Zane is Three!

Today my Sweet Baby Zane turns three!  Last night Michael was making a big deal about Zane turning three, and this morning Zane asked me, "When will I change?"  He had an idea that he might be quite different today, even though last night I assured him he would be the same!

For the last couple of nights we've been playing a balloon bombing game with the balloons leftover from his party.  Enjoy this prelude to the actual birthday celebrations.

This morning Michael got up early so Zane could enjoy his presents and hopefully calm down a bit by nap time.  Unfortunately, the first present Zane took from the stack was a rolled up shirt with a digger on it.  As he started to open it he got very mad and said, "This isn't fun.  It's not fun!"  He really threw quite a pout, enough that I was thinking of repossessing the gifts!  But really, he had been expecting toys and he opened clothes!  Ick.  So I let him have a bye on that.  Then he opened the other things from Michael and I and really liked them.  Two Cars videos and a book of TowMater stories.  A Dinosaur Train set, and Cranky with some magnetic freight train cargo.  Well, I guess we went to the dark side on licensed image stuff from TV, but at least it's mostly PBS Kids!  I was excited to discover that the plastic Dinosaur Trains fit on Zane's wooden train tracks, and that the Megabloks they are made from are interchangeable with his Legos.

Video evidence of the birthday present melee:


After his nap Zane also enjoyed some cars from Grandpa, a shirt from Grandma, and a crazy pipe and flag from cousins Ian and Julian.  I think the flag was his favorite!

I wrote and posted this last night, and I realized later that I forgot to do my hypothesizing about the year to come!  Here's what I said last year:

And what do I look forward to next year? Well, I imagine he'll get pretty fluent with language and easier to understand, learn shapes and counting, jump, walk up and down stairs without hands, and generally get stronger and more nimble. What do I dream of? Potty training and sleeping in his own room!

I'd say that was all right on!  He doesn't really know counting very well, but the rest is true.  And he did indeed get the potty training in just under the wire!

In this next year Zane will begin school and I imagine that will cause a lot of changes, along with just growing older!  I can't think of any really big changes like weaning and sleeping in a bed and toilet training from the last several years.  I think there's a good chance that he might be reading just a little bit when he turns four.  Hopefully he will also be better with numbers and counting.  He still zips around on his balance bike, but maybe he will learn to pedal a bike without training wheels, too!  I hope he can form some really good friendships and start to hang out with more kids (I have to make that easier for him).

We'll see!  It will all be a magnificent mystery.

Zane's 3rd Birthday Party!

Actually it was Zane's first birthday party thrown on his behalf, and it was his third birthday!  I was nervous about organizing this, but it all went off without a hitch.  I was pretty surprised!  But also proud of myself.  We have a small house and backyard, but the weather cooperated so we could stay in the backyard which is our biggest space.  Two families from the neighborhood came, and that was just the right amount.  We also invited some daycare kids, but they never responded and didn't show up.

We had a morning party which turned out good because the day was getting hot.  I decided not to try to do too much, so I bought a fruit plate, veggie plate, cake, cupcakes, juice, and frozen pizza.  I like making cakes, but it would have been too much to do.  We started off with a shark pinata filled with toys -- no candy!  Zane was super excited about it, as he hadn't seen it before.  He posed with it trying to make an angry face.  As soon as the kids arrived, we had at it!  I ended up having to help things along, but it was pretty fun.

Then we did Olympic Fishing!  I had cut out eight identical gold fish and put paper clips on them.  One fish had gold stars all over the back.  The kids took turns fishing with a magnet, and whoever got the gold-star fish won a medal!  That was a good time filler, and everyone got a medal except Zane who lost interest at the end.  He kept asking where was his cake!

Meanwhile, I cooked up the pizzas, brought them out, and then brought out the cake!  It was yellow all over -- Zane's favorite color.  He blew the candles out right away, and we feasted.  After the kids got all jacked up on food and sugar, they ran around and screamed like banshees while one Dad was an escaped prisoner, and then Michael threatened to barbeque them.  Good times.

