Belated Celebration

This weekend we had a belated celebration for Mother's Day and Father's Day. Each respective weekend did not work out for a full celebration, we went to eat but Alex had to work through both. So this Saturday I took advantage of some gift certificates to a spa in town and got a massage and facial. When asked what problem areas I had, I simply stated that I had a 6 month old son who had reeked havoc on my once decent body and skin. That was enough said. It was sooo lovely. I felt pampered and relaxed when my boys came to pick me up.

Then we headed out to the Taste of Texas steakhouse. It is outside the loop and pretty trashy. There is really no other way to say it. It is one step up from Steak n' Ale. Which is fine, obviously - let's keep in mind one of my favorite restaurants is Chilli's - but don't try to be fancy with your fake flowers and fake Texas memorabilia. We were there by 5:00 and we had to wait 15 minutes. Both of us were shocked, we do not see how it fills up so early! I will say that I did enjoy the salad bar and Alex really liked his steak. So I will stop before I sound like a complete snob. And we all know I like to have something to talk about.

Luckily Zach had on his fake camo for the fun.

Teething?

Anyone that has talked to me in the past week knows that I do not think that Zach is teething. I mean, who is not to say that ALL 6 month olds are just a tad cranky? Because most of Zach's friends (and he) are cranky, whiny and generally fussy for good bits of the day. Only one of them has a tooth. Why does everyone say that that temperament is teething? The books say that drooling is not related to teething but getting the tummy ready to digest real food. And why can't sticking things in your mouth be the same idea? The books also say that when they start to do more, like roll over, sit up and grab for things they get more fussy as they start to realize all they can and can not do. But the better question is why am I so hell bent that my child is NOT teething - if you know the answer to that, feel free to enlighten me.

When did my child turn 4?

Does this photo freak anyone else out? Liv took it last weekend and I swear this is what Zach will look like when he is four. I already can't believe he is six months old this week - I don't need him looking like a little boy. Luckily in person he is still stuffing everything into his mouth and screeching a lovely high pitched noise just to show that he can do it. A small comfort to me.

You Give Me Fever

"Fever!...In the morning, fever all through the night." I wonder what it says about my mothering when the first thing that popped into my head when Zach had a fever Monday morning was to sing "Fever!" to my hot, hot child. Apparently, I can not hear the word fever without beginning to snap and sing the song. Some dancing did accompany as well- all of which did amuse Zach at least. Once I focused back on my child he got some Tylenol and a day home from daycare. Just like his father though, you would not have known anything was wrong with him aside from the flushed cheeks. He was playing in his jumper and smiling. The fever only lasted another day and he was back to normal. But I am still singing the song.

Happy Father's Day

Aren't Daddies great? I mean who else tosses you around, let's you eat whatever you want for breakfast AND lets you dress yourself when you are obviously too young? We are so lucky to have Papa Wayne and Grandpa Vince in our lives. Zach is incredible blessed to have two granddads that think he hung the moon and will show him how to hang other things once he can hold a hammer.
I would like to note that finding a picture of Papa Wayne to include was virtually impossible. Papa Wayne likes to be doing the photographing not the other way around. On the contrary, there were ample pictures of Grandpa Vince. I also included what I think is a sweet picture of my two grandpas, Papa and Harvey (we called my dad's parents Jane and Harvey). I have said it before and I will say it again - grandparents are just the best.

Alex and his dad at 6 months

Kinsey, Papa and Harvey at 6 months

Kinsey and her daddy at 6 months

Highchair

My sweet Papa got Zach a highchair which he desperately needed. Trying to feed him while he leaned out of his Bumbo in an attempt to eat his feet was just not working any longer. The highchair is great! I can strap him in via the 5 point harness (naturally), and it rolls right under the bar in the kitchen so it stays out of the way. He is not really set on it yet, basically due to the 5 point harness as he does like for his mobility to be limited.

