Christmas 2010

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. I think the thing that made it so amazing, was the fact that Zachary could truly appreciate everything and understand the excitement of Santa and presents!! Although he still does not know the idea of Christmas and why Santa comes, he still enjoyed it to the fullest. We started our Christmas celebration on Thursday at Kenilworth Mall to see the train garden.

We (Jason and I) have seen the trains before, but not from a child's view, which made this year all the more fun! Zachary just stood there and was so excited as he watched all the trains rush by. There were also buttons you could press to make different things move, so of course we walked around the entire thing twice so he could press every button! I was shocked at how he could actually walk right up - with no trouble - usually it is VERY busy! It is probably the first time I 'let go' and watched as he walked up to the glass all by himself while I stood behind and watched. My little boy is growing up so fast!

On Christmas Eve we went to my parents house and also got to see Paka and Lois, which I love. Every year I require a generation photo of Paka, mom, Zachary and I!! As you can see - I didn't include the photo in this blog, Zachary didn't care to participate!! Dinner as always was amazing, and I watched my night of putting a train together with my husband slip away as my husband and my dad downed wine, quantro and port together! But, that is their thing - so I was prepared! Poor mom was so sick - not fun to be ill during the holidays!

We did manage to get in a family photo though - too bad I was having a bad hair day and a five head! But at least Zachary was smiling! 9:45pm rolled around, and Zachary was still wide awake - so I decided it was time to leave and get the little man home for bed to get ready for Santa.

Christmas morning was soooo much fun! Not exactly what I was expecting as a reaction from Zachary - but very cute!

Basically, he came down with Jason, ran full speed into the living room, and stopped dead in his tracks. He looked at everything and seemed very confused. He then proceeded to point everything out to up before he dove right in!

It didn't take long though until he was in his new car, smiling and driving. He also did exactly what I thought he would do - he drove his car to the train, and just sat in the car as he watched the train go round and round! A big thanks to Nana and Papa for his train table - otherwise I don't know where we would have put it!

As soon as he got up from his nap, he was on the floor watching his trains some more. I think the train was more exciting for Jason - as Zachary slept, Jason took all the extra tracks and built a huge train track over our entire downstairs - Zachary LOVED it!

I truly had no idea how much Zachary loved trains till this year. It seems like he sleeps and breathes them. He talks about his train all day, as he is going to bed, and the first thing out of his mouth when he wakes up!

Our family also helped in the train obsession with more trains and more tracks - so everyday, Zachary and I have built a separate track on the floor to play with.

What a great Christmas and I can not wait till next year. I really have no idea how Santa is going to 'up' himself next year - but I'm eager to see!!

The Big Birthday Bash!

It's amazing how much I let this childrens birthday party get to me! I was so worried that everything had to go perfect that I litterally was having dreams about it with the weeks leading up! All and all, it was a great time! We had a total of 12 kids there - 10 that were old enough to participate in all the activities. Zachary was a complete and utter little ham - he must have known it was all about him. The family was the first to arrive, and Zachary went right over to the trampoline and started jumping, screaming and laughing - anything to get everyones attention!

Throughout the party, Zachary had 'Happy Birthday' sung to him approximatly 5 times! The teacher was great too. The kids were all very involved. They sang songs, marched in a parade, made a choo choo train, climbed the candle and made a pretend birthday cake!

However, I think the highlight for all of the children during the activity time was bubbles and the parachute. Screaming, laughing, running - all went crazy!

But it all comes down to the cake right? About 4 or 5 months ago, I decided that I wanted to do an airplane theme for his birthday, and Jason was determined to be the one to make it. So I found him a pattern to follow, and three hours before the party was to begin, Jason began to assemble the cake - I would be lying if I said I wasnt nervous!

All in all I think everything was a success, it was a great party, and Zachary and all the kids seemed to have a good time. Now, time to relax till I begin to early plan birthday party number 3!!

My little boy is 2!

