Domesticity and a Little Crunch

For some reason I have a whole bunch of pictures of Zane being domestic this week. I think it is the gloomy weather keeping us inside. Above we have Zane hosting a tea party using parts from Grandma Gibson's golden samovar; guests include two monsters and the Rabbit of Caerbannog (partially hidden).

He likes to use the "blue soap" in the kitchen. I figure it's a great way to keep things like the floor clean (although his tray gets washed after).

We've also been getting domestic with some garden chores. The leaves are coming down and Zane has actually been a help with raking and sweeping. He needs to come to grips with the untidiness of nature, though. One windy day he ran a far distance up the sidewalk shouting "No! No!" while chasing individual leaves that were blowing away. We planted a bunch of crocus and snowdrop bulbs in a part of the lawn that stays pretty short late in the spring. Even though we read a book on bulbs, I'm sure Zane has no idea what we were doing. The digging was fun, though! I hope he remembers in the spring so I can remind him that he helped with the flowers.

Since Halloween Zane has asked to go Trick-or-Treating several times. That sure was a big hit of a holiday! We're still working our way through his chocolate bag, so that helps keep it in mind. I'm really looking forward to how much he'll enjoy Christmas this year.

I finally caught sight of Zane's first two-year molar. He says it doesn't hurt, and in fact informed me that he doesn't want new molars. I let him know they come anyway, and then he can eat more stuff! I am finally sure that he really has been doing some growing lately. I've had to put away some pants and un-hem others. I recently raided a stash of donated clothes and was able to pull out more pants that now fit him, although that means a new round of hemming. Zane has a checkup on Monday, and we've been reading books on doctor visits to try to make this one go better than the last several. For some reason Zane is scared of being measured, although I'm not sure why. Maybe if Grandma comes, too, it will help.

My Mom will be here tomorrow night! Yay! I can't wait for Zane and her to re-meet, and I can't wait to visit with her myself.

Today on the way to swimming Zane and I were rear-ended at a stop light. It was quite a jolt, but the damage to the car is extremely minimal. Zane and I seem to be fine. Mostly it's a pain in the butt for me in terms of documentation and claims and getting my car checked out. Just this morning I was telling Zane about car crashes because of an article in the newspaper. And then about 20 seconds before our accident he asked to stand up to see something and I was explaining to him why we need to sit tight in our seats with our seat belts. And then BAM! Very startling. Zane was not scared, but did seem a little bit wide-eyed about it all. We talked about it and how the man was not bad, it was just an accident, and when you make a mistake what is most important is what you do afterwards. He said he wanted to go home instead of swimming, but we went ahead anyway and had a wonderful time. Hopefully I don't wake up sore tomorrow.

I will leave you all with the wonders of modern science. A vacuum cleaner a toddler can use! Now Zane can start earning an allowance.

Halloween!

This year was our first trick-or-treating Halloween, and it was a blast! Zane loves his bumble bee costume and had already worn it to daycare and to the library for a special story time. We've been looking at the neighborhood's decorations for weeks now, and I had been promising Zane that on Halloween night we could go and look at them all up close. I was so afraid he would refuse to go at the last minute and I would be disappointed, but he took to it like a duck to water! We went from house to house all around the block at a trot. Zane loved all of the decorations and was not freaked out by any scary things. He especially like the mechanical things and spent a long time looking at them from all angles and checking out the backs to see how they worked. He took only gentle prompting to say Trick or Treat and then Thank You at each house. I'm so proud of him! After each door he said, "Next house!," and pulled me along. The houses on one side of the street have pretty steep stairs, but he chugged up and down them all doggedly. When we finally got back home he said he wanted to go around again! It was really fun, and because there are so many kids in the neighborhood the sidewalks and doorways were full of people we know. It was like a nice small town holiday.

When we got home we did the traditional evaluation of the loot. I let Zane have one lollipop and some candy corn. He had been going like gangbusters outside, but suddenly crashed and just lay on the kitchen floor eating his candy corn. He didn't actually fall asleep, but I've never seen him lie on the floor like that without a fever. I think climbing all those stairs took their toll! He rallied, though, and didn't fall asleep until later than usual. The candy bag is hanging from a plant hook near the ceiling for doling out one piece per evening. Michael said it looks like I hung it high to protect it from bears. It's the only place I could put it where Zane could still see it but not get into it.

For some reason this evening Zane kept saying he was scared and needed a hug, but he couldn't say what he was scared of. I think he was figuring out what the word meant. He probably heard it a lot in the last week. We had also been talking this morning about getting measured at the doctor, and he said he was scared of that, which is true. We have another weight check at the end of the month, so I think it's time to start practicing being weighed and measured and time for some books from the library on doctors, too.

Tonight, though, he was very brave in saying he wanted to sleep in his own little bed for night time! He's been having naps there for a couple of months now, but I haven't tried nights yet. My plan is to wait until after my Mom's visit over Thanksgiving, since she will be staying in the room which will be Zane's. He almost managed to fall asleep in his little bed in his own room, but in the end asked to go back upstairs to his crib where he fell asleep in just a few minutes. It was totally his idea to try it, so I'm very pleased with him. After Thanksgiving I'll try to make the room more his, and then work on getting him to sleep there for good.

We finished our series of art classes, and in the end we got some nice stuff to keep. I didn't sign up for the next series as Zane just wasn't that into it. So we've got some extra time. This morning we went swimming, and tomorrow we'll head over to the zoo.

Last week we cat sat for some neighbors. They invited us to play with all the toys they have for their grandchildren. While we were there I came across a jump rope and showed Zane what it was for. He thought it was great and tried to do it. It was pretty funny, so I got him his own and he did a nice repeat performance for the camera.


I believe that's it! Next up will be my Mom's visit in the middle of the month, then Thanksgiving! I think I'll try to get in some baking with Zane.