The Growing Gax's

Mr. Independent

2012-01-30T09:29:00.003-06:00

The past couple of weekends have been so fun with our little man. He loves our weekend routine of going to the gym, playing outside, and eating out together, and so do we.

Everything is “in here” or “dere.” Like “I go dere,” “not working in here.” Just yesterday, he said “Shoe goff (shoes off) in here.” He’s repeating things he hears us say and just this morning said “Don’t do dat.” I’m thinking he’s heard that a time or two.

Last night he was even trying to repeat what my dad was saying and he was speaking in Arabic!

He is becoming Mr. Independent and doesn’t want help climbing up into his chair to eat or getting in and out of the car seat. The other day, he actually told Nick to “LET GO” when he was trying to help him. I would have been frightened if I weren’t laughing so hard!

He’s now had his first case of croup, which is highly contagious and requires immediate pick up from school. Because my mom was in Pensacola taking care of my sister’s kids, that fell on me and went something like this:

Call from the school, frantic calls to husband dad and doctor, pick up from school, bring him to office to see patients (me not him), go home get supplies (i.e. pack n play, diapers, snacks, books, etc.), get lunch (him not me), get to the doctor, eat lunch in the waiting room, get seen, get prescription, go to pharmacy and back to the office for patients (me) and nap (him). Thankfully, he slept the entire afternoon (1:30 to 4:30). By the time we got home an did the evening routine I was EXHAUSTED, like fall asleep on the couch at 8 o’clock exhausted.

Thankfully we caught that in time, and he was fine, but now he has a dry cough that’s keeping him up at night and a low-grade fever. The call should be coming anytime….

Tough Guy

2012-01-24T15:25:00.001-06:00

Numba 2

2012-01-23T10:23:00.001-06:00

This post is dedicated to baby number 2, who has proven herself to be a mystery in her mere 22 and 1/2 weeks of existence. I know I had some symptoms when I was pregnant with Z, but they were few and more importantly common, you know food aversions, nausea, fatigue, etc. And, I have had some of those with number 2, but I have also had some other less common symptoms. I attribute these strange symptoms to pregnancy because I’ve googled, and found that I’m not the only one who’s had these.

Note: you can google virtually ANYTHING with the word pregnancy and know that someone somewhere has had it too. I mean ANYTHING from crazy dreams to toenail fungus. I’m just saying.

So, my first weird symptom was also an early one and that was a nosebleed, recurring for a period of about 3 or 4 weeks. I’ve never had nosebleeds, so I blamed that on baby girl. Those stopped, then began bleeding gums, particularly one spot which stays irritated, but I’m not getting into that. Now, I’m getting tongue ulcers (weird that 2 of these are mouth related). For about a week, I have had these migrating, relatively painful ulcers on my tongue. At first, I thought it was a virus, because I noticed Z had them too, but now I’m starting to think it’s pregnancy related, why? Because I googled of course! I have also had (what I think is) sciatic nerve pain in the rear region, but thankfully that is pretty much gone.

By the way, I’m sorry if this is TMI, that’s not usually my style.

This girl is SO active. I can’t believe I didn’t even notice Z kick until around 20 weeks. I have been feeling her since at least 15, and it seems like she’s moving all day (and night). Slow down, girlfriend!

I had my first random person ask if I was pregnant at Zumba yesterday, and she said “the baby must be tired” because I was really shaking it, so yeah, it’s probably my fault. She may come out doing the merengue.

I have started to tell Z that “there’s a baby in there.” I also had to teach him to “rub Mama’s belly” otherwise, he wanted to slap it.

Changing Times

2012-01-09T11:39:00.001-06:00

Sometimes I think back to the time right before I had Z and how I thought there were things I would never be able to do again once a baby entered the picture. On the top of that list was going out to eat. We used to say, we’ll never be able to do this again, you know go to a nice restaurant eat peacefully and talk, stay out past 7 or 8 or even 9 o’clock (admittedly, that I didn’t think I would be able to do even when we were taking him out). Now, I think back to the many peaceful evenings we’ve spent at restaurants on Saturday nights the past 2 years (certainly not all peaceful) and I remember that things don’t always end up how you think they will.

We had one such evening on Saturday. My aunt and cousin are in town, so we decided to go to Bonefish Grill with them and my parents. We had to wait a few minutes, but then we were seated and we got to enjoy several courses and take our time. We were able to converse and eat our food at a normal pace. Sure I had to attend to Z, feed him fishsticks and such, and sure he had my phone about half the time, but that’s nothing to complain about. Then, we left and went to Barnes and Noble where we chatted some more, browsed magazines and books, and as long as we sat around the train table, we were able to do it all in peace. Sure I had to take him to the bathroom and change a poopy diaper on the disgusting changing table in order to keep him from the being the smelly kid at the train table, but that was really no bother either.

It actually almost felt like a pre-baby weekend outing. We even got home around 9, put Z to sleep and did another thing I never thought we’d be able to do, slept in, until almost 9 in the morning!
We’ve been able to go to the gym on the weekends. I haven’t really missed any of my TV shows, and sure we don’t go to the movies much anymore, but we still rent movies and watch them at home after Z goes to sleep. What was I so worried about?

The thing is, that I wouldn’t want all those freedoms again even if I could have them, because Z has enriched my life in ways that being able to go to the movies, or up and take a weekend trip somewhere never could. I used to wonder what my life would be like with a little person in it, and now I wonder how I lived without him for so long! All of this is to say that I am so thankful for my little man and the ability to enjoy things I used to with him because we’re a family now and that’s what families do.

Why am I reflecting on this now? Maybe because I feel many of my freedoms will be temporarily suspended again soon, in 4 and 1/2 months to be exact, when we have 2 little ones to entertain and tend to, 2 to worry about bedtimes and naps, and 2 to potentially keep us from said activities we are so fond of, but I honestly couldn’t be happier about it! (Someone remind me about this in about 5 and 1/2 months). One thing I have learned is to enjoy the moment and when things change change with them!

Speaking of BG2. She has been moving a lot lately! I felt her for the first time around 15 weeks and for the past 2 or 3 weeks it has been unmistakable! That is probably one of my most favorite things about pregnancy! It’s like a constant (sweet) reminder that your little one is in there.
Z still has no idea what’s going on, at least I don’t think so. He has been a little attached to me lately, but that’s probably just a coincidence.
We have not decided on a name, but it’s not for lack of trying. I’m sorry #2, it’s just too hard, but we’ll get it, eventually.

I have bought probably about 10 outfits, so far. It was a little hard at first, but clearly I am having no problem doing it now.

We are working on the rooms, and by working I mean discussing. Z’s gonna move upstairs to a big boy room and BG2 is taking his, which means we’ve got some painting to do, and by that I mean we’ve got to get someone to do some painting for us.

Z is such a stickler for routine that I’m afraid what this is going to do to him. Having said that, his bedtime routine has changed some over the months. He doesn’t insist on singing itsy bitsy spider in the bed anymore, but we do read a book in bed. Y’all, it’s the sweetest thing, first he sets his winnieS and Elmo up and tells them “sit bottom Winnies, sit bottom elmo,” then we read a book. Lately it has been Llama Llama Red Pajama (If you don’t have this book, get it, seriously). Right after we finish the book, he takes his friends, and says “okay Winnies, okay Elmo," and gets them and himself situated on his pillow and that’s (usually) the end of it. I love and cherish that moment so much I can’t even tell you!

The Winnies

Speaking of change, Mama’s gettin’ big!

Calling All Blog Friends

2012-01-05T09:44:00.001-06:00

As you guys know, Z has had his pictures done by the amazing Heather Swanner since he was 1 week old. It is such a treat to work with her.
She has a contest going on right now (until the 11th) for best picture of 2011, and one of Z’s pictures is part of the contest! This is my shameless plea for votes: Please please vote for him!! The winner gets a free session next year (and we’re gonna need that soon ;)
You can vote here (only once from a computer) by leaving a comment. To vote for Z, just put “#66-stop and smell the roses” in the comment line.
Thanks friends, and congrats to everyone on the list. The pictures are all amazing!

Z

2012-01-04T16:01:00.001-06:00

I took a lot of pictures of all of the kids, but of course Z got the lion’s share, so I figured I’d post a few, after all, if you’re here, you’re probably used to it. (I have also been working on PSE, mainly with the PW Actions, and loving it! I can’t wait to learn more (when I find time)), so I’m sharing a few of my favorites.

My sis brought her kids first, and Z is pretty used to having them over. Having said that, there was some fighting over toys, and I heard “MINE!” used quite a few times. We actually had to put the trampoline away because none of them ~~would~~ could share. The majority of his time was actually spent chasing or being chased around, rolling around on the floor, and playing outside. He woke up every morning and went to bed at night asking for “Ameeya and Adam.”
Then my brother’s kids came, and it was like constant entertainment for all 6 of them all the time. Z wasn’t sure which one to follow or chase or play with because there was so much to do in any given moment! He was about as happy as I’ve ever seen him. Then, he started asking for Ameeya, Adam, Tahya, Kenz, Jude, pretty much at all times.

One night he was chasing Talia around the house. Once he figured out which direction she was going, he took off with his arm out and yelled “I comin’!” which, by the way is probably my new favorite thing he says. He also says it now when he sees the moon or stars. He looks up and says, “Moon, I comin’!”
He has been trying to cope ever since they left. At least that’s what I’m going to blame his ~~tantrumy screams for no reason~~ abnormal behavior on. Coping, yeah, that sounds good. I know it’s sad for him, but it’s also great to get back into the routine.

He is talking so much, I don’t even know where to start. He says stuff like “Watch this, Mama/Baba” and “I wanna watch water” (Wipeout, his favorite show). He also mimics me a lot, even reflecting my intonation in saying “Good Job Zayd-uh!” “You DID it!'”
He can sing ABC’s, B-I-N-G-O (sounds like “B-I-Ayygeeo”), Old McDonald (Sounds like “Old D-donald” and when he gets to the animal sounds it turns to “with a moo moo here a moo moo here a moo moo here” and on and on, until I break the cycle for him, oh and Wheels on the Bus.
He’s been branching out a little more lately with food. He actually added “strawbebbies” to the fruit repertoire, previously consisting of bananas and (recently) apples. I didn’t video it this time, but I did take a picture. Hey, it’s a big deal.
He loves fries and chips, specifically barbecue, but who doesn’t? And, good Lord, he loves chocolate (Chock-it). I don’t know, maybe because my mom feeds it to him nearly constantly when she’s around him. That could be why.

He really likes traditional little boy things like trains and cars, but I think his thing is sports and sport balls. He likes watching football and basketball (the latter of which is rarely on the Gax family TV, but when it is, he likes it), and he LOVES playing with his basketball hoop that Aunt Talia and uncle John gave him for Christmas. He likes to throw footballs and about anything else he gets a whim for. We’re working on that, actually.

That’s all for now, I’m sure I’ll think of some more later.

A New Year’s to Remember

2012-01-03T14:26:00.001-06:00

I’m sure I have mentioned how rare it is that my entire family (Mom, Dad, 4 siblings, 3 spouses, and 6 kids) get together. Well, I can’t even remember the last time, it was probably before there were 6 kids. This was the year! We have been planning this long weekend reunion for a while, and were so excited when it finally came!

Especially the grandparents...

We had lots of activities planned, like opening presents:

Shopping:

Eating:

Going to the park:

And there were several unplanned activities, like dancing:

Hugging: There were enough hugs to go around (maybe a couple times).

There was friendly competition, but thankfully, everyone reconciled in the end and were all smiles.

Pregnancy #2: The First Trimester

2011-12-28T13:50:00.002-06:00

I know I have a lot of catching up to do on this pregnancy thing, kinda dropped a bomb on you guys! I am thankful that the first trimester is stowed nicely in the back of my mind and slowly phasing itself out of my memory. It was not the most fun. So, let's start at the beginning.

I found out I was pregnant the Friday we left for Ohio, and I did something I never thought I would do, took the test in secret. I not only never thought I would do that, I didn't really understand when other women did it, but now I do. Because, A: I knew I could handle the news either way, and B: I thought Nick might think I was crazy and try to stop me from taking it, because it seemed unlikely that it would be positive. Anyway, so I took it (in secret) and saw a faint line. I actually kept the secret the whole day until that evening right before we went to sleep. I think I said something along the lines of, "Want to hear something crazy?" And I spilled the beans. In an ideal world, I wanted to wait and test again when we got back and then tell him, but I couldn't stand it. I did, however take 2 more, one a different brand, which is another thing I surprised myself by doing, because I know that a positive is a positive, but I guess you just do it to convince yourself.

So, it was confirmed with a blood test at my doctor's office and in keeping with the theme of secret-keeping, we held the news pretty close for a while.

The very first symptom I noticed occurred before the actually + sign, and it was hunger. I felt really hungry and wanted fried chicken. Somehow it felt different. Anyway, that went away pretty fast and the fatigue and nausea hit at around 6 and 1/2 weeks. The nausea was bad, it was the kind of nausea that is not relieved by anything. I even woke up in the middle of the night a few times with it. I never got sick, but it was definitely worse than with Z. Nick bought me some ginger pills from whole foods (Morning Sickness Bliss or something like that), and that actually took the edge off a little. I was really worried because we were going to Nashville in the height of my sickness. Somehow, though it got a lot better on that trip and never really returned at least not with the vengeance it had carried before (if you're calculating that's about 2 and 1/2 weeks of sickness, which I'm thankful for because I know it could have lasted much longer).

The other symptom that comes to mind is indigestion/reflux. Not much to say about that except, man it ~~sucked~~ is still going. Sometimes it has been so intense that it makes me feel nauseated. THAT I do NOT remember having with Z.

I had a little progesterone level scare in the very beginning, so I had to get blood drawn quite frequently. That meant lots of ~~excuses for why I needed help with Z~~ appointments. I'm super thankful that that's all over, and everything is looking good now (that's an understatement)!

Here are the pics from first trimester

The second picture is about 9 weeks.

Stay tuned, there's more to come.

Christmas

2011-12-27T08:49:00.000-06:00

I haven't had a chance to upload all my pics, but I managed to get this one up of Z and what was possibly his favorite (albeit, a last minute surprise from Santa Gaxiola) toy that he received this year!

Hope everyone had a great one! We sure did, and the fun is just beginning!

Happy Everything!

2011-12-24T12:10:00.003-06:00

From The Gaxiola's!

Christmas Break Part 1

2011-12-24T12:06:00.001-06:00

So, we've had some excitement around here the past few days, I'm not even sure where to start! I was supposed to have my big gender reveal ultrasound next Tuesday, but my dad used his connections to get me one in Sylacauga. I mean I've waited long enough already! So, Nick and I both took Thursday off and drove down, and we arrived just in time to have (a big) lunch at the hospital with dad. Then we went to the house, put Z down and drove back into town (in the pouring rain) for the ultrasound. The doctor's office was closed, so we were the only ones in there, VIP style.

