Wednesday, December 29, 2004
Friday, December 17, 2004
11 Months and running
So for the second time, Zack has done something new on the day he turned a month older. The day he turned 10 months, he took his first unaided steps. On the day he turned 11 months, he now can stand up without pulling up on anything. This now means that falling down isn't a big deal anymore, so our walking speed has seemed to increase to an attempt at running at times.
There are many new videos I just uploaded to the website at www.gracks.com so be sure and check them out!
There are many new videos I just uploaded to the website at www.gracks.com so be sure and check them out!
Friday, November 19, 2004
Thursday, November 18, 2004
First Steps!
Well, Zack picked his 10month birthday on Monday to shock and awe his parents. Actually, I was alone with him in the early evening and Zack was standing with his hands against the wall and began walking on his own. He took about 6 steps, walking diagonally forward (which seems easier than walking directly forward since you would have to pick up your leg more to avoid tripping) and then promptly sat down, not realizing what he had done. Upon witnessing this, I grabbed the camera to capture it again, and only got baby frustration. I'll try an upload that video soon, quite funny. Time to get baby some new shoes!
Saturday, November 13, 2004
Goodbye to a great buddy
So it's been a rough week. On Thursday we had to bid farewell to Tina (a nice picture of better times shown below) due to kidney failure. Tina was Zack's first buddy, and he absolutely adored her. He would always look for her in the room and follow her movement with squeals of joy. Zack had recently associated her name with her; When we would say "Tina", he would look around for her. We are just thankful that they got to spend some good time together, albeit all too brief.
Zack is still is quite a happy baby. He's starting to imitate speech a bit. He says a lot of "da da da" and "deh deh deh" on his own. But, while he's got a ways to go to formulate words, he seems to be imitating syllables. When we say "kitty cat" he'll say "deh deh da". And point. He loves to point, and while I suppose later in life it might not be the most polite thing, it is darn cute for a soon-to-be-10-month-old.
He is throwing balls now and entertains himself quite a bit by tossing a ball or bean bag and crawling after it. His crawl speed continues to increase and while he is not fully walking on his own, he now stands freely on his is own and will walk if we lend a finger to one of his hands.
New pictures of months 8 and 9 are available at Zack's website
Zack is still is quite a happy baby. He's starting to imitate speech a bit. He says a lot of "da da da" and "deh deh deh" on his own. But, while he's got a ways to go to formulate words, he seems to be imitating syllables. When we say "kitty cat" he'll say "deh deh da". And point. He loves to point, and while I suppose later in life it might not be the most polite thing, it is darn cute for a soon-to-be-10-month-old.
He is throwing balls now and entertains himself quite a bit by tossing a ball or bean bag and crawling after it. His crawl speed continues to increase and while he is not fully walking on his own, he now stands freely on his is own and will walk if we lend a finger to one of his hands.
New pictures of months 8 and 9 are available at Zack's website
Thursday, November 11, 2004
Monday, October 25, 2004
9 month checkup
Last week Zack had his 9 month checkup! Here are the important stats: 60% percentile in weight (22 pounds), 90% percentile in length, and 90% in head size. His weight has dropped off a bit due to his non-stop crawling. He is now wearing 18-month sized clothes and has grown out of most of his other clothes. And he's got his flu shot too.
The past week Zack started to show association with sound and sight and pointing. When he hears an airplane or a bird, he looks up at the sky, and when he see it, he is reaching out and pointing at it. So we of course went to our friendly neighborhood airport over the weekend to let him see more planes. While the planes were neat and loud, his favorite was watching a helicopter hover around on a training flight. He can't say any words yet, but it is neat to hear him say "buh buh buh buh" when pointing at a bird.
Zack is not walking unaided yet, but he is very close. If we hold both his hands, he is off to the races. And if we hold one hand, he will still walk, but a little slower (This is a good way to control baby speed when the parent starts tiring out). He has lost his late afternoon nap, and now only naps at 9:30 am and at 1:30pm.
The past week Zack started to show association with sound and sight and pointing. When he hears an airplane or a bird, he looks up at the sky, and when he see it, he is reaching out and pointing at it. So we of course went to our friendly neighborhood airport over the weekend to let him see more planes. While the planes were neat and loud, his favorite was watching a helicopter hover around on a training flight. He can't say any words yet, but it is neat to hear him say "buh buh buh buh" when pointing at a bird.
Zack is not walking unaided yet, but he is very close. If we hold both his hands, he is off to the races. And if we hold one hand, he will still walk, but a little slower (This is a good way to control baby speed when the parent starts tiring out). He has lost his late afternoon nap, and now only naps at 9:30 am and at 1:30pm.
