Well, it has been a while since I have written anything but a lot has been going on over the last many months. Zachary is now approaching 21 months old and HOPEFULLY 21 pounds. He is such a little peanut. But he is doing really well and healthy and that obviously is all that matters! We just got back from vacation recently from Florida and had a really nice time. Zachary got to see his grandparents and go to the beach and see the Gulf of Mexico for the first time. He absolutely loved the beach (his own giant sandbox) and also the water. Though the water was a bit cold, he did not seem to mind it too bad. He dug in the sand with his shovel and had fun with mom, dad and grandpa and nana covering his feet and legs in the sand. He could have stayed there all day if we let him but we did not want him to get too much sun. But we all had a great time seeing his reaction to the waves and the pelicans diving in the water and he gulls walking all around him. He especially liked stomping on all the sand castles we tried to make. We would make them and he just stomped on them and laughed the entire time.
Next year when we go back to St. Pete Beach, I think he will have an even better time because he will be able to swim a bit and hopefully the weather will be a little warmer as well. But it was a fun family vacation none the less!

Wow, has it really been a year already that we have had Zachary in our lives? How time flies by when you're having fun. On Saturday we celebrated his one year birthday with our family. It was a great time for all! Zachary had his very own birthday cake which you can see he was wearing by the time he was done with it. I think more frosting went was on his face and in his eyes, nose, ears and hair than he ever actually ate. But he had a great time regardless!

He also had many wonderful gifts that he is enjoying everyday. One of his favorite gifts is his new red bike with a bell on it. He loves to ding the bell all the time. He just starts laughing as it dings!

Thanks to all our family and friends for their love and support during this last year and on Zachary's birthday. You all helped to make his birthday a very special one!

Zachary's First Christmas

Christmas with a baby is definitely different than Christmas without a baby! It's funny how the little things mean so much more now with Zachary around. Just being able to enjoy the holiday season with him was so special. Watching him play with his toys around the Christmas tree and try ripping off any of the ornaments he could get his little fingers on was pretty cute as well. We have another couple of years until we have to start the whole Santa scheme so I have been asking a lot of people at work how they handle explaining Santa and how they do the gifts from Santa and the gifts from mom and dad. It is amazing how different people do this with their kids!

As for Zachary's first Christmas, he enjoyed playing with the wrapping paper and tissue paper from everyone's gifts. However, it appeared that neither tasted that well based on his repeated unpleasant facial expressions. Since he is only nine months old, Christmas was just like any other day for him, except there were a lot more people around all itching to hold and play with him. He did a great job and was on his best behavior for everyone. We were really impressed as he got passed around the family both on Christmas Eve (11 people) and Christmas Day (17 people). He was laughing and talking away, entertaining everyone as usual!

We cannot wait until next year when he is about 21 months and he will be able to rip off some of the wrapping paper and get more into Christmas. The holiday season is all about family, and this holiday season was definitely the best one we have had yet!