Christmas Traditions

Christmas is definitely my favorite holiday. I think because it is a season ripe with holiday traditions. People tend to do the same things over and over again, year after year because they are fun and comforting and familiar. To some this might seem boring, but I adore traditions and well, I never was really good with change.

My mother will tell you that I hold long and hard onto holiday traditions. Case in point - the advent calendar. We had a big advent calendar on our wall each Christmas season and each day had a pocket that held a little piece of paper. Every morning my brother and I would race to the calendar to see what piece of joy the paper held. Sometimes it said "A Christmas Treat!" which might be a little debbie christmas tree cupcake (yes, I still love them, bought them at target yesterday in fact) or "Go get our Christmas tree!" or, on December 24th each year it would say: "Read a Christmas story together". Needless to say, my poor Mother had to keep buying treats for this tradition long into our adult years. Last year she gave the advent calendar to me, and while Zane is still a little young to care about the fun goodies and events that might be tucked into the pockets, I am just overjoyed at thinking about the fun we will have together in Decembers to come.

If I were filling out those little pieces of paper already, last Sunday's would have said "Christmas Time in the City!". Enjoying Christmas in the city (with a trip to Center City Macy's and their annual Dicken's Village display) is a tradition that Mahmood and I started before Zane was born, and we got to share it with him for the first time this year. Sharing this with Zane and watching him take in all the lights and sounds was so much fun and isn't that what traditions are all about anyway?

9 months

9 Months. That is how long we waited for you. We watched my belly grow. We picked out names (Hard to imagine you as a Nathaniel or a Micah now...you are definitely a Zane through and through). We put together toys and furniture. We kept watching my belly grow. It seemed like an eternity. And then you got here. And now? 9 months have flown by.

You completely light up our lives. You make us laugh with joy and amazement each and every day. You worry us too sometimes, but that's just what parents do. You entertain us with your new games. Right now you're all about peek-a-boo. You show everyone. The check out guy, the waitress, Santa. They all get to play peek-a-boo with you. And they do. You have two teeth. You move around a room with the precision of an assasin. You're eating new foods everyday and showing some definite likes (banana, mango, avocado, chicken) and dislikes (corn! How can you grow up in PA and not like corn?) and some things that you unfortunately are allergic to (lentils - who gives their baby lentils anyway, sorry about that one kiddo! and peas). You love your toys (especially your fisher price farm) and are starting to not like it when someone leaves the room even when you are happily playing all on your own (and for our own good probably, since now if we leave the room you can get into some serious trouble what with that whole moving around thing and all). You love eskimo kisses (or forehead rubbing - who knows what tribe expresess affection that way) and big giant hugs and we hope you never stop being the super-cuddler that you are now.

9 months is a long time to get ready for a baby. It seems like an eternity. But then you get here and time starts wizzing by in a flash. Suddenly you're becoming a big kid and before I know it you'll be running after me and another 9 months will fly by. Don't let it pass me by without stopping for a hug now and then? Ok pal?

Love you!
Your mom and dad

p.s. here's what you looked like on your 9-month birthday. Your cousin Aimee made you this super cool lion onesie all by herself. She's pretty crafty isn't she? if you look REALLY closely at the picture you can see those two shiny new toofers.

A quick post-November update

Oh November, where did you go?

November was a big month for Zane. He graduated to a new big-boy car seat (which he seems to really like a lot), got two front teeth (guess Santa came a little early for Zane), started picking up finger foods and feeding himself, and started scotting around the floor mission command style. Yep, watch out folks, we are mobile.

And I wonder why I had no time for blog-writing?! I barely had any time for picture-taking. But, I managed a few. Here's a quick look at some fun November days.

Showing off his standing skills. Working on his "music". (this reminds me of a Friend's episode with Ross and his terrible keyboarding).


A little fun in the leaves while Dad rakes on a pretty fall day.


