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!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Oh, argh, I seem to never be getting to this post! Nothing really major has been going on, I seem to always be working on chores until I just want to watch some TV and go to bed.

Well, last month we were playing in the snow. This month has been a pretty decent month of spring with sunny days sprinkled into the rainy ones. A few weeks ago it was even warm enough that Zane and I took a bike ride down to the beach. There were tons of other little kids there playing in the sand, and a good time was had by all. You could almost hear everyone's skin sucking in the vitamin D. The sun is also staying with us longer each day! Our winter is almost over. Some spring flowers are coming up! Unfortunately, a squirrel ate a bunch of the bulbs Zane and I planted last fall, and Zane and I are officially mad about that.

Story telling has been happening a lot. I tell Zane stories at night after lights out, and in the last couple of weeks Zane has started to tell me stories! I really enjoy them. In one the story evolved as he scribbled on a magnadoodle: "This is a bush. A mouse is under the bush. It's raining. A pony comes and gives the mouse a ride. The pony licks the mouse dry." In another he was looking at a model of Buckminster Fuller's dymaxion bus, and he told me it was an underground bus for people in an underground city! I have no idea where he got that from, but I was thoroughly entertained!

I've been working on and off on potty training. He's getting more used to the idea of sitting on it, but we haven't lucked out on pee happening at the right moment yet. Because of the Presidents Day holiday coming up we'll be home for the next 5 days, so I think I'll try a more concerted effort. We have a chart on the door that Zane gets to put stars on for each attempt. Let's try to fill that up!

We've been in a bit of an art mode lately. Zane's coloring has developed a little more purpose than just scribbles. Now if I draw a line, or put on a sticker, or give him paper with a picture on it, he specifically colors on the objects or lines. He's pretty precise! He's also into big circles and zigzags, and he pretends he is writing his name. He can occasionally recognize some letters, too, so I sometimes work on that. I recently got a small folding table and chairs just his size, so now he can do his projects in comfort instead of on the kitchen floor as we used to.

I'll be taking a trip to Maine all by myself soon. I'm going back just for a quick 4 day trip to see my Grandma who has taken a spill. In order to do a quick trip I need to do red-eye flights and travel light, so Zane will be home with Michael. It will be an adventure for all of us! I'll miss Zane but get a bit of a break, too. Zane and Michael will get intense time together which will hopefully be good! To make myself feel better (and hopefully Zane, too), I made a series of little paper boxes with a little goodie inside for each morning I am gone. Then I made a chart which Zane can put an airplane sticker on each night. I'll probably call a lot, too!






After a pretty disease free fall and winter, we've had a spot of trouble lately. First, I developed a case of mite bites that thankfully no one else in the family got. I got some medicine to clear that up, and lots of overdue in-depth cleaning has happened around the couch where JoJo hangs out, as we suspect that's where they came from. Unfortunately, two weeks later I still have an itchy rash not from the bites themselves but from my allergic reaction to the bites. I think I need to go back to the doctor to see about this. Then some sort of major crud has been going around Seattle and affecting people differently. I got completely exhausted with a headache and fever for several days and pretty tired for more days beyond that. I even took two sick days and took Zane to daycare for one of them. Then Zane got a fever for several days with some very nasty chest congestion. He's been pretty miserable and unable to rest properly due to coughing. I think he was finally a tiny bit better today, so hopefully we are on the mend.

Well, that's the catch up! I'll try not to take so long with the next post.

It's Wintertime!

It was a little strange reading all of the books at Christmas time with snow in them since we live in such a snow-free area. Today we finally got snow in Ballard! Zane was outside saying, "It's wintertime!" There has been snow in various places since Saturday, but today (Wednesday) is finally our day. Luckily it wasn't my weekend to work, and with the MLK holiday in there I haven't had to be anywhere. Tomorrow we go back to daycare and work, and the snow is suppose to have turned to rain. We'll see.

The snow was still coming down and blowing sideways, but I was afraid if we waited until later it might turn to rain. I bundled Zane up in lots of pants and socks and shirts, found his winter boots from last year (which still barely fit), and bundled us up. Zane was very excited to get pulled around in the sled and was almost bouncing off the walls. We spent about 45 minutes outside with me pulling Zane around up and down the sidewalks. For some reason he kept chanting "Miles and miles and miles..." as I trudged along. I accidentally dumped him out of the sled a few times which was not well received, but otherwise he seemed totally fine. I finally had to make him come inside to get warm. He kept saying "One more time", and threw a squirm fit when I made him come in.

