you learn quickly GRASSHOPPA!

My child is a sponge, he soaks up information like it's goin outta style and is completely amazing us with his ever-growing knowledge base.  Last month we took a trip to Sedona, you know, so we could experience this thing the rest of the country calls "seasons" and "fall".  It was gorgeous, as usual, and we decided to take a walk around Red Rock State Park, it has super easy trails, beautiful scenery, and it was a chance to let Z burn off some energy.  The kid was AMAZED, ENTHRALLED, he LOVED every.single.bit of it.  As we started down the trail we saw all kinds of new.to.him. creatures, big ants carrying their treasures across the path, "ants mommy?!?", and THE most exciting creatures of all, "grasshoppers!!!" they absolutely cracked him UP, jumping away as he approached, and as a result he got completely wound up and started "I grasshoppa mommy!!  I JUMPIN!!"

scrutinizing the "ANTS!!"

Running down the trail, periodically jumping like a "grasshoppa!"

And pointing out, "WOOK it mommy!!  Da water, da birdies, da grasshoppa!!"

So, our annual trip to Sedona in the fall will continue, I can't wait to see his face when we manage to time it right so the leaves are vibrant hues.  For now, we'll just try to remember this trip when he decides he's a "grasshoppa!!" in the middle of the tissue aisle in Target ;).

Separation Anxiety, part deux

Lately Z has been.. very very very TWO.  I know, it's what they do at this age, scream bloody murder, throw fits, exert independence, it's development, it's good, well, for him anyways.  For mommy?  It sux, big hairy ones.  He now demands to get OUT of the shopping car in Target, umm.. exsqueeze me?  Nothing better than a toddler "helping" push the shopping cart around Super Target, between that and the 36 trips to the potty no expedition to Target is less than 2 hours now :p.  At the same time he exhibits this obvious *need* for independence, he is getting more clingy, for the last week, for me, trying to leave for work has been a nightmare.  He clings to me like a leech and screams "no go work mommy!  Sit down, stay with me!"  *le sigh* Yes baby, I would *love* to stay with you, trust me, most days I agree with "no go work", unfortunately, I like this thing we have called a roof, and that fridge, well that shit ain't free sweetheart, and you eat like a horse, so mommy's gotta "go work".

To the moon....!!!

So it's been getting dark earlier and earlier lately, as I'm sure you've all noticed.  And as a result the moon in the sky has become brighter earlier, like when we're outside playing after we get home from work/daycare.  And Z has become a LOT more observant about his surroundings in the last few months, so naturally, he notices the *bright* moon in the sky and says "Lookit!  Moon, mommy!! Da moon bright?!", "Yes baby, the moon is bright in the sky".  And you would think the cute and hilarious would end there right?  Just noticing the beautiful, bright moon in the sky?  Umm.. no, my child has to take it to the next level, because no one in my family knows how to do things *just a little*.. he says "I get it!!!", "huh? You get what baby?", "I get it da moon!"  L.M.A.O. You're gonna get the moon?  Well at least he dreams big. 

me: "You're going to get the moon Z?"
Z:  "yah, mommy, I get it da moon!!" 
     *stretches and reaches his hands up as high as he can*
     "ugghh, no can reach it!" 
me: "Yes sweetie, the moon IS high in the sky, we can't reach it" 
Z:  "I go get step, reach it da moon!"

So what does he do?  Goes inside, gets his Sesame Street step stool, brings it outside, puts it on the grass, steps on it, reaches again, and says... "ohhhh maaaaann!  No can reach it da moon!" 

And no.. it doesn't end there folks, this kid is DETERMINED to reach the moon, he tells me "go get spaceship, reach it, da moon!"  As he goes inside the house, gets his toy rocket ship, brings it outside and makes rumbling noises with his mouth as he says "spaceship reach it da moon mommy!" 

One day, this kid is going to reach the moon in his spaceship, one day soon :).

Raawwwwwrrrr!!

