The latest obsession...

is sock fuzz!! yep, that's right, that leftover sock fuzz that congregates under your toes - that's what Zack is really obsessed with right now. The boy will just pull off both of his socks all of a sudden and spend 5 or 10 minutes just deeply engrossed in pulling little bits of sock fuzz out from between his toes! He's also a very neat kid, so he'll give me the bits of fuzz instead of just putting them on the floor.

No buttons!

Just as the fads in fashion pass each year for adults, it seems that Sydney has her own fashion rules to live by. Recently it's "no buttons!". At first I thought the fashion faux pas was only buttons on the back of the shirt (for the neck) but now I've been told that it's buttons up the front too! Apparently Sydney has come to associate buttons on shirts with "baby shirts" like ones that Zack might wear... however she still has not been convinced that only babies suck their thumbs. Maybe someday she'll listen. Remember the "red boot" fad of toddler years, and the "party dresses"? I wonder what else this year will bring - other than "pink" clothes of course.

Blood test results

We finally received the results of the blood work and the test came back negative for Celiac Disease. In all reality, this doesn't really answer any questions because the "real" test for Celiac will be the endoscopy which is scheduled for January 12th. In the mean time is just life as normal, waiting until January 12th.

Sydney is getting very excited about Santa coming soon. This should be a very fun Christmas! We had a lot of fun making Christmas cookies this past weekend. Zack really got into cutting them out - he was so good at cutting them out that he didn't want to stop - he decapitated several gingerbread men!

The good and the bad

This has been a kind of rough week for Mom. We took Zack to a Pediatric Dietary and Gastroenterology Doctor this week because his weight curve has been declining, even though he has been getting taller and following his curve. We thought it was just going to be a blow-off visit and they would tell us that Zack is just going to be small. We were surprised to hear that the first thing they will be checking Zack out for is Celiac Disease. In case you've never heard of it (we sure hadn't), the body is intolerable to gluten and when gluten is digested, nutrients are not absorbed properly and growth is stunted. We were shocked. They drew blood and want to perform an endoscopic exam in mid January. Mid January is a long time to wait. Even a week is a long time to wait as we are waiting for the results of the blood test. In one respect it would be nice to pin down the problem with Zack and eating, but unfortunately the fix is to change to a gluten-free diet... for life! But when you consider all of the terribly serious other problems that could be wrong, one that requires you only to omit certain food is not bad at all. So for now we wait.. and watch Zack continue to be a very picky eater...

The Big Girl Booster Seat

Today was another one of those unwritten milestone days... Sydney rode in a booster seat in the car for the first time. We bought a high back booster seat so we could rotate the seats - it's getting hard to put Zack into his carset with his winter coat on, so we gave him Sydney's seat. That means Sydney got to graduate to a booster seat, with only the seat belt holding her in now (no more 5 point harness!). It is a bit easier to belt her in. She really looks like a big kid now. What will be next, no need for cups with straws?!

This week's new skill...

Zack has now mastered the art of shaking his head "No!". He doesn't actually say "No", but he sure has learned how to let me know he doesn't want to wash his hands, eat food, stop playing with toys.... or pretty much do anything that I want him to do!

What table manners!

Tonight Zack thought it was really funny to stick his spaghetti on his head! He just kept taking a piece or two of it and laying them right on top of his hair, and then laughing. He was really cracking himself up. I don't know what's worse, the food on Zack's head, or Sydney showing us the contents of her mouth just to prove that she really is eating her food! Such silly kids :)

Arggghhhh!!! Waaaaa!!

That could be the sound of Zack throwing another tantrum, or the sound of Mommy or Daddy as they try to run for the door after hearing another tantrum... only to have the escape plan thwarted by toys blocking the escape route, or having the kids notice their absence! Poor little Zack is having a tough time lately because he's cutting some molars. Apparently they must really hurt because he sure cries about everything. Yikes, and it's hurting our ears! And like clockwork, the minute Zack starts crying about something, Sydney kicks it into "full whine mode" - repeating the same questions over and over again, like we can't hear her. "can I have some juice?" "can I have some juice?" "can I have some juice??????"

