Poopoo

We're dog sitting our friend's German shorthaired pointer, Max. Zane
thinks his tail is poopoo.

Zane put his own shoes on today! Well, he got frustrated with the
last one and I had to put it on for him. Those are tough shoes to get
on, too!

Alphabet Pal

Zane has this toy caterpillar that has a letter on each leg. When you press a leg it sounds out the letter (P = "puh", S = "ssss"). When you try to make it spell a bad word it giggles and says "that tickles!"

Zane inadvertently (I presume) spelled a bad word and made the Alphabet Pal giggle. And somehow he made it keep giggling. And it made him giggle. Then he pressed another leg and the giggling was gone. He got upset that it wouldn't giggle and looked to me for assistance.

What to do? Teach him to spell fuh...uh...kuh?

Don Knotts in Training

This morning Zane learned that if you spin around enough times you get dizzy and fall down. He also learned that this makes me laugh. So now he's skipping the spinning/dizzy part and going right to the falling down part to make me laugh.

Isn't it precious to see your child evolve from prop comedy to pure physical comedy?

Facebook vs. Blog

I'm finding it very difficult to keep up with more than one or two things in my life right now. Number one thing is always Zane. Lately number two has been Facebook (isn't that sad?). I try to keep up with the blog, but I just haven't had the energy. You'll notice that I haven't even mentioned my marriage or my home. Oh, right, then there's the dog. Thankfully, the cats are pretty independent.

So, the new plan is to occasionally update my status on FB, take a quiz here or there, check on everyone else, etc. All anecdotes and pictures will be posted to this blog. I may notify you via FB that the blog has been updated. We'll see how this goes.

In the fall I will start back to school. Since I'm a brilliant 36 year old taking freshman level classes, I'll have a lot more time on my hands to devote to time wasting endeavors like Facebook and blogging.

Thanks for your support.

Zane is back on the watermelon kick. We buy the little personal sized, seedless watermelons. Lately they've had small black seeds in them. One morning one of these little black seeds fell out of Zane's piece of watermelon and landed on his tray. He pointed at the seed, furrowed his brow, looked at me and said "poo-poo." I told him that it was a seed, not poo-poo. He insisted that it was poo-poo. And every time he eats watermelon and sees the little black seeds, he insists that they are poo-poo.

He, of course, continues to eat the watermelon with poo-poo in it. It worries me a little.

Mother's Day Out: Day 1

Today was Zane's first day of daycare (mother's day out - henceforth referred to as MDO). Yes, I cried a little. Zane was too distracted with playing to notice that I left. He apparently noticed shortly after, though. His teacher, Christie, said that he cried a little but was mostly whiny throughout the day. My mom gets this too - lots of "mama...mama...mama."

I went to yoga, took a shower, blew dry (blow-dried?) my hair, put on an outfit that included heels and then was at a loss as to what to do. No napping (too much caffeine). Wasn't hungry (too much caffeine). So I went to Target. 1 hour left. Stopped at McDonald's and didn't panic at the long line. 45 minutes left. Drove to the church. 1/2 hour left. Played solitaire on my phone. Played solitaire on my phone. Played solitaire on my phone. 15 minutes left. Read USA Today on my phone. 5 minutes left. Noticed another mom going in to pick up. Noticed a dad (in too-short shorts, by the way) going in to pick up. So I went in to pick up.

Everyone was playing in the gym. Zane was in one of those little push cars. It fell over on him. He saw me and was relatively happy to see me. He gave me a kiss, which has been hard to get from him lately. Christie said that he ate a little lunch and napped pretty well. Yea!

We went home and Zane ate O's on the couch and watched Curious George while I stretched out and "rested my eyes" next to him. He was in bed and asleep by 7:15. I was in bed by 8:00 and asleep by 10:00.

Whazzat?

Zane handed me something that he found on the carpet and asked "what's that?" He does this with every little bit of nothing. Just a moment before this he handed me a pretzel crumb and wondered what it was.

This time it was a dead spider. I screamed and told him it was a dead spider. He was nonplussed.

Counter Surfing

Just the day before this picture was taken, Cathleen was telling me that Jude climbs up onto the counters nows. Sometimes he does it pretty quietly. I was sympathetic, but said that Zane doesn't really pay much attention to what's on the counter. He climbs onto the barstools and likes to sit on them but could care less about what's behind him. Ha! Joke's on me!

I had just taken away a bottle of Tylenol and a Sharpee.

On any given day, this might be our counter. What you may not see is 4 pairs of scissors, two pocket knives, and a crapload of pens and markers. Please don't call CPS.

(That spray bottle is just water, not poison)

Lazy or Crazy?

So, the new thing is to spill his cheerios on the floor and then eat them. On purpose. And he knows to do it only when Cookie is outside, otherwise he has to share.

Never leave a baby unattended...

in the bath. I suppose that's so they don't drown.

Seriously, I stepped around the corner for 3 seconds when he was in his bedroom.

Such joy to be naked in the bath!

Mow-mow wants a kiss!!!

Bye Bye Uncle Tim!

