The Easter Bunny

Today was a day of fun (for the most part). The Easter Bunny came to town so we decided to go visit. This is our 2nd year going to Fashion Island Mall and making a long morning of visiting the Easter Bunny. And I think it is going to be our yearly tradition on from now on. Zachary actually did really well with Mr. Bunny. We talked about him before leaving the house and I showed him his picture from last year. Once there, he actually waved "Hi" at first sight, but then upon realizing he actually had to sit on that huge bunny's lap and his confidence was gone. But I was able to get a picture of him without tears. That's a big plus in my book!!!

Next we were off to the carousel. Zachary is always taking a toy, holding over his head and saying "Up High" and then putting on the ground and saying"Down Low". So needless to say, the horse going up high and then down low was hilarious to him. He enjoyed two rides and was ready for another.

Our last stop after some shopping was to eat at the Red Robin. Zachary ate a nutritious meal of chocolate shake and french fries. Does catsup counts as a vegetable? But he enjoyed himself, and for today, that is what mattered. He has been so sick the past couple of months we haven't really gone out to have fun, so today was special.

One of these days I know he will like hamburgers, but so far he doesn't like any of the normal junk foods that kids typically love. That is except cookies and chips. If I ask him what he wants to eat, it is always cookies and chips. Not that I want him to love junk food, it just surprises me. I thought all kids were programmed from birth to inhale that stuff. Though he is finally eating hot dogs, which is new. I would really love it if he would like peanut butter. Oh, how that would make my life easier!!!!!

2 Year Pictures

Well, I finally got Zachary's 2 year old pictures taken today. Yes, we are over a month late, but we all have been so sick that this was the first chance I got, so I grabbed it. But of course, this morning he woke up in the worst mood. He didn't want to do anything but sit and play with his train set. By the time we left the house, I had adopted his mood as well.

When we drove up to the park to meet the photographer and gets out of the car, runs over to her and give her a big hug and kiss. OMG, was I so relieved and amazed. He was perfect the whole time. That all ended once we got back into the car to leave, but that's okay. I think she got some good pictures and that is all that mattered. And on top of it all, we found a great park that I want to go back to some day. So all in all, it turned out to be a good day.

A New Train Set

So today was another day of shopping. I went to IKEA looking for stuff for the new nursery. Wasn't able to find anything for that, but I did spend a fortune of stuff for Zachary. The hit of the day was the little train set and he is just in total love with it. When he walks into the room and sees it he says "Hi train!"

The best thing is the bridge, which he calls a slide. Getting the train to go down the "slide" is oh such great fun!!!

Going Visiting

Today was a busy day of shopping. But we did take some time out to visit a friend that just had a new baby. I have forgotten how tiny they are and I am really ready to meet Kaitlyn now. I have been kind of nervous as to how Zachary is going to do with Kaitlyn's arrival in May. I think it might have helped him a little to get the concept of a baby and that this is what is in mommy's tummy. But we really won't know until it all happens.

More Art Work

Zachary hasn't really been feeling great the past couple of days due to tummy problems. And because of this, he was very clingy today. I was trying hard to finish up shampooing my carpets. This task normally takes me 2 days, but this time it took me 6 days. Today, I can officially say I done and even with him following me around, holding onto the back of my shirt while sucking his thumb.

Last week we took our first trip to Lakeshore Learning Center and of course I spent a fortune. Zachary left crying because he didn't want to leave. He just wanted to look at everything! So to even things out for him today, we broke out the markers and he drew on his white board. It turned out to be a good lesson on colors and fine motor skills. He found great entertainment in putting the lids on and off. He more or less tolerated having to name the colors for me.

He looks like such a serious little artist here.

Zachary hasn't wanted to wear clothes around the house lately. His "naked time" is becoming very important to him. So why the smock? It's my attempt to create a habit so he knows he as to wear it when ever he is doing his projects. So far so good. In the picture he is trying to figure out what color I asked him to get. He did pretty good. He knows 4 colors now.

