Birthday Cake

Silly me forgot to post the pictures of the birthday cake. We just went to a commonly known superstore and picked up a cake. Well, it was so gross. Before we left Canada, I had went to Safeway and special ordered a cake. It was a vanilla cake with raspberry in the middle and whip cream frosting instead of the gross, yucky, too sweet fake stuff! That cake was amazing! SO I guess at least he got to try one good cake!

Apparently I was doing the cake thing all wrong. I was trying to feed it to him and cousin Wayne gave me crap and told me that I was supposed to let them squish it between their fingers, rub it in their hair, etc.

So much to my dismay, I let Zech eat his own cake. Check out these pictures. I think I have trained him to be a very clean eater! :o) (It was probably cause he didn;t like the cake)

First Birthday continued......

Sorry it took me so long to continue Zech's First B-day. It has been a really trying week, lots of tears, lots of struggles, lots of well everything. We are back though after a trip down the coast to Sydney and I will continue with Zech's b-day.

On his actual birthday, we had a really nice day. We still felt really lonely and sad that we couldn't have more friends (well any for that matter) and family around us to celebrate his birthday. We did receive a nice phone call from Grandma and Grandpa Gooch. It was nice to hear familiar voices on this special day. They also sent a card and some money for Zech's first b-day. So Daddy went shopping and found this:

A brand new Shrek Mobile with a trailer!!!

I think he really liked it!! :o)

After we packed up and headed to Coolum beach which is on the Sunshine Coast (north of Brisbane). We were going to meet Cousin Wayne and Victoria and the boys for supper later that evening close to Coolum. Coolum was beautiful and there was a surf competition going on for the kids. It was really neat to see, as I have never seen one before in real life! Of course they weren't surfing huge waves or anything like you see on TV, but they were still pretty good. Zech had a great time on the beach as usual.

I forgot to pack his swimsuit......so he wore the outfit that Grandma H gave him for his birthday in the water.
Do you think this child can get anymore sand on himself. You can't even see his legs--they blend right in!

After the Beach we met up with the Australian Gooches for some supper. It was nice to see them again and to get to know Victoria better. We bought a cake (it was so gross) and then we headed back into Brisbane.

Wayne, Victoria, William (4 years old) and Mason (5 weeks old) Gooch

I didn't have the camera set right--that's why it blurred. Never put sparklers on a one-year old's b-day cake. He was so freaked out!

1st Birthday Festivities

I am playing a little bit of 'catch-up' here. I do have tonnes of new photos that I really want to share, so bear with me as I try and get organized and catch up.

We celebrated Zechariah's birthday for two days. I think we needed a bit of a break and we were feeling a little sad, lonely and well maybe a tad guilty that he wouldn't have the big 1st birthday that all other kids have or have had.

So the day before his birthday Zechariah got to open his gift from Mommy and Daddy.

Here he is coming around the corner looking at his new toy......

A brand new Elmo chair that laughs and vibrates when he sits in it.

He really loves to sit in his Elmo chair. He giggles and throws his head back everytime Elmo laughs it is so cute to watch. He knows how to sit in it all by himself!

After he got his present, we packed up and headed to our favourite beach on the Gold Coast--Surfer's Paradise. Zech just loves the water and when we arrive he just can't wait to get to the sand and water. He screams as I try and put the sun block on him as he just wants to go.

Love this pose....

He just has to taste everything!!

Playing with Dad....I love this picture of my boys!! :o)

Zech goes nuts when the waves come in.

Surfer's Paradise--it really is paradise! Miles and miles of beach!

Last but not least, Zech loves to chase these critters on the beach. I am a little scared of birds and well hate them, so it is kind of funny that I even took this picture. I thought it was kind of a neat picture though.

Zechariah's first b-day "day 2" will have to follow.......

One Year.....

I know that I am really late with this, but we just got internet today--finally after going to three different companies! It's a long story and just one of the many stressful things we have encountered this last month, but God is Great and has and will get us through.

I cannot believe how fast this year has gone. I spent the other day looking back at pictures of Zech when he was first born, up until now and it is so amazing to see how much he has changed. Thank goodness we have cameras to record all of these changes, these memories, because I have forgotten so much. It was hard spending his first birthday away from family and friends, but we tried to make the best of it and do what our little monkey loves to do most and that is hang out at the beach. We also met up with John's cousin Wayne and his wife Victoria and their two little boys and that was really nice and made us feel not so lonely!!

So our little Zechariah at 1 year:

• Has moved across the world to a new country and continent—Australia.


• Stopped in Hawaii along the way.


• Is an extremely easy going, go with the flow kind of traveler. He has been so amazing on all of our many excursions—we are truly blessed.


• Loves, loves, loves the beach, the water and well anything to do with the water. He is such a water baby; he is going to be a real little fish.


• Had his first big swim in the ocean, tasted the water and everything.


• Buried his legs in the sand with mommy’s.


• Tasted the sand and put sand in his eyes, and therefore discovered that it doesn’t taste that good and it really hurts when it is in your eyes.


• Said a tearful goodbye to all his friends and family in Edmonton, Kelowna and Vancouver.