But then we got to have the snow day reward of hot Ovaltine milk and warmed up brownies! I threw all of our wet stuff in the dryer in case we went out again, and we had a wonderful snack while watching the birds at the suet feeder on the porch. After our long break Zane decided to stay in and watch a new kids nature video instead of going back out. I was pretty pleased with that as I was still cold! After nap time it will be getting dark already, but we have a date to go next door and play with a grandmotherly neighbor. As long as the commute is good tomorrow, I'll be well pleased with our wintery break!

Now I can look forward to spring (maybe). I few days ago we picked up a broken branch from a tulip tree, and thought I'd bring it in to see what it would do. During a sun break yesterday it looked particularly lovely in a stark way.

Zane has had a growth spurt during the last couple of weeks. Some shirts are starting to be too short in the arms, but his pants look about the same, so I think he bulked up a little more than he grew up. Maybe that will happen next week. His paper diapers are all of a sudden too small, too, so I got the next size up. His everyday gDiapers still rock, though! Those are the best.

I keep hoping for toilet training in our future. Zane likes his new ladder potty, but lately when I put him on it he complains that the seat is cold. Our bathroom is often very cold as we have no ventilation and keep the windows in the master bedroom/bathroom open for several hours a day. I can't blame him for clamping up when I bribe him onto the potty! I guess spring weather will be better for this. Meanwhile, I can dream!

Happiness and New Year

Sorry I'm a little late with this fortnight's post. Just procrastination.

We had a really wonderful Christmas. We made a batch of candy cane sugar cookies and had fun sprinkling them liberally with colored sugar, silver sprinkles, and candy eyes. Zane had an awesome sense of eye placement and sugar layering. My favorite cookie was a heart shaped one we left out for Santa on Christmas eve. He got to experience the electric mixer for the first time, and that was a big hit. No licking the bowl these days, though, since salmonella is a possibility. I had a bit of trouble with the chaos and absolute mess, but I think I hid it well enough for Zane to miss!


I wasn't sure how to introduce Santa, as I felt uncomfortable initiating the lie, but checking Christmas books out of the library ended up taking care of that. Zane learned about Santa, and when Michael asked him if he'd like to go see Santa, Zane said yes. I hadn't planned on "doing Santa" as I thought he would be too young to be interested, but since he said he was interested, out we went. I took Zane to the mall on a Tuesday morning the week before Christmas, so there were no lines of kids or shopping chaos. He was somewhat interested in Santa, and we did some pass bys, but Zane couldn't actually look at Santa close up let alone sit in his lap. He did keep asking to go back and look, though! Luckily, I didn't have my heart set on any cute photos, I just wanted Zane to have a Santa experience. I think Zane had more fun looking at knives in Excalibur and cute erasers in the Japanese store. We enjoyed the mall and had pizza in the Food Court which was just as exciting for Zane as anything.

As Christmas approached and Michael and I wrapped presents one evening, we realized to our horror that Zane was going to be spoiled beyond belief. It was so easy to get a little present here and there, and then hide them away. Oops!

On Christmas day we set up the camera and Zane came upstairs. He was very subdued! He didn't shriek or jump around, he just smiled and enjoyed his loot. The video is a little too dark to post. By the time naptime came around, the presents were so exciting, and there was so much sugar in his system that he had a complete naptime fail. First time ever without a nap all day! I learned my lesson to not leave any toys out on the floor of his room at nap or bedtime, and he went to bed with visions of trains dancing in his head. I think the highlights for him were his tool bench, his Thomas trains, and his four pack of chapstick. He kept saying "My own chapstick!"

To get ready for new Christmas toys I had finally moved my computer upstairs and set up a table for Zane and moved some of his toys into his room. Now he has his very own room! I still need to move the big bookcases and my desk out of there, but it's coming along. Zane seems really pleased to have his "new" room. It actually looks pretty big when you look at it with just him in there! So now we have transition to toddler bed in his own room and gotten rid of the crib. We transitioned to a booster chair at the table and gave away his high chair. We've also mostly ended any nursing by switching to storytelling before bed and nap times. Zane loves the stories of a boy named Zane who finds magic colored keys which run nearby heavy equipment. He's even begun telling stories back to us.

