The Bongo Dance

Hi Folks -

Last fall Zachary went to a 13 week class once a week called Kindermusik. While he enjoyed the class, they never seemed to get around to playing his favorite instrument, the drums. That is until the last week of class. Enjoy this video (from December) where Zachary finally got to play the drums. Apparently he has his own special dance that goes along with playing the bongo drums. Again, thanks to Donna for the video. Actually, we have many, many thanks that need to go out to Donna, her video/photography is just one of the many lovely things she does. All three of us are so lucky and blessed to have her take such wonderful care of our little boy and be such an awesome part of our family.

Be prepared to laugh!



Wasn't that precious? He is such an awesome kid! This week he started back at The Little Gym which he loves!

Love to all!

Happy Hanukkah

For his BIG hanukkah gift, we got the boy his own set of drums. He loves them!

Love to all!

Discovery Green

Hi Folks!

Last weekend we met Lisa and Brinson (while Ned worked in the yard) and had an awesome play date! First we took the train (the light rail) and traveled through the medical center to downtown Houston to the awesome park Discovery Green. Then we did a bit of shopping and took the train back to our cars. What fun!

On the train...

Coloring (paper) butterflies

Playground!

A nice backdrop there...

Sliding!

The kiddos loved the fountains!

The water levels were varied.

Zachary couldn't get enough of it!

Neither could Brinson.

The taller the water, the more fun it was!

Thank goodness for good-traction water shoes!

Trying to dunk his own head!

He must have been thirsty!

Fun, fun.

Here are some movies that show
how much the kiddos loved it.







Thanks Lisa and Brinson for joining us on our fun trip taking the train to Discovery Green!

Love to all!

Backyard Fun!

Hi folks!

Now that fall has finally arrived in Houston, we are enjoying playing outside a lot more. Here's some pictures and video of Zachary enjoying his play yard set.

I found a ball!

Sliding is such fun!

Such a happy boy!

Zachary is mastering the art of rock climbing, rock wall climbing that is!
We're so proud of him!




Our big boy slides down all by himself!


Love to all!

Catching up!

Hi Folks!

We're back with another round of pictures of our favorite little guy! We're having trouble blogging these days because if we go on the computer, Zachary comes in and says "pbskids" which is his favorite website. If we tell him that we are going to blog, he says "Brinson" so we watch Brinson's blog, which he loves to watch. When we are done watching a video he says "again". We love this, but it doesn't make it easy to get the blog done!

Last week was Zachary's last week of gym class (for a semester). He has a very full schedule! He has started Kindermusik and also Daddy & Me Sunday school class at our Temple (Mommy is teaching a Sunday school class this year). He goes to the library for Toddler Time and he and Ms. Donna love going to re-sale shops to find small little treasures. Plus we try to schedule lots of play dates and shopping (especially at Kroger since they have a bell to ring for good service and he loves ringing that bell!!) and lately our schedule has included lots of visits to Dr. Gray. Our poor kiddo has had a rough couple of weeks illness wise, he's had pink-eye, an ear infection and some mysterious virus that has only one symptom, a high fever. Thankfully he's doing great due to the excellent care of Dr. Gray, Ms. Donna and Mommy and Daddy too.

He "graduated" from his Early Childhood Intervention. Developmentally he is caught up or ahead of where he should be!! We're so proud of him but it is bittersweet as we won't be seeing Ms. Mary or Ms. Thien anymore. They have helped him (and us) become the little man (seriously!) that he is today. Thank you ladies!

Zachary is now 22 pounds, 6 ounces and is 33 inches long. He continues to follow his own little curve on the growth charts which is what they like to see. His favorite things right now are anything Disney and stuffed animals. He loves us to read Dr. Seuss (and play with the corresponding stuffed animals) and he likes his legos. He loves to sing and imaginative play is his favorite. He talks to and for his stuffed animals and enjoys making us "scrambled eggs" in his kitchen.

Here's some pictures from The Little Gym, visiting with Brinson and helping Ms. Mary with her ECI paperwork, enjoy!

Zachary and Ms. Kathy, his Little Gym teacher

He loves the high beam!

Wheeeeeee!!!

See? He just loves it!

Two of anything means Mickey Mouse ears!

This is Zachary's favorite shirt, he wants to wear it 24/7.

Climbing the alphabet rock wall

We see you Zachary!

Sitting in circle - this was a rarity,
usually he is much more interested in exploring!

Helping Ms. Mary with his "graduation" paperwork.

Now what does that shirt say again?
Mommy & Daddy got these hats at Disneyland
when they were engaged,
but since they have Mickey Mouse ears, Zachary
thinks they are fair game for him (and Brinson)!

Watching Brinson

Zachary loves Brinson's whole family.
He loves talking about Lisa, Ned, Brinson and MeMe.
Zachary has noticed Mommy and Daddy's rings
and we explained that we got them when we got married.
So, at some point over the last month he has said
he was going to marry each one of them.
"Marry Ned." "Marry Lisa", etc. so cute!

