Zae has always loved music, which has blossomed into a love of dancing. Here's a little tidbit of him trying to copy his aunt Jen dancing in the kitchen.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
So It Begins...
"Look Mom, I'm Standing!"
As wonderful as it is to see my son reach those developmental milestones, there is a part of me that is sad to see my baby grow. Evidently the trip to the Grand Canyon was the impetus Zae needed to change from an infant to a little boy overnight. Maybe it was all that synaptic activity sparked by the excessive novelty that did it. Who knows?!
I thought Zae was going to be one of those babies that skipped crawling and went straight to walking. He was content to roll and army crawl. He certainly had all of the skills and strength to crawl months ago, but I thought he was content with his own methods of travel. Suddenly, when we got home, he began to crawl. In the blink of an eye he began chasing the dog around and following my around the living room on all fours! Around the same time, he mastered pulling himself up to the standing position and is now experimenting with cruising. He also decided baby food isn't his cup of tea any more (which is actually quite nice) and thinks that drinking out of a cup is the greatest thing ever (something I fear will take years for him to master without spilling down the front of his shirt). He no longer wants any of his old toys and instead wants to play with his homemade musical instruments (bean rattles and coffee can drums..yay for mom). When he's frustrated, he has a scrunched up F.U. face, and when he's trying to manipulate you with that smile and those eyes he has a very similar over-the-top squint. He can do the "mama" and "dada" thing, though I'm not quite sure he really knows what they mean. He does know that aunt Jenny is "EEE!" and Stella "Uh, uh". Finally, he has developed the a fantastic ability to be annoyingly persistent. Yes, I said annoying. Have you ever removed an infant from a garbage can 5 times in 1 day? I refuse to remove the garbage can...the boy needs to learn. Of course, this means I've opted to collect my garbage in grocery bags and take them directly to the garage....so it begins.
As wonderful as it is to see my son reach those developmental milestones, there is a part of me that is sad to see my baby grow. Evidently the trip to the Grand Canyon was the impetus Zae needed to change from an infant to a little boy overnight. Maybe it was all that synaptic activity sparked by the excessive novelty that did it. Who knows?!
I thought Zae was going to be one of those babies that skipped crawling and went straight to walking. He was content to roll and army crawl. He certainly had all of the skills and strength to crawl months ago, but I thought he was content with his own methods of travel. Suddenly, when we got home, he began to crawl. In the blink of an eye he began chasing the dog around and following my around the living room on all fours! Around the same time, he mastered pulling himself up to the standing position and is now experimenting with cruising. He also decided baby food isn't his cup of tea any more (which is actually quite nice) and thinks that drinking out of a cup is the greatest thing ever (something I fear will take years for him to master without spilling down the front of his shirt). He no longer wants any of his old toys and instead wants to play with his homemade musical instruments (bean rattles and coffee can drums..yay for mom). When he's frustrated, he has a scrunched up F.U. face, and when he's trying to manipulate you with that smile and those eyes he has a very similar over-the-top squint. He can do the "mama" and "dada" thing, though I'm not quite sure he really knows what they mean. He does know that aunt Jenny is "EEE!" and Stella "Uh, uh". Finally, he has developed the a fantastic ability to be annoyingly persistent. Yes, I said annoying. Have you ever removed an infant from a garbage can 5 times in 1 day? I refuse to remove the garbage can...the boy needs to learn. Of course, this means I've opted to collect my garbage in grocery bags and take them directly to the garage....so it begins.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon trip was amazing! It was a last minute trip so it was especially exciting that we were able to pull it off. In mid-May we were doing our daily lunch/park routine before Mark headed off to work. It dawned on us that our 1st anniversary was just around the corner (right after Memorial Day) and we wanted to do something special. The Grand Canyon was one of many ideas.
We finalized our trip on Thursday evening and headed out Saturday morning at 4am! Zae was an angel on the plane, as usual. He likes all of the attention...I think he knows he's cute and has picked up on how to manipulate the ladies with his grin. Unfortunately, he was a true lap baby since the flight was booked. This was somewhat challenging since Zae doesn't really like being held. Not something I generally complain about.
