Block buster

Ack, I keep getting behind on posting half-finished entries. Today is the day I promise to finally post one on the day I start it!

That whole milestone with standing up in bed appears to have triggered another milestone - Zachary is finally kind of sort of starting to crawl. We've mentioned before how he was able to scoot backwards (particularly effectively in the bathtub). But now he's starting to figure out forward movement. He only uses one leg at the moment - insert lurching humor here. The speed will come soon enough (uh-oh, just in time for wedding flights at the end of August?), but for now he's just so cute to watch moving around.


Carpet edges are among his favorite toys. And speaking of toys, one of Zachary's early birthday presents from Uncle Brian and Aunt Jen was a large box of tactilely satisfying building blocks. Again, the box itself is a bonus toy - he loves pushing it around and turning it over, even when completely full of blocks that easily weigh 5-10 pounds. I've also noticed he's fascinated with the little push in tab that the box uses to keep closed - I think he'll be figuring out how to open it soon enough. He does play with the actual blocks as well, picking them up, holding them, dropping them, and occasionally trying to eat one. But the funniest thing for me is watching his reaction to mommy and daddy trying to build anything with the blocks. If it gets to be anything more than about two blocks tall, his hands swing in to knock it down.

I tried an experiment yesterday to see if he would care if I built something horizontally, just flat on the floor. Yup, the hands still came out and knocked the blocks in all directions. There's no real smile or laugh at this action yet, but he's definitely watching what mommy and daddy do with his toys before expressing his own artistic vision of organized chaos.

One night stand

Incidentally, last weekend's hiking and company picnic pics are now posted - thanks again to J and S for a wonderful time!

Early Friday morning, Zachary was lying in bed with us - he often comes in and we let him make super-cute happy noises and play with the sheets for a bit before we're fully awake (particularly as this is generally at around 5:30 in the morning). Then, he was suddenly sitting up, and then climbing over daddy. Meh announced that this definitely meant it was time to lower his mattress.

We had two competing fears with these adjustable baby mattress frames. One: now that he was sitting up from a lying down position, he'd be able to pull himself up with the mattress in its top position, vault out of the bed, and start doing cartwheels around the room. Two: conversely, if we adjusted the mattress too low, we're too short to reach all the way over and into the crib, and would have to toss him over the crib frame. So we started with a single notch lower (I think his bed has three steps). Okay, I'll admit, there was a third fear -- that I'd have to disassemble the entire crib to get access to the mattress frame again to lower it. Almost, but through a variety of arm contortions, I managed to make it happen with the crib intact.

We apparently made this switch not a moment too soon - last night, Zachary started crying about an hour after going to sleep. This in itself is really unusual; he's usually down for the night when he passes out. But he was getting more and more angry and, well, it actually sounded loud. So I went into the room after a few minutes to investigate, and lo and behold, he was standing in his bed with his arms holding onto the front of the crib, bawling and looking at me. It was the saddest (but very adorable) image and milestone for the little man. We'd actually read about this kind of thing in several of our baby books - how they sometimes figure out how to stand and then don't know how to (or are too hysterical to) sit/lay back down. So I soothed him for a few minutes, and then laid him back down. A few minutes later, he was crying and back up again when Meh checked on him. We consulted several friends who had gone through similar situations, but the consensus seemed to be that he needed to figure it out for himself. Sure enough, some time later (somewhat of an eternity for us), his room was quiet. I snuck in to check and he was sleeping on his tummy with his blankets in a pile around him. I rearranged them and snuck back out - he slept through the rest of the night. In the morning, Meh reported that he was sitting up in his bed talking to himself when she went him to get him.

We're hoping that the standing-and-crying-in-bed was a rare occurrence; tonight he went to bed very cozily for me, and has stayed asleep so far.

