Ten On Tuesday

1. Some how the beautiful, below average temperatures of August are gone, replaced by freakishly hot temperatures again. This has put the ca-bash on early morning walks and afternoons playing in the yard. I am back to trying to find indoor activities for us and doing an alright job, I guess. It is the first week of September and we are already doing Halloween arts and crafts. Zane is beyond excited about Halloween, I never use orange scrapbook paper, and I bought some paper pumpkins to decorate, so it all works out. Win, Win, Win!!! Here is his first  Halloween project of the year. He did find some Halloween stickers I might have wanted to use, but he loved them, so I let him go crazy.

How proud does he look of his work, this was all done before breakfast on Thursday.

And yesterday we moved up a bit to things requiring glue, which Zane can finally do by himself. Googly eyes came later after the camera was put away. 

2. My second idea for the hot days is going to the library. Today was the first time we braved the library with Zane and he did a great job. He had three requests, books about bones, snakes, and Halloween. We spent a lot of time in non fiction, but I did finally convince him to get some story books as well. Before we left he got his very own library card and helped check out all our books. The nice lady helping us told him he could check out movies right before we left, so ended up getting two movies, and lots of books. We celebrated with a blizzard, of course. My Grandma Dotter would be so proud of her Great Grandson and his new love of the library.

3. We had a great weekend in SEMO, with lots of adventures, and lots of celebrating Zach turning thirty. Rowan's cousins had a particularly fun time playing with him. I think Clay was my best baby sitter, but Adeline had a great time as well. I loved watching them play together and these pictures will be priceless when all the cousins are all grown up.

4. Zane and Levi's love hate relationship continued this weekend. Sometimes they are best of friends and sometimes they play a little too rough and it ends in tears. Levi knows he his older than Zane, so occasionally tries to boss him around, which Zane finds completely confusing because Levi is quite a bit smaller than him. I find the whole thing entertaining, well except for the tears, and for the most part they make wonderful playmates. Here is Zane giving Levi a hug/picking him up. 

To be clear, the one being lifted off the ground is a  four years old and the one doing the lifting is three.

5. Rowan is officially army crawling now. It isn't pretty, but it's very effective. He also can get to sitting up from laying down. I found that last tid bit out when I went to get him from a nap and he was sitting up in his crib, trying to pull up on the side so he could peer over the edge. That leads to his third new activity which is trying to pull up on things or my leg, but isn't successful without assistance. He thinks he can cruise, i.e. from my leg to the coffee table, but he definitely cannot. Today was also the first day that he came into Target out of his car seat and sat up like a very tiny big boy.

6. There were two days of beautiful weather last week so we of course headed to the park ASAP. Rowan got to play on the slides for the very first time. Zane gave him a play by play of how it was done before I helped him down the little slide for the first time. Then Rowan sat at the bottom of the slide, watching Zane run around crazy, having the time of his life. 

Zane kept a pretty close eye on Rowan, checking in on him all the time.

7. In another installment of Rowan's hats, this week Zane thought Rowan wanted to wear his scally cap. "He say yes mamma, he want to wear it." And here is the adorableness that ensued.

Look at mister serious face, so funny!

8. Our current morning routine is both boys playing on our bed, talking to daddy while he gets ready for work. Zane loves playing/laying on the bed with Rowan. He is doing so much better being gentle with him and Rowan cannot get enough of his big brother. Here are some of what our mornings have looked like recently. The last one was this morning, I was too tired to take them to the couch so we all cuddle, watching the iPad in my bed for a little bit.

This is how Zane got dressed this morning.

9. I almost forgot to mention Zane and his new friend, the cat, at Grammi and Papa's. This cat randomly showed up at their house since the last time Zane visited and doesn't have a name. Zane....ummmm....loved?? the cat. He danced with it, chased it, and really wanted to take it home with him. Shockingly his parents were not on board with that idea.

Not really a look of love if you ask me.