Some Thanksgiving day fun. I pretty much kiss Zane every time I pick him up. He's started "kissing" back. Or maybe he's a cannibal? By the way, that's Dallas in the picture in the background. We were trying to get a picture of Zane next to the picture of Dallas. It is pretty amazing how much he looks like D did as a baby.

Taking a picture of an 8 month old...

....while sitting in a chair takes a great amount of patience and an empty flash card.



*Mr. Universe onesie made by the wonderful and talented Jay. I think Zane takes the Mr. Universe title very seriously, don't you?

A little bit of fall-time fun

So, even though October ended on a sad note, despite our deepest wishes and prayers, we still managed to sprinkle in a few moments of joy. All in thanks to one fantastic little guy.

We missed the first trick-or-treat night in our new house (thanks to Mark and Candy for handing out our candy and letting all the neighbors know that the new kids on the block are not haters. Thanks to you, our pumpkin remained intact and there was no tp in our trees when we got home on Saturday). We were probably more sad for ourselves, since Zane wouldn't remember his first door-to-door trek around the new 'hood. Instead we visited our local mall a few days before Halloween so that Z could step out in his costume.

M's knickname is Mouse. Has been since college and I'm pretty sure I knew him as this, and not his real name for a couple of months until I finally learned his real name. So, it was only fitting that Z (who I used to refer to as mini-mouse before we knew what his name would be) dress like a mouse. I'm pretty sure this will be the last year that I'll actually get to select his costume for him. Next year I have a feeling he might have some strong opinions on the matter. So, for now, I present you with the world's most adorable mouse:

He also dressed up as Superman in honor of his Pop3.

And it wasn't all costume fun. We took Z to his first pumpkin patch (where he got to "pick" apples out of a giant bin which I made into his favorite snack, applesauce) and made his first art project at school (handprints on a pumpkin and footprints turned into ghosts).



Hard to believe that November is here already. I'll be back later with pictures of our *8* month old. GULP.

A letter to my son

My dear sweet Zaney-boy,

If you notice Mommy hugging you a little closer this week or that your normal silly songs are replaced with Army Air Corps battle tunes you should know that it is with good reason.

You were a lucky little boy to have had the chance to meet your great grandfather. Your pop3 as your dad calls him. He loved you so very much and in the short time the two of you had together you got to share some fun family holidays together (your first Easter at your Pop Pop's house in Mountville and your dad's first Father's day) and you even shared a meal at one of PopPop's favorite restarants for his birthday (you sat in a restaurant high chair for the very first time, right there at the head of the table next to your Pop3).

You spent your first Memorial Day at your pop3's most favorite place in the whole world - his cabin on the river. You didn't learn to fish yet, but when you get old enough to learn your PopPop will take you out and tell you all about his dad. I should warn you that fishermen have a habit of telling tall tales, but when your PopPop tells you that your great grandfather hung the moon, he is absolutely telling you the truth.

Your great grandfather, was a super hero. He loved big hugs, superman, family celebrations (especially the dessert portion), rivers, history, bad jokes, reading the comics, watching the news, and singing. I should warn you now about the Happy Birthday song. Newcomer's don't do it sweetly.

You won't get to share all of these things that I got to share with your great grandfather. But we will tell you all of the stories and you will know him. You won't remember him holding you on his lap and smiling with pride and how he searched his collection for the perfect coin to give to you commemorate the occasion, but I will and I will tell you. The last thing that he told me, the last time I saw him, was to "hug that baby and hubby" and to take good care of both of you. So that hug, that extra tight one I gave you the other morning. That one was from him.

Love,
Your mom

October, you seemed so promising...