I can't believe it has been two years since Zachary blessed my life. Yesterday was his birthday, and we had all kinds of stuff planned - along with letting him get pretty much anything he wanted!! First thing was Santa. He screamed with excitement in the line, smiled large when it was his turn next, and walked right up to him. I was so excited - a good picture perhaps? NOPE! The second he sat in Santa's lap, he started begging for mommy and daddy, with both hands out! Of course we bought the picture though, really kinda had to - memories!
After that we came home, relaxed, napped and then off to pick out his fish tank for his room! We came home with two fish which he loves so much! All he wants to do is look at them and feed them. If he is not in his room looking at them, he is downstairs asking to go look at them! We definitely got him a great birthday gift!
That night, we went to Steve and Sara's for dinner and cake. I made Zachary a cake with fish candies all over it. He LOVED it - not the cake part though! He loved the candies and the icing only! He would simply stick his finger in the icing and eat it. Sugar Rush!!
Next week is his birthday party, and I cant wait. Lots of little kids, running around, and celebrating my amazing baby boy!

No Mommy!

Yes, those are the words that I hear on an HOURLY basis. Terrible twos, here we come. Sometimes I just want to pull out my hair. Here is a typical conversation:

Me: Zachary, you want to go take a bath?

Zachary: NO!

Me: Then what do you want to do?

Zachary: I want to take a bath

So I'm confused, does no mean yes? But, all in all, life is better than we could have imagined. Tomorrow he is 2 years old! I can not believe how fast the time has flown by. We have decided to buy him a fish tank for his room with 2 goldfish. He seems to be very excited about having fish in his room. He does a very good job with his Betta fish in the family room. Always telling us that he wants to feed him, every morning. Its amazing how responsible a 2 year old can actually be.

I plan on taking lots of pictures, but they will come at another time. No computer to upload them to at this time - but soon. As for now, here are two professional photos we had taken - ENJOY!

OMG by Usher - performed by Zachary

There are not many songs I can listen to on the radio without Zachary asking to watch his 'Elmo' video. However, when this song comes on - everything stops! Every day, Zachary asks to listen to the song. So much that I had to download it so we could listen to it anytime he wanted!! So here you go - OMG by Usher, but performed to perfection by Zachary D. Dengler!

Its getting tough. . . .

I have posted something about this before, but to be honest, it is still bothering me and in fact, getting a little worse. It all started up again about 3 days ago when Jason and I tried to put Zachary to bed. The usual screaming and hollering, but this time, it was louder, longer, and all for daddy. Then the following day, Jason kissed Zachary goodbye, and left for work - absolute HYSTERICS! Screaming and hitting the window - everything. However, when I tried to go over and comfort him, he pushed me away, screamed more, and huddled in the corner. This lasted for about 20/25 min. But I think everything came to a peak last night. Again, bedtime has been pretty bad lately, but last night, we took him up at 8:00 - his normal bedtime. He continued to sit up and cry and cry and cry. Then screaming, then hyperventilating. He began to hold his breath and scream some more. I couldn't take it anymore - 30min, and he was not slowing down, in fact, it was getting progressively worse. So, I went upstairs, picked him up, rocked him, and asked him what he wanted. 'I want daddy' he repeated over and over. So, with all the lights off, I took him downstairs, laid him on Jason and that was that. Around 9:00, I walked over to him, asked if I could take him to bed, he shook his head yes, climbed off Jason and rested his head on my shoulder as we walked up the stairs. He laid down, cried for about 2 min. max, and was out like a light.
Now my question is this - what does Jason have that I don't? I know, I know, all children go through a phase with their parents, but believe it or not, even if you know that, it still hurts a little :( The funny part is, when Jason is home, he acts up, whines, cries and everything. But if he wakes up in the morning and daddy isn't there, and it is just he and I - he is a perfect little angel. He will practically put himself to bed when it is just us. Explain? I really cant handle these nighttime tantrums anymore. Cry it out they say - well I think 'they' never had children! Its hard, especially when they begin to hold their breath and hyperventilate! Maybe he is not tired, fine. But I think putting him down any later is way to late for a toddler - 8:00 is a good time. To be honest, when he misses his nap, he still acts like this, so it can't be that he is getting too much sleep. I just don't know where to turn anymore. We are due for his 2 year appointment with the doctor in a couple weeks, should I wait till then or call and have a consultation. Its bad, its real bad.

