18 Months Old

Zane had his 18 month well-child visit today and the doc said he's doing great! She said he is right on track for everything and mentioned that he is "one active toddler"...duh, I could've told her that!

At 18 months, Zane has a couple words in his vocabulary and we are currently working on some sign language. He is walking, running, jumping & climbing like crazy. He is currently popping 1 "regular" tooth and 1 molar, so he isn't always the happiest of campers lately, but all in all he is a happy kid and progressing just as he should be.

Current stats:
Weight: 27 lbs 12 oz (74%)
Height: 34 1/4 inches (93%)
Head: 19.65 inches (94%)

All of that equals perfect in my book!

My two housekeepers!

Zane and I got home tonight and as soon as we opened the door, he was so excited because he heard that daddy was vacuuming! It only took Zane about a 1/2 a second to grab his vacuum and help daddy out!

Zane & Luke

Last Friday I watched my good friend Karena's 7 week old baby Luke while she went to get pampered and have her hair done! All I can say is WOW! You people out there who are pregnant with #2 or #'s 2 & 3 while having a toddler at home are crazy!! Haha, I give all of you (and you know who you are) all of the credit in the world! It probably didn't help that Zane is EXTREMELY jealous of me holding anything that isn't him (even gets jealous if I hold the cat), but in the end it was a lot of fun and I'd do it again (as long as I can give the baby back in 2 hours)...just kidding! Here are a few pictures of Zane with Luke...

I had sat Luke down on the couch while I went to do something in the kitchen (I sometimes miss those days that Zane wasn't mobile and I could set him down and walk away and know he wouldn't move) and I looked up and saw Zane climbing up onto the couch. I was a little nervous at first, seeing as how he wasn't a big fan of there being another baby in the house, but he hopped right up and sat next to Luke and started showing Luke all of his toys. Very sweet!

Party.

Zane's becoming quite the party animal, now that he's old enough to run around and play during them! We went to our little friend Tate's birthday party on Saturday and it was a "bug" theme...not my cup of tea, seeing as how I can't stand any sort of bug or anything that flies, but the kids seemed to enjoy it! Here are a few pictures of Zane from the party thanks to Tate's mom Brenda forwarding them on as I forgot to take my camera out!

Time-Out

Sorry, no pictures for this quick post, just a funny cute little story.

Zane had his first official time-out tonight.

What he did wrong: he was pulling the DVD's off the DVD rack and when I went over and asked him to put them back on the rack he decided to be defiant (where would he ever learn that!) and as I would hand him a DVD to put back, he'd throw it on the ground. I gave him a warning to stop or he'd have a time-out. He did it again, so to time-out he went.

The timeout: I sat him down by our stairs and told him to "sit" and of course he started to cry. I plugged 60 seconds into the timer and there he sat and cried for that long minute...but he didn't try to get up, so that is good.

The funny part: About a 1/2 an hour later he was being a pain and getting mad at his toys and throwing them and I said to him "do you need another time out?". He immediately got off the couch and walked over to the spot he had his earlier timeout and sat right down and started to cry. I didn't think that first time out would be so effective, but wow, I guess I got my point across, he knew exactly what to do the next time!

Goof!

PS We didn't let him stay in the time-out he put himself into, we hurried to let him know he wasn't in trouble...don't think we are that mean! It was just so cute how when asked if he needed a time-out, he went right over and put himself into it!

Goofball.

Zane is at such a fun stage right now (although, I think I've thought every phase up until now has been fun), he is developing such a little personality. He knows what he wants and he wants it RIGHT NOW; he finds things funny and laughs on his own at those things; he learns what makes you laugh and will do that thing(s) over and over just to make you laugh; he really understands what you tell him or ask him to do and he is just a plan ol' goofball!

Two nights last week he refused to go to bed without his empty sippy cup. He drank all of his milk and as I was picking him up to carry him up to bed he would start to semi-freak out and reach for his cup. I gave it to him thinking he just wanted to double check that sure enough the milk was gone, but no, he wanted to sleep with it. He tucked it under his arms like a stuffed animal as we walked upstairs. After laying him down, I'd try to take it back thinking that it wouldn't make such a comfortable pillow, but he would freak out and want it back, so of course I gave in and let him have it. Each morning it would be on the opposite end of the bed as him, so I'm guessing he realized snuggling a plastic cup wasn't so fun and he let it go to the wayside so he could get a good night sleep. Both nights he did this I wanted to get a picture, but didn't dare chance waking him up with the flash. Today after his nap, he had a cup of milk and was still trying to wake up and wanted cuddle time (which I love of course) and after his milk was gone, I went to set down and he did the same freaking out trick again, so I gave him back the cup...this is what he did:



On the way up the stairs tonight for his bath he would stop at every stair and lay down on it and say "nigh nigh" (aka "night, night"). What a goofball!

Two Toddlers...

Last night I had the opportunity to babysit a friend of ours' son while they (including Josh) all went to Hops & Props; Josh and his buddies go every year. This was the first year they sold DD tickets, so our friend Renee chose to be that person (helped that she is pregnant) and I was in charge of watching the babes! David is just 2 months younger than Zane and I wondered how difficult it would be managing them both even if just for a few hours since they are both busy boys, but it went really well! The boys played parallel together really well (haha, they don't quite play together yet) and both went to bed very well too...then the drunks er I mean the guys and Renee got home and my quiet time was once again over!

A 2 Car Family...FINALLY!

