Splish Splash!

Zach had his first official big boy bath today! He's never really taken a bath before.  We have always taken him in the shower...which he thoroughly enjoys.  The first time we tried to put his naked little tush in the bathtub, it sounded like we were torturing him.  So we swore off any further bath adventures.  I don't know what was in the air today or why we decided to take another crack at the ol' bathtub but Zach had a blast.  He splashed and tried to eat everything, he found the drain and the little metal circle thingy under the faucet.  He prefers to sit close to the faucet and play with the water as it comes down.  Jesse and I both have just wonderful experiences from our childhood bath days..ha.  Zach seems to love them...unlike his mommy, and is a bit more cautious...unlike his daddy.  I still think we'll take him in the shower most often but the occasional bath will at least be lots of fun (but, too much work!)

                                                     

                                                         There were too many great pictures! 

Smiles?

So, I never would have thought that catching Zach smiling on camera would be so difficult.  All this little guy does is smile!  Well I now know better.  The instant Zach spots the camera his face is wiped clean of all expression.  He stares in wonder with mouth hanging wide open allowing a few choice drops of drool to roll out (which is adorable but you can only have so many pictures of that!). I've tried hiding the camera and popping up at that smiley moment, having someone else take the picture while I attempt to get him to smile, waited several minutes to try and familiarize him with the camera... nothing works.  I don't think I have a really good smiley picture of this little mister.  Maybe one day the stars will align and Zach will get over his fascination with the camera. Until then I thought I'd try and find the best smiley pictures we have over the past 5 months, these are my favorite...

May

June

July

July

July

August

September

September

October

October

October

And the most recent...November

November

I Can Move!!!

So, Zach hasn't really been much of an on the floor kind of mover.  He isn't really interested in rolling over and  hasn't always liked being on his tummy or his back...well until  he found his toes.  He has always liked walking around or hopping a lot more.  This week he has branched out and decided he likes the floor.  He isn't exactly crawling but he sure is trying.  He is more of a diver or he may be trying his hand at some yoga we aren't sure yet, but it has been a lot of fun to watch him move all over the living room.  Here is a glimpse into the dare devil ways of mister Zach! (Don't mind Jesse in the background.  He is studying for his exam tomorrow, wish him luck!!! If you get the question right you earn 10 brownie points or 10 brownies which ever you prefer.)

Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween Everyone!!! We were so excited to celebrate our second big holiday. This year we got to carve pumpkins with friends, and get together with some other adorable babies and have a photo shoot. They were all so cute and seemed to have fun in their costumes. We have an adorable Ballerina, one cute Frankenstein, and our own mister Zach as a happy jack-o-lantern. Now I get to start listening to Christmas songs and watching Christmas movies...don't tell Jesse!!

Bananas, Mush, and Peas

Zachie is now 4 months old!!! We went in just a week ago for a shot and he was weighed at 15 pounds 12 ounces and 25 inches long!
What a wonderful weekend we are in store for.  It is time for general conference again and we are so excited to share it with Zachie. We already have our traditions to introduce him to.  We love going to Donut Land, yes land not king, and buy a dozen donuts to enjoy with Great Gramma all weekend long.  We try to make conference the only time all year that we consume such large amounts of sugar and dough. I'm happy to report that we've done quite well this year, and haven't had any since last conference.
  Speaking of food, Zach has been such a enthusiastic eater...I think he gets that from his dad.  He loves rice cereal, unless it is cold then he gives you the most disgusted look and makes you wonder why you would ever eat anything but milk.  We gave him squash as his first veggie, it was a success but not as well liked as our second veggie...PEAS!! This boy loves peas.  He yells at you if you are too slow getting it into his mouth.  Once the bowl is empty he then proceeds to lick the tray clean.  Oh my goodness he has made us laugh.

I don't know what daddy did but Zach didn't like it.

We have also been delightfully surprised by Zach's newest skill.  He can now roll over.  For a while we would walk in when he would wake up and find him on his back.  Of course we would then get excited, clap and exclaim how good he did and he would look at us and just smile that big contagious smile.  Eventually he started rolling over in front of us.  I think he may have needed to get his confidence up before he decided to show us his new skill. He can only roll from front to back and only over his left side.  When he is on his back he loves to arch up and scoot himself over.  At night I frequently find him squished up against me even though he started out on the other side of the bed.    Going along with new skills Zach has found his giggle.  It is such a sweet sound, that takes some effort to get out.  He blesses us with his little giggle daily but to get that true belly jiggling laugh you have to put in a little work.  If you get that perfect spot on his belly you can hear one of the loudest and most joyous sounds.