Trick or Treat!!

WOW! I have never been so proud of my little man. He really did put up with a lot this week and Halloween, and Mommy's excitement! The week started on Thursday at Gymboree class. They all dressed up and played in their costume. About halfway through class, Zachary's hat came off. As you can see by the picture, so did best friend Colts hat - Spider Man showed his identity!!
On Friday, I was able to convince Zachary's friend Colts mom to join us at the Baltimore Zoo for the ZooBoo. Kinda a funny story. We decided to walk to the main part of the zoo instead of taking the tram. We walked the entire zoo and saw NO activities for the kids. Finally, I had to ask someone. Turned out, all the activities were next to the tram stop - no wonder we missed it!! So, as we left the main zoo, we took the kids into the ZooBoo. Zachary was a little hesitant about walking up and saying trick or treat for the first time - however, when the first person put 6 lolly pops into his bucket - his mouth was huge, and he began to walk up to anyone (whether they were giving out candy or not) and said trick or treat!

They had all kinds of activities for the kids. Games, a hay maze, face painting, moon bounces, pumpkin picking, and of course, trick or treating. After all that fun - we sat down for lunch, the boys wanted to sit next to each other - too cute!Tonight - trick or treating. I was so proud of Zachary! He walked up to all the doors by himself, said trick or treat, thank you, and good-bye! They only thing that distracted him - dogs! He had to pet and kiss everyone that came to the door!I was amazed at how much candy he got (and a balloon animal) for just hitting 10 or so houses! Good thing he cant eat some of it - made sure we picked out our favorite too - hehe. After we finished trick or treating, we hung out, out front, with our other neighbors handing out candy. Zachary ran around, had some sugar and enjoyed saying hi to all of the kids. I truly was amazed at how well he took to this holiday. He understood exactly what to do and how to do it. Poor thing though, when I went to put his costume on tonight, he ran into the kitchen yelling no! Think he was sick of it??

Halloween

Day 1 of our Halloween excitement has commenced!! This year is so much fun, because although Zachary does not understand the concept of why he is dressing up, he still loves to show off his costume. Today we went to gymboree class, and all the kids were dressed in their costume. We had a picture, played and hung around on the parachute. Zachary, of course, sat next to best friend Colt!
Tomorrow we are going to the ZooBoo, and I am SO excited! All the keepers will be giving out candy, there will be fun events and so much for Zachary to do. Hopefully Mindy and Colt will be able to join us, otherwise Jason is going to come. I have to get some cat ears or something!! Then after the ZooBoo, we will take a nap and then going trick or treating at the Hunt Valley Ave. Saturday is cousin Matthews birthday party and a hayride at Nana and Papas, and Sunday is HALLOWEEN!
Zachary has been practicing saying trick or treat, and is getting pretty good at it! I hope to have the video camera fixed by Sunday.
Promise to post pics after we have finished all the festivities, and maybe even a short movie! Until then -
BOO!

Pumpkin Carving

Today I finally convinced Jason to carve the pumpkins. He would not let this occur any earlier because he was set on them lasting as long as they could. To be honest - I just wanted the seeds so I could roast them - YUM!!

I was so excited this year to let Zachary get all the gunk out - less for me to do!

Unfortunately for me, he did not like to put his hands in there! I should have known better. I have cleaned his hands repeatedly since he was born. I sit at his highchair with him and wipe him off as soon as he gets dirty. He loves to wash his hands and put on lotion. Any time he gets dirty, he comes running to me with his hands out to be cleaned.

