Tiger By the Tail

Happy Halloween!

Last year Zane didn't dress up, we just handed out candy at the door. This year Zane got to dress up in his tiger costume for daycare and also for some downtown Ballard fun on Halloween. Zane was not too keen on the hood, but otherwise he liked his costume. Actually, he loved it more when it was off and he could snuggle with it.

The downtown Ballard businesses hand out candy from 3-5 on Halloween evening. It was quite a crowded place! We didn't get candy, but it was fun to people watch. Zane seemed to enjoy the inside of a shoe store more than anything! He got to sit at a table just his size and play with a purple dinosaur while I bought him some toasty socks.

Zane's separation anxiety seems to be continuing. It's not quite so bad as last week, but I still can't go downstairs without tears sprouting from his eyes. He has gone through several minor illnesses (or different symptoms of the same bug -- fever, dry cough, diarrhea), so that may have left him feeling vulnerable.

The good news is that he's been a champion sleeper lately! I feel really rested, and when he's not crying for "Ma!", he's generally super chipper, too.

He's also developed a small fear of the vacuum cleaner and mowers. He used to be really interested in them, but now he gets anxious and wants to be picked up. Is this all just a sign that his imagination is developing?

Zane has a little monkey backpack/harness that we've been getting used to. The monkey is really just a glorified leash. I figure he might come in handy for the airport when we travel to Maine. He actually seemed to enjoy having it on! Lucky us.

Mama Mama Mama

Mr. Personality here has been very clingy this weekend. He has been a little barnacle saying Mama Mama Mama almost constantly. I think we have a combination of separation anxiety and maybe also fighting a bug. Saturday night I was feeling quite tired and had a scratchy throat. Zane went to bed early, but woke up many times throughout the night crying for Mama, until I finally brought him into bed. I think he was having bad dreams. We slept in until 8am (!!!) and then rushed out to a breakfast date. Our friend Maya came over to be a Mother's Helper so I could get stuff done, but Zane was so convinced I was going to leave him it was actually more work than if I had been alone. It was exhausting. He finally had his nap, and ending up having a 3 hour one, which is twice as long as usual. By bedtime he was his usual perky crazy self, so I think he may have beaten off the bug (as have I).

This week was fairly mundane. Monday, flu shot for Zane (with a booster needed in a month) plus a shopping trip to get toasty PJs for the fall. Wednesday, story time, which he actually participated in a bit for the first time. And of course our weekly Grandpa visit!

Saturday I put Zane in a snazzy outfit and did a fashion photo-shoot to submit him for the Gap casting call. What a great model! I especially like his version of Blue Steel, over there on the left. An easy and inexpensive way to enter a modeling competition. Not much chance to win, but you never know! It would be a nice way to sock away more college money. Then we went to Children's Hospital for a free car seat check. It turns out I should have had the seat installed with the seat belt rather than the latch in my particular car. Other than that, we were pretty good. I got some very useful tips on getting the seat in nice and tight, which makes me feel good. And although Children's Hospital was a very nice place, I hope to never, ever need to go there again.

Well, Zane has been illness-free for almost 3 months now, so here's hoping we've beaten the latest bug!

How YOU Doin'?

A busy work week, and not much to report that I can think of. I had to rush to take some photos so I'd have something to post!

Zane seems to be getting quite tall. Here are some things he's managed to reach (which are now farther out of reach): A large sharp knife, a pointy meat thermometer, a cheese grater, my birth control pills, finger paints. He can now reach the stove knobs, and I think we will most likely just take them off rather than invest in a fancy kid-shield (new word of the week is "hot"). He has also developed an obsession with Tolkein and Vonnegut and keeps dragging those books out of the bookshelf. I started to read one to him, but he didn't seem quite ready. Slacker.

On Monday Zane earned another plastic dinosaur (stegosaurus!) by going to the UW iLabs and participating in a behavioral study on imitation and learning. He was supposed to look at pictures in a book and figure out what to do with a gizmo from the pictures. He became very impatient with the pictures (which were boring), but still figured out some gizmos, especially one which involved pushing a button which is something he loves to do. His impatience with the pictures is apparently right on the money for 14 month olds.

I think that's all for this week!

Computer Boy

These late blog posts are beginning to be a habit! I'll try to get the next one in on the weekend, but I'm working so you never know ...

This week my brother Brady and his girlfriend Erica are in town on their way back from Alaska. Brady brought out his laptop and Zane was mesmerized. So many buttons! So much computer-ish-ness! Zane loves all computers and buttons, so he was in heaven.

The past couple of weeks Zane has been trying out a face I call Stink Eye. He bunches up his brows, lowers his face, and looks out of the tops of his eyes while making a sour lip face. It is one mean scowl. We're not quite sure if he knows what it means or if he's just trying it out. It's pretty hilarious. He's been doing it at strangers and when we say no, or when he falls, so I think he realizes it's some sort of bad-thing face. In this video of Zane trouble-shooting Brady's computer, you can sort of see it briefly in the middle after he falls a bit.


Sunday we went into Ballard for the Sustainable Ballard festival, which this year was scaled way back to a small group of tents. Zane thought the hula hoops were pretty awesome. This shot was followed soon after by Zane attempting to get the two hoops behind him, which pulled down the folding chairs, which knocked over the bike. Pretty spectacular, but with no injuries. We also saw chickens, ducks, Morris dancers, and coolest of all, a little boy with a fire truck.

Last Monday we went to a toddler Q & A session at Birth & Beyond which was informative for me and fun for Zane as always. Now that he can walk around, massive mosh pits of kids are just that much more fun.

We got tickets to go to Maine for Christmas! This trip should be a breeze since Michael is traveling with us this time. I can't wait! Zane really loves to look at airplanes in the sky, so going to the airport should be very fun this time.

Mr. Sandman

Oh, dear. I was going to do this post Monday night, but then our internet connection was spotty and I couldn't. Better late than never!

Monday I took Zane to a nearby park. We've been there before, but this was the first time he could trot around by himself and decide what to do. After standing still for a survey, we went to the slides for a short time and then to the swings. From the swings Zane spied The Sandbox! Wow. Full of trucks. He had an awesome time and got thoroughly filthy. We also had our first time on the little zip line, and Zane said "Wheee!"

Zane has been wanting to be a big boy, and he is requesting to sit on the regular chairs instead of his high chair. I got out a booster seat I bought long ago, and Zane was mightily pleased.

Another big boy change is that Zane is starting to move to one nap a day. At home he naps at 11:ish for about 1.5 hours. It's a little early and a little short, but I've still been keeping him up instead of letting him have a nap at 4:30 or 5 which is what he wants. Instead he's going to sleep at 7 or 7:30, which I like a lot! Today when I dropped him off at daycare I found out that when he's there he routinely stays up until 1 or 1:30 before taking a nap! I guess it's pretty exciting there. Meanwhile, during this transition we're weathering some mighty tired and cranky times.

He's picking up a few more words here and there. Ball, boob, crow. He's almost got vase and shell from looking at stuff in our hallway. He has figured out how to get past the toilet paper guard to get a little toilet paper, but at least he can't spin off the whole roll. Pretty soon he'll be figuring out the toilet lock and the baby gate.

I'm sure I'm forgetting something wonderful and cute! I want to get this post out, though, so I will end for today with some music to enjoy.