Ten on Tuesday

1. I have been feeling a little under the weather, but am trying hard to ward it off with huge quantities of water and vitamins. Yesterday I slept when Zane slept, he also I don't think is fully up to par but powering through. He was up from 2-4:30 last night with what I thought were ear infections, but apparently it was not. I guess getting teeth or just a crazy person, I'm not sure which.

2. Even though I was feeling crummy yesterday I was determined to make an apple pie out with our fresh apples. It was a huge success! I did have to borrow an egg from our neighbors, but other than that it went very well. I still can't figure out how to make the crust around the outside look awesome, like moms, but it still tastes fantastic.  I marked with a heart and a Z, combining two songs, Patty Cake and Baby Don't You Cry, both songs I sing Zane daily.

3. When we went to the back yard to ask Eddie's wife for an egg, her mom (I only know her as the Grandma who doesn't speak much English, she just recently came to the USA from Bosnia) was the only one in the yard. She had no idea what I was talking about when I asked her for an egg. However, she wanted to hold Zane, and then she put him on the trampoline (which was a net all the way around the outside, but still not good) and he went crazy. He loves it and it terrified me! In good news we got our egg, Zane had tons of fun, and the Grandma had a blast as well.

4. Check out Zane trying to "help" Jamey put his hat back on. Jamey, who is 5 months old, wears his hat without complaint. Sure wish I could get Zane to keep his hat on for more than 5 seconds. As you can see he was very helpful : )

5. This weekend Zane started saying, "hi", very clearly. I first noticed it on the wagon ride back from the pumpkin patch, when Zane was waving at himself but saying hi to the little girl behind him. Now he says it all the time. All day Monday he kept finding my phone, putting it up to his ear, and saying hi repeatedly. Of course we we tried actually calling Grandma so she could hear him say hi, he got stage fright! I promise it is adorable!

6. Zane's new trick for the week is putting things in the trash. This is a double edged sword. On one hand he is very helpful when I am cleaning up the kitchen. On the other hand I will randomly hear him clapping in the kitchen after he has put a toy or a kitchen utensil in the trash. At least he has that built in alarm system. Going to have to watch what is in the trash a little closer I guess. 

7. We had a lovely weekend at home, with more gorgeous weather. I got to go for a run without the stroller, which was nice. I was amazed at how much farther I went, but also how much longer the 35 minutes felt without my little buddy. I haven't worked out in two days, since I was feeling a little crummy, but hope to get back on the road Thursday and Friday. I hear chilly temps are coming our way so hopefully I can get a few more nice runs in before that. 

8. With the thought of cooler temps around the corner I am getting utterly terrified about a long, cold, snowy, winter inside with a one year old. We spend a lot of time outside, whether in our yard, the zoo, or at the playground, but all of that time is going to have to be spent inside in the winter. I don't know how we both aren't going to loose our minds. I guess we will have to find inside activities to do, outside of the house. Something to research in all my free time.

9. I am planning a birthday party for Zane's heart. Is that weird? I think it is a huge day in his and our lives which I would like to turn into a celebration rather than thinking about how terrible that day was a year ago. It really was like a new birth for all of that day, finally putting the stress of surgery behind us, so we could all begin to heal. I am planning on making a heart shaped cake, already my personal specialty, with possibly some stitches or just "happy birthday Zane's heart" on it. I know, kind of strange, but it is all about turning things into a positive and I really want him to grow up knowing how blessed he is to be alive. If he lived in a third world country right now he might not be with us. Little miracle man!

10. Last, but of course not least, the weekly sports update. For my STL readers who don't follow the Sooners closely, they won 55-13 against our arch rivals, Texas, Saturday. It was a glorious game, taking me back to the good old days when we use to beat them by  60 points. And for my OK readers who don't follow the Cards, the Cards are now in the National League Championship series. This is the last series before the world series and they are currently tied, at one game a piece, with the Brewers. The next three games are in the STL so we could clinch the series at home, if we don't choke! GO RED BIRDS!

Fall Fun

Yesterday Zach, Zane, and I headed to Illinois for some fall fun. We had originally planned on going apple and pumpkin picking at Eckert's. For those of you not from our here, there are a couple different Eckert's around here which are large orchards, pumpkin patches, restaurant, and grocery store. They have huge amount of land and I am sure huge amounts of money from the droves of people who flock to their orchards through out the year to go apple, peach, and pumpkin picking at their farms.

