I found Palmolive had a nice, piquant after-dinner flavor

Merry Christmas!

Zach had his first visit to Santa! As you can see, he was stunned to see just how big Santa really is. He did a great job though; no tears, and no fussing. Although his smile was ruined by the lady taking the picture. He was totally ready to smile big just like dad taught him when the lady shook some can with rocks in it...obviously that caused a bit of alarm because his picture came out a little more surprised than happy. Oh well...it was a great first Santa Pic.

Speaking of Santa, we are in full swing with Christmas right around the corner. We had a little Christmas gathering as you can see below, mostly to test the limits of how loud we could be without waking Zach...the answer is not very...besides, he thought it was pretty lousy of us to put him to sleep right when we started to play games.


Last week, Zach got another visitor friend. Linda brought her son Aidan to visit. He is a little older than Zachy. In this picture, Zach wonders what that stuff is on top of Aidan's head and secretly hopes that he can grow some of that stuff...or at least put it in his mouth.


AND, segueing nicely from putting things in his mouth, Zach has started to eat rice cereal. This started from Zach not feeling good for a couple weeks after Thanksgiving. He was congested and went through his first cold...it wasn't fun for him, but he pushed through. However, during the cold, he decided that he was not about to further his frustration and eat from a bottle so he went through an understandably fussy period. We thought that maybe he would be more interested in the spoon (since everything is going in his mouth these days anyway) and what d' you know, he took to it like a zombie to brains.

We don't feed him very much, or every night, but it's a good way to try to get him to sleep longer through the night. He doing a pretty good job of that still (right now he's going from about 730-430 with the occasional "re-swaddle and comfort" sessions throughout). I'm still looking forward to his sleep training though. Especially with Kelly going back to work in January.

He's still growing and doing new things what seems like every day (see the Fun Facts below) but we're trying to keep him on a pretty consistent schedule.

He still gets his bath pretty much every night. He recently got a rash on his back and chest which could have been from getting over his cold, but I think it might have also been from putting bubble bath in his bathwater. I had pretty sensitive skin and since Zach is basically my doppelganger, we can only assume that he does too...so now my water/soap ratio is favoring the water side much more.

He is definitely laughing a lot more now. Apparently Token is hilarious because Zach can't stop cracking up when he walks by. The "super-secret move to always get Zach to laugh" is to put his arms up by his head and shake him around...raspberrys on the tummy also raise the hilarity ante.

Did I mention before that everything is currently going in his mouth? Well to him, this includes items that are in no way small enough to fit.

Well, bye bye for now...the next time I post, Zach will have had his first Christmas! ....or at my current rate, he will have had his second birthday.

Fun Facts:

• As mentioned, Zach eats everything (or at least tries to).
  
• Zach is definitely able to hold his body up when he is being held...when I pick him up and put pressure on his stomach, it looks like he's either flexing his tummy muscles like a body builder, or taking the dump of the century.
• He's "sort of" sitting up when we prop him...he falls to one side or the other most of the time...we blame it on t he sheer girth of his body.
• He JUST started really giving us good raspberries...he loves his tongue and uses it frequently.
• He is really responding well to people now. He definitely knows us and the grandparents (and he shows it in his face) and he gets nervous around big crowds.
• Zach is still as diabolical as ever, making sure to sleep the 4-5 hours that I'm up after him, but starting to cry the instant I get into bed and get comfortable.

-pf

And it keeps getting funnier every single time I see it!

Hi!!

Since a couple weeks ago, Zach has found a few cool new things:

1. His smile
2. His hands
3. His voice

You can see, from the picture above, that his smile is in top gear. We have a pretty happy baby. Of course, he's not always the happiest of people, but lately he's been smiling like it's going out of fashion. It mostly happens in the morning when he's rested. Later in the day, not so much, but when we smile and play with him, it's like his world couldn't get any better.

As for his hands, you may have noticed a little drool in some of his pictures lately. I use the word "little" lightly because really, if we stored it, there would be enough to fill about one pool per week. He sucks on his hands all the time. Even when his pacifier is in, sometimes he'll take it out and replace it with the hands. I guess he feels that fingers are more sophisticated than crude sucking toys.

