Photos from March

As evidence by these two photos, Zachary really doesn't need any toys. He find lots of enjoying playing in the kitchen cabinets.  All of the them are child proofed except the tupperware, pasta/cracker pantry, and the random tiny cabinet that hold the things he is playing with.  

A few times over the winter, to get out of the house for some free time play time, we'd go to the mall play area to burn off some energy.  Zachary is a real observer and it would take him a while to warm up the place.  He would mostly just stand around a watch people.  I think few time it would just overwhelm him becase there would be so many kids running around (and a lot of them way to old to be doing so).   I mean, the whole thing is geared toward probaby four/five and under.  Your eight year old should not be playing tag here.  Just saying.

One day, I took a half day off work to do some errands and pick Zachary up early from daycare.  They were having popsicles and he had never had one before.  Of course I had to stay and watch him and everyone else eat them.  Once he got the hang of it he kept saying 'mmm' and nodding his head in satisfaction.

Ater popsicles, they were going outside.  Of course we had to stay for that too!  I can deprive my child time on the playground!  He had fun showing me how he goes down the slide and playing chase.  It was fun to see him ineract with the other kids.

This is a picture of Stephen and I at the NCAA basketball tournament that came to OKC.  I don't remember the games we watched, but they were good ones!

My Grandpa sadly passed away this month as well.  It seemed to be a bit sudden, but he's in a good place now and breathing easy, hunting all the turkeys he wants, and eating biscuits and gravy every day.  Zachary and I were able to enjoy some in his honer that following weekend.  Lots of other family members ate it for breakfast that week as well and it was really quite touching to see.

Easter seemed to come so early this year.  We opted to not participate in any huge community easter egg hung because Zachary was so young and barely understood the whole idea of it all.   We had a mini one in my parents back yard and he did eventually catch on and it was cute to watch.  I honestly don't think we will ever indulge in a huge easter egg hunt.  The are way too overwhelming for me.  Do you participate in them?

Photos from February

We are just going to get caught up with some past photos and then maybe I'll and post some stories every week or two. As the title suggests, these photos are from February.

We learned that Zachary could not care less to actually color with his markers.  He was much more fascinated to try and put the caps back on or stick them end to end like a long sword.  Doing this could easily entertain him for almost 30 minutes. Such concentration.

This is what dinner looks like at our house.  Pepper is easily trained though, as now she lays down next to Stephen and doesn't get up until Zachary drops something or we take him out of his booster seat.  That is Pepper's cue to lick up what he has left behind on his chair.  Its nice to have a dog around; I hardly ever have to sweep after dinner!

Zachary got his first short, cool dude haircut.  He did very well with the buzzers.  We got him another short haircut in June that was supposed to last until the end of summer…but he's starting to look shaggy.

Oh yes.  This was the time Pepper got in BIG trouble for getting caught red handed (or would that be red pawed? lol) for chewing up three of Zach's book.  Earlier in the week she had chewed up some stacking blocks, and then it was two plastic toys a few days later. I was mad at her because she should know better, but it was partly my fault as I had left the toys on the floor and she has the freedom to go outside whenever she wants.  But this time, I had everything picked up and these books were on the coffee table, which never in her whole life as she ever snatched anything off of it.  I came back into the living room after putting Zachary down for a nap and saw that the books were gone.  I ran outside and they were strewn across the yard.  Pepper immediatly knew she was in trouble and darted across the yard with her tail between her legs, came inside, and went straight to her bed and didnt look at me for about five minutes.  She learned her lesson...

February in Oklahoma can give you little teases of warmer weather.  We took full advantage and headed to the zoo that day. It was beautiful and we saw quite a few animals.

And then the next week, its cold out!  But it's still beautiful enough to spend some time at the park.  Zachary really enjoys the park.  What kid doesn't!  Most of our parks here are not entirely toddler friendly, so Mom and Dad get to climb all over them as well so Zachary doesn't fall off.

His favorite part of the park is climing the steps and then going down the slide.  I know Zachary, slides are the best!

He also enjoys swinging.  His giggles and grin will just melt your heart.

Here we are at the dog park.  Sadly, we don't get to go as often as we like anymore.  We used to go a lot during the week right after work.  Of course, that was before Zachary and when he was just a little baby and bed times weren't as strict.  Anywho, obviously Zach used to think this was just a different kind of park with things for him to climb on and Pepper just happened to tag along. As he's gotten older though, he's much more aware of the other dogs there and likes to stand and watch them all run around and he'll chase the little dogs.

Never too early to start them on chores

Just kidding!  Zach doesn't help with chores, are you kidding me, he barely has the attention span to put his blocks back into the basket.  We get about half of them put away and he's off to do something else. However, I have noticed that he really likes taking stuff out of my drawers and then putting them back (sometimes).

I had to document him getting into the dishwasher at least once.  For some reason this is just so cute.  Although, now 3 months later, he still tries to crawl onto it, but we redirect him to just help close it.  We've had a few close calls of him put taking a fork out, or trying to pull a plate out or bang the dishes around.

We finally got a new sink in January.  It was my job to keep Zachary occupied and out of the way, but as you can see he just wanted to be like the big guys and help out.