His brain has been making some new connections, and all of a sudden the questions have begun. What's that? Why? Why? He keeps asking why until I just can't explain things anymore. At least How hasn't cropped up yet.

I'm not sure if Christmas has been the problem, but Zane has had a bad case of the re-curring whineys. He's been waking up somewhat erratically and often too early in the morning; when I ask him why, he says he wants to play with his toys! The new room and the new toys are cool, but a little too exciting. Then he is tired and easily breaks down or gets manic. He's been especially cranky about food. I had to give myself a timeout one evening when he refused to eat, and I wanted to throttle him. I resolved to thereafter provide food and he could eat it or starve. I broke my resolve a bit in that I will still spoon food into him if he's receptive, but no more elaborate efforts to distract him in order to feed him, and if he refuses to eat, I just stop and enjoy my own food. This has so far not resulted in Zane taking more responsibility for eating, so some crankiness is no doubt from being hungry. I got a new clock for him which simply says whether or not it is time to get up. Zane seems to have understood this right away, and I think it is helping him know if it is the dark of night or the dark of a Seattle winter morning when he wakes up. I'm hoping better times are on the horizon. Now that we are heading back to our regular schedule, I think things will get better.

Zane has been sad to take down the Christmas decorations, but I'm looking forward to a little bit of "normal" life!

Christmas Is Coming!

Christmas is coming, and the excitement is ramping up! A few times Zane has said, "Christmas is coming!" with excitement, but I think he's really just parroting someone at daycare since he doesn't really know what's coming.

We borrowed a neighbor's wagon a few weeks ago and walked to the produce stand to buy some garlands and wreaths. I put those up outside with some lights. About a week later Zane helped me put lights up in the living room and we hung our stockings. Zane was excited to find a little box filled with extra lights, so I let him replace a burned out twinkle bulb. I have white lights, but Zane found a blue one for the replacement. Now we can look at the lights and know exactly which one Zane put in! We also experimented with the flashing lights mode, but I told Zane that Daddy and I wouldn't like it. Zane said he did, and he also told me that JoJo liked them flashing. Zane and JoJo got out-voted.

We've been reading Christmas books, so Zane has an idea about of Christmas trees, Santa, and stockings. When we put the stockings up I explained that Santa would put presents and snacks in them. Zane got concerned and declared that he did not want snacks in his stocking. Before we hung them up he had tried to wear his stocking and JoJo's, so I think the idea of putting food in his socks was off-putting. He has now come to the agreement that chocolate is allowed in his stocking.

This past Tuesday we again borrowed the neighbor's wagon and trucked to the produce store to get our tree. We picked out a nice little 4 foot tree and got it wrapped up skinny for the ride home. The tree man gave Zane a candy cane to eat. I had brought a pillow and a blanket, and Zane was quite comfy all tucked into the wagon with the little tree. I tried to get a Christmas-card-worthy picture, but it just didn't happen. Wednesday morning we had a very fun time putting ornaments on the tree. JoJo got very excited by the tree and ran circles around it and jumped for joy. I'm not sure if she just loves the tree or perhaps there is lingering Bijou smell on the skirt. JoJo has been having afternoon naps under the tree. There's lots of space there as there is no way we can put any presents out before Christmas this year.

Zane has doing a great job of being a big boy. There have been absolutely no requests for the crib, and I really need to get rid of the thing somehow (drop-sided cribs are banned, so I may have to toss it). I'm looking forward to moving my computer out of Zane's room and into the "master" bedroom so that I can have nap-time access again. Zane loves that the room is now mostly his, and he asks to go downstairs a lot. We had just one week of Zane sleeping until 7 or 7:30, and now he's back to his regular 6:30. Must have been a growth spurt, probably in his brain. There has been a marked increase in whining as well as questions. "What is that?" "Where is it?" "Why did you say Whew?" I love the questions, but I could do without the whining. I try not to let him get by with it, but I can't always take the time. He also has accepted that he is ready to part with his highchair. The highchair is convenient, but Zane only wants to sit in a booster chair these days and so the highchair just takes up space. I have a very deserving taker for it, so it is going to a good home.

