Jan 09

pics taken in early Jan. He's been a bit on the move of late and I've not been able to grab a camera as often. . .

First Hair Cut

It was bound to happen.
It needed to happen.
I didn't want to do it.
We went to the $10 hair cut place that Frank's been going to since we moved. A nice middle eastern man name Ali (yes Ali the barber), cut Zane's angel hair locks.


It was a full on trip to the barber, wet down, cut, blow dry, even trimmers around his ears and nape of the neck. From the time stamps on my pictures it took about 20 minutes! And he was great about it!

The wet down.

Taking a little off the sides.

And some more.

Looking down for the bangs to be cut.

With Daddy, right after he got out of the chair.

The back after it was done.

I'm not into crew cuts for my little boy. Frank sports one nowadays because chemo left his hair a different texture. I just think Z looks better with some hair, and there's a chance that his curls wouldn't all go away, which, it appears they have not!

dumpr.net

Modern Art Museum by dumpr.net

lazy days of summer

So, you'd never know it's summer by the thermometer here in Chicago. Seriously I hope we don't pay for this with a bitterly cold winter.


We've been busy, going to the beach in Fl (which also was not unbearably hot) for the 4th of July, hosting family and friends back here at home.












He loves to mow. Outside and in.























Zane continues to be a learning machine. He babbles away. Words are still not completely understandable, except for "truckKKKKK", but the sign language I've taught him has come in handy as he UNDERSTANDS a lot more than he can talk about.For instance, he know to sit down when he wants to play his rythm sticks, or have his shoes put on. Plops right down in fact. He really enjoys both.

He loves anything that has to do with water:

He loves to boogie, dancing to whatever music is at hand: a commercial on the TV, a song on the ipod, a passing car playing Latin salsa or rap music. He's got the music in him and it makes his daddy VERY happy. Me too, it's just plain fun to watch him spinning around to the music.

Last night we got to take in one of Chicago's many free offerings: a Bossa Nova concert at Millennium Park. We put a blanket out on the lawn and Zane made everyone around us smile w/ his twirling/dancing/flirting.

I'm told...

...that I'm not updating enough. We're vacating this week, but have wifi in the condo. So for those who want to see a picture of a cute boy, here's what Zane did today.

I don't like sand.
Zane LOVES sand.
I now tolerate sand because he loves sand.

He also said "thank you" today. Prompted yes, but said it in context! It was the best birthday gift I could have ever gotten.

in the future....

When you see cuts and bruises (casts are only around the corner) on my child, please know that while I delight in him exploring his world, I do not encourage him to climb as high as he can nor do I gleefully watch him navigate a playground's many levels and decide to jump from on high.
Some of what I'm talking about:


































Because this is often the result:




That's not a "bloody nose" but a cut under his nose(?!). He got it while falling off the ledge he was walking along. I was close by, I fear I made it worse by trying to keep him from falling....but I digress.






As a mommy friend said to him this morning in the park after he fell and got the cut under his nose, "Zane, at least your black eye has healed up!" Yes, he ran into a table at full speed about a week ago and gave himself a beautiful shiner.












Then there are the times when he's all sweet and mostly helpful:




Of course right now he's spreading Cheez-its all over the floor and stomping on them.
A day in the life!

Life at the speed of Zane

Life at the speed of Zane is what I'm calling it. It is the new rhythm of my life and I like it. A lot. sometimes it's a wild ride, other times it's snuggling up and kicking back.

It also keeps me from extended periods of thoughtful reflection on the blog.

So, to recap:
I feel more like a Chicagoan. And not just because I know why they call it the Windy City. (btw: It has nothing to do with the often present breeze)

The Walk n Roll for the ACS (a month ago?!? now) was amazing. First, it was a Sunday morning event outside the that I was able to participate in.
Second, Frank was able to raise quite a bit of cash for something we really believe in.
For me it was amazing to walk through Grant Park, in front of the Field Museum, along the lake front and realize that I was going to be sleeping in my own bed that very evening because we LIVE in Chicago!

