Big day for little Z-man--updated!!

Big sister feeding Zach and Calvin giving kisses

Zachary liked hanging out on Daddy's chest.

He wasn't so sure about the flying thing yet.


That is a look of pride on her face!!

Our little Z-man had a big day yesterday. It is all just a slew of minor little things that all add up when you are trying to grow up and play with your fun big sister and brother. In the morning Zachary was sitting in his swing. Emerald and Calvin, in their usual "let's entertain our little brother" mode, were just chatting away with him and bombarding him with love. 1) Zachary giggled at their antics!! This is the first time he has really had a stronger reaction than a smile, so needless to say, the kids were on cloud 9!! They thought it was just the best thing of all, and were encouraged to bug him even more all day long to try to get him to giggle more. 2) Then, that evening after all the kids had a bath, we were praying and reading our story in Zach's room. We decided to offer him a toy and he grabbed it like it was a normal thing and started playing with it (aka straight to the mouth). This was his first real grab at toys and Emerald hasn't wanted the toy to leave his side since. 3) Then we rolled him over on his belly for some tummy-time. Zachary picked his head up higher than we've seen him do yet. He raised that big old melon up high and tried to watch what we were doing with our story. We were all pretty excited. 4) After he had his head up for the 4th or 5th time, he just rolled over!!!!!! He did it in front of the entire family and we were all shocked. He acted like he'd been doing it all along, and it was no big deal. I am sure it was just a fluke. He didn't look like he was attempting a roll, or trying hard at all. I think the big noggin just helped pull him over on his side, but I will mark his baby book that it was his first "roll over". Em & Cal were so sweet. They were cheering him on, clapping, praising, and Emerald kept saying, "Zachy, I'm so proud of you. Good job!" I'm proud of them for being so encouraging to their baby brother. Emerald also has a thing with calling Zach "little guy" and "peanut" (things she hasn't picked up from us, b/c I don't thing we ever call him either of those names--lots of other nicknames, but not those). It is sweet.

Updated--and at 4:30 this afternoon 5) Zachary rolled over from his back to his tummy. Last night belly to back, today back to belly. Guess he saw all the rolling Josiah was doing this weekend and is trying to play catch-up--all in a 24 hour period!! Way to go little Z-man!! Although, I have to say, if you start rocking, preparing to crawl, or pulling up, be prepared for this mommy to gently knock you back down. I'm not ready for that yet :) JK for all those who don't know me well enough to know I wouldn't really knock my baby down.

We go to the doctor tomorrow and we will get an official weight and will be getting shots. Yuck! It has been so awesome to only have to visit the doctor for our well-baby checks. We haven't been to the office since April 7th and that was just for our Synagis shot. Impressive!! (Knocking on wood here).

Funny side-note story: Calvin was getting out the of the bathtub last week. He's standing there stark naked. He puts his hands on his nipples and declares, "I'm pumping like momma. Making milk for Zachy." Pretty funny! Gave me a good laugh for the night. I'm sure he will love hearing that story when he's 16!! :) I love you Calvinator!

Emerald is really improving in the reading department. She is spouting off letters in words faster than I can at times, and can recognize almost all the letters in lower case. You think that sounds simple, but with all the varied fonts, it can be tricky. She is sounding out her letters and can recognize some words. She read BABY to me the other day. Skip wears a new shirt from Garmin and she read "Garmin Argyle Army" to us several times. I think repetition played a factor in that one :) Not many 4 year olds can read argyle, right?? We are pretty proud of our little reader bee. Now when we spell to each other (you know, things like candy, cake, etc.), she attempts to tell us what we are spelling.