Sydney was a trooper though and did a great job of entertaining Zack while he was in his highchair last night. She played "monster" and jumped out from underneath it, which brought Zack great joy and he laughed and laughed and laughed! It's another one of those unwritten "milestones" like the first time she shared her snacks with him, or she said "please" and "thank you" without being prompted.

The boys of summer...

A post for August

I took a look and it's been a while since I've wrote anything. Guess it's just been a busy month. Alan started his new job this week - he took two weeks off between jobs. We enjoyed one week of family vacation by going to a water park in Ypsilanti:
(Rolling Hills Waterpark) It was big fun, although I think the kids will enjoy it a little more when they are older. We took a trip to Put in Bay - which is a lot different during the day than it is at night! We rented a golf cart, upon which
Zack fell asleep in my arms during the ride. When we went to Frosty's for pizza Sydney got to see Bud Man. We also went to the Toledo Zoo,
the park, and just enjoyed the great weather in the pool. Zack's hair turned light blond after his week out in the sun.

Right now we're trying to enjoy our last few weeks of summer. If we could just get Sydney to eat dinner faster, we'd have a lot more time to play!!

A grrrrly man

"yes, I'm Sydney's Pirate. Don't I look pretty? I think the skirt really shows off my hourglass figure."

Say what?

We went to the Wrenwood block party this weekend. The kids had a blast - there was a clown, face painting, tatoos, bubbles, and lots of yummy food to eat. There was also a band, and Sydney enjoyed dancing the night away. We also told one of the neighbors that we had just gone on a trip to Mackinaw. When Sydney was asked what we did on the Island she replied..
"Ate fudge!!"
then she said
"we watched horses poop!!"

Happy B-Day to Zack!

It was a cakefest! Zack and the partygoers got to dig into yummy Blue's Clues cake and feast on a cookout prepared by Daddy the Chef. Zack didn't realize that he was supposed to open presents, so sister Sydney and Alexus opened them instead. After a song and cake, his day ended at 6:30 when he fell asleep before his guests left. Such a big day for the big boy!

It's been a busy year for you too - you were born like your sister, by c-section, so that part was relatively easy for mommy. Fitting in with Sydney was another thing. She wasn't so sure about you at first. In fact, she really just ignored you for a long time. Then pretty soon you started crawling and touching her toys. Then she started to notice you. She's had to learn how to share, and that wasn't easy, but overall she thinks you are a lot of fun. You started out as "baby" in my belly, then "baby Zack" when you were born, and now Sydney mostly just calls you "Zack" since you're a toddler now. She even gave you her sippy cups.

We had some rough times with you, like in March when you had the flu and threw up everything. That illness made us paint several walls, and get the carpets cleaned. We were worried about you! Then all of those dots and the Hand, Foot and Mouth disease. Yikes! At least the ear tubes seem to help you out quite a bit and the ear infections went away.

You have learned how to hold a bottle, sleep through the night, crawl, eat from a spoon, hold a cup, and finally walk. There are so many other little things you have learned too, and this next year will be full of so many other achievements. We are so blessed to have wonderful son like you. Please stay little so we can cuddle and read books for a long long time. Our love always, Mom & Dad

In the Swim of things

Today was "swimming" day at school for Sydney.
Sydney says: "Mommy, are you going swimming at work today?"

Scrunchies

When I was brushing Sydney's hair this morning I picked out a "matching" ponytail holder for her hair. Of course she refused it, and wanted to pick out her own. So she picked out a fabric covered one that was among the fuzzy pony holders. I said "oh, you picked the scrunchie!" and asked her for it so I could put it in her hair. She held on to it for a few seconds and said "but I don't hear it scrunching!"

Yeah!! Yeah!!