• Had his first taste of birthday cake (early) at the Halwa get together at Randy and Sue’s.


• Just discovered how to clap his hands and thinks it is so much fun!


• Points at everything.


• Babbles like you wouldn’t believe—oh can he tell stories.


• Likes to look at and get the attention of strangers---we call him Ambassador Gooch!


• Finally gives kisses—especially to his daddy. He probably gets too many from mommy, so couldn’t be bothered to reciprocate!


• Still loves his books !


• Loves animals and loves his stuffed puppy dog that Great Grandma Halwa gave him. He is trying to say puppy now and goes pa pa pa--it's so cute!


• Met his cousins Wayne, Victoria, William and Mason for the first time. He really liked playing with William, and Mason is just still too little.


• Weighs 24 lbs. 9 oz. and is about 31 inches long.


• Is wearing all 18 month old clothing now.


• Has 10 teeth now---he just had three molars and his bottom incisor push through at the same time---can you believe this kid!


• Still is not walking but continues to pull himself up onto walls, doors, kitchen cupboards, you name it (we still don't have our furniture so he really doesn't have anything to hang onto).


• Goes to bed at 8:30 pm and sleeps until 7:00-7:30 am. Plus he continues to have his morning and afternoon nap.


• Still loves to be outside.


• Is so stubbourn and strong willed--it's a little hard to deal with sometimes! The Baby Wise II book has been an enormous help!


• Loves his new Elmo Chair and Shrek Mobile!


• Understands and sometimes responds to commands such as "come here", "don't touch", "go find your Puppy", "come have your Milkies", " go find your Elmo Chair".


• Understands phrases like "I love you" (I also sign it to him all the time and am teaching him more sign language), "give me a kiss", "bed time", and "bath time".


• Says Mama and Dada all the time.


• Is an extremely fussy eater--don't ask me what happened to our garborator. It is such a task to feed him as he stopped eating baby food a while ago and only wants what we eat. However, he is so fussy. He does always eat a really big breakfast though.
  

11 months

My baby boy is growing so fast and is such a joy to be around and watch. At 11 months there have been so many firsts and new and exciting things that have happened:

Zechariah at 11 months:

• Crawls everywhere at lightning speed and is starting to pull himself up onto well almost everything that he thinks will support him.


• Still has 6 teeth, but has been teething and I am sure he is working on more—oh joy!


• Still weighs about 24 lbs.


• Wears almost all 18 month clothing now.


• Had his first plane ride (of many yet to come). He did awesome!


• Had his first train ride (of many yet to come as well). We are blessed to have such an amazing traveler.


• Traveled overseas to Europe and was in 7 different countries (England, France, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Belgium—not bad for an 11 month old)!!


• Was known as the “romeo” in Germany and the “flirt” in France. He really thrived on the attention and boy did he get lots!


• Met his Aunty Mari and Uncle Tony and Monkey cat for the first time! He loved Uncle Tony’s shoes! :o)


• Ate all sorts of new foods---it is so interesting trying to feed him now as he still won’t eat baby food and when you are traveling it is really hard to buy super healthy food. So he has had snitzel, sausages, potatoes, pizza and more sausages in Germany. Mari and Tony spoiled us with awesome meals and organic snacks in Holland. Plus he tried the Dutch Pancakes. In Paris he ate lots of French bread (too die for—even he thought so), and of course crepes with Nutella (Grandma was the one to blame for that!)


• Loves his books—they were a real lifesaver on our trip.


• Loves, loves, loves animals. He thought pigeons were the greatest thing, as I would steer clear of them—hate them!


• Loves to play with remote controls (thank Aunty Mel and Uncle Cory for that) lol :o)


• Loves blocks and loves destroying all of the block towers daddy makes for him.


• Loves to crawl up stairs, but hasn’t learned how to crawl down yet—if anyone has the secret to teaching kids how to crawl down – please let me know.


• Imitates all sorts of sounds that you make now—it is so cute!


• Is one stubborn, determined little boy.
  
  

So many FIRSTS.....

There are so many firsts for Zechariah and for John and I these past three weeks that I must enter them in our blog. We have been in Europe for just about three weeks now (we head home in two more days). It has been an amazing trip!! We are truly blessed to have such an amazing little boy who travels well and really adapts to any new situation that he has been forced to deal with. Planes, trains and automobiles, by now I am sure that he is sick of them, but he has done so well this entire time. We are so blessed that our little boy loves to travel as much as we do!

We arrived in the Haag on Thursday, August 9th. The plane ride over was definitely an experience and thank goodness this is kind of a trial run for Australia because now we know what things we would change to make it a better expereince. The ride home will be better though as we did reserve larger seats. Yes that was the biggest problem with the ride over, it was a small plane and we were so squished, especially with Zech on our laps. We had to change planes in London at the Gatwick airport. What a disaster! We were changing airline companies completely so we had to get our luggage in Gatwick and then find our new gate and go through security all over again. We get off the plane thinking our stroller would be there, but no, so off we went with Zech in our arms and all of our luggage (there is no travelling lite with an infant--believe me!). After walking for miles (literally), we get to an extremely large, long line up. We have to go through customs. So we make our way down the ramp slowly into the maze of an "organized" line up system. By this time I am dying.....no air conditioning in this part for some strange reason and Zech is in my arms and I feel like I am going to faint. We were rescued though by some nice security guard who finally saw that I was carrying a 24 lb. child and let us through ahead of half the crowd. Thank the Lord for him.