  Just a few more highlights from the month.  Austin has been called to serve a mission in the Kentucky Louisville mission.  He leaves in a just a few days to serve the Lord for two years.  We are so proud of his decision and his worthiness to serve.  We were able to take a tiny road trip down the Seaside to hear his farewell talk. He is one of Zach's favorite people to snuggle with.  We were excited that we were able to spend this weekend with Austin before he leaves.
  Since it is the end of the month this may have more photos than are necessary but I hope they are enjoyed.

Ohh The bouncing!

What fun we have been having in the Smith home this month.  Tracie Day brought over the amazing jumperoo.  It took a few tries but Zach has embraced the swinging, jumping, dancing and circular walking he can perform once inside.  The funniest thing is when it is time to get out, he seems to think he is still in it and tries to hop everywhere instead of his usual walking self.  He likes to pick his feet up when he is in it and just swing for a minute and he tries this when we're playing on the floor too. Overall, new favorite toy.  However, we cannot forget the incredibly entertaining Exersaucer.  We don't let him get in this one as often for a few reasons. Mostly because he had some kind of disagreement with the teeter tautering pandas... yes the same pandas I once raved about... and he is showing signs of dislike toward the bird too!  We think this is because he just can't seem to yank them off of the Exersaucer and fully immerse them in his mouth. So, last night we were at Target and found the Giraffe that he so lovingly gnaws on free from the Exersaucer.  He loves it; it looks just like the one on the Exersaucer but is a nice free rattle that he can get a really good grip on.

 
 Unfortunately, Zach had a small cold again.  I don't know what happens to this kid but his nose just gets attacked.  Then he has a mucus fest to rival anyone with allergies.   He is good now but his sleeping patterns are all off, arrgh!  He got used to sleeping on me and won't sleep for even five minutes on his own.  I am trying to slowly wean him off of this but it isn't always successful.  However, he is sleeping quite soundly on his back in his crib right now... yeah SHOCKER I know.  It is like 5:00 in the morning though so this could be the cause of the blissful sleep.

 

  So last weekend we got to go to the Andaluz potluck.  It was so much fun and there were like a billion babies!!
Zach's reaction when a baby is close to him is to get really excited, jump up and down and flap his arms, in turn whacking the adjacent baby.  That should be interesting in the months to come. We saw Tracy, Dana, Jessica, and Amber which was wonderful.  They are so amazing, it was nice to see them again. We didn't get a picture of Tracy or Dana but this is Jessica and Amber, who are the apprentices we had during pregnancy.  They are both done with their apprenticeship and are leaving to set out on their own.  It will be sad not to see them anymore but we're happy for them.  The potluck was held at Hoyt Arboretum.  We had never been here and thus walked all over the park before we discovered we had parked right around the corner to the picnic area and had thus ensured a wonderful sheen of sweat covered our faces before we arrived.  There was some wonderfully tasty food!  Jesse missed the salmon because he had to use the restroom, by the time we came back it was gone!  I've got to make salmon for the poor guy. They also had this great band that was a lot of bongos and giant xylophones.  Zach danced and jumped around and was really just entranced by the music.  It set such a  friendly mellow mood it was really nice.

   Well those are our fun adventures for the past few weeks.  We are starting the food adventure today, woo hoo!!! Zach has been eyeing our food and making lip smacking noises for a few weeks now, so it is time that we try some rice cereal, yum!

As us grown ups like to watch
movies when we are sick...so
does mister Zachary.

Happy National Grandparents Day!!

We wanted to wish all the grammas, grampas, papas, and greats a happy day.  This is your day to enjoy those little chubby faces that laugh at you and deposit the occasional drool on the shoulder.  We love you and all you do!

Our First Year

Happy Anniversary!

The Handsome Boys

Wow, it has already been a  year of marriage.  It has gone so fast.  That could be because we were so distracted with the pregnancy and now a sweet baby boy.  We have grown so much together this past year.  We are so grateful for the comfort we feel each day.  We live in a cozy apartment, have made some wonderful friends, and have always had enough.  As long as we live the commandments we know that we can prosper.  That knowledge is so reassuring, and has been proven over and over this past year.

