Knock Knock

Who's there?

picture

picture who?

picture, I need to get on the fan and spin


OR

Knock Knock

Who's there?

shampoo

shampoo who?

I want to climb up a tree.


Just some examples, of Z trying out humour. I did teach him one real knock knock joke, and it surprised Sarah so much she cracked up!

Safety First

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Originally uploaded by Niais

Yes, this is the first lesson of science. In this case, the density of watermelon seeds! As you can see from the pictures below, we've been growing things! We don' t have much dirt (or direct sunlight for that matter) in our yard, but there is a brand new community garden just across the lot from Z's school. The first watermelon was... a slightly inadvertent harvest, but we've been eating it up and we figured - why not save the seeds if they're good? The viable seeds sink, the bad seeds float. Maybe this month's theme should have been "Child Labor"....

Oooooh.....

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Originally uploaded by Niais

The first watermelon

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Originally uploaded by Niais

Primer

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Originally uploaded by Niais

Our new screen door. Real paint next weekend.

(what is the point of having children if you don't put them to use, yes?)

Group Lesson!

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Originally uploaded by Niais

If you follow this photo over you will see pictures not only of children with teeny tiny violins, but pictures of children with teeny tiny violins WITH MONKEYS HANGING OFF THEM. Yeah. I know. Can you believe it? This is them with their strong feet, practicing holding their violins correctly. The monkeys are for holding the violin under their chin correctly.

Zachary is absolutely loving it. He's gone from a box violin to a real violin (obviously) and now has started moving his practice to making actual music! It has been incredible to watch him really learn how to listen and hear notes and rhythm and repeat them.

50/50 Parenting

I have to write this down somewhere in case it stops happening, or if I forget, or if he grows out of it or...

Actually, it would be quite funny if he didn't.

First of all, he calls us interchangeaby Mommy & Daddy. Sometimes he corrects himself. Sometimes we correct him. He obviously knows our NAMES. (Which he can yell, sometimes with last names, depending on how riled up he is.) I feel confident he can identify us as different people. But obviously, for most of his needs anyway, we're pretty swap-out-able.

This has now extrapolated out to the obvious where he just yells. "SOMEONE COME NOW"

The all-call for any grown up attention within a ten mile radius. It could be because of the surgery, where he had an overnight babysitter, and then my mom was around for a while. And I didn't answer the hollering, which inevitably will break my heart a little forever. Or it could just be that seriously, why select for one when this way you have a much higher chance of success?

"I NEED SOMEONE.... NOW."
..

..

"TO COME HERE"
...


"TO MY ROOM"

(see how it gets more explicit with time? In case we're ignoring him because we're confused, or lost in the house and unable to triangulate on the earth shattering shrieking. It is actually quite easy. Follow the direction the cats are tearassing away from.....)

Fourth of July

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Originally uploaded by m0nk3yphd

We must be in the midwest! Since there is a crazy drought going on down here. (Crazy. There was a whole article in the NY Times today about how crazy it is) there were no fireworks nearby. We could have driven to some of the far away towns where they figured - why not endanger the populace (of which there isn't much) and lure all those people from the big city? But, you know, two weeks off the hip replacement, sunset at like 9pm... It just seemed like the wrong choice.

Luckily we live in the cutest "city" in the world. There was a neighborhood bike parade and carnival in a park down the street. The parade lined up (see? Z with his holiday cape and princess bike, Mark holding being one of the "line leaders")... and then that big firetruck? Yeah, it led them in a march around the park. Pretty much the cutest thing ever. Then all sorts of fun including a tunnel of wet & a giant water slide and a bounce house (bounce houses are.. insanely present here. I'm going to guess we missed the rise of the bounce house because we used to live somewhere with very little outside space? They are here EVERYWHERE, inside, outside.. it is a wonder there are not bounce houses made for the backs of peoples trucks... )... And a pinata! Oh man. Totally amazing to watch. Go look at the pictures. They fail to express the total melee it was. Children, limbs, candy. One kid was definitely crowd surfing at one point. It was quite desperate because no joke - that pinata pony was made of steel. There is some annoying car commercial with an impenetrable pinata. This was that pinata. Just when you thought it was going to go...They even broke one of the sticks on it. Finally, one of the dads just yelled "NOW!" and dropped it into the pit of seething children.

Which, maybe, is how all pinatas should end. Ok, it is a little lord of the flies, but you've got to get it out of your system somehow...

Yup, we've been a little slow posting...

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Originally uploaded by Niais

But honestly, we're just a little tuckered out.

Fourth of july photos coming soon. Z has taken to sleeping on his bottom bunk. You know, when he deigns that sleep is a possibility, which is to say hardly ever...

A Very, Very Long Time ago....

... that's how we call yesterday. Or this morning. Or sometimes last week.

Just in case you wondering how a three and pocket change feels the time pass. For us? I can't get the time to stretch wide enough to fit it in. But to him, every day is an eternity.

Which is probably why it takes him three hours to leave the house in the morning. Because he has nothing but time.

Charm School

Mark reached across to dip his challah in honey that Zachary was (very, very slowly) spooning onto his plate.
Zachary looked shocked.

"That is SO rude!!"

Mark's hand yanks back and he looks totally startled. "You're... right. It is very rude... I'll... work on that."

Hahahahahahahahahha.

It was just a matter of time.