A few new pics of the kids

I snapped a few pics today of the kids. I have been lax on the picture taking. I am still pretty bummed about my camera, and have been using mom's old camera (thanks!). And it needs the battery to be recharged a LOT. We went to the pumpkin patch last weekend and had a LOT of fun- when we got there... battery died on the camera. I think I took one picture. They had fun though- and Natalya picked out a pumpkin that needs to be carved, so perhaps that will be the plan for this weekend. We always carve a big one and paint some small ones. (Speaking of which...I need to find the paint!).

Kids are getting big. I can barely even lift Natalya anymore and Zachary is no tiny thing himself. :) Natalya is doing great at gymnastics. She's in a pre-competition class and loves it. She can do bunny hops on the balance beam now by herself without holding onto a coach! She is also doing simple math. She'll say something like, "Mommy, I have four crayons!" And I'll say, "If I take one, how many do you have?" And she'll say "THREE!!" And she can do it quickly too, with very little hesitation.

Zachary is out of his "dada" kick and into "Mama" kick. Everything is "Mama". My new favorite? He will say "uh-oh Mama" when something falls. :) His top two teeth are in, barely poking through- finally! He was working on those forever it seems like. He is crawling everywhere- and he's FAST! If he knows you're after him, he'll hit high ghear and laugh the whole time he's beelining away at top speed. Very cute. He also started "kissing". He does the sweet open-mouth baby kisses, but also, if you say "Zachary, kisses!" He will make a kissy sound by sucking his tongue through his lips. It makes the same sound you'd make if you were puckering and making the "kissing" noise. It is REALLY stinking cute!

Both kids are balls of energy and I can't wear them out fast enough!

Without further ado, here's some pics... Not great, but better than nothing, right?
These are from a few weeks ago at the park


And here is one from earlier this week

And then some from today

Zachary's first sign!

I've been signing with Z just like with N. We started with him at around 3 months, just like with N. She picked up her first sign, "milk" at 7 months. I haven't given up on Z yet, but it's taking a lot longer! (That boy thing and communication thing).

He tried to sign dog once a bit ago, but hasn't really attempted anything since.

Today he signed milk to his sister, then has been signing it all day! He is so excited to have put it together he is very exuberant with his signing. He gets the biggest smile when he signs it and you say, you want "milk"?

Of course, I've been nursing him a lot more today than in the past few weeks as a result since I want him to appreciate that asking for milk will actually result in him getting milk. kwim?
LOL

Communication begins! I love it!

Awww- poor Zachary

He is finally getting the top two front teeth in and it is taking forever! Poor baby- the front right one is protruding down, but the gums haven't popped over it yet, so it looks like the tooth is "in" but it's the gum poking down. You can tell it hurts. I was trying to let him chew on my finger, and rub the gum to help it pop through, but he was resisting. The gum was bleeding some too. I have tried giving him cold things to chew on, wet/cold washcloth, etc, and he's having none of it.

I guess time will be the only thing to help. I don't remember Natalya having any trouble cutting her teeth.