Happy Birthday Zane - One Year Old!

Wow, where do we even begin? What a wonderful year we've had - so full of blessings!!

Here's a few pics of our handsome boy:



One Year Stats:
Weight: 26 lbs 2 oz
**Birth Weight - 10 lbs 7oz - more than doubled, but not quite tripled his weight!
Height: 30 3/4 inches
**Birth Height - 21 3/4 inches - so he's grown 9 whole inches!
Teeth: 4. Two on top, two on bottom (and two more coming in on top....)
Highlights of the last month:
- Zane figured out how to climb the stairs, and now thinks it's the BEST way to get upstairs! (only with us hovering closely behind him, of course)



- He's started recognizing written words - he'll clap, raise his arms, wave, and shake his head "no" when he sees the respective word on flash cards

- Using his two "walking" toys constantly - loves walking all around the house with them!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFKBfWzYDsI


- Went through a random phase of HATING bathtime....thankfully that lasted only a short while and now he loves playing in the bath again (woohoo!)

- One of his favorite new play areas - the dog's crate. He thinks it's SO great to climb in there and hang out.



- Lots of new and exciting foods - peaches, strawberries, lentils, brewers yeast (healthy = yes, yummy = ?), oranges, lima beans, cream cheese, coconut, and BIRTHDAY CAKE & ICE CREAM!!

- After a whole year of never getting sick - Zane caught his first cold. Started with a cough on his actual birthday. And sweet little boy shared it with momma too. How thoughtful!

- And......Zane knows how old he is!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzLlb1zEczc



Zane's Birthday:
We celebrated Zane's birthday with a Luau. It's a big tradition in Hawaii to have a Luau for baby's first birthday, so of course that was the theme! In attendance: Zane, Mom & Dad, Gamma (Grandma Sutherland), Grammie & Grandpa (Bacher), Auntie Kristan, Auntie Ann, Auntie Leanne, and via the phone, Pops (Grandpa Sutherland - recovering from surgery so attended in spirit!)



We started off the celebration with a Korean tradition of setting out various items which indicate different paths of life/careers/hobbies that the child may follow. The items we made available to Zane were: Bible, Broncos Football, Camera, Whisk, Surfboard (mini), Money, & a Microphone. And what did the big boy choose? Drum roll......the Whisk!! So perhaps he'll be a chef. Then he played with the football, the surfboard, and the camera....so who knows, maybe those will be his hobbies! Or he'll have a variety of careers ;) It was a lot of fun!




Then we had Zane "blow" out his candle and play with his smash cake! He had a wonderful time tasting & playing with the yummy frosting & cake, and he was so sweet and "fed" each of us a taste - what a generous little boy!




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTOBu9Ik1gA





- Note #1...Zane did have a "healthy" bday cake - a gluten-free spice cake mix with flax, and shredded carrot & zucchini added, and the frosting was cream cheese with a minimal amount of sugar in it =) No need to expose him to a ton of sugar so early in life!

After opening a few presents, it was time for Zane's nap so while he slept, we ate - traditional Luau Plate Lunches! We had: Kalbi beef ribs, scoop white rice, macaroni salad, mauna pua, kalua pork, fruit salad, & spam musubi. YUM! Can't wait til Zane is old enough to enjoy all the yummy foods too =)



After a nice long nap, Zane had the wonderful fun of opening more presents. As typical with any baby, he was of course more interested in the wrapping than the toy itself in most cases. Zane was blessed to receive lots of truly thoughtful gifts, from cute clothes, to a baby swing for the patio, a baby splash pool, and lots of fun new toys! And he's been enjoying them all this week!




After all that excitement, it was time for Zane's dinner...and his dessert was ice cream - yummy! He loved it! - Note #2 - Zane's first taste of ice cream was gourmet! His aunties made homemade Pineapple & Coconut ice cream - so much tastier and healthier than store-bought. =)




And here he is being throroughly enthralled & entertained with his birthday balloons. (10 days later half of them are still alive & kicking and he LOVES playing with them at mealtime!)




All in all, an absolutely wonderful birthday to top off an absolutely wonderful year. We can't wait to see what the next year holds!!


