Busy Busy Barack A Baby

I guess mommy and daddy need to face the facts that the little Z man really isn't a baby anymore. He can run and dance and babble quite a bit, and he clearly has a mind of his own....

The last few weeks have been busy busy for Z man, and therefore mommy and daddy. Mommy and Daddy jetted off to Denver for a few days for the Democratic National Convention. Little Z got to spend 3 whole days with Nana and Papa! We don't even want to know how much ice cream he had.... but we know he had a lot of fun.

48 hours later all three of us flew down to San Diego for the Montgomery/Schwarz wedding. Aunt Mo Mo and Auntie Brenda got to spend some time playing with little Z and see all his developmental milestones..

It turns out, Zain loves to run through airports and down the aisles on planes.

Then it was off to the Montclair Jazz festival, where Z strutted his "Yes We Can" paraphernalia.

Lawn Mower Bubble Walking

We are having so much fun watching this little guy go through the phases of learning to walk. He has gone from pushing the lawn mower up and down the street (over and over and over again), to "the waddling starfish," to "Frankenstein's coming to get your brains!"

You can see little Z man in video action through a few of these phases by clicking:

- here for the Lawnmower bubble machine (a favorite toy given to him by Auntie Lyn)
or
-here for the semi Frankenstein/Starfish combo

First "real" haircut

Grandma and Mommy took Zain to get his first professional haircut. Zain did great and almost managed to sit still for the entire 15 minute cut.... with the help of the movie Cars in the DVD player and the race car chair he sat in.

Mommy, on the other hand, did not do so well. She is totally traumatized by Zain's new "big boy" look. "He's just growing up so fast! He also looks so 'square' now," reports Mommy. Daddy keeps reassuring her, however, that "it is only hair and it will grow back."

365 Days and Counting

ZAIN IS 1!

It is hard to believe but our Little Z Man turned 1 year old on Saturday, June 21st. Crazy how time flies.

We had a small party at our house with close family friends. We put up a jumpy on the carport for the kids to play in while the parents tried to stay cool. It was 98 degrees on Saturday in Oakland.

Nana and Papa brought over a wonderful Finding Nemo birthday cake. Everyone thought it was the best birthday cake ever (Seriously, it was delicious). See below.

As you can see below, Zain really didn't know what to do with the cake even though we have been trying to teach him to blow out the candles for the past month. (The Tilin kids -- Isaac and Leila -- are giving Zain some encouragement. They really wanted to eat that cake!)

Zain got some great gifts especially the one from Auntie Nikki, Uncle Marc and Cousins Sara and Max. Maybe Zain will take after his Great Uncle Jerry and be a star baseball player.

The Little Z man got to play with lots of his friends like Ellery Escue and the Tilin kids. Here Leila Tilin keeps a watchful eye over Zain while he learns how to drive his new Lightening McQueen car.

And here, Zain and Ellery get a ride in Zain's Little Red truck, courtesy of the Sweet family.

What color are his eyes?

Not a whole lot of pictures except this one, which shows the Little Z Man's eyes. Tough to pick one color. His one year birthday is coming up so stay tuned for lots of pictures from his Big Day.

Artichokes!

This kid just continues to amaze. Who knew kids like, no LOVE, artichokes. Little Z Man sees an artichoke and he goes nuts -- starts flapping his arms and chirping like a bird. Check this out. He just couldn't get enough!

What's his profession?

The Little Z Man is showing lots of promise in many fields. Can you name his future profession?

Pianist?

Swimmer?




Rockstar?



Environmental Advocate?

Or

Rabbi?