Those three little words

I'm doing a terrible job of updating our blog chronologically, but there are things Zach said lately I don't want to forget so I'm going with those first!

The best... we drove home from my parents' in Milwaukee (ok, Menomonee Falls) on Saturday night, intentionally leaving an hour before Zach's bedtime so he'd sleep the bulk of the drive. It took him a while to fall asleep (that's a whole 'nother story), and he woke up when we got home since our goofy dog started barking at the mailbox when we pulled up to get the mail. I carried him into the house, and he was clearly ready for his own bed, since he mumbled "night night?" As I laid him down in his crib, I said my usual "good night, buddy, I love you, sleep tight." And he said... I love you mama, and rolled over and went right back to sleep. He's said a casual "love you" in response to us saying it to him, but I'd never heard him say it like that before! What a Christmas present! And today, when we dropped Scott off at work, he said it to him too. Perhaps my favorite milestone of all. :)

My other story occurred today, when Zach got up from his nap crying and clearly not ready to wake up yet. We snuggled in his rocking chair and he zonked right out, sleeping for quite a while. When he started making these low moaning-type sounds, I thought he was just waking up kind of hard, until I listened closer and heard the words "mama" and "doctor." And then - clear as day - he said "no more monkeys jumping on the bed!" He opened his eyes, looked at me, and said "is that how it goes mama?" It took me a while to stop laughing to be able to respond! For those of you who don't have to read childrens' books or sing childrens' songs over and over - those lines are from the book/song "Five little monkeys jumping on the bed," which was the second-to-last book we had read before Zach took his nap. Perhaps he was dreaming about those monkeys falling off the bed and bonking their heads...

Since I have millions of pictures to share - here's one of Zach on Christmas Eve, playing with the piano he got from G&G Klicka. He's quite the pianist - he bangs on the keys as he's singing one of his favorite songs - lately Jingle Bells.