the slide did have a ladder. He got the hang of that pretty quickly, though needed a little help. This skill quickly generalized to our fence at home, which he now tries to climb when he sees that our neighbor, Cecelia, is outside. He climbs up, she grabs him, and then he goes and explores her yard. So far, he only seems inclined to do this if she's outside. If she's not outside, he looks at me and says "Where's Cessy?"

The past few days haven't been very conducive to being outside, but he's still got energy to burn. After dinner he goads us into chasing him. And really, to hear him laugh like he does, I'd do a whole lot more than chase him. There's nothing like his wonderful laugh.

He's started putting two words together. "I sit" when he wants to get up in the chair. "Where cheese?" when he's left his piece of string cheese somewhere. "There cheese" when he's found it.

He has also become a procrastinator when it comes to going to bed. He needs one more stuffed animal, one more trip downstairs, one more swipe at brushing his teeth. And then he sits in his crib playing for awhile. And then screams when his objects of affection have jumped out of the crib--which they seem to do on a regular basis.

And what are his objects of affection? These guys, right here.


Bear is the ring leader and has been for awhile. Fox was recently re-discovered at the bottom of the toy basket and is now one of the Chosen Ones. And as of the beginning of the week, this book also has to be in the crib when it's time to go to sleep and is often toted around. There are other items that are carried around as well--he'll often hand me things to carry downstairs for him, so that his hands are free to maneuver the stairs--but these are the necessities. He's starting to practice things with them. He offers Bear cheese before he himself takes a bite. Bear and Fox give each other kisses, and give Rob and me kisses, too. He lets them drink from his sippy cups. We have to draw the line at Bear washing his hands and getting a bath, though.

I'm somewhat convinced that he's only excited to see me when I pick him up from daycare because he knows I'll be taking him home to see Bear, who gets a bigger hug and kiss than I do.