Well, as he stuck his hands into the gunk filled pumpkin, he pulled it out, made a face, said 'eewwww', looked at me and gave me his hand.

So as you can tell by his pictures, he was more interested in looking into the pumpkin and poking at it with the poker, then helping to clean them out.

I was so excited when I saw the ad on nickelodeon for pumpkin patterns. I went right on and printed out one of swipper. For those of you who don't know who swipper is - he is the 'sneaky' fox on Dora the Explorer, Zachary's favorite show. As soon as we lit them up for him - he looked right at mine and knew what it was - I was happy!

Hopefully next year we will get him a little more involved with the creative process!

The joys of motherhood

Last night I did nothing out of the ordinary. Every night, before I got to bed, I always go into Zachary's room to make sure he is sleeping well and that the temperature is perfect for him. Well, last night when I went into his room at 11:15pm, he was wide awake, standing in his crib. He smiled when I walked in, grabbed his blanket and held out his arms. What was I supposed to do? Of course I picked him up. I cuddled him for a bit and he pointed at the door. I put him down and asked him what he wanted. So he ran to my room and patted the bed. What could it hurt? We climbed into bed and turned on Thomas the Train. He sat for a minute, then, he held his blanket tight, and laid down on my chest, eventually putting both arms around me. My heart melted. I wanted nothing more than to freeze that moment in time.
Zachary has never spent the night in our bed, and as much as I wanted to let him do it last night, after around 3o min, I put him to bed. He held me so tight, and cried the second we walked into his room.
Those are the nights I am going to treasure. The ones where everything seems perfect, and nothing can harm you. The one where the one person who you love more than anything, and would do anything for, finds comfort just being with you.

Webers

Webers Farm has to be the best (inexpensive) place to take kids when it comes time for fall. There is so much fun stuff to do there! Zachary learned how to say pumpkin almost perfectly last month when he saw a picture of one - so seeing all these pumkins in one place was so exciting for him!

And, as always, getting him to leave the slide area was tough! If you can't tell by my face - it was pretty fast!

They had a tunnel for him, corn maze, lots of animals, tractor ride, hay ride, slides and a HUGE pumpkin area. Always trying to pick them up, however never really successful!

Don't worry, Jason didnt get lost - however he found it to be a little tight!!

To be honest, we had so much fun there, I think I have convinced dad (papa) to go again with us tomorrow!

Seperation Anxiety?

Bedtime = hell
This is not even an exaggeration either. About 2 weeks ago, Zachary decided that bedtime was the devil. It breaks my heart so bad when bed time comes along. We take him upstairs, and brush his teeth, then as soon as we are done - he knows. The hysterical crying begins and the screams. And I'm not talking about regular screams, I'm talking about screams like the child is being attacked! I feel like we have tried everything too. We try our best to calm him down before, but it never happens. We have tried moving his bed time, changing our routine, watching TV in mommy and daddy's bed before - everything - nothing is working. After I have left the room, the horrific cries continue for about 20min. I hate it. It has gotten to the point that I am ready to call the doctor to get some suggestions from him.
My friends have been great, giving me their input on possible ideas. The unfortunate part? We have pretty much tried all of their ideas, except for the book recommendations. Guess that is next.
I really am stuck - I have no idea what to do next. He used to be so good at bed time - then, all of a sudden, this started.
It is only bedtime though - nap time is good. He does his normal cries for the 'I'm not tired' routine, but falls to sleep pretty fast. I always knew that bedtime would be hard, but I just don't know how to handle this. I hate hearing my child cry for me.
I am starting to think that he is having separation issues. He has woken up a couple times in the middle of the night, can't console himself, and we have to go in there. He squeezes so hard, you have trouble breathing! But recently, leaving him at daycare. When I pick him up, he doesn't want to leave, but when i try to leave in the morning, hysterics! Not so much for Jason, maybe because he is more accustomed to daddy's schedule of coming and going, and expects me to be there more often, I don't know. We talk about what we are going to do that day in the car, so he is prepared, we get to daycare and he is fine - then I say goodbye. I think all my clothes are stretched out from him pulling on me. Sara assures me he is done about 2 min after I leave - he is distracted and having a great time with the other kids. He has fun there.
I thought the idea of separation anxiety happened earlier than this, not when they are almost 2. I know it will soon pass, but until then, my heart breaks, and I hate to hear my little angel be so upset.

