pirate ship

 

Zane likes to pretend that all jungle gyms are his “pirate ships”. He especially loves if there is a steering wheel in it so that he can ‘steer’ the pirate ship. He calls himself ‘Pirate Man Ane’ and I’m ‘Pirate Man Mama’.

Uncle Bob & Gigi (Lee & Amanda) came up to Wisconsin this weekend to visit and they got Zane (& Hollin) their very own ‘Pirate Ship’!!! He was so excited! This one didn’t come with a steering wheel, but Dada & Uncle Bob found one. In this picture, Zane had just said, “Sank you, Uh-hul Bob.” He’s already a pro at climbing the rock wall.He calls this his airplane. He rides it “fah fah away to Dee Dee & Nana’s house”. Bob, Gigi, and Dad got to work on this right after Zane went down for his nap. When he woke up, it was almost done! The slide wasn’t on yet, so Zane “slept” on it. Then he said, “Put dat slide on!” He even used the swings, which he never does!This little guy’s day just got better, because then we heard the ice cream truck! This time he got Dora ice cream. Fantastically messy!  I had to carry him straight to the bathtub!And then tried on his new belt from Dee Dee & E!Thank you Bob & Gigi for my new pirate ship!   

zane’s adventures in baby-sitting, again

 

So this is what our mornings have looked like lately. Some little stinker keeps finding his way into mom & dad’s bed. I love how his little toes are curled. That’s okay…I sleep fine. I’ve discovered that using my big body pillow as a barrier keeps Zane from kicking me out of the bed. Matt, on the other hand, says he sleeps with a head or feet in his back. This was Thursday morning. I had to wake Zane up early to take him to his new baby-sitter’s house while I went to my three hour glucose test. (Yucky, boring, long, but I passed!) It was taking Z a little bit to wake up. I asked him to say ‘cheese’. “No, I tan’t say cheese.” “You just said it. Say it again, except with a smile!”  “No, I tan’t!” But after he got his ‘a-ha juice’ (apple juice), he was a little bit friendlier.Update on the child-care situation: While we LOVED having ‘Miss Chessie’ come to the house and keep Zane, our schedules just weren’t coordinating exactly. We miss her and will definitely call her again for a weekend or date night.

Last Monday was his first day with ‘Miss Jeri’. She (SO conveniently) lives in our neighborhood. Not just in our neighborhood, but on the street behind us! Miss Jeri keeps several kids in her home. We went over Sunday night so that Zane could meet her and feel comfortable in her house. Before we left he was giving her kisses and ‘eww-ahhs’.

Monday morning I told him I was taking him to Miss Jeri’s to play with other kids. He said, “I pway? It be fun?” I got there early so that I was sure to have time to spend with him there until he felt comfortable. He immediately started playing with the little girl that was there (also two) and barely looked up to tell me good-bye. That was so reassuring.

He was a little more apprehensive on Tuesday morning. He told me, “I want you stay and pway, too. I not want you go bye bye in that shirt.” (He knows when I have on red & khaki that I’m headed to work). There was a little lip-poke and a few tears, but they didn’t last long. She brought him some grapes and he started playing with the other kiddos (2 two-year olds this time, boy & girl). After a few minutes he said, “Woof woof. Bye bye. Be sweet.” (The ‘woof woof’ is because he commonly pretends to be a puppy dog.)

Then on Thursday morning he did just fine. No tears. He was still napping when I got home from my appointment, so I just came on home and was able to get the whole house clean before he woke up. When she called, I just walked over to get him. So convenient! Matt picked him up on Monday & Tuesday when he got off of work, so Thursday was my first day to pick him up. When I walked in the door, he RAN to me and hugged me so tight! It was the best feeling!

He talks about ‘pwaying at Miss Jeri’s’ so that makes me feel like he likes it there. I'm really thinking this is going to work out great! Answered prayers!

“Mmm Bah Chee”, and other randoms

 

Aka Sponge Bob. What is the deal? What kind of magical sponge power does Sponge Bob have that he can suck kids into the television, make them point out every item in the grocery store with his picture on it, and scream to watch him at bedtime? The ice cream truck came by our house and of course Zane had to have the “Mmm Bah Chee” ice cream. I used to think he called him “Mmm Bah Chee” because he thought Sponge Bob was cheese…he does kinda look like a piece of Swiss…however, the other day he pointed to a blue sponge in the kitchen sink and said, “Blue Mmm Bah?”   In other news, some days Zane thinks he is too big for his high chair and likes to sit at the island. Here he has pushed one of his chairs next to the bar stool so that he could climb up. And you can count his ribs. Probably because he would prefer to “eat” his plastic play food.We’ve been going to a playgroup on Thursdays with other wives/kids of UW residents and fellows. Zane loves to go play and it gives me a chance to meet some new people and have “mommy talk”. We’ve also found some new parks and play places we otherwise wouldn’t have known about.Last night Zane said, “Mama, you pway wiv me?” Who can say no to that? So we played Mr. Potato Head in the floor. He was waving MPH’s hand and saying, “Hi hi hi” in a really deep voice. Cracks me up.     

Miss Hollin’s Shower

 

The hostesses: Sara, Amy, Allyson, (me), Whitney, and Crady (and Kristina’s not pictured). Random, but weird fact: if you look at this picture from Zane’s shower, we’re standing in this exact order (almost, and I didn’t know Crady then).

My great friends have spoiled me once again with a great shower for Hollin! One of the highlights of being back in Arkansas was getting to see all of my friends in one place! Thanks for making it so convenient for me, guys!

The decorations were SO cute!    Some of our family that came to celebrate: The girls acting silly!Hollin (and myself) got so many great gifts!My crafty friend Amy taught us how to make bows. What a great idea! The bow holder was full by the end of the shower!Thanks everyone for such a great shower!