Sedona

Merry Christmas, everyone!  Catching up on pics.  Here are some shots from our vacation week in Sedona, Arizona.

We were worried how our squirmy worm would do on a 5-hour flight, but he did very well and even slept a bit

Rocks! Awesome!

Off for a hike in Sedona.  He loves our new hiking backpack ($2.50 at a yard sale!).

It's comfy, apparently

Water! Awesome!

Not good to sit in water when it's freezing! Too curious.

Always exploring - even in the cabinets in our condo (we love these new long johns)

We need to work on dinner etiquette

Because temperatures were unexpectedly ridiculously freezing, we spent a portion of our vacation trying to buy snow boots and warm mittens for Zain.  Over the course of the week, we ended up buying different 5 pairs of boots and 2 sets of mitts, and returning ones that didn't fit or didn't keep him warm.  We finally ended up with one pair of each that did the job.  Boots that fall off are a particular problem when your kid is in a hiking backpack.  On two hikes, we had to backtrack on search and rescue missions to find dropped boots.

Zain saw snow last year, but probably doesn't really remember it.  But he'll definitely remember it now.  Loved it!

At Oak Creek Canyon near Flagstaff

He likes eating snow, too

Some sort of hilarity in the rental car.  He's grown too tall to sit with the car seat rear-facing, so he can see us now when we're driving.  This has led to all sorts of new games.  His favorite is the "two mommy game".  He yells "Mama" and when one of us turns around to talk to him, he pretends that it was the other one he was calling.  This game never gets old (for him).

Winter is a great time to visit the Grand Canyon - no crowds.  We had hoped to hike down into the canyon a bit, but it was too icy.  So we took a nice hike along the rim.  

Three little mule deer crossed our path on the trail

Zain spies the deer

Turkey Time

We had a fantastic turkey-filled visit with the Ohio family for Thanksgiving:

The farm cousins - big boy Zain got to sit by himself

We finally got to meet the newest cousin, Dustin!

'I am tired of cameras!'

We had lovely, atypical Thanksgiving weather 

Luke and Zain

'Did I not tell you I was tired of cameras???'

At the Pickering family lunch - trying to put his shoe back on

Bossypants

He had freedom to roam at the reunion and didn't get into too much trouble

Getting delicious bites of comfort food from Grammy

Maya's car seat provided hours of fun

Maya was a consultant on the project

Thirsty

Getting lots of pics from the busy last couple of weeks together, so expect many posts in the next week or so.  In the meantime, I had to share this pic from today.  Zain has been giving his stuffed animals "drinks" and "food" a lot lately.  Today, it was his belly button that wanted a drink.

Vacation!

Crazy couple of weeks for us as we just returned from Ohio Thanksgiving and are headed off tomorrow for a vacation in Arizona.  Apparently, our blog has been on vacation, too.  Sorry about that.  We will get you all caught up on Zain's latest tricks when we return.  Here are a couple pics from the vault to tide you over.

Apple!

Exhausting hiking

Helping to unpack his running stroller

Way back in the phone-obsession days

Feeding Mummy

The Importance of Having a Spotter

A very determined Zain learned to climb the other day. 

Zain's Day

Some scenes from a typical day in Zain's life....

 

A pantsless drive, probably illegal in most jurisdictions

A new use for the potty

He loves leaves

 

A new project - zipping Monkey into the Peapod

Giving Puppy a drink

Monkey is hungry

Spilled Milk

A few recent tidbits from Zain's life:

You know how people say if their kids have been quiet for a long time, you know they're doing something they're not supposed to?  Today, after such a quiet moment, I ended up stuffing about 25 Kleenexes back in their box. And, apparently, I'm not good at learning this lesson, because about an hour later this appeared on the floor.  And his jeans were soaked.

He also was feeling nostalgic today:

"Remember when I was like 6 months old and I could do this??"

Zain has also become quite the helper.  He grabbed the broom out of my hand today so he could finish the job.  I guess this is better than taking all the clean clothes out of the laundry basket.

His latest obsession is tickling us.  He'll reach up under our shirts and tickle our tummies.  We're trying to make him understand that is not an activity for outside of the house.  :-)  If we're sitting on the floor, he'll commence a "back attack", where he'll grab on or tickle us.  And if you're lying on the floor, you will become a horse.  He'll hop on and start bouncing and neighing.

A few other shots from the past couple weeks:

He loves to rearrange the furniture.  And he's strong.

 

Do they load test these things?

Adrianne is a good influence (that's mustard)

Out for a lunch date with Mommy

He feels the need to process some food (I think this is Stu's influence)

 

Tazzie Auntie was visiting from Atlanta!

 

He loves to close anything - gates, doors, drawers