I love the new sink by the way.  It's not top notch or anything, but it was on sale and a HUGE improvement from what we had before, so that basically makes it the best sink ever.

Fun in December

I debated putting the tree up this year because Zachary is mobile and I didn't want to constantly be telling him to leave the tree alone.  We replaced all the ornaments with shatter proof ones just in case he got any fancy ideas.  Thankfully, Zachary left the tree alone for the most part until a few days before Christmas.  He liked to take the ornament off and then stick someone in tree.  We found a few toys in the tree as well, and the remote.

For Christmas, Stephen and I got him his own chair.  It came with a table too, but it's a bit too tall for him, so we are saving that for another year.  He loves the chair.  He likes to stand on it and watch you make dinner.

My parents got him a marble set.  He enjoys throwing the little balls everyone, but also putting them down the marble shoots, once he figured it out.

Pepper being Pepper, always giving hugs and kisses and never leaving you alone.  She's got a lot of love to give.

I just find this pictue to be really hilarious.

New toy!  We pulled him around in this for a few minutes and he got a real kick out of it.  And then we broke the handle….game over.

Walking on your toes, such a great memory growing up.

We enjoyed the holidays with this little one this year.  He offically started walking around Christmas and hasn't stopped since.  

Some photos from Thanksgiving

I went to his Thanksgiving lunch at daycare.  I am always so impressed with all the kids and how well behaved they are when it's time to eat.  Everytime I have been there for eating time, they all sit quietly in their chairs and just wait to be served.  They each stay seated while they eat and rarely get up and start walking around when they are done.  I'm amazing.

Anyway, this day was fun, because we had lunch together, he showed me some toys, and then I was able to give him his bottle and put him down for his nap which was really sweet.

We spent Thanksgiving in Tulsa and got to play outside for one day because it was really nice out.

The rest of time it rained, so we stayed in and rode around on his bike.

Grandma Brister may not have as many stairs as Grandpa Buschelman's house, but it's still Zachary's favorite place to play.

Zachary didnt start walking until Christmas, but he figured out how to climb stairs on the first try.

This is how Grandpas keep watch over the little ones.

Zachary and John playing together.  I can't wait to see how well they play together in May.  Zach is much more interactive now.

Our attempt at a cousin picture…or sibling pictue plus Zachary.  Maybe next time, we will get a better one!

First haircut

I held out until after Zachary turned one to get his hair cut.  At first I didn't want to because it meant my baby was growing up, but then I realized that his hair was quite long and shaggy and it really needed it.  It was in his eyes and ears a lot.  We took him to the downtown Friendly Barber Shop.  

He was on the verge of being hungry and tired so Severo had to work fast.  Zachary tolerate it pretty well, but he was getting squirmy.  Severo did a great job of distracting him and moving all over the place because Zach kept moving around.  

He just got a trim this time, but it looked so much better than before.  I was sad to see the little curls go, but he still looks cute!  It's Severo thing to put a little mustache on the baby who gets his first hair cut and then get a picture taken.  The mustache is a bit weird, but oh well.  This picture is now on the wall at the barber shop. 

Zachary also got a First Haircut Certificate!  It says:

This is to certify that ZACHARY BRISTER has bravely met all of the requirements of his First Haircut and has graduated from babyhood on the 14th day of NOVEMBER in the year of our Lord 2015.

Since this was just a trim, we got his haircut again in Febuary…but this time Severo didn't let me just do a trim!  He said, he's not a baby anymore and needs a big boy haircut.  He used the clippers and everything and Zachary didn't seem to mind it a bit.

A look back….Zach's first birthday

 I really stink at keeping this updated. I did so well with quick monthly updates for a year, but now I just don't feel like posting.  After sitting at a computer all day, the last thing I want to do is sit at a computer at home and do a blog post.  I really should give quick updates though that have more substance than a facebook post for all of our extended family to read.  I'll do better, okay?

So, lets back track a few months to Zachary's First Birthday.  It was really nice.  We had some family and friends over and lucked out with really nice weather.  We were able to have the chiminea out in the yard and people gathered around and chatted.

I made some simple cupcakes for everyone to enjoy and Zach got one.  A little cupcake was all he needed for some sweets.  And truth be told, most of it ended up on the floor.

He enjoys this monkey that he got as a gift from Stephen's friend, Josh.  He sleeps with it at night, I think it brings him some comfort feeling something on his back or having something to hug.  Zachary has since learned how to give hugs to us too.  It's really cute.  He'll coming running to you and wrap his   arms around you and give you a squeeze.  But it's the sweetest when he just gives you a gentle hug when he's being held.

My parents got him these gifts of the bike and basketball hoop.  It took him a few tries to be able to ride the bike, but now he's a pro.  It probably helps that he's grown some and can reach the floor a lot better now when he sits on it.  The other day, he had us laughing though.  We thought he was going to take it for a spin, but instead he got on it from one side and then promptly got off it on the other side and toddled off to do something else. 

Oh I almost forgot!  I did make a compliation movie of pictures and videos from his first year that I made everyone at the party watch.  It's super cute and awesome!  I posted it on Facebook, and I'm sure you all saw it.  I'm not sure if I'll do one every year, it was quite a bit of work!