Zachary's milestones have gone to plaid.

Kacy and I remember when milestones were weeks or months apart. 22 months ago, we held a newborn and wondered "how long until his first (insert random achievement)?" The milestones came slowly. His first smile took a month, his first tooth took seven months. But then, the milestones started coming more quickly. New milestones were happening every week, then every day, and now, it seems like some come every few minutes.

Using the timeless words from SpaceBalls, Zachary's milestones have, "gone to plaid."

For instance, he recently said his first clear sentence. The entire thing was perfectly articulated - equipped with a subject and a correctly conjugated verb. Unfortunately, I can't remember what the sentence was. It was flanked by two other milestones that I was busy pondering in the same thirty second window (that Zachary could aim his shoe at my head with perfect precision while I was driving and that Zachary recognized a giant blow-up Santa on top of an auto dealership, and was correctly scared of it).

So, although I cannot (and should not) repeat all the milestones for this post, I'd like to point out a few that I find particularly endearing.

(1) Zachary recognizes Starbucks and Costco as a place that enhances mommy's mood. He claps and says "Yay" each time we walk by either the Costco or Starbucks symbol.

(2) Zachary recognizes sadness in others. Mommy recently had tears after being pelted by a metal train (see above comment about throwing with perfect accuracy). Once the tears came, he stopped, put the third train down and said "Mama?" in the most angelic and concerned voice. Then he walked slowly over to me, sat in my lap and gave me a hug.

(3) Zachary has nightmares. We always wondered when these start, but we can say with certainty that Zachary has had nightmares since he was at least 9 months. He wakes up crying (very upset) and screams "Scared, Scared, Scared" while clinging to us for his dear sanity.

(4) Zachary tries to sing. His first song is "Read, read, read, read.... [we're pirates who love to read]." (Elmo and the Bookaneers with Tina Fey). He can only sing the read, read, read, read part, but he does so accurately.

(5) Zachary has learned how to play with others (well). Recently, he and another boy took turns pushing each other across the floor in plastic tubs.

(6) Zachary has learned his name. He can say "Zakwee" and now does so anytime he wants to do something by himself.

(7) And finally (and most importantly), he has memorized the layout and directions of Disneyland. He correctly points out the right freeway to get on to go see "Mi-ee-Moo" (read: Mickey Mouse) and reminds Mom of this every time he is on his way to school. Once in Disneyland, he can find the Tiki Room from any point in the park. Here, he is perched in the window of our room at Paradise Pier; pointing to the direction of Disneyland...and more specifically, the Tiki Room.