(in the Chicago skyline picture the walkers are in the far right near the lake, the line stretched all the way up to the skyline)

It wasn’t an easy walk. However, the hard part had NOTHING to do with the 17,000+ steps my pedometer told me I’d walked at the end of the day. It happened while I was walking w/ Frank and Zane. I'm "sight seeing" and amazed by the number of people participating. Groups of people laughing and having a good time, wearing T-shirts or carrying signs and banners in honor or memory of someone.

And then it hit me; I almost burst into tears. I saw T-shirts memorizing a woman younger than us who passed away 2 months ago. A reminder that while it was a beautiful (but cold) day midst the laughter and fun of those walking, we were also all "touched". For a moment I felt the weight of grief felt by this mass of humanity. So many lives lost, so many people being missed--and YET HOPE b/c so many survivors were also there too.

In the days that followed the weight turned to words of thanks for the inquisitive minds of many smart doctors and researchers who have made it their life's work to find cures for the cancers among us.
The following Sunday, back at church, as I voiced that prayer of thanks, gulped down a few of my own tears that I was still sitting next to the man I love. And, while cancer is still a part of our lives we have lived so much since then and have such a beautiful future ahead of us. And such a cute boy to share it with!
I mean, come on, who's number one?

A second big thing in the past month is that Z and I managed a visit to my parents and then met up w/ Frank for a weekend trip back to where we moved from.

We (Z and I) traveled alone for 6 hours in a car. He did great. He loved being at my parents (we went to the MO Botanical Gardens where the sheep picture was taken). He also got a kick out of this brass pot he's sitting in. He carried it around their house. At times he thought it was wonderful, at other times the pot made him very, very mad. His audience thought every moment was funny. It's a HEAVY brass pot, but he wouldn't let that stop him, no not my child!

Back in MO we saw as many folks as we could and took the opportunity to visit the church I served. The current pastor gave his blessings for the visit. (translation: when I asked, he said it was ok for me to visit, I'd checked with him weeks before as it is very uncool for previous pastors to "show up" w/o telling the current pastor it smacks of meddling in the current pastor's work with the people).

It was good to "go home" & see folks. I will always love that little church and the people who work to make it what it is. They walked with us through so many things! And I wanted them to see how big Z had grown in the short time we'd been gone. They, the church, are doing great, just as I knew they would.

It seemed like ages since I'd been there (only 4 months), and other previous pastors might have felt awkward, acknowledging some of the changes that have already occurred, but not me. I am genuinely happy and received as a gift the opportunity to witness some of the seeds I'd planted beginning to find a life, growing under the amazing care of their new pastor.

I am deeply proud of them.

It was a deeper confirmation for me too that I am exactly where God wants me to be, on this side of the pulpit, living at the speed of Zane. I do miss certain aspects of the job, but I'm not climbing the walls as some might expect.

I mean, I get to play with this little boy everyday! How lucky am I? Even in the middle of 3 molars and I think at least two other teeth cutting this week (he won't let me get my fingers in there to check) I'm more than pretty darn lucky!

Four Observed Things

One:
Did you know that dressing your kid in something with Elmo on it and then going to the play ground is the same as tying a piece of meat around a your neck so the dogs will play with you? All the 3 yos there came up and called him "Elmo". Z was oblivious, he didn't know that they weren't looking him in the eye. Me, I felt a bit of embarrassment (see comment re meat/dogs) and indignation: see my kid not his clothes!

Two:
Did you know that cheerios are VERY absorbent? After dumping his bowl of cereal with milk on his head this week I was pleasantly surprised that there was no milk in his lap when I got him out of the high chair. The cheerios were very wet and I cleaned them up right away b/c I was dreading scraping the dried ones off every surface they stuck to.

Before the bowl turn:


After the bowl turned:


Three:
Did you know that little boys and big boys like to do the same things?

Observe:


Some days I think Zane wants to be a dentist. I love the smile in his eyes.


Four:
Lastly, did you know that where there is a will to climb, not even a Mommy can deny it?

