Today we bring you a few pictures of a fun afternoon we had at the home of, now let me see if I have this right, Katy's grandma's cousin's granddaughter Cory (sp?), along with her husband Chris and daughter Addison, her mom Pat and dad (was it Ken?), her brother Ben and his wife Robin and daughter Andi (sp?), as well as Gary, Nell, Mickie, Jamie, Mandy and Ryan. Cory and Chris live here in Omaha, but the rest of their crew are up from the Baton Rouge area to cheer on LSU in the College World Series. Fortunately for them, LSU has made it to the championship best 2 of 3 which begins this coming Monday.
The first picture I'm sharing is when I first put Zac around the kiddie pool in the backyard that he, Mandy, Ryan and to a certain extent Jamie were really enjoying playing with. Not in the water, but just splashing it. See that gal off to the right in both pics? That's Robin, also known as "that person who saved Zac's life". Because...
In picture number two you can see the kids having fun splashing in the water. Zac decided at some point when it was pretty much just him at the pool to put his face in the water. He does this in the bath as well and has great fun with it. It was all fun and games until he got a little too excited and went, head first, into the little pool. I saw it happen and yet, before I had even taken a step, Robin had scooped Zac out of the water. We were impressed that as soon as he fell in, he rolled over on his back and got his face out of the water. Now, the look on his face, which obviously we did not capture in picture, was certainly one of a bit of fear, but he calmed down pretty quickly and even went back to the water a bit later to have fun splashing around. Good boy!
We had another life-saving moment as well this afternoon, this one by ME! As Jamie and Addison were on the swings, I was helping each of them get moving and holding Zac in one arm. Mandy wandered over from the slide area of the playset and right into the path of Addison, happily swinging away. Just as she was about to be whacked in the head by the swing, I put my hand in the way, which brushed Mandy away and kept the swing from hitting her in the head. Mandy, in what was an absolutely hilarious reaction, dropped to the ground as though she'd been felled by a bomb and lay there completely motionless until Nell came over to pick her up. You kind of had to be there to get the full effect, but just that image of Mandy taking the fall and not moving a muscle until her Nana came to get her was very, very funny!
I was just looking through the pictures we've taken of Zac over the past few weeks and have noticed a bit of a disturbing trend. It would appear we've crossed over into the group of parents who take most pictures when their children are naked or half-naked. And while I fully agree that these will be GREAT for blackmail when we need to get his attention as a teenager, I am wondering just a bit about the necessity of posting this type of picture over those where he is fully clothed. As such, I'm also included one where he is dressed so you don't think we've become weird or anything.
So, first picture is Zac trying to put keys into the lock in the front door. It's interesting what kids pick up. For months he's recognized what his comb or brush is for, but in the past few weeks he's really latched on to paying attention to uses for his toothbrush, Q-Tips, keys and also the ceiling fans. Ceiling fans are particular favorites anyway, but since he began mimicking us by moving his arm in a circular motion and saying "round and round" as he works on his letter "r", it's a little more fun. Also, we may have good news. We've been fretting over the possibility Zac may be a lefty since whenever we hand him food, he always goes for it with his left hand and he'll even feed himself with utensils, with our help, with his left hand. But yesterday as he and I were rolling a ball back and forth to each other, he always used his right arm. Hopefully this is the start of something positive! Can't have him being one of those weird lefties, after all. :)
The second pic is the as promised fully clothed Zac. Sunday after church, he fell asleep on Katy's lap before we could even get lunch ready. Thought it'd be nice to share with everyone. Have a great day!
Zac has picked up a number of "skills" based on things we do for him. For instance, given the opportunity, he will attempt to comb or brush his hair and will even try brushing his teeth. These things have been going on for a little while, but tonight after his bath he picked up a new one, cleaning his ears with a Q-Tip and also using a Q-Tip to put Orajel on his gums. Now, he didn't have anything to put on his gums, but he wanted to try anyway. So, I was able to grab a picture of the ear cleaning in action. Enjoy!
This weekend, we were able to go down and watch Claire play softball Friday night (won 17-4) and then she came back for the weekend. This is not only the first time I've seen Claire since Christmas, but also the first time she and Zac have had opportunity to spend any time together. You'd think we'd have pictures of this to share. Your line of reasoning would be wise and should be correct, but unfortunately, Katy and I have misplaced her camera. The phones work alright, but not for capturing anything you really want and I really wish I knew where it went. Perhaps the cats have run off with it and are taking funny pictures at night?
At any rate, we had a wonderful weekend and it was just such a blessing to have Claire up here and to get to spend time with her. Can't wait to get back down for a few more of her games yet this season!
Thought we'd put up a quick note to let everyone know Zac took his first steps tonight! Woohoo! Apparently, the way we are working with him is beginning to pay dividends as we've been able to get him to stand a few times a day as well. Tonight, Katy was walking with him back into the living room after his bath. Maybe it's because he was distracted by the cats and wanted to go see them in the bathroom, but as he neared and saw them and Katy let go, he took two steps before collapsing into my arms. So, steps by surprise but steps nonetheless! :) Him taking actual steps, with balance and all, was so surprising we weren't prepared to capture it on video. In the place of having that, I'm adding this pic I took about 2 weeks ago after he woke up from a nap. His hair is very important to him, as you can see.
Today we bring you a few pictures of a fun afternoon we had at the home of, now let me see if I have this right, Katy's grandma's cousin's granddaughter Cory (sp?), along with her husband Chris and daughter Addison, her mom Pat and dad (was it Ken?), her brother Ben and his wife Robin and daughter Andi (sp?), as well as Gary, Nell, Mickie, Jamie, Mandy and Ryan. Cory and Chris live here in Omaha, but the rest of their crew are up from the Baton Rouge area to cheer on LSU in the College World Series. Fortunately for them, LSU has made it to the championship best 2 of 3 which begins this coming Monday.
In picture number two you can see the kids having fun splashing in the water. Zac decided at some point when it was pretty much just him at the pool to put his face in the water. He does this in the bath as well and has great fun with it. It was all fun and games until he got a little too excited and went, head first, into the little pool. I saw it happen and yet, before I had even taken a step, Robin had scooped Zac out of the water. We were impressed that as soon as he fell in, he rolled over on his back and got his face out of the water. Now, the look on his face, which obviously we did not capture in picture, was certainly one of a bit of fear, but he calmed down pretty quickly and even went back to the water a bit later to have fun splashing around. Good boy!
