Keeping Busy

I have not been doing a good job keeping up with this blog. I guess having a busy, 22 month old boy at home takes up a lot of my time. Who knew?

We've been busy during the past few weeks. I have been working three days a week. That alone keeps us busy and Zach loves his time with his friends! We also try to get out for some fun on days we are home. Zachary is an active boy and it's fun to be places where he can be free to run and play. He loves his gym class and asks for it regularly. We also have a few indoor play spaces around here that are always a good time. And we try to meet up with our playgroup once a week. We had our first big snow storm of the season, so Zach got to play outside in the snow! He enjoyed every minute of it.

Zachary is talking ALL the time these days. He is rarely quiet :) He has way too many words to count and is always coming out with new ones. Zach's latest accomplishments are that he can count to five and he knows some colors. All very cute!

Zachary can hang on a bar for about 30 seconds. He usually laughs the whole time, then drops.Who's that cute boy in the mirror? Look closely and you can see Zach with Chad.Look closely again and you can see that Zach went head first over something and his legs are flying high in the air. So funny! Painting a picture (and his face).Zach got a less than perfect haircut (to put it nicely) and I tried to fix it. I needed him to sit still. That leads us to Zach's first lollipop.He couldn't have been happier!Watching the snow fall.Playing in the snow.With Mama.With Dada.Weeee!

The many names of Zachary

Since day one, we have given Zachary many names. So we never forget them, here is a list...

*Baby Zachary

*Zachary Chien

*Zachary Chi

*Zacha

*Zacha Chi

*Zach

*Zachy

*Z-Dog

*Z-Chi

*Z

*Chi Chi

Zach's most used nickname is Chi Chi. I call him this a lot of the time. When asked his name, he says: "Chi Chi." When asked :"Where's Chi Chi or Where's Zachary," he points to himself. So, he knows that he is both Chi Chi and Zachary and he responds to both. Although, he always refers to himself as Chi Chi. He says things like..."Chi Chi shoes, Chi Chi binky, Chi Chi pillow, Chi Chi car." He also yells "Chi Chi" when he sees himself in a picture. Very cute! I think Chi Chi will be his nickname for a very long time. We'll see how he likes it when he's older.

Important Work

Using the mouse... Pushing buttons... Proud of his work...

Just don't tell him the computer is out of order!

Halloween Fun!

We have been busy celebrating Halloween with Zach. Our little party animal went to two parties and trick or treating with his good friend Quan. Every time he sees his spider costume, he says: "Party!"

Trick or treating could not have been any more fun with Zach and Quan. We spent the evening in Quan's neighborhood. The boys got a big kick out of being free to run around outside at night. They would climb the stairs at each house, knock on the door and Zach would say: "Trick, Treat." After each hand was filled with the good stuff, they would say: "Bye-Bye" and be on their way. At first, Zach didn't even know he was getting candy. He has never actually had candy before. So, he happily put the treats in his bag and went on to the next house. After pizza for dinner, we went back out to hit some more houses. At last, I let Zach try some candy. His first bite was a chocolate bar. Well, that was it. From then on, at each house, after saying "Trick, Treat," Zach would quickly say "bite." Needless to say, he ate his fair share of candy on Halloween. Now, we are back to no candy. He's way too young to already be addicted to candy :)

Checking out the pumpkin...

Climbing the stairs..."Trick Treat"M&M's in hand...Down the stairs with Dadda...Taking a break for pizza...Yum!Some more treats for the boys...

Two Words!

Zachary just started putting two words together. He says: "Mama car," "Dadda car," "Mama shoe" and "Dadda milk" when referring to those things. Today he felt his bowl of oatmeal and said: "bowl, hot."

What a big boy!

A boy and his dogs

Yeah, Sophie was in his crib...
Reba was most likely trying to hide in the laundry basket. Good try...

Weekend Away

We spent our first weekend away from Zachary. We had a wedding and decided to make a weekend out of it with friends. We had a blast! Zachary spent the weekend with Mimi and Grumpa. ( "MeMe" and "Bumpa"). He also had a blast! We missed him but it was good to get away. I think Zach felt the same way. He seemed glad to see us when we got home, but was happy as could be with my parents.

