Grumpy Longhorn

Zach was given this towel as a gift before he was born, and I love to put him in it after his bath. He, however, really would prefer to NOT have it on his head. I don't care as it is freakin' darling and he is wearing it until his head gets too big for me to shove in there. Which actually might be soon. No worries, I have a giraffe towel waiting in the wings.

Bully Baby

Seriously, I think Zach may be the schoolyard bully. And why does this not disturb me? Those of you with psychology degrees, get to thinking about that while I explain.

This weekend at the wedding in Austin Zach and his friend Tyler were put down on the floor together to "play". Now, Zach's teachers have explained to me that at this age they really don't play together. They are just starting to figure out that each other is there and usually just play with toys in the vicinity of each other. However, my child seems to have figured out that Tyler is there and that he has stuff that Zach wants. This is not the first incident of Zach stealing things from Tyler, and I assume it will not be the last. This time it was Tyler's blanket. Zach repeatedly stole it from Tyler, the held it out of his reach! Poor Tyler is not used to these shenanigans and was not the least bit pleased, which is understandable!

Two weeks ago at school we got a note saying the following: "Zach really enjoyed playing with the Fill It bucket (dumping things out and putting them back in) and when his little friends came over to "help" he squealed as if to say "I can do it myself!". Why do I think that he was really squealing "Back OFF this is MINE!"

My mother always said that I would have a child like myself as payback and I thought that since Zach is a happy baby (unlike me) that she was wrong and I had foiled the system. As usual, she is right, just in a different way. Have I mentioned that I HATE to share? That I steal things from my little sister even now? That when Alex asks me for 2 Cheez-its I scowl at him like he is asking for blood? Darn, I think we are in trouble.

So innocent, just looking at his friend

Going for the blanket

Tyler trying to get over to the blanket and Zach having none of that

First Wedding

This weekend Zach attended (uninvited) his first wedding. We drove to Austin on Saturday and then out to the wedding in Driftwood, which is 30 minutes outside of Austin. He really did great, which was shocking to all concerned considering we didn't leave the wedding until 9pm. That is 2.5 hours past his bedtime if you are counting. It was highly helpful that there were plenty of people to talk too, glasses to grab and grandparents to carry him around the entire evening. I am sure the bride was glad we left as Zach and his friend Tyler were a big draw - and you know I dislike anyone, even my own child, stealing any bride's thunder.

Keep Him Off the Pole

One of my favorite Chris Rock lines goes something like this "If you have a daughter, as her father your only goal is to keep her off the pole." I love it, and am really glad that I don't have to worry about Zach pursuing that line of busines....at least I thought I didn't have too until I saw how he really took to this pole at a resturant. He wrapped those chubby hands and legs around the pole and attempted to shimmy on up. This could be a bad sign.

Big Stander

Oh those chubby thighs, how I just love them! Alex and his dad lowered Zach's crib from the current position (seen above) upon the insistence of my pediatrician. She said that he would begin pulling up when we did not expect it and could flip himself out of the crib. I (of course) thought she was possibly insane as my child had not indicated any desire to stand up, much less flip himself anywhere. And (of course) I was wrong. Not one week after we lowered his crib, he started pulling up on anything and everything - including his crib walls. It was a slow process with his feet getting trapped under him, and him toppling over, but now he is quite the pro. He likes to stand in his crib and holler at me when I put him down for his nap and stand clinging to the dog gate and holler at Norman. Norman does not really appreciate this, but just seems relived that Zach is not on the same side as him.

Walk for the Cure

Alex, Zach and I walked with Liv and some other friends, two weekends ago in the Komen Race for the Cure. We attempted to do the Family Walk, but somehow missed it in the hords of people lining up for the 5K. So we walked a bit of the 5K until Zach had his fill and we took him home to nap. He really was more pleased than he looks in these pictures.

Oh and his shirt has the pink ribbon and says "A Cause I Can Latch On To"...I thought it was very, very clever.

For the Love of Cheese

As one of Zach's after school snacks I started giving him grated cheese, with his fruit and veggies. However, after giving it to him for about a week, I noticed that he was eating nothing else, but waiting for the cheese....hmmmm, I really should have been expecting this as all Walls love cheese.

I should specify - all "blood" Walls love cheese. Liv and I like cheese the normal-person amount. But Vince, Alex and Dave have a love for it that is only rivaled by their love of R&B and calling each other Ken. My mother once asked if they always discuss how much they like cheese? I had to confirm that yes, yes that always did that. So Zachary has taken to cheese like....well like the little Wall that he is.

Pumkin Patch

As I typed the title of this post I thought of all the other moms doing the same, either on their blog, Facebook or just a folder of their pics of their children in a pumpkin patch. It seems to be THE thing to do with a little kid, so of course I was all over it. I drug Alex and Zach to St. Luke's pumpkin patch this weekend to get my fill of pictures of my baby with pumpkins. It finally got cold enough to not have him in a swimsuit next to the pumpkins but in his snappy plaid shirt and jeans. In true Alex & Kinsey Wall style, we were there for no more than 15 minutes, took about 20 pictures and left $18.50 poorer, but with me 100% giddier. Totally worth it for 5 pumpkins and a lifetime of memories, I say, however Alex begs to differ....

If loving tupperware is wrong, he doesn't want to be right

Similar to me putting Zach in the laundry basket in the kitchen while I cooked, I now just open up a cabinet and let him go to town. The drawer slides in and out (in and out - in and out) and is filled with all sorts of plastic containers. He seems to think that he is doing something wrong, as evidenced by the first photo, as it is just soooo much fun it couldn't possibly be right!

Chubby baby in the bath

Will you look at that belly? That boy is so chubby! How can his doctor say he is only in the 50% percentile, he is well above average.