10. Lastly I would like to encourage everyone to go online to http://bethematch.org/Home.aspx and request a cheek swab kit to register to be a bone marrow donor. Bone marrow transplants save thousands of lives a year and so many more lives could be saved if more people were registered. It is as easy as filling out a small medical questionnaire online, then a cheek swab kit is sent to your house. You swab your cheeks and put it back in the mail and then you wait for the opportunity to save a life! There is nothing bigger you can do than that right?? If you are chosen them you undergo a bone marrow aspiration, usually from your pelvic bone, which from what I here leaves you a little soar, but nothing you can't handle to save a life. So go online and get your kit today to save a life!! Ok off my soap box, happy Tuesday!

Camping with Daddy and Papa

Saturday Zach turned turned thirty and we spent his birthday weekend with his family in SEMO. Saturday evening Zach and Zane "went camping." Grammi, Pappa, Rowan, and I joined them for the early stages of this camping adventure. Zane and Zach had set up camp down by the pond behind Grammi and Pappa's house. They had a tent, sleeping bags, fishing stuff, smore stuff, then all they needed was a camp fire. Zane has helped Zach build numerous fires, so he knew right away what to do and started gathering little sticks and pine needles to throw on the fire. He helped blow on it to get the flames bigger, and helped gather big pieces of wood for later.

After the fire was started, it was time for some fishing. Apparently Zane gets to be in charge of his own fishing pole now. Last time I was part of the fishing fun at Papa's Daddy or Papa held it for him. But now he knows how to real it in, but casting is another story. The hook was removed before we got there, which is a good thing since Zach quickly took a bobber to the ribs, leaving a big bruise immediately. It didn't take long for his line to break, but Zane didn't care, he pretended to fish along side Papa and Daddy. This remains the cutest thing I've ever seen. I think it was cuter this time, set to the back drop of a beautiful sunset. 

After Zane's fishing pole broke he tried to fix it himself, "I not need help daddy, I fix it."

We cooked smores, with way too big of marshmallows, making it nearly impossible to eat. Zane got covered in melted marshmallows, which he then proceeded to try to clean off his hands with gram crackers. So funny! They fished, they ate, and then it was time for those of us not camping to head back to the house. Zach and Zane stayed behind to "camp" in their tent with the sleeping bags Zane as so excited about using. Zach told me that they had gotten in their sleeping bags and were looking out the window of their tent when they saw the lights of the house. Then Zane said, "well.... this has been fun, I want to see my mamma." Then they headed back to the house to sleep. 

These pictures were also the cutest thing ever because it was all happening on the third anniversary of Zane's other Grandfather's passing away. I would kill for a picture of my dad and Zane fishing. Their heads would look exactly alike, with their ears sticking out and the white hair. Zach's birthday is always a rough day. I can't help but think about all that dad is missing/missed. I still can't believe that he isn't here. I can't believe that he hasn't met Rowan, but life goes on. We treasure the moments like this we have with our loved ones. I count my blessings that Zane still has one Grandfather to fish with and to take him on tractor rides. And I treasure the fact that my son gets to have a wonderful father of his own to make memories with.

Ten on Tuesday

1. Today was Zane's dentist appointment which went pretty well, but was fairly traumatic as well. Of course it started with a thorough rehashing of Zane's extensive medical history, ending with the dentist telling me that Zane needed to be pre-medicated with antibiotics before any teeth cleaning. I had specifically asked this question after his repair and they had told me he wouldn't need any pre-medicating. However, I'm fine with erring on the side of not getting a blood stream infection, so we will go back for his teeth cleaning at a later date.

2. The rest of the dentist story is that Zane did get his chipped tooth fixed today, handling it like a very big boy. I had gone back to the exam room with him and sat with him in the big chair, BECAUSE HE IS THREE. When it came time for the actual filling of the tooth, so it wouldn't hurt for him to eat/drink anymore, they said, "we don't usually let parents back here, but if he does ok you can stay." To which I wanted to say, "Are you crazy, he is three," but instead I sat calmly on the little rolling chair, holding his hand (which I'm not sure was ok with them, but I didn't care) and patting his leg. They put some filling stuff on it, hardened it with the bright light, and then had to smooth it/clean it. That's a lot of dental work for a three year old. He only cried a little and did a great job. So proud of him and glad his tooth doesn't hurt anymore.