My parents house was finally finished (well, as finished as their house will ever be), so Uncle Tim had to go home. His wife, Tika, was ecstatic. Zane was ambivilent, but happy to sit in Tim's lap a take a present.
Thanks for the door, Unclue Tim! Can't wait to see you (and Tika and Canzus) again! Ooh, thanks to Terry and Kristina for the door, too! Can't wait to see y'all in Florida!

Mmm...carnival food

First taste of funnel cake. Sweet Jesus, that's my boy!

More regrets

Zane's had some pretty nasty bouts of diaper rash lately. One treatment plan: air drying. On the plus side, Zane can't resist the bare bottom (gets it from his dad - seriously).

Show us your muscles, Zane!

Zane is so strong he can squeeze blackberries to a pulp with his bare hands. I am so strong that I can fling a child-size t-shirt into the trash in a single bound.

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

Also celebrating today: John and Alanna's First Meeting 11th Anniversary and Cookie Googleman Fleck's 2nd Birthday.

Aunt Tina

Aunt Kristina taught Zane how to click open a ball point pen. He was thrilled. Thanks, Aunt Tina.

Well, someone's going to regret this picture one day. (John already does - notice the pearl necklace)

Cheese!

You can now ask Zane to say "cheese" for the camera. What you get is this deer-in-the-headlights face and "ttthhheee."

Or, you can ask him to smile for the camera and get a weak grimace and squinted eyes.

Whatever. The newness is wearing off and we're not taking as many pictures anyway.

Valentine's Day

OK, so I tried to do a Valentine's pic like last year. Didn't quite work out. Still cute, though.


Here's last year's pic...

The Uncles

As mentioned previously, my uncles (2 of my mom's 7 brothers, #'s 7 & 8 of 14 total kids) came to help my parents fix their Ike-damaged house. Tim and Terry stayed with us and it was surprisingly un-crowded. They left this past Saturday (their wives were joyous) and the house feels a little empty. The cats, dog and Zane are happy to have the guestroom back, however, for sleeping and playing.

We'll be seeing Tim soon enough when he comes back to help finish the house (if Tika lets him). Kristina will surely not let Terry come back (even if he wanted to), but we'll see them soon, too, as they have recently moved to Florida (and we like Florida).

Confessions of a Shopaholic

Is it surprising that Zane already loves his shoes? These Teva's are too small for him, but he still asks to wear them and is thrilled to walk around the house wearing just the one. Sometimes I put them on his hands and he's thrilled with that, too. I don't know why we haven't given them away - probably because we spent $27 on them and I want to get every last dime out of them.

Pop Pop and Zane

Grandma and Grandpa (or PAAAAAAH in Zanespeak) have spent every evening at our house for the last month. This is because my uncles are staying with us while working on their Ike-flooded house and my mom is providing dinner (not a bad deal, really). A little benefit for my dad is that Zane is finally warming up to him. Yea, Dad!

So, Grandpa struggled to get down on the floor to read books and struggled back up. But it was worth it! Dad, you might want to supplement your tai chi with some yoga.

Goin' to the zoo zoo zoo, what about you you you?

Today we went to the Zoo with the Davis family. It was a lovely time. None of the Davis kids would be still long enough for a picture, so you'll have to settle for Zane digging for brain on a warthog statue.

I think this picture speaks for itself...

Thomas Charles Meyer, R.I.P.

Yesterday was John's dad's funeral. I will tell one story...

I believe it was the year after John's mom died, possibly Thanksgiving or Christmas. We were at Mr. Meyer's house and I went out back to throw a tennis ball for the dogs (many, many dogs). Mr. Meyer came out after awhile, stood for a minute watching and said (low, gravely, Chicago-accented voice) "Boy, you sure don't throw like a girl."

Thanks, Tom. Settle down. Peace.

The boy's obsessed!

Zane loves his hand-me-down Elmo slippers (Thanks, Julian!).  He even insists on putting them on over his footie pajamas.  He's also become obsessed with fiddling with his bellybutton.  When I strap him into his carseat, he digs around under the straps to find it.  When I get him up in the morning and change his diaper he needs the PJ's zipper left down around his bellybutton for access or he'll throw a fit.  Fortunately, this all makes me laugh...

Zane, where's your bellybutton?  

Zane, Cookie needs a hug!

Zane, can you touch your brain?

All I had to play with was a box...

Our good friend Ngoc brought a nice gift for Zane all the way from Australia: "Electric Airplane - Have the Rotary Function" (what the?).  It's a little too advanced for him, so we just let him play with the box.  He carries it around, pushes it around and tries to ride it.  Who needs toys?

This New Year's Eve, John and I got to go out and party. Whoo-hoo! Cathleen and Daniel offered to baby sit Zane all night and bring him back to us in the morning. And they got me a birthday present, too! They've been moved up to No. 1 status.

Zane apparently needs a helmet to eat yogurt. This preceded a fall in which he hit his chin and bit his tongue (again). So he needs a face guard, too. No stitches, this time.

Very Late Christmas Pics

OK - I'm back. Here are a few of the very few Christmas pictures taken. We had a lovely holiday.