Since we realized that we never have anything to do and are constantly sitting around the house getting nothing done with no real responsibilities, we got another dog during the Christmas break. His name is Butters and he is a puppy.
Here's Butters on the right...the right of the screen, not their right....they are both the same size so it's hard to explain....he's the one that's a dog.Also, since raising a puppy and a toddler simultaneously is apparently "no big deal" to mother nature, it snowed too.
Fortunately, Zach's sense of fashion was prepared for mother nature.
It's been raining a lot....I'm thinking about building an ark. The rain makes it not so fun for Zach who likes to play outside and not so fun for daddy either who now spends 2 hours bathing the dogs after long days in the rain and muddy yard/garden digging. Zach loves the dogs though and he's really good at telling them what to do, ie. "go potty toka-buyas" or "night night toka-buyas" (by the way, "Toka-Buyus" is Zach's amalgamation of "Token and Butters"...he's really good at consolidating sentences so that he doesn't have to say complete words or phrases but just a slur of nonsense that others are expected to understand...kind of like when I ask Kelly to get me dessert).
Speaking of Zach talking, he's on a roll with learning new words. He mostly repeats things he hears which means that his favorite things to say are "I said no!" "no touching" "don't bite your friends" "mommy's drawer, no touch" etc. He's pretty good about saying "Please" and "Thank you" at the right times (whether or not he actually understands why he's saying it) and he knows what to say in special situations; like in the morning when I wake him up he usually doesn't say good morning to me like I do to him but instead "mommy at wok?" or when we are ready to leave in the morning I say "let's go Zach" and he responds with "Daddy's new car yeah!" His favorite thing to say is "bye bye, see ya layer" and he will interject nouns between the bye bye ie. "bye bye big truck" or "bye bye daddy-o"
As for his walking and moving around, he's constantly getting better on his feet. He still trips and falls all the time but he can walk up big stairs now and keep his balance better than he used to. He goes to Gymboree with daddy-o on Wednesdays now and he loves to play there. He's like a dog at a dog park with too many toys around....he can't figure out what he wants to play with first, so he usually ends up spinning in circles smiling...and drooling. Gymboree is fun too because he gets to play with other kids (although I wouldn't consider what they are doing "playing" as much as accidental interaction). He loves watching Yo Gabba Gabba too when we are at home (Kelly records every episode causing frequent non-recordings of my scheduled important programming like Top Gear and Star Trek reruns) He can sing many of the songs by himself and a lot more when he's listening along to the CD in the car. He loves the dancing parts...
Our life is constantly full of new adventures. Zach is growing up, Butters is growing up, Kelly is growing up (just turned 30th) and yet somehow Peter retains that wondrous sense of youth and exuberance that has always followed him throughout his life, facing each new challenge with a thirst for adventure and a longing to strive for even more than he already is, each lofty goal accomplished and each uncharted path taken becoming yet another victory in his awe-inspiring life...he truly is a king among men. (Zach wrote that last paragraph...now back to the original author) Zach likes food:
He loves to dip things...in fact he will dip any type of food or object in any other type of food with less viscous properties. Some of his favorites include dipping hot dogs in ketchup, dipping raisin bread in milk, and dipping straws in ranch dressing (as pictured above).
He is constantly searching for new things to get into new words and sentences to impress us with and new shirts to soil with his drippings and drool. The most important thing is that it seems as if he is having fun growing into a little boy. We don't want our little dude to grow up, but at the same time, we are really excited to see him grow and mature into a person of his own.
Here's a final video taken today (which means that Zach is 20 months old) with an attempt on singing the alphabet song. He gives us the silent treatment when he knows the camera is on so sometimes we have to hide it so that he isn't afraid to cut loose:
Fun Facts:
Fortunately, Zach's sense of fashion was prepared for mother nature.It's been raining a lot....I'm thinking about building an ark. The rain makes it not so fun for Zach who likes to play outside and not so fun for daddy either who now spends 2 hours bathing the dogs after long days in the rain and muddy yard/garden digging. Zach loves the dogs though and he's really good at telling them what to do, ie. "go potty toka-buyas" or "night night toka-buyas" (by the way, "Toka-Buyus" is Zach's amalgamation of "Token and Butters"...he's really good at consolidating sentences so that he doesn't have to say complete words or phrases but just a slur of nonsense that others are expected to understand...kind of like when I ask Kelly to get me dessert).
Speaking of Zach talking, he's on a roll with learning new words. He mostly repeats things he hears which means that his favorite things to say are "I said no!" "no touching" "don't bite your friends" "mommy's drawer, no touch" etc. He's pretty good about saying "Please" and "Thank you" at the right times (whether or not he actually understands why he's saying it) and he knows what to say in special situations; like in the morning when I wake him up he usually doesn't say good morning to me like I do to him but instead "mommy at wok?" or when we are ready to leave in the morning I say "let's go Zach" and he responds with "Daddy's new car yeah!" His favorite thing to say is "bye bye, see ya layer" and he will interject nouns between the bye bye ie. "bye bye big truck" or "bye bye daddy-o"
I guess we thought putting it in black and white would give it some kind of Wonder Years feel....maybe I should speed it up 20% and put some Byrds music in the background.
As for his walking and moving around, he's constantly getting better on his feet. He still trips and falls all the time but he can walk up big stairs now and keep his balance better than he used to. He goes to Gymboree with daddy-o on Wednesdays now and he loves to play there. He's like a dog at a dog park with too many toys around....he can't figure out what he wants to play with first, so he usually ends up spinning in circles smiling...and drooling. Gymboree is fun too because he gets to play with other kids (although I wouldn't consider what they are doing "playing" as much as accidental interaction). He loves watching Yo Gabba Gabba too when we are at home (Kelly records every episode causing frequent non-recordings of my scheduled important programming like Top Gear and Star Trek reruns) He can sing many of the songs by himself and a lot more when he's listening along to the CD in the car. He loves the dancing parts...
My beats aren't as solid as Biz Markie, but I think Zach still feels the flo
If you are wondering if this is more or less abusive than it appears how dare you? Zach started screaming "Attica" and it got a little out of control...I had to use excessive force.
Here's a final video taken today (which means that Zach is 20 months old) with an attempt on singing the alphabet song. He gives us the silent treatment when he knows the camera is on so sometimes we have to hide it so that he isn't afraid to cut loose:
"...Now I know my ABC's, de de be de, E, F, G." - Zach
Fun Facts:
- Zach had his first big cold and was on two separate anti-biotic prescriptions recently. He's always a real trooper though and never complains except when we clean out his nose..."bye bye booga, see ya laya"
- We read books every night before bed. His current favs include Zachary’s Zoo, Goodnight Moon, Heaven is Having You, Cool Dog School Dog, The Cranky Bear, and Peter Pan each of which he requests by name.
- His favorite foods are yogurt, edamame, rice and watermelon and his least favorites are anything besides his favorites.
- Favorite TV Shows: Yo Gabba Gabba, Wonder Pets, Handy Manny, Jacks Big Music Show, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and The Wire.
- Zach can say 100+ words now.