We rented a car in Phoenix and drove to Sedona to have lunch and sight see. Sedona was definitely beautiful.
We soon discovered a major hiccup while trying to find our way to our hotel at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. The North Rim is an oasis in the desert known for its peacefulness, small crowds, and great hiking. The South Rim is the tourist epicenter with the fantastic views. We planned to have 2 nights at the North Rim (to avoid crowds) and 2 at the South Rim (once the holiday was over). Our travel agent totally screwed up. She booked us at 2 different hotels, both at the South Rim. We made the last minute decision to spend the first two days at the South Rim (with half of the world!) and the last 2 nights at a cabin in Sedona.
I think the screw up worked in our favor for the most part. The Canyon was amazing! Yes, it was busy, but you hardly noticed given the unbelievable views. After taking in the sheer magnitude of the canyon for the first few hours, we realized we had a lot of orienting to do. Time flew by while we stood with our jaws in the dirt. Its really breathtaking...and, there is so much to do there!
We decided on a scenic drive in the park along the rim to give Zae some much needed rest. We stopped at every single overlook to get photos. Later we took Zae to see an IMAX movie of the Grand Canyon. He "oohed" through the whole thing. Especially, the white water rafting parts. I was so proud that he was enthralled and happy. We got lots of dirty looks when we walked in. I love proving the public wrong when my child doesn't throw the expected tantrum. :)
The following morning we took a helicopter ride around the entire Canyon! This was probably the best part of the trip. Zae loved it and the couple we rode along with was ecstatic about him...after we landed. I again saw the fear in their faces, "will this baby ruin our helicopter ride?" Nope! Another victory for little Zae! After the helo ride, we hiked part of the South Rim, had lunch, and took a shuttle back to the car. Zae got some much needed sleep while we headed back to Sedona.
In Sedona we did a lot of sight-seeing. Just driving around the area to get photos of the amazing red rocks was a full day. The best stop by far was along Chapel road. There is a Catholic church built on the mountain that has a wonderful lookout. You can get some great photos from there.
Sedona had some of the best food ever! If you ever visit I recommend the Blue Moon Cafe for breakfast (the best coffee I've ever had) and Oaxaca, which was by far the best Mexican food I've ever had.
On our last night in Sedona, we relaxed in our peaceful cabin in the woods, played in the creek, rocked in the hammocks, and let Zae play in the jacuzzi. Yes, the place was sweet....until about 3 am. I woke to a horrible smell. I thought I smelled rubber burning. When I woke Mark, he thought it was sewage coming out of the jacuzzi. We got moved to another room, but I just couldn't shake the smell. It made me so nauseous. We got a few more hours of sleep and headed off to a jeep ride through red rocks before heading out to the airport. After a day spent smelling like a dead, burning animal (that's for you Mark) we learned we had been skunked! A family of skunks was living under the cabin and sprayed. Our luggage, carry-on, and clothing wreaked of skunk. I'm sure our neighbors on the plane weren't pleased.
As tired and pissed as we were that morning, the skunk incident ended up being so hilarious that we thought it was the perfect ending to the trip. The funniest part was probably my version of the skunk story for the better part of the day. I thought Mark told me that he and the office attendant had found a dead animal that caught on fire in our cabin. I spent the whole day telling people how crazy our night was. "It sounds crazy, but last night at about 3 am we discovered that an animal had gotten into our cabin and died behind the refrigerator. Apparently there was some electrical trouble or something and the nasty thing caught on fire!" Ummm yeah, Mark let me go on telling this story until we got in the car for the airport. It turns out he told me it SMELLED like a dead burning animal. In reality, it was just skunks. Oh well...I'm sure I entertained quite a few people with my tall tale. :)
We finalized our trip on Thursday evening and headed out Saturday morning at 4am! Zae was an angel on the plane, as usual. He likes all of the attention...I think he knows he's cute and has picked up on how to manipulate the ladies with his grin. Unfortunately, he was a true lap baby since the flight was booked. This was somewhat challenging since Zae doesn't really like being held. Not something I generally complain about.