That's what Zack is thinking when he sees his favorite toys, pets, and people these days. He just started clapping and smiling when he sees something he likes. And alternatively, he cries, arches his back, or tries to curl himself up in a ball when he doesn't like it!

Zack walks!!

After all of the excitement of Sydney's 3rd birthday party yesterday, Zack had some excitement of his own... he took his first steps! I say "steps" because he has been dabbling in a little venturing out here and there, with a step or two, but nothing really continuous. This morning we were sitting in the kitchen having breakfast and Zack was crawling around the kitchen playing. He stood up next to the fridge and said "Mama". When I turned to look at him, he just started walking towards me! I think he must have taken at least 12 steps, if not 15. He was on a roll!! He had a big smile on his face, we was so proud of himself... and so were we. Our little baby is getting big! :)

What a way to start the day...

I know someday we'll look back at this stuff and laugh, so I better write it down now! Some mornings go well in our house, others go like this...
6:10 - music starts to play, waking me up
6:11 - hit snooze, too tired this morning. I'll just skip the hairwashing and snooze a bit longer...
6:15 - a loud call from Sydney's room: "Mommy!!"
"What honey?"
"I peed my bed!!!"
6:16 - strip down bed, tell Sydney that Mommy needs to shower and get ready for work, so try to be quiet and not wake up Zack.
6:30 - Sydney is up so early that she starts to pack her lunch. Puts Fruit Snacks in lunchbox as breakfast food.
7:05 - Sydney is playing in Zacks room as Zack has his morning bottle. Sydney starts to play with one of Zack's blankets and claims it as her own. Zack finishes bottle and sees blanket, wants to play with it. Sydney throws a fit because Zack has "her" blanket. I tell her to go cry someplace else because I don't want to hear it... she runs to Daddy sobbing. Tells Daddy that Mommy is being mean.
7:30 - We're in the kitchen now, trying to get everyone ready to get out the door on time for a change. Sydney is told that Fruit Snacks are not breakfast food. Sydney goes into 2nd fit of the morning, bawling at the top of her lungs. Once again she is removed from the room so we don't have to listen to her.
7:35 - Sydney retains her composure and decides to join us again.
7:40 - Sydney is putting on her shoes and shoves Zack out of the way, causing Zack to cry.
8:10 - Mom deposits both kids at daycare and runs off to work, trying to destress and get some work done!!

Cakefest

Tonight we finished off the super yummy chocolate birthday cake that Alan had made for me. Sydney really dug right into it of course. When she got down scarfing down her piece she said "Shake me off!" to get rid of the crumbs on herself :)

Teething Sucks!

It's hard to imagine that pain that those new little teeth cause - but they sure must cause a lot because poor Zack has been in tears for days now. He has been running a low fever for a couple of days. Seems like the only relief for him is some Tylenol. He's got his top two teeth coming in. Luckily he is still sleeping through the night, except for an occasional whimper and some coughing. Unfortunately he also has a very runny nose which is making him cough pretty bad at times. Hope summer will be here soon!!

Despite those teething tears Zack has still managed a few accomplishments this week - he climbed to the top of the stairs all by himself and he is clearly saying Mama!!

Happy Zack is Back!

It's amazing what a little surgery will do. Zack is an unbelievably little happy guy now post-op. He laughs all of the time and is babbling a lot! It's almost like he's a different kid. The Dr said he had "crappy ears" and that his ear drum was very inflamed; "must have been in a lot of pain!". That would explain a lot. Poor little guy. Hopefully the tubes will heal up with no problems and he'll never get sick again :)

It's days like these when I have to look back at pictures and see that Zack really is a happy baby. Over the weekend he spiked a fever and was sooo cranky. He's been in a pretty bad mood for several days now and we just can't wait for him to get tubes put in his ears. They sure helped Sydney alot. On Sunday he had a pimple on his face and as the day progressed, he had little dots all over his body. I didn't think much of it until we took him in to daycare and they asked me to take him home until he could get checked out by the Dr. Apparently they don't like contagious kids at daycare! Imagine that! The Dr's office said that he had Hand Foot and Mouth disease, but luckily he was not contagious now. So surgery is scheduled for 8:30 tomorrow, it will be a long morning as we have to be there at 6:30 am!