We were meeting Michelle and Ryan there since they live about five minutes away, but none of us had actually been to Eckert's before. Once we got there it became obvious that if we stayed there we would spend most of our day waiting for the tractor to take us to the pumpkin patch and by the time we got their our children would be burnt to a crisp and I'm sure melting down. So we took a quick trip to the petting zoo area to feed numerous different animals carrots. Zane loved petting and feeding all the animals; sheep, camels, miniature bulls, and his favorite goats. These goats looked slightly satanic, their pupils are were square. Are all goats pupils square? Very strange, but per usual Zane loved them and figure out how to feed the animals very quickly.

After feeding all the animals we decided to try the smaller orchard down the street to see if we could have better luck there. We ended up going to Braeutigam Ochard, which is literally less than a mile from Eckert's huge orchard. As we drove up my first thought was how much dad would have loved this place. It looked basically like where I grew up. There was an old white farm house, horses, miniature goats, cows and even a rabbit cage just like the one we had growing up. The minor difference was the huge orchard, vineyard, and pumpkin patch, which we could have never grown, because it never rains in Oklahoma. There was no line for the tractor ride out to the pumpkin patch, so it was perfect, especially since we were on a tight schedule, with the Cardinals game starting at 3pm.

Here we are in the patch having a blast picking out our pumpkins. Zane and Jamey had tons of fun playing together as well. It was a little hot for a day of fall fun, but we had a great time none the less.

Here are Michelle and I with the boys, who were obviously having tons of fun.

Zane picked out this darling little pumpkin for himself. I think he thought it was a ball because he tried to throw it off the wagon a couple times on the ride back to the farm.

Before we headed to the Wamser's to watch the baseball game we bought some fresh apple, our pumpkins, and an apple slushi (basically gold apple sauce you drank threw a straw, phenomenal!). At the end of the day I was so glad we found the little family own orchard to support. If you are looking for some fall fun near STL check it out, you won't be disappointed. I plan to go back next year, hopefully with a little bit more time, to get some pumpkins and apples. 

Many thanks to the Wamser's for hosting us and our crazy child at their house so we could watch the cards and for taking all the pictures, as my camera died shortly after the goat feeding. We had a blast even though the cardinals lost game one of the series. 

Toddler Toys

In every toy store there is the isle which is clearly labeled toddler toys. Or for those of you, like myself, who try to avoid toy stores, when you search for toddler toys on Amazon.com a slew of brightly colored cars, animals, blocks, and games pop up. They all look amazing, and I can convince myself that Zane would love all of them, but turns out where you really need to shop for toddler toys is in the kitchen section.

Toddlers learn an amazing amount each day, most of which is from the things they see their parents do. That is a terrifying fact, but it is true. So when you think about that you shouldn't be surprised that two of the first things our children pretend to play are cooking and driving, two things toddlers see their parents do every day. Zane has mastered pretending to do both of these things. Sometimes he even combines the two, like the other day when he pretended to drive, using a small skillet. Of course that driving session ended with a few tears, but it was tons of fun none the less.

I have baskets full of toys, upstairs and downstairs in this house. Though Zane will occasionally push the basket around and throw things out of it, where he really plays is in the kitchen. I have mentioned his love whisks and spoons before on the blog. He also loves plastic bowls, which he fills with random things, sometimes even toys out of the baskets, and stirs them into a lovely stew that he then serves to me. Any time he can weasel his way into the pantry he gets out a box of rice, pasta, or some other food item which he will carry around shaking for long periods of time. Recently he has discovered where I keep the potatoes and has even taken to carrying those around the house, trying to eat them raw. And we all saw how much he enjoyed the spaghetti.

So yesterday I decided that instead of getting annoyed at how crazy messy my kitchen was getting, I would take the fun outside, where you can never make too big of a mess, and let Zane go crazy. I looked in my pantry for something that could be used for this activity and settled on the half eaten box of rice that Zane has gotten his hands on a few times and spilled everywhere. Then I grabbed, literally whatever random things Zane had already gotten out of drawers that morning, that were laying on my kitchen floor and headed outside with my camera.

Here is the list of what he had at his disposal, because it cracks me up how random of an activity it was.

• Half a box of rice, dumped into his favorite big red plastic bowl - as a side note I can't remember the last time I actually used this red bowl for cooking or storing food because Zane is always using it.
• The actual box the rice came out of 
• The first whisk I saw on the floor, I am sure there was more than one out this morning.
• A plastic spoon
• Two small plastic cups 
• One little plastic storage container, suppose to be used for carrying Zane's snacks, actually used for Zane to pretend to put away dishes while Zach and I empty the dishwasher.
• An empty miniature bottle that once held celery seed, but for the past week has been one of Zane's favorite things to play with. He has finally figured out how to twist the cap to open it. Not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing.
•   And finally, the only thing that was actually a toy in the whole mess, a little plastic truck from the dollar store, used as an airplane surprise on our last trip home. - He never touched the car during our time outside, of course.