Ferry Tale IV: A New Hope

Yesterday it was back to Port Orchard for one more Balkan women's choir recording session. Zachary slept through most of the ferry ride and even a drive over to a coffee shop with mommy once on the peninsula. We dropped Meh off at the session, and the two of us headed back up to the downtown area. What a difference a few months makes (to the town, not just the little man); this is clearly a summer town (even if the weather disagreed, in the lower 60s and overcast/rainy much of the morning) -- the streets were packed with cars and pedestrian traffic, the docks were full of moored boats, and there was a cute farmers market/fair thing going on to keep us entertained. We saw flowers, fresh fruits and veggies, someone was selling dried jerkies of various flavors, and cute arts and crafts.

Eventually the little man got hungry, so we found a picnic bench and enjoyed lunch together - cereal, fruits (fresh and dried), some pita, and of course cheese. He was happy and active, and enjoyed watching all of the activity from his stroller. He also took a sippy cup of water and successfully held it and drank from it as we walked around the fair a bit more. Next we stopped off at the town's bakery to catch up with his little friend R, the son of the two owners of the bakery. Again, such a difference - during the off-season, it was always just the two owners, R's grandmother, and maybe one other staff member. This time, we didn't even see R's parents -- I finally spotted his dad on the way out, intently working in the back on some pretty impressive-looking wedding cake designs. But we did visit with R and his grandma, and the two boys vaguely showed interest in each other in between climbing and cruising around the bakery's tables and chairs.

We still had some free time before Meh's recording session was due to wrap up, so the two of us went to check out a county park that we'd seen signs for on previous visits to the city. Little man was making the whimpering I'm-close-to-asleep sound, so I put him in the ergo and walked around down to the lake. The weather had cleared and we had beautiful views of the beach, so we hung out for about an hour.

Back at the recording facility, we played outside in a giant grass lawn. He was obsessively grabbing at and pulling up the grass, then focusing in on a single blade and trying to grab it. When I and the engineer's wife scattered grass on our laps, he brushed it all off. Oh, and we found a pine cone, which he picked up and almost put in his mouth before switching to more standard swinging and batting of it. We headed back home on the ferry, where he was active and smiley the entire trip. And we finally caught the faces that he makes when you first pull out the camera and point it at him - squinting smiles, upturned chin, and all! Such a good little man.

Better get used to those bars, kid

Zachary's cruising has led him to the gates that we've used to keep Korby in the kitchen. (Yup, soon enough it looks like they'll be serving their named purpose as 'child' gates.) Here's a video Meh grabbed today:


It was hard being away from Zachary and Meh all day long for the past two days - got to see Zachary first thing in the morning, but he was asleep by the time I got home. The conference did get us to use one of the wonderful services my company offers - pre-screened and available-on-demand backup child care service (our nanny's family was out of town on vacation). Meh said the nanny was really nice, and Zachary seemed to do great with her (even if he slept through half the time). The conference went well too (thanks in no small part to his set-up assistance on Monday), but it was nice to be able to get home at a reasonable time this evening in time for dinner with Zachary and Meh.

Zachary appears to possibly have two new top teeth in the making, at least according to Meh's inspections. I myself haven't been able to see them, but we recall how his bottom teeth appeared ready to come through for months before they finally arrived. As with before, he does seem to be teething at times, and still refuses cold foods that might otherwise help those poor gums. On the plus side, the diet continues to expand - starches have entered the mix, with pita, pasta (he prefers cheese-filled ravioli to plain rotini if you're wondering), and even occasionally a quesadilla.

Looking forward to a nice weekend with the family. Tomorrow Meh's group heads back out to Port Orchard for another recording session, so Zachary and I will tag along on the ferry and continue to explore the peninsula. We're looking forward to visiting our "friends" at the bakery and seeing how they and their son R are doing.

Take your son to conference set-up day

My company actually had its annual bring-your-child-to-work day recently; thankfully my team has continued to be understanding and supportive of Zachary celebrating this event with me most every Monday!

