Forget the toys, let's see that box!

It always amazes me how we as parents spend hours trying to find the perfect toy, one that will enhace their developmental skills, motor skills, communication, etc, etc. and it is always the box, or the Tupperware container that provides the utmost in stimulation.

I've been trying to get inside this thing for a while now....ahhh finally!

This is just so much fun!!! Beats playing with all those other toys behind me!

And now look what I can do Mom, I can stand up all by myself!!!

Baby Lee is on the way.....

I just want to Congratulate my little sister Melanie and my brother-in-law Cory. They just announced that they are expecting their first little one on February 5th! We are so excited and happy for them. They are going to be wonderful, loving and caring parents!!!

Zechariah is happy too, as he will now have a cousin on the 'Halwa' side to play with! And of course Grandma Halwa (my Mom) is delighted, a new grandchild to fill the void when we (or Zech) are away!!

A few new favourites.

We have been really busy packing lately and trying to get everything organized to move to Australia, so hence the reason I haven't been posting that much.

We do have a few favourite things to report. Zech started crawling almost two weeks ago and he gets so pleased with himself when he crawls and finds something new--especially those things that he is not supposed to have. He loves to crawl, but he is also trying to pull himself up onto anything and everything. Unfortunately, we really haven't had time to child proof and with boxes everywhere, we have had to improvise a little. Boxes cover the major outlets and a suitcase acts as the stair gate! Zech's favourite place to crawl is probably under the table or chairs!

Busted--just coming out from underneath the table.

We were out at Grandma's on the weekend. Grandma introduced Zech to a new favourite food---SNAP PEAS! After all my efforts to get him to eat his mushed up peas miserably failed, I thought that my child would never eat peas again, but Snap Peas are a new favourite.

Bath time has become a duanting task lately. Zech is all over the place and I have been so worried about him hurting himself. He crawls in the tub, he reaches up and grabs the edge and tries to pull himself up and has succeeded. I kringe everytime I need to bathe him. After months of searching, we finally found the perfect solution! Praise the Lord for the Jolly Jumper Bath Ring. We just happened to be in Winners and I saw it and bought the last one that they had. We seriously looked everywhere and even asked tonnes of people, but no one seemed to know what I was talking about. Bath time just got a whole lot safer and easier!

First Swing

While we were on holidays we were at a park with John's cousin Andrew and his two little girls. This was the first park that had a swing that Zech could actually sit in all by himself. The park that we have close to home does not have a little kiddie swing so he swings with mom. Well Zech loved his first swing all by himself as you can see!

Daddy push me higher, higher!

Zechariah at 9 months:

Yet another month has just flew by and here he is 9 months old already! There have been a lot of firsts that have happened this month. He is such a wonderful, curious and interative little boy. So now Zechariah at 9 months:

• Still wears size three diapers.
• Wears 12 month and 18 month clothing--depending on the fit.
• Not sure how much he weighs, but he is a really tall boy and is now longer than his change table--which makes changing him a little interesting at times.
• Continues to absolutely love the outdoors.
• Loves the water, even the cold Okanogan Lake.
• Visited the ocean (Pacific) for the first time and got wet! He loved it of course!
• Goes nuts when he sees a puppy dog--he sure does love them.
• Imitates sounds that you make and said his first word on Father's Day (dada). We were all sitting around the table trying to get him to say it and he did!! John was beaming and thought that was the best Father's Day gift in the world.
• Is an excellent traveller. We spent many long days driving these past three weeks and he was so amazing! We are so blessed!
• Visited B.C. for the first time.
• Left Canada and was in the United States (Seattle) for the first time.
• Crawls or pushes himself backwards all the time. Made his first couple of forward "crawls" this morning. He is still not completely crawling, but he is trying really hard.
• Can sit upright all by himself from his tummy. It's so cute to watch him!
• Started pulling himself up into the standing position. He sat up and then proceeded to stand up in his crib today. Scared both mommy and daddy, as the crib needs to be adjusted to a lower setting now. Yikes!
• Has started eating chunkier food now--but still pretends to gag.
• Met his Uncle Gary, Auntie Janice, cousin Andrew and Jaye Lynn and his two little cousins Alycia and Kylie for the first time.
• Laughs a lot.
• Continues to teeth--not sure which teeth are coming in this time, but he's teething.
• Sleeps on his tummy all the time now.
• Continues to nap two/three times a day.
• Sleeps through the night, when we are on schedule, which has been hard lately with travelling.
• Will offer you his soother or any other toy if you open your mouth and ask for it. It's hilarious...not that any body wants his soother or anything that he has been slobbering all over, but he is learning how to share! :o)