We tried and tried,
but we couldn't get them both to look at us
let alone look and smile!

Here's Zachary helping Ms. Mary


Here's a snippet of what we get to watch every day!!



Love to all!

Random (blurry) Pictures and Videos

Hi folks!

We've had some fun times with Zachary over the last couple of weeks.

Here's Mommy trying to take a picture
of herself and Engineer Zachary!

Zachary and Daddy trying to hook up
their computers to the TV
(it didn't work for either computer)

You know your kiddo is too big
to drink from a bottle

when he helps wash them after wards!

Our new favorite thing to do is get on Skype with
Avie, Uncle Jeff and Auntie Rachel
(and whoever else happens to be at their house that day!)

Yes it is now time to see Zachary in motion!

Zachary loves to help his daddy!


"Try"cycle riding!


A very sleepy boy!


Love to all!

Rock On!

Hi Folks!

Last week Donna and I took Zachary to the Kemah Boardwalk where they have concerts every Thursday evening during the summer. Mommy has been friends with some of the band members of the group A Rival for several years so we enjoyed letting Zachary meet the band and watch Tracy and Twitch perform. We went to see them last year and Zachary loved it just as much.

Mommy, Zachary and Ms. Donna
and the band A Rival performing

Playing in the dancing fountain.

Loving the music and the water!

He was so focused on watching Tracy play the drums...

So over the weekend,
we went to a friend's house for a play date,
he saw that they had a drum set just his size!

And a Rock Star was born!

Rock On Little Man! Love to all!

Reading is Fun

Hi Folks -

One of Zachary's favorite activities is to read. Usually he prefers us to read to him, but this book that Uncle Jeff bought him is his favorite one to read to us! This book is "The Very Busy Spider" by Eric Carle.

Enjoy!

Love to all!

Next season on American Idol...

Enjoy this video of Zachary singing his little heart out!

Love to all!

Gym Class

Hi Folks!

Every Saturday morning we take Zachary to the Little Gym for almost an hour of fun and exercise...enjoy the pictures...

He can never decide where he wants to go first!
YAY! Clapping with Mommy is fun!

He LOVES the balance beam!

But running up and down the mats
is his absolute favorite thing to do!

Shake shake shake!

Yes folks, we have Live! Action! Shots!

This weekend (after gym class) we are off to Brinson's second birthday party. Good times!

Love to all!

The Wii

Hi folks -

Enjoy this video of Daddy, Ned (Brinson's Daddy) and Zachary playing some sword fighting game on the Wii. Tell me who you think is having the most fun here???

More postings to come. Love to all!

Helping with chores!

Hi folks!

We are so sorry that we haven't be posting as much as we would like.
Zachary is doing great. He is at a great age he is so much fun, he's off exploring and trying to assert his independence. He is eating better and talking up a storm!

Here's a video of Zachary helping Daddy out with the chores...


Love to all!

Zachary is such a silly boy!

When Mommy and Daddy come home at night, Zachary gets super excited and runs around acting silly. Enjoy this video we took tonight. He's such a silly boy!

Love to all!

A new milestone...

Hi Folks -

Last weekend, besides feeding the horse, Zachary hit a very important milestone...





Yes, his first taste of C H O C O L A T E!

Love to all!

What do horsies eat?

Yep...pizza crust! This is Duchess, Stephen's step-brother Rusty's family pet. This is Rusty's wife Lori enjoying helping Zachary feed Duchess. Zachary thought feeding Duchess was the funniest thing ever!

Love to all!

What does a horse say?

Here is Zachary making all of his animal sounds.

Love to all!

Balloon Fun

Zachary got a balloon today from Kroger (our favorite grocery store). All the cashiers love him and fuss all over him (as do we!). When Daddy got home, he clipped the balloon to the back of Zachary's outfit and Zachary had a great time chasing the balloon (and the balloon chasing Zachary). Enjoy!!








Here's a video too - love to all!

Zachary's First Trip to an Aquarium and the Beach!

Hi folks!

We had quite the busy day today. First we went to the Sea Center in Lake Jackson, about 25 miles south of Houston. The Sea Center is an aquarium and fish hatchery. We had a great time showing Zachary the touch pools, the fish and the surrounding wetlands. Since we were only a few miles from the beach, we decided to let Zachary test out his sea legs. We went to Surfside beach and had a blast!

Zachary loves to splash!

Daddy and Zachary playing in the surf.

Playing the one, two, three jump game!

The Gulf of Mexico is licking his toes!

Walking with Mommy against the undertow.



We liked this beach and plan to come back!


Zachary on the boardwalk at the Sea Center.

Holding up the fish he caught...not really - it was a toy!

Father and son in front of a statue of a father and son
outside the Sea Center.

Zachary loves to explore...with his fingertips!


Zachary roaming around the aquarium.

He thought the chain was fun to shake.

With all the fish to look at,
Zachary preferred to bang on the benches.



He looks pretty mischievous here don't you think?

We have some videos of our time at the beach, but Bogger isn't letting me upload them. We'll try to get them uploaded soon.

Love to all!