OK, this is a looooooong time coming, so you get two zoo trips in one! And, to make it even more special, the pics are from different zoos! So, we went to the zoo here in Omaha with Claire in late March and it was a "refreshing" 45 degrees that day. This first pic is from that visit in March. Zac slept a bit of the time in his stroller, many animals were inside because it was so refreshing outside, and we went through the zoo backwards, which as it turns out means climbing some of the biggest concrete hills I've ever seen. I guess since they have re-done so many exhibits and provided interior walking spaces even when viewing the animals who are outside, this is what has happened. It's an incredible setup, but it wasn't the best zoo experience we've had.
A few weeks ago we visited the zoo in Des Moines, but didn't get any pics that day as we forgot our camera and when we try to use our phones, the pics are awful. Claire is very good with hers, but I didn't get those pics copied to this laptop so that'll get included in the next entry. We had great, great weather for the zoo visit in Des Moines and had a great time getting to see new things and walk among the wallabies and emus.
Then yesterday the 15th, we attempted to go to Omaha's zoo again...but apparently everyone else in Omaha had that same idea. If you don't know, Henry Doorly Zoo sits right next to Rosenblatt Stadium, the home of the College World Series. The zoo has two parking lots of average size, and then overflow parking usually extends 6 or 8 rows into Rosenblatt. Not yesterday! Yesterday both zoo lots were full; people parked on the grass; Rosenblatt's lots were full all around the stadium. The only time I've ever seen that many cars even in the Rosenblatt lots is for the 4th of July show every year, which then of course also overflows into the zoo lots. Just crazy! So that was out of the question. Instead, we made the trip down to Lincoln to visit the Lincoln Children's Zoo. It was a beautiful day, around 68-70 degrees with a light breeze. Except that the otters were hiding and the crocodiles and some turtles weren't out yet, we enjoyed the zoo quite a bit. We'd taken Zac to this zoo last year and he wasn't quite sure what to make of the animals and feeding them came with mixed reactions and some fear except for the small animals. This time, however, he was completely on board. He loved the animals, was willing to feed them and touch them, goats and all, and had a great, great time. Though it added to our driving for the day, we sure enjoyed our time in Lincoln. :)
Had to post something new, so we tried to capture a bit of Zac wearing his straw cowboy hat tonight singing "Hillbilly Bone", a song by Blake Shelton and Zac's namesake, Trace Adkins. We had a nice little show until the camera turned on and then he lost interest. You do get a little bit of it, though, in the video. :)
Also adding a pic tonight Katy captured just the other evening after Zac had gone to sleep. You'll see he has a twin bed now, but as added safety, we placed his old crib mattress next to it. Often times he'll get up after we've put him to bed and come to his door, listening to the radio we place outside his door. He loves his music...or "mukic" as it comes out quite often. When he goes back to sleep, sometimes he ends up on his crib mattress and this was one of them. Enjoy!
As you may have guessed by the title, we had a bit of an opportunity overnight last night to find out just how far Zac has come in the short few weeks since he turned two. Let's recap, shall we? While this month has seen a suddenly much larger vocabulary, it has also come with a new attitude, full of ignoring the two of us and generally getting into anything and everything and ignoring discipline at every turn. The pictures I'm enclosing in the post tonight show both door knob solutions Zac figured out as well as our final solution to the problem described below.
Then we have the past few days. As Zac has been under the weather for the past week, he has certainly not been as positive or willing to be pleasant, to be sure. While that has been a challenge, we didn't expect to be met with several tougher ones at the same time. Thursday night around 11:30 we heard a loud thud followed by an extremely loud radio. Katy walked in to find Zac had climbed out of his crib, which had very high sides. After battling with him for quite some time, we eventually coaxed him into staying in his crib for awhile until he woke up again around 3. Eventually, he tired enough to finish sleeping through the night. Friday, we decided to take his mattress out and place it on the floor since he was unlikely to stay in his crib anyway. I moved the radio to the back of his dresser and figured we were safe for awhile at least. I was wrong. When I placed Zac down for his nap Friday afternoon, it wasn't long before I again heard an extremely loud radio. I walked in to find him standing on the bottom drawer of his dresser, playing with the radio. With no safe place to keep the radio (his TV, which we used to have in there for music had been tossed on the floor on Thursday), I chose to remove it from his room. To this point Zac was not a problem when we closed his bedroom door as the safety cover on his side of the door was enough to keep him from getting out. Then we had Saturday night. At 3:30, Katy and I heard what sounded like a door, loud enough that it woke us up. While I drifted fairly quickly back to sleep (knowing Katy had gotten up), I was awake long enough to hear her ask Zac where he was going. Turns out he'd figured out how to open his door, safety cover and all, and was on his way downstairs when she caught him. Zac isn't perfect on stairs yet, and we never let him downstairs in our house, so this could've been a bad thing. After putting him back to bed only to be re-awakened to him trying to get out, it was around 4:30 that I was aware again he'd left his room. Taking him back inside, I let him show me how he'd opened the door.
