4!!! (Oh My!)

I've missed a bunch of stuff that has happened in our lives, but.....

Zachary is 4!

Happy Birthday my little man. This year you were so excited for anybody's birthday, but especially yours. It's the first big party that we had for you. We had our special dinner at The Fish Market the night before as is now our tradition (I love that we have a tradition for our family).

At the age of 4 you can: read anything & tell time on an analog clock. You have memorized the calendar & many people's birthdays. You are starting to do math. You tried out soccer (didn't like it) & t-ball (LOVED it!). You like swimming lessons (except when they made you jump into the pool with your clothes on....hate that!).

You are mostly happy (just the usual toddler drama with a bit of schedule rigidity thrown in) & healthy.
You are my heart.

NICU Reunion Picnic

Well, I started this post awhile ago & then Zach got sick & I got distracted. Anyway......

We had our 3rd NICU picnic & Zach had a blast. Last year he lasted about two hours with many meltdowns occurring. This year, we were there 3 1/2 hours &  Zach would have stayed longer.

He did have a big meltdown when we got there. I'm still not sure what it was about &  he was never able to fully explain it. We moved on, settled down & had some fun.

Daddy & Zachary

Zach & one of his primary nurses

Zachary & Mommy

Zach with Trevor & Nathan (& their mom). 

"Soft kitty, warm kitty...."

Happy Zach

Firsts

There are so many "firsts" with a child in the first couple of years. After two years old, they slow down & around three they come pretty infrequently. Tonight we had a first.

When I picked Zach up to have him turn on his humidifier (it's been his job for awhile), he gave me a hug. Now, that's not new, but he put his arms around my neck & gave me a hug. He has never used his arms before, he just used to lean into me.

It's been a long but sweet week with my munchkin. He had a temp on Sunday, 101.8. Then Monday morning at 3 AM his temp spiked to 105.5. He was still "ok", he was able to take his ibuprofen & I put him in the tub. He now tells me that he was very scared in the cold tub that morning : (   He had a highish temp for a couple of days & then that turned into a cold. He has been at home all week & is going stir crazy. In between the whining, fussiness & meltdowns (today) he has been so sweet.

He crawled into my lap the other night after a bath & said "We love each other very, very much". My heart could have burst with happiness that 1. He knows & feels that he is very loved & 2. he can verbalize how he feels.

A long & tiring week, but such a precious week at the same time.

Standard breakfast for sick kids after an early morning doctor's appointment. (He ate 5 bites, but drank half of the frappacino.....yay for SOME calories for the week).

Family Pictures

We had family pictures done in May. Here are my favorites.

I am so glad that this one turned out. I try not to focus on Zach's preeminess too much now, but I don't want to ignore it. Zach being a preemie was such a HUGE part of my life. My only pregnancy, my only child.......    I think that this picture perfectly captures where we started & how far both of us have come. He is my heart.

Potty training

Zach said that he was going to sleep in my bed naked tonight. He stripped off his fleece, footed PJ's (his choice of bedtime attire, not mine) & then his diaper & tried to crawl into my bed. Ugh what?!? He is daytime potty trained, but will happily go in a diaper if it happens to be on. However, he is still in his crib at night & wears a diaper. He is dry most mornings, but I don't feel like trying out the nighttime potty training gin my bed.

We did sleep through the night the last three nights (well, Zach did. I have a cold & have been coughing). That's the first stretch he's had of sleeping through the night since June 16th. Woo Hoo. Let's hope that it lasts. I did tell him that he will be sleeping in his crib tonight even if he falls asleep in my bed. NO way am I going to have what precious little sleep that I get interrupted by him.

Speaking of adventures in sleeping. Zach just came out & told me that he spilled my water on my bedside table. At least he told me. I thanked him for that, cleaned it up & back to bed he went.

This picture is how I got Zach to eat breakfast the first day that he wore underpants to school. He wouldn't get off of the potty until he peed. Too funny.

Transitions

Zach is starting his 4th week of big boy Preschool tomorrow. The first couple of weeks were pretty tough. I've never done well with transitions & it seems that Zach is that way too. The tantrums & neediness started the Thursday before the school transition (we had preschool orientation that evening). He started waking at least once a night (but up to three times) the night before school started & we've only had two nights since that he slept through.

He had his last Parent/ Tot swim lesson the first Tuesday (Erin usually took him, but I went in with him). He. was. a. mess! Other instructors were making comments about never having seen him act that way before. Ugh. He only does those spectacular tantrums for me. Awesome. He got upset because he wanted to put the red ball in the bucket & another kid got to do it (this tid bit is important).

Zach woke up the FOLLOWING Sunday at 2 AM crying about the ball incident. Boy this kid perseverates on stuff (sounds like someone I know......).

Overall though, it is going well. He is happy to go to school, gets excited to see the teachers & do the fun stuff (they get to go swimming every day in the summer). He had one big boy swim lesson so far & did great. The new teacher commented on how happy he is.

We're still having some issues with the transitions from car to school & school to car. I'm working on some stuff to help him with that.

Hopefully we'll both be getting some consistent sleep soon.

Zach is Three!!

We had a low key birthday for Zach this year. He took cupcakes to school on Thursday & wore his "Happy Birthday to Me!" t-shirt. His teachers made him a big sign for his birthday with his favorite topic on it....cars. I used it at home to help decorate for him.

 He didn't even bat an eyelash at the hanging balloons on the morning of his birthday, oh well, I thought that they were cool. I put balloons all over the living room floor & that's what he thought was his birthday present. So easy to please still.

We went to dinner & he picked "shrimp" to eat, so eat shrimp we did. He loved it.

                                            His Audi TT had to come to dinner with us.

                                                             Happy Birthday baby!