Zane had a good time, but was also kind of subdued.  He was tired in the morning, and ended up having not much trouble napping after the party, so I think he's a bit tired for some reason.  Still, I was really pleased that he had fun, the other kids had fun, there was food everyone liked, the games filled up the time, and the cleanup was easy!

We'll give Zane presents from the family on his birthday on Wednesday.

Here is video evidence of the fun!

Summer Fun

We've been having a really great summer.  I've enjoyed so many adventures with Zane that we can do together, now that he's older and more of his own person.  The potty training has also really gelled, so it is wonderful to be able to just head over to a toilet when we need to.  No lugging diapers around, no scheduling trips around using the toilet at home (which was the only acceptable toilet for a couple of weeks), no juggling fluid intakes to get the pee at the most convenient time.  I still take an extra set of pants in case of an accident, but I have not yet had to deploy them.

Michael's cousin Rafi and his family came through Seattle briefly to start a Disney cruise to Alaska.  We caught up with them for about an hour at the terminal.  Zane's cousins Elisa and Niko are so wonderful, and Zane just looooooooved them.  That's the three of them at the top of the post.  This was on day three of potty training, and I was all stressed out, but Zane wasn't, as you can see!

One sign that Zane has been having a good summer is his very diverse collection of scabs.  The picture does not do them justice (like my modesty oval?).  He had two sets on one knee and one on the other with a scattering of extra bruises.  Each shin was scraped bloody.  He also had a new chin scab with matching lip scab in addition to the old healing spot from his bicycle mishap from a month ago.  Each scab and bruise was from a different event.  Also, yesterday he ended up needing three baths throughout the day, which I think is also a sign that the boy is having the kind of summer a kid ought to have.

I realized the other day that I've kind of fallen off in terms of taking him to the zoo and aquarium and museums and swimming, but when it's nice in Seattle, I just want to be outside!  Zane likes it, too.  We're very fortunate to have a nice neighborhood to walk, play and bike in, a pleasant backyard with good neighbors, and parks within walking/biking distance.  We can go back inside when the rain starts!

Our neighborhood is really wonderful.  Many Seattle neighborhoods celebrate Night Out Against Crime, and ours is no exception.  The idea is to get neighbors together at least once per year to create a more solid community of people who will watch out for each other throughout the year.  This year Michael was able to participate (he's usually at Kung Fu), and Zane was old enough to really have a blast with the other kids.  I think the stomp rocket launchers really made an impression on him.  He was laughing maniacally and yelling "Hoarding!  Hoarding!" as he gathered up all of the rockets in his arms.  He also had an awesome time running races with a bunch of the other boys.  His favorite pair of shoes these days are blue and black "running shoes" that he says make him go super fast!  Towards the end Michael had some sort of game going with a gaggle of kids involving threatening to barbeque them.  Good stuff for little boys!

This month is a very busy one for us.  I have been excitedly looking forward to Zane's birthday and also starting school in September, but I also hate to be wishing time would pass, because then summer would be over!  The weather has been really superb the last couple of weeks, and as of today the forecast looks great for the next week, too.  At this time of year I start thinking that each nice day could be our last.  We've been enjoying soccer, which will end at then end of this month; we had a rocky beginning, but Zane said he wants to continue in the fall.  We tried to see some fireworks nearby, but they were delayed and ended up being too far past bedtime to be reasonable; but Zane still was excited about being outside in the near dark since he goes to bed and wakes up in the light in the summer.  Today we had a fabulous birthday party in our back yard!  I'll post separately about that later.  Next up is Zane's actual birthday on Wednesday, and we'll give him gifts from the family then.  Next a doctor's appointment for a three year checkup, a development assessment, a haircut for school, and the last days at daycare.  I'm hoping to squeeze in our first visit to a big fair.  I think I'll go in the morning and plan to stay for a long time and not worry about the nap schedule; sometimes you gotta mess with the schedule!  I can't wait to show Zane kiddie rides, a horse show, pig races, chainsaw carving, and fair food.  I think he will love it and be in awe of all the world has to offer.

