A couple of fun things...

Zach has had a couple of fun days. First, friends of ours had a birthday party for their Monster Truck loving three year old. As a surprise to all of us, the party was complete with a real Monster Truck. Zach thought it was cool. Our friends kids are really into these trucks. Zach isn't. He likes his cars and trucks but not any specific kind. We'll see what happens as he gets older.

Our second fun day was today. Zach went to see his first movie. We met a bunch of friends to see a Winnie the Pooh show here in Framingham. It was pretty fun. Zach was into it for a good hour, then he started to get side tracked. He passed the time by climbing the stairs over and over again. He would walk all the way to the top of the theater and appear at the other side. It was fine because there were not alot of people and everyone who was there also had small children. He had a great time and has talked about Pooh and popcorn ever since :)

Sitting in the tire of the Moster Truck...

Pretty cool..."I would like one of each, please."

Walking into the theater...Sharing some popcorn with Abby...Happy watching the movie while eating some popcorn...

Long time, no post!

I can't believe it's been so long since I have posted. I am not really cut out for this whole blogging thing. But, I do my best (sort of) so someday Zach can read about what was happening in his life when he was two :)

Zachary is such a two year old now. He talks non-stop, in 4-5 word sentences. He is very polite and tends to use his 'polite words' in context almost every time. He says things like, "Watch 'Go Go' please, No thank you, Excuse me please, Read books please, Wipe boogers please." All very sweet! Zach's new favorite things to play with are cars and trucks. He can play by himself for a long time, lining up his cars, driving them on the floors or tables, or just moving them from couch to couch. Zach is also into his temper tantrums. It's just about the cutest thing you will ever see. They usually have to do with food or watching tv. He'll whine or cry and throw himself on the floor. Very dramatic. They usually only last a few seconds, which is probably why they are still so cute! Zach LOVES to be outside. It doesn't matter if he is at the park or in the backyard, he just wants to spend as much time as possible outside! He really loves the park. He pretty much goes off by himself and climbs, slides, runs and digs in the sand box. Zach is a big sandbox fan. The other day, he found a small pile of sand outside. He sat next to it and drove his car in and out of the sand for at least thirty minutes. It started to rain, so I told him we had to go inside. He said: "Play in sandbox, please." Clearly, the boy needs a sandbox. Zach also still loves to eat. I think he eats more than me on some days. For example, last night for dinner Zach had pasta, ham, avocado and strawberries. He had a frozen fruit pop for dessert. About an hour later, we got take out from a Thai place. For dinner number two Zach ate pad thai, brown rice and chicken. And not just a taste of each, a whole meal. Crazy! AND, he's still the skinniest two year old you'd ever see! Zach also enjoys singing. He usually sings bits of songs here and there. But the other day, he sang a whole song! He sang "Rain Rain Go Away" from start to finish all by himself. It was pretty cute!

Here are some recent-ish pics of our little man...

Hanging with Reba...

Drinking some hot chocolate...

Watching "Pirate Go Go"...

Sitting like a big boy....Climbing up a net in an indoor playplace...He made it...Playing the piano with Quan...Hanging outside...Bubble bath...With his friends from Vietnam...

Zachary's TWO!!

Well, it's official. Zach turned two on Friday. What a big boy! We had a pretty chill day. Did some errands, went out for pizza with Dadda, took a nap, opened some presents, talked on the phone with lots of people, ate a yummy dinner with Mimi and Grumpa, sang Happy Birthday, ate some cake & ice cream and went to bed. When I asked Zach what he wanted for his birthday, he said: "cake!" I asked what else and he said, "ice cream!" It was pretty funny. He also said: "Hap Birday" often throughout the day. Overall, it was a perfect two year old birthday for our perfect two year old boy.

Happy Birthday, Zach! We love you!

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Zach and Quan celebrate turning two!!