I had decided to make 2 sets of cake balls for the reveal, one blue on the inside and one pink and have the tech place the picture in the corresponding bag and seal it up. I wanted us to all find out at the same time. So, after a full hour of looking at our little sweetie, we headed home with our cake balls. We all got one out, took a bite, and they were PINK!

*excuse the roughness, that would be due to aforementioned pouring rain

I am first and foremost so thankful that the little bean is growing normally and healthily, and THRILLED it's a girl! After all, I have been suppressing my desire to look at hair bows and dresses for over 2 years now!

The funny thing is that I am in disbelief that it really is a girl. I tried to buy her a little dress for Christmas next year, and I couldn't do it, because I couldn't see a child of mine wearing a dress. I'm sure I will get over that soon!

We spent the night and had a nice big breakfast, came home rested and headed to Zoolight Safari! It was really nice, and Z was darting off in different directions the whole time. It was kind of exhausting, but I'm glad we did it.

After ~~chasing after Z~~ seeing the sights, we were pretty hungry, so we went to Brio for dinner. Besides Z tossing a couple of crayons and pieces of chicken across the restaurant, it was a successful dinner venture. I saw that Santa was upstairs at Brookwood Mall, so we went in to give it a shot. Z was stuck to Nick for a bit, but he was okay, until we suggested he go see Santa, then he ran away screaming "noooo!" We figured, best not to push it.

This morning, we let him open one of his presents from Nana and Tata (a.k.a. Santa) an Elmo guitar. He loves it!

Can't wait to see him in the morning when he opens all of his presents and sees his stocking!

It's a...

2011-12-24T08:53:00.000-06:00

The Signs

2011-12-19T13:59:00.000-06:00

Well, some of you may have seen the signs, but in case you haven't, here is a clear one!

Yes, we are expecting! Due May 24, 2012!

Stay tuned for more details and pretty much all you ever wanted to know and everything you don't want to hear about too.

Atlanta Anniversary

2011-12-19T09:16:00.002-06:00

This weekend we went to Atlanta for our 5th anniversary, which was on December 16. Nana and Tata graciously came to watch Z, so we could have the weekend to ourselves. We left Friday morning and went straight to our hotel where we found this.

Hmm... What happened here? I guess it's just proof that you can never really leave your child. There will always be something there to remind you. Of course, the bedding here is pink, which still left me confused. After profuse apologies and about 3 nice people, the baby bed (and accoutrements were removed) and we were back to our adults only weekend.

The first thing I did was take a nap, and Nick worked out. That night had a wonderful dinner at Fogo de Chao, a Brazilian steakhouse where waiters bring endless supplies of delicious meat along with a fresh salad bar with veggies and cheeses. It was fantastic. Then we went to The Nutcracker at the Fox Theater, which was great but also littered with small children.

The next day was all about shopping. Well, really browsing, because we didn't end up getting that much. We had some great salespeople who were giving us restaurant recommendations and cracking jokes with us, and we had some weird ones, like the guy who asked Nick "Why would you spray cologne on your clothes?" Obviously, we didn't buy any cologne from him...

That night we had Thai food at this great little local spot call Little Bangkok and went to a movie. I ate so much, I got a little ill, but it was worth it.

It was so nice to get away 'just because.' I am so grateful to Nick's parents for keeping Z so we could enjoy some time together. Sometimes it seems like we only talk about family or work, and it gave us a chance to talk about everything and nothing. I know, that sounds crazy, but I appreciated that.

Z had a big time back home with Nana and Tata. He got to open some of his presents early, including a basketball hoop that Aunt Talia got him. I know I am clearly a biased parent, but he was good with that thing. He already impressed us with his dribbling skills when we got him a basketball in Nashville, but with the hoop, he was shooting and scoring repeatedly, with good form. I'm just saying...

Doesn't he look relaxed?? He doesn't have a care in the world!

Overdue Update

2011-12-12T10:15:00.000-06:00

So, what have we been up to these days? Well, we are drinking out of a cup pretty regularly (at least with meals).

Having some fun with accessories

And talking up a storm! Z is very curious and asks, "what's that?" quite regularly. When you tell him, he usually repeats it pretty well and also remembers it the next time you ask. For example, Nick taught him "money" one morning and by the end of the day when he asked what it was Z knew.

We are definitely in a ~~holding pattern~~ routine when it comes to Z. He wakes up between 7 and 7:30 gets dressed and eats a little breakfast, usually dry cereal or a waffle. He sits in his booster and watches stuff on the iPad. Nick takes him to school and I pick him up. On the way to school, they usually listen to toddler tunes, and on the way home we look for "peece cars, ambances, fiyer trucks," and any other interesting vehicle that might be driving down 280. When we get home, he's back in the booster with the iPad eating some combination of chicken nuggets, fish sticks, cheese, yogurt, raisins, Chef Boyardee (a recent addition), and occasionally finishes the meal off with fruit snacks (nacks).

Then we play a little. The other night we put Wipeout on for him. He loves that show! And, the past few nights we "toss around the football." I know my child is 2, and I'm totally ~~ridiculous~~ biased but the kid has an arm on him! We have also begun a tradition where we read a book while he's in bed, then sing Itsy Bitsy Spider while doing the hand motions with his Winnies (yes, there are 2 now) and he sings along. He usually picks up one of his 2 elmos (one is miniature) and does the hand motions with us.

On the weekend, we'll take him to the park, out to eat, and spend time "dow-stairs," which is where his train table is located. He loves playing downstairs!

There are so many things that have happened lately that I have wanted to document that I can't even think of them all. He is so lovable and free with the kisses and hugs. He even kisses the phone during facetime with grandparents (believe me, I take full advantage of that). We feel so blessed and thankful to have such a precious little boy in our lives!

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-28T10:12:00.001-06:00

My fam always spends Thanksgiving in Pensacola, but since things have been so busy lately, we decided to stay home and have Thanksgiving with just us (and my brother). I love this time of year, I love the days off, the eating, music, shopping, basically everything. And, I am so thankful for the many blessings in my life.

We planned our Thanksgiving menu about a week ahead of time and got about half of it on Sunday. I was off Wednesday and Z's school was open (score), so I was able to go get the other half of our ingredients then. It wasn't until about 4 that we realized we didn't have dinner for that night, so I went back to Publix Wednesday evening (with Z) and picked up the ingredients for baked ziti. That was not so fun, but the ziti was great, and even Z ate it (which is rare). Nick had bought Skyrim for the Xbox and he surprised me with a Nintendo 3DS, which I now am thinking was a distraction for me so he and Faris could play Skyrim for hours at a time and I would be occupied. But, I appreciated it, and I played my share. We were trying to recreate Thanksgiving 2 years ago because we played a lot of Mario and Z slept though the night for the first time. It was marvelous, and I think we came really close.

So, on Thursday morning, I made a monkey bread recipe that I saw on Pinterest and Nick started on the (15 lb.) turkey around 12. It was supposed to be fresh, but we found out that the inside was a little frozen. Nick had to run hot water through it, but eventually got it ready, stuffed it and put it in. Well, I think we underestimated how long it would take it to reach the correct temperature, and how long it would take to make the 5 sides we wanted when they could only go in one at a time, because we didn't get to eat until almost 8 o'clock! And, even then, we had to cut the turkey off the top and sides because the insides weren't done. There was going to be no more waiting, because we were all getting a little testy by that point, but it turned out great and oddly enough, it didn't take much for us to get really full. We had pumpkin pie (frozen) and banana pudding (homemade, thankyouverymuch) for dessert. They were delicious!

After we ate and cleaned up, Nick and Faris played 'the game,' I fell asleep, and before we knew it it was midnight. I suggested they get out and get into the Black Friday madness because they were already up, and they probably would spend the rest of the night playing that stupid game if they didn't get up and go do something. They went to the Target/Best Buy/Game Stop area, and found that apparently people were not in the Christmas spirit. Nonetheless, Nick found a good deal on a TV and bought himself the Nintendo 3BS Zelda version (I'm not kidding, people). I totally approved both purchases.

He still got up at a decent hour and we did drop 'n go at the Y for Z and did more shopping at the Summit. Although we didn't really buy anything, it was nice to get out by ourselves. Then we went out that night to the Galleria while Faris ~~played Skyrim~~ stayed with sleeping Z. Speaking of sleeping Z, he slept great the whole weekend! He went to bed around 7:30, woke up at 8, took great naps and was generally a pleasant little Thanksgiving companion! We got a lot of sleep too (at least I did). I finally ~~ripped the boys away from 'the game'~~ got to start decorating the house on Saturday. We watched the Iron Bowl while we trimmed the tree, and Z actually helped.

All in all, it was a great weekend! We enjoyed the quiet before my WHOLE FAMILY will be here during Christmas and New Year's! We haven't all been together in SO LONG, and I can't wait, but I can tell you one thing, quiet it will not be. (Hopefully, I will take more pictures then, too).

Four Letter Word

2011-11-17T14:24:00.001-06:00

Lately we have been hearing a lot of a certain 4 letter word around our house. The S-word? The F-word? No, the M-word: "MINE." Typically considered a harmless word, when utter uttered no less than 74,000 times a day, this word becomes infuriating! I'm not even going to speculate on where he might have learned this forceful exclamation of possession (a girl in his class), but I'm just going to say that I don't like it. And, I don't really know what to do about it either.

I understand that possession, i.e. Mama's pants, Baba's shoes, Zaydo's milk is an important concept to grasp, but geez does it have to be "My i-pag!, My Chee-O's!, My choo choo tain! My hair!, My nose!?" My nose? I mean, I'm not trying to take it from him or claim that it belongs to me! He usually takes claim of a body part when I am messing with it or cleaning it. I have been trying to combat it by saying, "No Zayd, we share!" Then he smiles sweetly and says "Share!" Sometimes, he'll hand it back to you, sometimes, he won't. Probably doesn't get it, but maybe one day that will stick.

You know, I just don't want him to become entitled and think he has a right to have anything and everything and that it all belongs to him. I guess the possession stage is just that, a stage. Hopefully, it will pass and we will learn something from it.

The other day he threw something (another ongoing problem), and I looked at him and said "Zaydd!" And he paused, looked down, then back up at me and exclaimed "TineOUT!" I said "that's right," then he said "go!" and he went. I had to stop myself from laughing. We have a designated little corner that he stands in for about 15 seconds then he runs back in for a hug and forgiveness. Again, not real sure how effective our method is, but it seems to be working for now.

Also, in preparation for potty training and so he won't be freaked out by poop, I tell him "Good job, Zayd!" when he poops. Well, now when I'm changing him he says "Good job, Zayd, poopoo." He also tells himself good job when he climbs into his chair by himself. He also, says "Aw, sweet" when he hugs you. He is becoming the great imitator.

I have not even picked up my camera in about 2 weeks. Sorry, but I'll get back to it soon.

Things, Lately

2011-11-10T11:44:00.002-06:00

Well, things lately have been busy! I know I know everyone is busy, it's annoying and a bit cliche, but it's true! Nick and I have both been swamped at work (you know when my blogging is reduced that my work is increased), and to top it off Z was sick this week, the horror. No really, when Z is sick it's like a major family crisis, all family members are involved!

He woke up Monday with a fever of 100.8. We considered that low-grade, motrined him up and sent him to school. Don't judge me, we had no choice! My mom was out of town, and we both had mucho going on at work. Well, imagine my surprise when I got a call at 3 that Z had a fever (this time 102.9), dang it! In my defense, you know he got it from one of those children who's parents did the same thing we had to do. Yeah, I know not much of a defense. We're bad people, just get it out of your system.

So, I had to quickly finish up here, and run over to school Motrin in hand to rescue my sick baby. He was pitiful, pitiful I tell you! His cheeks were on fire, eyes red with dark circles around them and mopey as could be. It was sad. We decided it was a sore throat because he kept covering his mouth and saying/whining "mouthhhh."

Thankfully, I got to bring him straight home and snuggle with him, and he spent the next day with Nunna at our house. He was over it by Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. Thank you Lord!

Now onto other things, the time change really messed us up. I, for one, think the government shouldn't mess with the time. I mean, seems a little out of their pay grade if you ask me. Z went to bed earlier to correspond with a normal time, but woke up in the middle of the night, crying you ask, no, singing. I'm serious, the child sang songs at 3 in the morning. In my half-dazed state, I could make out "twinkle twinkle" and "all aboard the choo choo train" (a favorite tune of his). We rarely, and I mean rarely go in there anymore, I mean he has to be crying like full on for more than a few minutes, and he really doesn't do that. Clearly, if he were ever going to, then Sunday night should've been it, because the next morning was when he had the fever. Would the singing have clued any of you in? Didn't think so....

We usually hear him singing or talking to himself in the morning too, and that's how we know he's up. I can't believe it, but he hasn't made his way out of the crib yet. We are planning on converting it to a toddler bed soon, but I have to admit the sense of urgency is just not there since he hasn't figured out/gotten the nerve to climb out, yet. I do, however feel it could be any day now.

He cracks himself and us up on a daily basis with his funny words and faces. He's really super lovable (most of the time, I mean, everyone has their moments right). We are disciplining with timeout, which is only effective sometimes. He also sends himself to timeout on occasion. Whenever he gets into something he shouldn't or spills something, he says "Zaaaayda!" Which is exactly how I say it. So, I do think he understands when he does something wrong.

We now have the routine of reading a book to him while he's in bed. It is usually The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which he has basically memorized. Then, we have to sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" while puppeting the hand motions on his 2 winnie the pooh's, and he joins in with his elmo. Then, he lays right down and knows it's time. That's not to say that he doesn't cry sometimes or stay up playing, but usually he knows that the routine means it's time to sleep.

Some funny things he's saying lately are
fire truck, which sounds like "a fiyer teee-RUCK"
"How 'bout??" then he fills in the blank with a food or song or animal he wants to make the sound to
When he hands you something, he says "Cake you, ya welcome"
He calls the TV, "teebee" and when he doesn't like something that's on, he says "no, no teebee"
He loves to request a show, then when it starts, he says no to it. We did this about 10 times when he was home sick.
He loves going downstairs and upstairs for that matter. We have taught him to go down the stairs on his bottom, so he goes to the basement door and sits on his bottom and waits for you to come open the door and go down with him. Of course, we have to go down on our bottoms too.

Sorry, no pictures in this post, I'm running out of room!

Trick or Treat!

2011-11-02T09:06:00.002-05:00

We were so excited to take Z trick or treating this year. We were out of town during Halloween weekend last year, besides the fact he was only 1, so we missed it, but we weren't going to miss it again this year. We loaded him up in the wagon and headed over to the street one over from ours, that where all the action takes place, because it's the flattest and the longest.

