I like shoes!

Zachary likes to dress up. Shhhh....don't tell his father. He likes to put on Kylie's princess tiaras, boas, and shoes. He likes Mommy's shoes, Daddy's boots and all of Kylie's dress up shoes. It's been a while since the last time I posted...he's getting big, isn't he?

Tank is ONE!

It's been a very long time since Mommy has written! Where has the time gone?? I myself was looking through Zachy's blog wondering where it disappeared to. He is growing up so fast. On one hand it makes me smile to see him growing up, and on the other it makes me so sad. It's been a very emotional week for me as I see my baby already a year old. I love this stage though. He is so much fun to be around.

Kylie and Zachary are both sick right now. Zachary came home and fell asleep in his chair. I put him down for a nap. He woke up an hour later feeling miserable. So, presents didn't go over well. I'll try again tomorrow. He did perk up a bit after getting some food in his stomach and was happy for a few minutes with his birthday cupcake. Yes, it is dairy, egg, nut and gluten free. Unfortunately it seems that Zachary is the only one who likes them!

Every day we say "Anyday now he is going to let go..." He walks around the furnature and along the wall holding on. He crawls so fast it is more like a run. And, to top it off, he crawls so loud. You can hear him coming...those big hands slap down on the ground so hard. Zachary loves music. Like his big sister, he loves to dance. Music calms him down, and it is so sweet to see him sway back and forth. Grandma says that he sings like his mommy, but that's ok, right? He has a wonderful little personality. He is pretty easy going as long as you kept him fed.

Anyway, Happy Birthday little Zachary. I love you. ~Mommy

I....can....do....it!

Big Boy!!! With the help of a gentle grandmotherly nudge, Zachary rolled over. He just needs a little bit of help with that left arm, but he got it!

Rice Cereal

At 5 months of age, we have started Zachary on rice cereal. He is not thrilled about it, but he will eat it. He gets very frustrated with Mommy because that darn spoon just doesn't constantly drip cereal. I think more may get on his face, in his hair, in his ears, in his eyes, and down his legs than actually in his mouth.

Pneumonia

Well, Zachary gave Mommy and Daddy quite a scare at the beginning of the month. On Tuesday, March 3rd, I (Mommy) went to Urgent Care because I could hardly get out of bed. I was diagnosed with strep. Scared to death that I had been breast feeding my 4 month old, I stayed away from him for 24 hours (thanks to mom). By Friday, I noticed that both kids were getting a cold. On Saturday both kids had a cough, but Zachary's was much worse than Kylie's. On Sunday, it was still terrible.

In the evening I called the pediatrician's office, and the nurse practitioner said that it sounded like a common cold, and as long as he was eating, peeing and pooping normal, he was probably fine. On Monday the kid just seemed to be worse, and by Tuesday he had a fever. I took him to the doctor and saw the nurse practitioner (there is a pattern here). She took a listen to his chest and diagnosed him with bronchiolitis (farther down the bronchial than bronchitis). She sent us home with a breathing machine and meds to do every 4 hours. She said to expect him to sound worse in the next 24 hours before he got better. Frankly, Tuesday he seemed fine after going to the doc. On Wednesday he started in with a fever again. I called and spoke to the doctor, and she said that the fever was OK and to give him Tylenol. If his breathing changed, take him to the hospital. The Tylenol kicked the fever and Zachary seemed in pretty good spirits, still eating and sleeping just fine. On Thursday (over 24 hours on the breathing machine) he didn't seem any better. He had a low grade fever, and I gave him more Tylenol. I put him to bed, and when Mike came home at 1 am, he woke me up to tell me that he could hear Zachary breathing downstairs. He decided to go get him to have him sleep with us where we could listen to him breathe. The next thing I hear is Mike's panicked voice telling me that Zachary had a white film around his mouth and was breathing deep. Off to the emergency room! Good thing I am married to a cop...I'm sure we flew.

The ER doc diagnosed Zachary with pneumonia and scared us to death by contemplating transferring him to a PICU. The on site pediatrician decided to take the case, and we stayed for 3 days at the hospital.

Poor Zachary...he was the classic case of Pavlov's conditioning. By day 2, every time anyone walked in with a stethoscope, he started crying. Thankfully, he is much better now. He has a Well Baby doctor appointment this Thursday to follow up.

Merry Christmas 2008

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, etc. etc! I think I can honestly say this has been my favorite Christmas to date. Kylie showed me the true meaning of the holiday - being with family. Mike and I sort of stressed about what to get her this year - really needing to stay on a budget. We wanted to really wow her since she seemed to totally be into it this year, but all she asked for was a "pink Barbie" from Santa. She got a couple of Barbies but was happiest with a $1 set of princess crayons and a $1 mini Tinkerbelle lunch box for them to go in. (Michaels had awesome stocking stuffers - keep that in mind for next year if you have little ones.) She was super sweet, opening her Barbie saying "This is exactly what I asked for!" (Mommy wipes back tears.) But quite honestly, Kylie would have been thrilled just having Mommy, Daddy, Grandma and baby brother home in the same room together playing with her. She is pretty easy to please in that regard.

Uncle Nick's nephew Dave spent Christmas with us. It was nice to have company. We had ham, green bean cassarole, cheesy potatoes, salad, cheesecake and cookies. We kept it pretty simple this year, and it turned out really nice. The best thing is having a yummy, home cooked meal with plenty of leftovers!

Of course, Zachary slept most of the day. I had to add this picture of him with Grandma because it is beautiful. Dave brought his super-dooper camara and took some awesome pictures. Kylie and Mom are so darned photogenic. Nice.

The night ended with Kylie cuddling up to me in bed. "Merry Christmas Mom," she said to me. I said, "Merry Christmas Kylie." She gave me a big hug and a smacker right on the lips. "I love you so much," she said to me. She makes my heart melt.....

One Month Old

Time sure does fly! Zachary is one month old. He had his one month check up at Dr. Pendleton's on Monday. He sure has been busy growing over the last three weeks! He is 10 pounds 3 ounces and 22.5 inches long. He is doing really well....in the 50th percentile for weight and the 75th percentile for length. His baby acne is still pretty bad, and the doctor said it will clear up somewhere between 6-8 weeks. He had his second hepatitis shot today and handled it like a champ. (I hate watching those shots!) Mike is such a chicken that he conveniently stayed in the waiting room with Kylie so she could "play." Ha!
Zachary's favorite thing to do is to eat. Unfortunately he really likes to do it at night. He is up every two hours or so. He sleeps longer periods of time during the day. Needless to say, Mommy is tired!
Mike goes back to work this Friday, and I go back next Monday. We have both been home for the last six weeks. Time has gone by so quickly!