Zander's Page

I am starting a new page on Zander. The first one I started seems to be lost. Sorry I lost it because I cannot remember my notes. I am starting this August 12, 2005.

The first two times I saw Zander he was asleep. He was two days old when I finally saw him awake. When I got a look at his eyes, they literally took my breath away. I had never seen such eyes. They were slate blue outlined in jet black and his gaze made you think he could see right into your soul. Never mind that at only two days old he was not seeing much of anything. During the next few weeks I, along with Nana, fed, changed and rocked Zander in the NICU. H seemed to stay awake more than his brother Kaden who was just across the isle in his own NICU crib. Sometime I would be feeding Kaden and Nana would be feeding Zander. After the boys finished eating or being tube fed, we would sit and rock them until the nurses pointed to the clock, letting us know it was time to go until the next feeding time. During these rocking times, Zander would seem to be taking in everything in the NICU with those big blue eyes.

When the boys came home, Zander was our tummy ache baby. He seemed so uncomfortable – he made little grunting sounds all day. He had one sound that for all the world made me think of a tiny machine gun being fired over and over. Everyone in the family took turns walking him and trying to give him some comfort. Then one fine day, Mommy found a medication called Mylicon and Zander’s tummy aches were over. Zander was a chunky little guy and he felt like you were picking up a bag of cement, but was he cute!

Zander is almost eleven months old now. He has a smile that seems to cover his whole face. For the most part he is quieter and more laid back than his brother and sister, but can make his presence known when he feels like it with a squeal or laugh or sometimes a cry. When something catches his attention he will cock his head in the most adorable way and lean his body toward it and give whatever the once over with those big blue eyes.

For a while, he was pretty passive when it came to playing with toys. If he had something in his hand and Addison came cruising in to take it away, he would just let her have it and go on to find another toy. No more! These days he pulls his toy back from her. Let the fights begin!

I do not think I held Zander in my arms on my last visit. Sometimes with three little ones to love and play with, I worry if each one will get all the attention needed. I am sure I worry for nothing because everyone in the family adores the triplets and will give them each attention. I just wonder why I can’t remember if I held Mr. Z. I do remember him crawling over in front of his mother as she sat on the floor and started reading a book. She had Addison in her lap. Zander and Kaden dropped the toys they were playing with and crawled over to their mother. Kaden pulled himself up and stood with his little hand on Mom’s shoulder and Zander stopped and sat right in front of her. All three babies listened as she read the ‘Silly Boobah’ book through three times! It was a really cute site and something I will long remember.

August 22, 2005
The triplets are eleven months old today. Zander is really crawling now and can pull himself up and cruise around holding onto furniture. He seems to be slimming down and is as cute as ever. His mom says he is becoming much more aggressive and is as strong as a little bull. I can’t wait to see him and his brother and sister again. Soon Bo and I will be living in The Woodlands and I will see them much more often. In the meantime, I am busy each day working on fun projects for us to do when I do get to see them more.

September 30, 2005
My computer said I updated Zander yesterday but nothing came up – so where did it go? Will I ever learn this stuff?

My wonderful Zander! He now has a new nickname. ‘Bam Bam’. You only have to watch him playing for a minute, then you know where he got his name. He crawls with the force of a bulldozer and when he reaches the toy he is headed toward, he pounds it with all his force. Toys or balls or whatever go flying in all directions. He loves pounding balls in the toys that let the balls roll back out so you can put them back in again. Only thing is Zander does not put them back in. He just waits for you to do it and then pounds them thru the holes again. Addison and Kaden gently push the balls thru the holes and then pick them up to load the toy again but not ‘Bam Bam’.

Zander pretty much bulldozed his birthday cake too. He was the only one of the three kids to really dive in and enjoy eating his cake. He had it all over his face and hands. Now that boy knows how to enjoy his birthday!

One more memory of this past week – while at the farm during Rita, Zander sat in Grandpa Sam’s lap and ate a bowl of dry fruit puffs. He was the cutest thing! Reaching in the bowl with both fists and cramming the puffs in his mouth, you could tell how much he was enjoying himself. He ate every fruit puff in the bowl. What a darling site!

October 10, 2005
No real notes for today. Just talked to BeLynda. She was sitting at the airport waiting to take a flight to Seattle. She said she did not want to leave the triplets but she had to take this business trip. The kids will be fine with their daddy and nanny but I know how much BeLynda hates to miss even one day with them.