It started off that way anyway. We started our month off with a family trip to Cape May for the wedding of two wonderful friends from Baltimore, Chrysi and Benny. They had a beautiful beach-side wedding and a wonderful reception with great food (and our wedding photographers!) and we were all set to enjoy the rest of the weekend in Cape May with my parents (who had come with us to watch Zane during the wedding). We had just barely managed to squeak in some fun photos on the beach when we got the call that my grandfather was in the hospital and needed emergency heart surgery. The past two weeks have been filled with ups and downs of dealing with a sick family member and lots of trips to Lancaster to see him in the hospital. He pulled through surgery but since then has had to deal with Pneumonia, some memory loss, and now a feeding tube and things have been especially rough on my parents who are dealing with this so amazingly. We're taking things day by day and remembering that life is precious.

Then, Zane brought home a nice present from school - his first tummy bug which he lovingly shared with first his father and then his mother (but luckily not at the same time so there was always someone well enough to make gatorade and soup trips). We ended up missing out on Zane's first trip to Penn State (although, given that it snowed there for homecoming, it probably wasn't the worst thing in the world to miss it!) and we still haven't been able to do those fun fall things like take Zane to his first pumpkin patch and pose him in front of a huge pile of pumpkins. (although I hear there is a shortage of pumpkins this year due to a rainy growing season, so maybe we're not missing out on too much).

But, it's not all bad. We still have this amazing 7 month old and we've been able to spend a lot of quality time at home with him and he doesn't seem to mind if all we have the energy to do is lay on the floor with him and let him use us as his personal jungle gym. I've never known a baby who loves to play with his toys as much as Zane does. Shape sorters and musical things and things with buttons can keep this kid happy and entertained for hours. If there was an olympic sport for rolling, Zane would be the new champ he is all over the place and it is reminding us that soon, oh so very soon he will definitely be crawling.

So, I guess I shouldn't write October off yet. There are still two weekends to go and one of them is Halloween. We've heard that Halloween in our new 'hood is a blast and that all the neighbors really get into the spirit of things (if you don't believe me, come check out the Griswald-esqe Halloween display next door!).

grammy makes a guest appearance on the blog:


reaching & rolling:

Some mommy ramblings

We've been having some stressful nights as of late. And by "nights" I mean 2,3,4 am. We've haven't had nights like this since Zane was a newborn, and I feel like it has been all my fault.

You see, for the past month or so, Zane's been getting up once to eat. And life was fine. But at his 6 mo, the pediatrician said that he didn't need to eat and suggested that we should start phasing that out. He told me that Z was really looking for comfort/time to hang with mommy and probably wasn't really hungry. He convinced me, so we tried. We've tried having M go in istead of me, going in and turning on music, CIO, etc. etc. But the awake time has been lasting at minimum of an hour each night, sometimes 2.5. And this mostly resulted in me wanting to cry along with the poor kid. Hmmmm...perhaps he really was hungry after all?

Last night I decided to revert to the old routine. As soon as I heard him awake and talking I went in (before awake turned to REALLY upset and angry), fed him for about 10-15 minutes until he was back to sleep and I was able to go right back to sleep as well.

I can't even tell you how much more relaxed I was this morning, even with that 20 minute break in my cozy sleep pattern. So, for now, I think I'm going to stop getting upset whenever I hear someone talking (bragging?) about a baby STTN and just accept that Z isn't ready to do it. I would rather 15 minutes of snuggles and eating than 2.5 hours of awake and crying. I've accepted it, I'm happy with it (ok, I will be happy with it), and I'm going to try my hardest not to do the baby comparison!

I think that is the worst part. Hearing so many other babies who STTN (and babies much younger than Z). And it's such a commom question - I feel like everyone is always asking me "how is he sleeping?". That it was making me feel like I was doing something wrong as a parent. So this is me, accepting.

Plus, soon enough he won't even want to walk next to me in the mall, let along snuggle at night, so I might as well just enjoy it instead of being mad that I'm awake at 3am. So, I'm going to let Z take the lead on this one. Next time you see me, feel free to continue to ask me "So how is Zane sleeping these days?" I promise I won't bite your head off for asking ;)

The elusive family photo

We had our first big party at the new house this past weekend. It was a blast and although the weather and our football teams didn't cooperate, we still managed to have a great time with many family and friends. We learned a few things about party planning (a party doesn't need to start before 4, about 30 people fit comfortably in our downstairs, and you don't need 9 bags of rolls) and we also discovered that we haven't had a family photo taken since moments after becoming a family of three.

