Rocks

This morning I made myself a cup of hot chocolate, the kind with mini marshmallows in it. I heated the water, poured the packet in and didn't have a chance to stir it at that moment. When I set it on the table, Zack looked into it and was concerned.
I asked him what was wrong. He pointed to my cup and said "rocks". He was concerned because he thought there were rocks in my cup. How cute is that?

The world ended last night.

I just thought you would want to know the world no longer exists, at least in Zacks mind.
We decided to take him to the bookstore so he could play with the train table he loves so much. So I wandered around the store while Kris was watching Zack. When I made my way back over there one other child was playing with the trains. We had already been in the store for 40 minutes or so before Kris started giving the countdown to Zack. When it was time to go Zack started throwing the tantrum of all tantrums! The other child was also throwing a tantrum but I am not really sure why since he wasn't leaving yet.
We never did get Zacks coat on to leave, I wound up carrying that and Kris was carrying a screaming, kicking, hitting 2.5 year old. From what Kris said Zack got in a few good hits.
When we were fighting Zack to get him buckled in the car seat the other child was being carried out kicking and screaming by his mom.
So the world ended last night for 2 little boys and the rest of us don't seem to realize that.

Pure Heaven

Yesterday I had to wash Zacks sheets, I put them in the dryer just as he was eating lunch so that by the time he was done they were nice and dry and ready for nap time. Once he was done and cleaned up we went to get his sheets from the dryer, I draped the pillow case around his shoulders and all he could say was "AHH" they were still warm. It started to slip as he was walking upstairs which upset him a bit but by the time I made up his mattress and got him into bed they were still a bit warm and he was in heaven! He never moved or lifted his head up to look at me as I left the room like he normally does.
Is there anything better than climbing into bed with still warm from the dryer sheets?

Mountain Weekend

This past weekend we went to the mountains with some friends of ours. We go with them every year and have a great time.
This year we went to a place that has a corn maze, petting zoo, hay ride and some other things for the kids to do. We all had a good time.
Zack had a blast feeding the goats in the petting zoo, he thought it was funny that there tongues tickled his palms when he was feeding them.
He was a bit unsure about the hay ride while sitting there waiting for everyone to board, once we started moving, he enjoyed it.
We also went to an animal rescue place. They take in animals that have been hurt or abandon animals. For some reason he really liked the "mad owl". The owl kept trying to fly in its cage and Zack told me he was mad. LOL

Here is a picture of Kris and Zack


Zack saying hi to a pony


Zack petting a goat


Cheesy grin when they hay ride started


I forgot to take pictures when it was pumpkin carving time. How slack is that?
I can not wait to go again next year, we always have a great time.

Zacks New Words

Freaky dreams.

I was having a freaky dream this morning about suffocating under a couch cushion. My arms were over my head, the cushion over my face. There were a few people there but no-one was trying to help me even when I was saying help me.
When I woke up my pillow was over my face! I had to wonder was I making noise in my sleep and Kris put the pillow over my head to shut me up? So I had to question him and ask him if he was trying to shut me up by putting the pillow on me. He said no, but do I really believe him? LOL You know because I could not have done it myself! LOL
I always blame any freaky or odd dream I have on him, poor guy just sits and takes it.

Mean Mommy

I am the most hated mom in the world right now.
I took Zack to the doctor for his flu shot. He loves to go to the doctors office just to play with the toys in the waiting room. As soon as the nurse stands at the door calling his name, he either tries to bolt out the door or hide! I had to chase him down, carry him in to the exam room and hold him while he cried. Boy does that kids have a set of lungs on him. Just as quickly as the tears came, they were gone. This time I let him have a lalop (lollipop) which was promptly devoured.
He was polite enough to say thank you to the receptionist who gave him a sticker. So that is a good thing.
When we got home I asked him if he was going to tell Dada he had a lollipop, he responded with "No, girl" as he was poking his leg. So I take that as he is telling Dada the girl poked him in the leg. I wonder if he is just looking for sympathy.

Frustrating

I have tried several times today to embed a video in my blog and for some unknown reason it will not work. So if I can ever get it embedded than you will see Zack and hear his new words.
Anyone who has a blog have any advice to get it embedded?