Here is the play by play of our fun. 

We started the activity with the rice actually in the bowl. This lasted much longer than I thought it would.

 Zane spent a lot of time working on opening the celery seed jar. He was successful and oh so proud of himself.

 We got all our senses covered. Here he is giving the uncooked rice a taste.

 Then he put some into his little jar and smelled it. Before smelling it he did listen to the fun sound rice makes in a jar.

 Followed by dumping it back into the bowl and taking a nice long look at it.

 And last, but not least, he dumped it out and played in it. It was a new feeling that he wasn't quite sure about.

 Here he is proud of all that he had learned.

 Then it was time for some silliness. Peek-a-boo with the bowl!

 I am constantly amazed at how much this little guy learns everyday and it is refreshing to see the world through a brand new set of eyes. Gotta love toddlers!

Five on Friday

1. Work was crazy this week, complete with my first respiratory patient of the cold and flu season. Respiratory patients are not my favorite, because they can go south very quickly, and kiddos don't always bounce back well from major respiratory problems. Though my floor is the hospital's Neurology/Neurosurgery floor around this time of year we start to get a lot of over flow of general medicine patients with RSV, pneumonia, croup, and a whole host of other nasty things. Let's just say it is not my favorite time of year at work, though I am super busy so time flies.

2. I was off today and Zane and I struggled with getting his schedule straight. I think it is hard for him since every day is different and I don't think he ever is really in a routine. I'm off four days a week, which is amazing, but they are never the same days so I am sure Zane gets confused. Not to mention that he is spending more time at the day care now that I have switched back to day shift, which makes for a more difficult transition to the days that I am home with him. He was a pretty crabby little boy today, probably missing Grandma a little bit too, but it was beautiful outside so we tried to make the best of it.

3. On that note I am two days into the Couch to 5k running program that my brother and sister have been doing for a while. It's an app that you can download on your phone so it tells you when to walk or run while you are listening to music. I have to admit that last week I only "ran" one day, what with work and mom's visit, but I am off for four days in a row, so hopefully I can start getting into the habit of running while the weather is still nice. Zane loved the running parts, he put his hands up like he was on a roller coaster ride, very cute stuff. I feel horribly out of shape, cannot run up the hills around my neighborhood to save my life, and running without using my arms has proven to be very difficult, but hoping it all gets better with time.

4. Tonight is the big Cardinals game. It's game five against the Philly's and it is a must win or we are out of the playoffs. I have to say I am a little nervous and always hate to see the baseball season end, though I have to admit we didn't watch nearly as much baseball this year as we have in previous years. I wonder what/who could have been keeping us busy? Anyway, the game is on at 7:30 on TBS, put your red on and root for the Cards! GO CARDINALS!!!

5. I am looking for ideas for low calorie snacks that I could bake with Zane. His absolute favorite activity is helping me make cookies or any sort of thing that involves using the kitchen aide mixer. However, I do not need cookies around all the time, since I have no self control. Zane will eat a few, but Zach and I end up eating the majority. I would love some ideas from all your bakers out there. I am not much of a cook and even less of a baker, so I need some help on this one.

*Have a great weekend everyone, enjoy the beautiful weather before it's gone.

Ten on Tuesday

1. Zane has entered a new phase that I am not so excited about, the hitting phase. He hits when he is excited, after he is told no, when he is mad... you see the pattern. Sometimes I feel like he is hitting me or Zach because he is upset, but then sometimes I feel like he is hitting us because he is bored or wants attention. Either way it isn't acceptable, but "no hitting" is hard to get across to a one year old.

2. Mom has been here since Friday and we had a lovely weekend, with absolutely beautiful weather. Zane and mom have taken a few walks around the neighborhood meeting all the dogs, which are Zane's favorite. They even met Carl, who apparently is one of our neighbors down the street. I never talk to anyone, but mom meets all kinds of people when she is town. Too bad she has lived in the country most of her life, imagine all the friends she could have made in a neighborhood.

3.We took advantage of the amazing weather this weekend and finally fixed the flower bed in the corner of our back yard. It has annoyed me since we moved in because it was full or rocks and under the mulch was a layer of plastic covering. I should have known it wasn't a real garden when we bought the house and there were potted flowers sitting in the "flower bed." So we put another layer of stones around the outside, filled it with the good dirt from our vegetable gardens, and then replanted the herbs that had some how managed to survive in it over the summer. It is now full of dirt, the plastic is out, and I think I will actually be able to grow plants in it next year. Very exciting. Here is the finished product. Zane loved playing with all the dirt and tools!