We rented a car in Phoenix and drove to Sedona to have lunch and sight see. Sedona was definitely beautiful.
We soon discovered a major hiccup while trying to find our way to our hotel at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. The North Rim is an oasis in the desert known for its peacefulness, small crowds, and great hiking. The South Rim is the tourist epicenter with the fantastic views. We planned to have 2 nights at the North Rim (to avoid crowds) and 2 at the South Rim (once the holiday was over). Our travel agent totally screwed up. She booked us at 2 different hotels, both at the South Rim. We made the last minute decision to spend the first two days at the South Rim (with half of the world!) and the last 2 nights at a cabin in Sedona.
I think the screw up worked in our favor for the most part. The Canyon was amazing! Yes, it was busy, but you hardly noticed given the unbelievable views. After taking in the sheer magnitude of the canyon for the first few hours, we realized we had a lot of orienting to do. Time flew by while we stood with our jaws in the dirt. Its really breathtaking...and, there is so much to do there!
We decided on a scenic drive in the park along the rim to give Zae some much needed rest. We stopped at every single overlook to get photos. Later we took Zae to see an IMAX movie of the Grand Canyon. He "oohed" through the whole thing. Especially, the white water rafting parts. I was so proud that he was enthralled and happy. We got lots of dirty looks when we walked in. I love proving the public wrong when my child doesn't throw the expected tantrum. :)
The following morning we took a helicopter ride around the entire Canyon! This was probably the best part of the trip. Zae loved it and the couple we rode along with was ecstatic about him...after we landed. I again saw the fear in their faces, "will this baby ruin our helicopter ride?" Nope! Another victory for little Zae! After the helo ride, we hiked part of the South Rim, had lunch, and took a shuttle back to the car. Zae got some much needed sleep while we headed back to Sedona.
In Sedona we did a lot of sight-seeing. Just driving around the area to get photos of the amazing red rocks was a full day. The best stop by far was along Chapel road. There is a Catholic church built on the mountain that has a wonderful lookout. You can get some great photos from there.
Sedona had some of the best food ever! If you ever visit I recommend the Blue Moon Cafe for breakfast (the best coffee I've ever had) and Oaxaca, which was by far the best Mexican food I've ever had.
On our last night in Sedona, we relaxed in our peaceful cabin in the woods, played in the creek, rocked in the hammocks, and let Zae play in the jacuzzi. Yes, the place was sweet....until about 3 am. I woke to a horrible smell. I thought I smelled rubber burning. When I woke Mark, he thought it was sewage coming out of the jacuzzi. We got moved to another room, but I just couldn't shake the smell. It made me so nauseous. We got a few more hours of sleep and headed off to a jeep ride through red rocks before heading out to the airport. After a day spent smelling like a dead, burning animal (that's for you Mark) we learned we had been skunked! A family of skunks was living under the cabin and sprayed. Our luggage, carry-on, and clothing wreaked of skunk. I'm sure our neighbors on the plane weren't pleased.
As tired and pissed as we were that morning, the skunk incident ended up being so hilarious that we thought it was the perfect ending to the trip. The funniest part was probably my version of the skunk story for the better part of the day. I thought Mark told me that he and the office attendant had found a dead animal that caught on fire in our cabin. I spent the whole day telling people how crazy our night was. "It sounds crazy, but last night at about 3 am we discovered that an animal had gotten into our cabin and died behind the refrigerator. Apparently there was some electrical trouble or something and the nasty thing caught on fire!" Ummm yeah, Mark let me go on telling this story until we got in the car for the airport. It turns out he told me it SMELLED like a dead burning animal. In reality, it was just skunks. Oh well...I'm sure I entertained quite a few people with my tall tale. :)
Friday, May 15, 2009
Zae Gets His Blog Back
So I have stopped hijacking the baby blog...yeah! Fortunately, I started a craft blog as an outlet for all that pent up blabbering and crafty goodness that I'm known for. :) Check it out if you like (www.ohcrafty1.com).