As for his voice....

So here's what's been going on lately:

This is the scene before the Mommy, Zach and Token morning walk

Here is Zach and his friend Juliet...Zach was boring her so she fell asleep

He visited Katie at Dreamworks and got some inside info on Shrek 12 - The Revenge of Donkey. He didn't like the plot so he was crying (hence the red face and teary eyes) Also, this is the hat that Katie's mom (Marianne) made for Zach...CUUUuuuttte.

Mara, Sydney, and Ethan visited and each got a chance to hold Zachy

Then Zach visited Grandpa and wished him happy birthday

Auntie Beth held Zach but he was feeling a little fat in this picture

Uncle Michael and Aunt Patti got to pose with the tired boy

He loves when mommy dresses him up in super-cute outfits

We visited the Runyon's to watch Ohio State make the Rose Bowl and USC loose their chances

Blake got a chance to hold him...does Zach look scared?

Dad and Carlos gettin low in the Bjorn

Fun Facts:

• As mentioned, Zach is doing a lot more talking, spitting, gurgling, and other various bodily noises I won't go into here.
• Zach has been very interested in Token lately. He watches him walk around the house.
• He has now officially graduated to his crib. It was really hard for Kelly and I even got a little emotional when we realized he wasn't going to be right next to us anymore. That has taken some time for us all (Zach included) to get used to.
• We brought out his exersaucer for the first time and he seemed to like it...but not as much as the rest of the family who all had to touch the pretty lights and colors on it.
  

-pf

Bye bye!

Come get some...

Ah Autumn: the leaves are changing color, the weather is getting cooler, Christmas is getting closer, the Dodgers are going down in flames again, the Zach is drooling. It's a magical time of year. Let's start off with two classic fall traditions:

First, we took Zach to Lombardi Ranch which is close to us now that we live in flavor country. We went with Mary, Ryan, and Molly and Zach picked out the perfect pumpkin that dad said we shouldn't get because we weren't even going to be around on Halloween night.

Zach; amongst the pumpkins

Molly showing a little love to Zachary

He had a great time and he was especially excited that mom dressed him up in a shirt that was the same color as his surroundings. Zach really didn't want to go all out this year for Halloween night, as he knew he wouldn't really get a chance to go trick-or-treating, so he opted for an easy, but cool costume.

The dude could barely fit into his rash guard but we think he pulled off a pretty sweet surfer.

The day before Halloween, Zach and Kelly came by my office to visit and to see the other "Durkee kids" all dressed up. While he was there, he took some time to update his Facebook page:

Workin' for the weekend...

We have this chair called a "Bumbo." It's meant to be used once a baby can sit up without neck support and without falling to one side. It's a really cool idea. Unfortunately, I don't think they took baby's with Zach's girth into consideration during the design phase:

We know a remote farm in Lincolnshire, where Mrs. Buckley lives; every July, peas grow there...

Zach is officially three months old now. I've been keeping up on "what your baby should be doing by now" and apparently ours is a genius because not only can he speak (he said "yeah" very clearly the other day and just tonight he said "ohhhh" inquisitively) but he also understands and employs ironic endeavor in waiting until after I have gone all the way back downstairs and unpaused the DVR to start crying in his crib at night.

He's also doing some other cool little stuff that I want to remember for posterity:

Fun Facts (extended)

• He rolls over from stomach to back (for me, but not for Kelly)
• He is drooling a lot and soaking most of his shirts. I hear this is not due to teething, but him learning how to digest food
• He is yelling a lot in the late afternoon. In the morning, he is very happy but as the day goes on, he gets more cranky
• This week, he will most likely be making the transition to his crib for bed-time...as long as mom can let go
• The easiest way to make him smile or laugh is to clap his hands and perform cheer-leader-style actions with his arms...this doesn't mean he is going to be a cheer-leader...
• He is wearing clothes that are for 6, 9, and 12 month olds...keep in mind he is 3 months
• Zach is sucking on his hand when his pacifier falls out and it seems like eventually he's going to get the whole thing in there...we are hoping he will find his thumb soon
  

Well that's all for now. Here's some video of tummy-time with mom.