Trunk or Treat

Kris and I took Zack to a trunk or treat event today. He was all excited to go trick or treating and wearing his Pablo costume. We have been working on saying trick or treat for a while now and although it doesn't sound exactly like it you can tell what he is trying to say. We got there and got set up and put his costume on. He looked so cute. When it was time to trick or treat Kris took him from car to car while I handed out candy from our car. When they got back to our car he told me Zack wouldn't say a word to anyone much less look at them. Oh well so much for working on that phrase.
Last night while in the car he couldn't find the moon in the sky, he always gets so excited when he sees the moon. So we played a game of trying to find the moon. I taught him to say "Moon, Where are you?" It is so cute hearing him say Moon, Are you?" He tends to leave a word out here and there but that is ok for now. I am still so happy with what he is picking up.

Trying hard.

I have been trying to get a decent video of Zack saying a few words but it isn't working out so great. I will keep trying. He is repeating everything these past few days.

Today we were in the car and I pointed out a very ugly car to Kris who laughed and said "now that's pimping". Well from the back seat a tiny voice says "pipping". I had to politely remind Kris that we now have a parrot and have to watch what we say.

Here's your sign...

Last night Kris, Zack and I were out in the back yard picking more rocks. After a short while Zack was not interrested in doing that anymore so he found his own things to do. At one point he was trying to take the shovel away from Kris, while Kris was still trying to use it. Kris tells him go get your shovel by the house. Trying to explain where something is to a 2 year old can be frustrating but I had to stop and laugh at Kris when he was telling Zack "it's to your right buddy"

Hey Kris, Here's your sign...

For crying out loud he is only 2.

And just to be fair I need to hand myself the sign too. Yesterday afternoon David showed up on his way home from work. We were up stairs playing with the kids. Kaylee crawled under the kiddie table a few times saying it was her house. Well about 10 minutes later Zack was crawling under the table trying to say something and I couldn't understand so I was naming things off that I thought he was saying. He was starting to get frustrated with my lack of knowledge. David looks at me and says "Mom he is saying HOUSE". Duh, I felt like an idiot.

Sleep Deprivation

It is only 8:00 am and I am already wishing for nap time. How bad is that?
I could not sleep last night so I didn't get to sleep until after 12:30 am. Zack woke up crying at about 2:00 but within a few minutes he put himself back to sleep. He woke up at 4:50 am crying for "dada". He apparently had a bad dream and would not go back to sleep. I am exhausted already.

Public Service Announcement

This morning Zack was reaching up on the counter for food. Any food he could get his grubby little hands on. I handed him a peach and told him to go sit at the table to eat it.
He was chowing down on it then hit the pit. I don't know what it is with this kid but he seems to feel the need to gnaw on the pit. After making him spit that out, I dug the pit out and told him we don't eat the pit. So the rest of the morning all I have been hearing is "no eat pip". I did try to correct his pronunciation but it isn't happening. He just keeps repeating himself "no eat pip".

So if you are going to enjoy a nice juicy peach, I just want to remind you "Please don't eat the PIP".

Acorns

We went to the park yesterday, it was entirely too nice to stay indoors. Both Zack and Kaylee played on the slides and swings for a while then discovered the million acorns laying on the ground. Zack was the first to stuff one in his pocket. I told him it was ok to bring one home and show to daddy. I guess one meant 'one of everyone he sees'. Before I knew it he had his pockets so stuffed full of acorns they were falling out as he walked. I don't really know how he was walking anyway since they were weighing down his pants, with that I thought of 'I hope he doesn't wear his pants like that as a teenager'.
He cried and pitched a fit when it was time to leave. He kept bending down to pick up just one more as he was walking to the car. When I cleaned out his pockets so he could get buckled in his car seat I not only found acorns but I found several dead bugs. Yuck! I don't think he intentionally put them in his pocket because he is still a bit fearful of bugs. This makes me wonder what else I am going to be finding in his pockets thought the next few years.
Zack has always been interested in natures bounty but he has never wanted to take it home before. I guess I need to start learning about nature so I can be teaching him. I guess he doesn't know mommy is an indoor girl. LOL

Red

This child of mine is making me sick with that he dips in RED (aka Ketchup). I know tons of kids like ketchup and I am fine with that, heck I even use it sometimes, but seriously I am wondering when Zacks skin is going to start turning RED. This kid of mine eats more ketchup than any human I have ever seen. On average we go through a bottle of it every 10 days.

I thought it was gross when he started dipping his fruit (Mandarin oranges, grapes, apples...). Then it started making me queasy when I caved and gave him a brownie and he dipped that in there. Well last night my stomach was churning watching him eat marshmallows dipped in Ketchup! I am really afraid of what he will dip next. Someone please tell me (even if you have to lie to me) that this too shall pass.

