Just a quick video from one of our family Sunday mornings.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAVEY

In honor of Uncle Dave's birthday, Zach wanted to make him a "Happy Birthday" video. Here it is for everyone to see!

Every time I think about blogging something comes up and I never get around to doing it. Such is like with a toddler, I guess!

So much has been happening in Zach's life lately! He's been picking up words left and right and has become quite the little helper when it comes to putting the dishes in the dishwasher, doing laundry and cleaning up his toys.

It still blows me away at how quickly he's developing. Just this morning I downloaded new apps for my (er... Zach's) iPad. One of them is a memory game - you know, where you have to find the matching items even though the cards are overturned? I thought it'd be fun for Zach to tap the cards to see what the things are but within an hour of playing with it, he figured out he was supposed to match the items and can even beat a few of the levels without help!

In other news he's learning to climb and, if let to his own devices, will often climb into the bath tub (fully dressed or not). He also loves to dance and has been dubbed a "dancing machine" at daycare. He now loves the Baby Dance DVD he got from his Great Aunt Anita. His favorite dance is the freeze dance, where everyone stops dancing when the music stops. He dances along and giggles when everyone freezes.

Zach still isn't the biggest fan of daycare, but he's getting better and seems to really enjoy spending time with Ms. Jessie, his teacher. Below are some of the artworks he's made at daycare.

Hello, sunshine!

We arrived in Florida at about midnight Saturday morning. Zach had an eventful airplane ride -- threw up all over himself and Mommy about 20 minutes into the flight and spent the rest of the ride dressed in one of Auntie Carly's shirt. He was fussy until we started to descend, then zonked out.

Luckily the puking was the only negative of the flight. His ears didn't seem to bother him much -- he was diagnosed with a double ear infection less than 24 hours before take off. Yikes!

We spent the first day at the beach and it was obvious Zach was having a blast. The water was cold, but the beach itself proved to be enough entertainment for my little Monkeypants.

Modeling 101

Open this week’s New Richmond News and what do you see? The cutest toddler ever on page 5C!

Whenever I walk into the elementary schools in New Richmond, kids ham it up in an attempt to get in the paper. I guess that’s one of Zach’s perk for having a reporter for a mommy.

The game's in our blood and our blood's in the game

Although I never played, I've always loved hockey. I went to endless games with my girlfriend and didn't miss a high school state tournament until I was in college.

We've already decided that Zach will play. I bought his first pair of skates before he was even born.

Last summer, while working on a house, Dave (my brother) came across a couple little hockey sticks that were being thrown out. He saved them for Zach -- and it's a good thing he did.

You can never start too early, right?

Happy Halloween!

So it's a bit late and if you're on Facebook, you probably saw it already... but here's Zach's first year trick-or-treating!

For those who don't know the story, my siblings and I were all cookie monster when we were kids. My mom made the Halloween costume and it was freaking adorable -- then she sold it at a garage sale.

I've been giving her crap for years, so she went out and bought some blue fur fabric and crafted this one just in time for Zach's first trick-or-treating experience. I'm just a little biased, but man, was he cute!!

So I messed up in my last post and meant to post the above video to demonstrate Zach's love for making noise. Oops.

We're all prepping for Zach's second Halloween. This week has been filled with pirate attire and fun Halloween books. Today, we're headed to a pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins!

Check back next week to see Cookie Monster in action!

Cap'n Spooky's Pirate Academy

"Surrender Yer Candy!"

Awwww, blankie

When Zach was born, I got him an adorable little robot that I thought would soon become his “lovie,” the item he attaches himself to and can’t do without. Instead, when he was about 10 months old, he fell in love with a brown ABC blanket he got from my cousin, Katie.

It’s great. It allows him to sleep wherever and he’s happy when he sees it. All the blogs I read and the advice I’ve gotten from other parents say that I should get a second blanket for months down the road when the adorable “blankie” isn’t so adorable anymore (or is lost - yikes!). The problem is that 10 months later, Target doesn’t sell the blanket anymore.

I’ve been searching blogs, consignment stores, thrift stores, and eBay for this dang blanket for months. It’s nowhere to be found.

A couple days ago I got a birthday present from my awesome sister-in-law, Amanda and BAM! There it was. Blankie #2. You should’ve seen Zach’s face. He watched me open the present and his eyes got wide as they shifted from the blanket in my hand to the one already in his hand. He immediately raced forward to claim blankie #2.

My favorite part of the whole experience was when he threw his blankie on the floor, laid down on it, saw blankie #2 and got up to go lay on that one.

THANKS AMANDA!

Below (and totally unrelated), you can experience one of Zach’s favorite things: making noise!

Too busy to blog!

It's been a long time since I last blogged. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about it. I've just been too busy! Maybe you've heard? PAUL'S GETTING MARRIED!

We have a few new videos of Zach, but they haven't been uploaded yet. Maybe I'll work on getting that done this weekend. In the meantime, enjoy the photo above. Zach has really bonded with his "blankie" (thanks Katie Maddus!) and will drag it around everywhere if you let him. Think Linus and his blanket.