    Our plan is and has always been to return to the temple each year on our anniversary.  However, that wasn't possible this year at least for another month or so.  Instead, we were able to go to a bed and breakfast for the night with Zachie.  We had so much fun.  The B&B was in historic Camas Washington.  We went for a long walk, weaving through the streets while Zach slept in his daddy's arms.  There was a yummy breakfast in the morning and just some good old fashion relaxation.  It was just fun to go somewhere, even if it was only for a night. We were also sweetly surprised by our wedding cake top and some of those delicious cookies from our wedding, thanks to Gramma Moore. Oh Banana Cake how we missed you!!!

Yes, it is smudged on top...Jesse.

Mommy and Zach hanging out on the cozy bed

Daddy and Zach having some fun

Daddy trying to mail you..wierdo!

Going for a walk

Around 4 in the morning when Zach decided to wake up

Where Has The Time Gone

What a fun filled month this has been.  We were able to visit Seaside to see all the Smith family!!  Aunt Dani came over for a few days! We went swimming with Kristy and Malia, and we found a great Pediatrician for Zach, he loves her (we’ve been there twice this month).  Zach got his first cold this month, which really wasn’t fun.  He grew to like the nasal aspirator fortunately but if you sneak up on him with it, he flips out.  Don’t know why, I mean having some foreign object shoved up your nose should brighten anyone’s day, really.  We felt so bad for the little guy he just couldn’t breathe.  Everything kept going down his throat and then he would try to cough it up or it would just come up as spit up, not pleasant for anyone involved.  It is so sad when a baby gets sick, they can’t tell you what’s wrong or where it hurts or what is helping.  They are just miserable and have to get through it the best they can hoping whomever is taking care of them has some magic cure up their sleeve.  It only lasted a week but it felt like much longer. 

Zach also got his first shot! Yes, all who know me may cringe at this but Zach did amazing.  He let out a shocked yell and then Daddy picked him up and he was all smiles.  Yes, I was waiting on the other side of the room trying not to impart my dreaded needle fear upon my little boy.  Oh and Jesse and I have to get our pertussis and tetanus boosters. Yeah, I’m freaking out.  I’m nearly 24 years old, been through labor, and had my blood taken about a million times in the last few months, what can I say, I’m completely irrational but maybe one day I’ll conquer the needle fear. 

Seaside was all kinds of fun.  Our first challenge was the long drive.  We stopped multiple times but made it there in one piece.  Zach met all his Smith cousins.  When Damien first saw him, he came up to him and poked him in the nose (not on the nose…in the nose).  Memphis and Gavin got to hold him, which was really cute.  Zach has gotten so big he didn’t look as small in their little arms as he does in ours. We got to do some fun stuff while we were there.  Went out to eat, bought some wonderful fudge, had a marshmallow roasting fire in the backyard, and took some great family photos.  It was also Gramma Smith and Damien’s birthday, so we got to have a few celebrations!! We also found out there will be another Smith coming in April!! We are already excited to meet this little surprise (boy or girl?).

We had some fun in this warm weather over at the Days home.  Zach experienced the swimming pool for the first time.  He hates baths so we were weary as to his feelings about a pool but he was our little smiley guy.  His diaper expanded to a size I didn’t even think possible but that didn’t seem to bother him.

We also had a fun visit from Aunt Dani.  She stayed with us for a few days and had to endure our crazy family.  She thinks we’re strange but we just like to laugh.  We brought out the toys for this visit; I think they both enjoyed themselves! 

We have also started using the exersaucer.  Zach is just a bit too short so we have a blanket on the bottom so he can stand.  He lights up when he gets in it…so many things to see and play with.  He especially enjoys the teeter tautering pandas.

So I’ve already written about a book worth of stuff but I wanted to update on Zach’s development:

•  He can almost roll over.  He gets onto his side but can’t quite push hard enough to make the last flop happen.  

• He is an expert stander and loves to hold onto your hands and walk up, down, sideways, in circles, and every other way possible. 

• He is mastering the toy grabbing technique at the moment.  He can grasp anything that is cloth, but he has a bit of trouble with all that hard plastic stuff.  His favorite toy is a red rooster with blue wings that makes that crinkly sound. He’ll pick it out of any line up.

• He is one big drooly mess.  He attacks shirts, pants and anything else he manages to get his juicy mouth on. 

• He loves tummy time.  He is getting much better at lifting his body up.  His legs move about a mile a minute but his arms haven’t quite caught up with him yet. 

Helping his Daddy