It's been awhile since I posted about Zack so after going through my cell phone pics, I knew it was time. Apparently, I take a lot of pictures of him with my phone! :)
Here is an update on our almost 2 year old boy...
1) Homeboy as taken. over. the. couch. Period. He thinks he owns it. He gets very confused when we make him get down. (which I will admit to almost having given up on at this point!)
2) He has taken a liking to tennis balls! We discovered this while we were visiting at Grandaddy & Grandma Tee's house. He had a tennis ball at home that he never played with. But all of the sudden, he is obsessed!
3) He also continues to eat every stick he can find. (Grass, too, unfortunately!)
4) I am happy to report that his relationship with Lola is progressing. FINALLY. After almost 2 years of being in this family- he doesn't automatically chase her when she comes in the door. (Now, if he is going out the door & spots her in the yard then all bets are off!) He even stands still long enough to let her rub against his legs from time to time! It is kinda cute - he looks really confused because he has no idea why she does this. He would get it if she licked him, but rubbing he doesn't understand! :) A few times, she has even stood her ground on the bed as if to say, "I was here first! Tonight is MY night!"
She still doesn't trust him though... as you can see above... she keeps her eyes on him at all times!
5) He has also taken over our bed. (Which is why the discord with Lola above). He thinks the bed is half his. If I even sit on the bed, he hops right up & lays down as if to say, "Ready to snooze?"
He also likes to throw his arm around me to snuggle! :) What can I say? He loves me!
6) Boy, oh, boy does he love the boys. No one can get him "riled up" faster! He is just like a kid, himself, so he thinks if they are somewhere- he is supposed to be also!
He even hangs with Jackson during thunderstorms until he falls asleep in the hallway!
Since he wants to be where they are, he gets unnerved when they go outside & he is left indoors. He jolts back & forth from the downstairs dining room window up to the playroom window over the garage when they get out of his sight from downstairs. It is comical. There is usually whining involved too. He pure props his head up on the window sill & doesn't budge until he doesn't see them anymore & then moves to the next window! Such a protector!
7) He might be more well behaved than he used to be, but he still loves mischief. Yep, this picture is blurry because it is of me catching him in the act! He steals tissues, dryer sheets, & overall trash from the bathroom cans & then makes a bee-line for the underside of my bed where he can't fit well, but tries anyway in order to keep me from taking things out of his mouth. He is a mess!
8) Because of this kind of behavior, we still crate him when we are gone and at night. Well, not ALL night because he snuggles with me until Randy comes to bed! But he isn't the greatest fan of the crate. He never whines or makes a lot of fuss, we just get a slow moving boy as soon as we say "let's kennel up!". He gives us a pitiful little look too!
He has really calmed down though & is a good companion. He wants to play but not nearly as much as he used to. I don't know if this is age or his enlarged heart. I am thinking the latter just based off of previous interactions with boxers. He lays around the house much more than not & just prefers to lounge. And let's be honest, I am okay with that!
Eli is # 7 this year & has definitely gotten a better coach than last year! He actually teaches the kids what to do - now there's an idea for a coach, huh? We actually requested this coach because he is the father of a boy, Nathan that Eli took speech with. So we have known the family for a few years. Eli was totally excited that Nathan was going to be on his team! Here is Eli getting some direction from Coach Steve before the first game.
After a few more minutes of play, it was time to switch out with the rest of his team mates & his turn to sit on the sidelines. He wasn't so sure about that! :)
Once he was back in, it was on! It is really funny to see the kids compete with one another for the ball... sometimes even those on their own team!
He had the ball a LOT during this game, so I got a lot of pictures, but I will only share the ones where he kicked a goal! Yep, he kicked in another goal towards the end of the game!
He was so proud of himself when he got that second goal! He came right over for big smiles for Mom & Dad!
I had a lot of fun getting action shots with my camera. This was the first real situation I had been in to work on that. I didn't get every shot right, by any means! But at least I didn't have blur & caught the action! Gotta start somewhere! I can't wait for the rest of the soccer season! I just know Eli will have a blast! And it helps that he gets snacks at the end, right?