To get ready for the party we spent the last week putting some finishing touches on the house. We are unpacked for the most part, but the walls were still rather naked. We had a few empty frames and M thought it would be nice to actually hang up a family picture. Um, yes, it would be nice, wouldn't it....if we actually HAD one. The only picture we actually have of the three of us was taken moments after Z was born. I had it in my hands and actually contemplated putting in in the frame when my dear sweet husband looked at me thoughtfully and said something to the effect of "yeah, you don't look so hot in that photo". Ok, I'm sure he said it a little more tactfully than that (or not), but it was true. I had just given birth and while the moment was sweet and one that I'm certainly glad I have a photo of, it probably isn't meant to grace the walls of our living room for the next 18 years.

We've taken probably 8,000 photos or so over the course of Zane's life. We have Zane in his crib, Zane on his playmat, Zane in his swing, Zane in his highchair. You have seen all of these and even if you haven't you know how many photos a new mom takes. I am not unique in this. There are even quite a few of Zane with me and probably a few more of Zane with his dad. But, what we just don't have is photographic evidence of our happy 3-person family unit. Until now.



Oh well, at least we have one, right?!

Blended Family

There are all types of blended families out there. Ours is a blended football family.
What can I say? True love conquers all.

Life as a 6 month old

I've got to admit, life as a 6 month old is pretty sweet.

It is full of fun and games, like swimming (splashing) in your own pool:


Being pushed on the swings:


And sliding down the slide:



Pretty much the only downside of turning 6 months old is the shots:


And for all those stats lovers out there (besides me?): the big 6 month stats are 17 pounds, 8 ounces and 26.5 inches long. That's 50th percentile again folks. His head was creeping up there beyond the 50th percentile mark, but that's just to make room for all of those brains.

August? What was that?

Are we shocked at my lack of blog posting for the month of August? Probably not! Zane turned 5 months in August and spent the rest of the month growing like a weed and learning new things left and right. When I took his 5 month pictures on August 4th we still had to prop him up to sit and he was still just having his first tastes of rice cereal.


the 5 month onesie shot (monkey onesie made by my godmother, Michelle)


By the end of the month he was scarfing down bananas, sweet potatoes, apples and peas and loving them all:


And laying down? Being propped up with pillows and boppies and other nonsense? Nonsense! We have a sitter on our hands. And it doesn't look like he will stay sitting for very long. He's already trying to crawl over our legs and lunge himself forward. Thumbs up for sitting!


Of course the biggest thing that happened in August (and the reason for my lack of blogging) was that we bought our first house. We closed on July 31 and spent a few weeks painting, adding a pergo floor to my office and putting up crown molding in our bedroom. I promise, I will have pics of all that as soon as we finish unpacking. But for now, say goodbye to your first house Zane:



And say hello to the house where you will take your first steps, learn to ride your first bike, wait for the bus for kindergarten, build a tree fort and snowmen, and who knows, maybe even learn to drive a car:

A tail of two kitties

When M and I first moved in together, back in 2005, we decided that it was time for a new roommate. One of the furry variety. My mom knew someone who had some cats (understatement) who needed a good home, so we went to see if we might want to take one home. And we did. Two.

Kramer and Wendy were two fluffy, crazy, lovable, smush-faced persians. Wendy was a bit skittish at first, and spent a lot of time in hiding. Kramer immediately followed us around like a puppy. We didn't know much about persians when we took them home. Only that they had a lot of fur. A LOT. OF FUR. and loved people. In no time flat, Wendy made her way out of hiding and we discovered a lot more about our new furry kids. Including the fact that dear sweet Kramer had a host of health problems. It started with seizures, which we opted not to treat with medication as that could alter his sweet and loving personality and also shorten his life span. So instead, whenever he would have a seizure (usually in the middle of the night, while sleeping by our feet) I would hold him as gently and firmly as I could to keep him from hurting himself. M once said that he knew after watching me with Kramer that I would be a good mom. God forbid I ever have to hold anyone else while having a seizure ever again.