Pretty much the entire 6.5 years Josh and I have been married we have only had 1 car. There were a few times here and there that we had another vehicle, but it was never anything that ran well or was a daily driver. Our Mazda is just 3 years old and has 74K miles on it...so you can see we drive A LOT (doesn't help that my commute is 23 miles one way to work). Josh has been taking the train into work and the bus home, but now he can drive in if he wants to or at least drive himself to the park-n-rides...because he finally has a reliable car to drive! We bought a 2006 Sabaru Impreza 2.5I Wagon about a week ago and I finally had a sunny day to take pictures of it!

Hoppy Easter!

Boy did the Easter bunnies spoil Zane like crazy this year! This kid has officially learned what candy is today that's for sure! We had a great day going to church with Grandma & Grandpa Alexander, then brunch at their house, came home and Zane took a good nap and then Grandpa Hay came over with another Easter basket for the kiddo!

Easter Basket #1 at home!






Easter Basket #2 at Grandma & Grandpa Alexander's.






Easter Basket #3 from Grandpa Hay.




Since it was Easter and we were all dressed nice for the once a year that happens, we attempted to take a couple family pictures...as usual, they didn't turn out the best! Oh well, this blog will document how camera shy Zane was at this age...you practically have to stand your head to get him to look at you if you have a camera in your hand.



Mommy & Zane!


Daddy & Zane right after Zane's nap...not quite awake yet.


Zane also got a new bubble maker from the Easter Bunny and boy did he really enjoy that! He didn't know what to think of it at first, but then "dove" right in to popping those bubbles!





Although we had a wonderful day surrounded by friends, family, good food and yummy candy, lets not forget the real reason that we celebrate this day...He is Risen, He is Risen Indeed!

Daddy's Barber Shop

Originally after Zane's last traumatic experience w/my hair dresser and the outcome (Lloyd haircut) that came from that experience I decided I would take him to "kid-cut" sort of place the next time to see if they could do any better. Well, I changed my mind and Josh and I decided that we (i.e. Josh) could cut Zane's hair at home and do the same job if not better than any other place and this way we'd have no one to blame but ourselves (i.e. Josh)! Well, I/we were right! Zane still hated every minute of it, but at least we weren't embarrassed by his screams because we were in the comfort of our own kitchen where only the close neighbors could hear him. I must say, Josh did a fabulous job and I think he's been hired to do the job from here on out!

We hadn't even started yet, he heard the sound of the clippers and already started to lose it!


Haha, a true mullet here!!


Hatin' life and his parents right now.


The final result and lookin' adorable!

Twelve Years.

Josh and I started dating 12 years ago today! Its amazing to me to look back over the last 12 years and see how far we've come and how much we've accomplished separately and together. We met while living in the same dorm (Hitchcock Hall) at Central Washington University our Freshmen year of college; he lived just down the hall from my roommate Jen and I. Josh was a big goof and I fell for it! I feel very lucky and blessed to have spent the last 12 years with him (we've been married almost 7 of those) and I cannot wait to see what the future holds for us. I love you babe.

For fun, here are a couple of photos of us from back in the day...wow we looked so young!!

Fun in the sun!

Today was a great day for us! Not only did it get to above 60 degrees we were invited to go to the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium for FREE!! We went to the zoo with our friends Brian & Renee (and little David) and had a great time. The last time we went, it was a very crummy day for weather so we didn't stay long and didn't see much, we more dodged rain pellets and ran for cover, so this time was much different! Zane was also old enough to really care about seeing the animals and had a blast walking around on his own, he wasn't in the stroller more than 20 minutes the whole day (yay for him)!

Josh/Zane & Brian/David


He absolutely loved looking at the "ish" as he'd call the "fish"!


Going down the slide all by himself...all smiles!


David & Zane playing in the "kid zone"!


Before heading home we all decided to stop for dinner! After a great dinner and two restless boys we decided to let them play on the beach for a few mins before loading them back into the cars. Well, I have to put in a little disclaimer that Josh was the one in charge of Zane this time (as I was busy talking to Renee) when Zane was about to throw a rock into the water and oops...slip....down he went face planted into Puget Sound! He was un-harmed, just a little wet, sandy and scared! He didn't even cry though, I think that was because his face was frozen from the 50 degree water! Needless to say he was stripped before going back into the car and wrapped in blankets (which he threw off himself) and sat on a towel on the way home. He got a nice warm bath once we got home and was totally fine! It was pretty funny though (I can say that becuase he was totally fine)!

Here he is right as we pulled into the garage! Notice...still all smiles!

Hair.

As I've mentioned before, Zane's hair is out of control! It just grows and grows and grows and its hard to keep up with and very hard to manage once it gets long. He is borderline mullet right now, but since Josh is still scarred (notice I said Josh, not Zane) from Zane's last haircut he has not wanted me to cut Zane's hair. Well, he has one more week of this madness and he's getting his hair cut next weekend (don't worry, there will be a post), I just can't take it anymore. Lets just hope he doesn't end up looking like Lloyd from Dumb & Dumber again! Oh, and just a side note...we are going to a new place...a place that specializes in cutting kid's hair...maybe that will make the difference!

Just so you know bad it is getting...

The front...


The back...

2 of 2

We are home from our 2nd birthday party of the day! After the first one this morning we layed Zane down for a nap and he decided he didn't need one today (right). Finally at about 3 p.m. he was ready for one. We had to wake him up an hour and 45 mins later (normally he sleeps 3-3.5 hours) to head to the next party, so thought he would be a disaster at the party, but he did wonderful! How could you not when you have part of The Bouncy Place to yourself! He had a blast and I was so glad Josh came along to help keep track of the little monkey!

Zane with the birthday girl Brooklyn!

First time down the slide with daddy!

Making friends with the snail!

Headed through the obsticle course!

Letting mommy bounce him while he just chilled!

He was spent by the end of the party!