Some new pictures posted on the web today. Kids were eating their first scrambled eggs and trying their first jello. Guess who was diving right in and making the biggest mess? Yes, it was Mr. Blue Eyes, Bam Bam!

November 2, 2005
This weekend we went to The Woodlands for the triplet second Halloween. BeLynda dressed the babies as the lion, the scarecrow and Dorothy from ‘The Wizard of Oz’. Zander was the lion and there was never a cuter one! His little round face was perfect for the darling lion costume. He took to wearing it with great ease – no fussing because his ears were covered up and not one peep about having a tail! The pictures David took are great! I think this is the first time he got all three kids smiling at once.

Kaden has just started walking and Zander is getting close. I saw him turn loose and take little steps before falling several times this weekend. I am sure he will be walking any day now. If he walks like he crawls, the world had better watch out! H really moves fast and got a black eye the other day when he crawled too fast by a bookcase and bumped his head!

July 21, 2006
I can’t believe it has been so long since I wrote anything about any of the babies! We finally moved to The Woodlands in May and it has not been an easy move. Byron and I both have not felt well – I think our age is catching up with us. It has been so hard to get settled in the new apartment and to get Maw Maw settled in hers. Also, Byron is trying to find space for a new office and we are helping with the triplets at least two days a week. We are just so tired and unorganized. We can’t seem to keep up with where we have put things, etc. Maybe we will get it together soon.

Back to Commander Zander – he is the most beautiful little boy. He has his own special personality. He can play for long periods of time on his own. With a car, truck or maybe his favorite snap beads, then all of a sudden he will go grab a book and come crawl in your lap to read. He plays chase with his daddy and laughs in the most wonderful way as he runs thru the house. Oh yes, they are all three walking now. Will have to look at BeLynda’s notes as I cannot remember just when they started, but they were all walking at Christmas.

February 14, 2007
What is going on? I cannot get rid of all these dots. I must study some more on how to do this. The computer stays broken about half the time and I never seem to get around to doing the baby updates.

July 10, 2007
Zander is such a puzzle. He is so cute and so smart. He is talking up a storm. He knows his ABC’s, numbers, colors and shapes. His smile takes up the whole room! And – he marches to his very own drummer. Kaden and Addison are so eager to show you what they know and what they can do, but Zander sees no reason to demonstrate his knowledge. He knows what he knows and does not feel that he has to show what he knows. It is almost like he has a big secret that he is not willing to share. However, when you least expect it, he will let you see a little glimmer of what he really knows and Wow! He just blows you away. He still prefers to play alone but more and more plays with Kaden and Addison. He really squawks if they bother a toy he is playing with (for a while he did not seem to care if they took something away from him but no more).

Yesterday David sat down in the chair I sit in at ‘table time’ while I was out of the room. “No! That’s Gram’s chair!” Zander shouted so loud that David hopped out of the chair like it had burned him. I never knew before that Zander cared where I was sitting.

Some things he says that are really cute are (It is more the way he says them than the words):
Table tine
Oh, what happened?
Uh oh, it boke.
Pix it.
I go fast.
Okaaaaaaaaay. Okaaaaaaaaay.
No! Zander’s phuck!
Big old firephuck!
Aamaalance (ambulance)

Zander loves crackers. Round crackers, square crackers, cheese crackers, peanut butter crackers, gold fish crackers – all crackers!

Cookies come in a close second.

Sept. 21, 2007
Tomorrow is their third birthday! Zander is the coolest little man ever. He is one of a kind and still amazes me everyday. He still loves his trucks. He loves all kinds of trucks but right now the big rigs that transport loads of new cars seem to be a favorite.

Zander loves the farm. The new ‘big room’ gives him plenty of room to zoom pushing his trucks. He is so cute with his little bottom stuck up in the air as he bends over pushing. He also has fun with the remote controls that go with the four new ceiling fans in the new room. The lights go on and off. The fans go slow and then fast and then slow again. This little boy is the heaviest little guy I have ever tried to lift. It is like he is packed with cement or lead. He is not fat, he is just very solid. I have pulled a muscle in my right shoulder twice while picking him up!

Zander’s latest cute sayings are:
What’s going on here?
Back off Kaden – No, you back off.
I’m sooooo hungry. Need crackers.
No nap! Play in garage. Okaaaaay?
That not a dinosaur. That an excabator! (when a cartoon character says an excavator looks like a dinosaur)