And here is the finished product.

The First Day Of Spring

What can be more enjoyable on the First Day of Spring than to go outside and plant flowers! I love flowers and having my flower beds fully planted with bright and beautiful flowers always makes me happy. Since Zachary has been born, this passion has taken a backseat for many reasons. But today, we did a little planting in the front yard in an attempt to spruce things up.

First we dug in the dirt pulling up all the weeds and getting the soil ready for new plants. And we tried really hard to pull just the weeds but it was hard to tell the difference! Throwing dirt seemed to also be on the agenda. Digging holes to plant the flowers was of course great fun!

He thought the flowers were very pretty and it was hard for him not to pull the flowers off. But once we concentrated on naming all the colors, he did much better. He will say every color but Orange. And he always gets red, blue and brown without fail. The rest of the colors are still a bit confusing.

And after we are all done planting, out comes the water!!! Here is Zachary helping his Grandma (who he calls "Ya-Ya") watering all the new plants. And of course Zachary is getting watered too.

And of course after a hard day of work, one must get refreshed with some cool water! I guess it tastes better out of the hose than a cup.

This sure turned out to be a fun day for us all!

Let's Get Ready For The Day

Life here has been a bit boring as of late. Since I seem to be moving slower each day (which I didn't know was possible!) and projects around the house are piling up, nothing really too exciting is happening.

So..........I thought I would share Zachary's progress in getting ready in the morning. He has become very independent lately and has to do everything himself. Which I think is great, and very cute most of the time. I will leave out how very frustrating it can also be to have to take great lengths to get a simple thing done, but that is all what being two is about.

I was told today that we had to "hustle" because of an appointment. I had to laugh since hustling or rushing are not in either Zachary's or my vocabulary anymore. Everything takes three times as long as before. Oh but what fun we do have!!!

Brushing the hair is always fun. Except he always gets the comb stuck in his hair.


Next is washing the face.

And the most exciting of all, is brushing the teeth. Just started using the training tooth paste and he thinks is very "YUMMY!!!". Plus it has Thomas the Train on the tube so that makes even more fun.

Okay we are now ready to start the day, even though it's probably about 10am.

Daily Chores

I'm sure like all other two year olds, Zachary just LOVES doing his daily chores. I find it takes a certain amount of patience on my part but in the end, I now appreciate how the simplest of tasks can be exciting and new every time they are done. I also know that once he gets really good at them, he wont be so eager so I better enjoy his enthusiasm now.

Feeding the cats are particularly exciting. Every time he sees the outside cat he wants to feed her. And getting to go outside to pour the food into the bowl makes it all that more exciting. Oh how I wish I could have that kind of wonder for life.

The next chore of the day is feeding the fish. This is always fun because it involves water!!! and climbing up on the step stool. What could be more fun.

Getting the paper each morning is a quite the social event. I use to try to sneak out hoping no one would see me in my pj's. Not Zachary. What joy it is to wave at a neighbor driving off to work or actually getting to talk to them if he catches them at the right time!!! And then we also have to discuss the weather and what animals we see. One would think that conversation would be short since we live in the suburbs in Southern California. But no, each and every day is as exciting as the last. Who knew getting the paper was full of so many experiences.

The last note worthy daily chore is getting the mail. Whether we are mailing a letter or getting the mail, it is thrilling. I think mostly because he gets to open the front door and then gets lifted up to look inside the mail box. I too like getting the mail, but for the life of me don't know why. It's mostly junk or bills, but there is always that fleeting chance of something special. For Zachary, who cares what it is, "WE ARE GETTING THE MAIL!!!" and he has to carry it into the house and go through it all.