Yesterday, May 7, 2008 Z conquered the ottoman.
I'd call it the Ottoman Empire if it was one of the ottomans you can store stuff. (Thanks H's for the idea) Ours doesn't hold anything except toddlers who climb on top of it. So I'll call it the Ottoman Everest.

He was very, very pleased with himself.


Hope you are able
to play with others w/o having to tie meat around your neck,
to eat and wear cheerios with abandon,
to be who you are, little or big,
AND
to climb all the mountains in your life!

Peace,
Sarah

Zane Update

Thirteen months old!
Am I superstitious? No.
Am I watching him like a hawk? Yes!

Our wonderful little Mr. Mischief (thanks Auntie S for the t-shirt btw) is into EVERYTHING, most often has either a ball or a stick or both in his hands and loves to rearrange furniture so he can climb higher and higher.

Good thing I'm watching him like a high flying bird, eh?

And ooh, ick, he's found his eyelashes and LOVES to touch them. It looks like he's playing with is eyeball and that just plain grosses me out. No I don't and won't ever wear contacts...

Yesterday he had his 12 (ok, 13) month check up.
He's 21 # and 10.5 oz
30.5 inches tall
and his head circumference is 46.5 cm

All average. Good thing he's above average in being cute and climbing on things!

He got a blood stick to his finger to check his lead level and hemoglobin, it took a while to start bleeding and then there was blood everywhere. (I get my propensity for exaggeration from my mother...) Quite wiggly and he'd rather not have a band aid on his finger, thank you very much, he pulled 4 off before we just decided he was almost done bleeding and that he was just bleeding on ME.

He also had a TB test, it took three sticks to get it under the skin in the right place. Did I mention he's wiggly? I'll have to call back on Wed to report it the injection site has a bubble or not.

Then there were his immunizations. Three more sticks in total. And three more band aids, but since these were on his chubby legs and I quickly covered them with his pants. And THANK GOD I found his immunization records -- only took me about 8 hours, staying up late last night and annoying Frank, but I finally found it about an hour before we had to leave this morning. I KNEW I'd put it in a safe place, but I didn't know HOW safe! I have now made multiple copies and will put them in various places around the house.

The bright spot of the visit was when the Dr. came in and started talking baby gibberish (sounded like a Slavic language to me) with wild gestures. I said to Zane, "He's speaking your language! How cool is that!" Zane thought he was very, very funny. It made him so comfortable that when the Dr. approached w/ tongue depressor Zane just smiled, mouth tightly shut. Dr. said, "this is where you're supposed to cry and scream so I can see inside your mouth." I tickled him instead and it did the trick.

Good news for me: this Pediatrician that we found (who is the Director of Peds dept.) is leaving Northwestern (read 45 minute drive to downtown) and moving to the hospital in our NEIGHBORHOOD (5-10 minutes away!) to be their Director of Pediatrics. As he puts it, It's a "community hospital on the north side in an area that needs more pediatric programs and services. They are eager to develop top quality pediatric services, and they've hired me to help get it done."

As as you know, I'm a sucker for a guy who wants to tackle a complex difficult task and also KNOWS he can do a good job. And one that can speak my kid's language! Well, we of course will be staying with him.

Now I just need to work on figuring out and implementing a new food schedule / routine for he is now cleared to eat anything, but only really loves fruit. He also needs to be weaned from the bottle. I'm really going to miss feeding him his bottle!

Yes, this is now what my days consist of and I'm really loving it!

Now the eye candy:


Picture #1:
Chair surfing, it's all the rage. Hey kid, you missed a spot. I really need to have him work on his dusting technique.



Picture #2
Mr. Cheese. Every time he sees a camera he not only squints up the eyes, but but flashes his 6 teeth!

This is his 1st P,B & J sandwich. (I know, gasp! peanut butter. The APA just "unrecommended" their wait until 3 yo rule on nuts/fish/ect. His Dr. also told me yesterday that he never thought it was a wise ruling as there wasn't enough data to support the ban. I LOVE pnb and I'm glad I've got a quick, easy, portable meal I can give him!)

