10 Random Things about Zach

I should be blogging about our fun Christmas, but once again I have too many pictures to sort through. So when I noticed my list of funny Zach things was getting pretty long, I decided to commemorate 2010 with 10 random things about our soon to be four year old:

1. Zach uses the word "whatnot." Correctly.

2. His new favorite color is gold. When informing me of this change, he explained that he liked pink best before because he didn't know about gold.

3. Zach's routine when he wakes up is to plop on the couch with a cup of milk, a bowl of cereal (dry), his vitamins, and some high-quality tv like Pinky Dinky Doo. One morning he came down the stairs, saw the lights on across the street, and said "Mom, I wonder if Katie and Ellie do the same thing I do in the morning - watch tv and eat. [long pause] Why wouldn't they???

4. A few months ago Zach mastered going to the bathroom completely by himself, including the challenge of turning on our faucet, which is not easy for little hands. However, he still needs some help wiping after a #2. So the other day he was sitting on the toilet waiting for me to come and wipe him (in my defense, I was busy wiping someone else's butt). Eventually I heard "Mom - you're wasting my time!"

5. Zach still plays with his cars as much as ever. What has changed is what those cars are playing. This summer they cars were all about baseball; now they've moved on to football and occasionally basketball. They do still race like traditional cars do, but apparently they like to mix it up a little. And somehow or another, they also score fantasy points while they're playing.

6. Zach's idolation of his dad is never-ending. A couple months ago he informed me that the Gophers football team is terrible (we need to record how he says "terrible" - it sounds more like "TUHR-ible"). And that if they had Cliff Lee*, Kasey's dad*, and his dad, then they'd be good. I did my best to inject a dose of reality, but my explanation about the size of football players fell on deaf ears.

7. Zach's favorite number is 9099.

8. The kids at Zach's school made "what I'm grateful for" artwork for Thanksgiving. The art currently hanging on our fridge says Zach is grateful for eyes and steps. Yep - eyes and steps. When I asked him about it, the explanation was about what you'd expect - he was happy he could see and that we had steps so he could go upstairs and downstairs at our house. Now that he mentioned it, I'm grateful for those things too.

9. Unlike most kids, who might use "wow" or "cool", when Zach is excited about something, he yells out "Geez Nandy!" My parents were quite perplexed by this particular proclamation as he was opening his presents, so I had to explain: Scott's mom tells Zach lots of Uncle Mick stories - stories of all the funny things Scott's much younger brother said and/or did when he was little. One of Zach's favorites involves Mick's disappointed response to his sister (Mandy): Geez, Nandy, I thought I was going to get a REAL gator!

10. For the last year or so, Zach has refused to eat noodles. There are many things he won't eat, of course, but the noodle thing has particularly bothered me. He wouldn't even eat mac 'n' cheese!!! Then one day, as we sat reading Bread & Jam for Frances (again), he turned to me and said that spaghetti and meatballs is his favorite dish. I decided to call his bluff, and cooked some up a few days later. To my shock... he ate it!!! Now it's officially his second favorite non-treat food, and he's requested it several times. Yes! Thank you Frances!

*Cliff Lee is a pitcher for the Phillies; Kasey's dad is our friend Rosie.

Willard Family Christmas Letter

When our printer died in mid-November, I didn't think much of it, since we don't need to print often. And then I remembered our Christmas letters... uh-oh. And instead of coming up with a good solution, I just sort of ignored the problem until "suddenly" it was December 17th, and there was no way I was going to spend an evening at the local Kinko's printing out our letters. Instead, I decided we would just simplify this year - one less thing to check off the to-do list. No Christmas letters, just cards. Done.

But, of course, the letter was already (mostly) written. And since we have gotten compliments on our letter in the past (someone actually told me they look forward to our letter every year. Wow!), I decided I'd post it here. If you are a regular reader of our blog, you've heard all this before. But for posterity sake, here is the 2010 Willard Family Christmas letter, complete with the pictures I would have included:

Seasons Greetings from Woodbury!

When I look back at the year we’ve had, it’s hard to look past the obvious: 2010 was the year we welcomed our second son. But I suppose we had a few other adventures too…

· Curling! Despite being very pregnant at the end of last season, I curled in our Friday night league. Our mixed (gender) team even won a bonspiel in March, although by the end I wasn’t much help - sweeping was beyond my abilities. Scott and some friends won another bonspiel, by beating a team that competed at the 2006 Olympics and then a team who later won the 2010 nationals. Not bad!

