Kari Kare!!

On Sunday, Kari and Brian were kind enough to watch Zack for a few hours while we went out to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. (This the last time we are counting our meeting as an anniversary.) As usual, Zack was very excited to see Kari, Landon and Brian. We are very lucky to have such great friends that Zack loves to hang with.

Pre-LT, Kari used to be a teacher, (elementary and preschool) and we often tease her about opening a daycare or preschool. I have started calling it "Kamp Kari". Zack is hoping she does because he would spend everyday there!!

The other day, Albert rediscovered the short cartoon on the "Incredible's" DVD At first, he thought the little boy's name was Zack, not Jack, and story might be how an evening of watching our high energy, non sleeping, funny boy might go... Jack, Jack attack. The kid even has the same Mohawk!! It made us laugh even harder when we realized the babysitters name is Kari!!

Lucky for us the evening at Kamp Kari's went nothing like cartoon, as you can see...

Little instant messaging to the folks, kinda like old fashion letter's from camp.


Maybe arts and crafts?!?! Or is Kari's Kamp really a sweat shop?!?!


And believe it or not, even a little nap!

Thanks Kari, LT and Brian!!

Prez (with a Z) day!

Albert had day off from work this past Monday so he was able to join me and the mommy's for swimming lessons. The kiddo's have been "swimming" since November and have really made progress. Here are some of the skilled kiddo's...

Practicing kicks, but bummed 'cause mohawk got messed up!

Catching waves...Little surfer dude!!

LT has splashing down...Although not suppose to get water in his ear.

Zack "diving" off edge...


Floating to "twinkle, twinkle little star"...

Practicing climbing out of pool...

Sophia, Zack and Landon getting ready to jump in...

Hanging like a "sea" monkey on the fence.

Mr. Funny

Landon and Zack have a lot fun playing together!! And all of us enjoy watch them. They are both happy, funny little baby men. We are, however, noticing different personalities emerging.

The other day, playing at our place, I tried to get Landon to laugh...


I used various toys,


and even Zack tried...

I even resorted to the Little Peoples, his favorite...But the kid is just very serious...

Unlike, like Zack...who laughs at everything...

The shirts says it all...

"and I said, NO, NO, NO..."

We've had "puppy / kiddies" gates in our house since the first week Stormy and Shadow came home. They are used to where they can and can't go...But they aren't to sure about the new gate we put up in what is now the playroom area.

It was put up to eventually keep Zack in, but of course it keeps Stormy and Shadow out, when necessary.

By the looks of Zack, he is not happy with new gate separating him from his dog dogs, and Shadow gets a little stressed if he's more than 6 inches from me. Sometimes I let Shadow in to play with Zack. Storm on the other hand, has no idea that how much he weighs, so we usually keep him out.

Last Sunday, we were all playing together and Storm had the best time trying to kiss Z through the gate. Turns out Storm wants in...and Zack wants out...
I am sure these two partners in crime will figure out something eventually.

Apparently Zack figured he could eat his way out.

Likes books now!

In the past weeks Zack has started to enjoy his quite time with books...

He no longer just eats them!!

Play "date" with Mia

This past Wednesday, Zack and I gladly volunteered to give Miss Mia's normal care takers a much deserved break. This was just half day to see if Mia liked playing with Zack and I.

What is a date anyway? According to dictionary.com, "An engagement to go out socially with another person, often out of interest" My understanding of a date is a meeting of two people at a predetermined place and time for the purpose of getting to know each other better. Nothing more, nothing less. Sounds like our objective of getting Mia more comfortable with Zack and I, so I guess this was a date!

So here is how the date went...

The usual start, the guy goes to girls place, and is interviewed by protective father. Steve and Zack did the normal guy to dad pleasantries while Anna gave me all the "Diva" tips. Then the parents were off to their respective jobs.


Mia noticed the not so subtle mamma-rattizzi right away but Z is used to it so he just went about playing...

Mia decided to not fight it and started posing...So cute!!
On the other hand the look I am getting from Z is pure embarrassment because of hovering mother. At around 10, Kari and Landon swung by to see if they could help,


but I think Kari just needed her "aborable little girl fix". I also heard they came over because LT didn't want Zack getting any time alone with Mia.


Not sure what upset LT, his current cold or Mia playing with Z for the moment...

but he did recovered quickly...maybe because he had his wingman, Zack.

Kari was a big help!! She must have inherited her mother's "baby whisperer" touch, because after a few minutes and little bit of milky's, Mia was out!!

Mia's little cat nap didn't last long so we decided to head out for a walk... I've heard it works wonders at getting the little princess to sleep...