-pf

Ah, a bear in his natural habitat...a Studebaker

Last weekend Zachary went on his biggest vacation ever. Think National Lampoon's Vacation, but not as much Christie Brinkley, and more poop-diapers. We traveled to Lake Mojave which is right on the Nevada/Arizona border. The drive was nice: beautiful scenic views, majestic blue skies, the world's tallest thermometer....Zach saw none of this. He slept most of the way there and most of the way back. Turns out he's a pretty good traveler! It took us about 4.5 hours to get there and the weather was great, even considering the fact that we left Burbank while it was still raining.

The trip itself was great. Zach was amazing...most of the time. He slept a lot out on the lake and throughout the night; better than at home even! (Which makes me realize we should go on vacation more often) The group consisted of us, Nonie and Papa, Greg and Jordan, Ryan, Mary and Molly, and Scott, Hadar, Noah and Talia. All the other kids were great too. Zach was the youngest though and the only non-walker there, so he was being chauffeured (by arm) the entire time.

Here are some pictures of our extended weekend:

Here is Zach "driving" the boat on Papa's lap...'look mom! no hands!...or eyes!'

Greg and Jordan were excellent babysitters and Zach fell in love with Jordan...or more specifically, Jordan's hair.

Here is the dude himself ready to shred the wake...or take a nap...yeah, probably take a nap.

Papa, Nonie and the Man on our beach

Dad introducing him to lake water, which Clearly, he was not into.

Ryan, Mary, Molly, Pete, Kelly & Zach...under the "professional" Easy-up.

Cousin Talia busy washing off her bucket so that she could pour water back into the lake...a task that consumed most of her time.

Molly is not a big fan of her life-jacket, but she did like being pull around in the biscuit by her dad.

Here is Noah tying down the other easy-up saving us all from the wind that would kick up every so often.

Finally, here are a couple video clips from the weekend. The first is Zach cheering on the Dodgers...who stink.

The second video clip is a shot from Ryan and Mary's boat while were getting ready to go out on the lake.

So Zach's first vacation turned out great. (You can see all the pictures in my Picasa gallery on the right) We all had such a great time that we will probably go back next year when Zach will be able to walk...and if he's really my son, he'll be able to ski too.

Fun Facts:

• Zach can roll over from his stomach to his back now. It doesn't always happen, but he can't be constantly performing!...he's not a circus animal gosh!
• Zach sleeps longer through the night if he gets more sleep during the day...the more daytime sleep, the more nighttime sleep...go figure.
• I (and I guess a few others) got sick the last day of the trip...so if you want to get a cold, go to Lake Mojave...?
• The Dodgers stink and Zach is pretty upset that they didn't win the World Series (like they did the year his dad was born), but fortunately, the Laker season is gearing up so he will be ready to cheer.
  

-pf

Viddy well, little brother, viddy well

Man it's great to fall asleep at 1030pm and wake up at 300 or sometimes even 400am to hear Zach starting to stir...in my half-conscious drunken-like state of mind, I think "thank you Zach for the four or five hours you gave me" I am so lucky to be able to sleep that entire time; well, all past records have been put to shame because last night, our man slept EIGHT HOURS!....I know! we thought the same thing: there must be something wrong! Nope....nothing wrong. Kelly actually had to wake him up to feed him at six in the morning or he probably would have slept even longer. We were thins close to running outside on the lawn and doing the happy dance. He even napped pretty well throughout the day.

So, now that I've jinxed it, he will be sleeping in stretches no longer than 3 hours this entire week.

Let's take a look at some of Zach's fall collection:

It's been getting a little colder this last week so he's been wearing long sleeves, pants and socks more often. Of course, they still have to be stylin' shirts and shoes...