More sprinkles!

So what do you do when Sydney won't eat her yogurt - add some sprinkles! well that seemed like a good idea until she thought she was being ripped off and demanded more sprinkles. Too bad those crocodile tears don't cut it with Mom & Dad. boo hoo!

The Food Critic

Zack has had a rough couple of days recently... throwing up all over the place. Actually I think it is Mom & Dad that have had the rougher time, cleaning it up! ewwww Yesterday I stayed home with Zack and was having such a nice relaxing day I thought I would "whip up" a lasagne for dinner. I got everything all ready, put it in the oven and it was going to be ready just minutes after Alan & Sydney came home. When they walked in the door the scrumptious smell of lasagne lingered in the air. Alan said "yum! Mommy's been making a special dinner for us. Doesn't it smell good?". Sydney's reply "I smell something yucky!" Just goes to show you, don't bother spending a lot of time making dinner - she won't eat it anyways!!

Not too much lotion!

Sydney has noticed that Zack gets a nice lotion "massage" after his bath so now she wants one too. So we have started up the old tradition of getting lotion put on after bath to keep her skin nice and soft. Last night she grabbed a wet wipe after getting lotion put on her hands and said she wanted to take the lotion off her hand. She wiped her hand clean, and then stuck her thumb in her mouth! Apparently there was still a little lotion on it so she wiped it clean again, and then stuck her thumb back in her mouth. Perfection! it was clean again, ready to help her fall asleep with her blankie :)

Lost in Translation

Alan asks "so Sydney, what do you do when you see a knife?" Sydney replies "I cut my off my toe?" This was the conversation following Alan's discussion on why you should never play with knives, "Only grownups can use knives. You shouldn't play with them because you could get hurt. You could drop it and cut off your toe!"

This weekend was a big one for Zack - he perfected his new skill - crawling! He was on the go crawling all over the place, and getting into *all* of the toys, much to Sydney's dismay! :) The train set that Santa brought her is clearly Zack's favorite new chew toy.

God our father

Tonight during dinner Sydney stops us and announces that we still have to say our prayers. Ok, so she starts to lead us through "God Our Father, we thank you.." sung to the tune of "Freres Jacque " I think. So cute. Then when we get done Alan and I say, "Amen, let's eat!" Sydney's reply was "no, now the ABC song!"

Well after about a month of trying, Zack has finally started crawling. As before, he got up into his "hurdle" position and stretched one arm out in from of him... and this time instead of falling over, he got the coordination going and started to move forward! Nothing's safe now!

Sydney has a new friend Chloe. In fact Chloe is Sydney's "Best Friend". On the way to school this morning she said she wanted to marry Chloe! Not to worry though, I think she also wants to marry Elmo and Daddy.

Art School

Today we painted... my belly! I think Sydney got a little crazy today in Art class.

"You stuck it there?" - today's quote from Sydney as she examines the hairs on Alan's chest.

Sydney performs a circus act for Zack by jumping up and down on our bed a singing a song. Zack bursts into hardy chuckles, thoroughly enjoying the show!

First Day at Preschool

Today was Sydney's first day at Preschool. Well technically she had been visiting that room for the past week, but today was her first official day. The day started out really well - Sydney got out of bed in a great mood, and even dressed herself. She has been looking forward to going to the preschool room. When we walked her into the preschool room, she was all smiles - at least for a minute, and then she wailed in fear and grabbed Daddy's leg! "Daddy!! I want my Daddy!" Daddy was the hero this morning and he calmed her down so we could leave the room. Things got a lot better when her teacher arrived right when we were leaving. Dora yogurt and grapes and she was all set. Hope her day went well!!