Buddies

Zach and his friend Wyatt are best buddies. They are 3 days apart and have been together since birth and before, really. Wyatt has been at Zach's daycare for a while, which was a huge help to us both. Wyatt is the advanced boy in the group - there is always one. He rolls over (both ways), was holding himself up early and now he has teeth. Ummmm the boys are only 5 and 1/2 months old. While some mothers might feel threatened, as I tell his mother Tracy all the time - thank heavens you are going first. I get to see what is coming for us and have Tracy to talk with about it when we finally get there. But so far, my little angel is content to stare and eat his hands, kick his legs up to eat his toes, and refuse, REFUSE to roll over. And teeth? Pu-lease, there is no chance that boy is getting teeth anytime soon. It took me a really, really long time to get teeth and unless he takes after his father on that front, I will be pureeing his food for quite a bit longer.

Summer Cold

Zach has caught the second cold of his entire little life and it is annoying me. Yes, let's just bring the focus right back to me for a sec. I naturally want to blame it on daycare, but given how clean the place is and how much I like it, and the fact that no other child there is sick I can not. So I blame it on the next plausible person - Alex Wall. He has obviously brought some germs into the house and given them to my baby. Obviously. I am sure I will see the evidence soon...

Zach just has the sniffles, but it is waking him up at night and disrupting my sleep. Does he not realize that I am now a working mother? And I need my beauty sleep if I am going to make sure I have on mascara and my shoes match? Really not even beauty sleep, given how deep I sleep now and how my morning hair reflects that. Given the pitch of the screams at 4 am, he could give a flip if I am sleeping or not.

First Day of School

The time has come! 5 months has flown by (well, not all of it) and I am back to work and Zach is off to daycare. He started last week and did very, very well. His teacher Mrs. Carson is great and every morning he smiles at her and reaches for her. I love it that on Monday mornings she asks the babies if they did too much parting over the weekend. That always gets a smile out of him. I am enjoying being back at work - yes I know that sounds silly. I don't mean that I am just dying to get back to some of the tedious tasks I do, but I really enjoy being back in the "working world", at least for a bit. On the flip side, I love that I get to pick him up at 3:00 and we hang out for the rest of the afternoon together.

For Alex's birthday, and the Memorial Day weekend we decided to become the proud owners of an above ground pool - ladder and all. Yes, that is correct, while we might have moved to a better zip code you can't shake off the trash. I was highly concerned that our neighbors would turn us into the homeowners association, but they claim to not be members so I think we are safe so far.
One of our friends (thanks again, Kyle) and his family had a snazzy above-ground and he told Alex that after work to come home and sit in the pool with a beer, you really were "living the dream". So we three hustled over to Toys R Us to grab a pool before the rest of the trailer park got there. We set it up for our Memorial Day party and had high expectations of much swimming happening in it. Turns out a big turn-off for small children to get in the pool are two men drinking 32 oz Budweisers in it (you will see them in the video). I can't imagine why. However, once we brought Baby Zach out to the pool, it did become the place to be - scary men and all.

Sophie

My sweet friend Mary Beth who just moved back from Paris, gave Zach a plastic Sophie the Giraffe, orginally made in France. It came with a sweet story, a place to write who gave it to him and all I could think was that it looks like a dog toy. Zachary loves it. Her nose is perfect for chewing on and her legs are the perfect width to squeeze some pudgy little fingers around. She is our go-to toy in the car now. He usually falls asleep like this, either with his arm around her or clutching one of her legs. Oh, she squeaks like a dog toy too. We can't really squeak her in the house or Norm comes running.

Peas, Please

Who likes peas? Not me, not really Alex, but baby Zachary will gobble them right down. Alex and I gave him sweet potatoes for his first food though, as starting with peas just seems mean. He was pretty unsure about the sweet potatoes as well, as you can see below. Since then he has decided he likes sweet potatoes, peas and apples but HATES pears. Seriously, who hates pears? I think maybe the ones I made for him were too tart, so I gave him some jarred ones which he seemed to like better. I am going to try to capture his "pear face" as I call it on camera as you would think I am feeding him cat food.