Quan turned two on February 3rd and Zach turns two this Friday. We celebrated twice with our good friends, the Barans. On Monday, Zach and I went to the Children's museum in Boston with Lisa and Quan. We had a blast! The boys exlpored each room of the museum with huge smiles on their little faces and a look of amazement in their eyes. Their favorites were the bubble room, the ball room, the water room and a playroom filled with fun activities. Zach and Quan worked so hard having fun all morning that they were each asleep within minutes of getting into the car :)

Yesterday, we celebrated with the daddies. We all went out for a yummy lunch of Vietnamese food and back to the Baran's house for cake, ice cream and presents. Again, we had a blast! The boys just love being together and they continue to be so cute with each other. Zach calls Quan: "Quack Quack." And now he can say: "Quack Quack Baran." It's pretty funny.

We just love the Barans and are so fortunate to have them as our friends.

Quan in the ball room...

Exploring the bubbles...WOW...In the playroom...Playing with the water (they both got soaked)...
Sleepy Zach...

Sleepy Quan...
Groovin' with Quan's new piano...
Getting ready for cake...

Party time...
Cake, yum...
Presents! Lisa and I bought the boys the same gift without knowing...

Happy New Year!

Zachary and I celebrated Tet this past weekend. Tet is the Vietnamese New Year. We helped to welcome the year of the ox by attending a Tet festival in Boston. We met another family there with a new baby from Vietnam. They live close by and they brought their son home about 5 weeks ago. He is just 10 months old and SO cute! We had fun exploring the different booths set up by the Vietnamese American Community. Zach enjoyed being with all the people, dancing to the loud music and running around. He also had fun jumping in a bouncy house with many big kids. At one point it was Zach and about 10 ten year olds. He was happy as could be falling all over the place while they made the house bounce like crazy! When his time was up, he said: "NO, NO all done!" Needless to say, he stayed in for a few more minutes and had the house to himself :) We think it's really important for us as a family to celebrate this very special holiday. We hope to celebrate it each year with our friends who also have children from Vietnam. I am also hoping to start cooking some Vietnamese foods. I need to get myself a good cookbook. We'll see how it goes. Here are some shots from the day. Unfortunately, I didn't get many and they are all only of Zach. Chad couldn't come so I didn't have much time to take my eyes off Zach long enough to snap away.

Jumping in the bouncy house...

Doing an art project with a nice woman...Smelling the flowers...Trying on a Vietnamese hat...Eating a cookie he scored from some nice, young woman he was flirting with...

The Love

Zachary seemed to have a special place in his heart for Reba and Sophie since the first time he saw them. I remember our first minutes home, up in Zach's room. He just stared at Sophie and Reba, giggling every time they did something. As an infant, he watched them a lot and got excited when they came near him. As he got older, he would crawl towards them and try to touch them. When he began to walk, he would walk over to them with a purpose. Usually to pull their tails, ears or fur but still--there was purpose! Now he enjoys hugging, kissing, petting, talking and playing with them. He uses this funny high pitched voice when talking to them. I assume it is because that's how we sound when talking to them :) He also still tries to torture them at times. I don't think he does it to be 'mean.' I think he does it for attention. He usually looks right at us while doing it. Nice! I think he's getting better about it. Reba recently nipped him while he was torturing her. Zach cried for a second and said: "Reba, boo boo, eye." She got him right under his eye. I didn't have much sympathy for him because I've been telling him for months that it was going to happen if he wasn't gentle with Reba. Zach was over it in about three seconds and went back in for more. Clearly, he didn't care too much. BUT, I do think he is being a little nicer to Reba these days. We'll see.

Every once in a while, I will catch Zach being super sweet with the girls. It melts my heart. Our dogs were our first babies and we love them so much! It makes me so happy to see that Zach loves them, too! I was able to catch one of these special moments with Zach and Sophie on film...

Could it be any cuter?

How to entertain a 22 month old while spending the WHOLE day inside (during a snowstorm)

Play with playdough...Play with water and bubbles in the sink...Eat a snack of cheese and crackers...Play in the tunnel... Paint a picture... Bring the blizzard inside for some fun...Make some snowballs... Eat a yummy lunch of avocado, oranges & chicken sausages...Drink a smoothie...