And then in September we have school starting, and that will allow me to go back to the gym.  And finally, in mid-September we go to Maine for a visit!  Whew.

I will leave you with this nice photo of Zane washing the kitchen floor.  I gave him a bowl of soapy water and an egg beater for entertainment, and he ended up deciding to wash the entire kitchen floor plus the outside of the garbage can!  Who am I to stifle the urge to clean?

You Gotta Know When to Hold It ...

Potty Training Diary.
This is really TMI for most people.  Basically, we did a potty training week, it was hard, but I'm hopeful that we are headed in the right direction.  I'm always trying to find info online about parenting situations that other people have encountered, so I hope that maybe someone will find this someday and know that they are not alone in what's happening in their house!

Day 1:
Started late in the day because we needed to go to soccer in the morning.
Pee: On the porch.
Pee: In the backyard.
Pee: In the toilet!  First time ever!!!!!!!!
Pee: In the toilet!
Pee: In the bathtub.
The successful evening pees were more dribbles and drips, but it was something!  Zane got to have a nasty, sugary grape soda to encourage drinking and lots of peeing, which he absolutely looooooooved.

Day 2:
Pee: In the toilet.
Dry nap diaper.
Pee: In the potty.
That was it for the whole day!  Clearly, Zane needs to drink more.  But still, no accidents other than some pre-pee dribbles in underwear.  Zane also had "better" pee, in that he didn't spend a lot of time dribbling, he actually managed to get up a good stream.

Day 3:
We had an unexpected outing come up, so I plied Zane with a big milk drink in the morning hoping to get him to pee before we had to go.  He did (after a lot of work and waiting), and it all worked out with no accidents, but it was stressful!  I ordered a travel potty and some car seat pads for the future.
Pee: In the toilet.
Dry nap diaper.
Pee: In the toilet, with hardly any waiting!
Pee: On the floor, just after an unsuccessful potty time.

Day 4:
Lots of stress and tears about getting on the toilet today.  Stuffed toy Kitty told me she is tired of hearing about pee and diapers.  Zane told me to stop using a timer when he's on the toilet (for minimum "try" time).  Zane and I are generally unhappy.
Pee: In the toilet.
Pee: On the living room carpet.  My fault for going pee first when we came home from the store!
Pee: half in the toilet, half on the floor.  Quite a struggle to get him to sit when he really wanted to be helping Daddy clean out the garage and capture spiders.
Wet nap diaper.
Pee in the toilet after much despair.
We are tired of toilet training.  We want to throttle each other.

Day 5:
OK, new attitude for both of us, and a sunny new day!
Pee: In the toilet, without much wait.
Pee: In the toilet, without much wait.
Pee in the backyard.
Dry nap diaper.
Pee in the backyard after several potty tries and an obvious need to pee.  It's hard to relax!
Pee in the potty while watching us get dinner ready.

Day 6:
A good morning, with a timely pee in the potty, then off to daycare wearing underwear!  I sent him with two changes of clothes.  When I picked him up he was in different pants and a diaper.  He had said that he would hold it until he got home, and well, that didn't work out.  Phylesia at daycare said it was OK to keep trying, so he'll go with undies again tomorrow.  Zane will also bring his own red potty in case that helps.
One good pee at home in the toilet after a nice bike ride.  After bedtime he said he needed to pee, but I think that was just a delaying tactic.

Day 7:
Same deal at daycare: wet himself and came home with a diaper and new pants on.  Oh well.  At home he did great with a potty pee that came out very fast ; he said, "Mama, I relaxed and the pee came out!"  I think he may be getting it.  Then we had a poop and more pee.  Plus, after bed, for the first time he announced he had to pee, and then did in the toilet.  A very successful evening!  He is happy to have figured his muscles out a bit.  He said, "I think when I pee my muscles open up like this (hands move apart), and when I poop they close like this (hands together)."  Pretty good guess!