· Our “baby-moon” – I’m not a huge fan of the term, but that’s what we took in March. We went to the Florida Keys, just the two of us; a chance to get away together before that became even more challenging. The weather was unseasonably cool, but we spent some time kayaking among the mangroves, sitting by the pool, and walking on the few beaches in the Keys. I wouldn’t put Key West at the top of my “places to see while pregnant” list, but that is one interesting city, with some fascinating people-watching. I can say the same for South Beach, where we spent a day.

· Our baby boy was due on May 9th, so imagine our shock when I woke up around midnight on April 17th to discover my water had broken. One of my favorite memories of our early-hour scramble will always be my mom’s response when I called her to ask if they could come a little earlier than planned to watch Zach for us… “But I’m not ready!!!” Neither was I, but our baby was!

Charles William (Charlie) was born a little before noon on April 17th. He was officially premature, at three weeks and one day early, but showed no signs of prematurity other than his size – 6 lbs 2 oz, 18.5 inches. We were home two days later, where my parents greatly eased Zach’s transition out of only-childhood by keeping him very occupied. Months later, I can honestly say that Zach has handled becoming a big brother extremely well – he’s as interested as we are in making Charlie laugh, and handles his moments of jealousy pretty darn well. And Charlie could not be more fascinated with his brother. Nothing makes us smile like watching those two together.

· Summer: The summer months went by in a blur, as we continued our bocce night tradition with our friends, spent time at our friends’ pool (Zach can swim!), and played endless games of baseball in our backyard with Zach. In August we spent 12 days in Montana with Scott’s family, where Zach hiked his first mountain (he was amazing!), caught his first fish, and had an absolute blast with his cousins.

· Fall and beyond: in September Zach started preschool two days per week, and he absolutely loves it. And we love hearing what he’s learning and all of his stories. What Zach loved less was the approach of winter; he was quite confused and saddened by the early sunset. This boy spent a big part of every day outside, often playing with the neighbor kids. It may be a long winter…!

We recently celebrated Thanksgiving in Boise with Scott’s family. I confess I don’t always use the holiday to really pause and be thankful for all that I have, all that we have. But as I look back at our year, I’m amazed at all the wonderful moments that won’t fit into this letter. I haven’t mentioned all the visits we had from both our parents, who despite the distance make every possible effort to spend time with their grandsons. And who go out of their way to help us when they are here. And our friends, who have become like family in many ways; we are so enjoying raising our kids alongside our friends’ wonderful children. And we have two healthy, happy boys who are growing way too fast… so very much to celebrate.

We hope 2011 brings you much joy,
Liz, Scott, Zach, and Charlie

Christmas is coming

The goose is getting fat. And do you know why? Because we're going to eat his belly.

That's Zach's version, anyway. Scott taught him that song, and apparently, provided a little bit of extra information.

We've been having fun getting ready for the holidays. Zach had his Christmas program at the church where he goes to school a couple weeks ago - he did great. They sang several songs, including some where they joined in with the adult choir. I took video, of course, and have gotten as far as getting it onto the computer. But it's pretty long, and editing it is a to-do I haven't quite managed to check off my list yet. Soon.

Zach, Charlie, and I also went to our buddy Vincent's program at his school one afternoon last week. Isn't that a cute picture of those two?? Preschoolers are unpredictable and funny, so it was fun to just sit and watch the whole crowd, since I spend most of Zach's focused on him! There was one little boy I thought was going to remove his pants... but it turned out he was just adjusting his zipper. For a while.

Twice we tried to go with friends to the Holidazzle Parade - an evening parade filled with floats lit up by Christmas lights. The first date we had planned turned out to be "snowmageddon." (This was also the day we were going to visit Santa... so no pictures of Charlie screaming on Santa's lap this year!) Our second attempt was this last Saturday, until we discovered that Zach had an ear infection, and so did Vincent, with the added bonus of a ruptured ear drum. We'll try again next year!

And then there was cookie-making yesterday. I did my best to stand back and let Zach decorate how he wanted, but at one point I did have to intervene. I tried to explain that not everyone likes jimmies and sprinkles as much as he does, so perhaps he didn't have to cover every inch of every cookie in a deep layer?? But I think they turned out great, and he had fun, so that's all that matters. Oh, and Koskie had a great time cleaning up the floor. Merry Christmas pooch!

8 months

Our little man is 8 months old today. It's fun to think about the ways he's changed since he was born, but equally fascinating (to me anyway) how he's stayed the same. And of course, I can't stop finding the ways he and Zach are different!