Trust me that at 4:30 in the morning, with already interrupted sleep, this is not a problem you want to have. The only solution we could come up with was to put his baby gate in the door jamb to keep his door from closing (he has always slept with his door closed). To keep him from trying to toss the door into the gate and breaking the door, I rigged some twine in what turned out to be a failed attempt to keep it still. This did, however, keep him in his room the rest of the night, though Katy couldn't sleep, and I barely did, as he stayed mostly awake and tossed things to and fro. He also spent some time banging the door and later throwing a ball into our door, which was the last straw for my sleeping so at 7:30 I literally stumbled out of bed to tend to our little juvenile delinquent.
We spent much of today trying to determine how we'd keep Zac from leaving his room at night. I bought an entirely different type of door knob cover, which he immediately looked at, sized up and figured out how to work. Fortunately I kept the receipt so those are going back. The next idea we'd had was to exchange the door knob assembly from our room with his, as ours has a lock. Placing the lock on the outside, we figured then we could simply lock him in his room at night. It seemed an alright idea until we placed him down for a nap this afternoon and he quickly showed his displeasure at not being able to open the door. We realized that having our son bang on his door all night would effectively end our ability to sleep.
So we moved to Plan C...or D...or is it E? Whatever it is, the final solution was to give in and purchase a baby gate that is installed with hardware, rather than the pressure-sensitive one we already have. He can knock down the other one whenever he wants, so installing it into the door frame was our only option despite the fact we have our house up for sale at the moment. This gate swings open and has a latch system he cannot work or figure out how to do just yet, which should buy us a fair amount of time. It's also of a design which will keep him from being able to climb over. To assure ourselves peace and quiet, or as much as we can hope for, we're also leaving him only soft toys and stuffed animals in his room. His crib has now been dismantled and his new twin bed has been ordered, so soon we'll step into the next phase of the bedroom saga. We've also started locking other doors from the inside, since our setup allows us to unlock them from the outside using a thin screwdriver. Let's hope it gets easier from here!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZAC!!!! Yes, a big Happy Birthday to our big boy, who two years ago today was born 9 weeks early by C-Section after Katy developed preecclampsia. It was a tough week heading into it, but we had GREAT doctors and nurses at UNMC here in Omaha and they knew exactly what they were doing. If you want a bit of history, you can always go back into the archives to see the pics and read what I wrote about those first days. :) We held Zac's birthday party this past Saturday at Gary & Nell's house, which has more parking than we do and isn't currently for sale like our house is. :) Have to keep it clean for any showings! He was able to celebrate with them, his cousins Ryan, Mandy and Jamie, Uncle Chad, Aunt Mickie, our friend Lee Ann and her daughter Elizabeth, plus of course his big sister Claire, Katy and me.
I believe everyone had a fun time, Zac is enjoying his new gifts immensely, and Katy made a wonderful cake which, unfortunately, was just enough for all the guests. Maybe next time I'll have to convince her to make two cakes, one for the party and one for me at home! I sure do love cake, but I digress. You know, I have two children and both were unexpected and both spent time in the NICU, Claire for 10 days and Zac for 5 weeks. I'm very lucky to have these wonderful gifts from God and am convinced He intends to do great things with both of them. Claire's commitment to Him makes me a proud daddy and Zac will one day match his sister's passion for Christ with his own, of that I am sure. Despite rough starts to life, each is poised for greatness because God has them in His hands each and every day. Zac continues to progress in learning new words and finding new ways to solve "mysteries" and it is so much fun to watch each day. After he figured out the door handles at Gary & Nell's, he then figured out our traditional handles a few days later, prompting us to place handle guards on necessary doors so he doesn't spend all his time opening and closing them, which is a favorite past-time at present. It is just always such a joy to see our children learn and grow and play and to be able to take pleasure in the very simple things they do. We get the biggest kick out of watching Zac run down the hall, or feed himself, or at the looks he gives when he's considering something or trying to figure it out.
Katy and I are luckier for having Zac in our lives and happier for the joy he provides. God created this bundle of energy and smiles and laughter, and we are thankful every day that we are fortunate enough to have him as our son. Again, Happy Birthday Zac!!
