short post, bday photos coming next (and hopefully soon!)

He loves his glasses and wearing necklaces. He has since lost the lenses, but still wears the glasses.




Went through a phase of putting buckets on his head like hats ...





... like i was saying.





when my parents were visiting back in February, we spent a rainy afternoon at the Bay Discovery Museum, just across the Golden Gate bridge in Sausalito. Lots of cool activities for little ones, from arts and crafts ...




... to sitting on drums ...





... to banging on pots and pans ...



... to chilling on a lily-pad waterbed!

photos photos photos: Dec '08-Feb '09

sleeeeeepy



alligator at Cal Academy of Sciences



first bubble bath at home








soap sideburns








pier 39 - sea lions on the docks in the backgroundwe were playing tourist ...



cable car turnaround


















Carousel at Yerba Buena Arts Center








big slide! at playground near the carousel



putting blocks away













can't tell from the photo, but Zach is reading "HortonHeard a Who" ... to Horton!!!



Zach on his "mo-cycle" (UPDATE: I was thinking about it
this morning, and he says it more like "mo-whycle", or
sometimes, "mo-wah-whycle". beyond cute.)



















taking a break from the bike to play on the see-saw



pure joy!

more choo-choo!

While Barb, Jay and Jen were here, we made sure to take them for a ride on a gen-yoo-ine steam locomotive, aka "choo-choo" in toddler-speak.

still a bargain. wonder how long that will last ...


steam-punk industrial-age porn for the gear-heads in the audience


note the working boiler ... i'm not sure if it's wood or coal burning


it was chilly, but we were on a choo-choo. howcould we not have fun???


reaching up to try and touch the steam


zach loved it ...


... almost as much as barb, jay and jen!


sunset from the train


sunset light, steam and trees



what a handsome guy

more pics from visit with the Ankeny's

a few photos from a visit to City Hall and Civic Center Plaza:

Zach snacking in front of City Hall







at the playground behind City Hall



Zach likes driving!

Post-Christmas and New Years with the Ankeny's in SF

After we got back from Phoenix, the Ankeny's (Jay, Barb and Jennifer) spent the week visiting with us. We lucked out because our neighbors Yann, Julie and their little boy, Aymeric (you may remember them from such blog posts as, The day after Thanksgiving 2007 and Aymeric's 1st Birthday) were out of town and needed housesitters. It was so convenient to have them stay so close by, I wish we could do that every time!

Jay brought a very special gift for Zach. He hand made a beautiful step-stool and carved Zach's name into it. Zach loved it from the start, and uses it every day to wash his hands and brush his teeth and (now in mid-March) is beginning to use it to climb up to the toilet for potty training. 

The other big hit present they brought was the teepee. Zach totally loves it.  He loves popping in and out of it and playing peekaboo from the inside.

This is one of those pictures that is definitely going to be shown to his prom date (great shot, Jen!)