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

Lou, give me a milk.....chocolate

So I noticed in the comments section of the last blog that someone complained about the lack of posts in this busy time. Let's call her "Katie H."....no that's too obvious...let's just say "K. Hardin" wants to know what's been going on. Well, to quench her undying thirst for family-blogging awesomeness, here's what's been happening in the life of a boy named Zach: Debbie, Kathy, Kathie, and Cathi threw Zach a "Welcome Baby" Shower. Kelly and Zach attended. I went to see District 9. It was awesome. (The movie, not the shower...actually the shower was awesome too, but I wasn't there to be able to testify to that....however, I heard from reliable sources that it was indeed awesome) Zach got a bunch of cool new clothes, a wipe warmer (for those oh-so-cold late-night diaper changes), a swing, and a Baby Einstein jumper....not sure how jumping will make Zach more like Einstein, but who am I to question a multi-national corporation?

The Kathys and the Debbie (and Kel and Zach)

 
Here is Dani with Zach and Kelly. The big pin Kelly is wearing is one of two terrible(ly cute) pictures of Zachary that everyone at the party got.

Also, we got a dinner visit from Scott and Jenny.

Jenny looks like a real natural and Scott looks like a real....great guy.

We were really happy to have them over to meet Zach for the first time, and to see our house, also for the first time...Scott you have to remind me of the name of the wine you brought. Kelly and I both liked it and want more.

Last weekend, we celebrated Uncle Bob's birthday at Jennifer and Andy's house with all the cousins. Zach was great as usual and was held by most of the family (including some of the bigger kids)

78 takes and that was the best one...

And finally, here is a shot of "post-bath Zach" in his classy, 400 thread-count robe. He is really enjoying bath time. His favorite part is waiting until right after the bath to potty on himself when he's getting dried off.

"I coulda been a contenda"

Fun Facts:

• Zach slept for 5 hours straight one night this week thanks to Katie's amazing bottle feeding skills...he was so excited about it, that he didn't sleep longer than 3 hours in a row for the rest of the week.
• Sunday night Kelly and I attended our 10 year High School reunion. We had a great time and like the rest of the people there, can't believe we have been out of high school for 10 years already. Grandma and Grandpa (and Kirie, Steph and Chloe) babysat.
• Zach is doing a lot of talking, read: "making funny noises", and smiling. Still mostly due to gas, but we're definitely getting somewhere. He was fascinated by great-grandpa Jack this morning...he was smiling and yelling at him. Pretty soon, I'm sure we will be able to catch some good video of him.
  

-pf