I'm also imposing a few new changes to this blog to add another level of protection between my son and creepy internet strangers. Seriously, we live in a time where people buy used underwear off the internet (its gross, I know...but you get the point). So, I've changed my flickr account, which means you'll probably have to sign on as my friend in order to see pics of Zae from now on. If anyone has any additional suggestions in this department please let me know.
On to baby news....
Zae has been doing the commando crawl for several weeks now and just started crawling backwards a little over a week ago. He still reverts to the more effective roll, roll, roll technique. I heard Benny is doing the same thing. Its so funny how alike babies can be sometimes. We've been hearing from everyone, oh he'll be crawling within a few days for over a month. I'm starting to think he will only crawl backwards and move on to pulling himself up instead. Only time will tell.
We had a few big firsts on Mother's Day weekend. Zae got his first tooth! Its so freakin' cute. One lonely tooth. He also had his first hiking, camping, and morel hunting adventure in Galena. We've got a nature lover on our hands. Sweet! Normally he's a bit obnoxious when feeding time and nap time are near. Not when we were walking in the woods. I think he was so overwhelmed with all of the cool new stuff that he didn't care to sleep or eat. Seriously, we tried...he wasn't having it.
I also have to mention my favorite cute thing that Zae is into these days. He likes to knock on things. He knocks on the wall, his crib, his toys, my head. He even knocks on his bottle while he eats. We find it hilarious because it seems like he's figured out that he can engage us in a game of copy cat. I'm pretty sure this is how it became a favorite pastime. When we first discovered he was knocking, we would knock..1, 2, 3 knocks. He would copy us very closely. Of course, Mark and I thought this was the bees knees (hehe). I'm sure Zae picked up on that and now he knocks on everything.
Memorial Day is right around the corner and we're trying to squeeze in some last minute vacation plans...hopefully I'll have some interesting picks to share soon.
I'm also imposing a few new changes to this blog to add another level of protection between my son and creepy internet strangers. Seriously, we live in a time where people buy used underwear off the internet (its gross, I know...but you get the point). So, I've changed my flickr account, which means you'll probably have to sign on as my friend in order to see pics of Zae from now on. If anyone has any additional suggestions in this department please let me know.
On to baby news....
Zae has been doing the commando crawl for several weeks now and just started crawling backwards a little over a week ago. He still reverts to the more effective roll, roll, roll technique. I heard Benny is doing the same thing. Its so funny how alike babies can be sometimes. We've been hearing from everyone, oh he'll be crawling within a few days for over a month. I'm starting to think he will only crawl backwards and move on to pulling himself up instead. Only time will tell.
We had a few big firsts on Mother's Day weekend. Zae got his first tooth! Its so freakin' cute. One lonely tooth. He also had his first hiking, camping, and morel hunting adventure in Galena. We've got a nature lover on our hands. Sweet! Normally he's a bit obnoxious when feeding time and nap time are near. Not when we were walking in the woods. I think he was so overwhelmed with all of the cool new stuff that he didn't care to sleep or eat. Seriously, we tried...he wasn't having it.
I also have to mention my favorite cute thing that Zae is into these days. He likes to knock on things. He knocks on the wall, his crib, his toys, my head. He even knocks on his bottle while he eats. We find it hilarious because it seems like he's figured out that he can engage us in a game of copy cat. I'm pretty sure this is how it became a favorite pastime. When we first discovered he was knocking, we would knock..1, 2, 3 knocks. He would copy us very closely. Of course, Mark and I thought this was the bees knees (hehe). I'm sure Zae picked up on that and now he knocks on everything.
