WA visit (#1)

One more story before I get to some pics from our visit in Washington (first week and a half of April). To prep Zach for the move, I had been telling him that we were going to go on an airplane to go see Uncle Paul, and that we would be staying with him. So whenever we heard an airplane, Z would say "airplane, Paul!" It was pretty cute. Then one night after I put him down, I heard him talking to himself, saying "airplane, Paul" over and over again. I guess he was excited :).

So on our way up to Washington we stopped in Redding to drop off all our stuff in a storage unit. Well, most of our stuff - it's amazing how many things we just end up collecting ("and by 'we,' I mean society"). We actually brought a fair amount of stuff to Paul's. Anyway, we got there pretty late and stayed the night. My bro Luke drove up with us, helped J manhandle the washer and dryer, ate some food with us and headed home. We had to get our truck back down, so thankfully he was willing to help. Though we joked that he was driving a vehicle that wasn't his (not even the same last name), registered out of state, with nearly expired tabs and a shotgun in the front seat. We thought the discourse between him and a police officer would have been funny :).

Then we drove, drove, drove. It was actually a pretty full car since we were packing for a week or two and Bobster had all his stuff (though we managed to accidentally put his box of non-necessary stuff in the very back of our storage unit).

We ended up spending the night at Jason's sister's house, which was relaxing. We got exactly one pic of our time there. Just one :). We didn't stay too terribly long, but that's still a pretty bad record. Jason looks like he just woke up, but it's a pretty cute picture. We like it when Z voluntarily gives us "snuggles."

While Z was still pretty good, he was soooo needy after our move. Even with Paul. He just did not want to be left alone, or even held by anyone else. I tried to be as understanding as possible - his world did just radically change, and the only constant was us. Still, it was draining. Sometimes he didn't even want to interact with people. I think he was just overwhelmed.

However, Grandma Eva found some toys for him to play with, and that's always a good bribing tool.

We found out through the course of our many meals out that Z just loves toast. I'd prefer it not to be completely covered in butter, but you don't always have that option at a restaurant. Here's a pic of him choosing his toast over his kix. Which we can no longer let him have by himself because he thinks it's more fun to just chuck them off his tray.

Aunt Jacquie gave Z this train set. He still loves it. We learned "derailed!" Would you believe it says it's not for kids under three?

Zachary playing with Grandma Eva, who's great with kids (even the fussy ones).

What to do with our friends and family?? Go shooting! It was Z's first experience, and thankfully our friends had some muffs he used. He did not want to leave them on, so that's why I'm holding his hands. He was pretty scared at first, but he liked that the guns went "boom." Didn't help that it was so crazy windy!

Eva, Z and I. Someone always had to be holding him, and as he didn't much like anyone other than J or I, it was usually me. No worries, though - I did get to shoot a little, too. Actually did fairly well hitting some clays. 'Course my arm didn't want much more than about 6 rounds. There's actually some serious skill involved in properly holding a firearm.

Bobster, J and Chad pulling skeet. For a while we had two guys shooting, one trying to get all the clays while the other just tried to pick up what was missed. It was fun. Amanda was actually there, too, but apparently we failed to get a picture of her (sorry!). But Chad does have a nice little handgun. I'm just a wannabe, so I have no idea what it was :).

So other people realized this, but not me. When you haven't been around family for a while, they dump stuff on you! It's never happened to us in the past because we've always been flying and pretty limited with space. But not so this time! Z got several new toys, and we were even offered a kid-size tee-pee. I really like this pic of Z on his new car that Jacquie gave him.

Eva took this one - I have no idea what they are doing! Though Zachary loved this little chair. He also liked to push it around the kitchen, which made one of the worst noises ever. Then Papa Bob taught him to say "Nnun, nnun, nnun" like a car revving it's engine. We had to limit those activities to when everyone was awake.

Speaking of, Z had a horrific time with his sleep pattern while we were there. It didn't help that he was cutting several teeth - I think three in about a week's time popped through. But he ended up waking about 5:30 - 6 every morning. Which is a far cry from his usual 7-7:30. Of course, that didn't really help his fussiness much at all. Jason and I ended up taking turns getting up with him while the other slept in. It was not the best. Thankfully that pattern past, though it has since repeated itself.

One day J and I decided that we seriously needed a break from Zach. We were able to hang out with people while Z was down for the night, but he was just so needy during the day. And I didn't want to leave him alone too much, because I think he was just so unearthed he was scared. Anyway, J and I both thought it would be good for Z to see us leave and then come back. So we left him with Papa Bob and Grandma Eva while we headed to a second hand store and then picked up a burger, fries and shake. Which were not crinkle fries as expected (if there's more than one store, they really ought to carry the same products). Anyway, it was nice to get a break from Zach and find some cheap clothes. I even found some super cute pants for Z.

While we left Z screaming, he apparently only cried for about 8 minutes, then he was done (well, that's what we were told! :)). Zach just loves to read books, and as I believe the story goes, Eva asked him if he wanted to read books in his chair and he was happy again. I think these pictures are just super cute.


I forget what was happening outside, but Z wanted to watch whatever Papa Bob was doing. I was so happy that Z was content to be in someone else's arms!

One thing to always bring to keep the boy happy - balloons. Just loves them. We had never really taught him how to stick them to his head before. It's just an awesome picture.

While we haven't let him do it a whole lot, Z is actually pretty good with a spoon. I'm sure other kids might be better, but it really is just faster for us to feed him. But if he lets us know we'll let him use the spoon. He's since gotten pretty good, even with both hands.

Naked baby!

We spent some time over at Grammie Jeanie's house, where of course Z had more new toys to play with.

And puppies! She had three dogs, one of which had just had a litter of puppies about two weeks prior. Zach just loved the idea, and Jason had never seen pups so little! I was pretty surprised. Guess things are different when you grow up on a quasi-farm. But Zach loved to hold them. And within the time we were there, they opened their eyes. It was neat.

The lighting is weird, but here's a pic of J with Jeanie, his sis Andrea, and his cousin Bob.

Z again with his tongue out.

I just love this picture!! Z seems to have a "clueless/please help me" expression while Papa Bob looks like he couldn't be more irritated/shocked. As if someone was telling him how to feed Z. I have no idea what was happening, but it's fun to make up stories :).

Z and J playing with Andrea's son Hunter. Who is only two years older than Zach, but he's huge! It seemed like he and Z liked to play together.

We got around for family photos, but of course Z didn't want to be without mom or dad. We can pretend that he's actually happy, not screaming :).

And us. It was surprisingly cold there, from what I remember.

We were able to hang out with some friends and Eva even hosted a little shindig for us with several of our school/church friends. 'Course none of the pictures turned out. But it was nice to spend some time with people and eat food. Then we went over to a friend's house and were introduced to the world of Rock Band!!! I LOVE that game. I've since tried convincing some that it can help people get better at math, but it hasn't worked yet (people who are better at music are better at math, they say). We played it for a few hours and I'm super hooked. And they said I was pretty good with a bass for a rookie :).

We also got to see my little sister, which was nice. I'm sure I'm forgetting lots of stories, but it's hard to remember everything that happened - usually when we go up there it's just a race to see as many people in the short amount of time we have. Sorry if I'm leaving anything critical out - feel free to remind me!