Zachary is starting to become a very bossy boy. When he doesn’t get what he wants, he cries his head off until someone gives him what he wants. He also isn't very good at right and wrong. I know that he is still very young, but even when I tell him that he is bad, he just smiles at me and continues doing whatever he was doing. And when I take him away, he acts up by crying and kicking. I just don’t remember Nicholas being this mischievous when he was Zachary’s age. (I do! -Daddy)
Okay, enough of the bad side of Zachary. Another one of his teeth just came. It’s one of his molars. It’s on the bottom right. He is also starting to repeat words that we say and is starting to associate them to things that he knows. For example, he always says “mum mum” when he sees food. He also can say “shoe shoe” when he sees a pair of shoes. Another word that he can say is “ba ba” for daddy in Chinese. He actually says that to Michael. He can say rice porridge in Chinese and he understands you when you say “close the door.” Like Nicholas, he knows where to take his dirty diaper after he has been changed. He loves to say “bo bo” for the word ball. (He loves to play with balls and throw them up and down.) He can also say “milk” in Chinese when he wants milk. Finally, he knows how to say “bye-bye” and will wave to you when he says it.
Nicholas is getting along great with Zachary. Whenever they are by themselves either at my parents’ or our house, they spend most of the time with each other. It’s really amazing watching them and how they can make each other laugh at the weirdest things. Zachary will laugh at Nicholas doing the “peek-a-boo” with a blanket while Nicholas will laugh at Zachary just jumping up and down on the bed. Nicholas is very good with Zachary. He normally will give Zachary want he wants when he wants it. We try to explain to him that Zachary is much younger and does not understand the concept of sharing yet, but he needs to share with his brother. We try to tell him to give it to Zachary and when Zachary is not playing with the toy anymore, then he can have it. Most of time, he’s very receptive to this, but there are those times where he gets really upset over it. There are also other times where he won’t give up the toy and will find Zachary something else that Zachary will want to play with. He also knows to treat his brother with care. (No shoving, pushing or bullying around the younger brother) I’m very proud of Nicholas and how he has been handling the whole big brother thing. I really think that he will be a great role model for Zachary as they grow older.
Nicholas is starting to develop an interest for drawing. He likes to outline words that you have written on a piece of paper. He will try to trace it with whatever marker, pen, or pencil he has on hand. Last night when we were signing Midge’s birthday card, he was tracing “Grandma, Happy Birthday” with a pen so it really looked like he was writing “Grandma, Happy Birthday.” He loves to watch his cousins do their homework. However, because there are so many kids at my parents’ house and my sister just does not have the time to include Nicholas in the homework activities that my nieces are doing also, he does not participate in the same activities that they are doing. We are trying to help him out by giving him paper and markers to write with when he’s home. We write words like Nicky, Zacky, mommy and daddy on the paper for him to trace after. Oh, yeah. Nicholas can also say his full name, Nicholas Ryan Van Zandt. We wanted to make sure that he knew how to say that just in case he got separated from us in public.
Michael’s the same old Michael. There’s not much different about him. He’s going to be one year older in another few weeks. I don’t know how he feels about that. He’s going to be 40 in a few more years. I know that he’s not looking forward to that. I don’t know if I want to throw him a big 40th birthday party. I know that he hates birthday parties for him already so to top it off with the big 40 may not be a very good idea. (You're right! It's not! - Daddy) But you’re 40 only once. We’ll see as we get closer to the number 40.
As for me, I’m getting old and I’m starting to forget things all the time. It’s kind of hard for me to take this memory loss thing right now. I’m normally really good with the memory thing, but the last weekend has not been a very good week for it. I seem to be misplacing things all the time and it’s driving me nuts that I can’t remember where they are. I guess I just don’t want to accept that fact that I’m getting old and as you get older, your memory gets worse. Besides this whole memory loss thing, I’m okay. I’ve been sick the last few days with a cold (I think). I’ve been really busy lately watching the financial market to determine when to lock on my interest rate. We ended up with an extremely good fixed interest rate so I’m very proud of myself for timing things just right.
Well, I have no idea when I will be writing another update since the next month will be extremely busy with the holidays and the moving. After we move, we still have to go back to the old house to clean up the house for the renters who will be moving in January 2004. If I don’t write before then, I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season.
Happy Thanksgiving and please do drive safely for those who are going out of town!