Z's imagination is running WILD lately, it's *so* hilarious to see him, well, just be 2!!  He imagines that he is a "monster" and runs around saying "monster mommy, getchu?!".   He is also mildly obsessed with dinosaurs, I have no idea why, because while I am not opposed to a dinosaur fascination, it's not exactly something we got him into.  He LOVES that corny Canadian show on Nick Jr, "Dino Dan", it's one of the few shows that he watches, every.single.second. of, eyes pealed.  He is apparently schooling himself on the different kinds of dinosaurs as well, he informed me that one on the show was "t-rex mommy!", and it actually was, blew my freagin mind!  He makes me read him this horribly boring dinosaur book that was B's when he was a kid, and goes into what I find, excruciating detail for a kids book, on the different kinds of dinosaurs, he LOVES it.  And lately, to tie in his imagination, he has been walking around the house in a half-crouched position, his little arms up like claws saying "zach t-rex, raaaawwwwrrrr!!!" HI-LARIOUS.

Hilarious (and embarassing) moments brought to you by the letter Z

So many times, especially lately, my child cracks me UP, sometimes it only cracks me up after the fact because at the moment it's hugely embarassing.  Everyone can use a laugh now and then, so I'm starting a semi-regular post (because we all know that I will forget sometimes so saying "regular" would be lying) that will highlight these moments for your amusement, you're welcome..

My very first "OMG my kid is totally embarassing me" moment was on our trip to Florida, more accurately on the way back from our trip to Florida.. in the Phoenix airport bathroom.  We get off the plane in Phoenix after a VERY VERY long direct flight from Tampa (we will NOT be doing a direct flight again any time soon), of course, despite the 1000 trips to the potty for Z's amusement on the plane, he immediately says he has to go potty, no prob this time, because mommy does too, something about not trusting my almost-2-yr-old to NOT open the door in the airplane bathroom while I'm going pee inspired me to hold it until the end of the flight.  Anyways, he does his thing, and I take my turn, so, what does my child begin to shout as I'm PEEING (note, PEEING), "mommy, you poopin?!?, you POOPIN mommy?!?", and I say "no baby, I'm just peeing", Z: "YAH, POOPIN, YOU POOPIN MOMMY!!".  Then the toilet next to us flushes, and because he's obviously not done shouting, and my face is now only a medium shade of red, he hears this flushing and says "you FAWTED mommy?!? ewwwww!!!"  O.M.G., I was JUST peeing!!  We emerged from the stall as I *loudly* told him, mommy was JUST peeing.  I'm so glad my kid is normally shy in public :p.

off topic feedback request

Ok, so this blog is mostly about Z and his antics and stories, and I plan to keep it that way, but I've had this idea swirling in my head for a blog about saving money (yes, for some of you I already did this and then, regretfully stopped when my laptop committed suicide), with focus on living healthy, green, and with kids.  My thoughts are to do posts to clue readers in on any deals that I think they'd be interested in, with an at least weekly post that features an idea or tip about how to save money, live healthy, and green.  I also have a few friends with etsy shops that would be more than willing to do giveaways as well so I'm hoping to feature them, I'm a sucker for awesome homemade goods :).  I know there are *some* readers out there EVEN if y'all never comment (did you see that hint of southern peeking thru there, it sneaks out sometimes :p), so here's your chance, fire away!  What do you think of this idea?  Would you be interested?  Is there anything you would or would not like to see featured? Would any of you like to contribute a post about what YOU do to save money and live healthy and green?

My little observer

I love this age, yes, I say that at every age, but it truly seems to just be getting better and better :).  Every day when I pick Z up from daycare I ask him about his day, and up until recently, I had to ask all the questions, and got "yah!", or "no!" as responses, e.g. me: "did you have fun today Z?", Z: "yah!", me: "did you go to timeout today?" Z: "no!", but lately, he's been elaborating on his day and it is both cracking me UP and warming my heart :).  The other day we got home from daycare and I asked him about his day, this is how it went, I'll translate Z-speak for you where it might be necessary:

me: "Did you have fun today Z?" 

Z:  "yah!"

me: "what did you do today?"

Z:  "Lucy hurt fingers, owww! She crwwhyin"  (lucy hurt her fingers and she was crying)

me:  "oh no! was she ok?"

Z:  "yah, she ok, crwyin a LOT"

me: "poor Lucy.  Did you hug her?"

Z:  "no, no hug her"

me: "oh, next time you should hug her to make her feel better.  What else did u do today?"

Z:  "o-kay.  Jazzlyn go time-out! She naughty"

me:  "oh no, did you go to timeout too?"

Z: "Nooooooo"

me:  "what else happened Z?"

Z:  "Kai sneezin, he funny"

me:  "it's funny when Kai sneezes?"

