5-31-09: A 3-yr-old Says Goodbye to an Old Friend

Today is special for a reason other than Zachary's 3rd birthday. Today is also the day that Zach is giving up his "car paci" and "bed paci". We have talked and talked and talked about this day for months. It is a very big deal. Zach's pacifier is his lovey. He has never attached himself to any stuffed animal or blankey or anything else. Unfortunately for us all, today the pacifiers go away. We have no idea how Zach will fall asleep without it.

Here's the big plan: He is going to visit the maternity ward at the hospital and "give his pacis to the new babies". This is because babies need pacis, and big boys do not.

After Zach's nap, and last time w/ "bed paci", we put the paci in a ziploc bag, load into the car and head to the hospital...all of us: Shayna, Art, Zach, Wy, and Nana. Once in the car, Zach does not even ask for his car paci, and puts it nicely into the bag. Since it is a Sunday, and the offices are closed, we have to go in through the emergency room and make our way up to the maternity floor. We are hoping that there is a nursery available for Zach to be able to see some of the new babies. It takes forever to get into the right place, and I'm just about to give up when we are finally buzzed in (security is VERY tight - they would be appalled at Germany's systems). We explain the situation and ask if there is a viewing area. Only a small window into the NICU (appropriate since both boys spent time there). Lucky for us (but not some family), there is a baby in the bed nearest the window, so Zach can see it. Now's the time to give up the bag.

Here is Zach, ready and somewhat eager to leave his bag for the new babies. They are sad and will be very happy once they get his pacis.

Now we are back in the hall where we give Zach his present. He has known all along that he will get a Curious George doll when he gives his pacis to the new babies. Unfortunately, he has also told us that he will "put the George in his mouth like a paci". We shall see.




I fear that Zachary will come to hate George b/c of the association of losing his beloved pacis.

Happy 3rd Birthday Zachary Michael Counts

Our baby isn't a baby anymore. He's a big boy. Today he turns 3.

The day starts as he 2nd birthday started:


Zach loves balloons. We did this for his 2nd bday and it was a big hit.


Here Zach is telling us about his special day, then singing to himself. I like that he asks me to take a video of it.

Then off for breakfast. Zach's favorite breakfast food: oatmeal.

Here is breakfast. The table is decorated, as is Zach's chair. Very festive.

Then of course presents need to be opened.

Here is his first present of the day. A sidewalk chalk gift from Aunt Juicenana. The monkey makes noise while you color.


Zach showing off some of his presents: Cars "owie coldpack", panda bear w/ video, drumsticks, Thomas shirt, cars...

Then we are off to church where Zach was wished Happy Birthday by several people.

Back home for lunch and birthday cake...or tart. Zach loves tart. Much more than cake. He got a big one just for himself and the rest of us got mini tarts.



A bit of technical issues getting the candle to stay lit, but the people at the table were entertained by listening to Zach sing to himself.


Even Wyatt is happy on Zachary's birthday!

Off to bed for a nap. An important nap. The last time Zach will get to use his pacifier. He's 3 today and has to give up his beloved paci. See the separate blog entry about the paci.

After the nap, it's off to the hospital to give the pacis away (see Paci post).

After hospital we head to Chuck E. Cheese for Zachary's birthday dinner. Just the family: Mom, DaU, Wyatt, Zachary, and Nana. Zachary LOVED it, and Wyatt was fairly amused. We stayed until it was past their bedtime, and STILL have a ton of tokens left over.
The shenanigans:

Here we all are at dinner - pizza and salad.


Zachary playing a soccer kicking game.



Zach loved this basketball game. Must have played it 8 times or so.


Wyatt not enjoying his ride on the horse.

One thing of note that happened was that Zach was finally big enough to go up into the playland area. The one and Chuck E. Cheese is similar to all the McDonald Playland ones, and he has not been big enough to climb up them. Now that he's 3, he can do it! We've noticed a lot of physical changes like this in the past week or two. Things he could not do at 2, even a month ago, but now can. Like climb the rope ladder to get to the top of the playground equipment. Ever increasingly difficult "jumps". Things like that. So interesting. Many toys say for 3 and up, and I always thought it was a bit of a crock, that perhaps a kid of 2.5 could do it, but I have seen with Zachary that there is a big jump in physical development between 2.5 yrs (and even 2 years 8 months) and 3. He is such a big kid now.