3. The celebrations for his bravery included a Spiderman juice from a quick shop, a spiderman shirt from Target, and of course, ice cream, that he can now eat without pain. Success!!!! Next week he has a cardiology appointment, who knows what fun prizes he will get for that. Can't wait!

4. Ok enough about dental work, though it was a big deal. What else happened this week. Mom and my Aunt Ann arrived Thursday night. Ann flew out Friday afternoon after a brief visit and mom stayed all weekend. I had a great visit with both of them. So glad my house was at the end point of their genealogy search.

5. On kind of the same note Zane is crazy about Grandma. They are the best of buddies, having lots of fun adventures together. My personal highlight of their fun times was the impromptu band practice that happened in our front yard after finding multiple whistles downstairs.  Zach told me that after mom left Monday morning Zane was very sad and didn't want to do anything. Then he told me today, randomly, "I just miss Grandma." We love you Grandma! For some reason I never got my camera out to take any photos of these fun times, not sure why.

6. I was at work yesterday, running around like a crazy person. It was easily top five worst shifts I've had in my five years of nursing. Thank God I had very helpful co-workers, but it was the craziest day I can remember in recent history. My whole body hurts today, which I think means I'm in terrible shape.

7. I went to look at our pictures for this week and turns out I only have this one adorable photo, how can that be?? It's of Rowan on his very first game day. Zach and I played a little game we like to call "Agree or Compromise" while getting him dressed in the morning. We compromised with this outfit. Zane wore these shorts on his first game as well. He wasn't quite three months old, but whatever.

8. Rowan thinks he should be able to slide down my leg, onto the floor, and walk away. He squirms his way about half way down my leg before I remember that he can't crawl, let alone walk. He does enjoy standing up, holding on to something, but this is probably not a great idea. He is making great progress on his crawling, but not totally successful yet. Not yet...... soon.

9. I got our year seven anniversary book today. There were lots of typos in this years book. I didn't have a lot of time to proof read or work on it this year. My favorite typo I will share with you here. Keep in mind that I openly admit to not being able to spell, AT ALL. I was taught how to read wrong and my only C, in my entire life, was in sixth grade spelling. Here goes..... "In June we celebrated Zane turning three and took a family vacation to the Dotter Family Reunion in the Coloraoda." (Yes spell check, I know I spelled that wrong, calm down.) But our seventh year of marriage has been successfully reviewed.

10. Lastly, we went through our storage room this weekend and I now have a car full of stuff to take to Good Will. Somehow the shelves are still completely full though. It was very therapeutic to go through stuff and get rid of things we haven't used/looked at in years. I found some photo negatives, remember those? What a throw back to the 20th century. (Anna and Jess you can be expecting some entertaining throw back photos in the mail soon.) Maybe I will do another throw back Thursday post using them soon. The take away from all the photos for me is, 'How was I sooo skinny and thought I was sooo fat for sooo many years?'

P.S. Happy last few days in your twenties Zach, live it up!

Ten on Tuesday

1. As some of you might have heard, Zane got his first chipped tooth at daycare on Friday. I'm not quite sure on the details, but somehow a rock made contact with Zane's face and now Zane has a busted lip and a chipped tooth. I was super sad initially, then angry, but that was followed by the realization that Zane probably was throwing rocks too or just as easily could have thrown a rock at someone else. These are the dangers of three year old boys playing together, but doesn't help with the mommy guilt I feel over it. The bad news is that it is hurting him when he brushes his teeth, or when he eats, and drinks which means we will be going to the dentist next week. Joy Joy!! For now his perfect, perfect, little baby teeth aren't quite so perfect and it breaks my heart. If you look closely you can see it on his bottom teeth, just right of the middle two. Sad face!

2. In other doctor appointment news Zane had his first ophthalmology appointment yesterday and did an amazing job. He loved the hospital, with all it's happy decorations, fish in the waiting room, and was very cooperative with the doctor's exam. The results are that he does have an astigmatism and will need to follow up yearly. Zach got glasses early on in life so I'm sure at some point Zane will need them, but not yet. Praise God! After getting his eyes dilated Zane asked to wear his sunglasses all day, what a smart kid.