Z:  "yah, sneezin funny"

So, umm, yah, genetics are obviously at play here.  Ask him about his day and my child tells me the gossip on everyone at day care.  He IS his mother's son <3.  I have YET to hear about HIS day, but I'll take what I can get, I love snuggling on the couch with a snack while he tells me the latest daycare soap operas ;).

When potty training works against you...

Z's been doing soccer on Saturday mornings with "soccertots" thru the city, he has a love-hate relationship with it, he loves the *idea* of soccer, LOVES to kick the ball, loves to play the games, but the first few weeks were hot, and I mean *really* hot people, like 110 hot, that he did not *love* so much.  We brought lots of ice cold water, snacks, took lots of breaks, but still, the child was unhappy with the heat.  And then he started manipulating us.. you recall that Z is potty train(ing/ed)?  Ahh, yes, he has learned if he says "potty" we jump and take him to the nearest potty, which, during soccer, is inside the air-conditioned rec center.  Yah, so now, every time he gets hot at soccer he says "potty", *insists* on being carried, and of course only mommy will do, so I trudge him, sweat pouring down my face, down my back, and from every sweat gland in my body, across the field, across the parking lot, into the rec center, and you know what oh-so-sneaky little Z says when we finally get to the potty?  "NO! no potty mommy!!"  You can imagine my frustration at this moment as I'm catching my breath and wiping my sweat from hauling my 30+ pound child in 110 heat as fast as possible to the potty.  The first few times he had me, I didn't realize what he was doing, so we trudged back (of course I had to carry him) to soccer, and 5 minutes later after running around a bit it was "potty!  need do potty mommy!", 3x of this a 45 minute soccer session and mommy wised up and got *really* frustrated.  In one of my obviously finer moments as a parent after *just* having returned from a fake potty trip and he requested again, I shouted, loud enough for all the other soccer parents to hear, "no! we JUST went!!  You'll have to piss yourself if you really have to go!"  yah.. I'll obviously win mother-of-the-year for that one, and true to dramatic form, my child threw himself down on the ground and screamed "potty mommy!!" at the top of his lungs.  *sigh*.  Thankfully the weather is cooling off so the excuses should be getting more minimal, and this session of soccer is almost over, hopefully  next time the field is a lot closer to the potty :p, and we'll come prepared with pullups and towels for when he's not the little boy who cried potty, and actually has to go.

Z is TWO!!

So, this past Sunday, little Z turned the big 0-2.  It's amazing how fast time has gone by, despite early-onset-terrible-twos I am enjoying every minute of life with a "big" boy these days.  His birthday party was "Finding Nemo" themed because a) he loves the movie, even if the barracuda scares him every.single.time. b) it was a pool party.  What we learned is that when mommy gets hold of a theme, she runs with it.. perhaps too far, but the kiddos had fun regardless, so that's all that counts :).

We had crafts and activities at the beginning of the party to break the ice, we made paper Dorys to get the kiddos in the mood.  I also made a fishing game with magnets, lures, fishing poles, the works.. this took FOREVER.. naturally, the kids were not interested in fishing, and demonstrated to me that they could just pick up the fish with their hands.  Thanks, glad you pointed that out kiddos, I'll just go cry in a corner about the HOURS I spent making this game :p.  Obviously there are no pictures of the kids "fishing".

There was extensive hand-bought decor, all in the Nemo theme of course, notice the streamers under the half-wall emulating "water" as we are in Nemo's world now.. yes I *told* you I took the theme too far..
I LOVE a personal touch, so I made coloring books for the kiddos with their names on them commemorating the day as favors, and since it was back-to-school time, everyone got a 25cent box of crayons to go with..

We moved the party outside when the kiddos got restless, unfortunately due to some cool nights, our pool had cooled off to a *frigid* (yes we're Arizonans) 84 degrees, so we rode the E.A.C. for a bit and then got our buns outta there

Yes the turtle was theme oriented, but it was CHEAP because Target put all their pool stuff on clearance for end-of-season, even though it's still over 100 outside :p

Then the kids decided they'd play their *own* game, which was line up and race up and down the backyard as fast as you can..

Yes, he has Nemo swim trunks and a swim shirt on, did I mention I got carried away with the theme?

After some pizza we moved it back inside for the BIG REVEAL of our gift to little Z.. a fish tank!

He was, and still is, VERY excited about the fishies!!  One of the platys we got has a spot on it's tail that looks like mickey mouse, like so:

Just *imagine* how exciting this is for little Z after having *just* been to the magic kingdom, every morning he looks for the "mickey fishy".