So, now we seem to have gotten through initial success, a mid-week slump, and now we are on the slow journey to success.  Zane is figuring out how to hold the pee, how to know when he really has to go, and how to tell us, and how to relax to get it out quickly.  I was surprised to find that he would start to have dry nap diapers, too.  Hopefully over the next months he can learn to recognize when he needs to go, and do it.  School starts in 5 weeks, and then we go on an airplane trip in 2 months, so hopefully we'll be pretty good to go then!

The Best Weekend Ever

We all just had one of the most superrific weekends ever!

Saturday morning started out on a high note for me, when Zane pooped in a potty on purpose for the first time.  I'm so happy!  This coming Saturday we start our dedicated week of potty training, but this early success just put me over the moon.  I'm so ready to be done with diapers, and Zane really needs to be potty trained before school starts in September.

Then we headed to soccer.  I had signed Zane up for L'il Kickers in the Thumpers division.  Several weeks ago when I was at work, Michael and Zane headed over for the first class, and Zane had a complete snotty-face and flapping-arms meltdown and refused to participate.  Two weeks ago I was again working for the second class.  Michael took Zane and this time they had a fabulous time.  So this past weekend it was finally my turn to go, and we both had a great time!  The class is almost an hour long, but coach Austin kept us going with lots of different games to keep up the kids' interest.  We ran, did red-light-green-light, planted trees (righting little cones with feet only), kicked balls, tried to do headers, chased the coach, and played with a parachute, plus more!  We've had strange humid and thundery weather for the past week, and thunder storms rumbled during the whole class, but luckily we were spared having to dash for cover.  We also got to meet up with our favorite neighbor Josie (4 yo) and her family.  Josie is in a soccer class, too, and after the classes we hung out at the play ground together.

In the afternoon all three of us got ready to go down into Ballard for the annual Seafood Festival.  I had promised Zane he could have ice cream, so he was excited for it!  We walked down with the stroller, but Zane walked about half of the way himself.  We got ourselves some ice cream, a corn dog, fried zucchini, and salmon and slaw to get started.  First things first!  Then we headed over to the European Super Slide.  This thing is about 3 stories high!  Zane qualified to go, so we bought three rides and climbed the stairs to the top.  All the way down Zane whimpered on the bumps, but once we got to the bottom he hopped up and said, "I want to do it again!"  Then he zipped right up the stairs two more times for two more rides.  Each time he was scared on the way down but wanted to go again!

We were going to go to the spray park next, but it was inexplicably turned off on a rare hot day during the festival!  We saw some bouncy houses across the park, though, and headed over.  We soon discovered it wasn't just a bouncy house, but also a blow up obstacle course!  I had just a few days ago explained what an obstacle course was (in relation to his toys in the living room), and now he got to do one!  I have never seen anything so awesome for little kids.  The whole thing was soft.  You squished through pillow-like bollards, slithered through tunnels, climbed mountains, and slid down the other side.  Zane went through again and again.  We finally convinced him to go home, and he walked halfway home, uphill and pushing a stroller.  Needless to say, after crazy soccer, playground, walking to the festival and back, and being an obstacle course maniac, he slept well that night.

The next day we headed down again for lunch.  When Zane saw what Michael was wearing he needed to have on a Hawaii shirt, too.  This time we started with the park, and found that a small animal zoo had been added!  Michael and the camel got on well.  We also saw two little ponies, a baby pig, bunnies, young ducks, guinea pigs, a dove, some quail, hens and roosters, baby bunnies, and baby goats.  All Zane could see, though, was the obstacle course gleaming in the distance.  Calling, calling to him.  We headed over there and there was no line, so he went through three times fast, and then had a stint in the bouncy house.

Next we headed over to the super slide, but we saw face painting on the way.  I asked Zane if he wanted to do it, and I was surprised that he did!  He chose a tiger face, and sat absolutely still for the whole procedure.  I was amazed. Unfortunately, when he saw his face in the mirror he was not happy.  I think he was weirded out by the fact that he did not look like himself.  As long as he didn't see his reflection, though, he was fine.  He ended up roaring most of the way home.  We had another three turns on the Super Slide, and when Zane got off at the bottom he started to shout "Yeah!  Yeah!" in a gutteral way.  He was still scared by the ride, but he seemed to get a real high from the adrenalin rush.  I think we are in for some scary teen years.  After that we got the same food as the day before, except a pineapple shave ice replaced the ice cream.  All in all another fantastic day!

