Z.C.

Zachary is a child with personality. There is simply no other way to put it. He does the craziest things, says the funniest things and will never be accused of being dull.

Zach has a very independent, dominate personality. He wants to do things "my self." Today, he went upstairs, into the fridge, pulled out the apple juice, got a cup, brought it downstairs, and then when he brought it to me, he said, "self." Zach wants people to see him independent. Maybe he thinks he will get even more lee-way. He is very much the "big" brother. He speaks for Max (which certainly has attributed to Max's speech delays). When ever Zach gets something, without blinking, he then asks, "for Brudder?" While trick-o-treating, after Zach got his candy, he would put his bag out a second time, "for Brudder" even though Max was standing right behind him.

Zach is growing and developing faster than I can keep up with, they both are really. He is learning so much. We have new fish, and Zach fed the "fishy supper" on Friday, dumping the entire bottle of fish food in the tank. Then, in the most dramatic voice, he yelled, "Oh no!" Followed by, "No No!" (in a scolding tone.)

He likes Calliou, even though we really don't love when he watches the show. That kid is ridiculously whiny. Zach doesn't have one thing that he fixates on (like Max's love for Cars), but he does like to do whatever he isn't supposed to. He imitates a lot. He will often "fix it" and use his tools to fix the baby gate, his crib, the heat vents, anything he can.

When he is naughty, he says, "sorry" in the most sarcastic voice. It almost makes you madder at him. The child is a wonderful climber (he mastered the rock wall at the elementary playground late last summer.) He likes to climb onto the TV stand, the table, the counters, the toilet to the sink, anywhere really. When he gets up there, he will usually get into some type of mess (pull out cords, pull pictures down, get into food--i.e. dumping out the entire bottle of salt, pumping a bottle of soap into the bathroom sink) and then he will yell, "oh no!" Followed by, "No! No!" and then he throws out a sarcastic, "sorry" and I can't get him to clean up his mess and march into time out fast enough.

He does like to help, and he is good at it. Zach's job is to put the silverware from the dishwasher into the drawer. He doesn't organize the silverware yet, more like just throws it all into the drawer, but I am not going to discourage him from helping! He LOVES to wash windows. Last weekend, he even helped my mom give the turkey a bath and break up bread for dressing. :) When you ask him to help, he is very quick to quip, "K!" and jumps right in.

He doesn't really have any special comfort item like Max. When Zach goes to sleep, we always have to put footie jammies (with the feet cut off) on him, backwards. Otherwise, he is naked before I can shut the door. He likes his little bunnies. Today, while getting the boys ready for bed, I was trying to clean their room. I had set up some stuffed animals on the book shelf, all sitting up... Zach went behind me, laid them all down and asked me for a blanket. He preceded to tuck them in to go "nigh night."

And, he is a flirt. Dustin and I joke when we take the kids to store and split (one with each kid), who will take Zachary, because he always HAS to say "Hi!" to EVERYONE. If someone doesn't respond, he continues his greeting and gets progressively louder. He points to women and says, "oh! Cute girl!!"

He is sweet. He will snuggle up and read a book. He loves to paint. He LOVE to dance. He likes to run, jump and play. He loves the park, his bath, anything with water. He likes puppies, girls, and dirt.

He tests our patience and fills our heart.

Besides having Transient Tachypnea of Newborn (when he breathed too fast and the reason he spent 2 days in the NICU), he is fairly healthy. Respiratory colds stick around a little while longer with Zach. He has allergies and gets sinus infections, but other than that. Healthy. He is the same height and a little smaller than Max.

The Christmas I was pregnant with the boys, we were planning on naming them Maxwell and Mason. I had read an article if one twin is to have a nickname, the other should also. The child without the nickname (in this case, Mason) could grow up and feel that he isn't as special. We received a Christmas card from Dustin's (ex)step-sister and she has a named Zachary. I had never considered the name before. Since the name Mason was to be for Baby A... I gave it some thought and since Z was the opposite of A in the alphabet and the name could be shortened. I bounced the idea off Dustin. He liked it, and so, Mason became Zachary. Because Baby A was always going to be 1st born, he was to have the middle name Clifford, after Dustin, who is named after his Grandpa.

He's my little baby Z.C. :)