Absolute Amazment

The greatest thing about being a mom, is noticing everyday that this little person in your life is learning and doing something new around every corner. Whether it be a new word, a new sound or interacting with a video - everyday Jason and I are so excited to tell each other what Zachary has done that day. Where to begin?

I think the most fun thing that he does, is interact with his favorite shows now. He LOVES Diego and anything with Elmo. He watches them and always does what he is told. Because of Diego, he says anaconda (conda), can speak some spanish (we were not going to push this) and claps and makes sounds when he is told. He always tells me what is on the screen, and learned how to give 'raspberries' because Elmo asked him for his help. No, TV is not a babysitter, but it has become an amazing learning tool that I am not ashamed of!

Next comes the reason why he is definitely his mothers son! Zachary is really into organization. I find it amazing that he likes to take all of his trucks, and line them up perfectly in a row. And don't even think about moving one! He throws his trash away, puts his clothes (and his daddy's!) in the hamper. And now he has learned to put some toys away before bed and all of his bath toys away before he gets out.

I find it amazing how the little brain works. Lots of things are going on in there, and I always look forward to the next day to see what new thing he has to say or do!

Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down. . .

I am really starting to get sick and tired of it raining on my days off!! I have so many fall fun activities planned for Zachary, and of course, they all have to do with being outside! So, needless to say, we have been very uneventful lately. The one fun thing that I have done? Switched over all of Zachary's clothes the other day. That was a good thing too since it has not been out of the 50's in the last two days! It was like Christmas. All of these clothes were either purchased last year when stores were having their big winter sale, or they were handed down to us from some wonderful friends! It was a little funny though, when I noticed all we had for the winter were 1 pair of jeans, 10 pairs of sweatpants, and around 50 shirts! Had to shop in the rain yesterday to fill in the gaps.
Otherwise, things have been pretty uneventful. We keep busy playing with Zachary's cars (which he is in LOVE with) and fighting his urge to go outside and play or go to the park. O those wonderful temper tantrums!

Gymboree

Probably the best gift Zachary was ever given were his classes to Gymboree. He is absolutly in LOVE with his classes. However, I think the one thing that he has gotten out of these classes, is a best friend. Zachary and his friend Colt do everything together. As soon as they see each other they give each other a big hug, then go to the first thing together. Sure, they seperate throughout class, but overtop of the singing and music, you will hear a 'Zachy!' or a 'Collllt!' It really is cute.

Today was loud and quite day. Mrs Sue brought out the instruments, and Zachary and Colt spent so much time together on the center mat playing 'music'. They would share instruments back and forth the entire time. It got to the point that the teacher had to put the instruments away so the kids would play on the equitment!

It really means a lot to me to have another little boy that Zachary can connect with. In fact, when the kids have to move up to the next level, Colts mom is going to switch to whatever day I need to for my work schedule. Thats a great mom!

Big Boy Bed??

