Christmas 2010

 Look what Santa brought!! Best. Christmas. Ever.

Zachers had a super fun Christmas this year. His best (and only) so far. He sure is a spoiled little guy. The weekend was totally exhausting for him, but he made up for all that lost sleep on Dec. 26, when he slept in until 9 a.m. (thank God because Mommy and Daddy were also totally exhausted) and napped numerous times throughout the day.

Our Christmas weekend started Christmas Eve morning and lasted all through Christmas Day. We started the celebration at Grandma and Grandpa V-G’s, headed to church that afternoon and finished Christmas Eve at Great-Grandma Burke’s house. On Christmas morning we woke up early to play with the presents from Santa before heading over to see Grandma Burke and Duderino (that’s what my dad has dubbed himself. Does that surprise anyone?).

We’re looking forward to next Christmas when Zach MIGHT understand Santa. For now, he just wrinkles his eyebrows together when you look at him and say, “Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas!”

In non-Christmas related news, Zach and Annie continue to bond. Annie has recently discovered that if she puts up with Zach's uncontrolled arm movements, it means she can get close enough to lick his hands, which usually taste like rice cereal.

Zach’s 6 month doctor’s appointment is tomorrow. I’m pretty curious to see how much he weighs now. My scale at home read 19.4 pounds. What a big boy!

 Zach's new best friend, Sophie la Girafe
(an amazing teether that began in Paris).

Six months already...

Zachers' six month photo session was this morning. I still can't believe he's almost half a year old. Time really does fly by. When Johanna was leaving, she said "See you in June." Man, his first birthday is right around the corner! Don't worry, I'll share Johanna's stuff when we get it! She always does amazing work.

In other news, Zach has discovered his own feet. He's been obsessed with Mommy's feet for a while. He likes to watch them move back and forth when he's being rocked in the nursery. Now he likes to munch on his own - particularly when he's on the changing table or in his crib.

The Making of Zach

It took 9+ months to create him, but he came out perfect.

 

Yummy, yummy in my tummy.

It’s been a while since I posted, but that’s only because not much has been happening in the last couple weeks. The biggest news is that Zach has officially sampled his first rice cereal. It went better than expected - he didn’t totally reject it. The hardest part is figuring how much to offer to him, plus it’s such a production that you have to plan time to do it.

The first time he had the cereal, we got him set up in his Bumbo, gave him a spoon to play with so he wouldn’t reach for the one Mommy was holding, and calmly waited for him to open his mouth. When the opportunity presented itself, I jammed the spoon in his mouth and waited for the cereal to come spilling back out. I was poised and ready to catch the rejected food. When a few seconds passed and nothing came, I went for a second spoonfull - and that’s when the first came spilling out of Zach’s mouth. Apparently he was just waiting for me to let my guard down.

Overall it was pretty successful. Honestly, I think Zach was more interested in the spoon he was holding than what was being shoved in his mouth. I tried playing airplane with him, but he didn’t understand the concept... Duh. He’s a baby.

I’m sure as time goes by and we give him more and more cereal he’ll learn to open his mouth for the food. For now, we try to get him to smile so we can jam the spoonfuls in. Whatever works, I guess.

Make sure you note the serious look of concentration on my face as I try to get the spoon in his mouth!