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!  

Wedding in Arkansas

 

So, I was horrible about taking pictures last week when we were in Arkansas…I was a little busy and stressed out that the grumpy little guy in this picture wouldn’t make it down the aisle.

In his defense, he felt horrible for several days. The Monday before we left, he fell at the park and split his lip open.Doesn’t look too bad here, but it later turned into a HUGE ulcer. Ugh…I know how painful those are and this poor little guy didn’t eat or drink for about three days. Combined with the fact that we got to AR on the hottest recorded day IN HISTORY (115 degrees), we were concerned with dehydration. Long story short, he felt better just in time for the rehearsal, looked darling in Kara & Daniel’s wedding, and was the perfect little ring bearer! Wish I had more pictures of the wedding, the beautiful bride, and the fabulous reception….maybe I can get some from other people later.

Kara is brilliant and got Zane the perfect gift: TRACTORS! He played with these and didn’t make a peep during the rehearsal dinner.Oh, just looking at these pics…I have to tell the story of the ‘blue shirt’. I had Z a cute little outfit all ready to wear to the rehearsal. And he wasn’t.having.it. He wanted to wear his blue shirt and blue shorts. Which were in the washing machine, of course. We throw them in the dryer, force ibuprofen down his throat, fix his hair….clothes still wet. I iron his shorts to get them dry. Matt starts ironing the shirt, all the while Z is yelling, “I want BLUE shirt!!!” Matt tells him he’s ironing it to make it warm. “I want COLD BLUE shirt!” At this point I’ve lost my mind and throw the shirt in the freezer while saying in my most sarcastic voice, “There. Your blue shirt is getting cold in the freezer. It will be fabulous.” Problem solved. Back to the wedding: Here’s a glimpse of the pre-wedding meltdown.And the wedding party with the perfect little ring bearer. This was before the wedding, during pictures. I carried him down the aisle, kicking and screaming, stuck him in his spot, and ran. He was perfectly still. Even gave a few smiles. And maybe got everyone to clap for him when the pictures were over….     

Conversation with Zane

Zane was very talkative on the way home from dinner tonight. A cute little conversation that jumps from one subject to the next. Here’s a little peek into the thoughts of a 2 year old.

Me: Ready to go, Brother?

Z: My name not brudder!

Me: But you’ll be a big brother when Hollin gets here.

Z: Hollin be a brudder, too?

Me: No, Hollin will be your little sister & you’ll be her big brother.

Z: Hollin come to Mama’s new house? And DeeDee’s house?

Me: Yep, when she’s born she’ll come to Mama’s new house. And when we go to DeeDee’s house, Hollin will come, too. Where is Hollin now?

Z: In mama’s tummy. It’s weally, weally big! (honesty, right?) I see MOON! It’s weally, weally bwight. Dare’s a man up dare (There’s a man up there.) It’s nighttime?

Me: Uh-huh, it’s nighttime.

Z: It’s nighttime at DeeDee’s house and Nana’s house?

Me: Yep.

Z: Oh, no! That moon went bye bye. (It went behind some clouds) He went to him’s home. To see him’s mama and him’s dada. Bye bye moon! See my alligator shirt?

Me: I see your alligator shirt. I like it!

Z: I like it, too. I like my brown shirt, too. Aunt Kaye Kaye got it for Ane. My name Ane Tom Bell (Zane Thomas Bell). What's you name? Mama Tom Bell?

Me: Nooo. My name is Sarah Elizabeth Bell

Z: O-tay.

Sassy Cow Creamery

 

Farmer Zane!

On Saturday we took Zane to the Dane County Farmers’ Market, which is America’s largest producers-only farmers’ market. It’s held every Saturday morning during the summer and encircles the whole capitol. And it is AWESOME! Last week Matt made us a meal completely from the farmers’ market: steak, grilled corn, zucchini, bell pepper, and cheesy bread. YUM!

 

When we left Zane informed us that he didn’t see any cows at the farmers’ market. So…we took him here:

 

It was a fun little Saturday outing and basically free ($2 for Z to play games). And then of course we had to buy some ice cream!

Checking out the cows and goats.

Bounce house

The only disappointment was that the flyer listed ‘tractor rides’ as one of the activities. Zane was so excited about riding a ‘fuh-fuh’. Apparently their idea of a tractor ride is one of the little ride-on toys that you peddle. Um, my little cowboy is used to riding on REAL tractors, so this just wouldn’t do. He’s looking forward to our trip to Arkansas this week so that he can ride a “BIG fuh-fuh”!