All about Zachary...

I figured I would devote a post exclusively to each of the boys.  They are growing up so fast and I want a real snapshot of them to keep in my memory...

Zachary is a real, tough little boy.  He loves anything that would be deemed a "boy thing".  He loves cars, sports and tools.  He is so much like his Daddy, not only in looks but also personality.  He LOVES being the center of attention.  Nothing makes him happier than hearing someone tell him how cute he is.  And of course he hears that from me all the time!

He is such a smart little boy.  His vocabulary is amazing.  He seems to learn a few new words every day.  And the way that he analyzes a situation and the commonality between things is what I am finding the most fascinating.  If I mention a specific grandparent, he will immediately refer to the other.  Today while we were out walking, we noticed that there were a lot fo cars driving by, so I said that it was getting late and people were driving home from work.  He immediately asked about Daddy.  He knew he was at work and was wondering when he was coming home.

His latest trick is to blame Nicolas for everything.  He could be in the middle of doing something he knows he's not supposed to and if you call him on it, his immediate response is "No, Nico".  It is hilarious!  It seems crazy to me that he has already figured out that there is someone else to blame.  I knew that day would come but I never figured it would be quite so soon...

His athletic ability is quite surprising for a 22 month old and has been for a while.  He can throw a ball straight at you from a few feet away.  And he can swing a golf club like a pro!  He seems to love golf and walks around with his golf club a lot.  Here is a little video of him hitting a small ball with his club.  According to his Daddy, his form is impressive...




What can I say, he is a great little boy and I love him to pieces!  What would we do without him??

Sesame Street

I know that Sesame Street was a huge hit for me when I was a kid.  It was a show I loved to watch.  The funny thing is that my boys are probably the only two boys in the world that are terrified of Sesame Street!  Honestly, they are so scared that they generally start to tremble whenever they see it on tv or even a picture of the characters.  It's not like there is one character in particular that scares them, they all do!

So, Sesame Street will not be watched in our house... for now at least!

Rough Night...

We have been doing so well in the sleeping department.  It has been weeks since the boys ahve woken up at all during the night even with having a little cold.  I am so proud of my big boys!  We even spent two nights at Grandma and Grandpa's house with little interruption to their sleeping.  We had a very short nap the first day but slept through the night both nights and had a great nap the second day.

Just when I though our sleeping woes were over, Zachary decided to prove me wrong.  Nicolas woke up briefly around 11:00 last night and was quickly comforted back to sleep (took about 10 minutes).  While I was up with Nicolas, Zachary woke and Daddy went in to see him.  I quickly settled Nicolas back into his back and went to see Zach.  He was awake and crying off and on until 3:00!  I am sure he slept a little in between the crying and spending time with me, since there would be stretches of over 30 minutes.  But, I spent that entire time awake since every time I would get myself to sleep, he would start crying and asking for me again.

It seemed like a big deal at the time since all I wanted to do was sleep.  But the little sleep I did get last night allowed me to realize this morning that there could be much worse things that one rough night.  And so, I faced this morning with a smile and big kisses for my big boys.

I was also lucky to have a few visitors that helped pass the time this morning.  The boys were so excited to see Papa show up.  They got to spend almost two hours with him before he had to hit the road.  Hopefully he'll be able to stop by on his way back home on Wednesday.  Auntie B and Natalia also popped in for a visit and so did Aunt Jinny and Timmy.  It was a busy morning but just what I needed to stay awake!

Poutine...

Zachary had his very first taste of poutine today at lunch.  And he loved it!!  He was also lucky enough to get to taste the very best poutine from Village Greque in Lennoville.  How I miss the days of eating poutines on a regular basis...

So much fun...

I had my cousin's son, Thomas, with me and the boys all day today.  I was watching him so that she and her husband could be at the hospital with her daughter.  Thankfully the surgery went great and their daughter is doing very well.

So, I had three boys with me all day yesterday and what fun it was!  Thomas is almost 4 1/2 and has so much energy!  He is a great kid and was wonderful with my littler men.  I only had to remind him a few times that they were younger and couldn't do quite as much as he could.  He's just not used to be the oldest one since he is generally always the younger boy in the group.  He taught them how to play tag and by the time he left tonight, the boys were chasing each other down the hall saying "tag".  It was adorable!  I think the boys were a little sad to see him go.

I tried to snap a few pictures of the three of them together but they never sat still long enough for me to do so.   This is the best I could do...

Thomas and Zachary taking a break from tag:

Thomas and Nicolas playing tag:

Hair cuts

Aunt Kiki came to visit us yesterday. It was great to see her since it had been so long. The boys love having her around. Thankfully Aunt Kiki gave the boys a much needed hair cut. Here are some pictures of my little boys looking so cute and so much older with their new dos.

Zachary:

Nicolas and his silly smile:

A good side view:

Perspective...

I try not to complain too much about what's going on around here. I know that the issues we have are extremely minor in the grand scheme of things. And yesterday I was given a little more perspective (not that I really needed it, mind you).

I will not go into a lot of details but my cousin (who is also a great friend of mine) has a sick daughter that might need surgery next week.  She is the sweetest and most wonderful 10 year old and I hate what this is doing to her.  She is so brave and strong.  I wish I could do something to help.  Anything.  But sadly, there is little anyone can do but hope and pray.  The only thing I can do that will hopefully help someday is to continue donating to the Montreal Children's Hospital  where she is getting such wonderful care.

I guess situations like this makes a lot of other things seem so trivial and just plain idiotic.  I keep reading or hearing people complain about things that simply don't matter.  But I guess these people can sometimes be too involved in what's going on around them to even notice that other people are having a hard time.  I can hopefully catch myself before complaining about the boys having a cold or the fact that they are not sleeping as well as usual these days.  In the grand scheme of things, I would take that over what a lot of other people are facing right now.

My heart goes out to everyone that is struggling.  I am well aware that there are different levels of struggle... so for whomever needs my thoughts and prayers, I am sending them along.  And if there is ever anything I can do to help out, I will...