This afternoon was set-up/rehearsal for the conference my group is putting on tomorrow and Wednesday for more than 1200 game developers. It's also a Monday, so Zachary came along with me. He certainly makes for a different kind of speaker rehearsal experience! We were stopped at the convention center entrance by staff who had to 'clear him' with the event coordinators on my team, since the conference wasn't supposed to have any children in attendance - I wasn't sure if I should be amused or annoyed. Regardless, a one-minute walkie talkie conversation later, Zachary and I were heading into our conference room. He happily played on the floor while I made sure my talk content looked okay. A few other speakers came in to check on their talks and demos, and here he started getting a little more vocal. It was afternoon nap time (which he's been fighting mightily the last few weeks), so we went and took a bit of a stroll while folks continued their rehearsals. Alas, no sleep was to be had, though the walk did keep him fairly amused, as did the fawning staff from our event team. We came back to our presentation room a little while later, where he had a tasty dinner of fruits, cheese, pita, cheerios, and puffs while other speakers practiced their talks. After dinner, he played for a bit on the floor, not bothered in the least by a game demonstration on the projector behind him with growling monsters, gunshots, and swordfights. He even occasionally looked backwards and up at the towering screen and smiled at it. Everything went smoothly, and we were able to get home not too long after his usual bedtime, where he had a nice baffy time and went to bed after a refreshing bottle. I think it will be bedtime for me too after this post, as I've got two very full conference days coming up!

Go west, young man

It was only a matter of time - Zachary now looks to be mastering the skill of cruising to the left, becoming fully bidirectional (and of course pretty omnidirectional when he's got his cart to walk around with).

We've had a jam-packed weekend so far, and it's just half over! Yesterday, after our morning family jog, Zachary and I went hiking with friends J & S in the morning. As with last time, the trail was pretty consistently uphill, and this one rated a whole three stars in the trail guide, but it definitely helped to be wearing Zachary on my back. We happened to choose a state park that was having a "Trailfest" event of some sort; J even got solicited by a hiker heading the other direction with a pamphlet and such. Ironically, despite the apparent event (we never did investigate) and fairly packed parking lot, we had a pretty quiet hike up the ridge. The uphill-ness was absolutely worth it, as we were greeted with an incredible view from the ledge at the top, just over an hour later. (I left the camera in the car, but will post pictures when I get them from J.)

After having to wake him up to start the hike, Zachary was making his nearly asleep noises most of the journey uphill, but stayed awake the whole time. At the top, he was definitely ready to be out of the wrap and checking things out. We all had a snack (he enjoyed a bottle while looking down on Rattlesnake Lake), and changed him (almost losing the diaper bag over the edge of the ridge!) before hiking back down. From there, it was a short drive onward to our second stop, the Microsoft Company Picnic, an astoundingly large annual mob scene (it's so big that they've broken it out into 3 separate dates, and it was still at capacity) highlighted by enormous amounts of food (perhaps 30 food stands with different options - including this year separate vegan, halal, and kosher options), multiple giant carts full of sodas, a giant volleyball tournament, and lots of other picnic/fair-oriented activities (live bands, other entertainers, races, sports, etc.).

The last time Meh and I had attended, we'd commented that it would be a lot more fun to be there with kids. And Zachary had a blast, looking all around, kicking happily in his stroller, and enjoying all of the attention from grownups and kids around us. He even got his first party bracelet -- they wisely require all kids to wear one with parent contact information, even if they're, um, unlikely to wander very far at the moment like the little man. Anyway, we walked through the farm and headed to the food area, where the four of us had a nice lunch together (he enjoyed some pita in addition to cherries, grapes, cheerios, and some pasta that he still only shows mild interest in; I had a very tasty tuna sandwich and strawberry shortcake) and walked around a bit before parting ways so Zachary and I could head back out to meet up with mommy at her afternoon break.

We had a nice visit at mommy's work (Zachary and I showed up a bit early, so we read a short board book together), headed home, and it was already just about dinner time. A meal, some brief playtime (including his first look at his exciting new wood blocks from Uncle B and Aunt J - thank you guys!), bath time, and bed time. A very full day!