Z loves "canny" and "chocate," but I wasn't sure if he would get the whole concept of trick or treating. I think he got it by the end, because he was saying "more, more canny's."

Don't you love how many uses we've gotten out of this Thomas outfit? I know I do!

Our very first house.

He was loving the big spiders on this house

Going through the loot

He just gave these tootsie pops one lick, then he was on to the next. I think Z's first trick or treat adventure was definitely a success!

In other news, I had my first EVER trick or treaters! We left a bowl of candy when we went, but then when we got back we had some musketeers and superheros ring the doorbell and much to my delight shout "trick or treat!" My heart smiled!

We never had any trick or treaters growing up because of where we lived, and Nick and I lived in a condo when we got married, so it has been my dream to hand out candy and it was fulfilled this year!!

"Kunkin" Patch

2011-10-31T13:58:00.001-05:00

Ever since the first pumpkin I pointed out to Z (in Walgreens, I think), he has loved them. He rarely lets a pumpkin pass him by without pointing it out. Of course, he calls them "Kunkins." While we missed out on the pumpkin patch adventure last year, I knew it would be a must for this year. We actually went on the last day it was open, but we still made it!
We were excited to join Miss MM and her parents. BTW, these first 3 pics were taken (and edited) by MM's mom. I love them!

Good thing MM's daddy was gone by the time this happened ;)

Between the animals, the hayrides, and the pumpkins, Z had an awesome time! We can't wait to take him trick or treating tonight!

Boo at the Zoo

2011-10-25T15:23:00.002-05:00

Last Friday night we took Z to Boo at the Zoo. First, I would like to say that this time of the year is the best for little ones. I was pretty exhausted from a long week of work as was the hubs, but we rallied for Z. I knew if we didn't make time for it, it would never happen.

I brought Z to Nick's office to pick him up and have Z change into his costume. We made the rounds, and he was in a friendly mood. He kept showing everyone his "choo choo tain."

What else can you do with a bowl full of gem clips just within your reach? (does anyone even say gem clip anymore?)

Straight from 'Sodor'

We got to the zoo around 5:40 and the crowds were already in full force.

So, we rode the carousel... backwards, made me motion sick, but Z liked it

Walked to the petting zoo

Talked to the animals

Had a dance party

No really, y'all should have seen this kid. He was dancing up a storm in the kiddie night club they had going on. That was the highlight of the evening!

We played some games, most of which entailed throwing, which made them big hits with Z! We went on a hay ride, went trick or treating, ate sweet tarts and bottle caps until our teeth hurt, and looked at all the lights.

We attempted to ride the train, but 40,000 people had the same idea at that moment, so we called it a night. We left at 8:00! It was a big night for the Gax's!

Nashville

2011-10-18T08:18:00.000-05:00

As a Vandy grad, Nick hold a special place in his heart for Nashville. Never can we talk about or visit Nashville without love and nostalgia filling his heart. We are lucky to live so close, and we try to go periodically just for him to get his fill and then we can turn around and come on home to Birmingham. This past weekend was one of those. He and his college friends (and spouses) had a reunion of sorts. And this time, the babies joined in the fun (well, not all of it). Nana and Tata drove down from Ohio to help with Z (which was so generous!). So, we got to enjoy the best of both worlds! We were soooo lucky!

We arrived Friday afternoon and all three of us took a nap. Z exhibited a newly learned skill: climbing out of the pack 'n play, which was totally weird, because he sat in there for a while, then right before I went into our room (we stayed in a rental home), he opened the door and walked out into the hall. So with some gently back rubbing, he went right to sleep and didn't do that again (that day). Then, we got up and met Nana and Tata at Dragon Park. Between the giant dragon and the really cool tunnel, he was having the best time. We left and went to the store, where he proceeded to shout "Gah-goot!" the whole time he was there. So, we made sure to get him some yogurt and feed it to him when we got home. Side note, he started saying "I WANT IT!" after he asks for something, like "milk?" "I WANT IT!" Sheesh, demanding much?! Anyway, here are the park pics.

He was pretty exhausted after all the fun, so he ate and we left him to go to dinner. We had sooo much fun at dinner! We had the whole back room of the Sunset Grill, which is a favorite of the Vandy crew, and it was so fun catching up with everybody and having a break from the little ones! Saturday, we got up (took Z for a haircut, which was badly needed as you can tell), and went to brunch at one of the guy's parent's house to meet up with everyone and babies! It was awesome to see them together! We had a blast and got this great group pic!

That afternoon we went to tailgate for a bit and to the Vandy/GA game. Because of our "connections," a.k.a. 2 former players (the 2 guys on the far right of the pic), we were on the 50 yard line in the FIRST ROW! Now, Vandy stadium is not that big, but it was still pretty awesome. They didn't pull out the win, but it was an exciting game nonetheless. Meanwhile, Z went back to the park and got popsicles at Las Paletas with Nana and Tata. We went "out" that night, which is exceedingly rare, but we had an awesome time!

On Sunday, we hung out on Vandy's campus, so Nick could fill up on said love and nostalgia and got some great pics of Z who was loving roaming freely with us and Nana and Tata.

Two Year Check-up?

2011-10-13T10:36:00.000-05:00

This week Z had his two year check up, which was an odd even for several reasons. Let's start at the beginning.

I first had to strip him down to his diaper, pretty routine, and anyway, what kid doesn't like being naked?

Then the nurse came in she asked, "So are we sleeping well through the night?"

"Yes, sleeping great!" I reply as she is notating diligently on her clipboard.

"Okay, are we on any medication?"

"Nope, HE'S not on any medication." (annoying)

Then she proceeded to weigh and measure him. She wrote the info on a sheet of paper and handed it to me and said something to the effect of: Here you go, you can keep this is for your baby book.

"Oh thanks." (I immediately notice she wrote his weight down in both the height and weight spaces, honest mistake, no biggie, I'll get the info from the doctor)

"Okay, so are we sleeping well?"

"Yes" (very confused)

"Any medications?"

Seriously?
"No"

"Drinking out of a sippy cup?"

"Yes, drinking out a sippy cup" (for a year now)

Then she asks "are we eating table food." What? Table food? I mean he's 2, what kind of question is that?

"Yes"

(I swear I'm not making this up)

"Sippy cup?"

"Yes!" Oh my God, are we in the same room? What is going on here?

The doctor comes in (asks basically the same questions), making me wonder three things:

1. What the HECK was the nurse writing down?
2. Why have I not been much more concerned about how Z eats, drinks, and sleeps, because these are clearly the most important elements of toddlerhood?
3. Why am I here?

Then, she says we have to re-measure his head (what?). She didn't say why, so I thought, great, either she can't believe that Z's head is that big or that small. I really don't know which would be worse at this point. Then, I remember crazy can't remember what I just said 14 seconds ago nurse did the measuring. Clearly, that is the problem. Well, that and the fact that Z's hair adds about 1.4 inches.

She remeasured, and it was actually smaller than crazy nurse measured it to be. I guess the doctor thought it would be a little odd if Z's head grew 2 inches in 6 months...

Okay, so let's get on with the appointment. He weighs 26 lb.'s 11 oz.'s and is 26 feet 11 inches, oh wait, no, that was the crazy nurse stat.

He's 26 lb.'s 11 oz. (50th percentile) and is 35.7 inches tall (almost 3 feet!), which puts him in the 90th percentile. I was surprised by these numbers, I would have guessed he would have been closer to average on height and below average on weight.

He was kind of clingy when the nurse walked in, probably because he had nothing on but his diaper and he knew she was coming for him with her crazy repetitive questions and inaccurate measurements. He did really well with everything except the ear check. He DID NOT like that, probably because she had to excavate about a pound of wax out of his right ear before she could even see into it. That was lovely for everyone involved.

The only vaccine he had to get was the flu, and they gave him flu mist, so really no shots. I only had a couple of questions and they didn't really get answered because of said clingyness, which morphed into loud talking/singing/climbing all over me and the fact that I was in the twilight zone where the doctor and nurse were pre-programmed to say the same things over and over again. There is a very ~~large~~ small part of me that wonders why I even had to go in the first place. Call me crazy....

Check out the big boy

iPad Addiction

2011-10-12T16:42:00.002-05:00

I'll let the photos do the talking....

The Party! Part 1

2011-10-03T11:54:00.000-05:00

The party was a huge success and so much fun! First of all, I have to thank everyone who came for coming and for the wonderful presents. Z racked up, let me tell you!

I have been planning this party, lets say, for a long time, and I was really happy to see it all come together, and most of all to see his sweet little face when he saw everybody and his presents!

Z was asleep for the first 30 minutes or so of the party, then he awoke to join us. We played for a while and ate Roly Poly then we did cake pops and presents. A special thanks to Julie for helping me with the cake pops. They were a major success! And thanks to Adrienne and Heather for the pics.

He's attempting to hold back his smile in this picture, which is what he was doing the entire time he was being sung to.

The goods

Everyone blowing out the candle, except Z

Notice the "Steve" shirt on Nick

Digging in

Thanks to Aunt Talia and Uncle John for the Big Wheel, that was love at first sight

I know there are more pictures out there, so when I get them I'll post them. What a fun day!

Party Day!

2011-10-01T08:19:00.000-05:00

Today is Z's Blue's Clues party! We are so excited to see his face when he sees everybody that came to wish him happy birthday!

Happy Second Birthday!

2011-09-27T21:00:00.000-05:00

We have had the best day today for Z's birthday! First, I got to sing to him first thing after he woke up, then he got in the spirit and started singing to himself...

It was pouring rain this morning, which affected some of our plans. But, we didn't let it get us down. We ran a couple of errands and went to Publix to get the necessary free balloon and cookie. Z was much more interested in the balloon than the cookie. Then we went home and I let Z go "uh-stairs," which is actually downstairs to the basement to play with his train table. Then we had lunch and (both) took a nap. That rain really wore us out!

After nap, we packed up our mini-cupcakes and gerber cheese puffs and headed to Z's school for his special birthday snack. I just love watching him interact with his school friends. They are so cute with their little chairs and mini-table! His sweet teacher made him a birthday hat and everything.

After the school party I took Z to the park for a few minutes, luckily Nonna and Jido were on their way to the house, so I was able to get him to leave.

Once Baba came home, we had yet another celebration with a giant cupcake and more singing. I'm pretty sure he heard the birthday song 14 times today! It took him a while, but he sure got into that cupcake!

The party is Saturday. We can't wait! Happy Birthday, Z!!

Birthday Eve

2011-09-26T09:46:00.001-05:00

My sweet baby will be 2 years old TOMORROW! I am so excited! His birthday has definitely become more exciting than my own! On this birthday eve, I feel it is appropriate to reflect on the past year and maybe even look forward to the year to come. Z had many milestones in the second year of his life. He started walking, talking, recognizing letters, numbers and shapes, throwing things (I just said milestones, not good milestones). Lately, more than ever, it feels like he is a little person. He communicates his needs and wants, responds to questions, usually doesn't tumble off of things or get into situations he can't get himself out of. Our days consist of telling him what we are about to do, asking him what he wants to eat, do, or watch on TV. He chooses the books he wants to read, tells us when he's finished, hands us things. I have found that when I tell him I am about to do something (i.e. brush your teeth, clean your ears, cut your nails), he is more patient and tolerant than when I used to just start doing it without saying anything first. He's so much more active, exploring the entire house, going up and down the steps (supervised, of course), running outside, playing in the park. We lead less and follow much much more than we used to. I love his free nature, his propensity for the outdoors (although, he did not get that from me). He loves it. He's never happier than when he's allowed to walk freely and stop and look at things and ask "what's 'is?"

The past few weeks he has been talking so much, I can barely keep up. He can also half-sing his favorite songs: Itsy Bitsy Spider, Twinkle Twinkle, ABC's, and recently the Birthday Song! The other night, he just randomly started singing Twinkle Twinkle all by himself in the car.

His new phrase is "I like it ____." For example, I gave him a bite of frozen lemonade, and he said "I like it I-cream." Anything other than milk, water, or lemonade is referred to as "'rink." So, when I was sharing my drink with him, it was "I like it, 'rink."

He has all but memorized most of his favorite books and will finish the sentence for me, as in Brown bear brown bear what do.... "SEE!" and Does a kangaroo have a mother too... "YES!" I suppose that's why those books are so simple and repetitive.

One thing I love that he does, and it is so simple is when he wants to give me something and he says in that sweet toddler voice, "Here, Mama." Melts my heart...

I don't think he'll ever know how much we love and think about him. It's like he is just living his life, and all he knows is that we're there when he needs us, and I'm thankful for that. I think that's what parents are for to make their children feel happy and safe and not have to worry about a thing until they have to.

I can't wait to see the kind of person Z becomes. I hope he is thoughtful and generous, kind and loving, and most of all I hope he feels happy and fulfilled, because if he does then we have done our job!

On another note, we let Z see one of his birthday presents a couple of days early. This was the present given by Jido and Nonna and put together by Mom and Dad! Z was in awe (we were too, to be honest). It's pretty cool, and while it did arrive in a million pieces, it wasn't that hard to put together.

Z's party is this weekend, and we are going to celebrate with his class tomorrow. Can't wait!!

Z's Midwest Adventure

2011-09-21T19:16:00.001-05:00

We spent the weekend in Ohio and had a blast, especially Z. We went to a local parade, saw farm animals, saw lots of family and friends, celebrated his birthday, had ice cream and about 12 other things in just one weekend!

Let me begin with the plane ride. Z has had a few rough nights lately for unknown reasons, and of course the timing was not the best, but he woke up on time on Friday and in a good mood, so we went with it. We made it to the airport checked our bag and basically walked straight on the plane. Because Z is not quite 2, he still qualified as "infant in arms" and got a free ride (in our lap). This was convenient for the money savings but less than convenient due to the fact he is at least 34 inches tall and a wiggle worm, I digress however. I had packed several reinforcements, including the beloved Winie the Pooh, a Winnie coloring book with crayons (a big hit I might add), my iPad with full length episodes of Blue's Clues and Dora loaded on it, cheerios, ni-ni, candy, and suckers. I have to say, he did awesome! He was so into the airplanes, at one point he even simultaneously signed and said "mo, mo, airplanes."

We had to connect flights, and he was not a fan of waiting in lines or being tied down in the airports. After all noone else had to hold hands or be held by someone else. Of course, in the Atlanta airport, you could probably take your eyes off your kids for all of 1.5 seconds and he would be gone, so we had to do what he had to do, meltdowns and all. Note: if I had one of those ~~leash~~ backpack thingys, I totally would have used it in the airport. We were starving (at 10:30 in the morning), so we all ate Charley's, the philly cheesesteak place. Z ate chicken nugget fingers (that's what they looked like, long chicken nuggets, no telling what's in them!) and some fries and we were able to entertain him with all of the surrounding airplanes. He did pretty well on the longer flight from Atlanta to Dayton, so I rewarded at the end him with a sucker. We usually get suckers about once a week when we go to the bank together, but man does he love them, he usually holds it out several times and says, with a big smile, "suckaaaa!!"