You know those little packets of ketchup you get from fast food places well I have to keep a baggie of them in my purse for emergency situations. Speaking of fast food when the drive thru person asks if you want ketchup and you tell them yes and a lot of it. Why do they think 5 packets are a lot? That is just a tease to my child.

We are really messed up.

Our country sure is messed up.
I read the paper and watch the news and think wow we let our country and society get so screwed up!
We have a government that is not governing, police that are not policing, teachers that are not teaching, mothers that are not mothering. When are we as a society going to wake up and finally realize how bad it has gotten and how much worse it will get if we don't do something?

A Day out with Thomas the Train.

We had the most fantastic day on Sunday. We took Zack to see Thomas the Train in Spencer NC. We opted for a early train ride so we bought the tickets a few weeks ago for the 9:15 am train. We left the house at 7 am in order to be there a little before our train ride. When we got there we missed the turn into the parking area and passed the train, Zack saw it was all kinds of excited! If he wasn't buckled into his seat, that kid would have bolted!

The first thing we did was go have his picture taken in front of Thomas, as you can see he has the cheesiest grin ever.



Here his is just in Awe...



Waiting patiently for the train to start moving...



After the train ride, watching a show...



Meeting Sir Topham Hatt.



Zack about 5 minutes after leaving...



He really had a blast, I don't think there was anything that he missed, other than getting the temporary tattoo. Which we heard about when we got home so I had to dig around and find some here.
I had a great time watching Zack get so excited about everything. Even though the tickets are a bit pricey I think it was worth every penny seeing that cheesy grin and seeing his eyes light up watching Thomas the Train.

Too Tired

I was hoping to have some pictures up tonight of our super exciting day today but... I am exhausted so I think you are just going to have to wait for the pictures as well as the story.

Last night at dinner I was going down a list of names and asking Zack if they were "a girl or a boy" (example, is Daddy a boy or a girl). He was doing really well answering correctly to everyone I asked. So Kris and I being the excited parents we clapped for him while telling him what a good job he did. The little bugger bowed to us while we were clapping for him! Neither Kris nor I could contain our laughter. It was just one of the funniest moments because neither of us expected that.
This morning Zack and I went to the park, we went to the one downtown. Zack played a little on the slides but there were kids there that were a bit bigger and they were a little to hyper for Zack's taste so we went for a walk in the park. He decided to pick up sticks along the way, not so bad but he had a bunch of them and was holding on for dear life. I was hoping he didn't want to take them all home with him. When we were walking over the bridge I asked him if he wanted to throw one into the water. He had a blast doing that. We stood there until every last one of them was in the stream.
I didn't realize how long we were at the park so when we left I stopped at Arbys on the way home and got him fries and a "hamburger" (aka a roast beef sandwich). I didn't get a kids meal with time and now I am scared! He ate every last fry and 3/4 of that sandwich. Aren't 2 year old supposed to eat small amounts? Where can they possible store all that food?

Getting Mail

I really dread going to the mailbox somedays. I just know there isn't anything good in there before I even get to the end of the driveway. When did I start feeling like that? I remember loving going to the mailbox and getting mail out, even though some of it was bills I still liked seeing what else was in there for me. Many years ago I started signing up for freebies just to see if they would come in the mail, now I don't bother with many of them (unless it is free diapers or something I really want to try). I don't even get excited when they come in.
I remember feeling the same way about email. I couldn't wait to log on knowing that someone was taking the time to write me or just checking up on me. Now there is so much spam to delete it seems like some days are a pain to bother checking it.
I know for a fact Kris doesn't like checking the mail because I can count on one hand the number of times he has bothered to check the mailbox in the past year. Unless he is expecting a package of parts he could care less about the mail.
Zack is always wanting to check the mail even though he still isn't tall enough to reach in and get it. Yesterday I gave him an envelope addressed to him, he looked at me and said "mail" in an excited little voice. I wonder how long it will be before he isn't excited to check the mail anymore.

Remember years ago people wrote letters to other people just to see how they were doing and fill them in on what was going on. Remember when email first became popular and people emailed letters to other people because it was cheaper than sending it through the mail. Now it just seems like people forward jokes and such but no one sends letters whether it is through the mail or email.

Well, I say get your pen and paper out people and send someone you love or haven't heard from in a while a letter or a card or a drawing that your child did. Make someone want to go to their mailbox!

Wordless Wednesday