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.