Another good weekend! We started with with a long shopping trip – I think 4 hours. Zachary napped most of the time. When he got up, we took an art class at Michael’s (craft store) – Zach and I both did glass painting. I bought him a Thomas set with some trains and tracks … $59.99, but I got it 50% off. Zachary loved it – he took one train to daycare (will we ever see it again?)

That evening, we went to a BBQ at James’ coworker’s house. There was a little girl there that was only 2 months older than Zachary and speaking in sentences. I was floored. The parents tried to downplay it: “Oh, she doesn’t really know how to construct sentences, she just memorizes common phrases.” Holy smokes. Zachary can’t get past 1 syllable!

Sunday morning, I took Zachary to the park, where he played on the slide and swings. We went to a Gourd Festival – basically you pay $5 to see vendors sell decorated gourds. It was okay. There was an art booth and Zachary took another art class (for a $5 fee … this Gourd Festival is adding up!) They questioned whether he was old enough (technically he had to be 2.) However, ever the typical Asian mom, I convinced them to accept my son, who is advanced in the arts beyond his years. He mixed paint colors, spilled water, and made a huge mess.

Next up was a birthday party – Zach’s friend Alex turned ONE! Happy Birthday, Alex! Alex was SO sleepy at his party since he didn’t nap … although he perked right up after eating fistfuls of icing! We finished off the weekend with Dana and Dave over for dinner!

NOTE: After much thought, I decided I simply could not spend more money at the Gourd Festival. So instead of a decorated gourd, we brought Alex a pair of Robeez for his birthday gift. James says “Ugh! You are inflicting your love of shoes on other people’s children!”

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I know it’s been awhile…but here’s an update! Two weekends ago, we went to Bill Sr’s 60th birthday. Basically a bunch of people (mostly family members) hid in his house and yelled SURPRISE! when he walked in the door. Everyone stayed for dinner, and Bill Sr BBQ’d steaks for us. Surprise, indeed!

Last weekend, we took Zachary to Apple Hill. There was a small carnival (to benefit a school I think), and tickets per game was only 25 cents. Zach loved the ball toss games. We stayed for lunch and brought home an apple pie. Our friends Dana and Dave came over for dinner (lasagne) and pie a la mode.

The next day, we went to the One Root Festival, which is basically an international awareness fair. The theme was “Unity.” There were vendors selling items and food from different cultures. There was also a kids area where kids could do activities and play games for free. Again, Zach excelled at the ball toss. Afterwards, Dana, Zach, and I went to the mall. I scored some great deals on summer clothes for Zachary at Sears … Carter’s jumpers and shorts, 2T (for next year) for $1.99 each. Finished off the weekend with dinner out at an Indian restaurant. Zachary liked naan and basmati rice!

And here are some pictures of Zachary. His new words this week? “Shh” for fish, “Chesh” for cheese, and “poo” for any type of diaper activity. (The theme is apparently “stinky”) No new Mandarin words.   He copies everything we do – his latest thing is that he wants to shave my legs and James’ face (never vice versa). I got a picture of him filing my toenails. Oh – and please note that washable markers comes off skin, but not clothes. At least not 100% cotton clothes.

I’ve been on a slight shopping binge lately. We just bought a dark brown leather sectional, and today I ordered the train table from Pottery Barn Kids for Zachary. I’m bidding for 2 Pottery Barn rugs on eBay.  We’ll be inviting people over as soon as the couch comes in – it takes *gasp* 4 months because the leather is imported from Italy and then the hardwood and construction is in Vermont. We’re hoping to host Christmas at our place this year!

Last, but not least … this past Saturday, my friends Erin and Nate had a baby GIRL! I am so excited for them. CONGRATULATIONS!

By popular demand, I am posting more pictures of Zachary. He turned 17 months this Tuesday! I’m also posting a picture of his new room. I’m not sure how long toddlers are supposed to stay in cribs. The mattress says “35 year warranty” …

Zach has not had any real food in days – his records at daycare show he is refusing to eat. At home, he drinks lots of formula and eats handfuls of dry cereal. My mom will be so disappointed.

Oh – and he says “tze” for car for sure now. “Muh” for milk and “Che” for Cheerios. Yesterday he saw my tomoato plant outside and said,”Ball?” while pointing at the small, hard, green tomotoes.  As a small step backwards, he sometimes says “Pall?” for ball and “Ball?” for light.

Hello everyone – sorry for the delay in entries. It was been hectic here – coming back to work from vacation and moving at the same time! Plus, Zachary had the stomach flu (made us even more glad we have hardwood floors as opposed to carpet!) We officially moved in last weekend, and by this weekend we are basically unpacked. There is a park nearby, so I took Zachary there yesterday.

I LOVE the interior and the hickory floors and the kitchen/family room combo. There are still a few things we need to do though – paint 2 rooms, and replace the carpet in the living room and master walk-in. We also need to get a flat screen (James is researching this) and some new furniture. Eventually, I’d like to replace my oak and birch “starter, right-out-of-college furniture”. There are also some longer term goals – granite slab counters (kitchen and bath), replacing the early 90s shiny gold brass fixtures. Also, the backyard needs lots of work - we already have a professional landscape plan/design, but it needs to be implemented! And I want to change the outside to a sable brown color scheme – the current color has a hint of mauve. Basically, we want to make this home ours!