A Little Fun with Play Dough

Well, it seems like forever since my family has been sick. Just as I think it's finally in the past, we start all over again. At this point, I think I'm getting more cabin fever than Zachary. Yesterday was spent in bed watching Disney movies all day. Quite unusual for a 2 year old to do. Normally all he wants to do is jump on the bed. Then again today, that seemed to be on the top of his list again, just cuddling and watching TV. He is on day 4 of his antibiotics and keeps saying "tummy boo boo". Makes me so sad to have to keep giving him that stuff, but his cough is finally getting better.


So this afternoon I broke out the Play Dough and did all I could just to get the little guy to laugh. I know I did most of the playing but in the end, he was enjoying himself, and that it was mattered.


What can I say, I tried making animals, using cookie cutters, but this is what he thought was funny.

Not Such A Great Day

Well, today I just woke up in a bitchy mood. No way around it, and Zachary knew just what to do to egg me on. I was trying to clean house which wasn't going so well, so I gave up and ate ice cream instead. I'm allowed right?!?!? I know, being pregnant I should be eating healthy, but all I want these days is anything sweet.

The afternoon went better since my dear dear Mom took Zachary to school and again I got to take a nap. What a blessing! Thankfully when I woke up, I was doing better. When they got home, my Mom informs me that his teacher said he was very very "opinionated today". I had to laugh because I was calling it bratty. The up side to him being bratty(oops, I mean opinionated) is I know that he is feeling better. Seems like it's part of his process. So I'm really hoping for a good night sleep for all tonight so we can make it to our friend's birthday party tomorrow.

Someone I know always tries to see the positive in everything and in everyday. I am working on that myself, though I find it hard to do at times. Today, my positive would be that I am so very thankful for having such a great Mom. She is my support system and today she was there for me again. She is still feeling under the weather too, but she saw that both Zachary and I needed a break from each other and she stepped in to help. The rest of the day probably would have been rough, but thanks to her help, it turned out pretty good.

Not Feeling So Good Today

Zachary never really has gotten past being sick. His cough got better but seemed to just stick around until two days ago when it started getting bad again and a fever joined it. It has been almost a month that he has been sick. Took him to the doctor today and got some antibiotics, but nothing to help the cough. I think we are in for another long night!!

But even sick, he looks pretty cute!

And on a personal Mommy note, I was very excited to finally buy a Petunia Pickle Bottom diaper bag. 10 years ago, I never would have thought in my wildest imagination I would be excited over a diaper bag. Shows what motherhood can do to a person! And so far it is 99% great.

Belated Birthday Lunch for Grandma

We celebrated Zachary's Grandma's birthday, which was on Feb 28th. We went out to lunch at Olive Gardens which is our favorite restaurant lately because it is the only restaurant that I can get Zachary to be behaved at. And this time we had the best waiter. He has a 17 month old so he was giving Zachary special treatment which made the meal so easy for me.

Believe it or not, he really does like pasta. He doesn't look like it in the picture though.

Now he is starting to get into it and really enjoying himself.

Morning at Discovery Zone and then School

Today was a big day for Zachary. This morning we went on a play date to the Discovery Zone museum. There seemed to be a million school aged kids running around giving me a peek into our future. We stayed about an hour which seemed like enough for the both of us.

The bus exhibit was too advanced for a 2 year old, but he sure loved climbing on the bus and then pretending to drive.

Once we got up stairs and he found the slide, he was in seventh heaven. This kept him busy for a good 1/2 hour. He thought it was great fun to see his sippy cup go down the slide. But as usual, Mommy is a party pooper and didn't see the fun in that game.

Later this afternoon Zachary was off to school. And thanks to my angel of a Mom, who has agreed to take him for me, gave me the opportunity to stay home and take a nap. Zachary's school is great as they have different activities each time he goes. Today was particularly fun for him as they filled a wading pool with cotton balls and then let the kids dive in. Who would of thought such a thing to be so much fun, but it sure was!! And the teacher commented at how impressed she was at his progress in talking. He even said "please" on his own and included the "L" which I'm told can be challenging. Saying "please" and "thank you" has been something I have been working with him on and he would do it on command, but not spontaneously. So needless to say, I was so very very excited.