On Saturday, we visited "Great" Grandpa and Grandma Ralph and Dode because Zach hasn't seen them in a while (and he's gained 7 lbs since then too).

Zach went to Grandma first and immediately passed out in her arms

Clearly, Grandpa is also good at putting Zach to sleep...although just because his eyes are closed doesn't mean he doesn't make any noises

Tanner and Sarah's wedding was on Friday and Zach stayed with Nonie and Papa while Kelly and I enjoyed ourselves...we would have enjoyed ourselves with Zach too, but...it's a different kind of "enjoyment"...

Since it was game three that day, Zach had to wear his team's colors...this is his reaction shortly after Ethier's two-run homer

He has been concentrating more frequently on the TV...probably a habit we're going to regret soon, but who wouldn't let their son watch the Dodgers clinch the NLDS?

We have been gearing up for vacation next week at lake Mojave. We will be gone from Wednesday through Sunday; Kelly just asked me if 65 diapers was enough....I suggested that we just let him run around naked and make where ever he wants....she disagreed.

I'm sure we'll have a fun post after that....and by fun I mean it could be the post in which I explain how we will never take him on another vacation again in his life. In the meantime, here's a little video. Nothing big...just a little chit-chat with the man.

Fun Facts:

• We are now bathing Zach nightly and have moved his bath from the sink, to the actual tub, which saves about 1.5 gallons of water from being splashed onto the counter each night.
• Zach rolled half-way over this morning, from his stomach to his back...Kelly was mad when I almost forgot to tell her because I didn't think it was any big deal.
• He talks to inanimate objects mostly; fans, shutters, leaves...he is constantly confused as to why they don't answer him when he asks them questions.

-pf

That's the last time you put a knife in me, hear me?

So Zach is two months old...wow that was fast.

Unfortunately for him, two months translates to "baby's first shots." We visited the doctor in the morning, as that is usually "happy Zach" time so we figured it would help ease the pain....you know....like giving an inmate ice cream before the electric chair. He did pretty good considering they gave him a few different shots along with a yucky oral medicine. I think the extra padding in his thunder-thighs helped him (see exhibit A below). He slept the rest of the day, which was most likely helped by the Tylenol we gave him.

He chose Peanuts band-aids because he thought they looked cool.

We have been giving him baths every night to help calm him down after his intense days of sleeping and eating. He LOVES the water. He also loves splashing as much of it as possible out of the bath and onto the sink, floor, or his mom and dad. After the baths we have been swaddling and rocking him and reading bedtime stories. That sort of helps...but he usually falls asleep for the night about an hour after that nightly procedure.

He stares at himself in the mirror during bath-time. Soooo vain...

In social news, Zach is still enjoying his Friday music classes. He is the only boy, so he gets lots of attention. We have had a few more visitors over to the house recently. Kelly and Chris came by with Blake to visit. Unfortunately, I wasn't home, but I heard Blake loved the house.

Blake is my cousin, once removed and Zach's second cousin...let's just call them cousins...and now the word cousin has lost all meaning to me.........cousin

Last weekend we (Kelly, Zach, Token and Peter) took a walk to the big park which is a couple miles away to visit with Mary and Molly.

The other pictures in my Picasa album are really cute...this is cute too...but just not AS cute

The 30th was our four-year wedding anniversary so on Saturday night, Nonie and Papa took care of Zach while Kelly and I got to go out on a date. We talked about a lot of different topics that we don't normally get to discuss: Zach's clothes, Zach's behavior, Zach's sleeping habits, Zach, etc.

Today when we picked him up, we brought his swim outfit that Penny got him and we went for his first dip in the spa.

Yeah that's right, he's cool, big whoop, wanna fight about it?

Zach: A Total State of Zen

He loved to splash around in the spa and his kicking technique was flawless. We are sure he will be swimming in another two months...or so...

Fun Facts:

• Kelly thinks he is teething already because he is sucking his hands and drooling. I'm not convinced.
• Zach is officially 14lbs 10oz....that's the 92nd percentile in weight. He is also officially 23 1/2 inches long which is the 67th percentile in height.
• He has had a couple 5 hour stretches during the night, and one glorious evening, he slept for 6 hours straight...of course we didn't because we were checking him all night to make sure he was ok.
  