So, that bought us a little more time when he was so tired he could barely keep his eyes open. We got in around 3:30 and put him down. He slept for 2 hours and was a new man when he awoke! So, we ate and let him play and stay up pretty late, and thankfully, he went right to sleep and we didn't hear a peep until 8 in the morning! We got up quickly and headed to Xenia for a parade. Every couple minutes someone would hand Z candy. I think he ate about 10 suckers that morning, but he loved it because he got to see all of his favorite automobiles live and in person, trucks, tractors, school buses, fire engines, motorcycles, and the list goes on, all while eating a virtually endless amount of suckers! I think this was the point that he realized it was going to be a great weekend!

The rest of the day we celebrated his birthday and he ran around wild and free playing with everyone there, young and old. He especially had fun with Lola, his second cousin, who is 1 and 1/2 years old. That night we went a balloon glow, which is where they illuminate 3 very large hot air balloons. He was totally fascinated!

Here he is with his great grandmother!

Thanks to Janet for these pictures!

The next day we went to Young's Dairy, where Z got to see all kinds of farm animals and play on a huge slide. The amount of firsts that occurred for him on this trip are nearly endless.

Rainy Labor Day

2011-09-08T13:23:00.000-05:00

Labor Day weekend was rainy and gross. After reading every book in Z's library, we finally took him outside to play a little, and he was pointing out the rain and what he thought were airplanes. Anytime he hears a lawnmower or any motor he thinks it's an airplane.

Tired of being stuck in the house, we decided to take Z to Treetop Adventure, which is right down the road from our house. They had a great little indoor play area for toddlers and mini-bowling (in addition to all of their arcade games and large play area for bigger kids). It was a lot of fun! I hope it stays open for a long time, because I think it will be even more fun when Z is older, because they also have go carts, mini-golf, and laser tag.

My little monkey, satisfying his need to climb.

Mini-bowling, a.k.a. how hard can you slam the 3 pound ball onto the metal floor.

iToddler

2011-09-07T08:56:00.000-05:00

I have previously commented on the fact that my child can navigate his way around both my iPhone and my iPad. It's actually kind of nice, because I can just let him chill with it, and he entertains himself. So far, I have been able to limit his use to no more than about 30 minutes a day and usually just one to two times a day, but I'm certain that as he gets more comfortable with these devices, that is going to be harder to do!

Some of his favorite apps for the iPad are the PBS app, I hear Ewe, Elmo Loves ABC's (full version), ABC's and Me, and talking Tom and friends.

How do you like this position? Doesn't he look comfy?

Before You Call DHR...

2011-09-01T14:06:00.001-05:00

He fell "out of his chair" at school. No, not like "oh my gosh, Lucy, that story is so funny I almost fell out of my chair!", more like "Hey everybody, I'm almost two, and I can scoot around in this chair that's 1 foot off the ground" fell out of his chair. Well, from what I gather that's what happened anyway.

And this happened, wait for it, the DAY BEFORE his photo session. Are you kidding me? Is it wrong that that was my first thought when they called and said "Z fell and bumped his head, he has a large knot right between his eyes"? I'm sure it is, but the next question was "Do I need to come get him now?" They said they were icing it, and he was okay. They just wanted to let me know. Let me know?

Anybody who works and puts their child in Daycare knows the feeling you have when you get "the call" from the school (okay, I'm using a lot of quotes in this post, sorry I'm in that kind of mood). It's goes a little something like this,

"Hi, this is such and such from blank school, we're calling about your son blank."
"Yeah, yeah, get to the point, is he okay??? Hurry, tell me now!!!!"
"He's fine, he just (insert, fever, throw up, hit/bit someone, fell, etc etc.)"

So, needless to say, we are rescheduling the shoot.

Here are a couple of pictures hours after the incident

The next night. Okay, now you're thinking what happened to this kid? But you should see the other guy. No, seriously, I'm not sure where that scratch came from by his mouth, but when I went to get him, he was going to town on a rocking horse out on their playground, so I can only imagine.

Close-up of the black eye (and scratch)

Blog Abandonment

2011-08-29T11:05:00.001-05:00

It's been 10 14 whole days since I've posted, what is wrong with me, you may ask? I would have to tell you, nothing (thank God). Everyone is well, we are just busy and not documenting said busy-ness. Shame on us! Z is falling into his regular predictable self save a few short naps and nights where he won't eat any dinner. He's becoming quite the entertainer, and he absolutely revels in glory of attention, mostly because he's in the center of it most of the time!

He's talking like crazy and probably saying many complete thoughts, however most are incomprehensible to me at this point. A few things we have picked up on are:

I sit, I eat, I read, etc.
I Luh U
Whe Ah Uuuu (sometimes with a word in front of something he is looking for, for example: Gurcle (circle) or Ball, Whe Rrr Uuuu), oh and usually followed by Der it is!
Uh-Oh, wah happen?

He points out airplanes, trucks, buses, tractors, trains and any other automobile he sees or hears. He's also all about the moon, stars, cickicks (crickets), fy-fy's (fireflies), caperpillas (caterpillers), and the list goes on, but mostly all animals found in Eric Carle books (which we have many). He is into books more than ever! He wants to read or look at the pictures every chance he gets! If anyone has a suggestion for a kid friendly bookshelf, that would be great.

The other day when Nick came home, and he ran right to him and turned around and said "Hi Baba." That was a first.

This past weekend he was eating raisins, a.k.a. ni ni, and he simultaneously sang and signed mo' mo' mo' ni ni. It was hilarious and in tune I might add. Speaking of singing, he sings along with toddler radio every morning in the car with Nick and has started singing along to some songs like Adele's Rolling in the Deep with me. That originated back when I was playing that album every day on the way home from school (at the end of the day, there is very little patience left in Mama for toddler radio).

As of last week, he knows how to turn my phone on, slide to unlock it, get to the second page where my game folder is, open that and open the toddler jukebox app, from there he plays his favorite songs and sings along like Ol' McDonald and Wheels on the Bus. He can do pretty much the same sequence on my iPad. It's a little frightening how easy Apple products are for 2 year-old brains and fingers to navigate.

I'm not sure I've ever loved anything as much as Z loves Blue's Clues. It is now the only thing he asks to watch. I think it's a cute show too, so it's not on my nerves yet. However, I may change my mind after we have our Blue's Clues themed birthday party!

I haven't so much as picked up my camera in the past couple of weeks, but I promise I'll get better. I am getting Photoshop Elements soon (with my new laptop :)), so I'm sure that will be motivation for me to get to snapping.

We have a our 2 year photo shoot tomorrow with Heather Swanner, so stay tuned for that! And hopefully, I'll get back on the blog train for good!

Day at the Park

2011-08-15T16:08:00.000-05:00

The day the kids left, we decided to take them over to the park. This is becoming a Sunday ritual for Z and Nick, so he knows this little park well by now.

More Fun With Cousins!

2011-08-15T07:53:00.001-05:00

The cousins are back! My sister and her kids came and visited, and the kids were loving it! When Adam and Z weren't chasing/being chased by AG, they were playing cars or trains together. Fun was certainly had by all. It was a couple of weeks ago now, so I'm sure some funny things happened, but I seriously can't remember anything. So here are some pictures instead.

Anything you can do, I can do better

Making sure his settings are right before he takes another

Pretty typical moment for Adam and AG

The boys taking cover

A Day in the Life

2011-08-04T14:27:00.000-05:00

Saturday.

I just thought I'd write about a semi-typical day in the life of Z (and us). Last Saturday was pretty typical. We woke up, ate and played, then went to the gym. Z loves the gym nursery. He never gives us a hard time when we drop him off there. After the workout, we go get him and we usually have to sit on the bench and have a little snack.

Lately, he's been drinking out of Mama's water bottle. After all, it is more fun!

Then we go home, eat lunch and Z takes his 2 to 3 hour nap. We use that time to catch up on stuff around the house. After nap time, we all head out for some Saturday activity and usually end up eating out somewhere. Last Saturday, we went to the Summit, where everybody got something except me! The horror!

How cute are these?

This particular Saturday, we chose to eat at Whole Foods, rather than wait for hours to sit somewhere. It was fun.

My new favorite word of Z's is "appe-sauce," which he randomly said one day when I showed it to him. It cracks me up to no end!

He is finally in a big boy classroom at school, and I think he is handling it pretty well. There is a time-out in that room, and they all sit at tables like big kids. I'm not sure what's going to happen when they have the next transition next week because of his birthday. I think it's just the beginning of him being the oldest person in his class! Darn those September birthdays!

Happy Birthday, Nunna!

2011-08-03T10:43:00.000-05:00

Sunday we celebrated Nunna's birthday with some good ol' fashioned grilling! My sis and her kids are in town so it was extra special. We are so thankful for Nunna. She has done and would do anything for us and her grandbabies. When she's around, we don't worry, because we know the babies are being taken care of 100%, and that's a big relief for stressed out mamas like my sis and me! Nunna, thank you so much for all that you do for us and our babies, the love you have to give is truly endless, we love you!!!

Z is pretty settled into his routine these days and has been doing some rather funny things lately. He loves his little chair. He either sits or climbs, but it's always nearby.

He still loves storytime. Although he doesn't really sit in our laps to read anymore.

He is beginning to appreciate the joy of "chilling." Here he is going through Uncle Faris's wallet. I can't believe how big he looks in this picture!

Rain

2011-07-19T18:26:00.000-05:00

Z is all about the rain these days. Everytime it rains (and even sometimes when it's not raining) he shouts "raaain" and I love the way he says it, because he puts a southern twang on it. This weekend we went to The Summit for dinner and it unexpectedly started raining. Our car was pretty far from the restaurant parking lot, so we decided to wait it out, much to a certain someone's delight....

He's talking a lot these days, and by far one of his favorite words is "No!" He says it with conviction too, so I don't dare try and give him something that he refuses. He's been eating a lot better, either that or I've just figured out what he likes, but either way, mealtimes have become a lot easier. He loves using utensils. He'll almost eat something he doesn't like if it is attached to a fork. His new favorite food is raisins, which for some unknown reason he calls... wait for it... "ni ni." I almost don't want to correct that one... Almost.

He always asks for "boohoo" (Blue's Clues), even though "waaa" (Dora) and Elmo are still favorites too.

He has started liking trains, specifically Thomas, ever since I bought him a ~~Wal-Mart~~ special Thomas the Train outfit. He also has started recognizing and liking "di-soo's" (dinosaurs).

The other day the lady at the Y said he was so easy and independent and that I was lucky to have such a sweet child. Then the next day he went totally bonkers and cried for about 10 minutes because I wouldn't let him play outside when he got home from school... Ain't that life?!

Cousins

2011-07-18T13:35:00.000-05:00

Z loves hanging out with his cousins. This time they were on their turf, and Z just followed them around everywhere they went. One thing was for sure, Nunna/Grandma made sure they all had enough to eat! Here are some photos. Believe me, there is never a dull moment when it comes to these three! Allow me to formally introduce them:

Adam (a.k.a. 'The Haus'). Don't mess with this kid, or you'll pay! But when he's sweet, he's SUGAR!

Z ('The Wannabe'). He wants to be able to hang with these two more than anything, but he's more used to the laid back lifestyle ;)

AG ('The Mama Bear'). This girl is in charge, plain and simple!

I love Z's face in this pic, reminds me of myself

The above chair once belonged to AG. It has been at the beach condo for who knows how long, and now all of a sudden it is the most amazing item ever to all three. We eventually had to hide it (in the bathtub) and as a result peace and harmony was restored as demonstrated by the following picture.

The Blues... The Cool Kind

2011-07-14T12:03:00.000-05:00

Sorry I have been abandoning the blog lately. The funny thing about blogs is that when there is a big lag it's usually not because you're doing nothing, it's just the opposite! I'm very excited to say that my great friend Dr. Julie Smith has joined my practice, and we're both hoping to work a few less days a week to spend more time with our little ones. Very exciting, but a lot to do right now!

So, onto the fun stuff, we went to the beach last weekend to watch the Blue Angels air show. One word describes it: AMAZING. Seriously guys, the coolest thing ever. Makes me so proud to be an American! We all know by now about Z's love for "Air-pane's," so I was excited for him to see them fly, but worried about his little ears. We went through this last year, and being the sleep nazi I am, I let him nap through it. Well, history almost repeated itself... almost. We came up to the balcony for the last few minutes and he got to see them after he woke up. Still not sure he appreciates it like I know he will one day. I'm excited for that day to come!

Are they the coolest guys in the world or what? You really have to see it (and hear it) to believe it.

Blue what? I got my winnie and yogurt, I'm good! Thanks Nunna ;)

Z did relatively well in the car. He pretty much kept himself entertained, and fell asleep the last hour or so on the way down (which is usually the worst part anyway). And did almost better on the way home, which was much later in the day. We stopped once at McDonald's both ways, and Z tore up a McNugget meal, disgusting, but I used to eat them, and I guess I turned out okay. When we got home, he crashed, I mean straight to the bed, no singing, no reading, I think he was asleep before we even left the room.

We braved the crowds to hit the beach both mornings. I was very proud of us, because it's not easy toting a bag, chairs, a camera, and a 25 pound child in the 100 degree weather! We were lucky to find a spot that was shaded by the boardwalk to hang our hat. We never stayed too long, but we had a ton of fun while we were there. Z is definitely a beach kid!

Side note, thanks to the 31 Days to a Better Photo Series, I am now shooting in Manual (some), but still in a very very, let's say, introductory fashion (as you can probably clearly see). But, I am enjoying my camera (and my 50 mm lens) so very much more now that I know a little more about how to use it.

Footprints in the sand

You can't got to the beach without getting your feet ~~wet~~ buried

Snack time!

All in all, we had a great time at the beach. Z ate well, slept well, and wore himself out playing between his cousins (more on that later), the beach and the pool! Can't wait to go back.

Good Times

2011-07-07T13:38:00.000-05:00

The Gax's have been very busy lately and having a lot of fun! Nana and Tata came into town for the fourth, and Z was the center of everyone's attention for about 5 days, right where he belongs. The first night we went to dinner at Cantina. On Friday, Tata and Nick worked on our fence, and we played in the sprinkler with Z. These pics are a pretty good sample of the many faces of Z.

On Friday night, we grilled out steaks and potatoes, yum!