Monday morning we even squeezed in a visit with Josie at her house, and then 5 kids and 3 moms in our backyard for awhile before Zane and I had to get ready to head out for work and daycare.

I would have to say we had the most fun weekend ever, with all three of us together!  And here we have some video evidence:
 


Next adventure? Potty training!

Summer kickoff

Happy Fourth of July!

Today finally feels like summer.  We frolicked in the sun and had a cookout in the backyard.  We actually had on shorts and sunscreen!  For the sad springs and summers we've had lately, this seems miraculous.  Even though it has been overcast, at least we haven't had days and days of rain like last year.  Zane has been enjoying hanging out on the back porch getting fresh air and listening to the birds.  He has also all of a sudden gotten a great urge to "work" in the garden.  He loves to dig dig dig in areas I've weeded.  He digs holes, moves dirt around, makes lakes with the hose, mud pies, and "highscrapers" for the bugs and flies in the garden.  When I'm ready to quit for lunch or nap time, he tells me I have to keep working.  Such a taskmaster.  I love the fact that I am actually able to get some gardening done while he's busy.  Our yard has been such a disaster for the last three years, and now I feel like there's hope I may neaten it up again.

I can't believe it, but Zane is almost 3!  With my procrastination/busy record lately, my next post will probably be after his birthday on August 15th.  His hair is already getting long from his first cut, and I think some of his pants are finally starting to look a bit short.  He's still a lean mean machine, but when I watch him subsist on fruit and then run around all day like a crazy man, I think I know why.  He's better and better at letter recognition, and can sometimes point out specific words in a book.  Once he even recognized the word gum when I spelled it out to Michael!  Mostly I think he's remembering individual things rather than assimilating the concept of reading, but still, I get excited about the prospect of reading coming in the future.

We've had a bit of a preschool saga, but now we seem to be all settled.  A new Montessori school was built last summer just around the corner from our house.  I contacted the owner and she said she would let me know when they started their waiting list.  And then she forgot!  When I next contacted her she said the school was full for Fall 2012.  Because I thought we had a deal, I hadn't lined up another school, and in Seattle most have wait lists.  I negotiated a #1 spot on the wait list for the Montessori school, and then Zane and I went on three preschool tours around town.  I had settled on one when the Montessori school found they had a spot for us.  It's more expensive than the regular preschools, but I love that it is literally in our neighborhood and Zane will be going to school with kids who live across the street from us.  Also, there is only one tuition (full time), so since I'm paying for it, I'll have Zane go a little extra so I can go back to the gym.  In May my long-time gym cancelled their child-care program so I haven't worked out since the end of April.  I feel like a stiff old weakling.  I'm looking forward to our new routine of school and the gym, although I'll have to adjust to a little less Zane in my life.  Which is sad for me.  The gym will be good.  I've been sick a lot this spring, and I partly blame my lack of exercise.

Some stories.

One night at dinner, Zane told me a story.
Before he was Zane, a long, long time ago, he was a man who painted houses. He painted them yellow and blue. He had a yellow rental car, but he didn't give it back. He left his paint brushes and bucket far, far away and someday will go back and get them. Then, before he was Zane, he was also a woman.

I have no idea where this all came from. It was fascinating to listen to!  This was about a month ago, and a few days ago he brought it up again.  He started telling me that he needed to cover up an old can of gray paint he had left when he was a man a long time ago.  This is so interesting, because we don't talk about past-lives, and I didn't prompt this.  My Mom remembers asking him where he was before he was born, so that may have got him thinking.

At the beginning of June the Touch-a-Truck event happened again.  Last year just Zane and I went, and I didn't even try waiting in the lines to actually get into a truck.  This year Michael and I tag teamed waiting in the lines, so Zane got to explore the inside of an ambulance and a semi truck cab. I think it was actually more fun when we didn't try to wait to get in the trucks.  The ice cream was probably the highlight, though (but I had to wait in line about 40 minutes for it). Zane went back and forth to all three cones treating them like a rotating personal ice cream buffet.

