Zachary did it!

Zachary took his first unassisted steps last night! I was walking around holding Daddy's hands (barely according to Daddy) and when they got close to me, Steve let go. Zachary took 3-4 steps to come over to me. They were real upright steps... not half falling over steps! We are so excited! I am anxious to see how long it will take for him to actually start to walk now that he knows he can do it?? And, it will be interesting to see how long it will take Nicolas to join in on the fun!

So much fun!

The boys got this super cool gift for their birthday. They have been playing with the balls inside, but hadn't really ventured inside the pit until about a week ago. Now, they are madly in love with it! This morning they had an especially good time. They both climbed in and started throwing the balls out while I was throwing them back in. They thought it was such a funny game. And I thought it was so cute I had to snap a few pictures...

Nicolas is in the pit throwing the balls at Zachary:


This is one of Zachary climbing in to join his brother:


Zachary and Nicolas laughing at me trying to keep up with the balls they keep throwing out:

Eating with a fork

I am trying to get the boys used to eating with utensils. They have been doing really well with their spoons so I decided to try them with a fork. They loved it! So, now they want me to put almost everything they eat on a fork for them. I am very happy about this except for the fact that it means all meals take quite a bit longer now. But I guess they have to start somewhere, right?

Zachary:


Nicolas:



On a side note, my Dad stopped by for a quick visit yesterday right as the boys got up from their nap. They decided they wanted to eat their snack while sitting on their Papa and I snapped the cutest picture. Here it is...

Fun at Nana & Papa's house....

We were at Nana and Papa's house for part of the weekend and had a wonderful time. The boys discovered the piano. They loved to play it. They especially loved that they could walk up to hit and still manage to reach the keys. Maybe we will have a musician after all??

While we were there we got a chance to see all of my Dad's family (my grandfather, aunts, uncles, and most of my cousins). We were there to celebrate my grandfather's birthday. He is doing so well and the boys just love him. Even though they don't see him often enough, they is still recognition in their eyes when they see him. Maybe it has a lot to do with the fact that he looks so much like my Dad. Everyone also decided to celebrate the boys' first birthday as well. They got some great gifts and some money to help pay for their college one day... Nana made them some cupcakes so they had some dessert after lunch. As you can see, they enjoyed it...

Zachary:


Nicolas:


We can home during nap time so the boys could sleep. Sadly, they only slept an hour so they are exhausted tonight. They are both in bed already and it is only 8:10. Usually the first baby to go to sleep is not in bed before 8:30. When they woke up we were stuck in traffic. Go figure.. Saturday afternoon at 3:00 and there is still traffic to cross the city! I gave them some water to drink since it was hot and the AC is not working in the van. They refused to let go of their pacifiers so this is how they drank their bottles...

Zachary:


Nicolas:

Fun outside

I am so happy that the boys love being outside. This is going to be the best summer! This morning before going down for their nap we decided to play outside on the deck. They played with the water table and their little castle. They were in heaven!

Zachary loves to "eat" the water. It is so funny and he is always soaked after playing with the water table.

Nicolas is just happy doing whatever. It doesn't take much to please him.


I think I need to call the airport and thank them for changing the flight paths. The planes now fly over our house (not very close but enough that they can clearly be seen in the sky) and the boys love to watch them. There is a plane that goes by every 10- 15 minutes (sometimes more often depending on the time of day) and the boys are always pointing to the sky. It is the cutest thing. Sometimes they see them long before we do...


Here they are... partners in crime!

Swinging in the house!

Since the weather has been so awful lately, we decided to hang the boys' swings in the basement rather than outside. I figured it would be a fun activity to be able to do when the weather does not permit going to the park. So, Steve hung the swings from the main beam of the house. The boys love them! They had a blast being able to swing even though we were not at the park. Here are a few pictures...

Zachary:



Nicolas:



Both of them:

Peanut allergy?

Well, the boys had peanut butter yesterday and Zachary broke out into another rash all over his face, neck, chest and back. The rash looked eerily similar to the one that was caused by the dog licking him on Saturday. I am almost 100% positive that we are dealing with an allergy to peanuts. He did not eat anything else yesterday that was new and it was the second time he had a reasonable amount of peanut butter.

I gave him some Benadryl and it seemed to help however, he was very itchy. He was up almost all night crying and scratching. He wouldn't sleep unless he was with me. I only had a chance to fall asleep at 4:15 this morning. He was awake for the day at 7:15 which gives me a total of 3 hours of sleep for the night.

Now the question is where to go from here... Do I make an appointment with their pediatrician to find out if he should be tested for it? Can they test them at this age? Should I be more closely monitoring his food intake? How likely is it that the reaction was more pronounced because of his reaction to the dog the day before? Can his eczema flare up more and become worse after exposure to an allergy? Could that have made it look worse than it was??

So many questions... I guess I will start by giving Kim (my cousin) a call. Her son has a peanut allergy and maybe she can point me in the right direction...