"Oh"

This is the first letter my child has learned. Don't know where or how he has learned it, but he can and WILL spot an "O" anywhere we are! I made this discovery a few weeks ago right before bathtime... We got this stepstool for Zachary a few months ago to assist at toothbrushing time. On this particular day, he proceeded to pick it up and bring it to me (as he often does, because then he gets on it and jumps off!). Then he pointed at the little yellow "o" by the big "C" and said it- "OHHHHH." I thought that was totally random and had no clue how he could've randomly pointed to that and said it, but then he pointed to the other "o" between the A and B Elmo's and I knew he knew!

So now anywhere we go, he is pointing out "ohhhh's" for us. Passing the Food Lion- "Ohhhh." On the cereal box-"Ohhhh." On the Dora plate-"Ohhhh."

My child is learning letters. WOW!

He Speaks!

I know, I am the worst blogger ever. Actually, just really bad during the Winter. I guess I'm just too bummed about the crummy weather this year to write much during that time.

Anyway, back to what you're here for...Zachary news! Zachary has been a slow to speak kid so far...and not in the Biblical sense. At his 18 month check-up last month, I was so frustrated that he wasn't talking that we brought up our concerns to Dr. Burton (who is expecting her first child this Fall!). I mean, we knew he wasn't stupid, because the child understood EVERYTHING we said to him, he just was not communicating back to us much with words. Well, whadda you know, right after that appointment, where she assured us he would start speaking in no time, he did. He is up to about 30-40 words now! Among his favorites are: clock, moon, dog, BALL, Mo (Elmo, of course!), hot, gone, God, and Bible. The last 2 make a Momma super proud!

Zachary is already attempting to become our little church leader. He is constantly singing-and leading it from his songbook (which consists of anything from his Bible to the phonebook.) At church he leads singing throughout the whole service sometimes. I think he is just about ready to take over upfront! He also is like the prayer Nazi and if we are praying and people around us do not fold their hands and bow, he will give you THE look. Silly boy!

Zachary now has 16 teeth and is a very active little boy! He loves his balls (the toy ones...well, yeah, all of them), LOVES Elmo still, LOVES his "Frog" & "Monkey," loves to read, sing, and play with cars..and of course makes the Vroom Vroom sound with it! He loves sleepovers at MomMommy & Brapaw's house ( a BIG MomMommy's boy) and play days with Memaw & Papa. He also REALLY loves to play outside when it is warm enough. Last week we bought him a swingset for his birthday. Sure, it's 5 months away, but he doesn't know that! This way we will have it for use all summer...that is, if Daddy ever gets it put up! Just kidding, hon! I will post pictures when that does happen!

Zachary's favorite foods are chicken (with ketchup), FRENCH FRIES, spaghetti, Nilla Wafers, Goldfish, bananas, pudding, and just about any type of breakfast food, especially EGGS! Oh, and he will also FINALLY drink juice (watered down, of course.)

That about does it on the Zachary update...until next time, here are some fun pictures to leave you with you.

Uhh...someone's a little gassy!! TeeHee!

NO MORE SNOW!!

Cousin lunch date at the BK.

There he is: our little song leader! And yes, that is the phone book.

Fridays at the Gym

Back in November, when Zachary moved down to one nap a day, we started a new Friday morning tradition. Since Daddy has court just about every Friday morning, we started going to the Gymnastics Center in town where cousin Matthew had his 2nd Birthday. On Fridays, they have a toddler/preschool open gym from 10:00-12:00. The cost is $5, but for kids under 2 it is FREE!! And, it is only about 5 miles from our house! So Zachary and I go and play while Daddy is at court until lunchtime.

The trampoline, or really JUMPING in general, is Zachary's favorite thing about the gym. A lot of the floor has built in trampolines that he just loves to go through and jump his whole way around the gym.

He also loves the big balls he can chase everywhere and the mats he can climb up on and jump off! It has been a great place for us to play this Winter, especially since it's been such a cold one!

New Year, New Do

Not too much exciting has happened since the start of the new year for us. We've had a lot of cold, rainy, and sometimes even snowy days, so we've been stuck in doors most days and trying to go to different indoor places to play (more on those later!)

However, I had (reluctantly) promised Daddy that after Christmas we would schedule the Z-man's first haircut. Most of us didn't think his hair really called for it yet, but Daddy has been begging for it since his birthday.

I found this place called Tiki Cuts for Kids on my friend Dana's blog she took her little cutir J.Hogan for his first cut and decided we'd give it a try, too.

Here is a "before" shot. See-NOT that bad, but getting a little long in the back.


The first cut!!

Zachary was so busy occupied with the car,

I don't think he even realized he was getting his hair cut.

There's his neck!

Big boy hair. Mommy likes it. And Daddy is pleased.
Zachary...well, he has no clue.

But we have a lock of his hair to remind him one day of his first hair cut!

Twas the Day After Christmas...and we were still Celebrating!