First picture here is kind of cute. You know, Zac sitting atop his changing table, big smile. Sure, I could see that. But take a look at the second picture. That's his diaper trash can, which sits right next to his changing table. You guessed it! That is how he, somehow, worked his way to sitting on the table.
Now, I caught him earlier today standing on the trash can and pulling things off the side of the table, which forced me to move most everything into a high shelf in his closet. But even standing on it, most of him was below the top of the table. How he climbed up, and apparently just figured this out today, is still perplexing to me.
Zac is trying to wear the vest Gary & Nell got Claire for Christmas here and we were able to get a shot before he ran out of it. I think it's just a touch too big for him!
We have had an enjoyable couple of days with Claire up here from KC. She was supposed to be up on the 26th, but snowstorm after snowstorm really did a number on travel plans for many people and delayed my trip down to pick her up as well, so we came on the 29th.
It has been a bit of a sparse Christmas compared to what we're used to, but I have to say it's been nice to be forced to focus on the things much more important than how many gifts I can buy my children and my lovely wife. When you love someone, I think it's alright to want to shower them with gifts, just as God has done for us, although I'm speaking more monetarily. It's also great, though, to take a step back and realize the gifts of family and love and life are even more exciting than all the things I wanted to buy. Hey, I can provide these gifts year round and, when funds allow, I can still buy the other things for those I love. It doesn't all have to be at Christmas or about Christmas just because it's the season set aside for those things. :)
Well, it's either a hat or a phone. This is Zac's dirty clothes hamper and is one of the few things he doesn't try to use as a phone. We've given him an old cell phone and he's pretty good at "Hello", then talking on it, then "Bye bye" as he slams it shut (it's a flip phone). And this last part is why I'm hesitant to ever actually hand him my phone to let him talk to anyone. :) Other than the phone, he'll use anything from a measuring spoon to one of his toys to mimic what he's seen us do. Very cute and still doesn't get old.
Couple of pics to post for you today. Zac dropped into the bin we use for his toys a week or two ago and Katy was able to capture it. Then just the other day he was playing with this acorn piece for a toy (from a kid meal with an Ice Age theme) and had it just stuck to his nose. Thought we'd grab a pic and share. :)
Also, haven't weighed him in awhile, not that it's important at this stage, but we did realize the other day he kept hitting his head on the dining room table and seemed to have a long reach. I grabbed the yardstick today and measured him at 32 1/2 inches. No wonder he keeps hitting himself. :)
OK, this is a looooooong time coming, so you get two zoo trips in one! And, to make it even more special, the pics are from different zoos! So, we went to the zoo here in Omaha with Claire in late March and it was a "refreshing" 45 degrees that day. This first pic is from that visit in March. Zac slept a bit of the time in his stroller, many animals were inside because it was so refreshing outside, and we went through the zoo backwards, which as it turns out means climbing some of the biggest concrete hills I've ever seen. I guess since they have re-done so many exhibits and provided interior walking spaces even when viewing the animals who are outside, this is what has happened. It's an incredible setup, but it wasn't the best zoo experience we've had.
A few weeks ago we visited the zoo in Des Moines, but didn't get any pics that day as we forgot our camera and when we try to use our phones, the pics are awful. Claire is very good with hers, but I didn't get those pics copied to this laptop so that'll get included in the next entry. We had great, great weather for the zoo visit in Des Moines and had a great time getting to see new things and walk among the wallabies and emus.
Then yesterday the 15th, we attempted to go to Omaha's zoo again...but apparently everyone else in Omaha had that same idea. If you don't know, Henry Doorly Zoo sits right next to Rosenblatt Stadium, the home of the College World Series. The zoo has two parking lots of average size, and then overflow parking usually extends 6 or 8 rows into Rosenblatt. Not yesterday! Yesterday both zoo lots were full; people parked on the grass; Rosenblatt's lots were full all around the stadium. The only time I've ever seen that many cars even in the Rosenblatt lots is for the 4th of July show every year, which then of course also overflows into the zoo lots. Just crazy!
So that was out of the question. Instead, we made the trip down to Lincoln to visit the Lincoln Children's Zoo. It was a beautiful day, around 68-70 degrees with a light breeze. Except that the otters were hiding and the crocodiles and some turtles weren't out yet, we enjoyed the zoo quite a bit. We'd taken Zac to this zoo last year and he wasn't quite sure what to make of the animals and feeding them came with mixed reactions and some fear except for the small animals. This time, however, he was completely on board. He loved the animals, was willing to feed them and touch them, goats and all, and had a great, great time. Though it added to our driving for the day, we sure enjoyed our time in Lincoln. :)