Eine Kleine Zachmusik

If I had a nickel for every time someone has said that with parents like us, Zachary's bound to have music interests... Then again, he definitely does love it when we sing, when he listens to his favorite music, when he plays his little miniature piano, and in the past he's even happily banged on the piano when I put him on my lap in front of it. But today was a first - a spontaneous piano performance. I caught the second movement here:


Mozart only showed interest at age three? Bah!

Incidentally, another milestone to report - yesterday, Meh and the little man came and met me for lunch. Meh ordered a turkey sandwich, and gave Zachary a little bit of the turkey. He grabbed and ate several bits, seeming to enjoy it. (He even appeared to prefer it to a proffered french fry.) Not nearly as much as he enjoyed the super cool foldable car children's menu they have at this restaurant (he practically banged it back into a flat piece of paper by the end of the meal), but it's a start to his life as an omnivore.

Spaghetti-O's?

I wasn't 10 minutes into my morning commute when Meh called me on the cell phone this morning. Law-abiding citizen that I am, as I didn't have my pseudo-hands-free headset plugged in, I waited for a red light, got wired up, and called her back. Meh had been saying a happy "Uh-oh!" to Zachary when he repeatedly dropped his sippy cup on the floor after breakfast. (This is often one of his favorite ways to signify mealtime is over - he grabs the cup, holds it over the side of the high chair, releases it, and has a big smile on his face as he watches for us to react to the noise.) And for the first time, he responded to the "Uh-oh!" in kind! Well, sort of:

Meh apparently spent much of the rest of the morning trying to get him to repeat the feat - he didn't do it for me when I called back. And when I checked my voicemail, there was about a minute of Meh, without introduction or explanation, saying 'Uh oh!' followed by silence from the little man.

(For those of you who don't associate "Uh-oh!" and Spaghetti-O's, here's more than you ever wanted to know about the canned pasta-like product.)

Round, round, get around

What started innocently enough as slowly orbiting the ottoman for snacks has quickly escalated into full-on cruising around the house. We're trying to keep up with the baby-proofing as Zachary discovers cabinets, drawers, display shelves, vent covers, entertainment center gadgets (he detached an Xbox controller the other day - I was so proud...), shelves under the kitchen's island, and the refrigerator, but he's always one increasingly sure step ahead of us.

A few days ago, Meh clocked a Zachary free-stand at eighteen seconds. Today he circled the music room unassisted (holding onto walls, chairs, and his push cart), then the entire kitchen and dining room. Meh helped him out with the empty space across the kitchen by spacing two chairs on a line directly across the room. He used them like a pro to make his way across to the opposite wall.

A few child-proofing highlights so far:

• Zachary started showing an interest in some outlets, so out came the plastic outlet covers. Pretty straightforward, but then...
• He grabbed and managed to lift up a vent cover, which I can't quite figure out how to secure.
• He then moved into the living room, and was opening (and pinching his fingers when he immediately closed) drawers in an end table. Meh's creative out-of-the-box solution was to remove the drawer pulls for the time being.
• Meh thought our heavy metal bowls under the kitchen island would be safe, but he started working them towards the edge of the shelf. Over they moved into a higher cabinet.
• He discovered the cute ladder we'd displayed tchochkes on. I came home, and the ladder had been moved out of sight.

I think we're about out of safe spots to hide objects and large furniture at this point!

Into the wood

Unbelieveable as it seems, today is already our fifth anniversary!

Unlike last year, with its improbable 4th anniversary gift tradition of fruit, flowers, and appliances (?!), the fifth anniversary has a more standard and gift-accessible "wood" theme. Books are indeed made of wood, so I was pretty well covered with gifts for Meh. (Of course, Zachary enjoyed his gift as well - the wrapping paper.)

