She's too little! (Part Two)

I love how she's trying so hard to get to Zachary up at the top of the steps. (P.S. - sorry for the abrupt ending. My cord wouldn't reach all the way up the steps, so I dropped the camera!)

She's too little! (Part One)

Our little bitty girl is growing up TOO quickly! (P.S. - disregard Zachary's whining in the background. It had been a very long day. Poor little guy.)

Brutal Honesty

Mimi & Grandad are here for Thanksgiving week. So far, Zachary has made us proud with his good manners. I think Grandad is especially thankful for the way Zachary can communicate the truth, even when it hurts. Here are some examples:

Mimi was brushing her hair while Zach watched. Zachary says to Mimi, "You have big hair!"


After opening some early Christmas presents, we were sorting through some new clothes to get Zachary dressed. We showed him the new shirts and told him to pick which one he wanted to wear. After much deliberation, he says to Mimi, "These are not my favorite shirts, I'll go upstairs and get one."


Grandad was doing his morning stretching routine, which fascinates Zachary. When Grandad invited Zachary to join him in the stretching, Zachary thought about his options and said, "Grandad is not the best for me. I think Mimi is the best for me today."

Zach fell in the toilet

Yes, he did. He was on the potty in the bathroom near our kitchen while I was making lunch. I heard a loud thud, and he yelled, "Mommy, I fell!" I could hear in his voice that he was a little upset, but I was picturing him on the floor, having fallen OFF the potty.
So I quickly finished the kitchen task and walked to the bathroom, thinking I was getting him up out of the corner OFF THE FLOOR. However, when I walked in the bathroom and saw only his head with his knees at his chin, two arms & two legs shooting straight up in the air, I started laughing OUT OF CONTROL. And bless his heart, I was laughing SO hard that I couldn't even pull myself together to HELP HIM OUT! (Terrible mom!).
When I finally caught my breath and said, "Oh my goodness you fell IN the potty!" and started laughing again, he realized he was ok and began laughing too. All day, he would say, "Mommy, remember when I fell in the potty?!" because he knew I would laugh...and he was right!

Sibling "Revelry"

As part of our new little routine, Zachary likes to go in Allie's room as she wakes up from her naps. He's started to climb into her bed, which has proven to be a great place for them to play because the bumper pads provide a nice cushion for Allie when Zach barrel rolls over her!
These pictures are really sweet.

Zachary: Costume-designer

Zachary likes to put little hats on Allie. She doesn't like this, but it is still funny to see what kind of "hat" he finds for her. This one made me laugh. SO funny!

Music [little] Man

Remember when I described Zachary's "jumping" phase? And then his "dancing" phase? Well now, we've moved into the "singing" phase. He sings ALL the time! In Zacharese, songs are titled based on the singer's preference. Here are some examples -

"Stomp" (If you're happy & you know it)
"Beautiful Beautiful" (I love you, Lord)
"The red, the white, the blue" (You're a grand ole Flag)
"Spider Web" (Itsy Bitsy Spider)
"Needle pulling thread" (Do Re Mi, from "The Sound of Music")
"B-I-B" (The Bible)
"-Zing Grace" (Amazing Grace)
"Mountain when she comes" (She'll be coming around the mountain)
"Ma Ma" (Life in a Northern Town, by "Sugarland")
"Christmas song" (Joy to the World)
"'Nother Christmas song" (Silent Night)

Spoken like a true politician

Mommy: "Zachary, it's time to go potty. Do you want to sit on the potty?"

Zachary: "No I don't want to go potty, Mommy, but thank you for asking."

Sexism & Dr. Seuss

I like a lot of the "old school" Dr. Seuss books (Scrambled Eggs Super, If I Ran the Zoo...etc) because they are clever & complicated. However, as I was reading And to Think that I Saw it on Mulberry Street, I realized that "old school" writing is influenced by "old school" thinking. This book was written in 1937!

"...EVEN [a girl] could think of that"?! Thank God I'm not raising my little girl in 1937. I realize there are plenty of good things about raising kids back then...but the idea that girls are "stupider" than boys is NOT one of them.

My Fair (little) Lady

Because she has two grandmas with very nice taste, Allie has fabulous clothes. This is my new favorite outfit of hers (yes, I know...another red one). SOOO cute.

She looks like a little doll:

She did not like wearing the hat:

I wasn't able to get a good picture of the two of them together. Neither of them was in the mood to be photographed. But, I like how Allie is looking at Zachary in this one.

The Pledge of Allegiance

Well, we figured out how to get this video on the blog! So cute!! There's also a little somethin' extra... after he says the pledge.