We had a few good years with Kramer and eventually things took a turn for the worst. He was on heart medications (which, since this post is quickly becoming a downer you might remember that in a flight-induced fog after a trip to Seattle I took myself instead of giving to the cat. That made for an interesting call to poison control!) and our fabulous vet went above and beyond doing all the research she could on his condition. In the end, he suffered a blockage in his heart that cut off all blood flow to his lower half and we knew it was time to end his suffering. It was the saddest night of our lives together, yet pulling us through was the fact that a little life, more precious than we could ever imagine was busy growing from kumquat to plum-sized.

We thought Wendy would be sad without Kramer. And while she definitely looked for him, she seemed to like the position of only child. While she had it anyway. When Zane arrived, we wondered how she would react. But, like a protective big sister she would sit outside his door when he cried or rub her head on his feet when I fed him.

On our moving day, a day we were looking forward to for months, Wendy died quickly and what we hope was painlessly in the basement of our new house. After watching Kramer suffer, we were thankful for the small favor that we don't think Wendy was in pain. We think it was just her time. And it was probably God's way of reminding us that life is fragile and to be thankful for every moment that you have with the people (and yes, even animals) that you love.

We'll miss those two crazy fur balls.

July. A recap.

Didn't I finish out June saying that I would be a better blogger in July? I guess not! Let's see, what has been going on this month?

Z started out this month with a 4 month appointment. He was 15 pounds and 25 inches. Straight down the middle: he is in the 50th percentile for height, weight, and head. (((our little average baby)))). he had to get some shots. But he was a trooper.



Z went on his first roadtrip! We drove 4 and a half hours to Corning, NY to visit our friends Stacy and Dan and their adorable and fun 1 year old twins, Ryan and Maggie. Zane was in awe of all their cool toys and he came home with a bunch of them that they had outgrown.

Ryan and Maggie eating breakfast. Pretty much the only way to guarantee a shot of the two of them since they are so busy crawling all over the place. And I hear Maggie took her first unassisted steps a few days later. I'm not surprised, she was so close!


Thanks Ryan and Maggie, I love my new exersaucer!



Z did amazing in the car - for about 3 hours. That seems to be his limit at the moment. But all in all, a sucessful first trip (it totally helps when visiting people with kids for a first trip - as it is our truck was loaded down and we didn't even have the pack and play, stroller, or swing in the car). This also made room in our car for all the wine we brought back. I mean, we did go up for the finger lakes wine festival afterall ;)

As for Zane, he's pretty much just loving life. Spending time with grammy and Alice while Mommy works, and growing bigger and learning more tricks every day. On Friday, July 24th Z rolled from back to front for the first time! And I totally missed it of course. I was working on the computer and he was playing away happily on his back on the blanket next to me. I look down and thought "oh, how happy he sounds" then did a double take and thought "WAIT. Did I put him on his belly?" Nope! He got there all on his own! He's been trying again since then and pretty soon he will be rolling all over the place.

He had his first big dip in the pool. I wish I had taken my camera. I was holding him in the big pool. We started out just sitting on the first step and before I knew it I was walking around in the water and Z was laying back in my arms, hands behind his head, like he was doing a backfloat. His dad the fish was so proud!

Another big first was he had his first taste of rice cereal last night. He didn't eat a whole lot, but he was certainly very interested in it and was having fun playing with the new textures and licking his fingers. Can't wait to try a new food next week. Next up are bananas, avocados and sweet potatoes. These should all be much yummier than brown rice!




So, that, my friends, is July in a nutshell. I can't believe the end of the month is almost here. We are planning to close on our house on Friday, which probably means blogging in August won't be any better. Please forgive me Zane. I promise, we'll find other ways to remind you how much fun you had during your first summer.