We joined the YMCA earlier this month, as we do each winter. They have a day care there, so Charlie has had his first real experience of having a stranger watch him, in a strange place (our teenaged neighbor has babysat him, but not for long stretches of time, a large portion of which he's sleeping. Plus he's at home!). The first time he cried a little, and that was it. The guy told me the last time I picked the boys up that Charlie is "content to just sit and watch everybody." I had to laugh - I think I've used those exact words to describe Charlie many many times since the day he was born.

There is one big difference though - he's getting much more interactive, and clearly wishes he could join in. A friend and I took our boys to the Children's Museum earlier this month, and it was the first time I've seen Charlie get really excited about something other than watching Zach or playing with one of us. He looked around for a while, and then started squealing and kicking his little legs as hard as he could. All those preschoolers and toddlers running around - I think it was nirvana for him. He also loves it when we go in the gym at the Y. I put Charlie in the bjorn and do my best to wear out his brother. Usually I end up chasing Zach or trying to "block" him in a game of faux-football, and every time Zach heads towards us Charlie starts squealing and wiggling around. He's pretty loud now - I think the (usually old) people walking around the track above us get a pretty good laugh.

This boy also continues to be a champion eater. I think if he had his way he'd be done with any type of milk and would just go for the real food. I've never seen a baby stare so intently at the food the people around him are eating. As a result, he's already fed himself eggs, pancakes, and many other things I won't mention. And I think it's safe to say he won't be off his weight curve when we go in for his 9 month appointment in January!

One thing that has been consistent with Charlie but that is very different from Zach is his love of toys. I didn't even realize it until a friend mentioned the same was true of their second baby. Charlie will sit and play with toys for a long period of time (thank goodness). He bangs them together, examines them closely, chews on them - whatever. It doesn't even really matter what it is. Zach was never that interested, as is evidenced by the fuzzy Eeyore rattle that was a gift to Zach when he was a baby. When I brought it out for Charlie, it was in pristine condition - the "fur" was still nice and fluffy. Now that poor thing is all matted and gummed. Charlie puts his toys to good use!

Charlie is also fascinated with textures. We generally put him on a blanket when he's on the floor, to avoid the inevitable dog hair. But when he has been directly on the carpet, he just leans over and starts examining the fibers - his little fingers raking and rubbing. He also seeks out the tags on any soft toy or blanket. As you may know, that is why the Taggies brand of toys was invented - a mom noticed babies were always more interested in the tags than the toy itself. The fact that Charlie does it makes me smile, because while Zach's beloved cowbungadee is a Taggie, he NEVER showed any interest whatsoever in the various tags themselves. Yet another funny difference between our boys!

What Charlie is not is a boy in motion. He still hasn't rolled from back to front. I have to laugh, because if he was my first child I'd be panicked about developmental delays. But it's fairly obvious that he has no desire to be on his belly. And I know we haven't helped matters by still swaddling him at night - poor guy can't practice rolling around in his crib! When I've put him on his belly and put a toy out of reach, he stretches as best he can and ends up rocking a bit on his belly, but he sure isn't going anywhere any time soon. He is a champion sitter - check out that downward facing dog pose. He can sit back up when he does that too! He loves to stand, which I suspect is more "nurture" than "nature" - we tend to encourage walking over crawling. But he can stand for quite a while on his own.

And I'm happy to say that one thing that has changed lately is his sleeping. We seem to be in a pattern now; it's been about three weeks of him sleeping all the way until about 5 AM or so. It's a nice change after the roller coaster we've been on. Sometimes he eats and goes back to sleep, but if it's closer to 5:30 we're usually up for the day. Really not going to complain though - I can live with this.

Let's see, what else is Charlie good at?? Oh yes, drooling. He's always been pretty talented, but he has really taken it to a new level now. We sometimes find puddles on the floor after he's been sitting and leaning over a bit. There's gotta be some teeth approaching, I think, but no real signs of them yet (Zach got his first tooth right about this age).

And then there's hair-pulling. He's a champion. Did I mention previously that when we were in Boise over Thanksgiving that Bryn (age 8) seem to get a kick out of letting Charlie pull her hair? At one point Maryn (6) came over and said "Uh, there's a big wad of hair in Charlie's hand." Went to check it out, and yep, there it was - a great big clump of hair, roots and all. Ouch! Since then he's just kept improving - I can barely hold him without him grabbing a handful of hair on both sides of my head. This is another difference between our boys - Zach wasn't the least bit interested, and my hair was even longer then. I think there may be a haircut in my near future.

Happy "birthday" Charliebug. Can't wait to see what happens the next 8 months!