Zane has become a bit of a daredevil on his balance bike.  I have to jog to keep up, and I've been waiting for the inevitable spill.  One day Zane took off down the sidewalk on his balance bike. He went farther and faster than before. By the time I realized he wasn't stopping, it was too late for me to run and catch him. He sailed over a huge bump, went about 6 feet more, and crashed into a huge rock. He got a big bloody scrape on his chin but cried for all of 10 seconds. I asked him, "Were you trying to stop, or did you go fast on purpose?" "I went fast on purpose!" Trying to make a teaching moment I said, "And how did that work out for ya?" "It worked out good!" he chirped.

Last week Zane went to a Princess Party for his favorite neighbor Josie's 4th birthday.  I had been looking forward to this, but unfortunately I was just starting to get really sick, so I had to rouse Michael to take Zane.  Zane had been looking forward to the party, too, so I really didn't want him to lose out.  I put him in a snazzy vest, and then he was completely game to wear a tiara.  The tiara wouldn't stay on, but I did get a quick picture.  Zane ended up falling in love with the vest, though, and it has become a new wardrobe favorite.  When he was littler he wouldn't keep it on, so I'm pleased, too.

Now I have to think of something interesting to do for Zane's birthday!  I'm thinking just burgers and cupcakes in the back yard.  Maybe I can pull off some sort of theme.

 Well, with summer time and nicer-ish weather, we've been getting out to the zoo and the beach a lot.  Today we went to the Aquarium and saw the new Ferris wheel, the Great Wheel.  The line was too long for us, but maybe later in the summer we can give it a whirl.

Photos From Mom

Tra La! It's May!

This has been a wonderful May for us this year.  Lots of spots of fine weather letting us have lots of great adventures.  I'm just too busy and tired to write about them!

We've been getting back out to the Ballard Farmer's Market on some Sunday mornings.  Our routine is to enjoy fresh mini-donuts, wood-fired pizza, live music, and performances like juggling.  Sometimes I get my bike out, sometimes we drive down with Michael and have breakfast first.  I feel a little guilty that I don't buy much from the farmers, but I'm too busy wrangling Zane.  When Michael comes, he buys.

The zoo now has summer hours and giraffe feeding is back on the schedule!  For $5 you can hand leafy branches to the giraffes.  It's really, really fun.  The last time we went I thought I would let Zane have an ice cream for a snack, but we ended up having it pretty late in the day.  It was enormous, Zane didn't share, and he ate the whole thing, so it ended up being lunch!  That was kind of embarrassing from a nutritional point of view, but oh well, he enjoyed it!  And it won't happen again for a looooooong time.  Zane's favorite part of the zoo is the little clunky family zoo, and we visited the tractor again for a drive "to grandma's".

The beach weather has been great, too.  At the end of April we tried to go to a local farm for sheep shearing and pony rides, but construction, traffic, and an accident (not ours) conspired against us.  We ended up going to the beach, and Zane was totally fine with that.  It's a great backup destination!  I was pretty disappointed, though, as I've really been trying to get him on a pony or horse.  We did go back to the farm later in the month and had a great time visiting the animals, exploring a stream, and romping through a nearby playground.

Now that it is coming on towards summer, the Seattle Aquarium sends naturalists down to the beach at very low tides. We've been to two so far, and Zane loves them.  I had to buy my own (polka-dot) rubber boots to keep up with him as he sloshes through the mudflats and fairly deep tide pools.  The first time we went down we found a pet-sized viking burial boat that was singed and had most likely been used to send a beloved cat or guinea pig to Valhalla.  The second time we went it was raining, and Zane impressed a naturalist with his zeal and his knowledge of moon snail egg cases.

All this fun combined with some trouble sleeping lately has made me really muddle-headed.  Zane, however, has a young and nubile brain, and is constantly reminding me of what I have forgotten.  He's becoming very useful!