So, lately I have been giving this a lot of thought. Just when is the right time to take the side off of Zachary's crib?
He does not try to climb out, and feels perfectly happy in his crib. I know the day I take off the side I will be regretting it, but I just feel like he is ready to be a big boy. Am I pushing it to soon? Sometimes I feel like he is that last one to do things because I am overprotective of him - perhaps. But taking the side off the crib brings on all new expenses. You cant just take off the side, you have to put up a short side so he doesn't roll off, and I will need a gate at the top of the stairs in case he comes into our room in the middle of the night in the dark. Also, does he then get sheets and a pillow, or does he continue to sleep on only a fitted sheet?
The child rolls all over the place when he sleeps - and mean ALL OVER! Each week brings less movement. In fact last night his head stayed at the top of the crib till he woke up this morning - that was a new one.
I guess what I'm asking here is for a little feedback. You truly are a lost sole with your first child!

'I want baby!'

The entire morning, Zachary was obsessed with Raven. He continued to chase her around the house screaming 'baby!' 'I want baby!'

You see, whenever I want Zachary to lay with me, I ask him to be my baby. He will come running over and lay in my lap like he did when he was born. Guess he decided it was his turn to be the adult!!

So, as Zachary sat on the couch crying for his baby, I went and got Raven to lay on his lap. He held her tight and smiled from ear to ear. The unfortunate part was when Raven no longer wanted to be his baby!!

The day went on, and we went, ran errands and took a nap. As soon as he woke up, he was ready again! Chasing Raven all over the house saying baby. So, another round it was!

Raven was surprisingly good with him too. She would stay there for about a min. or two, and would kiss him and wag her tail the whole time! After a while, I tried to convince Zachary that Elmo was his baby. He carried him around for a bit - but Raven was much more fun!

A little loner!

Today we went to Zachary's friend Natalie's 5th birthday party. He had so much fun! But the thing I noticed is that he really is not the child that plays with everyone - he would rather just entertain himself! Mom said I was the same way, and not to worry - must be a Sagittarius thing! However, he loved all the activities and the cake!

He Hung there all by himself - kept saying 'Again....Again....Again!'

Bouncing - loves to jump. He got run over a couple times, but that didn't affect him. He was so upset when they deflated it, started to cry and threw a fit in Jason's arms!

CHEESSSSSSSE!

A night without the Z man :(

It's hard having a job where you work on the weekends. Every single week, I am scrambling to find a babysitter for the weekend. Last night he was lucky enough to spend the night with his nana and papa. And because of that? Jason and I had a wonderful night out to dinner. Mexican and margaritas - can't get any better than that!
But I miss the little guy. It kills me that I miss so much time with him when I work 6/7 days a week. And we miss out on so much. However I always put my foot down at work when it comes for stuff for Zachary. Like birthday parties and play dates. I said that my job can not interfere with my sons activities. So far, so good.
One day, I will be a stay at home mom, and everything will work out - I just know it!

Its been decided

Yes, I love facebook, but sometimes as a mom you just have to be vocal about some things that many people don't care to hear. For example, I'm not going to talk about my sons excitement over his new potty on facebook - people don't want to read that.
So, I am back to updating my blog. Full of fun new information about my growing boy, our new adventures out and all the amazing things I am watching in the world around us.
For example, the park:
Zachary loves it, and like what I thought, most parents are sitting around talking, laughing and watching their kids have a good time. WRONG! I watched two kids fall off of something that they should not have been hanging from, straight on their heads! No parents to be seen. I tried to see if they were OK, but I was a stranger so they would have nothing to do with me. For 15min I watched a child search for their mom with their hand on the back of their head, crying. Where are the parents? the babysitters? grandparents? anyone??? Are people so stupid as to drop their kids off at the park and go for a walk around while they play with no supervision?
Also, we are teaching Zachary to be polite. When he goes up to the slide, we tell him to wait his turn as he gets in line and slowly walks up and goes down. 3 times in 1 hour, I watched kids jump in front of him by pushing him out of the way - HELLO! Teach your children some discipline. I worry about how children are being raised these days. All of my friends I feel raise their children to the utmost standard. We go to play groups and I am impressed with the politeness that they possess - whats up with the rest of the world?
Yea, so not sure where that all came from. But, none the less, I'm blogging again, so keep checking in to see whats up with the Denglers!