Weekending

A short hike in Wapato Park on Sauvie Island.

 Blowing "wishes."

 Picnicing in the front yard.

 Reading in the picnic fort.

 Happy baby.

 Happy pooch.

 Teetering with friends.

 Biker boys.

In & Out

Spring weather is definitely here...it's raining, it's pouring, it's hailing, now sunny, oh wait, here's more rain. We try to make it outside during the sun breaks, but last week we pushed our luck a little too much. All was going well until we got out to the bluff and saw the dark clouds coming our way. I told Zane we had to go fast to win the race against the clouds. He zoomed on his bike as fast as he could go and I was hurrying with the stroller and Virgil...but we didn't make it. The downpour came fast and furious and we came home and put on some comfy dry sweatpants and played inside instead. Zane asks "How come we didn't win that race, Mama?" Because the rain waits for no one. But, you know what...it was fun :)

Here's our little walrus in action. This video is from a few weeks ago...she's faster now, and goes from room to room all by herself. She favors the bathroom so we have to keep the door shut all the time now. She scoots away from us and then turns around and starts to cry because we're so far away. Silly baby.

 Blowing bubbles for sister.

 Sunning himself on the rug.

 Ooooo...puppy tootsies!

As if the jumparoo isn't loud enough already, Hannah added a new element (with the help of her brother).

 Cutest thing ever!!

 Hannah's new fish face.

Zane and I spent the morning at the Children's Museum yesterday and had a blast! He finally noticed the face painting area :)

Videos have been giving me some trouble lately, so this one is also from a few weeks ago. I was trying to get Hannah to scoot, but ended up getting Zane being a goofball!

A 3 1/2 Year Old

3 1/2 is something that happens to someone else's kids...not mine. No, not mine. How in world have 3 1/2 years passed? I'm not quite sure. But I am sure of how fun this little man is. He is curious, sensitive, loving, caring, and happy. He is a ball of energy and a constant chatterbox. At the end of the day we go upstairs to brush his teeth and read books. After the books I ask "What did we do today, Zane?" and he says "I don't know, you tell me" so I begin with when we woke up and had milk and O's and go through the details until I end with "and then we came upstairs and brushed your teeth and read your books and now it's time to sing our song"...and every day he smiles and says "one more talk." One more talk. I'll always have time for one more talk, little man. 

Thanks to Luchia, Zane has started tracing letters and numbers and has "homework" at the end of the day. He loves it. He sits at the table and grabs his special pencil and gets to work.  Some days he's in to it more than others and when he doesn't want to finish we'll bribe him with a jellybean, or some other small treat. Mr. Negotiator will say "well, how about 3?" or "If I finish I can have a special treat. That's the deal!" Oh lord.

He has a few catch phrases. One of them is "Sure, sure, sure." For example:

Me: Zane could you please get a binky for Hannah? 

Zane: Oh, sure, sure, sure!

or

Zane: Mama, how come Lightning is fast?

Me: Because he's a super fast race car.

Zane: Ooooooh sure, sure, sure.

He also begins the majority of his sentences with "Can I tell you something?" i.e. "Can I tell you something, Mama? Um, this banana is yellow. How come this banana is yellow?"

When he's in a rush he addresses Mason and I as "Mapa" - a blend of Mama and Papa. We're kinda like Branjelina!

He says the words even and actually within his sentences a lot: "Even Mater is a tow truck. How come Mater is a tow truck? Actually he is Lightning's friend."

Another one is "I'm just joking" - "Mama, Virgil is a cat. I'm just joking, he's not a cat! Why did I say Virgil is a cat?! That's silly."

I'm am proud to announce that he has an eye for photography and composition!! He takes his time and sets up his shots and will grab the camera and take photos of his friends when they come over. When Mason went to Hawaii he took "Zane's" camera with him (our old one) and had to forward through at least 20  photos of his cars, Hannah, and Virgil. 

We're lucky that Zane still naps about 4 days per week. If we tire him out in the morning he almost always passes out after lunch, but even if he doesn't sleep he at least has quiet time in his room. The photo below was a first - he fell asleep on the couch! Even as a baby, he never slept anywhere outside of his crib and car seat. He'd skipped his nap that day, Hannah was screaming in her crib attempting her own nap, Mason was at work, and I was scrambling to make dinner and keep my sanity so I'd put his Cars movie on for him and when I went in to get him for dinner he was out. So cute. He is 43 lb. of pure energy and loves to ride his bike, climb at the playground, run, and play. He is amazingly tough when he takes a spill. Some of the ones on his bike have made me cringe, but he normally just looks annoyed and gets back up. If it hurts a little he "Miagi's it." Mason taught him to rub his hands together like Mr. Miagi from Karate Kid and then apply pressure to where it hurts. I've seen Zane Miagi himself many times even when he didn't know anyone was watching. Sometimes he needs Mason or I to do the Miagiing and if the spill is really big magic Mama/Papa kisses and hugs are used.

He had a checkup for his eye last month and everything is looking really good. Both of his eyes are the same power and are working together. His left eye will still roll if he's tired or if it's sunny out, but that normal and as he gets old that will hopefully fix itself when he's more aware. We still patch him for 2 hours every day to make sure the muscles on the left side stay strong, but that process got a lot easier when we discovered fun, glittery, eye patches with designs on them. Now HE reminds US that he needs to put one on!

A few days ago he went in for his first visit with the dentist. I was worried because I've had several friends say the first visit ended in tears, so I borrowed some books about going to the dentist and we read them every night and talked about the big chair that moves and the bright light overhead and the x-ray machine. It worked! He was excited to go and Mason said he did a great job and got a good report!

We are so proud of our 3 1/2 year old. He takes care of everyone, shares his treats, gives Hannah hugs and kisses before every single nap and when he gets home from daycare, he draws special pictures for his friends, has fantastic manners, and is outgoing and can make friends anywhere. He's the best. Love you Zaney!!

9 Months

Hannah is an amazing little person with a big personality. She is quick to smile and laugh and wants to be part of the action.  She is a very confident sitter now and can army crawl with the best of them...though it's not really an army crawl since she flops forward with both arms at the same time and then pushes herself forward with her feet...so it's more like a walrus flop (video coming soon).

She is sleeping very well these days, usually from 7pm-7am with one wake up between 3 and 5 to eat. During the day she's down to 2 naps. She loves stroller walks, but won't sleep unless she's really tired. She wants to see! Riding in the stroller is also the perfect time to gnaw on her moose and practice all her noises - bababa, mamama, dadada, yayaya, and various banshee yells.

Little miss has 6 teeth now and we can see the white of 2 more through her gums but they're refusing to break through. She's been a champ about it all and just chews, drools, and smiles, with a little extra crankiness on the side.

Hannah is eating 3 solid meals per day with lots of snacking on Puffs and Mums (rice crackers). Her favorite real foods are blueberries, avocado, banana, and steamed carrots. We just started working on the sippy cup this week and she finds it frustrating. She knows she wants what's in there, but is not sure how to get it. So far throwing it, yelling at it, and using the Jedi mind meld on it hasn't worked...maybe tomorrow she'll try something else.

Her joy is contagious! She is such a little character.

Addendum: 8 teeth as of 4/8.

More Fort Vancouver Pics

Maggie's Dad, Brad, had his camera with him all day and was brave enough to step into the field with the sugared tots. These are his wonderful pics.

 Annie and Squatchy get in on the craziness.

 Most of the adults stayed safely at the picnic table.

 This is my favorite photo of the day. Look at those happy kiddos!