Bumbo Bumbo

I ordered Zach a lime green Bumbo baby sitter. I don't enjoy that the name of the chair is "baby sitter", that makes me think of the job I had all through college and I don't plan to rely on a chair to baby sit my child. However, the chair is just a chair that helps your baby sit up.

Anyway, Zach really, really likes it. He holds his head up great and likes to sit up when you hold him. Do not try to make him recline, that is unacceptable to him.

Praying to the Gods of Rice Cereal

All the parenting books that I read (and there are quite a few let me tell you), claim that feeding your child solid food will not make them sleep through the night. But any mom you ask will contradict that and tell you they believe it does in fact make your child sleep thru. I have decided that the books surely are lying and the moms have to be correct.
Zach is now 4 months old and still getting up at least once during the night, and it is killing me! The Super Baby Foods book I am reading says that once your baby turns 4 months old they can have Rice Cereal - but you should discuss with your pediatrician first. I don't see his pedi for two more weeks and my sanity can not take it. One of my friends saw her pedi last week and he said that since her daughter is already sleeping through the night she does not need to start solids....this advice would lead me to believe that since my child is not sleeping thru that I can start solids. Make sense? Maybe just to me as I want to believe that it will help.
So Sunday night Alex and I gave Zach his first taste of rice cereal mixed with milk. He really didn't protest too much, but was not 100% sure this was something he wanted in his mouth. Who can really blame him? The milk does make it a bit sweeter, but it is just flakes of "rice" with milk. Not too appetizing. I can't be sure how much he actually ate, but he didn't start to scream or spit it back out at us. Since then I have upped him to 2 tablespoons of cereal with milk once a day. Fingers crossed this will work and I can finally get some sleep. I can't even think about the 'if not' part of that sentence.
And on another note, please disregard the marital drama of Alex not turning on the video recorder to catch Zach's first bite. No matter that I got the camera out, powered it up and all he had to do was push the Record button. He calmed me down by saying that we would FOR SURE catch Zach's first bite of actual food (rather that just the runny rice cereal) on camera. He knows how to handle me to say the least.

Little Entrepreneur?

Each day after I shower, wait let me rephrase - each day IF I shower, Zach spends that time in his travel swing in the bathroom. He begins fully in the bathroom while I am getting clean, then moves to the doorway while I do my makeup and put in my contacts, and then moves totally out of the doorway, but still in my eyesight, in front of the door while I blow dry my hair. And how that boy loves to watch me dry my hair. He is mesmerized by the sound of the dryer and my big, black brush sweeping about my head. No matter how long it takes, he will watch me in silence, his eyes following my every move.

So it got me thinking, what if he is destined to be the next Vidal Sassoon? I personally am pretty good with hair, I grew up telling my sister how to do her hair and then if she was not doing it correctly, taking over the task for her. I can recreate most updos and love the smell of curlers starting up. It was a family joke that if I could not hack it at UT (which was a real possibility after my first semester freshman year) I would return to Denton and open Kinsey's Kut and Kurl. I can still picture the sign; it would be a giant scrolling K starting all the words, with the rest of the title 'insey's, 'ut' and ' 'url' stacked one on top of the other. Beautiful.

On a ski trip in 2003 I actually stumbled upon another Kinsey who apparently could not make it at her college and opened Kinsey's House of Hair in Lake Tahoe. I am still sad I never got to meet her.

While I realize Zach most likely is just drawn to the white noise of the blow dryer and his staring at me is actually nothing new. His hobby at the moment seems to be playing, and winning, the staring game. But if he were to get my proclivity for hair styling I personally would be thrilled. It is about time someone else in this family learns how to French braid....

I am that person

Prior to becoming a parent there are many things that I would NEVER do: let my child run about in his diaper no clothes, email instead of spending time with him, pop a pacifer in his mouth to get him to stop crying - you get the gist. And I said I was not going to be one of those parents who insits on taking pictures in the bluebonnets. Me, stopping on the side of the road to force my children to take pictures with some dirty flowers? NEVER! Apparently that is only true now if the word 'never' means 'every year the second I see bluebonnets'.

Driving up to Denton I pulled over at a rest stop and laid my child out in the grass in an attempt to get a darling picture in the flowers. It did not work too well and I had to try to not be dissapointed. Ahhh a baby really does change everything.

First Easter

We had a great first Easter with Zach. He and I were in Denton and Dallas visiting my family but drove back on Easter Sunday so Alex could take Zach to his first Catholic mass. He lasted about halfway through. That is more that some adults last on Easter. Anyway, it was so nice to visit with my family and for Zach to get to spend some time with them as well. I miss everyone already!

Headed to Church with dad Sitting with Aunt Charldean in Denton

My Papa and Papa Wayne

My Auntie Lauren and Uncle Dewayne

Cutest Easter Bunny!

Just a little boy at the park

This Sunday my mother's group had an early Easter egg hunt. The evite said it was from 3:30 to 5:30, and the entire Wall clan wanted to go and see Zach take a picture with the Easter bunny and not hunt eggs. Due to his nap schedule we did not get there until a little before 5:00. The park was empty! The hunt was over and gone, as was the Easter bunny. Why, why would the evite say until 5:30 if the bunny was not going to be there until then??

Now, obviously, the lack of bunny did not matter to our little guy, but his dad, uncle, grandma, grandad and great-grandmother were sorely disappointed. Zach and I had stopped by the park earlier to drop off some grapes I said I would bring and the bunny was not chubby and looked kind of scary really so I don't think it was a big loss, but highly annoying non the less. So we all just hung out at the park taking pictures of Zach in his Easter outfit.

Couch Potato

In the baby books that I read semi-constantly it says that at this age (3.5 months) my baby should be able to sit up supported on pillows for a period of time. What these books do not know is that Alex has been propping Zach up for a while now, really just to make us laugh. He looks like such a little man "sitting".
This weekend he got to do more sitting on the couch with his friend Chris and his dad. He even used his arm rest.

It is hard to capture a good picture of him now as he always moving his arms, legs and head. Just to prove he can it seems.