We finished the fiesta off with a fantastic Nemo cake by a local bakery, it looked FANTASTIC, and it tasted just as good, a vast upgrade over the Safeway shenanigans we dealt with last year, this will be our new go-to cakery

Z had a GREAT time at his par-tay, and we feel so lucky to have shared it with such good friends.  Here's wishing you an EVEN better second year than the first little man, we love you VERY much :).

Z takes on FLORIDA...

The last two weeks have been a birthday EXTRAVAGANZA for little Z.  We flew ACROSS the country to Florida to visit my family for Labor Day weekend where Z was doted on, and essentially spoiled rotten.  He got to experience his first GATOR game!!

 

The Gators pulled out the win, although Z only maintained composure for the 1st quarter where he could go up and down the bleachers, as soon as the seats filled in, he turned into the little boy who cried "potty!".  Z quickly realized that if he cried "potty!" even if he didn't actually have to go, we would get up and let him walk in the concourse :p.  We made it until halftime thanks to Grandpa and Nana, and bailed to let the little man have some freedom.

Then 2 days later and still in FL, Grandpa and Nana INSISTED on taking Z to Disney World as his birthday gift.  He LOVED it!  We saw the "castle!!"...

We went on the Buzz Lightyear "to the rescue!!" ride, where he got just a *little* freaked out when he saw the Emperor Zurg, but otherwise LOVED..

We visited Mickey and Minnie's houses in Toon Town, which he LOVED exploring and wanted to play with EVERYTHING in those houses, and then we met Mickey and Minnie.. which he did not *love* so much.. Hey! Those mice are BIG in person!

He recovered nicely at the play area in front of Mickey's house though.  Nothing like a couple of slides, a choo-choo train, and a bunch of other kids to get over the trauma of seeing your favorite mouse live and in person :p

 

And after a full half day of the Magic Kingdom.. promptly passed the eff out in the stroller, lollipop in position..

We finished the day, after a lengthy nap by Z during which mommy and daddy got our shopping on, by going on 2 more rides, first we did the Jungle Cruise ride, which he spent wide-eyed and pointing at the various animals, so success!! 

The second, was probably a judgement error on mommy's part.. we took him on Pirates of the Caribbean, in my DEFENSE, I do not remember it being *so* scary, and I thought he would love it because he LOVES the backyardigans episode where they pretend to be pirates, he always chimes in with his own "arrgghh!".  But this ride.. epic fail.. he was freaked out approx 30 seconds in, and promptly climbed in my lap for the duration of the ride with his head buried in my shoulder, he'll probably need extensive therapy for this later in life.

In summary, Z had a GREAT time in Florida.  And we mostly did too, although we were reminded why we must NEVER move back, I haven't sweat so much since 2001, my last season of football games as a student in the Swamp.  Everybody is VERY glad to be back in the land of dry heat and brown landscape, even if the temps are still above 100 in mid-September :p.

Where did my baby go?

We are less than 2 weeks away from Z's SECOND birthday, yes, SECOND. Where does the time go? I still remember vividly him being born, being a itsy bitsy baby, I remember the first "aaagoooo!", the first "smile", the first "mama, dada", and now, now he's barely a toddler, he's bordering right on full-fledged kid. I hear things like "what you doin mommy?", "sit down", "come on mommy, let's play playdohs" as he grabs my finger in his small, but not-so-tiny-anymore hand, and leads me his play table.

I LOVE this age, he is interacting with us SO much, and his personality is coming through loud and clear. He's super smart, funny, silly, sweet, caring, and a little ball of energy. But at the same time I'd really like him to *freeze*, stop growing and developing so fast so I can soak it all in, so I can really appreciate and enjoy how great my baby boy is before he's all grown up, *sigh*. I just have to remember that Z is turning into a really great kiddo, and I have the pleasure of watching him grow up every day.

I couldn't be prouder of my almost-2-year-old.

No more diapers!

Yah, it's been a while, we've been super busy in the Z household so the blog has been neglected :(. I have WONDERFUL news to report though!!

