oh, the sweetness!

OMG BUBBLES!

As far as Zach was concerned, there was magic happening in this room. 
A bubble gun! Thanks Grandma Ann!

Try, Try Again

It's a good thing Z is so darn cute, because this is a terrible attempt at a smile! But like everything Z attempts, he gives it his all. Even if he is attempting to jump off of the futon onto the tent...

Fully Clothed Airplane Surfing

Z knows how to have a good time, and apparently his cousin Jayden does too! I can't even imagine what these two are going to be like when they get together the next time! (The newest addition to the Hasenfratz family, Cassidy Quinn, is going to be a very well entertained little girl!)

You Gotta See this Daddy

Daddy, I woke up from my nap, and you'll never believe what I found. I can stick my finger inside the coffee table! I can fill it with goldfish crackers, and use Cookie Monster to hammer Elmo's head inside it! Mommy pretends she has no idea what happened, but I've calculated the trajectory and velocity of the Buddha on the entertainment center, and it's obvious that she knocked the Buddha head first into the table. I'm not sure she'll ever admit it, but we both know the truth...Momma broke the coffee table!

crock baby

I was hoping we could track down the bucket baby pictures, so you could compare bucket baby Becca, to crock baby Z. Unfortunately we're still looking for those pictures of little me splashing in a bucket. However, I can't deny you the cuteness of Z playing in the 8 gallon crock any longer!

Peas and Thank You

Daddy's home for a quick lunch, and he still takes the time to read a story or two. What a lucky little guy. Z likes to read, a lot. Although not necessarily a lot of different books. He likes to read his favorites over and over. Luckily, like movies, his favorite is fleeting, and we move onto a new obsession before rotating back a few weeks later. What's even cuter, is he has a favorite person to read each particular favorite book. Right now, Daddy has to read him The Monster at the End of the Book, and I have to read the Big Red Barn. 

hurry up mom!

My grandfather always called me girl-in-a-hurry, and Z is definitely my boy-in-a-hurry. The only time our walks are leisurely, are when there are things like rocks and sticks and bugs to study. The rest of the time we are go-go-going!

apple a sauce

Applesauce and yogurt are still a messy proposition at our house, especially as Z becomes more independent with feeding. There is almost always some wet goo flung across the kitchen, and the coordinated use of the spoon always deteriorates into slurping straight off his fingers. Yum!

Z's Domain

My living room is not mine any longer. It hasn't been mine for, oh, 2 years. The space between couch and television is not a pristine expanse of creamy carpet, with the only interruption being a dark chocolate coffee table. The living room is now a riot of colors and shapes and sounds. Don't bump into the penguin, or your ears will be assaulted.  There are barns, airplanes, and Z-sized lazy boys. Of course, there is also Z, happily presiding over the cacophony, and charming me out of the use of my formerly peaceful room. 

Hewwo? Hai.

Zachary can be quite chatty. He calls Elmo, and Cookie Monster, Grandma Ann, Nonna, Poppa, and Bert and Ernie. He will talk up a storm on his play phones, even making ringing noises. So you offer to make a call to Grandma, or Nonna or Poppa. Ring 'em up, put Z on the phone....and nothing. You might get a Hewwo. Then you try to have a conversation with someone, and Z is right back to trying to steal the phone and the conversation.

Colorful Personality

Finding things to keep this little dude entertained is a full-time job. Seriously. If you don't keep him entertained, he sometimes goes into destructor mode. It's not malicious, it's just something to pass the time. He'll pull all the toys out of his toy box, and toss them over his shoulder, or even more fun--down the basement stairs. He'll play Boom, which involves throwing himself to the ground from standing, or even more fun--from the top of the couch. He'll try to pull the shelves down from the entertainment center, and try to empty the kitchen cabinets. 

I try to channel the boundless energy into reading and building towers, playing with cars or tossing a ball. We run hundreds of laps around the first floor, and take many trips to the park. Daddy takes him for a long walk in the early evening. We blow bubbles, play with the water table or in the pool, and we run around at the mall. We pick up our fruits and veggies at the farm, and play on the tot-sized trains there. We play music, and we dance. He also colors. With chalk, markers, crayons, stamps, and pens he finds laying around. Coloring is probably one of his favorite activities. Luckily I found the Crayola Color Wonder system, the markers only draw on Color Wonder paper. I was getting tired of cleaning marker and crayon off of the table, the chair, and especially the z-man.