Play-Doh

He knows it tastes yucky, yet he's compelled to lick it.

Deconstruction

Last weekend John demoed (I'm surprised that that is a real word) the walls separating our living and dining rooms. Originally there was a six foot opening and now there's a fourteen foot opening. It's fantastic, but now we really need to get the dining room finished because you can see it from the front door. At least it's not a cave anymore!

In retrospect, we should have waited until it was a little cooler out, as we had to shut off the power to that area to move some electrical stuff, including the AC thermostat. In addition, had we been able to open the windows, the dust may have been able to escape, which would have been nice.

Clubhouse

Want to entertain your toddler for hours? Flip your couch over on it's back, push it up against the wall and call it a clubhouse. Seriously - HOURS!

Treasure Collection

Since it's sooooo hot outside, we let Zane ride his tricycle inside the house. And, to minimize accidents, I attached a basket to the front so Zane could put essentials in it and use both hands for steering. This is the collection that I found the other day:

That is: a little box with a wiggling ladybug in it, tiny fire truck, Panzer IX tank (upper left), half a lamb from a magnetic singing toy, tennis ball and very old block that used to be John's when he was little.

And, yes, his trike is pink and purple. It was a hand-me-down and Zane couldn't care less.

For some reason Zane was grumpy all day yesterday. He had a pretty good night's sleep and a nap, yet was super sensitive. Fortunately, he interspersed his whining and crying with this little bit of humor:

Zane (from the car seat): I'm tart, mommy.

Me: Oh, yeah?

Zane: You can lick me and I'm tart.

Me: Well, you sure got that right. Maybe if you take a nap you'll wake up sweet.

Zane: No.

Me (in my head): Well, you can lick me and taste the bitter.

Adele's New Trike

No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed!

Zane and Adele's Birthday Party

Zane and Adele's birthday party was held at Gymboree and was super fun for all the kids. It was pretty darn fun to watch them, too. Thank you, Rachel, for all your planning and work! You made it really easy for me!

Zane and Adele's Birthday Party

Zane and his good friend, Adele, shared a birthday party this year. They have a lot of the same friends, so it made sense in many ways. Adele's mom, Rachel, did almost all of the planning and work, so I decided to bang out some kick-butt cupcakes. The party had a "Underwater Adventure" theme...

Thanks to my houseguest and friend, Laura Strother-Dunsavage, and to my mom, Jackie, for helping with the cupcakes. Laura, you made beautiful lips and Mom, your dots were lovely.

Note: I don't really enjoy baking, so the cupcakes themselves were from a box and were only pretty good. The frosting, however, was homemade buttercream and was kick-butt.

Swim Lessons

We started swim lessons at the YMCA last week. John's been doing the
in-the-water stuff, including before-lesson play time (pictured
above). I like how, when John asked me to take a picture, Zane was
strategically placed in front of his "problem" area.

MFAH

We took our first trip to the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. Zane has
been asking to go to a museum like in one of his books (Olivia) and
was interested in seeing a Jackson Pollock painting. Of course, once
we got there, there were so many more interesting things than
paintings and sculptures: stairs, escalators, beds (benches), tall
ceilings with windows, tall window with ball-chain blinds...

When we got to the Pollock painting, I thought he'd be excited to see
something he recognized. Nope. I also thought he'd see interesting
things in the abstract sculptures. Not yet. When asked what he thought
various sculptures looked like he consistently replied "it looks like
a sculpture."

He didn't even think it was funny when I pointed out the butts on the
Greek and Roman statues.

He clearly has a future in engineering.

Zane: One day I will go surfing with you, mommy.

Me: Oh, that'll be fun!

Zane: But...maybe it will be too scary for me.

Me: I don't think it'll be too scary for you.

Zane: Oh. Well, maybe it will be too fun for me.

______________________________

Me: Ick. Your hands are yucky. Don't touch anything and let me get you a wet rag to wipe them off.

Zane: No. I want a fag. Get me a FAG!

Conversation while putting Zane to bed tonight:

Zane: (shining his flashlight on my cleavage) What's that? (like he doesn't know)

Me: My boob.

Zane: (putting his finger into my cleavage) What's that? What's in there?

Me: Uh...nothing. (giggle) Nothing's in there. It's nothing.

Zane: Maaaaayyyybeeeee....it's a butt-crack?

Me: (Stifled giggle) Ummm...it's not a butt-crack. (giggle) I guess it's a boob-crack.

Zane: BOOB-CRACK?!! Heeheeheehee!!

Things that I find unacceptable today:

1. Zane not napping

2. My immune system attacking, no, BETRAYING me after visiting Austin

3. 102 degrees Fahrenheit

4. Mosquitos biting me inside my own home and car. INSIDE!

5. Jackwads not letting me over on 610 at TC Jester

6. Finding out that the TC Jester pool with the new splash pad doesn't open until 1:00 pm and having to park and walk up to the entrance past creepy guys hanging out on the steps to discover this.

Monkey Boy

Zane and I were on our way to the grocery store and his window
suddenly started going up and down. I was fairly certain that he
couldn't reach the button so I was curious to find out how he was
managing this...