Zachary: 15 (really 16) months

 In his Aloha gear for the BYU vs. Hawaii game day. I see more and more of Eliot in him all the time (especially with his hair cut)!

 Lookin' casual.  

Sweet baby. Love his smiles and silly faces.  As they used to say in Spain, "Es pa'a comerselo!" (You could just eat him up!)

Little Zach is growing up fast!  These pictures are from when he was about 15 months old, though he's now just about 16 months old.  Here's a little bit of what Mr. Z has been up to in the last few months since our last update on him:

• Still no walking!  He's getting more sure-footed at standing, cruises like a champ, and will even walk while holding onto our fingers (which, up until recently, he refused to do), but no true desire to walk on his own.  We're hoping by the time he goes to Nursery?  As I was trying his Halloween costume on him the other day, the monkey outfit Eliot wore when he was Zach's age, I realized how strange it will be to have a crawling monkey instead of a toddling one. :)
• Adding more words to his repertoir daily.  He has polished "Eh-ee-ot" to the point that people outside of our family readily recognize he's saying Eliot's name.  Other words include, "Nigh, nigh" (night-night), "Ah-done" (all done), "mo" while signing for more,"yuv you" (love you), "uh oh," "ow!" said with dramatic flair (my favorite combo is "Ow, muh, muh!" when I'm dressing him, as though I'm causing him bodily harm by taking off his jammies (needless to say, the child HATES getting clothed).  He also waves and says "Hey-ya!" or "Hi!" to people as we pass.
• Favorite foods = graham crackers, grapes, mac-n-cheese, apples, toast (don't even try to pull a fast one and give him plain bread at breakfast!  The kid needs his toasted and buttered, and if he really had it his way, with jam or cinnamon sprinkles).  He also loves pizza and big-people foods.  He is not easily appeased by toddler fare.  He sees right through the injustice and demands equal treatment!  Still loves his milk and has had a hard time swapping out the bottles for sippies.
• Still more breathing troubles.  Only about five months after our first hospital stay, we went back for another round, this time more serious.  He was breathing way too rapidly at home one night, and we ended up in the ER around 11 p.m. (Why do these things happen ONLY after hours?  I swear the sun goes down and kids' bodies go berserk!).  Around 3 a.m. we were admitted to a hospital room, this time with a diagnosis of pneumonia and the promise of a 2-3 day stay.  Worst part of the stay this time was the i.v. (horrible memories I won't go into ...) and the fact that he did not sleep for 36 hours.  Misery.  We now own a nebulizer, which will hopefully help us head off serious problems in the future, but I am d.r.e.a.d.i.n.g. flu season.  My little germ magnets pick up everything, and Zach is scheduled to start Nursery mid December.  We may hold off on that (as desperate as we are to put an end to our hallway church worship) until spring time.
• Favorite activities = playing with the play kitchen/food; dumping and re-dumping toys, books, kitchen drawers, laundry piles, and anything he can get his hands on (phew, this is a tiring phase, isn't it?); playing with/tackling big brother, going for walks (as long as big brother is along to keep him entertained, otherwise Mom's too boring), tubbies (the more splashing the better), shaking his little booty to rock 'n roll music, looking at books.
• Favorite people = Grandpa (top of the list, hands down) -- he won't even go to mommy if Grandpa's got him, Daddy, Eliot, Mom, cousins.
• Sweet things =  When he gives hugs/snuggles to mom, he wiggles his bum.  It really is so cute!  His adorable little smile, which I fully admit gets him out of trouble quite often. His giggle.  He's also starting to sing/babble throughout the day as he plays or as we're out on walks.  I had forgotten about that stage (Eliot did the same thing).  I love listening to him and all his cute sounds (when he's not crying, screaming, or whining, that is!).
• Things Zach does NOT like: Sitting still -- at church, the library, anywhere; being strapped in -- in the shopping cart, in his car seat, in the stroller (if he had it his way, mom would carry him everywhere); oatmeal; most vegetables (depends on the day); getting diapered and/or dressed; and man, oh man, can he throw a tantrum if he doesn't get his way!  We're not even close to terrible 2's!
• Mouthful of teeth! I think he's currently working on 5 -- one more on the bottom (total of 3 front ones down there) and 4 molars -- yes, molars!  No eye teeth yet and not even all of his front teeth in yet, but MOLARS! Nasty, painful, sleep-ruining molars.    

In short, Zach is in a busy, energetic, curious stage of life.  He is wearing this mama out, but at the same time, we are finding such joy at his zest for life and the happy little spirit he brings to our home.  We worry for his health and hope we can survive this winter without any more hospital trips.  We have a good doctor, so we're confident she'll help us figure out his respiratory struggles, but it's never fun to have little ones with ongoing health concerns.  We love our Zach -- his spunk, his feistiness, his giggle, his sly little ways, his super-strong and determined will, the sneaky glimmer in his eyes.  He is pure joy.