We had a jam-packed day of activities, and it was just so nice to spend some quality time as a family (and of course even nicer that the little man was happy throughout most of the day). After the morning walk/jog (Meh has been adding jogging to our routine so gradually that I'm actually almost able to deal with it without whining), we all came home and had a nice breakfast - Zachary had a variety of fruits and yogurt, and we had tasty Meh-made crepes. Then Zachary took his nap, and that sounded so nice that we both joined him for a doze. Refreshed, we all went out for lunch/brunch at one of our favorite restaurants, then ran errands at the local outdoor mall. The weather was fabulous, so we walked all over the mall while Zachary took his afternoon nap. I picked up new running shoes, where I was doubly amused that I had to choose from women's styles (not that there's much difference; the smallest guy size was just slightly too big for my feet), and that the cushy ones that I chose were branded "Nimbus", which immediately made me think of Harry Potter. (I was so unimpressed that both Meh and the salesperson at the shoe store were looking blankly at me; the Nimbus 2000? Fast brooms? Anyone?)

In the evening, friends L & R had graciously offered to babysit, and arrived in time to watch Zachary's continuing adventures in backwards bathtub scooting. We headed off to a nice quiet dinner together. Quiet is perhaps an understatement; for the second time that we'd been at this place, it was completely empty when we arrived (and we felt sheepish mentioning that we had a reservation when we walked in, but why would you pass up those OpenTable dining points?). My only guess is that since it's attached to a lodge/resort/spa, maybe Sunday nights are quiet with lodge guests departing? Still, the food was phenomenal as always, and the setting was great - outdoor on their patio, with a nice fountain, grape vines winding overhead, and a little vegetable patch up against The Herbfarm (where we had an incredible meal almost a year ago).

The restaurant did start to fill up slightly (e.g. one couple sat at one other patio table) throughout the evening, so maybe we're just earlybirds. Speaking of birds, there were plenty of fauna around to keep us entertained between the scrumptious courses -- some tiny birds were taking baths in the large fountain/pool next to us, a few eagles or hawks flew overhead, and a friendly neighborhood hare hopped into the patio's strawberry patch halfway through dinner. We also shared a bottle of a more recent vintage of our wedding wine (we've actually still got a few bottles left at home, though as a white wine, they're probably not aging particularly well at this point - like we'd know, connoisseurs that we are :). Afterwards, we strolled through the Herbfarm's gardens, looking at all of the plants and flowers, visiting our friends the truffle-sniffing pigs-in-training, and also seeing two tiny baby bunnies hopping around the grounds. It was a wonderful evening to complete our first five years together -- now here's to eighty more!

Please insert coin

"Will cruise for food" could be Zachary's new motto. After watching Zachary circle our living room ottoman repeatedly, only to stop as soon as she ran for the camera, Meh stumbled onto the idea to use food as an assistive device. A small pile of his favorite crunchy stars didn't do the trick (though as I'll get to in a moment, it may have just been the wrong direction for him to reach), but strategically placing a few individual stars around the circumference of the ottoman got him moving:

Does this video remind anyone else of Pac Man? Granted, no ghosts or power pellets yet, though perhaps Meh will make the game more interesting now that he's mastered the basics?

Incidentally, like the predictable Pac Man ghosts, Zachary has apparently only mastered cruising in one rotational direction: counterclockwise. He confirmed this today for Meh, when at the shopping mall, he made multiple orbits of a boat-shaped-thing in the play area, but again only in the counterclockwise direction.

Take a hike

Friends J and S had invited us to go hiking this weekend. While Meh unfortunately had to work, Zachary and I elected to go enjoy a morning stroll (well, a second morning stroll - the three of us still did our traditional family walk) and then meet mommy in the afternoon.

New friends D and S (who we met at the fourth of July picnic) joined us as well, and the five of us set off on the fairly short drive to Twin Falls. Stroll is perhaps a slightly misleading term here. The hike was rated a 2 (out of 5) in our travel guide, and the above website calls it:

an ideal hike for small children, novice hikers, or anyone wishing for an easy low elevation walk in the woods at any time of year

So either I'm way more out of shape than I'd thought, the trail has been dramatically altered since the last printed updates, or the presence of a 20-pound load on my front (and a backpack in the back that didn't quite balance this) added an unforseen difficulty modifier. Thankfully, J and D both offered to help, and Zachary was mostly happy as his personal pack mule changed from me to J. Zachary spent most of the hike alternating between staring up at the various trees, and (once J was carrying him) swinging back around to make sure I was still there as well.