The day after Christmas the rest of the Moses clan came to Chattanooga to celebrate. Ken's brothers don't have children, so Kyle and Kevin (now Zachary and Matthew) are spoiled like if they did have children. Kim fixed a delicious Christmas dinner and this year we all ate in the garage so everyone would have enough room and not be squished! Ken spent the last few weeks clearing up the garage, painting, buffing, you name it! They put a heater out there so everyone stayed warm and of course Kim had the tables fixed up very pretty.


Of course after we ate it was time for presents-again! Zachary was taking his afternoon snooze during most of these and joined us at the end. Here are some of the highlights!

The 3 oldest of the Moses generation.

Matthew opening his BIG gift.

Kim and all her Pandora bracelet loot!

Sam, Kevin & Jamie's dog.

Matthew enjoying the big gift box!!

The BIG gift! A Pottery Barn chair!

More Elmo DVD's--WAHOO!!

We all stocked up big and after this one we were definitely all Christmased out!! We all got lots of nice things, and were blessed beyond measure for sure! But I definitely think Zachary scored the biggest...here is most of his Christmas loot!

Now, where do I put all of this?!

Merry Christmas Day!

Christmas Eve night Zachary and I headed over to MomMommy and Brapaw's house since Daddy had to work. I helped them do some baking and wrapping before heading to bed to wait on Santa. (BTW, Santa got in about 3:00 and had a big, icing COVERED cookie from the Piece-of-Cake Bakery waiting on him. Santa liked. =)

It has become our tradition that Christmas morning, we all go to my in-laws for a Christmas breakfast and then open presents. Kim fixed the traditional breakfast casserole and Ken made the gravy. I think Bi-Lo made the biscuits. =)

Breaskfast was delicious as usual, but not without incident. Matthew got choked on a piece of bacon and Brapaw had to do the hind-leg remover on him. A little scary...but we all recovered enough to go open presents!

This is me acting really excited for Zachary's new Elmo toy.

This is definitely the year of Elmo (in case you didn't know!)

This picture CRACKS ME UP!

He loves to prop up his feet, just like his Daddy!

Matthew was very excited to open all his gifts, and was even excited for Zachary's, too.

Zachary got en Elmo shape-sorter, some much needed new socks, puzzles, a Little People play house, an Elmo driving toy, and a Little Tikes tool workbench.

I got the latest Nicholas Sparks book (finally!), a giftcard to Victoria's Secret (bye-bye nursing bras!), and moo-la.

Kyle got some incredibly soft and comfy pajama pants (which I will be stealing ASAP), a TN shirt, a TN nightlight, and more moo-la.

We also got lots of fun stocking stuffers, including a giftcard to Barrel of Crackers. The best stocking stuffer was this....

Zachary's first sucker!

He wasn't real sure about it at first, but once we hid the M&M Mini's and he saw cousin Matthew going to town on his own sucker, Zachary didn't put it down! They played and looked at all their new presents, all the while making a terribly sticky mess!!

After the Moses Christmas, we all went home to take naps before heading out to Kyle's grandparents house for the Wilkerson family Christmas. I have no pictures of this. Mainly because once we ate, Kyle had to leave for work and I couldn't take pictures and keep up with Zachary at the same time! Needless to say, we ate a WONDERFUL dinner, had LOTS of family, and opened even MORE gifts! I think the highlight from this evening was watching Matthew and Zachary play together, and Zachary getting his new baby Elmo doll! He took it, layed down on the floor on top of it, and kissed it all over! Christmas was a very fun-filled, food-filled, present-filled day, but the best part was spending time with the family.

Twas the Day Before Christmas...

Kyle was on his 7 days the week of Christmas, so since we would be busy with all our other Christmas celebrations Friday and Saturday, we decided to do our family Christmas a day early so we could take the time to enjoy it!

As promised, a picture of the completed tree!

We woke up Thursday morning and made a special Christmas Eve breakfast: pancakes from scratch that we cut into fun Christmas shapes, turkey bacon, and Zachary's favorite-Eggs!

Yay, good breakfast Mom & Dad!

(I think he ate 3 or 4 pancakes that morning! With syrup, of course!!)

After we cleaned up from breakfast, we opened up our presents from each other, much to Kyle's disappointment. He likes waiting to open them on Christmas Day, but like I said, we would be so busy the next few days, we wouldn't have time to at home! I thought maybe this year Zachary would be more interested in tearing open the wrapping paper, but he still had to be prodded a lot and Mommy ended up opening up most of his gifts for him!!

From us, Zachary got a Tool Box with some tools (plastic, of course!), a shopping basket with play food, his own broom and dust pan, and a gas pump to use with his big present...

Kyle got me several picture frames, which he had filled with Zachary's special pictures from Reflection Riding.

I got Kyle some long johns he needed for work, so he can stay warm this Winter! And I also got him a 4 disc set of the Police Academy movies! Speaking of cops...THIS is Zachary when he saw his BIG present for the first time!!

Complete with the big red bow!!

I think he likes it!!