Zane. Meet Wendy.

Last night, after 4 months of Wendy trying to rub herself up to Zane to get him to pet her, he FINALLY noticed her. He was playing with Dad and all of a sudden Wendy ran past and he was fixated. She came up to check him out and at first there was a bit of a stare-off:


Zane reached out to touch the furry thing:


And she LOVED it!


BFFs for sure. At least until he learns to grab handfuls of fur.

Happy Birthday America (and Zane too)...

Zane turned the big 4-months on July 4th. His homemade onesie photo parade is interrupted with this store-purchased shirt to celebrate the big day.



Zane truly is Mr. Independent. At 4 months he is starting to really discover toys. He loves to shove them in his mouth best of all. He's pretty much sleeping through the night on his own and has finally embraced tummy time as something that is fun (he finally realized that it's a great way to check out the world) and is no longer satisfied with just chewing on his hands - feet are yummy too.


We had a great long weekend. Friday we went to Lancaster for First Friday to check out our son, the baby model. He participated in a mini photo shoot with our fabulous wedding photographers Joel and Rita Wiebner (if you know anything about me you know how much I talk about how much I love these guys!). We're saving our pennies for a big family photo shoot for the three of us, but in the meantime I jumped at the chance to participate in this new mini photo shoot that they started doing. Each month they have a theme and then the photos are hung in their gallery for all of the adoring public to see during First Friday. The theme this month was a local food eating contest. Since Z is too little to actually eat anything they posed him in and around a bunch of fruit. Fitting since when you are pregnant they tell you how big your baby is growing in fruit terms. Early on just a little blueberry all the way up that watermelon. Here are M and Z checking out Z's best shot:


We had a great 4th of July - we celebrated with the Donahue clan and Z got to take a test run in their exersaucer (isn't it great to have friends with older kids?). He loved it and I think it's time to get him one of his very own (especially since he seems to be getting bored with his play gym as of late - laying down is SO 3 months old, ma!)


Most of all, the long weekend was spent enjoying time with our growing son. It amazes us how fast he is growing and changing and we are trying to cherish each moment as best as we can.

June comes to a close...

Seriously. Where has June gone? My son's entire 3rd month just flew by in a flash. And what do we have to show for it? hmmmm....let's see...

The penguins won the first Stanley Cup of Z's life. We were in New Hope for the final game and Dallas had a whole set up with a penguins and red wings jersey and a blow up stanley cup. Dallas has been setting up still lifes of hats or helmets or jerseys for championship games since he was a little kid - good thing he has an exhaustive collection. Of course, since I spent a few years of my life in Pittsburgh it's only fair that Z have a little bit of love for the 'burgh in him. Yes Z, I agree, the best thing about Pittsburgh is the stuff to eat, although I was thinking more about those salads with the fries on top:



Z loves sitting up. Forget that laying down stuff, that is for BABIES. Of course, as soon as you pull him up with your fingers he shoves a finger or a knuckle in his mouth and CLAMPS DOWN. Ouch.



He still loves sucking on his fingers. Of course, one finger is not good enough for this kid. You will often find him with three fingers FROM EACH HAND shoved in his mouth at one time. I guess he comes by it honestly. His uncle Josh used to shove a blanket so far into his mouth we thought for sure he would suffocate himself. Aparantly he just had a really big mouth :)



The best thing that Z has learned during his third month of life requires no photo at all...he now sleeps through the night!!! Ok, I might be jinxing myself here because it has only been a handful of times, but it only takes 3 times to make a habit, right?! And, well, that night does end at 5am (we need to work on that one kid), but for now, I'll take it!

See you in July! I can't wait to see what excitment Zane's 4th month brings.

Happy Father's Day!