 Zane checking out where momy works. He loved it! 

Rocking his cool shades in the pool. I think they might have been left in there, but oh well.

3. After his doctor's appointment Zane and I made a quick trip to the science center, which just so happens to be across the street. It was a special outing, with just Zane and I, since Ro was at daycare for the morning. Our trip to the Science Center was followed up with lunch with daddy, so it was a very special day indeed.

 We had never seen the dinosaurs outside before, since usually the Science Center is a winter activity.

Zane had a full conversation with the T-rex this time. He asked him what he liked to eat and then told me he thought he was tired.

The other favorite activity of the day was putting carbon atoms together, fun times with chemistry.

4. Rowan remains kind of sick and super crabby. His nose is still runny, but his cough is much better. He seems to think he should be held all the time now, which isn't like him at all, and his night time sleeping schedule is terrible. I think his not being able to breath is probably to blame, but it's been a rough week here in the sleep department. Currently I also have a cough which makes sleeping with him in the chair nearly impossible as my coughing wakes him up and vice versa. 

5. Last week Zane and I made bread together for the first time. I am admittedly not very confident in my bread making skills, so going into knowing that half of it is going to be used for texture play/making animal bread, takes a lot of the pressure off. Half of the dough was used for an actual loaf of bread and half we made into animals and faces, decorated with raisins. It was a great time, though the time it took for the dough to rise really threw him off. The down side of making homemade bread is that I can't stop myself from eating all of it once it's baked.

Kneading the dough

Rowan watching closely as Zane decorated his master pieces.

Finished product

6. The gorgeous, mild temperature weather of a few weeks ago has turned back into actual August weather, with temps in the upper nineties. This means we are back to inside fun for most of the day. To my pleasant surprise Zane's attention span is actually starting to become slightly longer. He plays big boy puzzles, strings blocks onto shoe strings, read books, and spends lots of time playing with canned goods, building and bowling. I love to see him actually play with something for more than two seconds. 

He can do this twenty four piece puzzle all by himself now. So proud of him!

 He strung all the blocks on a shoe string for the first time the other day. It took lots of concentration. I couldn't believe he stuck with it.

Rowan watching the big boys build with cans.

7. Today the boys and I went to buy Zane's winter clothes. It never ceases to amaze me that I have to buy pants when it is a hundred degrees outside, but if I don't they are all gone by the time it is actually winter. I have come to accept it and now Zane has a new winter wardrobe. He officially had to move across the isle to little boy shirts, but can still wear 4T pants. He has a really long torso, which means he usually ends up with arms that are too long, and have to rolled up, but at least his stomach is covered. Meanwhile, Rowan is definitely going to be too little for Zane's winter clothes. I thought it might work out perfectly with Ro being smaller, and born earlier in the year, but not so much. At some point I am going to have a ton of boy clothes to give away. 

8. How about another installment of "Things Zane Says." Sometimes, instead of asking if he could have ice cream he whispers, "maybe if I really good, I can have ice cream." But it's in a super quite whisper voice. Then when I say, "I don't know, maybe." His response is, "let my think.....ah ha, yes!" (My = me in Zane's life. This happens in all sorts of situations, like "Zane it's nap time." "let my think, ah ha... no!" 

9. As a follow up to that, recently Zane has started ad libbing dinner time prayer instead of his normal singing prayer. It usually is just some grumblings that we can't really understand. So I tried to explain to him that you can pray for people, like praying for Grandma. However, in Zane's language to = for, i.e. "I want that to my birthday." So Zane's prayer was "I pray to Grandma." That has a little bit different meaning, but close! Love me some three year old language.

10. In depressing news there is a new poop chart up in the bathroom. We are at two days of no poop in his pants, so Buzz Lightyear got to come out of the timeout closet. Dear God why is this still an issue?? He did finally admit to us, after being in huge amounts of trouble, that he doesn't want to stop playing to go to the potty, no kidding. My new weapon in my parenting arsenal is the timer on my phone. Randomly I set it and when it goes off he has to try to poop. What has my life come to..... whatever works. 