The trail was quite nice - mostly well maintained if nearly always uphill. I think the main source of confusion with the rating was that the guides were estimating the hike to a bridge over the namesake waterfalls. We reached that bridge, but the trail obviously continued, so we kept going, figuring there were even more vistas further along. While the views were nice, we eventually ended up parallel to the interstate and approaching large electric towers (while continuing to ascend) - and the path had narrowed and dwindled to a pretty narrow grade, so we eventually headed back down after what turned out to be a roughly 2 hour round-trip hike.

The weather was pleasant and just slightly overcast, though that certainly helped keep us cool on the hike. The walk was always within sight/sound of the river, which Zachary of course loved as he does all "water features". While we had a fairly quiet hike up, the crowds started arriving on our way back down, and it was amazing to see so many babies and young children - most of whom were in those fancy metal-framed backpack things. If we continue hiking with any frequency, that might be a good addition to consider -- though the carrier we currently use lets you put the baby on your back as well (if you trust yourself to gradually jiggle the carrier around 180 degrees; I don't have that much confidence yet).

After the hike, Zachary enjoyed his lunch in the trunk of the car (hey, it's a nice large flat surface - and yes, it's a hatchback) while everyone watched his cuteness gobble up sweet potatoes, crunchy star-shaped cereal, and raisins. All in all, a wonderful day out with friends in the beautiful scenery of the Pacific northwest!

Blogaversary

Hard to believe it was already one year ago today that we started this blog. Oh, how young and naïve we were back then, speculating about then-Ziggy's birth date, gender, name, room color... Not to suggest we're any less clueless now, but it's always easy to look back and self-criticize. :)

Time seems to do funny things when you have a baby. For us, the first few months alternated between sleep-deprived blur (I can barely even remember when Zachary was up four or more times a night, though I'm sure Meh's memory is unfortunately a bit clearer), crazy activity (building/assembling/organizing his room), and figuring out what this new little person truly needed and wanted (items not making the list: maya wrap, that snuggle nest thing, pacifiers, and I'm sure a few other items). But since then, the time has flown enormously fast - I can't believe he's already almost 11 months old!

One of Zachary's fun birth gifts was a picture frame with mattes to place photos of him at birth, each month, and then a large picture in the middle for one year. It was bugging me that we'd kind of run out of steam at four months, so yesterday I finally researched, resized, and printed out photos for months five through ten. Looking at these last six months' pictures, Meh and I agreed that we can't actually tell a significant change in his features - nothing like the change in the first month or two certainly. Incidentally, that was one super-cute contact sheet, with adorable pictures varying from smiles to finger in mouth to raspberrying. I was particularly pleased with the sunglasses photo, which happens to be angled so it looks like he's looking at the forthcoming 1-year center photo, Brady Bunch style.

Speaking of time and the circle of life and all that, today was the bris for our friends' newborn son. (Mazel tov to D & D!) Meh made some amazing cupcakes -- vanilla with chocolate frosting. I was going to make my always-demanded challah. However, the best laid plans... Checking the first pair of a double batch in the oven, they simply didn't seem to be cooking. I finally figured out that the oven had died, right in the middle of baking them, and wouldn't heat back up, leaving me with two and a half loaves of raw challah and two par-baked challahs. I put the half-loaf (a mini-loaf, given to D & D to eat upstairs while watching over baby B's recovery) in my toaster oven, and called a few neighbors. Thankfully our next-door neighbors have young children as well and were up early - they invited us to use their oven, Meh shuttled the dough over, and all of the loaves were successfully cooked and delivered to the bris straight from the oven. Well, except the one I gave to our neighbors in emphatic thanks for, um, bringing home the bread. :)

At the bris, we saw a full range of young children from 0 to about 3 years of age. And bizarrely, they were all boys (I think there were about eight in all?). One in particular is just a month or two older than Zachary and was walking/toddling around the family room. I can definitely see how Zachary's movements could turn into that at some point (I won't say "soon" because that would be pressure/setting expectations, and he'll walk/talk/pick a vocation when he's good and ready to), though we're in no rush to have to child proof everything!