Let's start at the beginning, because starting at the end would be confusing. For the past 2-3 weeks (months) Z has been an absolute terror during diaper changes, he screams like a banshee, writhes around like a slug covered in salt, and kicks the ever living hell out of me the entire time. Last Thursday night, I was tired, and stressed, and frankly I had just had ENOUGH of this wrestling match to get a diaper on this kid, so I said "Fine Z, it's either a diaper or you're putting big boy panties on!" (Yes I called them panties, I'm a girl, I have a sister, no boys around, they're panties to me ok, B is not amused and would like me to call them undies, but still catches himself calling them panties)

And you know what Z says? "Yah, pants". Fine kiddo, you're gonna have to go pee-pee in the potty if you're going sans diaper! And so we started potty training, the first couple days were full of full-on accidents, but he learned VERY quickly that sitting in a puddle of pee is a not-so-fresh feeling. Add that to the fact that my child is completely OCD, and you have for the last 2.5 days.. NO ACCIDENTS, yes you read that right.. NO ACCIDENTS, granted, he saves his major deposit for naptime diapers, but the pee-pee is going in the potty!! He is so freagin cute about it and so extremely proud of himself, as he SHOULD be! He starts squirming, says "potty!" and runs his little buns as fast as he can to the bathroom, stands in front of his potty and patiently waits for me to pull down his pants so he can do his thing, then says "all done!" and helps me pull them back up. It is freagin amazing, and I have to say, I HIGHLY recommend skipping the pull-ups and just leaping into the panties (aka undies), it really seemed to help him train faster to feel wet and uncomfortable, and with a pull-up on (which he wears for naptime and in the car) he just goes in it because it feels so much like a diaper.

So yah, those 3 boxes of diapers I just bought at Target, guess they're going to the local diaper drive, because we are a mickey and elmo undie house now!

And just so I don't leave you with no visual stimulation, here is a SUPER cute video of the Z-man getting his groove on to the Black Eyed Peas.. SANS DIAPER :)

San Diego, Baby! Part 2 - the zoo

*warning: picture heavy post!

We LOVE the San Diego Zoo, we have been going there every year for the past 5 years (with a one year break in there for Sea World, forgive my transgression, it won't happen again, the Zoo is WAY better). This year was the second time Z has been, and he abso-freaking-lutely LOVED it. The kiddo LOVES animals of any sort anyways, so this? this was the best.day.ever.

Z points out "monkeys!" to me

I was also informed that the monkeys he was looking at were "noisy monkeys!", and because he's a *such* boy I was told "monkey, poooooping! hehe!", *sigh*

We saw "turtles!", very exciting for our little Nemo afficionado :). See how he's crouched down to look at them? Yah, he was copying me, have I mentioned he's a freagin mimic? If he was an adult he'd be one of those annoying mimes that copies everything you do, thankfully he's still a cute toddler :)

We saw the polar bears, who we managed to catch getting fed, which prompted Z to say (screech) "bears have snacks!" so stinkin cute!

AND, saving the best detail for last, we got to FEED the giraffes! Giraffes are easily Z's favorite animal, he probably has 10 giraffes in various forms, stuffed, plastic, pillow, etc. The best part? The only reason we happened upon the giraffe snack time was because of Z :). We had just seen them, stopped to grab some lunch and when we were done he says, as cute as can be, "giraffes a-gain mommy?, giraffes a-gain?!" So who are we to deny the sweet requests (demands) of our little Z? We went back to the giraffes and happened upon giraffe snack time, we paid $5 to feed the giraffes, and it was worth every.penny. He was talking about "giraffes had pink snacks!" for DAYS afterwards *<3 I melt*.

San Diego Baby! Part 1

We made our annual 4th of July trip to San Diego to escape the life-sapping heat of the desert last week, and I have to say that this was one of the best trips yet :). Z had an absolute blast, he even enjoyed the almost 6 hour car ride (8 on the way back, but that's a different story) there. I hyped him up by promising "LOTS of fun water" after the "reeaaaaallly long car ride", throw in some Madagascar (aka Li-on!) on his portable dvd player and he was totally sold. The first day we checked into our hotel and went straight to the beach.


He LOVED it, the water was a bit icy at first but we adjusted quickly and then the crazy happy child emerged, it was freagin HILARIOUS that the water was chasing him, the waves would come and he'd scream "run!!" with the loudest and cutest giggle you've ever heard, I think B got some video, I'll share if he ever gets if off the camera. And then there were seagulls.. for some reason these birds, also hilarous, the kid obviously watches too much Finding Nemo, because if I ask "what do the seagulls say?" he says "mine! mine!"
Everything about the beach was hilarious and super fun, and it made my and B's hearts smile to see Z so very happy.

