Animal Sounds

Zeke loves animal sounds. He has gained a large repertoire including cows (mmmm), birds (tweet tweet), cats (meow), dogs (arf arf), ducks (quack quack), sheep (baaaaaa), geese (honk honk), lion (roar), snake (ssssss), and the list goes on. He also typically prefers to identify the animal by the sound it makes, even though he can say its name. The other day, just for fun, we decided to ask what sound Zeke makes.

Dad: What does a horse say?
Zeke: [neighing sound]

Dad: What does a monkey say?
Zeke: ooh ooh ooh!

Dad: What does Zeke say?
Zeke: Honk honk

So now we know. And it must be true, because everytime we ask the question we get the same answer.

So Totally Grown Up

Sitting up to the table in a brand-new booster seat

Clomping around in Daddy's shoes

Putting the dishes away

Helping bake cookies

Doing the laundry

'Driving' the car

...and he loves to take out the trash

What Does Zeke Want for Lunch?

We made sandwiches for lunch, which is usually a Zeke-approved meal. But the sandwich was a no-go today, so (being the nice mom I am) I offered to heat some soup. Zeke loves soup and acted excited the whole time I warmed up his lunch. Then of of course he didn't want it as soon as I got it on the table. What about the the leftover cheese or bread not used in the sandwich? Nope, that wasn't it either. I set all the options in front of him and told him he had to pick one thing for lunch. It was kind of traumatic for the hungry little feller.

Zeke still wasn't particularly interested in eating any of his lunch options, but he pointed to each one in turn, saying 'dis-a soup, dis-a sa, dis-a cheese, dis-a brea'. Do you want to eat this soup, sandwich, cheese, or bread? 'N-no!'

He finally ate enough cereal to be allowed to get down from the table, and then ate about half his sandwich while playing with the downstairs toys.

Practically a New Bed

I've been talking about getting new pillows for a while now and just never gone and done it. When I mentioned it again recently, Aaron reminded me that I've been saying that for a long time. So I decided then and there just to do it and we went shopping that same night. With new pillows of course we needed pillowcases, and while we were comparing cost and colors we found a set of sheets for 50% off. Plus we were given an in-store coupon for 25% off all bedding. Talk about good timing!

We got pillows, 'grape slushy' pillowcases, purple sheets, and a bib for Zeke - all for the original price of the sheets. Bedtime just got better.

A Sweet Holiday

Aaron introduced me to White Day, a Japanese celebration similar to Valentine's Day. On February 14th girls give guys milk chocolate, and on March 14th the guys return the favor by giving the girls white chocolate. Hence the name White Day. Our first White Day celebration was five years ago when Aaron gave me white chocolate and white gold.

We have since switched it up a bit -- because Aaron is a white chocolate fan he gets the white chocolate today and he gave me milk chocolate for Valentines. Not exactly traditional, but that's what makes traditions fun.

Take Your Zeke to Work Day

Today I had a meeting while Aaron had class, so Zeke came with me to work for a while. The meeting was a little later than scheduled, so we spent about 3 hours at work. Fortunately I work at a pretty laid-back office.

While I conferred with my coworkers, Zeke

• Shook his carton of goldfish crackers so they scattered all over the cubicle and quickly discovered they make a delightful crunch when stepped on. It then became a game of who could move more quickly - mom picking up the fish or Zeke stepping on the fish.
• Emptied his wallet of the fake credit cards and then dropped them all through the handles of my file drawers
• Found the goldfish again and scattered them even futher than before, then we repeated the step-on - pick-up game
• Got a chocolate mint patty from our office manager and then played fetch with it with her
• Walked into a wall when he turned around to see who was behind him
• Looked out the window at all of the cars and trucks
• Ran up and down the hallway again and again
• Identified the tree in every company logo he could find

When it was time to gather, Zeke played with the door and welcomed everyone to the meeting. After the meeting started, he entertained himself quitely fairly well (which isn't exactly common for him...)

• Colored on scratch paper (and his hands) with my pen
• Opened his Cheerios, ate a few, put the rest on the floor, ate a few, put the rest back in the container, repeated (for about 15 minutes!), then stepped on the Cheerios to find they also make a cool crunching sound
• Balanced on the feet of my chair (and my coworkers' chairs...)
• Sat under the table pointing to all the shoes and saying 'Shoe!'

Overall Zeke was really good and I'm so happy about that, although I have to admit that I'm glad that Draper and Dynna are watching Zeke when I go to a corporate committee meeting later this week.

Cheap Ways to Entertain Your Toddler

Fake credit cards in an old wallet

Elastic keycard holder

Foam trays and other assorted recyclables

Small notepads

Mom and Dad's bed (pillows, blankets, sheets, etc.)

Also (not pictured): nested mixing bowls; lazy susans; drawers with pens, paperclips, and rubber bands; and plates, cups, and silverware on the dinner table

March-ing Forward

Is it a lion (ROAR)

or a lamb (baaaaa)?