Oh and, P.S.!!
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You've been mooned!



(another great blackmail shot!)

Already 11 months old? Really?

We can hardly believe it!

Weight: 25.1 lbs, per the Wii Fit weigh-in
Height: still too squirmy! we're lucky to get his diapers on, much less measure his height!

Some random wonderful thoughts about our sweet boy:
- He loves brushing his teeth every night before bedtime!
- Mango is his favorite food, with banana & watermelon a close second.
- Has gone to daycare three days now, so far so good!
- Now everything has to be taken OUT of boxes/bags/buckets...and then put back IN!
- A very happy baby - we get comments all the time while we're out that 1) he's just soooooo cute & adorable (particularly when we have his hair spiked up) and 2) that he is just so happy!
- Definitely a water baby! We spent the morning & afternoon at the lake today, and he spent a good amount of time in the water, in his floatie & with us holding him.
- Loves loves loves dogs. Z loves his puppies, his auntie's puppies, and his grandparent's dog too! He loved playing in the water with all the dogs today too =)

All we can say is - we are so very, very blessed!

Here are a lot of photos!

From daycare:
1) Napping on his nap-mat! 2) Playing with his new friends Jazeerah & Mailey!



Working on his walking....getting pretty good between the couch & the coffee table!


Just chillin & watchin Baby Einstein!



Lanikai visited Zane in his crib!



Zane's favorite activity - emptying any drawer he can find! Here he is starting with Momma's bedside drawer.... (oh and by the way I had the same exact lopsided grin until I was about 2!)


And on to Daddy's bedside drawer next...


Sitting and deliberating his next move....



And he's on the move again!



From a recent Sunday...already lookin for good sales! He's gonna be frugal just like his parents!



Workin hard to get this blog update out to ya'll....


And trying to get IN to one of his favorite play spots - the "safe" kitchen cabinet!



Videos!!

1) Zane's first taste of grapes.....he loves these as a snack! Peeled & quartered for now...someday he'll work up to full grapes ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxPazjzMb2A



2) Zane laughing at a funny noise - we got some new sippy cups, and they make a great sound if you suck on the spout without the cup attached. ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SVAv9cA4bU



3) And he's done it! Zane figured out how to get out the doggie door!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Tm3OXgJf54




And next month - Zane's Luau, to celebrate his first birthday! (following standard Hawaiian tradition)

Summer is here = time to visit the pool!

Happy Memorial Day everyone!!

We decided to celebrate the beginning of summer with a major first for Zane - his first time in the pool!!! (outside his momma's belly that is....last summer we both spent a LOT of time in the pool during June & July) ;)

Zane absolutely LOVED the pool! He had a great time splashing around. He didn't so much like getting dunked under (only tried that once) but he put his face in the water a couple times on his own.....so we think we'll have good luck getting him swimming sooner than later. He'll get his official swimming lessons from his Gamma later this summer! (She had Amy "swimming" by 6 months....holding breath under water & all!!)

Here are the pics! (oh, and Marc's dog Jack was in and out of the pool, a huge golden lab - and Zane had a blast playing with him too. So glad he loves dogs of all sizes!)

Surveying the pool before we got in.....(that's Jack next to us)



Zane trying to figure out....is this just a really big bathtub or what?


Fun with momma!! (and yes, all of us, especially fair-skinned Zane & I, slathered on the SPF 50!)



Happy times with Daddy! (he's buzzing a razzberry here, out of happiness)



Tummy time in the water (and Jack the lifeguard watching from the edge of the pool) ;)


Playing with Daddy's sunglasses (always a favorite toy)



And LOTS of fun splashing on the steps!!!



And here's the rockin' hairdo afterwards, from the saltwater....no gel needed for this style!




Can't wait to get back to the pool - we are SOOOO blessed to have a wonderful neighbor who lets us use his anytime! (thanks Marc, you're awesome!!!)

10 months old: mobile and lovin it!

Zane is officially 10 months old!

Stats: (done @ home)
Weight: 25 lbs 6oz
Height: unable to determine due to uncontrollable squirminess!

Zane figured out crawling a few weeks ago, and hasn't stopped since. He is a FAST crawler!! And now he's pulling up on everything he can find!! He's started cruising around the coffee table and transferring over to the couch...so who knows how long it will be before he walks!