The Cooking Show

My Mom has been here for almost 3 weeks and left early this morning to return to Maine. We sure miss her already! Zane was very lucky to have a lot of time with her during the visit. They did several baking and cooking projects, and Zane started to enjoy looking through the cookbook. One day when he and I were looking through a Natural History magazine article about bugs people eat, Zane said he wanted to try some. I said I didn't know how to cook them. Zane said I needed the cookbook and came back with the Joy of Cooking! There were no bug recipes in there, though, unless you count lobsters and the like.

I enjoyed the luxury of having someone else make food and clean up! It was also nice to have someone else share our meals, as Michael is usually on a different schedule. I am very uninspired when it comes to food, so I am particularly anxious about this aspect of parenting. Zane generally ate better for Grandma than for me, and I think this is partly due to better food and partly due to knowing he can yank my chain a bit.

We worked a lot on booster seat and table skills (i.e., sitting still and actually eating) and saw a lot of improvement. Most amazingly, one night we had out chop sticks and Zane wanted to try them. I showed him how, and within one minute he had twice successfully maneuvered eggs into his mouth! His grip was all wrong, but he did it with one hand! Later on Grandma showed him how to use a fork to help with cutting, and he caught right on to that, too. Earlier in the same week he suddenly began to use scissors with one hand when before he had been using two. Some major new coordination synapses are firing now! I know some other developmental stuff happened, too, that I can't remember ...

Back to baking. For Thanksgiving we went to my father-in-law's house, and Michael's sister and niece did most of the cooking. Super delicious! We were in charge of pies as usual, and this year Zane helped Grandma make an apple pie. On another day they made pretzels and he really got into the kneading and did a great job of painting them all with eggs. The final project was oatmeal cookies, and I think those were my favorites.

Now that Christmas is coming, I hope to do some cooking projects with Zane. At the very least, sugar cookies with colored sugar sprinkles. Maybe also some gingerbread people, and maybe some sort of bundt cake for Christmas Day. We also need to do pancakes one of these days just because those are so easy. Maybe those for Christmas, too!

Christmas should be really fun for us this year. Tomorrow Zane and I are borrowing a neighbor's wagon and going to the local produce stand to buy some wreaths and garland. We'll go back in another week or so to buy a little tree. I think I need to go through all of the decorations sometime during naptime so that I only show Zane the ones he can put on the tree. No use showing him the pretty, sparkly glass ones and then saying "no."

We've had a number of fun adventures lately. Zane and my Mom and I took a bus to Seattle Center, hopped on the monorail to Westlake, looked around there for a while, rode the carousel, monorail back, then looked at the mini-train exhibit in the Centerhouse, and then back home for lunch. I had hoped to also throw in a carriage ride, but the horses turned out to not be around until the afternoon. All of this cost us about $10 for all of us! Zane and Grandma went on their own on the bus to the aquarium and Pike Place Market one day, all for just a few dollars including lunch. Today Michael and Zane and I went to the Greenwood firehouse's grand opening. The line to sit in the truck was too long, but we still got to see it up close, and we got cookies and a hat!

Zane had a checkup at the end of November, and while he is still on the small size, he continues to be healthy, so we don't have to go back until he is 3. His head is in the 90th percentile, though! Past visits have been very stressful, so this time I prepared with reading about doctors and getting Zane a doctor kit. Zane claimed he was no longer scared, but on the actual day, sigh, it seemed to have no effect. Oh well.

I can think of nothing more! Enjoy a video of pretzel making. When I get photos from Mom's camera, I may post some more.

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.

Fall Fun

Now that Fall has really begun, I'm having some fun doing traditional Fall things with Zane. I picked up a small pumpkin at the store and showed him the joy of scooping out a pumpkin. I let him help me hold the knife, which was super exciting. We had a mini-meltdown about the variety of candle to put inside, but now all is well. We'll do another one soon which will last until Halloween.

