On the 6th Day of Christmas....

...[Jesus] brought to me....a-sleeping-through-the-night-baby! At almost 9 months old, Zachary is officially sleeping through the night!!! Yay!!! Thank you, Jesus!! I'm still trying to master going to bed shortly after he does, but it feels so good waking up after several uninterrupted hours of sleep. Best Christmas present ever! :)

8 Months

Dear Zachary,

You're 8 months old! 8 months, as is 2/3 of a year old. Milestones and time seem to move faster with you than they did with your sister. Slow down, baby boy, you're growing too fast and Mommy's heart can't take it. I just love you so much, Zachary!

Your big development this month is you're standing up! Not in the unassisted, standing on your own, way, because you need support, but you LOVE to pull yourself up to the standing position every chance you get. Daddy recently pulled out your sister's old music tables for you to stand and play with, and you love these new toys.

You don't like to be held as much lately. If you're not being held to nurse, you want to be on the floor playing. You're still combat crawling, and you're still super fast. You are curious about everything. You definitely know your name, which has been the case for awhile, but it's fun when you come to us when we say "Zachary, come to Mommy (or Daddy)." It is also funny when you crawl and follow us around when you're tired and want to be picked up.

This is nothing new, but you love to suck on your fingers. Daddy often jokes and says your hands seem to be spring loaded to land in your mouth. Initially, we thought you might be a thumb sucker, but it is now evident that you love all of your fingers.

We've added more food to your menu this month. You have tried sweet potatoes, butternut squash, green peas and prunes (for constipation). You are such an eager eater. You love your solids.

Zachary, you add a special warmth to our family. Your sweet face makes me smile. You are a pure joy. I'm so blessed to be your mother.

XOXO,
Mommy

Look Who's Pulling Up! (7.5 months)

Zachary has been pulling up to his knees for the past few weeks, but today he went a step further and pulled himself up to the standing position on the love seat. I can't believe how much faster he's reaching these milestones compared to Zoe. I guess it goes to show that every child IS different. I hope he doesn't rush to walk because he is ALL boy, and I know he'll be running us ragged! Oh, when Zachary stood up, I rushed to get my camera, of course. Being the camera lover that he is, Zachary got excited just as I was snapping my third picture of him and he fell straight back. Oops! He cried a little bit, but he recovered quickly. That was a good reminder that he's still unstable, although he's reaching milestones quicker, so we need to spot him more closely. It's funny what you forget the second time around (or how vigilant parents are the first time around). :)

Without further ado, here's our big boy:

7 Months!

**Family and friends (if anyone is still out there....I'm going to start working on updating my blog. Please be patient with me. I'm so excited to get back to blogging!)

Dear Zachary,

You are 7 months old! How can that be???? It seems like I was *just* gazing into your eyes for the first time. Wow!

You are such a blessing. Between you and me, I have always been so partial to girls. When I was pregnant with you, I couldn't decide if I wanted a girl or a boy. I now feel foolish for any conflict I had because you are a pure joy, and I am completely smitten with you. I feel so blessed that I get to experience the joys of raising "one of each."

In the past month you started solids! We started you with brown rice cereal, which you thought was just okay and then moved on to oatmeal, which you absolutely LOVE. You fit in quite well in our family because we are all oatmeal lovers, and it is a common breakfast around here. Vegetables are next. We can't wait, and I'm sure you can't either.

This month you perfected your combat crawl. Initially, you would rock back and forth on your legs and then drop to your belly. Now you don't bother getting on your knees at all, so you may be an exclusive combat crawler. You are so fast and so curious. I often joke with Daddy about the fact that you will require us to baby proof, which we didn't have to do with your sister. You are already opening the lowest drawer on the TV console and you love making your way to power cords. Oh boy!

You still aren't sleeping through the night, but you are falling into some predictable sleep patterns, which is nice. Mommy brings you to our bed when you wake up for the first time at night and you just side lie with me and nurse at your leisure for the remainder of the night. It works for both of us and allows Mommy to get a little more rest, especially on the days I work.