He ate it from the center of the sandwich out. Who says my kid doesn't think outside the box?







Picture #3
And, if you thought he couldn't get cheesier.
<--Observe. Or peanuttier! You can't see what he put into his hair. Needless to say we went right to the bath tub after this meal. Both of us giggling. He's such a happy kid! Next time I'll give him pieces of the sandwich, not the whole thing....live and learn Mommy, live and learn! Have a good day every one!

Zane's latest trick

No other comments necessary, I think.

Toro!

It was inevitable. No sooner had we been deemed to be "state approved permanent parents" for Zane, he promptly caught a GI bug and treated us to several days of vomiting and diarrhea! It brought to mind what my mother-in-law told me in the middle of Sarah's and my wedding service: "It's too late now." Ah, the joys of family living!

Anyway, on to the topic of this post. For some reason, our son has started this odd behavior of screwing up his face to look like a troll, flaring his nostrils and breathing heavily through his nose. We've postulated as to where and how he picked up this trick, but since it gives him something like the countenance of a bull, we offer this for your entertainment:



Oh, did I mention that Zane is crawling?

Adoption Day!

Wednesday October 3, 2007

Having reviewed the paperwork, seen us and the kid in person, the judge deemed us “fit parents for this child” and ruled that his name be officially changed and a new birth certificate awarded.

We couldn’t be happier!

With us in the court room were my parents and sister, and good friend Daniel, who happens to be the pastor at the church next door to the courthouse.

Thank you to all who helped pray for this day to be a reality. We celebrated the day with dinner at a local Chinese restaurant. We figure no matter where we land in the years to come, there will always be a Chinese restaurant we can go to.

Here is a picture of us and the boy.

The Sleep Song

I'm on a roll video-wise, so here's another one (this one is housed at YouTube, along with flying videos I shoot).

Zane's First Music Video

Zane was in rare form today working out his vocal cords. He's got a long way to go before becoming the next Pavarotti, but he could get a job as a frontman for some of the aging metal bands as their voices give out. Either that or voiceover for Ned Beatty in Deliverance.

And now, for my next trick...

So the Rev. decided today was the day to try a new food. All Zane has had for the past two months or so is formula, formula mixed with rice cereal, formula mixed with oatmeal, and formula mixed with "ricemeal" (our own special blend of rice and oatmeal). We've had a pantry stocked with baby food ready to go for at least a month. Well, today we popped open a fresh package of...




CARROTS!











He tolerated it pretty well, and then washed it down with some rice. (Let the record show that I also started on carrots, except I was only three months old at the time. Things were different then.)

My favorite thing to look at...

Zane may not be YOUR favorite thing to look at, but he is mine and I feel compelled to share some of the cute pictures from the last week. He's getting so big!


Zane and Fibber (the dog --Fibonacci--aka "Fibber") .
Zane loves Fibber's sloppy baloney-tongue kisses, he'd just received one when this pic was shot. He is fascinated by most of Fibbers movements around the house, esp that tail!


Zane having a good time hanging out with friends.
He's just so darn cute!
Have a good week.

Catalog "Reading"

Zane has discovered a use for those many catalogs that clog our mail box.





Have a great day.

Zane Simpson

From the land of wasted, but fun, time:

Here's Zane's picture:























Here's Zane Simpsonized:

























Here's where you can get the same treatment:

Simpsonize Me

highs and lows

Frank's dad snapped this shot on Saturday during the worship service. It is of our friend Daniel pouring the water into the font for Zane's baptism.

Daniel's preaching and pastoring showered our family and all present with God's grace and love. (Plus, he got to say "poop" from the pulpit!)

Our friend Alex's lullaby in Portuguese was stunning and beautiful.

Thanks to all who were there in body and spirit. We are truly blessed with Z in our life.

In other news, Z began day care this week.
He started it like this:



















Momma started it like this:

I hear it gets better.

He won't use up all his smiles on the cute girls watching him, will he?






The Rev.