Sunday, October 03, 2004
The crawl monster
Well, crawling has won. Zack is now scooting around on all fours, but walking may not be far behind. We had to do some emergency baby-proofing of he house. Jen also counted at least 25 seconds of Zack standing with no support. As soon as he figures out how to move his legs while not holding on to anything, he will be off to the races.
We've taken his 12 hour sleep-through-the-night sleeping cycle for granted. Now that he has learned to sit up by himself and stand up, the crib is now a play-pen, not just a place to sleep. Getting him to sleep is now much more difficult since he wil now flop all over the crib for 30 min before tiring himself out. And now when we hear him wake up, we walk into his room and see him hapily standing in his crib. See the picture above.
We may need to get a helmet for him as all his adventues may be rough on his forehead. The interesting thing is that when he cries after bumping his head, he will stop immediately if he is helped up to a standing position. He loves to stand!
We've taken his 12 hour sleep-through-the-night sleeping cycle for granted. Now that he has learned to sit up by himself and stand up, the crib is now a play-pen, not just a place to sleep. Getting him to sleep is now much more difficult since he wil now flop all over the crib for 30 min before tiring himself out. And now when we hear him wake up, we walk into his room and see him hapily standing in his crib. See the picture above.
We may need to get a helmet for him as all his adventues may be rough on his forehead. The interesting thing is that when he cries after bumping his head, he will stop immediately if he is helped up to a standing position. He loves to stand!
Saturday, September 18, 2004
Friday, September 17, 2004
Walk vs. Crawl
It's a race to see what will happen first. Zack has now successfully pulled himself to a standing position. And he's been able to stand and balance for as long as 10 seconds without any support. But he's also looking like he's about to crawl too. Zack will start to move and then roll over, since he's found that rolling gets him where he wants to go faster than trying to crawl. So it is going to be close between those first unaided steps and scrambling on all fours. Place you bets now.
I've thought that by now, his hair would have grown out to lay flat. However, it continues to grow straight up, so he still has a blonde mohawk. I think for Halloween, Zack will be Billy Idol, and we will be his fans....
Zack is now a heafty 22 pounds, and he is still in the 90% percentile in height and weight. For the family members interested, he is wearing 18-month sized clothes. The 12month size will be grown out of very shortly. I guess that's what happens when you feed the little monsters.
I've thought that by now, his hair would have grown out to lay flat. However, it continues to grow straight up, so he still has a blonde mohawk. I think for Halloween, Zack will be Billy Idol, and we will be his fans....
Zack is now a heafty 22 pounds, and he is still in the 90% percentile in height and weight. For the family members interested, he is wearing 18-month sized clothes. The 12month size will be grown out of very shortly. I guess that's what happens when you feed the little monsters.
Thursday, September 16, 2004
First Tooth!
We are now at 8 months, and have been admittedly a little slow on the text blogging. And a lot has happened!
Zack, last week got his first tooth on the bottom, and it was soon followed by another. The teething process hasn't been easy for Zack, but we share in the pain every time he tries to bite our fingers.
We started swim lessons at La Petit Baleen in San Bruno last week. It is a bit of a hike but is a well-regarded swim school. So far, Zack LOVES the pool and cries out with excitement everytime he sees it. He seems to be the most well-adjusted in the class so far, as his tub antics have seemed to translate well to the pool.
Well, a lot more has happened but that's it for this installment.
Zack, last week got his first tooth on the bottom, and it was soon followed by another. The teething process hasn't been easy for Zack, but we share in the pain every time he tries to bite our fingers.
We started swim lessons at La Petit Baleen in San Bruno last week. It is a bit of a hike but is a well-regarded swim school. So far, Zack LOVES the pool and cries out with excitement everytime he sees it. He seems to be the most well-adjusted in the class so far, as his tub antics have seemed to translate well to the pool.
Well, a lot more has happened but that's it for this installment.
Monday, September 13, 2004
Tuesday, August 31, 2004
Sunday, August 15, 2004
Thursday, August 12, 2004
Tuesday, August 03, 2004
Quick pictures on the Blog
Uh-oh, I found a new cool service. I can now send pictures I took with my camera phone directly to this weblog using a new service called flickr. This is the first one I've sent. Expect many more to come...
Monday, July 26, 2004
Super Thursday
So only 2 days after his 6 month checkup, we had a few breakthroughs. On Thursday, Zack developed a new laugh, and starting babbling incessantly, and really slept through the night (12 hours) for the first time.