Now I forgot to mention that when we got off the plane, (before we walked for miles and stood in line for ages) I was doing an inventory count of all our luggage and realized that I forgot my brand new camera on the plane. John went sprinting back down to retrieve the camera, thank goodness I remebered when I did.

So now we found all of our luggage and headed back down to check in and go through security. We arrive at security and get everything set up. We had brought a cooler full of goat milk with us and due to the restrictions of liquids we were a little worried, but had called ahead and were assured that baby milk and food would be acceptable. Well it was acceptable, but they did request that John take a swig of goat milk in front of them to ensure that it was not poisoned or anything. That was John's first taste of goat milk and he even offered the Security Guard some too! It did lighten the mood a little!

We collect all of our stuff and they do not issue your gate number to you. You actually have to stand (or sit) around this large screen and wait for it to pop up and from the time that it pops up you have 45 min. to get on the plane. So we were sitting and waiting and I felt that it was time to change Zech's diaper, but couldn't find our knapsack that now became the diaper bag. I had left the 'diaper bag' at security. So off John sprints again, back through security. Now normally this wouldn't be such a big deal but in Gatwick you go through two types of security. First you put your bags through the x-ray and you walk through the metal detector, then you collect your stuff and pass to the next secured area where you take off your shoes and pass them through an x-ray machine. So poor John sprinted back through to retrieve the forgotten diaper bag and then had to go through the 'shoe' security again. I was not John's favourite person by this time.

Finally, the screen came up and we were off to our gate. Thank goodness they had a shuttle this time to take us to our gate. The flight from London to Amsterdam was only an hour but we all crashed and slept straight through. When we got off, we ensured that there was nothing left behind and headed to the trains. We had to take a train to the Haag where Tony and Mari were waiting for us. It was a task with all of our stuff but we made it and it was so great to see Tony and Mari waiting for us.

We spent Friday wondering around Tony and Mari's place. They only live two blocks from the beach, so we wondered up and down the beach. On Saturday we left for the next part of the journey---the train to Germany. It was a long day of travelling by train as we had to switch trains 4 times and did not arrive until 9:30 pm. It was nice to see all the country side, but it really was a long tiring day.

We arrived in Oberstaufen Saturday evening and had a week to spend there. The timeshare was beautiful. We were down in Bavaria which is the Southern part of Germany and it really was beautiful. Sunday and Monday we relaxed and wandered around the town where we were staying. We needed to give Zech some time to recover from the jet lag, train lag and the complete time change.

Here are a few pictures.....I will continue to post about the rest of our journey.

The place where we stayed....Mondi-Holiday Resort.....very beautiful!The Bavarian countryside.
Trying to get our little monkey back on schedule......doesn't he look happy!?

My incredibly handsome husband (sorry I couldn't rotate the photo--everything is in dutch)!

Mom and Zech in the park!

Entertaining Zech while waiting for a train!

10 months

We tried to get some 10 month photos today......

but there were more important things to do!

Here we are at 10 months. Another month gone just like that. This month has been a real trying month with so many transitions and once again our little Zechariah is a true little trooper.

At 10 months Zechariah:

• Crawls all over the place and is getting into everything.

• Learned how to crawl up the stairs at Grandmas (now I have to figure out how to teach him to go down the stairs).

• Pulls himself up onto everything and anything.
  
• Doesn't want to eat mushy, chunky food. Only wants finger foods or mommy and daddy's food. He really does love to feed himself.

• Has 6 teeth!! (just got his two front ones)

• Weighs 23 lbs and 9 oz. (with clothes on----but feels like he is at least 30 lbs.!)

• Still wearing 12/18 month clothing.

• Loves being outside.
  
• Loves the water, his bath time, drinking from the water bottle--yeah he just loves water.
  
• Loves puppy dogs! (even got his first nip from a dog---we are working on being gentle)
  
• Had his first boat ride (he slept through the whole thing).
  
• Had his first tractor ride with Grandma and loved it!
  
• Had his first taste of ice-cream, cookie and I am not sure what else Grandma was trying to spoil him with.
  
• Had his first haircut two days ago (thanks to Heather and Helayna for doing it first---it really wasn't that bad and he looks so cute now).
  
• Waves bye-bye!

• Now understands simple words like "come here", "milkies", "go see dada", "no, don't touch" or "tata" (this one needs a lot more work though).
  
• Imitates all sorts of sounds that you make. Was trying to imitate the kitty "meow" today during our evening story time (we read all about cats). Too cute!
  
• Got his first cut lip as he tried to eat the chair and fell into it.
  
• Still really loves his books.
  
• Is more curious now than ever because he can crawl and puts anything and everything into his mouth. We really have to watch him, as we are staying at other people's houses.

• Still loves songs, especially when Grandma sings.