My local gym has unfortunately canceled its childcare program, but the upside is that now Zane and I are free to go to Michael's kung fu class to see what it's really all about.  Boy did Zane love that!  He quickly took to punching the dummy Bob in the nuts and then swinging on a rail for what he called his "best exercise."


Mother's Day was most excellent!  Zane and Michael got me presents and cards, and we had a lovely morning out to breakfast and at the Farmer's Market.  It's always a lot of fun when we can all get out together.

Zane has started to really get into dinosaurs lately, so I took him to the Burke Museum for his first visit. He had a better time than I expected!  Not only did he like the fossils of dinosaurs, whales, and mastodons, he also seemed to like the cultural displays, too.  Equally interesting were the stairs and elevator, but oh well!

Now it is the end of May, and my Mom is here for a visit!  This is why I now have time to do a blog post.  Zane and Grandma are downstairs playing with trains.  It has been 6 months since her last visit, and I was wondering how much he would really remember her.  Would he be shy?  No way!  Michael said that as soon as she walked into daycare to pick him up Zane started beaming and threw himself at her.  They've been having a great time all week.

Saturday morning we went out for Zane's first haircut.  His hair wasn't really that long, just kind of weird and wispy.  It needed some control.  I had been talking to Zane about it for awhile, and he was not at all concerned.  When the time came, he seemed a little grumpy about having a stranger fuss around his head, but all he did was scowl a bit.  Otherwise, he was perfectly behaved!  The haircut is great: subtle but neat.  The pictures are on my Mom's camera, so I'll post those separately.

That afternoon Michael and I got out to Folklife together by ourselves and got to enjoy and dance to the Roy Kay Trio.  It was great to have a date!  Sunday we got some cold beach time in before I had to go to work.

Monday was super fun! We had planned to take Zane to Folklife, but that morning Zane said he wanted to go to the museum to see the dinosaurs.  It actually was a perfect request!  We got to Seattle Center early enough to score a really close, free parking spot.  First we went to the Pacific Science Center and reveled in: buttons to push and nobs to turn; water tables and squirters; a space capsule; animatronic dinosaurs; gravity well coin donation thingamabobbies; the butterfly room, and 3D insect puzzles.  After a brief snack it was on to the Folklife Festival. We ate great food, hung around the fountain, saw a silver lady pretending to be a statue, a pirate, jugglers, musicians, great music, and scads of people.

Monday afternoon was baking day.  I never got to celebrate my birthday back in March, so Zane and Mom baked me cupcakes!  I came back from a foray to Value Village for fresh work clothes to find Zane covered in chocolate and sporting a fine baker's outfit.  He decided I should have chocolate cupcakes with blue and yellow frosting and sprinkles.  Thus were the cupcakes created, and yea, they were Good.

And so we are up to today: first boating trip to the arboretum!  I wasn't sure how it would go, but the trip exceeded all expectations!  Zane was excited to go but behaved himself well in the boat.  He kept hold of his paddle the entire time and even began paddling (somewhat) helpfully.  He was able to spot the first turtles and was quiet and gentle around the wildlife.  During a picnic break on the grass he ate a great lunch, and then suddenly came up to me and planted a kiss on my lips.  He was so happy!  My Mom and I are glad to have another outdoorsman in the family.

We started out by the UW stadium and paddled across to the arboretum.  Right away we were able to paddle up to a multi-family group of geese with goslings.  We had to go under a couple of freeway spans, and Zane enjoyed reminding us to duck.  We looked at a large old beaver lodge, spotted a heron, and then Zane saw him fly away.  We caught up with the heron later, and Zane was the first to spot the turtles there, too.  Mr. Sharp Eyes!  Ducks kept coming up to us begging for handouts which meant we got some good looks at them; many had babies in tow.