Off to home and the first night without a paci. NOT a good night. Lots of me holding him and singing to him, etc. Better than I thought, but still not good. Crying for his paci and wanting to go back to the hospital to get it. 15 minutes of this I think, and he went to sleep. Fingers crossed!!

May Pictures

So far behind (still working on April) that I decided to just post some random pictures from May. The birthday pictures will be separate, as will pics of Nana's visit.


May 1 - Zach 'playing' Axis & Allies, Art's fav board game


May 2 - Wy sitting in his Longhorns t-shirt that is *just about* too small.


May 3 - Zach looking cool in the sunglasses Joanna Trees gave him for his 2nd bday. He's refused to wear them for almost a year then BAM! (as Zach, and Emmril would say) he won't take them off.


May 20 - Wyatt caught in the act of checking himself out. He loves to look at himself in the mirror - not a much as Zach loves the mirror, but a good deal of narcissism.



May 24 - Zach and Wyatt playing our Dutch game Sjoelbak. Art and Zach have gotten it out over the past few days to play, and today Wy wanted to get in on the action. You'll notice that Wyatt has a stone in his mouth - not really the best strategy for winning, but who knows!

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May 26 & 27 - Zach's completed game of "Parking Lot" He loves to play this game and does almost daily. Each car gets driven to the appropriate place. Often there is a Parking Lot Police who directs cars where to park. Some days we park them by color, some by type, some random. While he DOES have a ton of these hotwheels cars, he plays with them every single day. He says "Yets pay cars!" or, "time to pay, Pay, PAY".


May 28 - This look comes right before "Mommy, you ready?", which is code for I'm going to throw this at you. This is "Bob Ball" which is a Bob der Baumeister (German for Builder) ball we brought back w/ us. By far his most consistent fav of the balls.


May 29 - Wyatt dancing to a musical card that Zachary got for his birthday.

May 28: Wyatt with his walker

My camera has been out of commission for a few weeks. Dad sent me one of his old ones to ensure that I had pictures of the boys' birthdays in a few days. Unfortunately, as I was taking videos of Wyatt, the record feature was set, somehow, on 2x speed. I finally figured out how to reset it, but no idea how to fix the originals. So here is Wyatt with his walker, a tad speedier than normal. :)



Wyatt needs a bit of help with this one. Check out all the shoes in the hallway.



Cute smile at the end.

May 23rd: The Boys Graduate

Today (and a bit yesterday) was a very big day for our boys. They have both graduated to "the next thing". Last week on Wednesday, the boys and I went to look at and buy a toddler high-back car seat that we found on craigslist.com. It was in good condition so we bought it ($25) and Zach talked of nothing but his new big boy seat. I didn't put it in the car until today though, b/c today I also switched out Wyatt from his infant carrier (long past due) into Zach's now old seat. Wyatt is much much happier facing forward. We have also taken away his "car paci" with this big change. Trying to wean him a bit at a time from the evil pacifier. Zachary loses his car and his bed paci, cold turkey, on his birthday. Life will be very different we think.

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Yesterday Zach's early-birthday present arrived - his blue bicycle. I feel slightly guilty b/c I know that Zachary would prefer a RED bicycle (red is always the fav), but for some reason, the red ones were about $8 more expensive. Only the blue, orange, pink (he did pick out the pink one once I have him and option of the sale bikes, but I had to nix that), or black. Boo. We got it off of Amazon through the 3rd party Fat Brain Toys. I really like the name of that company - it sells educational toys primarily. I digress. Zach LOVED his bike. He got the hang of it very quickly. Tomorrow we are off to the thrift store to purchase a helmet. I called and the lady said she has a pink one and a blue one, so fingers crossed they are still there!




Zach riding his bike at the playground.



Here is Zach riding on the sidewalk - getting better and picking up speed!