Saturday, hubby and I went to Nashvegas for the U2 concert and had a blast! We visited friends, shopped, ate, and generally enjoyed spending time in his old stomping ground. Meanwhile, Z was having a big time playing outside and getting the royal treatment from Nana and Tata!

These are two of hubby's old items that seem to almost fit Z. He must have known that they belonged to Baba, because he did not want to take them off!

We came home on Sunday and went to dinner at Firebirds, an old favorite! Z loved it and ate really well! Then Monday, we went to the McWane Center! It was rainy and gross, so it was the perfect place to be! That night we had some amazing burgers at Mugshots.

Seconds before the arch crashed

Giant Lite Brite

Z popping the massive bubble produced by the stand-in bubble blower

Checking out at the "Publix"

We had so much fun this weekend, can't wait to do it all again!

Next weekend, we head to the beach for the Blue Angels. Can't wait to hear Z say "Air-Pane" over and over again.

Lately

2011-06-28T10:07:00.000-05:00

We have been pretty busy lately. My sis and her kids were visiting, and Z loves it when they come, even though it means sharing his toys! Cousin A just turned 2, and he really seems to like it too, because every time Z is around he says Z's name over and over again! They played so well together. They shared their cars, played outside, and just generally were happy to be in the presence of one another.

Exhibit A, Z and his cousin A in the bath

Other Cousin A with Jido

Spreading the love

Again

Z's response to the questions, where's Z?

Z impersonating Jido

My fav pic of me and my sister's first borns :)

P.S. Please excuse some of the blurriness, I am still learning ;)

Long Story Short

2011-06-28T09:12:00.000-05:00

Back in May, I decided that my hair was probably getting long enough that I could donate it and still have relatively long hair. I had done this once before, 10 years ago (almost exactly, which makes me feel super old)! I did Locks of Love then, 10 inches, and my hair was short, and my hair was not cute short.

This time, I was more patient and calculating and I decided to donate the required 8 inches to Pantene Beautiful Lengths. I had my reasons for switching to the Pantene program, besides that their length requirement was less. Anyway, Saturday before last was the big day, and I am so happy I did it. Maybe 10 years from now (or maybe sooner), I'll do it again (if I'm not totally grey by then!).

Who Needs a Pool?

2011-06-15T10:02:00.001-05:00

The heat has been oppressive lately, in fact so oppressive with so little rain that our grass has been dying a rather slow and painful death, so we finally bit the bullet and got our sprinklers fixed so we could run them again. The perk, now Z can run around in the poor man's swimming pool! What fun!

I just noticed that the following items when combined could transform Z into Super Z or The Z Lantern (yeah, I know that was a bad one).

The Cape

The Mask

Evolution

2011-06-14T13:37:00.000-05:00

This blog started out as a way for me to chronicle the events in our lives, namely pregnancy and our new life as a family of 3. When Z was born, it became an outlet for me to express my joys and my frustrations as a new mom. As Z has gotten older, I have reverted back to sharing our fun times, and typically leaving out our frustrations or trying times. It doesn't mean we don't have them, it just means that the pleasantries are outshining those frustrations. So, for your reading pleasure and as an homage to what the blog used to be, here is a mommy gripe:

We have a pretty steady routine with Z, wake up, go to school, come home, go to bed (with a few things mixed in). Hubs drops Z off, and I do the pick up, which ranges anywhere between 4:30 and 5:59 (they close at 6). You would think the pick up would be the good time, but you would be wrong. Many days Z is in a mood. He's hungry, thirsty, tired, etc., which translates to whining, sometimes the whole way home. Many days Mommy is in a mood, exhausted from her long day, annoyed by traffic, etc., which translates to silence. Yes people, I sometimes drive silently while my little sweetness whines in the back seat. In my defense, what can I do? Snap my fingers and get home? Go back there and put on a show for entertainment? Sing songs and make faces? (Okay, I can do that, and admittedly when the mood is right, I have been known to do that.) Sometimes I think he just needs to get it out of his system, and I require just a few more minutes of quiet.

So, there is my mommy moment, take it or leave it. Now onto the good stuff. Z still loves to read books, sing, and dance. He's gotten more and more into TV lately too, namely Blue's Clues, Dora the Explorer, and Sesame Street. He loves to count and go through the alphabet. The counting sounds something like this,

"wa, tooo, weee, hoor, fi, ick, seb-dy, ay, ny, deh... Yaaaaay!"

He helps me sing the alphabet song by chiming in on the L, P, S, X, Y, Z and "Meeeeee." It's the most fun ever! Okay, that makes me sound like a freak, but I do get joy from these new skills.

This weekend we went to Cheesecake Factory, where I took the following pics. With MM's mom's advice, I started the 31 Days to a Better Photo Series, which so far I am loving! My first lesson was about shutter speed, which I played with when I took these photos.

We went to Barnes and Noble for a little bit after we ate, and Z played with the trains. He absolutely loved it.

Z has been doing really well at school lately. A lot of his friends have moved up to the next classroom, which concerned me a bit that he hadn't moved up, but the teacher reassured me that he was next and it was really only because of his birthday not because he wasn't ready. She also told me that he sees his old friends at "recess" and they always meet up, hug or shake hands, and talk to each other. I really like hearing stories about how Z interacts at school. It's like a whole other side to his life that I don't get to see.

I have no idea what direction this blog will end up taking. For now, I'm just gonna let Z lead the way, and we'll all follow.

What's New?

2011-06-08T11:09:00.000-05:00

What's new in the Gax house these days? We have just been trying to get back into our routines since coming home from Houston. It's great to leave, but it takes a while to adjust once you get back (another sign that we are getting ~~old~~ older). Z has been having some sleep issues, namely waking up in the middle of the night, playing for a while before falling asleep at night, and taking shorter naps. He has also been acting a little aggressive lately, throwing things and hitting people (I think the two are related, and have no doubt Dr. Weissbluth would agree). I am hoping things will return to normal soon enough.

He is learning new words everyday, which I am both enjoying and am thankful for. This morning, he was eating his "wa-fuu" and I asked him if it was yummy, and he replied "mummy!" He can identify about 70% of his 100 First Words book, and makes the sounds for car ("beep beep"), train ("too too"), airplane, and boat (which I can't really spell out) in addition to all of his animal sounds. He recognizes about 90% of the alphabet and in his own way can (almost) count to 10! He still isn't stringing words together. Like he'll say "hi" and "mama," but when we ask him to say "hi mama," we get a blank stare. In the pool last weekend he started saying "cooo" (cool) and "weeee."

My new favorite word: "O-kay" except in this context:
Me: Z! Timeout!
Z:...O-kay (grins)

We have been reading Chicka Chicka Boom Boom to Z for months now. He has taken a hiatus from it but has rediscovered it recently. Last night I was reading and hubs was sitting with us, and when I got to "the whole alphabet up the..." Z yelled "Ohhh Nooo!" which is the next line in the book. So, now "Ohhh noo!" is part of his vocabulary as well.

His eating has improved tremendously since the cheese binge that was our Houston trip. I usually let him go to the fridge and pick out what he wants, but last week he said no to everything, so I closed the fridge, picked him up, put him in the highchair, and put what I wanted him to eat in front of him. In his crying rage, he tried to hand it all back to me one by one, then all of a sudden, he put a piece (it was chicken or something) in his mouth, then proceeded to eat whatever I gave him (they were all Z approved items, so nothing crazy here). But, it felt like a battle of wits that I won! Since then, it seems like he's trying almost anything we give him regardless of color, consistency, or texture (a lot of it doesn't pass, but at least he tries). That's big for Z, and here's proof. He's attempting to try a grape tomato.

All of this has taught me to try and chill when it comes to his eating. He'll come around when he's ready, and until then I'll keep offering different stuff.

Keeping cool with a popsicle, but Z would actually rather have "ice," which he requests by name quite often.

It has been stifling around this place, so we have been trying to hit the pool as much as possible. Right now, it has been limited to the pool at the condo where I used to live and my parents still have a condo, but soon, I'm hoping we'll hit the Y (if anyone else would like company in their pool of choice, we are willing and able).

These pics are all taken with my new 50mm lens (which I know nothing about, but heard it was great and am giving it a 'shot' (haha)).

These pictures are of Z counting and pointing out the letters and numbers on the side of the pool

Love this picture

Z is so lucky to have 2 sets of grandparents that love and spoil him so much! We're spoiled too though, because it's usually a nice break for us when they're around!

Leavin' on a Jet Plane

2011-05-31T11:53:00.000-05:00

This weekend we flew to Houston to visit family and attend my cousin's wedding. This was Z's second time on a plane, and by the time we landed he was already exclaiming "air-paaaane!" On our way back home, he probably said it 3,000 times. Don't you wish you were on that plane with us?

Yes, we were those people. Z did pretty well, considering, but there was some kicking of the seat in front of us, some cheerios dropped on the floor, and plenty of exclamations. Another favorite was "Goooo!" We timed our arrival in Houston perfectly for his nap. He actually fell asleep in the car and went straight down for a nap in the pack n' play at my aunt and uncle's house. After that, he slept great in the pack n' play, took long naps and never cried once! We put him in the bathroom adjoining our room, which made getting ready for bed a little tricky but was totally worth it, because we are not good at sleeping in the same room with him!

He was an angel the whole weekend! We played outside, went swimming, and he even got to dance at the wedding reception. I spent several weeks out of the year at that house growing up, and I have the BEST memories there. It was so great to go back and surreal to be there with a husband and child! I can't wait to visit again soon!

The groom is in the military so Z got to try on his hat in between dances. It was a beautiful evening, made even more fun when we got to put Z down and come back to dance the night away :)

"ELLOOOH"

2011-05-23T15:27:00.000-05:00

ELL-OOOOH, everybody! That's my Z's new favorite word. We had a great weekend! Friday night, we took Z to Taziki's for dinner and then we watched a movie after he went to bed (No Strings Attached, not the best choice, but what ya gonna do?). Then Saturday, we had a playdate with MM and B, who's moms both work with Nick. We went to Tutti Frutti and then to the Homewood Park. It was Z's first playdate possibly ever and he LOVED it! He even got a smooch goodbye from MM (hope her dad doesn't see this).

Thanks to MM's mom for taking these great pics.

My Child's Alternate Life

2011-05-19T10:59:00.001-05:00

I have been learning this week that my child lives a second life at school. Let me explain. Usually, Nick drops him off, and I pick him up, and it's all pretty uneventful. We get reports that say what he ate and drank, how much he slept, diapers, and what activity they did for the day. They usually tell me, he had a great day, mom! This news was important to me in the beginning because not every day was "great." Many days he cried what seemed like the entire day. We would drop him off crying and pick him up... crying. Not fun.
As he progressed, I began hearing more stories about how he and two other boys would ~~crawl around in circles~~ chase each other around class. They were like his first friends, and the teacher called them the rat pack.

Now, we are in such a routine that I don't even ask. But this week, when I got there Z was chasing one of the little girls around the classroom and squealing. He didn't even notice me. I started talking to the teacher and she began telling me all of these things that my child is doing.

He signs "more," "I'm full," and "all done."
He says "please."
He recognizes colors and shapes.

What's next? He speaks Spanish?!

I know a lot about my child, but this I did not know. I feel enlightened.

Then when he was ready to go, he grabbed my hand, led me to the door, waved to everybody and said buh-byee. Well, okay then.

I love our little routine, we ride home and sometimes sing along with toddler radio on Pandora. Lately, we have been watering the plants, checking the mail, then Z closes the garage door (by pushing the button), walks up our couple of little stairs, walks in the house, and shuts the door. He's getting so independent these days. So far, he knows his limits, but still tests them from time to time. I just love this time because I never know what he's going to do next!

Mother's Day Weekend Part 2

2011-05-09T14:01:00.000-05:00

On Sunday, we went to Home Goods, and I bought, among other things, some new pots and pans for my Mother's Day gift (a little sad, I know). Then Z took his nap and we got ready and headed to Brookwood Mall. We had reservations at Brio, so we went a little early and strolled Z around. Of course, that didn't last too long, but he did better walking around holding my hand. I brought my good camera so I could take some better pictures.

I didn't mean to get this first one, but it does illustrate how Z uses every possible resource to get himself up when he's climbing.

Lovin' life at Books-A-Million

I am so blessed and thankful to have my family nearby. They are the best support system I could ever have, and they are so good with Z too! Mom, Dad, I LOVE YOU, and so does Z!

Z's obsession: The iphone. This bedazzled version is my mom's

Z stopping to ~~lic~~k smell the flowers again

A couple of family shots

This was Nick's idea (my mom refused, so she is taking the photo)

In case you can't tell what that is.

Because I never get tired of seeing that smile

Mother's Day Weekend Part 1

2011-05-09T10:24:00.000-05:00

I am so thankful to be a mother. It is the best job in the world, and I hope I NEVER take it for granted. This weekend we went out to eat Saturday and Sunday night in honor of Mother's Day. Saturday, my mom and I had a shopping day and met the boys at Cheesecake Factory. Two things happened this night. One, Z met a dog and couldn't stop hugging it.

Now, I think dogs are great, and I know most of you own dogs, but we are not the dog owning type. Thankfully, almost every one of our neighbors is and does, so Z will get plenty of exposure, but please don't let this picture fool you into thinking the Gax's are going to get a dog (note: this is mostly due to me and not my hubs, as he is very good with dogs and grew up with them, he would want me to point that out if he were standing over my shoulder right now).

Next, Z went berserk in Barnes and Noble and ended up receiving his beloved Elmo doll as a gift from his Nuna. He clung onto Elmo like he was his only friend in the world the whole way home.

Later that night:

That's one happy kid.

Here are a couple more pictures from the restaurant. Our Chicco clip-on chair works great, and Lord knows we love it, however, Z has now found a way to stand up in it. I did not take any pictures of said phenomenon so as not to make you think I am a crazy mom who lets her child stand up in his chair. When he does it, he looks at us, like "yeah, that's right, I'm standing up in my chair right now, what are you going to do about it?" In this picture, he is sitting in a booster seat, however.

I believe we might have been singing in this picture, or he was throwing food at me... Another note: his father dressed him this day.

In other news, Z has learned the word "No!" and it comes out something like this "Noooo!" And, it's loud and he looks real serious when he says it. I wish I could be mad about it, but it's too cute.

These Days

2011-05-05T10:35:00.017-05:00

Z's newest activity is climbing up, down, over, whenever, wherever. I wasn't sure whether I should post these videos because he almost lands on his head a couple of times, and I am just sitting there camera in hand, but hopefully my readers know me better than to call DHR for a couple of little supervised ~~slips~~ dismounts.

Z is 19 months now and is all about Dora and Elmo these days. The past few days he has come home from school saying Elmoo Elmoo. He loves watching youtube videos on my phone of Sesame Street, nursery rhymes, alphabet songs, pretty much anything as long as it's on that small screen. His love for Dora really lies in the backpack. Whenever he sees that part he gets so excited and yells "ba-pa, ba-pa." I've been known to rewind the backpack portion of the show and replay it for him in order to elicit said response.