I got all excited about enjoying simple Halloween crafts with him, and one night right before dinner I thought we'd have fun making ghosts out of tissues. In the past Zane loved a game where we wadded up a sock, so with much fanfare I got out the first tissue and said brightly, "First we wad it up!" And Zane started wailing "No wadding it up! No wadding it up!" He got so freaked out he had the open-mouthed silent scream sob going on for awhile. I was dumbfounded; my super fun derailed! I have no idea why. We finally got over that, started again, and everything was fine. We made three and Zane proudly presented one to Michael. Zane has been really sensitive lately. He'll be completely fine and then have a mini-tantrum about seemingly nothing. Luckily, they're mild and over quickly, but I'm always surprised! I have to admit I have a very hard time not laughing at him. Later we made three really big ghosts out of styrofoam balls and cloth, and those are hanging from our tree in the front yard.

We've continued to go to art class, and last week I actually managed to sustain Zane's attention for awhile. We were supposed to be making beads, but Zane just cut the dough with a plastic knife for 20 minutes while I made beads. At least he sat with me! Then we used paint and paper to make a print from a collage we had made in earlier classes. For some reason that was a hit, too. Zane is really into Thomas the Tank Engine these days, and Michael got him a little model of Toby, his favorite. Zane and I had fun making a train shed for him out of a box (after the weird freak out when I wanted to cut a door ...), and he slapped on gobs and gobs of paint while I drew train tracks and trees around the outside. I'm always happy with a good and useful art experience!

A random note: Zane has been really into puzzles lately. Whenever I get a new one he figures it out on his own in a few tries and does it over and over for a few days. We have a few that are too difficult, but he just gets frustrated with those. I wish there was a puzzle library! I guess since they are only a few dollars used, I'll just have to keep him occupied that way.

This weekend Zane started coming down with a cold. The weather was beautiful, and he didn't seem too bad, so Saturday afternoon we drove 45 minutes out to a farm. I had been feeling a bit guilty because Zane didn't want to go, but as I knew he would, he had a fantastic time. We saw ducks, ponies, sheep, chickens, and turkeys. We got to pet goats, chicks, ducklings, a young bull, and a rabbit that looked just like JoJo. There were fish, mice, and a lizard in cages. A hay tunnel, pit of loose hay to play in, a teepee, and a field of pumpkins rounded out the fun. There was more stuff, but we couldn't get it all in before closing, and we had to visit all of the baby animals twice. Zane was very gentle and calm with the baby animals, I think because of his training with JoJo. We came home with a pumpkin and probably a lot of poop on our shoes.

Today (Sunday) Zane's cold is really much worse. He's got a wet cough, a croaky voice, and not much appetite. He had a really long nap and woke up with a fever. I let him watch a lot of TV, and here he is watching Sesame Street and learning about bubbles and the letter B. He blew bubbles on his own for the first time! I also saw him trying to count along with the show, and that made me proud. What looks like a little mustache in the picture is just his latest set of scabs from doing another face plant on the sidewalk. He loooves to run!

I, too, am getting the cold and really need to get to bed. Enjoy this montage from the last fortnight!

Same Ol' Same 'Ol

Life has lately been moving along sedately with no new amazements or terrible tragedies. Pretty comfy, really! We've made some more trips out to the aquarium, science center, zoo, and local parks. I'm trying to get us outside a lot before the rain starts.

We started art classes at the local community center. I had visions of sitting with Zane in a delightfully chaotic craft room while we gleefully slapped around paint or clay together. Instead we are in a room where we really can't make much of a mess, and Zane gets antsy the minute he sees that we are in the classroom (where we took "dance" last year). All he wants to do is leave to go to the playroom he knows is next door. The class is an hour of difficulty with some fleeting art pleasures. I don't want to force him to sit and do art, but I don't want to allow him to just play with Legos while he's there, either. I have to do a lot of re-direction to get him back on task. It's pretty tiring, but I'm going to stick out the series and hope it gets easier.

Fall has really begun now, and we are back to long sleeve shirts, footie PJs, and fuzzy socks. Soon the flannel sheets come out. I always enjoy the beginning of Fall since a change is always nice, but I know I'll be sick of it in a couple of months. This year Zane is more interested in the world, though, so it may all be interesting. We've been reading books on planting tulips, Halloween, and pumpkins. We put up a few decorations and bought one small pumpkin. I'm hoping to get us out to a farm before those close up for the season.

Enjoy your Fall, and may you have a few more warm, sunny days!