We introduced toys into the bath for the first time on Thursday. Since he has out grown his old sink-mountable tub, we've had to move to a larger tub that fits in the real tub. But this leaves plenty of room for splashing and playing. Jen bought four squirt toys and the first time she squirted him in the chest with one, he looked surprised, looked at us for a reaction, and then broke into a solid giggle and chortle. We kept squirting him and he kept giving that new hearty laugh as if someone told him a funny joke and he couldn't stop laughing. We couldn't stop either. Also, the look on his face when he splashed the water hard enough that he got his own face wet was priceless.
Zack is now moving away from his grunts and coos, and is now babbling and trying to articulate so much more with his mouth. We already have "da-da" sounds and other sounds that can't be typed so easily. His vocal range has also expanded and you can watch his toungue hard at work trying all sorts of positions as he babbles.
It must be the solid food introduction, because only a few days after he started with it, on Thursday he slept through the night, and I mean really slept through the night, from 7pm to 7am. We thought that 6 hours was the best we were going to get for sleep duration, but I guess that change in food caused him not to need to get up for that midnight feeding anymore. We are now at 4 nights in a row for 12 hours. It's all a tradeoff though, solid foods mean more sleep but more stinky diapers...
We introduced toys into the bath for the first time on Thursday. Since he has out grown his old sink-mountable tub, we've had to move to a larger tub that fits in the real tub. But this leaves plenty of room for splashing and playing. Jen bought four squirt toys and the first time she squirted him in the chest with one, he looked surprised, looked at us for a reaction, and then broke into a solid giggle and chortle. We kept squirting him and he kept giving that new hearty laugh as if someone told him a funny joke and he couldn't stop laughing. We couldn't stop either. Also, the look on his face when he splashed the water hard enough that he got his own face wet was priceless.
Zack is now moving away from his grunts and coos, and is now babbling and trying to articulate so much more with his mouth. We already have "da-da" sounds and other sounds that can't be typed so easily. His vocal range has also expanded and you can watch his toungue hard at work trying all sorts of positions as he babbles.
It must be the solid food introduction, because only a few days after he started with it, on Thursday he slept through the night, and I mean really slept through the night, from 7pm to 7am. We thought that 6 hours was the best we were going to get for sleep duration, but I guess that change in food caused him not to need to get up for that midnight feeding anymore. We are now at 4 nights in a row for 12 hours. It's all a tradeoff though, solid foods mean more sleep but more stinky diapers...
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
6 Month Checkup
Well we just got back from the doctor and Zack's 6 month check-up. This time he didn't need to be carted in a baby carrier, he walked into the office by himself. Well, maybe not so much walking by himself as he was carried by his dad, but the point is that there was no baby carrier! After charming the receptionist and the nurse, Zack weighed in at a whopping 20 pounds, and 28 inches, which puts him at the 90% percentile all around for weight, height, and noggin size. He a big baby, but at least he's proportional! Zack is now 2/3 of Tina's weight. Note to family: Zack is now wearing 9-12 month old sizes.
Zack recently returned from a family reunion in South Bend, Indiana where he amazed the adults by rolling over from stomach to back for the first time. Once he figured that out, he's been off to the log rolling races ever since. He cannot crawl yet, but he's figured out that if he wants to move somewhere, it is best done by rolling sideways.
His first experience at a baseball game was a little shocking at first. We sat down to watch the first inning, and all the yelling from the fans behind us was a little overwhelming for Zack and he started crying and wouldn't stop. We had to get up and leave the stands in the middle of the inning (which is a bit rude as we should wait for an inning break), however since the Giants were getting pounded for 6 runs in the first inning by the Rockies, we told those around us that Zack was really upset with the pitching and that we needed to take a time out. The Giants fans understood, echoed Zack's concerns, and I think I saw tears from some other fans too. We enjoyed the rest of the game walking around inside the stadium and watching from quieter locations.
Oh, and I almost forgot, Zack is now eating solid foods, which is a bit of a misnomer since rice cereal looks anything but solid to me. Not much interesting food stories yet, I'll keep evenyone informed when he moves on to bacon...
The latest month 5 pics and videos are at www.gracks.com
Zack recently returned from a family reunion in South Bend, Indiana where he amazed the adults by rolling over from stomach to back for the first time. Once he figured that out, he's been off to the log rolling races ever since. He cannot crawl yet, but he's figured out that if he wants to move somewhere, it is best done by rolling sideways.
His first experience at a baseball game was a little shocking at first. We sat down to watch the first inning, and all the yelling from the fans behind us was a little overwhelming for Zack and he started crying and wouldn't stop. We had to get up and leave the stands in the middle of the inning (which is a bit rude as we should wait for an inning break), however since the Giants were getting pounded for 6 runs in the first inning by the Rockies, we told those around us that Zack was really upset with the pitching and that we needed to take a time out. The Giants fans understood, echoed Zack's concerns, and I think I saw tears from some other fans too. We enjoyed the rest of the game walking around inside the stadium and watching from quieter locations.