We pulled out on a little beach at the arboretum and had a quick snack break.  Right away a mallard couple came up to us looking for a handout.  Zane scarfed down a ham and cheese sandwich and then said he wanted to get back in the boat.  He's hooked!  Pretty soon a mama duck brought her brood right up to the boat to see if we would offer snacks.  We spent more time and saw lily pads, cowslips, yellow irises, red-winged black birds, wood ducks, cat-tails, some people, and a dog.  Also, some sort of a little bird that skipped around on the lily pads.  After about 1.5 hours of boating, we pulled out again at the boat rental place.

Well, I really had better go check and see if Mom needs relief from Zane!  As soon as I can get pictures from her camera, I'll put some more up in a new photo post.

Easter and 123 ABC

I only have one picture for this post, but some exciting developments!  First, as you can see above, we had our first try at dyeing eggs for Easter.  It worked out better than I imagined.  I thought we would have dye and eggs splattered everywhere, but Zane was careful.  Here is a rather long video of the process, probably only interesting to grandparents!

I had to work on the Saturday before Easter, so I was sad to miss the chance to take Zane to his first egg hunt.  Michael took Zane to the zoo where they have an area for 1-3 year olds.  I guess it was pretty easy, as there was no start time, and piles of eggs were everywhere.  Still, Zane liked it, and even helped put eggs in a baby's basket.  Hopefully this cancels out the bad karma he got a week later from whacking a baby at daycare with a shoe.  It was an accident, but Zane had been told to stop swinging his shoes around or just such a thing might happen.  He ended up having to stay inside while everyone went on a walk.  This was his first "bad" report home.  He's been having a hard time lately listening and obeying.  He's being very 2, and it is quite tiring.  Still, most of the time he is a good boy.

We are all very proud that Zane is now reciting his ABCs and counting up to 13 by himself!  It seems as though all of a sudden a switch has been thrown in his brain.  Around the time we went to Hawaii a couple of weeks ago, he had started to say a few letters here and there and count up to five or six.  I've noticed in the past that travel seems to accelerate new development, and that seemed to happen here, too!  While we were in Hawaii we watched a bit more TV than we normally would, and Zane started watching a show called SuperWhy.  It's a show all about learning to read.  He seemed mesmerized and started participating in the show.  When we got home, he was watching it one day and all of a sudden he started repeating the alphabet along with AlphaPig!  Now he can do the whole thing all by himself with no mistakes.  Michael and I and Marie at daycare have been telling Zane the alphabet, but it took a pig on TV to make it all gel.  Oh well, whatever works!

Along with reciting the alphabet has come some letter recognition.  It's very exciting to have him be able to point out a letter on a written page.  He can even distinguish some words from others if I say something like, "It's the shortest word and it ends with a T.  Can you find that one?"  Just a couple of days ago he started drawing in a very different way and announcing he was writing his name.  It looks like a rune or a very long E with many spokes.  It's definitely very different from his usual drawing.

At the same time Zane all of a sudden began reciting numbers up to thirteen and sometimes beyond!  It seems like some sort of list-making set of neurons in his brain are turned on.  He also seems to be starting to understand the concept of counting.  I don't have any illusions that Zane will be reading and doing math next month, but it's an exciting start!

Finally, Zane has started to sing and hum a bit.  I sing to him a lot, even though he complains about it. :)  He started softly and shyly singing to some CDs, though, and it tickles me to no end.  Last week all of a sudden he started humming, and made a big deal out of demonstrating it to both of us.  "I'm humming!  It sounds different."  He likes to go to a spot in our backyard and announce, "I'm going to do some humming."  Then he will fiddle with flowers while he hums.

Today is a warm beautiful day, and I got a little bit of video of him "writing his name," but unfortunately the battery died a short way in, and he wouldn't do it again.  Then some video of him humming.  You may have to turn up the volume for that.


Oh!  And I almost forgot to mention that Zane has also been zipping around on his balance bike like a daredevil.  He goes fast enough that I have to run to keep up.  I know he'll have a major wipe out someday, but meanwhile I don't want to inhibit him by telling him to be careful all the time. Maybe next time I'll get video of that!

Happy Spring!

Hawaii in Motion

Some video clips from Hawaii: the beach at our condo, the Sugar Cane Train, and a windy day at Fleming Beach.