Learning ABCs

While his "Tazmanian Devil" mess-making side makes me crazy almost daily, Zachary is also a great little student. We've been working on letter recognition for quite awhile now and he's finally able to match up the entire alphabet. It has been fun to watch him figure this out. We've incorporated two games to help him connect the letters with their names. Special thanks to Mimi & Grammy for always getting AWESOME educational toys/games for him.

Game 1 - He has a few sets of those magnetic alphabets. So, we gather all of those up and he will place them on the corresponding letter cards. (Notice all the "x"es?!)

Game 2 - He has a set of plain alphabet cards. We will tell him to put one of his (many) animals, characters or cars on a specific letter. See how Grover is cheering for him? (ha!)

I am amazed at how much his little mind can soak up. Every day he surprises me with something new that he learned. Also, a special thanks to Ms. Dody, his teacher. Zachary came home this week having memorized the "Pledge of Allegiance." We are so excited!!

Gettin' Chilly

With the season change, it has been cold! Zachary LOVES his new hat & mittens. I love to hear him say "mittens." He pronounces the "tt" in the middle very articulately. These pictures of him are really cute.

Current Events...

...through the ears of a two-year old...

We were driving in the car, listening to sports radio. The commentator was talking about the Florida vs. Georgia football game. Obviously we kept hearing the word "Georgia." Zachary said, "Mommy, what are they saying about George?" (referring to Curious George).



On our first attempt to vote early, I was explaining to Zachary about voting. I said, "When we go inside, we'll wait in a line with lots of other people. Then when it's mommy's turn, I'll get a piece of paper and write my vote on the paper." After a few minutes of silence, Zachary says, "Mommy, can I ride in the boat too?"



We were listening to Fox News as they discussed what the presidential candidates will do on election day after they cast their votes. The news anchor said, "Barack Obama said he'll be shootin' hoops..." Zachary immediately looked up and said, "Mommy, they are talkin' about poops!"

My vote

Ask me how much my vote is worth. My answer is: a lot.

Attempt #1: Last week, on one of my non-work days, I took both kids with me to go & vote early. Rumors around Georgia had me thinking that election day would be crazy and I didn't want to worry about voting with the kids on that day. I drove 20 minutes to the nearest Early-voting facility and as I turned the last corner to get into the parking lot, I saw the rows & rows of people in line. It was 45 degrees that day. I didn't even pull into the parking lot. I later learned that the wait at that facility was 5 hours.

Attempt #2: Same day, later in the morning. Drove 45 minutes to another Early-voting facility in our county. The line was worse than the first one. I turned around and headed back home. Todd & I agreed that we'd do whatever we needed to do with the kids on election day to make sure both of us voted. He told me how close our assigned precinct was to the house.

Attempt #3: Today, November 4, I got up at 6:30 and was in line by 6:50. The first 5 people in line were asleep on the floor in sleeping bags. I'm not kidding. By 8:40 I was at the table, five feet from the voting machine. I signed my papers and started walking towards the machines when the poll worker looks up at me, her eyes above her little reading glasses. She says, "Honey, you are at the wrong place. You're registered at the elementary school. This is the middle school."
I can not promise you that I didn't use any swear words at that moment. Nor can I promise you that when I called Todd 45 seconds later & he said, "I thought that WAS the elementary school," that I didn't swear at him.

Attempt #4: Later today, I packed up a bag full of snacks, movies & stuff for the kids. The 3 of us headed to the right location and waited about 45 minutes to vote. Zachary & Allie could not have been more well-behaved. Such a blessing.

I voted. Also a blessing. Regardless of the effort it takes.

Halloween '08

We had a fun Halloween this year. Lots of costume-wearing all week (particularly for Zachary) and fun with family. We learned a little more about our little guy and what he considers enjoyable. It was really cute to watch him subtly express his preferences.
NOT fun for Zach:
The church festival. A little too unpredictable with all the people, noises & costumes.
FUN for Zach:
Trick-or-treating. Totally predictable. At each house, he had the same little routine.
1)Step up to door, 2)Recite "trick or treat!", 3)Turn around & say, "Let's go to another house!" And off we went. And Allie was as cute as she could possibly "bee"!!

Family Pic:

Zach did enjoy the snow-cones at the church festival.

And Todd & I wore our "inexpensive, no-makeup, no-skin-showing, and no-weird-wigs" costumes (Todd's preferences, of course!) to a couples costume party. The costumes were awkward for eating, sitting & the bonfire/s'mores, but we still enjoyed ourselves.