Ground floor

Another allen wrench-marked milestone -- this morning I finally dropped Zachary's crib mattress down to the lowest setting. Really this changes it from a 'crib' to just a really small square footage bed with high surrounding railings. Some mornings when we go in to get him, he's happily standing and cruising around the inside of his crib. Zachary continues to be more active and interested in the goings on around him. He's also talking more than ever; this is particularly apparent in the car when Meh or I put on NPR. I don't know if he thinks he's carrying on a conversation or just disagrees with their liberal bent, but he chats up a storm.

This morning we also had the first hint of a step! He was standing in front of mommy in the kitchen and decided he wanted to check out the magnets on the refrigerator. He turned around and took one tentative step. Then sat down and crawled a bit to reach his destination. But it's certainly a start. He's also taking more and more interest in Korby (and Korby for his part is licking Zachary's face and hands more and more - not sure if that's interest or just more food being handled by the little man):


Today was the one day a week that Zachary visits his nanny, but she was unfortunately under the weather. So Meh and I both worked half days and did the hand-off. Actually, I ended up working a bit more than half a day; Zachary was happy at the office playing with his toys (and then one of my computer bags, then a box from some computer gear), so he hung out with me for a bit before we headed out. He even sat through my annual performance review meeting -- an excellent way to ensure your manager says nice things about you. It was actually pretty funny, he started playing with the recycling bin, then fished out a printout and started shaking it around.

Zachary's favorite summertime toy is our portable air conditioning unit. In the last few days, he loves to end his day climbing between it and his step stool, frantically shifting the vent left and right and smiling as the air whips his hair:


Tomorrow we're off on Zachary's 21st career flight, the cross-country journey to New York for his Uncle B and Aunt J's wedding! We're thrilled for J and B, and very excited for Zachary to be able to spend time with his family again. Hopefully the 5 hour 35 minute flight will pass quickly for both the little man and for us!