4. Here is one of Zane's new funtivities, playing in spaghetti. Yes, our pantry has child locks on it, but Zane is quick and gets to the half used box of spaghetti very fast, dumping some out and then dancing on it, before I even realize he was in there. Here he is having a blast with the spaghetti. This has happened twice now so we are almost out of spaghetti.

5. I am back to days, which is nice, but I had forgotten how little I see Zane on the days I work. Zach usually tries to keep him awake until I get home, which can be a struggle, and then I see him for maybe 20 minutes before he absolutely has to go to bed. I can't win for loosing I guess.

6. The ten on Tuesday is a little latter than usual today because I was wrapped up in the cardinals post season game, which ended in a cardinal loss, sad face. Zane was decked out in his Cardinal gear, but it didn't help. Tomorrow is another game, but we are all out of Cardinal clothes.

7. This afternoon, after Zane had been a great little shopper, we headed to the playground for some fun. It had been awhile since I went, camera in hand, and Zane has mastered all kinds of things since our last visit. He can climb the stairs standing up, he can climb all the way up the big slide with only a little help, and the biggest development... he slides down the covered twisty slide all by himself, head first, feet first, and backwards. He also can climb up the covered slide with quite a bit of help from mamma and Grandma. He ran all over the place, through tunnels, under the equipment, up the stairs, and into the yard next to the playground to play with the fake deer. What more could a little boy ask for?

8. Zane got a little bit more of a real hair cut today. It took us a couple tries and I had to go by a smaller comb, but by the end of the day I think we have it all trimmed up. He looks so much like a little boy now I can hardly stand it.

9. This weekend we are going to go apple and pumpkin picking at Eckert's in Illinois. The farm is close to my friend Michelle's house so her family hopefully can join us for a day of fall fun. I tried to use my Groupon to Grants Farm today, but turns out it isn't open during the week now, who knew. That's another fall activity I hope to while the weather is still beautiful.

10. Also, this weekend is the big OU vs. Texas game. I have been working the past couple of years during that game, so I think I am excited to watch it in the morning. I say I think because it tends to be a very stressful day, hopefully the Sooners will be victorious and remain undefeated.

Zane's first craft time

Now you all know how much I love crafting and I enjoy crafting with children as well. However, I have to be honest, toddler arts and crafts are a tad bit challenging for me. I can't handle marker/crayon all over my furniture, walls, tables, not to mention my son. But with that being said, I know that is all part of toddlerhood, but I still am going to try to keep it under control. I have been blatantly putting off giving Zane crayons or markers to play with due to the simple fact I didn't want to clean it up.

Last night, after Zane pretended to draw with numerous toys, pens, and utensils all day, I decided it was time to set him free with the markers. This led to his first official 'craft day.' Grammi gave Zane a little table with folding chairs, for Christmas when he was a fetus, and the little table has been sitting in our basement for years waiting for just such a moment. The table top is blue, so we went with the blue marker first.

Zane did very well, though he really wanted to be drawing with one hand while looking around the room, in no way paying attention to the drawing itself. He drew a lot on his hands and the table, but quite a bit made it on the paper as well. I could feel him desperately eyeing the wall, as a perfect canvas for his next piece of art work, but we enforced a hard and fast, sit on your bottom in the chair, rule during art time. He could get up and go pick out new colors from daddy, but then returned to his chair to draw.  All and all his drawing time only lasted maybe five minutes. I guess the bonus to messy toddler drawing is the extremely short toddler attention span. Here are the action shots from Zane's first craft day.

Here is Zane contemplating his work and drawing on the table, much more fun than the paper.

 Here he is staying very focused on his drawing.

 Time to change markers.

 This piece needed a little texture once he was done drawing.

 Here is the beautiful finished project. I think it pretty well sums up Zane's personality, crazy!

Rosie

Well it is official, Zane has learned how to play ring around the rosie and now is obsessed wi. I'm not sure how we got started playing it last night, but we did, and continued to play it until we drug Zane to bed kicking and screaming, literally. I, personally, feel kind of nauseated after about three go around of ring around the rosie, so Zach played most of the games. Tad joined in later, since it is really more fun with more than two people. Of course the best part of rosie is the falling down. Zane started his falling down process about two lines into the song, but that's ok.

This morning I was relaxing on the couch and couldn't understand what Zane wanted, when he kept coming up to me with both his hands out, as if to help me off the couch. Don't worry I quickly figured it out and we played numerous rounds of ring around the rosie before nap time. The cutest part is when he plays it by himself, turning in circles randomly, falling down, and then clapping when he is done. Oh so cute!!! Here are some pictures from last nights game with daddy and Tad.

Simple joys of childhood brought to life. I love it.