He recognizes several letters of the alphabet now and loves to be sung to. His favorites are If You're Happy and You Know It and Wheels on the Bus because he likes to do the hand motions with them. Whenever he is upset or starts whining all you have to do is sing and he gets so excited. Speaking of happy, he is (thank God) a happy child. He just wants to laugh and play all the time, and it is so uplifting to be around. Don't get me wrong, he whines from time to time and is a pill when he gets tired, but I feel so blessed to be around him because it is a joy!

Oh, and I must take a moment to mention the most fabulous Royal Wedding. I DVRed it, and Z slept in a little bit, so I got to watch all of the coverage leading up to the big moment, then I got Z up and we watched the wedding together. He was actually into it, and I loved it! The past couple of weeks are historical for many reasons, and I'm just glad that one of them is so joyful and happy. I soaked it all in, and I'm not ashamed.

Sad Day

2011-05-02T10:26:00.000-05:00

I don't have pictures or a funny story to tell. I just had to take a minute to acknowledge the horrible events of April 27, 2011 when a series of tornadoes took our state hostage. This day and its aftermath will forever plague our history books, and I have to thank God that we were spared when so many people were not so fortunate. We had known for several days that Wednesday was going to be a day of severe weather. We are not strangers to severe weather around here, and in fact we have had our share of "big ones" in this state but nothing could compare to what would happen that day. We had a string of storms that morning including some strong tornadoes, but the worst was yet to come for the evening when a second round of storms was predicted. The power was out at Z's school, and I had patients to see, so hubs worked from home and took care of Z, and I worked. We closed early on the news that more storms were coming, but everything was eerily quiet until about 6 that night. We were tuned in to the weather and all the news men had their sleeves rolled up (a sign that this thing was getting serious). Then, all of a sudden we saw the direct shot a weather camera atop the courthouse in Tuscaloosa got of the nearly mile wide tornado, and we were all speechless.

The aftermath has been even worse, but I feel like the state has really pulled together to help the countless number of people who have been affected. I pray this tragedy will be known not just for its massive destruction but for the strength of the human spirit and inspiring way the people helped each other get through it.

Honeysuckles

2011-04-26T09:23:00.000-05:00

On Sunday, we went to the Meadowbrook lake/pond to walk around, and we introduced Z to honeysuckles. Let's see how he felt about that.

Hmm, what are those?

Oh right, okay shove them up my nose then (that would be Jido's hand)

Um, I'm not so sure I like that

Perfect. They are lovely from a distance

Notice, the yellow shirt, I admit I had a slight freak-out moment the other night when Z handed me a bright yellow book and said "lellow." WHAT?! Did you just say lellow as in yellow? Where the world did you learn that? That leads me to an admission. Are you ready? I am often too tired and have too many things to do in the evenings to sit down and teach Z much of anything. I'm sorry but that's the truth, so when he says new things, I know they didn't come from me. I'm still trying to figure this one out. I'm down to child prodigy or he learned it at school (leaning strongly toward the former).

Neighborhood Egg Hunt

2011-04-25T10:06:00.003-05:00

On Saturday, our neighborhood held an Easter Egg Hunt to benefit the Hope for Gabe Foundation. We were excited to take part in a fun event for a good cause. The hunt was one street over from ours, so we took Z in the wagon. This is him pointing out his elbow for me (close enough).

Taking it all in!

A couple of full body shots before the hunt began

Waiting patiently

We saw some friends a the hunt

Z's first push pop. I think he liked it.

It didn't take him long to catch on. Pick up an egg.

Or two.

And bring it over

He wasn't going to let even one get away.

On the way home with the loot.

After the hunt, we went to Jim N' Nick's for hamburgers and then home to take a nap! It was a beautiful day. We enjoyed every minute!

Unintended Lessons

2011-04-20T13:27:00.000-05:00

In trying to prepare Z for potty training, I have been trying to say "poo poo" whenever I think he's... well, poo pooing. This has not been very effective for two reasons: 1. Z doesn't really poop all that much and 2. he passes gas a lot. The result is that he now thinks passing gas is "poo poo." I came to this realization last night when he "made bubbles" in the tub and looked at me with a grin and said "poo poo." Great, I thought, that failed miserably.

Another unintentional lessons I have taught Z is the word (and hand motion) "Stop!" Which usually comes out as "Bot!" "Top!" or sometimes "Stop!" followed by laughter... Needless to say, this gets said many times throughout the day and clearly I am not being taken seriously.

In other new word news, he now says "outside" like "ow-siiiiii-d." He can make the animal sounds for a dog, sheep, snake, cow, owl, and lion/tiger. And he can point to his nose, eyes, mouth, teeth, ears, hair, belly button, and feet.

He seems to be learning new words every day, and can point out about 10 or 15 words in his First 100 Words book. Some new words are

Diaper (my new favorite, because it sounds like "Di-poo")

Shoes, which for some reason he says by blowing out through his nose and following with an "n" sound. It's kindof strange, especially when he is congested

I love you, which is usually "I wah wu" or "I luv"

This word stuff is probably not that interesting to most people, so I apologize. In other other news, he loves the iphone, particularly youtube videos of his favorite songs like Old McDonald and Twinkle Twinkle. When he watches the twinkle twinkle video he flaps his little arms like he's trying to fly. It is the sweetest thing ever!

He is all about letters and numbers. He pretends to count to five with you, and when you start it, I swear his eyes light up like he's just seen or heard the most wonderful thing on earth.

He still flashes his cheesy grin on command, which I think, is hilarious

Oh and his upper molars are coming in, which has made brushing important as ever ;)

Z's

2011-04-14T15:22:00.001-05:00

Last week Z had to catch up on his Z's (I know, I'm funny). He went to bed right at 7, and we had to wake him up every morning at 7:30/7:45. If you don't already know, Z sleeps with this Winnie the Pooh.

I'm really not sure how this came to be, but it is. He doesn't have to have him at school, and he knows that Winnie lives in his bed, so I don't think we have any issues yet. I actually think it's pretty cute. Exhibits A and B below:

In case you can't tell, Winnie is right under Z's belly, which proves detrimental for Winnie on leaky diaper nights, but thankfully, this particular Winnie is sold at Wal-mart for 5 dollars. My boy's a cheap date.

Z's Entourage

2011-04-11T08:07:00.001-05:00

We have been busy bees lately. Nick's mom stayed for a week after we got back from Vegas and took great care of Z and us. We had a lot of fun while she was here and on Saturday finally managed to get out of the house to go to the Botanical Gardens. It was a beautiful day, so we let Z walk around and we all followed. I wish that were an exaggeration, but it's true. He walked freely while myself, the hubs, my parents, Nick's mom, and Faris followed him around. That's 6 people and 1 baby if you're counting. It was quite a scene. We went out to dinner both Friday and Saturday nights and stayed in to celebrate Nick's birthday on Sunday when Janet had to leave. I have a few pics from the botanical garden adventure. And adventure it was. I'm sure there must have been a couple of proms going on because there were lots of teens in their ~~low-cut~~ ~~stylish~~ interesting gowns taking pictures with their parents. I was struck at how the fashion has changed so little since the '90's when I went to prom (late '90's, but still, that makes me feel old). I hope by the time Z is old enough to go, he won't have to wear a satin turquoise vest and bow tie to match his date's turquoise gown.... Note: I never wore turquoise...

Bustin' Out

2011-03-30T09:34:00.001-05:00

It took us 18 months, but we finally took a vacation and left Z at home. Vacation has taken on a whole new meaning now that we have a child. I mean, you think that when you get away you'll feel like you used to, free, independent, no worries. But on the contrary, we felt something missing and a longing for our child that caught us off guard at times.

We felt blessed that Z was in great hands with his Nana Gaxiola, who graciously kept him at our house. We left early Thursday morning (before Z woke up), and came back Sunday afternoon, just 4 days, but it felt like 2 weeks!

The reason for the trip... Celine Dion. If you know me. you probably already know that I am a huge fan, and it started long ago. Celine and I go way back to the '90's, and I was fortunate enough to see her concert in Birmingham in 1999, granted, we were in the nosebleeds. Then, the love continued through college and beyond. I have many fond memories of ~~screaming~~ singing Celine at the top of my lungs with my girl friends either in the car (Julie) or in the Chi-O house (much to annoyance of some of our housemates). Her music is like the soundtrack to my life.

The first time she was in Vegas, I was a lowly student, couldn't get away for anything, and the tickets were beyond sold out. We were actually in Vegas in '05 for my sister's wedding, but it still didn't happen. Then her world tour brought her back to Birmingham, for the first time in 10 years! Nick got us amazing seats this time, and it was an unbelievable show!

So, when I found out she was returning to Vegas, I would not let the opportunity pass me by again. A conversation turned into a reality and we planned the trip with my parents. They are Vegas veterans, so naturally they were going to join us.

We stayed at the Aria hotel, and saw three shows: Sinatra, Celine, and Criss Angel with Cirque de Soleil. The Sinatra show was so so, and Celine was amazing as usual. We were so close, it felt like she was singing to us. Within the first 5 minutes, I had already decided we were going to return before she left Vegas again. Criss Angel was really good. Although ever since I saw those shows on how street magic is done, I have lost interest in "magic," the Cirque performers were hilarious and made it worthwhile. We ate, shopped, and played! The only thing we didn't do much of was sleep!

Here we are at the Julian Serrano Restaurant in the Aria on the first day

Outside the Wynn before the Sinatra show

The Bellagio, of course

The wonderful Caesar's Palace, home of the Celine Stage and Forum Shops, the greatest place on earth

Celine's Back!

I may or may not be the proud owner of one overpriced t-shirt that says J'Adore Celine on the front and Celine M'Adore on the back.... We also may or may not have paid a couple of visits to the Louis Vuitton and Gucci stores. You can't go to Vegas without buying some luxury item, right?!

We were so happy we got to facetime with Z several times and we got several photo updates from Nana. He was clearly having the time of his life!

When we got home, Z ran so hard and fast toward us with the biggest smile on his face that he could barely keep up with himself! It was wonderful! It's great to leave, but even better to return!

Just Another Spring Day

2011-03-22T09:28:00.003-05:00

Sunday Nick decided to take Z outside for some good ol' fashioned fun with the water hose. He was unsure at first, but then he was loving it. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves for this post.

Hmm...

2011-03-21T12:53:00.001-05:00

I recently printed my first blog book of my first year blogging from blurb.com, so I was looking back and remembered that my first entry was about a little fender bender my mom had in my dad's car. I remember thinking it was kindof a weird occurrence that I wanted to write about, and from there the blog was born. Ironically, we had a strange incident the same day that book came in the mail that is probably too weird not to document. I'll begin by saying thank God, we are all fine. We were returning to our house from the condo on Friday night and were almost to our turn off of 280, when something came flying off the 18 wheeler in the adjacent lane. Assuming it was a piece of rubber from a tire and that we had just run over it, we didn't give it much thought, until seconds later when our check engine light came on and we saw smoke arising from the hood. Thinking we must be overheating, Nick turned the a/c off and it went away, until about 3 minutes later when we pulled into our driveway and our temperature gauge shot into the red. When we got out of the car this is what we saw.

Yes, that's right, a stake right through the heart of our little car. It was quite a surprise. So, now we're down a car and all that goes along with that until this gets fixed. What are the odds?

Bedtime

2011-03-17T14:07:00.000-05:00

Z and I have our own little bedtime thing going. I pick him up from school, come home, get pj's on (me, not him), we play a bit, eat dinner, take a bath (him, not me), brush teeth read books, then Daddy usually gets home, he plays with him a bit then off to bed he goes. Last night, I had a little fun with our routine and took some pics. I never let Z hold the toothbrush for obvious reasons, but last night I gave in. He was loving it.

Then we posed for a few self-portraits. These were taken with the camera on the front of my phone.

Say Ahh!

Cheesy

2011-03-14T11:06:00.003-05:00

We like to keep things light in the Gax household. We play, laugh, and generally try to have a good time. Z makes us so happy that we are probably constantly laughing or smiling. You could even say we have cheesy smiles from time to time. Apparently Z has picked up on this, because he now gives the biggest cheesy smile you can imagine in response to one of yours e.g.

I actually took these pictures to illustrate his new activity, which is leaning over the highchair, otherwise known as giving mom and dad a heart attack. Along those lines, here is another new activity.

Climbing up on his chair and leaning over the back or side. I think it's still a bit early for the chair (probably because I wanted to largest one they had). Although, he does like to point to the letters in his name and pretend he's reading them, which is pretty funny. He points and says "a-da... da... da... doh, then claps.

Sometimes his smiles are open mouth

Check out those tonsils!

Whoa! I'm wiped from all this cheesin'

I Need an Interpretor

2011-03-09T15:37:00.000-06:00

It is day 6 in the Gax household of dry nose, healthy appetite, funny, sweet baby love. To clarify Z has been back to his old tricks for almost a whole week, and amazingly for the first time in months, he has not had a runny nose for more than 2 days. Praise the Lord, and now it'll probably start back up again.

The doctor visit went fine. I saw one of the senior doctors in the practice, and he found a little residual fluid in Z's left ear, but said since he is acting normal (which he was in the office, in fact, he was quite pleasant even though we had to wait a while) that we didn't need to treat it with antibiotics. Great! I said, believe me, I didn't come here to get more antibiotics. I was trying to show him that I'm one of them, you know the anti antibiotic people that think that every time someone uses antibiotics that he or she is perpetuating superbugs like MRSA.

In other news, he gained a whole pound since his last checkup! The only way I can explain how he gained a pound in 3 weeks, when for 2 weeks and 5 days he would barely eat anything is that he stayed with my mom for the other 2 days. That woman is a monster when it comes to feeding Z. This time, I'm not complaining because I don't want my kid to be scrawny!

I made a point to mention the no call episode, which the doctor denied and blamed it on poor cell reception, really, dude it ain't the 90's. NO ONE CALLED, deal with it. It's all good though, as I say, all's well that ends well.

Z has been cracking us up on a daily basis. Whether it's new words, his new cheesy smile, or his special Z language, we are constantly entertained.

Here's a video of said language I took the other day at bathtime. PLEASE excuse the fact that one or both hands are keeping a firm grip on the family jewels. It's beyond help at this point.

Last Weekend

2011-03-03T12:15:00.001-06:00

I don't even know where to start this post today. We had a pretty rough weekend. I could start with the pitiful way Z looked and acted all weekend as the fever consumed his little body. I could talk about guilt, which is what I felt all weekend as I realized I both had lots of choices and none, at the same time. I could spend a long time talking about my frustration with (apparently all) pediatric practices. Instead, I'll just start at the beginning.