Cowboy Zane and His First Bowling Adventure

This post requires a bit of back story. My dad use to wear pearl snaps shirts all the time. He rocked them from when they first came about in the seventies, all the way through to them coming back in style in the two thousands. He was buried in a pearl snap and was a cowboy through and through. None of his own children wanted to be cowboys, after growing up on a working farm. However, Able has been rocking the pearl snaps for a long time as well. This led to me calling Zane's snap up dress shirt his "Uncle Able shirt," making it one hundred percent cooler. That shirt did not have pearl snaps though, so Uncle Able came through again and got Zane a real life, pearl snap, cowboy shirt the last time we were in Oklahoma. The original shirt was too small, so Zane waited patiently, checking the mail everyday, for his "cowboy shirt in a box, from Uncle Able." Finally it arrived and he loved it! 

As of late Zane has been doing a lot of pretending to be a cowboy. His current favorite song is Ghost Riders in the Sky, but every time I suggest wearing his Uncle Able cowboy shirt he turns me down. It isn't fun if it's mommy's idea. So I have left the shirt in his drawer for the day when it would be his idea to wear it. Saturday finally was that day!!! He woke up and got dressed in his cowboy shirt, cowboy hat, and.... well.... khaki shorts (what can I say we aren't full fledged cowboys around here.) Here is the adorableness that ensued. I teared up a little when I looked back through the pictures, as I know how much my dad would have loved them and how much he would love seeing Zane pretending to be a cowboy. Warning there are a lot of pictures because I just couldn't choose.

Cowboy Zane, complete with his busted lip.

 He couldn't stop taking his hat off and saying "yeehaw."

 I fully expect this to be in his senior video montage, it's quite possibly the cutest picture ever!

 Looking at himself in the glass door, saying "Yeehaw!"

 We moved out to the front porch for some porch time, another love of my father's, and Zane proceeded to sweep the porch for me. What a wonderfully helpful cowboy.

 He, ever so briefly put on his cowboy vest, but couldn't resist taking it off and throwing it. He is also riding bullseye the horse around if you look closely.

Then onto trying to teach brother how to play catch. He was unsuccessful, again, but he keeps trying.

I felt sure that the cowboy shirt wouldn't last long and that he would treat it more like a costume than just a normal shirt. I was wrong. Zane took his nap in it and wore it out to our afternoon of bowling fun. I loved it! 

Which brings us to part two of this story. Zane started playing "bowling" with canned goods in the hall Saturday morning. I'm not sure where he learned about or saw bowling, but he was loving it, so I thought why not take him bowling for real. I fully expected this to be a very short outing, as Zane's attention span usually leaves something to be desired. Zane proved me wrong once again. He loved all aspects of bowling, the shoes, literally throwing his ball down the lane, cheering it on as it took forever to get to the pins, and finally celebrating after the pins were knocked down. Not to mention the popcorn and sprite for snacks. The best part of the whole thing was when Zane went to the bathroom and when he came out the bowling alley had turned into black light, party time, bowling. His mind was blown, and he was slightly concerned. "How did this happen mom?" I'm not sure that he really liked it. I think the strobe lights hurt his eyes and the music was pretty loud, but I found his reaction to it priceless. Rowan slept through party time, but had been a great cheerleader for the rest of our bowling. This particular bowling alley was pretty much all centered around kids parties and was smoke free so a wonderful find that I'm sure we will be returning to soon. 

 The lightest ball was seven pounds, which he managed to haul around, and throw around pretty successfully.

 Love this short of Zane, sitting on his bowling ball, strategizing his next move, with only one pin still standing. 

 Cheering his ball on to get the last pin. Zane's super slow method was surprisingly effective.

 Somewhere along the way the kids next to us got this contraption to push the ball down. I didn't think it was nearly as much fun, but since the other kids had it, Zane wanted it.

This was my dream come true, Rowan actually laying his head on my shoulder! 

I will spare you the gory details of the pooping in the pants meltdown that happened after we got home, pushing Zach and I over the edge and led to Zane loosing all iPad privileges until he can poop in the potty for a week, and suffice it to say that the majority of the day was wonderful, family fun!