Wishing for Spring

We've been pretending it is Spring around here, but really it is too cold for that. Crocuses, daffodils, snowdrops and the like are up. Early cherries are starting to bloom. I wanted a good little folding table and chairs in Zane's size for art on rainy days, and I found the perfect one! Most tables have a soft top or are expensive wood, but this one is actually made to be an art table. It has crayon/pencil trays, clips to hold paper on, a white board, and a chalk board. Best of all, it wipes off totally clean with water and a rag. Zane loves it! We tried it for meals, but for some reason that was vetoed.

Here he is being a bit silly during some art time. I decided to experiment with talk bubbles to translate some of his mumbling.


We have been doing a lot of art lately, and one day when I went to wake him up from nap he kept his eyes closed and said, "I want to keep drawing. Drawing a picture." Do you want to keep your eyes closed to finish drawing? Nod. "I need pink."

It's not rainy every day this winter, so Zane has been getting out on his yellow balance bike most days. He can really zoom now! In the fall I was back-breakingly bending over to keep him upright. A trip around the block was excruciating. Now he zips around on his own! Seattle is hilly, so for half the trip he zooms downhill with his feet just tapping the sidewalk lightly. One time I saw him actually lift both feet and try to coast! For the second half he pushes himself up no problem, and doesn't ask for help. I'm really pleased. It is so much more fun to get him out for exercise when I don't have to do most of it.

For some reason Zane has been talking about what is real and what is not. I think he may be confusing it with "alive", but we're working on that. It's pretty fun to hear him start listing things. "You're real. Daddy's real. Jo Jo is real. My mouth is real. The door is not real."

He still has some baby talk that I hate to correct because I love it. Sometimes his words are just better.
Fire extinguisher = fire squisher
Blueberries = bluebelellies
Remote control = moku

My trip to Maine ended up being very successful. Zane and Michael were totally fine together. While Zane did ask for me and talk about me, he had no trouble with me being gone. He's so calm and flexible! I had a great time, too, with lots of sleep and uninterrupted adult conversation and food. I visited with my Grandma every day and felt really recharged. I brought back a huge puzzle from my Mom that Zane's cousins Ian and Julian used to love. It was a hit with us, too!

Unfortunately, Zane peed on it the first day we had it out, but it seems to have survived. I've been doing a very casual approach to potty training. It's kind of like pre-training. Every morning that I can, Zane is sans diaper for a few hours to air out. Then as part of the getting dressed routine we do at least one minute of toilet time. Zane gets to put a star on a chart just for sitting there. That part is working out pretty well, but unfortunately we have had no actual success. Just getting used to toilet sitting. Sometime in warmer weather when I have a holiday weekend I'll have to ply him with drinks, put on no diapers, and make frequent trips to the toilet to try to get some success. I know he is getting ready because he will ask for a fresh diaper at night if he has peed in his night diaper (while I know this is a bedtime stall, it is also true that the diaper is wet). He will also pause in the day and then say "I peed." He will also ask whether or not he has a diaper on when he pees or is about to pee. So, the awareness is building, which is all I ask for right now.

One problem we have been having, though, is with chronic constipation for Zane. It's getting really bad with some nights of pain. Poor guy. He eats lots of fruit and gets plenty of exercise, but his liquid intake is not great, and he is mostly off vegetables. I've been working on that, and we are hoping things will be better.

We are heading to Hawaii soon! I can't wait! I'm starting to worry that I am looking forward to it too much and I will be disappointed somehow. What a worry wart. There is some bad weather there this week, but hopefully it will literally blow over by the time we get there. I want to take Zane on the Sugar Cane train, a mini-submarine trip, and to the aquarium. Other than that it will be sand, surf, and sun!

Since I seem to be a blogger slacker, there will probably not be another post until we come back.

Aloha!

Zane Walker, Ballard Ranger

Zane is really working on walking this week! He needs to hold onto both of my hands, so I don't think solo walking is super imminent, but it is definitely on the horizon. When we are outside I think Zane recognizes the value of walking as a way to not bang up his knees. He really seems to enjoy it. At storytime on Wednesday he forgot to hold on and took one step by himself, and then later at daycare he did that again but crashed and burned. We'll get there!



Today we went to ReclinerLand in Lynnwood, which turned out to be very exciting for Zane. Miles of soft furniture and carpets. We got a new chair to replace the rocker/glider I used for Zane's first year. He doesn't need so much rocking and effort to get to sleep these days, and we wanted something soft that everyone could enjoy. It'll be delivered Friday or Saturday and I can't wait! I've also ordered something to organize Zane's toys and I received a new bookshelf for his books. Now they're all accessible to pull out at any time!

Tuesday I managed to finish getting a baby bike seat (Thanks, Sabina!) installed onto my bicycle, and we went out for a ride on Tuesday and Wednesday. It was fun! The first day Zane said "Ahhhhh" for a while and seemed to be playing with his bumpy voice. When we got going fast down a hill he put his hands and feet on my back. A backseat driver putting on the brakes! Wednesday we took an early morning jaunt to a park overlooking Puget Sound (now also the Salish Sea) and had a nice time talking to some people and exploring. This morning we went to the Locks and saw many dogs, joggers, and rushing water but not many fish. Once I get my bike legs back (I haven't been biking for about a year and a half), we can go to Golden Gardens. Zane looks like a little boy, not a baby, in his big bike helmet.

Eating and sleep have been wonderful! For most nights in the past week he has slept 9-11 hours straight. Zane has become a pea-fanatic and now I give them to him as an appetizer while I'm preparing his meal. It helps cut down on last minute Oh-god-I'm-hungry whines. I've started trying foods that he disliked in the past with some success. Lentils with ham got urped up, though. I'm not sure if it was yucky or a thick texture thing. I'm adding ground chicken to meals, too, so he's getting more protein. Today he had tiny star pasta and had stars stuck to his lips after dinner.



On our way to the post office on Monday I picked up a sorter toy at a yard sale. The little shapes are rattly, which is fun. I showed Zane how to put the toys in, and when I point to the right hole he can manipulate them the right way and push them in. He seems to think that's pretty cool. On his own he doesn't quite get the idea of the right shape and color for the right hole, but this toy might help that light bulb go in. These are also a nice size to practice throwing!

This week's mischief has been learning to open the toilet lid and fish around. A toilet lid lock is in our future, but hopefully not a complicated one so I don't pee my pants trying to get into the toilet.

Wednesday was our last baby story time at Shoreline! Shoreline's story times are on break until September, so we are going to start going to a young toddler story time at Ballard during the same time. We can bike to the library!

Graduating to the next level of story time is one of many almost-birthday changes. I've been thinking a lot in the last couple of weeks about what I was doing last year at this time. Last day of work. Mom comes to visit. Big and pregnant during a heat wave. No idea what's coming!

Bike Goddess

I'm very proud of myself -- I biked about 17 miles yesterday, and I'm not sore! I usually only bike to the gym and back for a total of about 1.5 miles, but I guess all of my other exercise means I'm in pretty good shape! It's nice to have some bio-feedback reminding me I'm being such a good girl.

I biked up to the Shoreline Library (where I work) to get a flu shot and exchange some books. Then I headed home with a stop by Lowes to pick up a few odds and ends. Eco-friendly errands!

Thanks to Rick the Teen Master, I was able to plan out a fairly level route by using the USA Track and Field website. It's great! You can plot a route, and a cutaway map will show you your elevation change. It's a great way to avoid unnecessary hills. I also have a copy of the King County Bicycling Guidemap, but many of the small bike paths I discovered aren't on it, so I'm pretty disappointed in it.