Yes, yes, it has been entirely too long since I have visited blogland and my poor son someday is going to wonder what the heck happened to the month of June 2009. I'll tell you what happened my dear son, your mommy went back to work! But, I'm taking a few minutes of the peace and quiet of this Sunday morning while my favorite two men in the whole world are taking naps (Wendy too) and all I hear is the rattle of the dryer and the click click of Zane's swing to say Happy Father's Day!

Zane - you are one lucky guy, I have to say. You have a mom who was smart enough to pick the most amazing man on the planet to be your dad. :) His face lights up when he walks into the house after work because he gets to see you! He loves to sing you silly songs and dance around your room with you to hippy music to get you to fall asleep. He lifts you high over his head so that you will giggle. He watches baseball with you (even if he might be setting you up for great days of sadness by teaching you to be a Mets fan - hey, maybe it will build character) loves to take you for walks to show you all about whats out there in the world.

As you get bigger your dad is going to teach you all sorts of cool things. He'll teach you how to play kickball (a skill probably used more by adults these days than children, but maybe all these kids of kickball adults will revitalize the game for the schoolyard set), baseball, football, and golf (basically any sport you want to learn to play with a ball - dad's your guy). He taught mommy how to play most of these sports and we still love each other very much, so that should give you some idea of his patience as a coach! He'll help you with your math homework (and first he might start by teaching you how to count), take you to Philly for your first cheesesteak (or roast pork with broccoli rabe if he has his way), to Camden for your first concert (this will probably happen before you are old enough to chew the cheeseteak), and to New York for your first baseball game. Zane, have I mentioned that you are one lucky boy?!

But more than all those fun things your dad is going to do (and probably more important, although you won't realize it until you are old), your dad loves you more than anything in the whole world. And if you grow up to be anything at all like your dad you will be a good, strong, honest, smart, and dependable person. And fun as hell.





(and a quick shout out to my own dad. Happy Father's Day to the guy that taught me that if you don't fall down every now and then, you aren't trying hard enough. I love you Dad. Thanks for showing me what it means to be a great dad so that I knew what to look for. You make a pretty wonderful pop pop too!)

3 months!

Wasn't I just talking about how time flies? Well, it really does. My father-in-law said it goes by so fast because the first few weeks are so hard. And man, he was right! The first few weeks flew by in a sleep-deprived haze. But, now, here we are suddenly with this 3 month old who lights up our world with his smiles and laughs at his favorite toys. He's grabbing at anything you put in front of him and shoving it in his mouth, but his favorite thing to chew on contines to be his hands (one finger clearly isn't good enough for this guy).
Mahmood and I couldn't be more in love with our son if we tried. Happy 3 months baby Zane!




Oh, this month's onesie courtesy of his Auntie Rose. Future kappa alpha theta heartbreaker? You betcha!

hi ho, hi ho...

...it's off to work I go.

This week marked the end of my maternity leave and I returned to work. Where the heck did those 12 weeks go? I can't really believe it. Luckily I have the most amazing job ever and my return to work has been painfree so far. I went into the office with Zane on Monday and my mom came to pick him up for a few hours. The rest of the week has looked something like this:



In other big news, this week was also my 35th birthday. I did a lot of great things to celebrate. We started with a big party on Saturday. Z of course, was the life of the party in his party-perfect digs:



I thought turning 35 would be harder than it has been. I guess with everything else going on in our world (Zane, work, the house) I haven't had time to worry about it. Heck, if I knew how sweet life could be at 35, I would have signed up sooner!

12!

Everything is better by the dozen right? Eggs. Bagels. Donuts. And weeks that Zane has been here!



It's amazing watching him grow. He is full of smiles and laughs (especially in the morning, which is a bit unnerving to his so-not-a-morning-person mom) and loves nothing more than shoving his hands in his mouth.



He's getting really good with his neck control, so we broke out the bumbo seat this morning so he can see what this sitting business is all about. He certainly has the recline part down. I forsee some lounging in front of baby einstein dvds in the near future!



I'm off to join my son in morning nap time. It's back to work on Monday so I have to take advantage of this while I can!