I've noticed that my posts lately have involved LOTS of words and few pictures, so here's one where the pictures from the park can speak for themselves.


Zach takes Daddy for a walk in the park.


Zach on the swings.

I have no idea where the time has gone. It's hard to believe Zach is a year old, and even harder to believe that we've survived after some of those nights (weeks? months?) when it seemed like sleep deprivation might kill us. My parents came down from Seattle for Zach's (and my) birthday. We had a relaxing few days playing in the park, visiting wineries, swimming in their hotel pool and just hanging out. As you can see, Zach enjoyed his cake, and LOVED his balloons.

A few quick pics for the blog (zillions more are available at our Flickr site).

I have to be a proud mom and brag a little. What can I say? My son is brilliant!

Zach's walking keeps improving. He doesn't want to hold our hand(s) anymore when he walks, he wants to do it himself. His distances are getting better and better, and so's his speed!

He adorably claps his hands, and more clapping and bigger smiles occur if you clap your hands too and say "Yaaay, Zach!"

The kicker came a couple of days ago, when he grabbed his brush while we were changing his diaper and he proceeded to "brush" his hair - with the wrong end of the brush. Even though he didn't use the bristled end, he clearly understood what you're supposed to do with it! Bryan and I were just blown away.

He's definitely got a few words now. Bailey is "gog" (dog), he'll pick up or point to his (or my) "ook" (book), the truck on his chest of drawers is "uck" and I swear he sometimes calls Bryan "Daa(d)." His receptive language is even better, he can point to (or go and get) the dog, truck, light, fan, book, pacifier and juice. Lots of things are still "dat" (that), although sometimes it's hard to tell whether he's asking what it is because he wants you to label it or whether he's asking for it to be given to him. "Mommy" appears to be far off on the horizon, but he probably thinks I'm an extension of him anyway, so why would I need a name?

It's so interesting to watch him at this age. The development is so quick it's amazing.

...I would be known as "Steak Leather Palin" according to the Sarah Palin Baby Name Generator.

Steak Leather.

Has a nice ring to it.

It's hard to believe Zach will be a year old in less than two weeks. Where does the time go?

He continues to get better and better at walking. This evening, I closed off the doors in the hallway and let him loose, and boy did he go! He made it down the hallway and back (17 feet each way) with only one stop to steady himself with a quick hand against the wall. However, I don't know who coined the phrase "the pitter-patter of little feet" because the little feet in my house don't pitter-patter, they THUD! THUD! He definitely won't be sneaking up on anyone any time soon!

Still no real words for sure. He'll point at things and say something that I think sounds like "that," but I'm not positive. He's also started saying something that sounds like "dog" when Bailey's around, but maybe I'm projecting. Or maybe it's just that we've been spending a LOT of time reading "Go Dog, Go!" and "The Tooth Book," so he's imitating sounds from hearing the word "dog" a lot.

The weather's been a lot more bearable, down to the 70s (quick, where's my sweatshirt - seriously.), and we actually had a little rain overnight a few days ago. I'm looking forward to some slightly more seasonal weather. I certainly enjoyed the aggressively sunshiny winters in San Diego, but it'll be fun to have some cool weather and rain again.

Politics is one of those subjects I tend to avoid. When people ask me "Who are you going to vote for?," I usually duck the question because people generally have very firmly held beliefs, and good for them, but I don't enjoy getting into arguments over my beliefs. It seems like very few folks are out to have an actual discussion, they just want to throw their beliefs at you. I admit I don't know a whole lot about the political process, and I'm often breathtakingly naive about taking people at their word (although not so much with politicians), so I'm not the most educated person to have a discussion with. What I really hate is being barraged with statements by folks who haven't done any research or critical thinking about the information they're throwing at me. If I ask you whys, or whos or hows, I expect you to be able to elaborate, not just repeat something you've heard on the news or from some (possibly untrue) email that someone sent you.

No thanks.

I have a pretty good idea of who I'll be voting for, but I'm not telling.

The subject makes me vaguely uncomfortable, like talking about how much you make, or what things cost, or sex or in depth discussions on religion. There are just certain subjects that, unless you're discussing them with someone that you trust, or who really needs to know, or who can actually listen with an open mind, just aren't something I want to talk about.

What I would really like is a candidate who talks about the issues, and how exactly they're going to approach them. I want to know what they're going to do to help me afford college for my son. I want to know how they're going to turn the economy around. I want to know what they're going to do about our troops in the middle east. I want to know where they stand on abortion, health care, taxes and education. I want someone with a plan.

I'm so sick of the mud slinging already, and there's still two months until the election. The latest "lipstick on a pig" kerfluffle has me rolling my eyes and reaching for the remote. I'm sure it will only get worse, and frankly I'm ready to bury my head in the sand. I can't wait until the tv ads start going in full force.

(sigh) Two more months...

Leave it to me to manage to get a cold in 100 degree weather. I'm currently wrapping up week 2 of the stupid thing, and I'm still stuffed up. Thankfully, we had a break in the weather today, down to the mid-upper 80s, so I could keep the air conditioning off and the windows open. The funny thing is, after nearly a week of excessive temperatures, 70-some degrees feels cold, and I'm ready to put on my sweatshirt!

Zach's getting better and better at walking. He cruises around his play yard, and can go about 4 to 6 feet entirely on his own. He likes to have something to grab onto if he goes further than that, so he's been spending some time wandering around with a walking toy we got him, pushing it around the house.

Today's trip to Wal-Mart and Home Depot has left me wrung out, thanks to my cold, so I'm going to take advantage of the fact that Zach went to bed fairly easily tonight and keep this short so I can go crawl into bed. Yes, I'm going to bed before 9 o'clock. It sucks to get old.