Our little boy has SUCH personality! He's joyful, and happy, and most of all an explorer and adventurer. His two favorite activities right now: playing with the doggie door (especially if Lani or Kiko is trying to come in!) and the other activity - playing with the regular doors! He *loves* opening, and closing, and opening, and closing any door he can find. And cabinet. And drawer. Zane seems to believe that his current mission is to empty anything that is full, and clear all surfaces of any objects. Oh, and definitely to find out how things work. He is fascinated by the CD player in his room - he's figured out how to open and close it, and how to turn it on and off. How is it that a 10 month old is so inquisitive and also analytical? It's SO much fun to watch his brain working - you can just see the wheels turning as he interacts with the world around him!

Lots of pics and videos to share this month, Zane is just growing by leaps and bounds!

Outside enjoying great spring weather!



Standing on his own at his roundabout table



Getting started early on the video games!



We spent yesterday at the zoo & had a wonderful time!





1) Drumroll....Zane's FIRST CRAWL!! This was on 4/29:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIEXlrSBouw



2) and then....a mere three weeks later....he's a pro!

Crawling & Pulling Up!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9OmGWrTtWQ



3) Kitchen Cabinets = endless entertainment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R69Me_VEZZk



4) Bottle Sounds - more than just a way to drink his formula!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1p_x_DYTlI




5) Zane meets the coffee table...(the audio makes it sound worse than it was!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leq8ueiSVPI



6) Fun with doors!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toGtTjqAiBU



7) Naked Zane - perfect blackmail material!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9FRCvsAvls



8) Zane recognizes Daddy's ringtone on Momma's phone:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZMeqFu_FsE

9 months - wow that was fast!

Zane turned 9 months old on April 19th! We went to the pediatrician today - he looks perfect and is great health!

9 month stats:
Weight: 23 lbs 15oz - 91st percentile
Height: 29 inches - 81st percentile

He's getting more and more vocal - he hasn't quite said full words yet, but says "ma-ma-ma-ma" lots - can't wait for it to turn into an official "Mama" and "Dada"! He's working on pulling himself up more and more - we're pretty sure he's just going to skip crawling altogether and go straight to walking. And he has two teeth just barely poking through - in the middle of his bottom gum!

He's started learning some words from his "Your Baby Can Read" videos...he knows "no" (he'll shake his head no if you ask him what no means) and he knows to put his arms over his head when we say "arms up!".

I didn't think it was possible, but it really seems like we fall more in love with Zane every day. His personality is coming through more and more - he's such a happy baby! He has the greatest laugh and his smile melts our hearts everytime. Zane loves to be silly and play, and he gets the biggest kick out of watching his dogs!

Here are some recent photos:

Zane enjoying watching Daddy (and of course, Lanikai is close by as always)



Happy boy enjoying the humongous beanbag!



Still having a blast!



Eating tofu for the first time...he liked it!




And the newest addition to Zane's room...a cool monogram!




And a couple of videos, of course!

Running circles and circles and more circles!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XorUrnFl4fI&feature=channel



Here's the first time Zane fed himself....it was his first exposure to mushrooms....(mixed with carrots) - he ate all of it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtO8p4xTIE8&feature=channel



Playing "chase" - one of Z's favorite new games.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OJlmZppK7o&feature=channel



Figuring out his balance - standing & playing at his roundabout

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jU9L9ZSjA0&feature=channel



Zane sleeping...and then waking up ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnK_YKP9eIQ

Easter 2010

We had a wonderful "Baby's First Easter" with Zane -and if it was this much fun this year, we can't wait for next year when he can participate in his first Easter egg hunt!!

Here's some pics of our adorable little boy, and one video showing just how happy he is!

This is Zane in his Easter outfit =)




Opening his Easter basket from his Auntie Kris & Auntie Leanne




Trying to eat the paper grass & finding out it wasn't very good....




Enjoying one of his Easter Basket treats - a teething toy shaped like a hand!





We love the expression on his face!




And this one too - he's just having SUCH a great time!




Easter Giggles!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c659rCEiMJM