Our new doc found Z's first ear infection 2 weeks ago at his checkup. He took (the disgusting) Augmentin for the prescribed 10 days, and by day 11/12, he was feeling great. His nose was not running for the first time in what felt like forever. So, I (not wanting to waste time on my day with Z, and remembering that the doc said if his nose cleared up, it would be a good sign that the infection cleared) canceled my follow-up appointment for that Friday earlier in the week. Then, Friday he wakes up with a fever. I call the doctor and leave a very detailed message explaining my dilemma and requesting a callback from a nurse to help me decide what to do. Of course, babies get fevers all the time, including mine, so I was not worried at that point, I was just looking for a little guidance. NOONE CALLED ME BACK! The whole day passed, and I had my phone right by my side (like even took it to the bathroom with me) and got nothin. Okay, now I know I have previously commented on my feelings about hostile policies in pediatric practices, but my last doctor ALWAYS CALLED BACK. I guess you get rid of one problem and you take on another. We attempted to go on as usual with tylenol and such, and he seemed to be okay at that point.

Friday night was miserable for all of us... I was up with my own congestion/allergy troubles and checked on Z, who was breathing rapidly. Well, that made me nervous so I went in and he was burning up. I dosed him up some more ibuprofen and he went back to sleep (I did not). Then, he was up again crying and whining early that morning. It was probably close to 6 when he finally fell asleep, and he stayed asleep until 12:30 IN THE AFTERNOON! When did he turn into a teenager? When he finally woke up, he was a little disoriented (as you might imagine), but the fever had gone down. So, we decided to try and make something of the day.

To break from the negativity: We went to the zoo for the first time, and he perked up a little, but the mood was still a little somber that day. He started saying "duck," which was really cute.

Nick took him around and there was a lot of this:

A fair amount of this:

Then this, once Nick made the genius decision to let him ride around on his shoulders

I love how he's got a hold of Nick's ear here

After some TLC from mom and dad, he started feeling a little better

This was the best pic I had with him (not saying much)

Unfortunately, Saturday night was not much better. He woke up again, got some medicine and went right back to sleep. He woke up at 9, but was back asleep by 10:30. He didn't get up until 3, when I had to wake him up. At this point, I have had it with this fever thing. Then, the fever was gone. It wasn't until a couple of hours later that he got his appetite and energy back, but we finally saw him turn the corner.

He slept all night Sunday night and had more TLC with his grandma on Monday. Then, today he woke up in the morning crying inconsolably. He finally got over that after a lot of comforting (and after I let him play with my makeup bag, which he likes for some unknown reason). I'm not sure this story has ended, but for right now, everything is semi-normal.

We are going to the doctor (once and for all) on Friday, so we can get some peace and maybe a couple of answers.

Shower Time

2011-02-28T10:03:00.002-06:00

Last weekend I hosted my first ever baby shower, along with Shelley, Erin, and Ann for my friend Julie and Baby Henry. I thought everything looked great, and we had a great turn-out! Julie and I go way back. We were in each other's weddings and she threw my baby shower! We are all really excited to meet Baby Henry! I should have taken more pictures of the actual people that were there, but you know how it goes...

I couldn't believe it, but Z slept through almost the entire shower, then Nick snuck him downstairs to hang with him and Julie's husband. Here's a pic I stole from Julie of the Z man after the shower was over getting his groove on.

These Days

2011-02-23T13:48:00.007-06:00

My fellow bloggers have noted what I am finding to be true which is that when you stop doing monthly posts, you feel that something is missing. So, in lieu of monthly posts, I'll start doing "These Days" posts, so I can document from time to time just what Z is up to "these days." They may or may not occur around monthly birthdays, because I like to keep things suspenseful.

He's almost 17 months old (insert shock and awe on the part of the mom, astounded at the passing of time). He babbles A LOT. In fact the other night, he must have been performing his rendition of "The Tonight Show" because all I heard in the monitor was babbling. But, what could I do? He wasn't crying, but he sure wasn't sleeping. Roll over, go back to sleep. I hope that isn't becoming a habit.

He is obsessed with a few things, some typical, some not so much

1. Books. He can say the word book, but it is more like a sound than a word (kindof like he leaves out the vowels, if that makes any sense at all). He loves books. He would sit in your lap and let you read to him all day and night if time and social norms would permit. The other day I went to pick him up from school, and all the kids were walking around the classroom, and he was sitting in the floor surrounded by books. His favorite right now is Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. He has become discerning in his book taste. He picks through the books until he finds the one he wants, then he brings it to you and crawls into your lap to have you read it to him.

2. Socks. "Ahck" in Z language. He loves socks, yours, his, it doesn't matter. The other day I went to get him out of bed after nap and he had one hanging out of his mouth, like a little dog. Whenever we are getting ready to go anywhere, I tell him to go get me some socks, and he opens his drawer and gets them out, hands them to me and crawls into my lap so I can put them on.

3. Outside. This is my new favorite word. He says it like this: "ow-siii," usually with a change in inflection in the "siii" part. This is no surprise, but the child loves walking around outside. It wears him out too, which we all like. It has become a bit of a problem though when we are loading up the car and he hears the garage door open, because he always wants to go out there, but has to get in the car instead. I can usually appease him with a pocket pack of kleenex, which he also likes, but not enough to make the list.

4. Fasteners/buckles of any kind. This obsession is fairly new and comes quite in handy at places like Kohl's (the ultimate source for school clothes and PJ's) because he is entertained in the cart for many minutes (how much more can you ask for with a toddler?).

5. TV. Well, this was inevitable. The child loves him some TV. We just got Nick Jr., and he loves pretty much any show on there, especially the ones that include singing and dancing, like Fresh Beat Band. I feel like Moose A. Moose is the fourth member of the family. He also watches TV at school, mostly Sesame Street, which he likes so much that he ignores me sometimes when I arrive to ~~rescue~~ pick him up. The horror.

What would a post be without a few pics?

New Routine

2011-02-16T09:36:00.000-06:00

Z is so lucky that he sees his Nuna and Jido regularly, every Tuesday to be exact. This Tuesday, he was extra lucky because his cousin Adam was in town. My mom was keeping him while my sis and bro-in-law took my niece to Disney World for her birthday. Little Adam loves my parents and Z had a run for his money for the attention.

Cousin Adam joined Z's normal bedtime routine. He even joined him in the tub. They actually played really well together. Boys, one day you'll probably be embarrassed of this bath picture, but right now, it is darn cute!

Valentine Bubble

2011-02-15T09:21:00.000-06:00

I was quite excited for Z's party at school yesterday. I dressed him in his little red outfit, packed up his little valentines, and even brought the cookies for the party.

Then, this happened.

If you can't tell, he busted his bottom lip. I got a picture of him smiling, so it wouldn't look as bad.

Every time I see his school come up on my phone, I momentarily stop breathing. They've called for fever. They've called for vomiting. This time, an accident. To their credit, they usually start with "Z's fine." So, the conversation went like this:

"First of all, Z's fine" (okay, if he's fine then why are you calling me?)
"BUT... he had a little accident."

"Okay, what happened?" (hurry it up)

"He fell off the slide and his lip is cut. They are checking his teeth now." His TEETH, are you kidding me? Why don't you just shoot me? Who's checking his teeth, his dentist, oh wait that can't be because that's ME!

"I'm on my way."

By the time I got there, he really was fine, and his (6 and 1/2) teeth were fine too. I like to ~~exaggerate~~ elaborate for entertainment purposes.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T09:06:00.000-06:00

Thank you so much Amanda for designing and printing these for us! We have used every last one between our friends and family and Z's school friends, and of course our blog friends! They've been a big hit!

15 Month Checkup

2011-02-14T08:59:00.001-06:00

No, this post is not being entered weeks after the fact, we actually had our 15 month checkup appointment on Friday, when he was almost 16 and 1/2 months old. We have (finally) changed doctors, mainly because we don't live anywhere near my former doctor anymore, but also for other reasons like long wait times and hostile policies. Thinking I would be escaping said policies upon my exit from the practice, I was then confronted with yet another hostile policy of ________ pediatrics. And I quote, "Do you understand that once you leave our practice, you may never, even if you move back to the area, return as a patient under any circumstances?" "Oh okay," I reply, as if I believe that this is a completely reasonable policy, meanwhile trying to reconcile how any business could possibly operate under such a policy, and more importantly how any human can say such a thing to a person. Okay, so let me get this straight, if all other pediatric practices cease to exist at the same time for whatever reason that _______ pediatrics is able to withstand, and my child (God forbid) had some kind of emergency, you wouldn't take us back... No. K, got it. Of course, I didn't say that, and thankfully, Birmingham is large enough that I should never require reentry to their practice, but sheesh, talk about poor treatment. Needless to say, I was reassured that my exit was justified and necessary. For the record, my doctor was extremely sweet and we were a good fit, and she called me personally to say there were no hard feelings about the transfer.

So, it took a little while to get all of that straightened out and to find a Friday appointment, but we made it, and so far, we like our new doc. We mostly like the fact we don't have to wait an hour or more (so far) just to see her. Now for the stats. Z weighted 22 pounds (25%) and was 32 inches long (90%). I was shocked by this one. Little man grew like 3 inches and has never been in the 90th percentile before! Then I quickly got my bubble burst when she told me that Z has his first ear infection. Every appointment after the first few, I would wait with bated breath as the doctor would check Z's ears. For a while he fussed a lot and kept a runny nose (still has that runny nose), so I figured it was inevitable. After a few appointments with a clean bill of ear health, I thought, okay, Z must not really get ear infections. I've even said as much, but as it goes in life (and in children) once you think you've got it figured out, it all changes on you! So I was a little bummed, but also couldn't believe that he really hasn't shown any signs. My inner voice started wondering. Has this just started? Has he had it so long he's used to it? Maybe we would have caught it earlier if I had taken him to _______ Pediatrics on time. All guilty feelings aside, I felt for my baby. Then he got three shots and a finger stick, and both of our mornings were officially spoiled.

He was a good sport. We continued our usual Friday routine and went to the gym and lunch. He took a good nap and was good as new for dinner Friday night with our friends Julie and Lance at Whole Foods.

The rest of the weekend was fun and restful. Z started saying "outside" this weekend, which started as "ow-hi" then became "ow-si." He is obsessed with going outside! He went to the gym nursery again Saturday and Sunday, started taking a disgusting antibiotic and he got a haircut on Sunday, officially making it the weekend of forcing Z to do things he doesn't want to do. Isn't that what being a kid is all about?

Snow Day?

2011-02-10T12:13:00.003-06:00

By all accounts, today should have been a snow day. All the signs were there, plenty of snow on the ground, countless tickers running on the tv, weathermen preempting all our favorite shows, but alas, school was in session.

Z didn't take the news so well.

All Grown Up

2011-02-08T12:05:00.001-06:00

I am not sure when it happened, but my baby is becoming a big boy. Allow me to explain.

To me the above picture is self-explanatory. What? You don't see it?! He doesn't look like a grown-up here? Jerry Seinfeld? (Nick says his white tennis shoes make him look like Jerry). Oh well, I digress.

This grown-up-ness kindof hit me this weekend on several occasions. First, when we went to the mall sans stroller and he walked around with my dad

Rode on the escalator, practically by himself

And sat in these big boy chairs at Gymboree

Then, when I was feeding him yogurt and instead of the usual push my hand away turn his head whine notification that he was finished, he simply said "Ahh duhh," which translates in adult English to "all done." To which I replied "excuse me, did you just communicate a desire (somewhat) clearly and directly to me?" And then, because I'm a ridiculous emotional mom, I had the very normal response of tearing up. Let me defend myself... Okay, yeah, there's really no defense there. I'll just leave it at this, I was really proud of my boy.

We have slowly but surely been progressing on the communication front for a while now. He understands a lot of what we say, like come on, let's go outside, take a bath, eat, read a book or whatever. Also he says a lot of words to communicate back like up, bath, bye bye, night night, book, water, etc.

Weekend with Grandparents

2011-02-02T09:08:00.000-06:00

This past weekend, I had to take CE classes Friday and Saturday, and hubs had to be at work for half the day on Saturday, and we both went to his firm's annual after-holiday party Saturday night. So, needless to say, my parents got some major QT with Z! They went for walks, played outside, took naps, and ate a lot. Well, Z ate a lot because my mom insists on feeding him 24/7. They even took him out to Carrabba's on Saturday night. It was hard being away from him so much on the weekend, but we were comforted knowing he was in good hands.

When I got home on Saturday afternoon, this is what I saw.

Note: I cropped what they were "reading" out of this picture because it's definitely a Pottery Barn catalog we received in our mail that day.

I also got periodic updates from my mom, which sounded something like this:

Me: How's Z?

Mom: He's good, honey, I fed him some cheese, applesauce, a cereal bar, and some yogurt.

Me: Which meal was that?

Mom: Oh no, honey, that was just a snack, he also took a 3 hour nap and had 2 very healthy poops.

Me: Are we talking about an 89 year old man now?

He had a climb to give his Jido five.

I'm guessing he was "saying" something here.

As seen in the previous post, there was some passing around of mom's sunglasses

Is this right?

I'll just have those

Sunday, it was just us again, and we had a very relaxing day. I spent the latter part of the afternoon jamming at Zumba for the second week in a row, then we settled in and watched the SAG awards. I love award season!

Style Watch

2011-02-01T11:13:00.001-06:00

Being the girly-girl that I am, I {like to think} I know a lot more about girl's fashion than boy's. Having said that, I have been trying to hone Z's personal style lately. I buy a lot of his clothes but I also get a lot of gifts from family and friends. For example, his (20 year-old) uncle bought him these:

Okay, that's one way we could go with personal style. But he wears them well, don't you think?

We have also received some styles of a more "traditional" nature from some of my family.

I think he really pulls this look off, myself.

Anybody who knows about style knows it's essential to have some awesome shades.

"Wassup Mom?"

And because I still shop at children's boutiques

Z's style cannot be defined by one characteristic or look. He is a versatile ~~toddler~~ man with many hats (and shades and shoes).

Mmm...

2011-01-24T10:10:00.001-06:00

Inspired by MM, we decided to let Z have full reign of the spoon. I usually hand it to him or guide it into his mouth while he's holding it, because he usually ends up slinging food everywhere. I have to say, he did pretty well, and it's no messier than usual, being that he loves let us know that he is finished by throwing his food on the floor.

The sound effects are all him.

Z, and Update

2011-01-17T15:38:00.000-06:00

Since I have stopped doing monthly posts, I feel like I haven't been able document as much as I would like. So, here's an update on the Z man. This stuff is usually fascinating to me, mildly interesting to other moms, and pretty much sleep inducing to all others, so feel free to skim, but I will try to make it as interesting as possible.