Next up.. the SD Zoo..

Listen Elmo!

whew! been a while since my last blog, summer came and we got crazy busy, so I'll try to catch you up some :).


Z is a big Elmo fan, actually he's just a big fan of Sesame Street in general, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Bert, Ernie, Abby, you get the idea, and because he's spoiled rotten by all of our family he has a stuffed elmo, cookie monster, bert and ernie. Last month Sesame Street Live came to Phoenix and of course we HAD to go see it, it was a total success, Z LOVED seeing all his favorite peeps and sang and danced and talked the whole time. He was talking about the show long after it had come and gone.


As a result of this (I'm guessing), he felt that these characters were even more real to life. Lately he has been caring for all of his sesame street characters, especially elmo and cookie monster. They have needed a diaper change, and been told to "eat!" as he places them in his booster seat, they have been told to "play!", and been forced to watch themselves on t.v. The absolute funniest thing he's done though? He puts them in time-out, in his time-out chair. He tells them "time-oww! LISTEN!!" which is freagin HILARIOUS because 1) I'm pretty sure I've never put him in time-out and told him to listen and 2) wtf were they not listening to? they're stuffed animals! Quite the bossy disciplinarian we have on our hands!

Manners, mommy, really!

I swear, every day Z says something that seriously cracks me up, like belly laugh crack-me-up. Yesterday was no exception, as we're trying to wind him down for the night, from what we call "tornado Z" to a much more calm "thunderstorm Z", he decides he's going to feed me, B, and all his toy animals imaginary food. I have no idea why he decided to do this, or where he got the idea. He had imaginary food (apparently) pinched between his little fingers which he tried to feed us (shove in our mouths), and he said "eat!" while he did this, and this isn't even the funny part. Then after a couple rounds of this he says "more?" to us, asking if we want more imaginary food (sticky toddler fingers). And my child, the eternal crack-up, and apparently Mr. Manners, says to us "say peaz!". Ohh Emm Gee, my 21 month old just demanded that I say "peaz" for his imaginary food, does it get any cuter and funnier than this?

We need some accountability around here!

So Z's vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds these days, I swear every day he says 5 new words I didn't realize he knew, it's absolutely amazing. Of course with all these new words we are seeing his little personality emerge more and more and he is freagin hilarious. Lately the thing that's been cracking me up is this, Z is a very particular, detail oriented boy (I have no idea where he gets this from) and thusly knows where his things are and why he put them there at all times. He has taken to gathering all of his toys up on the couch and then rolling around on them, you know, like Scrooge McDuck rolled around in his money? Anyways, silly mommy decided that I wanted to actually *sit* on the couch, so I gently moved part of his pile over to clear a space for my behind. Z's response? He comes flying up to the couch in that angry toddler stomp they all have and says "ohhh maaaannn! who do that?, who DO that?" Of course at this point I am laughing hysterically and he is getting more angry, because damn-it, who DO that?!

In the interest of answering the poor child's angry question I, of course, said "daddy, honey, daddy did that" :}.

p.s. this picture has nothing to do with this post, but I feel like at least every other post should have a picture, and I didn't pull out the camera to catch the scrunchy-faced antics of Z in this instance :).

ducks!

So, we've always taken evening family walks. It started out as nice family thing to do, enjoy the weather, see the sites, get the pup out for some exercise. Now, it's routine, and you know what routine means to a borderline OCD child, we MUST take a walk, or the child goes bat-shit crazy out of his freagin mind at night.

Lately the weather has be gorgeous outside, and we know that this is only going to last so long before it gets hotter than a witch's kootchy in a Florida swamp, yes, I just said that. Anyways, knowing this, we decided to take a "long" walk the other night, this means we forgo the 0.5 mile loop around the smaller part of our neighborhood and head north to the "circle", basically a round trip a little over a mile (note the distances, we'll revisit this later). Part of the long walk includes a long pass by the big lake pond thing in the front of our community.

In this lakey-pond thing there are always ducks, but this day, there were not only ducks, but a mama duck and 8 of wee little babies. You can imagine Z's excitement at this as he belted out "ducks! ducks!" and naturally wanted to exit his wagon at this point. Of course my little cautious child stood a good 20 feet away from the pond while pointing at the ducks and squealing. We stop, look at said ducks, and attempt to move on, I say "Z, let's get back in your wagon", "NO! ehh!" frantic shake of the head. Fine, keep walking, let's wear you out. So we come to the end of the pond and start getting back on the sidewalks within the subdivision, "ok Z, NOW let's get back in your wagon", "ehh! NO!", frantic shake of the head, you see where this is going. I'm pretty sure the little bugger walked at least a quarter mile, slllooooowwwwly, toddler speed, you know like the kids in Family Circus, anything BUT a straight line.