A little about Zachary Chien

A year after we came home with Zachary, I had his blog made into a book. I decided that as long as I keep this blog, every year on Zach Day, I am going to have it printed and give it to him as a gift. This blog has always been a journal of what goes on in the life of Zachary Chien. Since I am obsessed with taking pictures of Zachary, I print out most of the pictures posted on here (and then some). He is eventually going to have all of those pictures, so I have to write more about Zachary and not just post pictures. With that said, here's a (long) update on our little boy...

Zachary has been so much fun lately. He's at a great age. He awakes in the morning and usually talks in his crib until we get him. Zachary has a lot to say. He has many words that are easy to understand as well as many incoherent ones. Some of his favorites include: Elmo, Uh Oh, yes, binky, door, apple, truck, up & cracker, among others. He is also fond of animal sounds. He doesn't identify animals with what they are. To Zachary, they are what they say.

Zachary has been eating out of control amounts of food lately. I feel like he is always asking for food. The minute we get into the car, the kitchen, or the grocery store, I hear "cracker, cracker" or "bar, bar" or "booty." He doesn't give up, either. I try to offer him only healthy food. It isn't always easy or even possible for him to eat healthy all the time. But I try. He is a huge fruit eater, does well with veggies , enjoys wheat pasta and loves his yogurt. He's not a huge protein guy.

Zach still has eight teeth. He's had eight teeth for a while now. He has one molar coming in, finally. He's always done well with teething. I don't think it bothers him. We didn't even know he had a molar until I actually looked while brushing his teeth.

I started nannying again and Zachary loves every second of it. I take care of two boys. One is Zach's age and the other is four. Zach and the other 19 month old have a good time together. Most of the time, they play alongside each other but during the brief times throughout the day when they do interact, it is quite adorable. Today they were standing at the gate, shaking it and laughing their little heads off. They thought they were so funny. We try to keep busy. We often go to the park or a nice, nearby farm. The boys have a blast wherever we go. Zachary is becoming an avid climber. At the park he climbs up ladders, stairs, cargo nets and slides. At home he climbs on chairs, tables and couches. We can no longer leave him unattended for even a short amount of time because chances are good he's on a table somewhere.
Zachary is learning to be more gentle with Sophie and Reba. He has been hugging and kissing them, rather than poking their eyes or trying to sit on them. He calls Reba "baba" and Sophie "uff uff." I think that's because Sophie barks A LOT! He even helps me feed them. The family I work for has a cat. Zachary also enjoys the cat. He follows it around saying "meow." He gives it hugs and kisses as well. I am not a cat person and I do think that one of these days it is going to somehow hurt my small child. Until then, I let him play with the cat.

Recently, Zachary has taken an interest in Elmo. We don't even know how he knows who Elmo is because he doesn't watch Sesame Street. But one day while I was working, he brought me a book with the big, red, furry monster on the cover and said "Elmo." He's been a big fan ever since. We put an Elmo show on the TV for him and he kept trying to touch him on the screen while saying "Elmo." I also bought him a little Elmo doll who he sleeps with, hugs and carries around. Elmo is Zachary's new friend. Zachary continues to be a happy boy. He is a toddler, though. So, he does do his fair share of whining, crying and complaining. It is usually short lived. And he's not a big temper tantrum boy. For the most part, he is just happy and so much fun to be around.

It's Official--Again!

We finalized Zachary's adoption today in the state of Massachusetts. We woke up early, got all dressed up and headed out to the court. Zachary was a champ while we waited for the judge. He ran around the lobby, made some friends, looked out the window, requested crackers and climbed the stairs many times. When our turn came, we were invited into the judges chambers. The judge was a sweet woman who enjoyed having Zachary in her office. She held him while he played with her keyboard. All he could say was..."BUTTONS." He was in all is glory. She asked us a few questions. We signed something. She did too. Then, we were done. Zachary will get a new birth certificate with us as his parents and Zachary Chien as his name :)


Getting ready for the big day...He loves to use Mama's toothbrush...Walking to court with Dadda...
Waiting like a big boy...Two peas in a pod...With the judge...YIPPEE!!