-pf

Buckle up bonehead, cause you're goin' for a ride!

Well since it's been SOOOoooo long (two weeks) since the last post and SOOOoooo many people (one person) complained that they don't know what's going on in Zach's life, here's a quick (long) update:

Zach has been a ramblin' man over the last couple weeks. He's been to visit the Grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles, friends, AND he had his first day of school last Friday!

While I was out of town on Tanner's bachelor party having a fun time, Zach and Kelly stayed at Nonie and Papa's for the weekend. We learned a few things:

1. 35 diapers is not enough for an extended Friday - Monday weekend.
2. Zach seems to be aware of his surroundings because he gets a little wired when we are not at home for extended periods of time.
3. Kelly is not allowed to eat Panda Express or Chipotle while breastfeeding any more...."if you eat Panda or Chipotle and breastfeed, you're gonna have a bad time."
   

Stephanie came over to meet Zach

Kathy (Stephanie's mom) also met Zach (she's known Kelly since Mommy-and-Me...Kelly's mommy-and-me)

Also, while I was out of town, mommy and baby went over to the Runyon's to watch USC beat Ohio State. (Zach was wearing Buckeyes colors so needless to say, he was disappointed for the rest of the weekend...however, while he was at the house Ohio State was up so he may have been their good-luck charm.)

Sue and Jeanette met Zach for the first time

Stephanie met Zach thought he was hot...as in temperature hot, so she handed him off to...

... Samantha, who had of course met Zach before, but he was happy to sleep on her shoulder for a while.

Tiffany posed with him in front of the banner to help make it clear which team he wanted to root for.

Later that weekend, Kel and Z-man went over to Grandpa's for a family barbecue. I was bummed that I wasn't there (mostly because at that exact moment I lost $30 to the Carnival casino, regardless of the fact that I had drawn a 20 off of a double down...it only got worse from there)

Trish-the-dish meeting Zach-Attack

Cousin Tricia, Aunt Patty, Son Zachary, Uncle Randy and Cousin Daniel

Auntie Robin, visiting from N.C., loving on Zachary in his super style Ralph Lauren outfit

The week was pretty standard-issue. Except for the big "first day of school" for Zachy....technically it was the first day of mommy-child music play time, but it's a type of school...

There aren't any pictures, so you will just have to imagine the cuteness that ensued. Kelly said he had a great time listening to music, playing with rattle drums and blowing bubbles...REAL bubbles too!, not just the standard spit kind that he's used to. Also, the ever alert Zachary was caught snoring during the "hello how are you?" song and the teacher had to stop in the middle because of the volume...although she didn't stop because she was mad, she "just wanted to listen because it was so cute." I wasn't there so I have no way of knowing whether or not that is true, but I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that it was, in fact, cute.

That same night was Rosh Hashanah so we got to go over to Scott and Hadar's to see all the aunts, uncles and cousins. Zach had his collar popped and was in "chillin" mode, so we had a great time.

Pop, lock and drop it

Saturday was a relaxing day and Zach and his dad stayed home and watch football and movies while mom went to Sarah's wedding shower.

Today's pretty much of the same but we got some visitors.

Christine, just back from her honeymoon, came over with...

...Victoria, who is one of two followers of this blog, and had lunch with us and...

...Katie...........who held Zach and smiled for the camera.

We also gave Zach a bath during their visit and afterwords he was happy and excited as usual;

Zach: Happy and Excited

Finally, here is some happy-smiley-laughy video of Zach in the morning:

He tends to be much more alert and happy in the morning....at least someone's getting enough sleep.

Fun Facts:

• We both think there's something wrong with the scale...is it possible that he weighs 16 lbs already? His two-month appointment is coming soon so we'll find out.
  
• He is just about 5 minutes away from officially growing out of his 3 month sized clothes...I think we have a big baby.

-pf