Kari wanted to make sure Mia wasn't cold, so she used all of her blankets...

and one of Landon's hats! She even looks like a diva in boy stuff.

So we were off...one baby in papoose, and one in each stroller.

Landon and Kari attempted at run...

while Mia and Zack strolled along chatting...

and to show Mia his sensitive side, Z made friends with this little doggie. You know how Zack loves dog dogs!! After the walk we headed back to Mia's place to chill and maybe have some lunch since they were getting along so well...

That was until Zack saw that Mia's cool cell phone. Zack is a lot like his dad...easily distracted by new electronics. Mia was admiring Zack's shoes and trying to make small talk but Zack wasn't listening...


Mia decided she had been ignored long enough...

And stole the phone. She also checked to see who Z was calling, while Zack was smart and just kept his thumb in mouth... sticking to his original story, "I was just texting my bro LT"

Again Zack was distracted by a new toy that Anna bought for their big date...

Finally Mia tried the direct approach to get Zack to give her the attention she deserves...wasn't working so I decided maybe we should move the date forward to lunch.

Mia had prepared a little something to impress Zack. Yogurt, apples, prunes, with a side of Cherrio's. Both enjoyed the food, and the company. Zack even tried to play a little footies with Mia...

After lunch both kiddo's were ready for a little quite time but neither was going to give in and go off to dream land. I was about to give up on Mia napping when Daddy returned. As soon as he held her, the thumb went in the mouth and she was out. What skillz!! So our job was done. I packed up Z and headed home for his nap.

It turned out to be a great play "date"!! Zack and I are waiting by the phone for a second date.

Brunch with grown ups

This past Sunday Albert and I had brunch with Adam, Patty, (Left) Theresa and Jamey, (Left lower) to celebrate the January and February birthdays. So as not to bore Zack while we had adult conversation, Zack was invited by Kari and Brian, to have a play date with Landon. I don't know who was more excited, me ,to have Mimosa's or Kari to have "twins" to play with!?!?
While Albert and I had a great time, from the looks of the pictures, Zack is the one who got the better end of the deal.

Thanks again to Kari and Brian, we had a GREAT time and
Zack LOVED his play date!!

Sick Baby

Zack caught a really nasty cold at the end of last week. Not his first, but definatly his worst. He was so sad and miserable that it just broke my heart everytime he cried after coughing. As a mom, you're suppose to be able to "fix" everything. While, I know there are going to be somethings I can't fix, but I can at least try! So this time trying, was making Zack some chicken broth with noodles soup. He is eating a lot solids but I wasn't sure what he would think of the noodles.

It's food, so I should have known he would love it!!

Technically, this wasn't his first soup, his "Auntie Patty" made him some congee soup back in November. He loved that too!!

Crawl training

Before the big Super Bowl game, Albert spent sometime working on Zack's crawling...

The way my sister showed us when Adrianna was learning...

You can measure the Zack's level of concentration...
By the amount of tongue sticking out...

At least he is having fun trying!!

Swim lessons, II

Zack has started his second session of swim lessons. It is really amazing how much they have learned in just 2 months...going under water, splashing, kicking, and floating. Below are a few pictures from our last class.
Zack in "little pool" where they can stand and climb on fence.


Zack practicing holding on to edge

Zack and Landon getting ready...Aren't they cool little surfer dudes?!?!

I guess if you pull on Z's ear his tongue pops out, just like Landons...

Landon showing Z how to blow bubbles, but Z is uninterested.

Super (Puppy) Bowl XLII

This past Sunday was Zack's first Super Bowl!! We had planned our usual Superbowl watching party (this would have been the 6th year). This year's party was going to be with more babies than ever! Unfortunately, Zack caught a really nasty cold and we couldn't bear passing it on to anyone.

While waiting for game and taking a little break from playing with Zack, I found this on Animal Plant... Puppy Bowl IV. I thought it was amusing and figured that Zack would find it hillarious. You know how he loves his dog dogs. (or check out link to Z's laugh on the right)

Watching his first "Puppy Bowl" in Giants red and blue!


Cheering on his favorite puppy, that is besides Storm, Shadow, Hailie and Bowen

Like many of the past Sundays, Zack, Albert and I settled on the couch to watch the New York Giants try and stop the New England Patriots from going 19 - 0. Zack and I were cheering on the underdog Giants and Albert seemed to be rooting for the Pats just to annoy me.

Sadness when Pats scored in second quarter...


All smiles when Giants scored...

To bad he missed the final score, but fortunately he was fast alseep. I gave him the good news, Pats 14, Giants 17, when he woke up Monday morning. YEAH ELI!!