You are still such a friendly baby. You generously share your sweet little smile with new people and your eyes just sparkle when you smile. One of your favorite people to smile at, besides Mommy and Daddy, is your big sister, Zoe. It is very apparent that you already look up to her. You love to watch her and she can easily make you laugh. It is so sweet watching the two of you together.

The highlight of this month was the Sta.te Fa.ir of Te.xas! It was a first for Zoe, and you, obviously. Although you just hung out in the Bj.orn on Mommy and Daddy, you seemed to enjoy looking at all the bright colors, hearing all the new sounds and watching all the people. You also took time for a nice snooze.

I love you so much, Zachary, and I'm so delighted God chose me to be your Mommy! I look forward to what the next month will hold.

My love always,
Mommy

Zachary is Here!

We are officially a family of four! Zachary Alexander made his debut at 2:21am on March 29. He was 3 weeks early, weighing in at a whopping 5 pounds 3 ounces, measuring 17 1/4 inches long. I am so behind on my blog, and I really thought I would have time to update my blog before he was born. I guess not. The last 8 (or so) weeks of my pregnancy were quite eventful. My pregnancy went from uncomplicated to having some bumps in the road in the matter of one innocent ultrasound. All of that later, including Zachary's birth story (sneak peek: I had to have a c-section, which I DID NOT want...boooo!!!!)

Welcome to the world, Zachary! Mommy, Daddy and Big Sister Zoe already love you very much.

We Saw the Goods!

Monday was my second trimester screening. Everything looked GREAT with Baby D2. The heart had four chambers, the brain looked wonderful and all organs were present and accounted for. The doctor gave us a very high degree of reassurance that there's no concern for Do.wn Syn.dro.me or spi.na bif.ida. (Each of these are of high risk in an over age 35 pregnancy) Praise the Lord for a great report!!!

After the important stuff, we went on to the fun stuff. The goods! Girl or boy?! Well, we are excited to know we're expecting a baby boy! A son! Admittedly, I feel clueless about what to do with a boy after raising a girl for nearly two years, but I know we'll figure it all out. I'm thrilled to have "one of each" and to experience the joys of having a daughter and a son! We feel very fortunate and so very blessed!

Time to Potty Train?

Zoe has recently been showing an interest in using the toilet. We haven't purchased her a potty chair just yet, and I'm not certain we will. We may just transition her from her diaper to the toilet to make potty training a one-step process, rather than a two-step process (i.e., training first on a potty chair and later moving up to the toilet). Anyway, I digress. The first indication that Zoe may be ready to potty train is that she started grabbing at her diaper frequently after peeing and at times seemed bothered by her wet diaper. Zoe has never been bothered by a wet diaper; she never even cried when wet when she was an infant. Trevor bought her a book about potty training, which I read to her one night. Immediately after reading the book, she pulled down her pants, started tugging at her diaper and was saying "paw pee" (her version of "pee pee", which is so cute). I took her diaper off and sat her on the toilet, but she didn't do anything. I cheered for her nonetheless and SHE flushed the toilet (lol). For several days after this (and even still today), Zoe became obsessed with removing her diaper and wanting to sit on the toilet. She also started removing her diaper while in her crib. She went poo poo (or "paw poo") in her crib once, which required us to start placing her diaper on backwards during naps and bedtime. Trevor also bought Zoe a video about potty training, which we watched last night. Again, Zoe wanted to use the toilet after watching the video. Well, today Zoe said she had to "paw pee" and started pulling at her pants and diaper. We sat her on the toilet and.....SHE PEED!!!! After she peed she said "wipe?" and after we wiped her, she again flushed the toilet. She peed on the toilet a total of four times this evening, each time by her request!!! We don't want to rush her, but she's definitely starting to show signs of readiness. I guess we'll follow her lead.