A white Christmas

Unless you have been sequestered from all mass media this weekend, you know we got some snow. And since it's going to be below zero for the next few days, it isn't going anywhere any time soon, so it's safe to say we'll be having a white Christmas.

I bundled up and ventured out in our neighborhood today to take some pictures. Not because I wanted to document the 5th largest storm to hit the Twin Cities (the airport got 20 inches), but because I was fascinated with the drifts! Here's what 40 mph wind gusts will do:

^ You can see the grass under that tree...!

^Mother Nature created this little path around the side of our house, just in case we want to go in the backyard (we don't).

And here is what a lot of snow looks like:

^Our snowbanks - perfect for tunnel-digging. If only Zach liked snow. If only the high for tomorrow was a teensy-bit more than 2 degrees. The second picture is the empty house next door, complete with buried fire hydrant.

^The view from our back door. Koskie is going out the front door these days.

The thumb saga

Zach started sucking his thumb at an early age, and never stopped. As I've probably mentioned before, we were thrilled - he knew how to soothe himself, and used that skill often. As a result, he was a champion sleeper from the time he was 5.5 months old - any time, any place. It really made life easier.

So when people told me all sorts of stories about their sister/nephew/friend's kid/cousin's stepdaughter once-removed, specifically how difficult it was to get the kid to stop sucking his/her thumb, I didn't really worry too much about it. Nor when I read article after article, web discussion after web discussion, about pacifiers versus thumb-sucking. Wasn't concerned (although I do wish I had a dollar for every time I heard or read "you can't take away their thumb, you know".) My kid was sleeping, and sleeping really well. This was good.

So, fast-forward to Zach's first dentist appointment back in April. I already blogged how the dentist didn't hesitate to tell me about the damage the thumb-sucking has done to his palate and the potential orthodontist bills in our future. He encouraged us to get Zach to stop ASAP. Since this conversation took place four days after Charlie was born, taking away Zach's method of soothing himself right then seemed like a bad idea, considering we were making a major change to life as he knew it.

So we worked on simply reducing the situations where he was likely to suck his thumb - the ones not involving sleep. Since thumb-sucking and his cowbungadee seemed to go hand-in-hand (pun intended), we started restricting the little cow's mobility. First he had to stay in the house - goodbye car thumb-sucking! Then he had to stay in Zach's room - goodbye random just woke up thumb-sucking and/or we're reading a book thumb-sucking!

We talked to Zach about all this, explaining the whys behind our actions, and telling him that when he was ready, he should stop entirely. He listened very seriously, and then told us he thought he'd be ready when he was four. :) The fact is, Zach seemed to adapt fairly easily to these changes. We'd see his hand start to migrate towards his mouth, and then quickly return to his lap when he realized what he was about to do. Soon, we never saw Zach suck his thumb anymore, although we knew perfectly well he probably was when in his bed. And then, I confess, I sort of forgot about trying to get him to stop entirely (what can I say, I was focusing on the one who wasn't sleeping so well).

So when we went back to the dentist in October and again were told it was time to quit, we re-committed to eliminating the thumb-sucking. Once again, we talked to Zach about all the reasons it wasn't good for him to suck his thumb, and just asked him to just try. And try he did. And you know what? He succeeded.

We suspect in the middle of the night there may still be unconscious thumb-sucking*, but he no longer falls asleep with his thumb in his mouth. I haven't seen him suck his thumb in two months, even though cowbungadee now has free roam of the house again. It's amazing. I'm really quite impressed with his willpower, honestly.

It has been very interesting for me to reflect on all of this, particularly the whole debate about thumbs vs pacifiers. I find myself back where I was when Zach first started sucking his thumb: staring at the fact that we can discuss what pacification method is better until we're blue in the face, but in reality it's really not up to us. Zach didn't want a pacifier - ever. We didn't encourage him to suck his thumb - he just did it.

This all seems so relevant right now because of Charlie. Charlie has taken a pacifier about 4 times total, but mostly it just ticks him off. And he stuck his thumb in his mouth about the same number of times. The fact is - he doesn't want a pacifier OR his thumb. And you know what? I'd** happily face more orthodontic bills for Charlie too, if he wanted to suck his thumb. Because then we likely wouldn't have had all the sleeping battles we've experienced, and I wouldn't have spent hours listening to my baby cry as he tried to go back to sleep on his own. Instead he'd be sucking his thumb, and yes, shifting his palate little by little. But he'd be sleeping. And trust me, that is worth a lot.

* Soon we are going to put a band-aid on this thumb so that he is more aware if he's sucking his thumb in his semi-sleep.

** I am quite sure I'm speaking only for myself with this statement.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...