"C" is for cookie

Here's a recent conversation with Zach while getting dressed for the day:

Zach: "No more diapers, I don't wear diapers anymore." (Can we take a brief moment for me to jump up and down with joy over the truth of this statement!)

Steve: "That's right. Now you wear underpants just like daddy!"

Zach: "Oh." (He pauses and adds with a quizzical expression)
"You have cookie monster underpants?"

An egg hunt

On Palm Sunday we decided to take Zach to a Easter egg hunt that the county was hosting. The whole event was really more of an egg gather because all the eggs were laid out on the grass in plain view. The children were suppose to gather the colorful eggs and then bring them to one of the workers to receive a piece of candy for each of their eggs.

So we lined up with Zach's age category, they said 'start' and all the toddlers and their parents spread out on the grass and started feverishly grabbing eggs. I watched Zach stoop over to try to pick up eggs and repeatedly it was snatched out from under his hand. At the end of the rush, Zach had managed to gather two eggs. Initially I assumed that there were just too many kids for the number of eggs but when we went to line up for our candy all the other children were handing in 20-30 eggs each!!! Zach was very content with his two eggs and was innocent to the injustice of the whole event. I was not innocent and I experienced a great deal of anger at the other greedy children and parents. The final kick was that once the 20-eggs-a-piece children received their candy, all that was left for Zach was gob stoppers and taffy (neither of which I could let him have). I don't think we'll be attending this event next year.

Wouldn't you share an egg with this handsome boy?

Sweet baby!

Eli continues to use any excuse to smile. Even while he has been sick with a cold he is just waiting to smile in delight at anyone.


He also LOVES his big brother!



And...
his brother loves him too!

Bikes

For Christmas this year Zach received his first bicycle with training wheels. After the snow filled winter that we have had it isn't that surprising that he has only had a few brief bike rides, which consisted of us not only steering the bike but also holding his foot onto the pedal as we pushed it around and around...basically it was very slow going and hard on our backs.


Two weeks ago, I pulled the bike out again and proceeded to do the hunchback stagger down the sidewalk as I tried to teach Zach how to ride. I didn't really make any progress. By the next afternoon Zach had the idea but would frequently get stuck pedaling.
Another 24 hours later he was steering and pedaling independently! I swear he has aged 2 years as I've watched him ride his bike around and around the driveway. We still have occasional spills when he tries to turn too sharply but so far he has gotten back on the bike every time. It has been such a fun way to spend these early spring days!