First Haircut!

Last weekend, Zachary underwent his first official haircut. To be honest, he's had several hair "trims" where certain portions of his hair was cut, but this was the first all-over haircut. We saved some of his curls from the back to put into a scrapbook for posterity. The only way that we could get him to sit still enough was to give him a bowl of cheerios to munch on! :)

On another note, we purchased bedroom furniture for our master bedroom! It arrived yesterday, so now we're in the process of putting our room back together. It is quite exciting as we've just had the mis-matched furniture for a very long time.

Next week, we're heading to Canada for a week. We'll first go to Manitoba for a visit with Amy's Dad and other friends before heading to Quebec City for meetings that Amy attends. We've never been to Quebec City before, so this will be a fun adventure. We're going to be able to see Amy's cousin Kim and her family in Quebec as they'll be there for their own vacation by coincidence! Great timing! :) So, we'll not have another post until around July 4th week or so.

On a final note - Happy Father's Day to all Dads!

Learning Experiences!

Last weekend, Karis went up to Chicago to take his manual therapy certification after finding out only 3 weeks prior that he would be allowed to go. So, those three weeks were crammed with cramming :). He flew up there last weekend to take the 3-part test. He won't find out his results for another 4-6 weeks but he feels like he may need to take the practical (hands-on) portion of the test again in the fall. Apparently he fell into the "mind goes blank" trap that most of us have experienced at one point or another! :) He was able to take a short drive over to Berrien Springs to stroll down memory lane with friends (Will & Heather Cochran, Kelly Slikkers and Alex Markovich)

This week has been a traumatic one for Zachary - he has been forced into the world of swimming lessons by his cruel parents. :) Beware, swimming lessons are not for the faint of heart - there is much crying!! :) So, every day for 10 minutes we experience a "controlled drowning experience" (description provided by our friend Lisa who is also forcing her 14 month old Luke to learn to survive as well! :)). Basically the lessons are for 3-5 weeks in which the child will learn to flip onto their back and float until help arrives. If they are walking already, they also learn to then flip back over and swim towards the side before switching to float again to breathe. Both boys are mad as hatters during the entire 10 minutes (good thing that it is short!), but we are seeing progress (Luke is really kicking towards the wall well and Zachary seems to be getting the hang of the float business). We have a long way to go, but it is giving me a peace of mind to know that we are pro-actively trying to ensure that he'll be as safe as possible in a state where almost every other house has a pool.

As a final note, my cousin Kathy came down for meetings this week, so we had a fun time catching up with her! We are very lucky that Orlando is such a popular spot for meetings etc as we've really been able to see many friends and family over the years as they come for conferences etc.

Memorial Day Weekend

Well - you'd think with Memorial Day Weekend that we'd have lots to write about, but our weekend was very quiet - Karis spent most of the weekend holed up trying to study for his certification. He is up in Chicago this weekend taking the test, so wish him luck!

It would seem that it may be a busy season for hurricanes this year - or at least it is starting off busy. We're having quite a bit of rain this weekend and I hear that a tropical storm Barry may have something to do with it (people who know me well know that I rarely watch the news so am embarrassingly uninformed - Karis had to call me from Chicago to tell me that we were perhaps being affected by tropical storm Barry - to which I replied "Really? Barry??" Very sad!

I'm the last believer, but it would appear that Zachary is starting to talk a little bit - or at least imitate the sounds of words so closely that it SOUNDS like he is talking. I am still the skeptic, but Karis and others are convinced that they've heard him say "Up," and "Gentle" (okay, even I heard these two first words - but am not yet convinced that he had any idea of what he was saying!) His baby-sitter, Amy (yes, Zachary is going to think that all women's names are Amy!) tells me that she's heard "Gracias" (she is Spanish) as well. Who knows - perhaps he is talking! His latest tricks involve "Flexing" his arm muscles - which I have to say is about the funniest thing that I've ever seen - and he'll do it on command!! He waves good-bye and will grab his head when you ask him to show you his head in Spanish (cabesa? Not sure on spelling!). He loves to do this tricks for his fans, and sometimes will string all of them together and then clap for himself - as if to say "Aren't I so clever!?" We of course think so! :)

For not having much to say, I realize that I've rambled on, so will draw this post to a close.