Lots of physical accomplishments this month: 

week of July 29 – Zack initiated walking from place to place instead of from human to human or from human to place.

August 2: Friday evening – dad got home early and Z realized he could carry objects easier if he walked? Or something – something definitely switched in Z’s brain – and as a result, he was walking everywhere.  

ZBL officially became a walker once we got back from Disneyland the week of August 12.  He is still a bit wobbly but he definitely sees the benefit in walking over crawling: he can carry his toys with relative ease! Definitely a motivating factor.

ZBL walked to park in our neighborhood school holding dad’s hand (his longest walk solo to-date) (see video above). He had a great time doing it but we noted he also had an extremely (and uncharacteristically) difficult time getting to sleep that night 

Z loves to move large toys, boxes, objects while walking.  He behaves like a strong kid which is funny to watch as he attempts (and often succeeds) at moving objects that are much bigger than he is.

2 more funny observations:  1) when Z was walking, he realized he could carry a ball more easily but then he doesn’t want to let it go when he starts to fall :-/. 2) When there is a narrow passage way between toys or other objects, Z sidles through.  :-)

Sleep:

Sleep has been pretty consistently good: Z goes to sleep around 7:30 pm and wakes around 5:30 pm.  He naps 2X/day: usually 9:00-10 am and then again 2-3:30 pm or so.  We did have a really weird sleep event while we were @ Disneyland though: ZBL woke up at midnight and wouldn’t go back to sleep until 3 am!??!?  It was rough, to say the least.  Thankfully we had 2 rooms so SPL stayed asleep.  We wonder if it was possibly the after effects of seeing the Disney musical Aladdin?  Who knows?  The show was very visual and more stimulus than ZBL had had to-date so maybe?  Or maybe it was his teeth or something else developmental.  

Food:

ZBL continues to be a good eater.  This month he started eating tomatoes, strawberries, and oatmeal.  He even ate plantains and refried beans off the menu @ a resturant.  He is more open to a variety of foods for sure, but I think it also helps that John and I are more laid back about it too.

Here he is trying tomatoes for the first time (they were grown in our garden!): 

Communication:

Z’s communication continues to evolve.  He says “S” for Sam which pleases his big bro to no end :-).  He also says “dung” for light (Mandarin). When SPL or our babysitter (or even I :-) say “pai pai shou”, ZBL claps his hands :-).  He can find his nose, belly, and feet, and proudly goes to the shoe rack when you say it’s time to go get in the car (he loves his shoes!). And if you forget his shoes, he will remind you!

His most consistent word is by far “this” and he uses it liberally.  

I can tell he is focusing a lot on language because when I say the word “book” for example, he shapes his mouth intentionally and sometimes says the first sound or sometimes says the word.

Curiosity

Z loves going behind the glider rocking chair to see how hit works.  He it and watches it move and then moves around to see what else he can do to make it do something different.

Achievement unlocked!  Z figured out how to open the door handle to his room – uh oh!

Games:

Z has made up a few games this month – he thinks it’s funny to drop things over his shoulder/back.  He pounces on any of the toy balls, as well as on his dad.  He scoot/crawls while holding onto ball because he doesn’t want to let go :-).  He plays opossum by lying flat on ground when his dad says “I’m going to get you” and he signals to JOL that he wants to go upside down by raising his hands above his head.

Brothers:

Z loves hugging Sam’s head :-). He also squawks like a parrot when Sam takes his toy.  Gotta love brothers!

It’s been a fun summer and a fun month!  Z will miss having SPL around when he heads back to school mid-August.  It’s been great having so much quality time together.