Zachary Takes Off!
All three of the bigger kids walked at around 13 months old, so I expected the same for Zachary. I should probably have known better, considering he has pretty much given up on all things baby by 11 months old. No baby toys for this little guy. He’d rather play with his brothers’ Matchbox cars and his sister’s baby dolls. He tries to color with markers, throw balls, and build with blocks. So why would I expect he’d wait a few more months to walk?
About a week after he turned 11 months old, the whole family was sitting in the living room. I was checking my email and my husband was playing on the floor with the kids. I heard him say “Hon!” in a voice that made me know I needed to look, and there was Zachary, taking four steps across the room. I was so thankful we were all there to see it. We held in our excitement until he collapsed onto the floor, then all five of us erupted, cheering for our little man and the way walking had finally clicked for him. We spent the rest of the evening trying to get Zach to walk to us, and I have some great pictures of Zach walking toward his older siblings’ outstretched arms. I love the way they encourage one another and are each others’ best friends.
Zachary’s sleep habits are still horrendous, and some nights he has me up more times than he did when we first brought him home from the hospital. Some nights he’s only up once, which is doable, but last night it was midnight, 2:00, 4:15, and 6:30. That sounds like an 11-DAY-old rather than an 11-month-old! Most days I get by OK, but a few evenings I’ve caught myself falling asleep on the couch by 9:30. I get frustrated sometimes because evenings after the kids go to bed are my time to get things done, but between being up all night and the kids keeping me hopping all day, I’m exhausted at night. I suppose the only thing to do right now is just to give in and go to bed early and keep repeating: This too shall pass. He can’t keep this up forever, right? Right?!?
We’re heading into birthday season at our house; first my birthday, then three days later Jack turns three. Two weeks after my birthday Zachary turns one. It’s hard to believe how fast this year has gone, and it’ll be fun celebrating all three birthdays with family and friends. Jack wants a “Blue Monster Truck” birthday, so I took some time to hunt down plates and napkins. It was tricky to find ones that weren’t too scary-looking for all his little friends! Hopefully the weather will be nice and we can do a hayride and bonfire, but the end of October in Ohio has equal chances of having 60 degrees and sunny, or sleet and snow. I have my fingers crossed.
We’re also looking forward to Halloween, especially with my crew all dressed in a matching theme. I’m not sure if I’ll get away with something like this again, so when the older kids all agreed to go as Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach from the video games, we decided to jump at the opportunity. Zachary will be the little mushroom-headed Toad guy, and he looks super cute in the costume I made for him. When I think of waddling around trick-or-treat last year enormous, uncomfortable, and two weeks away from my due-date, it makes me that much more excited that I have a sweet, smiley little toddler to take around this year with his older siblings.
