Zachary's Personality

Zachary's personality is really starting to show. He seems to get more fun every day. Here are some updates from the month:

Zachary's Likes:

Reading books with noises or pop-ups

Playing in drawers and cabinets

Feeding Kimbo treats

Listening to music. He likes George Michael and Crowded House "Don't Dream It's Over"

Playing with Puzzles

Playing with the washer and dryer

Flipping the lights on and off.......and on and off.....and on and off

Ravioli

Drawing

Drawing on the leather couches

Rolling on Kimbo

Kissing Kimbo with this Mouth Open

Wrestling

Building Blocks and Stacking Cubes

Mickey Mouse and Thomas the Train

Wearing Hats. He Actually Requests Them

Slamming Doors

Slides

He says the words "Apple, Dog, Yea, No, Cow"

Zachary's Not So Much:

Giving up his Bottles

Teething (we've got molars, people)

Mom leaving him at Daycare in the Mornings (heart melts here)

Sitting Still

The Word 'No'

Letting Mom Brush His Teeth

Reading Books to his Best Friend.

Poor, sweet Kimbo

Typical Sunday Morning at the Tormoehlen House.

Zachary Goes to the Stock Show. YEEEEHAW!

Last weekend was THE BEST!!! We kicked off the weekend by taking Zachary to the Stock Show. He loved seeing all of the animals! The coolest part was talking to kids from the smallest towns in Colorado, as they prepared to show off their prized sheep. Zachary met a sheep named Ace. He was getting shaved before he joined in the competition.

We had an amazing day as a family and I can't wait to take him again next year! After the shock show: drawing pictures of sheep. Looks like he's a righty.

Pooped! Time to relax and watch Mickey Mouse with Dad.

"Zachary, meet Billy."

Rub a goat, rub your eye. Excellent!

He kept kissing the goats......open mouthed.

A Visit From Grandma and Grandpa

Grandma and Grandpa Sawyer came to visit Zachary this weekend. They were so excited to see him walk. Zachary had a blast building castles, having Grandpa chase him, and slam doors (his new favorite hobby). We're so glad they're home for a few months!

Whole lotta drool happening lately. We're bracing for some molars coming in.

Update from the Week

We've been recovering at home this past week. On Saturday, I woke up and took Z to Monkey Biz. It's basically a place that lets your kid run around, crawl on things, and be totally crazy. And Zachary LOVES it!! Here are just a few photos from my cell phone:

He was screaming he was so excited!!

Two boys, watching Mickey Mouse Club.

Zachary's New Tubes

Zachary got his ear tubes this morning. He was a super champ. We were really worried about the morning, as he wasn't allowed to eat or drink for 8 hours. Kyle gave him a bottle around 11pm last night, so that seemed to really help him this morning.

We arrived in PJ's by 6a and he was taken back around 7:15 am. It was a quick procedure, completed by a very experienced ENT Doctor and he had very nice nurses the whole time.

When Z work up, He.Was.Cranky. He guzzled a bottle and then we got to take him home after 45 minutes in the recovery room.

He came home to rest and Grandma Tormoehlen and Uncle Adam brought him a Happy Meal for lunch. It was nice his Grandma was there to help.

Z is resting now and we're hoping this helps alleviate some pain for him this year. His Doctor said he had another ear infection while he was inserting his tubes. Looks like we didn't need to wait any longer!

We'll keep you updated. Thanks for the kind words and prayers.

Digging in his ear already! He had another infection!

Sweet little boy.

Sadly, we now have a collection of hospital bears at home.

Dad suiting up to go to the OR. He got to stay while Z was put under.

Recovery. He wasn't too happy.

Dear Zachary. It's a New Year.

Oh Little Z. It's been quite the year.

2011 was a great year for us. We got to go on a great family vacation, you crawled and walked, you were baptized by Great-Grandpa, and you had an awesome FIRST Birthday.

You are growing so much. At the beginning of this year, we were excited that you weighed 10 lbs and now we're 21 lbs! You've also started to communicate with a few words and lots of smiles.

We've also had some challenging times. You started to sleep through the night at 7 months old (that's a reaaallly long time, buddy), and you've been sick too many times to count. You were even really sick last night for New Years with a stomach bug. Your Mom and Dad rang in the New Year with puke on the carpet and lots of stinky diapers. Poor guy. (Photo below of Dad loving you while you were sick)

And this week, you'll start the New Year with ear tubes. Your Mom and Dad are very scared, but we know it will help you feel better. You've really struggled with numerous ear infections and we're hoping this alleviates pain for you this year.

Thank you for being such an incredible kid Zachary. You've made Mom and Dad better people and you've made our lives more enriched and joyous. We're thankful each day God gives us to be with you.

So, for 2012, let's make it even better. Let's see if we can laugh a little more, stay healthy a little longer, spend more time together as a family, and find new things we love about each other.

I love you more than all of the stars in the sky and all of the coffee in the world little man,

Mom

"I Love It!" "What Is It?"

-Famous words from Colin at Christmas.

We went to the Walsh's for New Years/Christmas since they were in Hawaii over the Holiday. It was fun to hear their stories of the ocean, wearing flowers around their necks, and seeing whales. We missed them a lot, so it was fun to see them and catch up.

I've also added pictures from Christmas Day at Pam and Dave's. We thought Pam would have to work, so did Christmas early this year, but to our surprise, she got called off, so we enjoyed the day eating well and playing with new toys.

Christmas is finally over. The tree is packed away, the decorations are down, and all of the presents are put away. This Christmas seemed to go by in a blink! I was just looking at photos of Z last Christmas, teeny and completely unaware. It's so great to use this Holiday to be thankful for a healthy little boy, two awesome nephews, and a happy and healthy niece.

I'm sure Christmas 2012 will be even better!

Shirts. Boring Gift.

Yawning....always such a sleepy boy

This Christmas was way more fun with bigger kiddos!

"Bright Flash Aunt Kairee!"

"Seriously, Mom. This is annoying."

Pam and Dave have a super cool pinball machine in their basement. Z LOVED watching the ball and bright lights.

Little boys love seeing how things work