He's walking everywhere now, getting faster every day! I have been at home a lot lately, holidays, snow days, etc. When I'm home he follows me around everywhere I go, change clothes he's there, laundry he's there, wash dishes he's there, go to the bathroom, sorry to say... he's there. Well, I can't very well leave him alone in a room. He's liable to climb into a shopping bag, not know how to climb out and burst into tears (not that that has ever happened or anything).

He's saying all kinds of words, some identifiable, some not. My favorite being 'Up' which now is like "uhhhh... pah." He's also says 'ahck' for sock, and picks up anything that looks like a phone, holds it up to his ear and says 'ah-lo.' Okay, that may be my favorite. He's waving and saying 'by-by' and telling full blown Z stories that sound something like this 'acken acken acken ackeeeen aaaacken' with many changes in inflection and complete with hand gestures.

He dances whenever where ever he hears my dad sing his little song. I'm sure I have referred to that once before. Let me just say that the boy has rhythm!

He loves fishsticks and chicken nuggets! I know what you're thinking, but people, I've tried. There are countless posts about how hard I have tried! Heck, I'm still trying, but I've almost lost the battle. There have been many a night that I make a perfectly delectable and healthy meal for him complete with all the food groups, and he won't go near it! Now, he does eat some good things like bananas and peas. And he eats as much cheese and yogurt as I can stand to give him. But, maybe I should cut him some slack, after all he only has 6 and 1/2 teeth, and really how in the world can eat everything with just 6 and 1/2 teeth? The greatest mystery of all in the food department is that sometimes what he won't try with me, he'll eat if Nick gives it to him. And, when all else fails, my dad steps in. He'll eat anything if it comes from him. I have no good explanation for that.

He still sleeps very well, and I am now convinced that as a teenager, I am going to have to coax him out of bed every single morning. Perhaps I created a monster, a very well trained, sleep-loving monster. Faithful readers (if there are any), if I ever complain about him sleeping too much, please remind me of the old days... or slap me, whichever's easier. It really is a blessing that he is such a great sleeper. He goes down without a peep at (and sometimes even before) 7, and we rarely hear from him before 7 a.m., sometimes 8 or later! He naps at around 11:30 and usually until 1:30 or 2, but it can be as late as 3, and mommy loves naptime!

There are countless other fun goings on these days. He is truly changing every day, and I feel so blessed!

Family

2011-01-04T11:11:00.025-06:00

We had a great time visiting with family the past week. My brother and his son, Jude came down from Detroit and my sister and her 2 kids came up from Florida. It was insane and SO wonderful! They actually spent the first few nights in our house, which was so much fun. We were honored to host everybody, and we had a blast together. The only people who had more fun were the little ones! Jude and AG (who are very close in age) were running around together making up games and following each other around. Z and his cousin Adam were trying so hard to keep up and fit in, but just couldn't do it. Z would hang around and just start laughing hysterically like he was in on some secret joke, little did he know he was being completely ignored by his 5 year old cousins!

My mom is so good with all of the kids. Every time she walks in the room, Adam runs over to her so she'll scoop him up. Then of course Z comes over and raises his little hands in the air, and says "uhhh." She was able to accommodate both boys this time.

*Adam's a bit unhappy in this pic, but it was the best we could do

I know she and my dad love it the most we all get together.

After my sis and her kids left, Z followed Jude around like a little puppy and Jude actually gave him a little bit of attention because AG was not there anymore.

We had planned to take some family photos because it is exceedingly rare that we are all together, and we were still missing my sister and brother's spouses as well as my twin nieces, but it never happened. Imagine that. Oh well, we did manage to get some more group shots later in the week.

Me and my bro

Dad and the middle kids, 2 Dr. P's and a Dr. G

Group Shots

The Pacha men and mom

The boys

The week of Christmas was very quiet and relaxing, with a considerable amount of shopping mixed in. We knew we would all be getting together after Christmas and that it would be hectic, so we took the time to enjoy some relative quiet. Nick got his wisdom teeth extracted, which went as well as can be expected. He was well enough to go to the Summit the next day and the Shops at Grand River on Christmas Eve, where we wore Z (for the first time in a while) and shopped the outlets. It was great because it wasn't too crowded, and we found some great deals. Because I am a basket case anyway, I got borderline emotional walking around there with sleeping-15-month-Z strapped to me because it reminded me of the old days. He slept in there for a good 2 hours while we shopped (mostly for Nick) and then we had a food court lunch and headed home. That night we had a pretty decent semi home-cooked meal and watched Christmas Vacation with my little bro.

Christmas Day it snowed like crazy (well, for Alabama, anyway)! We opened presents and stayed home all day. It was wonderful! Then, the day after Christmas, we hit the mall again for the sales. My mom went with us this time, and Nick wore Z again, since it worked so well two days before, and once again, he did great. That day I got to shop more for myself! We went to early dinners both times, which is amazing, no wait, noone cares if your child is making noise and throwing puffs everywhere, and you still get home in time to enjoy the rest of the evening. I highly recommend it.

I had to work a full day and 2 half days the week after Christmas, and my bro arrived on the Monday. Everyone came to our house and we had a great home-cooked (by my mom) meal and caught up. My sister came the next day, and we all had lunch together and hung out at our house. Then on Wednesday my mom, sister, and I left the brave men at home with all of the children and did even more shopping. One would think I would get tired of shopping, and one would be wrong... We had so much fun together. I had forgotten how much fun it is to go shopping with them with no children.

We went to Sylacauga for New Year's, and didn't do much in terms of exciting things. The weather was so amazingly nice, however, we did take the kids to the park. They had a blast and wore themselves completely out! Z was asleep the minute we put him in the car.

Change

2011-01-04T09:34:00.000-06:00

No one likes change, changing schools, changing jobs, changing homes. It's makes us just a little uncomfortable. I am referring to Z's classroom change, which included new teachers and a new sleep location (namely a nap mat on a cot on the floor).Well, you can imagine how it must be for a small child, but as usual he took it much better than I could have imagined. In case you don't remember, I'm a sleep nazi. I am all about some sleep for my child, so naturally, I was very worried that we were going to be facing week(s) of not napping because of the drastic sleeping arrangement change.

Day 1: 2 and 1/2 hour nap on the nap mat on the floor. What? How? Don't know, but he did it, and I'm a proud mama.

He actually has transitioned very well in general. He hasn't cried once on the drop-off, and today he nearly jumped out of hub's arms to get to the floor to play.

Z's Second Snow

2010-12-27T10:24:00.001-06:00

Z would not believe us if we told him that it never snows in Alabama. He has now seen the snow twice in his short life! This time it was on Christmas, which is even MORE rare! We had such a wonderful break (and it's not over yet). We lounged around, watched movies, ate a ton, shopped, and opened lots of presents (mostly from the Gax side of the family). It was fun to see Z rip into the presents.

This is what happens when I hold a ball or something up really high or say, "where's the light?" He looks straight up instead of at the camera, which is what I'm going for

Z is officially walking all over the house all the time now. It's quite funny to watch him take off into another room on a whim (wonder what he's thinking), and so far he's not too into stairs, however, there will likely be baby gate in our near future.

(Z looks like he's winking in the last picture, but actually, his right eye is a little swollen. He woke up Christmas Eve with drainage in both eyes. That day, the left was a little worse, but now the right side is worse. We've been putting Antibiotic ointment on them, and I think it is improving. Poor baby, there's nothing he hasn't had!)

Special Delivery

2010-12-24T19:35:00.001-06:00

Imagine my surprise when I opened a package from the North Pole with this inside.

I hope everyone gets everything on their list this year! Best wishes to all for a blessed holiday season from the Gax's!

Family Story in Pictures

2010-12-23T09:44:00.001-06:00

Last weekend we had a surprise visit from my sister and her family. I was really excited to see Z interact with his cousin Adam, who is only 4 months older than him, but it turned out he had more fun with my almost 5 year old niece AG! Let me explain

Adam and Z sizing each other up

You're right, you should have the big truck because you're bigger, I'll take the little one

This is my busy box, I love it more than life itsel... okay, I'll show you how it works, just hold on

Oh, wait wait um, that's my, um okay I guess you can have that too...

Z: Oh no you didn't...

Now let's begin with his interactions with AG

Hey AG, want to join me for a wagon ride?

Sure, I'll bring the puffs

Oh AG! puffs are my favorite!

Hey Jido, we are loving some puffs and this ride, spectacular

AG: Z, you are so funny, I'm taking a little break from the wagon, but I'll be right back okay

Z: hehe, okay, hehehe

Can you blame him?

We had a great time with Adam and AG as well as the rest of the family, always fun to get together!

Movin On Up

2010-12-23T09:01:00.000-06:00

Well, I just found out yesterday that Z is moving up to a new classroom in January. I was not prepared for that information at all. We have been through a lot with his I3 teachers. We have worked through sleeping issues, started table foods, crawling and walking with them. He has also been sick several times with those teachers and threw up for the first time with them. There have been many occasions where one of his teachers in particular has had to scoop his crying self up and rock him to comfort him when he hasn't felt well. Recently, we had a major fever scare, and they took such good care of him! I'm sure his I4 teachers will be great too, but I'll never forget these ladies that he's been with for the past 5 months.

Anyway, the main change is that he is going to have to sleep on a napmat. Also, information that I was not prepared for, as I have to find the best and cutest one out there and get it monogrammed in time for his first day.

Well, thank God for Amazon 2-day shipping (and that's not a plug, I get nothing for saying that). We got his really cute Stephen Joseph nap mat last week, and it should be ready to go in time. I do not see him sleeping on the floor, but I guess that's not my problem.

Anniversary

2010-12-16T14:51:00.000-06:00

Today is our 4 year wedding anniversary. Lately, these special days kindof sneak up on me, what with celebrating Z's monthly "birthday," weekly advancements (we always seem to notice some new skill on Sundays because he was born on a Sunday), upcoming well checks, etc. Basically, when you have a child, your significant milestones go out the window.

With this anniversary post there is going to be a sappy story, so if you don't care for sap, stop reading here.

Yesterday a box from Amazon with a card that read "Meant to be, Happy Anniversary" arrived on my doorstep. I instantly knew what was inside because of the reference. You see, many years ago when Nick and I were still in our courting stage (yeah, I know, but it sounds better than 'dating'), I told him how sad I was that I could not find my size in these great flats that I really wanted, and I said "Oh, well I guess it's not meant to be for me to have them." The next day, I found on my doorstep a box with a note that read "Meant to be." In it contained the exact flats I had been speaking of (in my size, I might add). In that moment, I reaffirmed that this guy was a keeper, not only was he a great listener, but he even knew how to pick out the right shoes and the right size. In case you are wondering they were studded Steve Madden flats similar to these:

The shoes I received this year that were "meant to be" were also a pair I had gently hinted to him that I liked. Leopard print danskos. He really snuck this one in on me, because I didn't think we were giving each other gifts.

The point of the story is I am very thankful to have married the most genuine, thoughtful, and loving guy in the world, and that I'm so blessed that we were "meant to be."

Haircut Part 3

2010-12-13T11:02:00.000-06:00

Among our many activities this weekend was Z's third ever haircut. His hair was getting a little out of control and beginning to resemble an Alabama Shag/Justin Bieber. That was not the look we were going for. We went to SuperCuts, and I couldn't believe how well he did! He just had this look on his face, like "okay lady, do what you gotta do." His new do makes him look like such a big boy!

Holi-days.

2010-12-13T09:07:00.000-06:00

Z loves hanging by the tree. He exclaims "bahhh, bahhh" pretty loudly, pretty much anytime he sees ornaments, but particularly the ones on the tree. Our mantle has recently become even more decorated with our stockings and presents! The wagon is from Aunt Talia. We can't wait to break it out.

I attempted to get some pictures of Z by the tree in his little reindeer outfit (this was the night of my staff party), but as usual, things didn't go as planned.

Thank goodness the ornaments are shatter proof

I'm not looking at the camera...

Even Nick couldn't get him to look at the camera

The week before we were in Sylacauga for my dad's staff party. My parents got some QT with Z and also some cute pictures like the following:

Happy Holidays 2010!

2010-12-12T20:26:00.000-06:00

It's official, the cards are out. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season!

Love, the Gax's!

Trained

2010-12-08T10:22:00.000-06:00

One of the freedoms I was most reluctant about relinquishing when I got pregnant was my ability to go shopping on a whim and stay for as many uninterrupted hours as I wanted. It had previously been my much needed "me time." I think it's fair to say that I at least tried to fully realize how much that aspect of my life would change. I distinctly remember going shopping for 6 hours straight when I was about 7 months pregnant, just because I could. Also, I went to the mall after almost every OB appointment and would sometimes just sit and watch the other moms pushing their strollers or feeding their kids Chick Fil-A trying to imagine myself with this additional responsibility.

The first few months of Z's life were shaky at best in terms of outings. Also fresh in my memory was a particular outing to Brookwood mall that ended abruptly when Z "expressed" his strong desire to leave. I bailed, before seeing the first pair of shoes.

I couldn't let that stop me forever. So I decide to attack it methodically. I began to slowly reintroduce him to what had previously been my second home. First, I tried wearing him in the sling. I usually had to vigorously walk for a while first to get him to fall asleep, but once asleep, I was free to do as I wished. Of course, this seriously inhibited my ability to try anything on, eat, or really stop walking for more than just a couple of seconds, and I had to be ready at any time to bail if he woke up or got hungry, but I was at the mall, and to me that was enough. Then, he began to warm up to the idea of being in the stroller. With that, we started going for 30 minutes or an hour at a time, and he actually began appreciating all of the sights and sounds. Before long, we were consistently enjoying our shopping time, me browsing, him riding in his stroller. He's never been too fond of the dressing room, so I still wasn't able to try anything on or buy much, but it was beginning to regain the joy that it had previously had for me.

These days, not only do we go, but we try on, and we buy (only occasionally). People even stop us and comment on how good he is. To which, I usually respond, "He's been trained (and believe me, it wasn't easy)."

How far we have come...

Deck The Halls

2010-12-06T12:07:00.000-06:00

We were really excited to decorate the house for the first time ever this year. This is a first for us for several reasons, but mainly because this is our first house. Because of Z's fascination with lights and balls, we knew that whatever we did involving those two things were surely be a big hit, and we were right.

While we don't "celebrate" Christmas in the traditional sense, we felt it would be important (not to mention fun) to recognize it for Z's sake and to make memories that we can reflect back on one day.

Since we have never decorated before, we had A LOT of stuff to buy and AN INSANE AMOUNT of work to do to get the house up to snuff for both our standards and that of the neighborhood. We definitely have more work and shopping to do, but I think we did pretty good for just one weekend of shopping and decorating. Oh, and we really enjoyed it too. Here are a few pics.