Oh, and I almost forgot, Zack is now eating solid foods, which is a bit of a misnomer since rice cereal looks anything but solid to me. Not much interesting food stories yet, I'll keep evenyone informed when he moves on to bacon...
The latest month 5 pics and videos are at www.gracks.com
Saturday, June 26, 2004
We have rollover!
Well, with Mom away for the day, Zack decided today was the day to impress dad, except dad missed the big event too.
Zack was on the floor on his play mat on his back while I was preparing a bottle. I had to run to the bathroom to grab a q-tip to clean one of the bottles. When I returned 20 seconds later, Zack was on his stomach looking very bewildered and starting to cry. Zack has now officially rolled-over on his own. Since the event this morning, Zack has done it once more and I almost missed that one too. It looked so effortless, I didn't realize what I was watching until he was on his stomach. Well, now begins the period of time in which he will wonder why he rolled oer to begin with, since he can't do much on his stomach. Let the crawling lessons begin! I guess we will have to start think about baby-proofing the house for a soon-to-be-mobile baby!
Updated pics and videos are at Zack's Website
Zack was on the floor on his play mat on his back while I was preparing a bottle. I had to run to the bathroom to grab a q-tip to clean one of the bottles. When I returned 20 seconds later, Zack was on his stomach looking very bewildered and starting to cry. Zack has now officially rolled-over on his own. Since the event this morning, Zack has done it once more and I almost missed that one too. It looked so effortless, I didn't realize what I was watching until he was on his stomach. Well, now begins the period of time in which he will wonder why he rolled oer to begin with, since he can't do much on his stomach. Let the crawling lessons begin! I guess we will have to start think about baby-proofing the house for a soon-to-be-mobile baby!
Updated pics and videos are at Zack's Website
Wednesday, May 26, 2004
Being chubby aids in sleeping?
Whohoo! Last night was the first night Zack slept through the night. Well, it was only a 7 hour stretch, but we're considering that close enough.
Zack had his four month check-up last week. Our chubby fellow is now just over 16 pounds and in the 90% percentile for height, 75% for weight, and 90% for head circumference. Not bad for a skinny newborn. According to the pediatrician, he is about to have a bottom tooth busting out any time now.
At this point, Zack has just about outgrown his 3-6 month clothes. He's getting pretty close to rolling over now, but not quite yet.
Zack had his four month check-up last week. Our chubby fellow is now just over 16 pounds and in the 90% percentile for height, 75% for weight, and 90% for head circumference. Not bad for a skinny newborn. According to the pediatrician, he is about to have a bottom tooth busting out any time now.
At this point, Zack has just about outgrown his 3-6 month clothes. He's getting pretty close to rolling over now, but not quite yet.
Wednesday, May 12, 2004
Zack's first Blog
This is the first blog that tracks the experiences, development, and comic relief of Zachary Robert Stack for family and friends. Zack is just about to turn 4 months old. For you new-comers, to get caught up, you can go to Zack's website. For the well-informed, here's the latest:
Zack's current favorite sound to make is "mem", and he has been a very happy baby. The last few days have seen him shift off his schedule somewhat and become more fussy. he is not sleeping through the night yet, but he has gone up to 5 hours between feedings at night. His favorite activity now is doing leg crunches and thumps. He will bring his knees up to his chest, extend his legs and then thump both his legs down as hard as he can. This thumping against the crib mattress is quite audible throughout the house (especially with the monitor on). If he is not cooing, and we are wondering if he is sleeping in his crib or not, a loud "thump" answers that question!
Zack's dad has created an XML / RSS link to this blog on the right side of this page. You can use any standard RSS reader, but I recommend creating a Smart Group in Bloomba in order to read it.
Zack's current favorite sound to make is "mem", and he has been a very happy baby. The last few days have seen him shift off his schedule somewhat and become more fussy. he is not sleeping through the night yet, but he has gone up to 5 hours between feedings at night. His favorite activity now is doing leg crunches and thumps. He will bring his knees up to his chest, extend his legs and then thump both his legs down as hard as he can. This thumping against the crib mattress is quite audible throughout the house (especially with the monitor on). If he is not cooing, and we are wondering if he is sleeping in his crib or not, a loud "thump" answers that question!
Zack's dad has created an XML / RSS link to this blog on the right side of this page. You can use any standard RSS reader, but I recommend creating a Smart Group in Bloomba in order to read it.
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