Memorial Day is right around the corner and we're trying to squeeze in some last minute vacation plans...hopefully I'll have some interesting picks to share soon.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Very Funny
My friend Sam posted this video on her blog (backtome.typepad.com....sorry blogger apparently has some linking kinks I can't figure out). Anyway, enjoy. Its hilarious.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Craft-o-rama
I opened an Etsy shop in February and realized I had poor timing. As in, no time to work on items to put in the shop. My initial plan was to make a lot of small items. My rationale was that smaller projects would take less time so I could put more items up more frequently. umm...that's not really working for me. I recognize that cranking out tons of small stuff will soon make me feel like a machine. I am now focusing on designing large pieces for Etsy, which is much more fun. These projects also take a long time. Somehow knowing I can't whip it up in an afternoon takes the pressure off.
My favorite big project is a knitted handbag in a tweed rib stitch. Its sweet.
So what happened to the smaller projects? This is the super fun part...Mark is helping me put together a craft blog. Yeah! Its in the planning phase at the moment, which is a nice way to fill small gaps of time during the day without too much commitment. When I have the opportunity to set aside time every day, the blog will be the space where I put up my small projects. So far I have a series of themes planned for each month of the year where I will feature histories, how-to's, how-not-to's (eg, my various blunders), and hopefully some inspiration. I'm also considering putting up a new knit stitch pattern each month, though I'm not sure how popular this would be. I'm a collector of stitch patterns so someone like me would love it. ;)
These are the monthly themes I have planned so far. They are in no particular order at the moment.
1. Decoupage (this might be my first month because I love my photo album to recipe books...you'll see)
2. Paper mache (likely to be my least successful series...a true craft experiment for me, but I want to make Isaiah a pinata at some point..hahaa )
3. Paper folding (endless possibilities)
4. Paper making (probably better if this is before paper folding month)
5. Magazine reed creations (I'm already rolling endless numbers of reeds after Isaiah goes to bed)
6. Candle making (my first attempt already taught me a few lessons)
7. Scrap yarn projects (probably another month that will appear sooner rather than later since I already have a number of ideas for this)
8. Scrap fabric projects
9. Knitting
10. Crocheting
11. Re-purposed crafts(think coffee cans and bottle caps)
12. Featured crafters (this is in hopes that I actually have a small following so that I can feature my favorite crafty friends and their shops, websites, and projects).
Who needs to go back to an office job when I have all of this to look forward to? ;)
My favorite big project is a knitted handbag in a tweed rib stitch. Its sweet.
So what happened to the smaller projects? This is the super fun part...Mark is helping me put together a craft blog. Yeah! Its in the planning phase at the moment, which is a nice way to fill small gaps of time during the day without too much commitment. When I have the opportunity to set aside time every day, the blog will be the space where I put up my small projects. So far I have a series of themes planned for each month of the year where I will feature histories, how-to's, how-not-to's (eg, my various blunders), and hopefully some inspiration. I'm also considering putting up a new knit stitch pattern each month, though I'm not sure how popular this would be. I'm a collector of stitch patterns so someone like me would love it. ;)
These are the monthly themes I have planned so far. They are in no particular order at the moment.
1. Decoupage (this might be my first month because I love my photo album to recipe books...you'll see)
2. Paper mache (likely to be my least successful series...a true craft experiment for me, but I want to make Isaiah a pinata at some point..hahaa )
3. Paper folding (endless possibilities)
4. Paper making (probably better if this is before paper folding month)
5. Magazine reed creations (I'm already rolling endless numbers of reeds after Isaiah goes to bed)
6. Candle making (my first attempt already taught me a few lessons)
7. Scrap yarn projects (probably another month that will appear sooner rather than later since I already have a number of ideas for this)
8. Scrap fabric projects
9. Knitting
10. Crocheting
11. Re-purposed crafts(think coffee cans and bottle caps)
12. Featured crafters (this is in hopes that I actually have a small following so that I can feature my favorite crafty friends and their shops, websites, and projects).
Who needs to go back to an office job when I have all of this to look forward to? ;)
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