Finally, we're getting close to the home stretch, so I decide we should pick up the pace so we can get home before Z's bedtime, I mean really, this was supposed to be a relatively quick walk in total. So I pick Z up, kicking, screaming, flailing, tears streaming down his face, and place him back in the wagon. I have ruined. his. life. And then, I hand him a leaf from a nearby tree, and just like that, silence and smiles.

He was content the rest of the way home and slept very well that night :). We'll go see the ducks again soon.

A boy and his dog

So our puppy, I can still say she's a puppy because she's not quite one yet, and OMFG does she act like a puppy, Reecey, and Z are complete and total BFFs. Pretty much since the moment we brought her home right around his 1st bday.


She's completely and totally in love with him, she lets him crawl all over her, poke and prod her, with nary a whimper. The only time she DOES whine with concern to Z is when we are about to go for a walk and I take Z out in the wagon 30 seconds before my hubby, B, gets her out the door, then she freaks the fuck out, because Ohh Emm Gee, I can't see my buddy Z and he is leaving for a walk WITHOUT ME!! It's the cutest thing ever, well, kind of annoying, but mostly cute :).


So today, when I'm carting Z through Target running errands, he spots the dog toy/treat aisle and says "Reecey!!", and I thought, you know what, she hasn't had a rawhide treat in a while, you're right Z, let's get her one. So we pick one out, and Z carries it in his seat as we continue going through the store saying "For reeeeceeey!!" over and over again with a huge smile on his face, so. damn. cute.

Our little hippie

So we just planted a garden in the backyard, it's all part of our eat better, be healthier crusade for 2010. Which we were already starting, and then Food Inc freaked us the fuck out, and now we're even more serious about it.

Back to the garden, Z was sooo helpful when we were planting said garden


Grabbing his little Bert and Ernie shovel and rake from Grandma and Grandpa to help plant the seeds :). Look what a good job he did!


And he LOVES to help water the garden with his little watering can :)


I really am glad he's involved, we want to show him that it's possible to be conscientious about what you eat, eat well, help the environment (we're composting), and be proud of your accomplishments. He was sooo excited when he saw the first little sprout had popped up, he said "WHOAAAA!!!" and gently petted it, hey, even the plants need a little love!

2 year molars, eff you

So Z is working on his 2-year molars, more like they're working him, and there is screaming, and anger, and general indecisiveness, and frustration, basically it sucks. Z has never been good with teething, we were thrilled when he started teething at 4 months :p, but thankful that he teethed quickly and was done at around 13 months with the bulk of his teeth. And now one last battle, General Molar's Last Stand if you will. Last night was bad, he whined and screamed and threw himself down, and got put to bed early, and then I wined, and sighed, and plopped myself down on the couch, and of course, mother effing LOST is a repeat, so then I whined :p.

But this morning, this morning was bliss, he slept in (for him) until 6am, he woke up happy and chatty and generally fun to be around. And when I was leaving for work and said "bye! have a good day!", Z says "bye! you toooooo!!", melt my freagin heart, assaulted by cuteness, and THAT is what makes me forget that about the maniacal teething gremlin that took over his body, at least until tonight :p.

How it all started...

So after 5 years of very happy and carefree marriage, during which we frequented wine country, cruised to Alaska, enjoyed sports, and general peace and quiet, the hubby and I decided that this was just too much enjoyment for one couple, we should fill the room we had lovingly nicknamed "the future use room". After trials and tribulations, and discoveries that pulling the goalie does not mean preggers will come shortly thereafter, and that there's really no way to plan when you'll be pregnant, like no matter how hard you wish, you'll still manage to be VERY pregnant in the god forsaken heat of the AZ summer, we were gifted one big, beautiful bouncing baby boy in Sept. 2008.

Fast-forward 19 months, and we are here, he's growing like a weed, speaking a mixture of english and klingon, running around, cracking us up, and making our hearts smile at every turn. It's a little late in the game to start blogging, but the little bugger does something everyday that I want to share with people, and I think my friends are getting tired of hearing about it :), so here goes.. weeeee!!