Yesterday, Zachary discovered a new game - he was cruising around our ottoman, and grabbed my toe. It tickled, so I chuckled. He thought this was the funniest thing ever, so we had an ongoing game for a good 10 minutes, which went something like this:

What's your sleep comfort number?

Today was Zachary's first fourth of July (well, duh, so far every day is his first instance of that day - give it another month or so though...). We didn't make it to fireworks (with the late Seattle summer sunsets, fireworks don't start until after 10 pm; and our pyromaniacal neighbors often are detonating [no exaggeration] window-shaking fireworks late into the night - here's hoping they don't bother Zachary too much!), but we did meet up with friends J & S, A & B, and met a few new friends at a waterfront picnic for a few hours. Zachary did great, happily playing with his toys, telling everyone "da da", giving out big smiles like they were sparklers, and generally people watching. He gets very focused in one direction, but it's sometimes hard to tell just what he's actually looking at - this time with people frequently walking by (and his head following them), the subjects of his interest became a little more obvious.

Zachary reached another milestone last night -- in preparation for our ever escalating washload size/frequency, I pulled his fitted sheet off his crib mattress, and happened to glance at the icons on the mattress itself. I'd completely forgotten that we'd gotten a 'convertible' -- that is a mattress that's super-firm on one side for infants, and more like a regular coil mattress on the other side for the slightly older baby. The magic weight for the flip is 20 pounds. Meh had a hunch, and we did a quick weighing on our scale and Zachary looks to be just about 20 pounds. So the mattress was flipped, and Zachary took his first step toward the world of posturpedic comfort. Or something.

While not the first time, we also moved Zachary out of his tub-within-the-tub and into the bathtub proper. He loves being totally surrounded by the water, and kicks and splashes enthusiastically, generally getting his would-be washers as soaked as he is. Still, it's hilarious for all of us to see all of that kicking generate some backwards momentum that sends him scooting across the tub. I know at some point we'll have to invest in a bath mat, but for now this is just far to entertaining for Zachary -- and certainly for us as well.

Hey big smiler

Zachary has always responded to seeing and recognizing our faces (yes, usually in a positive way). But now he's gone one further - Meh was smiling at him and he started smiling back, and she gave him a big grin, and he imitated (exaggerated? Meh can't be sure her face gets quite this dramatic...) it in a super cute manner:

In other news, sweet potato is now back on top in the food preferences race. Meh chopped it into cubes rather than mashing it, since he's been developing that aforementioned head-shaking rejection of spoon-fed foods. And he grabbed it and loves it as much as ever. Even with cheerios, cheese, or blueberries on the tray, the sweet potato generally emerges as champion. On the other hand, the lentils, broccoli, and green beans still face a serious uphill battle. More on Zachary's culinary explorations to come, I'm sure.

Paper toys

We've finally found a good use for all of the junk mail we receive -- give it to Zachary. Just place him in the middle of a pile, and he's entertained for hours by newspapers, print ads, and credit card solicitations. At last there's an intermediate step between the mailbox and the recycling bin. (Though on a side rant, how many times can a company we already are monopolistically forced to use for phone service keep soliciting us to pick up their slow-as-molasses data service? It's seriously a nearly daily occurrence.)

A friend sent Zachary an early birthday present of some excellent super-hero themed dinnerware today (no, that certainly doesn't count as junk mail!), and Meh watched him happily play with (and in) the large cardboard box that it came in for much of this afternoon. He really does love his paper goods. Thanks so much to S for the plate, cup, bowl, and "bonus gift" (aka shipping box)!