Christmas presents!

Thanks for my great ornament, Mr. Mike and Ms. Emery!

Trees and Lights

Zach loves trees. Zach loves lights. Now we have both in the living room, and he thinks it is pretty cool.

Mom's Group Christmas Party

The Mom's Group that we go to had its Christmas party today. Many of the baby were decked out in their holiday outfits, and Santa even made a special appearance. I'll sure miss these ladies and babies when I head back to work. This was my last group meeting. :(

Wow, Lights Are Nifty!

Happy Holidays!

Zach's already wearing the adult-sized Santa hats. And try as I might, I could not coax a smile out of him.

And here is is sans hat, fascinated by the lights.

Clean and Cute

Happy baby after his bath.

Blankets Are Tasty...

The oral stage has begun. Zach is still slow to grab things, but he had fun the other night with the tag blanket Grammy made.

My New Bouncy Seat

Inspired by Zach's affection for the lights on the swing, I picked up a bouncy seat with lights. The speed with which the lights change makes me dizzy, but he seems to like it.

Finally! A swing he likes!

Zach never took to swings until we went to visit Grammy, and he got to use cousin Hannalise's Take Along swing. I found one on Craigslist when I got home. This is his reaction:

Rolling...

Zach hasn't made it all the way over (that stinkin' arm keeps getting in the way) but he likes hanging out on his side.

Bath Time Is Fun

We've started using a European tub that allows Zach to sit up. Now, the only bath time tears happen when we take him out.

Finally Found My Thumb!

Zach loves to put his hands in his mouth, but only occassionally finds his thumb (which is what I think he is really looking for).

And One More...

Thanks for my cute onesie, Uncle Ray and Deb!!

Another Halloween Picture (I Couldn't Resist)...

The Two Zachs

Here's a picture of Zach K. hanging out with Zach S., our friend that we met at mom and baby yoga. This was taken at our Halloween Stroller Strides class -- they are both such good sleepers and so nice for letting their moms get some exercise in.

Zach and Polly

Polly is very excited about being a big sister, although Zach gets "too heavy" for her to hold sometimes.

Fun with mirrors

Zach loves to look at his reflection in his mirror. It's pretty much the only way I can get in his "tummy time."

Bath time

Daddy, what are you doing to me??

So This Is What Hands Are For...

Zach is just starting to learn how to bat at toys with his hands. The shocked look on his face when he first did it was priceless.

He's a pro at kicking the hanging bells on his Gymini mat, though.

My Two Boys, Doing What They Do Best...

Sleeping.

Three Weeks Old!

Hard to believe that he was that tiny!

Hanging with Grammy...

Here's a shot of one of the few moments when she put him down.

Zach and Sammy Meet for the First Time

Sammy wasn't too sure what to think of with his mom, Hillary, holding baby Zach.

And here's Sammy's dad, Scott, serving as the baby whisperer.

Feed Me!

Need I say more?

The Only Reason to Love George Bush

The effect he has on my baby:

Zach was fussy for an hour, and 5 minutes after George Bush came onto the TV, he was sound asleep.

Happy Halloween! (So I'm a Litle Behind...)

You try posting on the internet with a newborn who doesn't want to be put down. ;)

Thanks to Gram-mary and Giogi for the cute Tigger outfit. It got daddy lots of candy (and beer) from the neighbors!

And thanks to the Bothwells for letting us tag along to trick-or-treat!

Chilling at home

Resting with Dad. Being a baby is tiring!

Looking cute in the sun with wrist rattles.

I don't like baths!!

Resting with Mom.

Other hospital pictures

Just after they dropped us off in our hospital room. His newborn rash has since cleared up.

A big yawn!

Dad on diaper duty.

Dad and Zach, bonding in my bed (note the hand in mouth, yet again).

Dressed for the big ride home. The tort lawyer in me has to chuckle at the size of the warning label on this seat. It is half as tall as Zach!

Bilirubin, bilirubin, go away...

Zach has been having some minor issues with newborn jaundice. We had to take him to have some blood drawn to test his bilirubin levels (they were below the danger zone, thankfully). He was not a fan of the test, and let the clinic know by peeing all over the exam table. That's my man!!

Our pediatrician told us to sit with him in indirect sunlight to bring the levels down. Since the sun was bothering his eyes, we outfitted him with the only appropriate sun-blocking headgear.

Welcome to the World, Big Man

Zachary Thomas was born on August 31, 2007 (three days past his estimated due date), at 8:32 a.m., weighing in at 8 lbs., 8.4 oz. and measuring 19.5 inches long. As I am notoriously late for everything, I should have known better than to think any child of mine would arrive early or on-time. At my last appointment, the doctor said he didn't think Zach was more than 8 lbs. Zach had other things in mind.

Zach decided that he wasn't into the whole labor thing, so he arrived via unplanned c-section.

Here I am, right before the start of surgery, thinking about (1) how much I love the epidural man and (2) how afraid I am of needles. I did not expect to be strapped to an operating table 5 hours after we arrived at the hospital.

After he was delivered, the doctors forgot he was a "surprise" baby, and it took them a few moments to tell us whether he was a boy or a girl. The doctor here is trying to give us a first look. Since I was strapped down onto the table, and the doctor was holding him quite low, I couldn't see much.

Jason was a trooper and was there for everything. He even peeked around the curtain at one point. Here are my two men, shortly after delivery.

The first family picture.

Day 2

Mouth, meet my hand. You'll become well acquainted over the next couple of years.