My little puppy

Zeke got his face painted for the first time on Father's Day. The Botanical Garden had a very nice event that included face painting. The woman who painted Zeke's face was a total pro and Zeke was utterly in love with her, though he was uncertain of the process. We could pick for her to paint little things on his face like a snake, bug, rainbow, flower or frog or have his entire face painted as tiger, kitten, or puppy. We picked puppy. He was fascinated to see his reflection afterwards, though that seems to be true even when his face isn't painted. We even got him to bark a few times as a pretend puppy. He was a very tired puppy, though, and a little fall resulted in him getting carried for a little while by Daddy who then had a painted shirt. Sad puppy!

A little smile

Here is a photo of something Zeke drew last week. He told me it was a face. Or rather, he pointed and said, "Two eyes, two ears, nose, mouth" -- I'm going to summarize that as "face." I had been drawing faces earlier, so it must have sunk in with him. I think it looks like a quite a lovely smiley face.

Also to make me smile: Zeke likes to tell me a few times a day, "Mama SOOOO funny!" Yeah, kid, I'm glad someone thinks so.

You learn something new everyday

Today I learned that the secret to removing dry erase marker from fabric is letting the stain soak in Murphy Oil Soap. In addition to decorating the couch and loveseat cushions with marker, Zeke also marked up his new totally adorable Gymboree frog shirt. About to chalk it up to a loss, I tried this remedy from the internet and it worked perfectly.

Add this to the list of stain solutions I have had to learn in the past year. Vinegar can take out berry stains. Rubbing alcohol can take out marker and paint that is labelled "washable" -- washable in a few cases this year meaning that it will still be there when you wash your clothes.

My neighbor remarked recently after a month long trip to Costa Rica to improve her Spanish that she had no idea that an adult our age had the capacity to learn so much new stuff. Ah, wait until she has a kid.

Only toddler in the world

My child has tantrums when he can't listen to Paul Simon, specifically Negotiations and Love Songs, specifically the second half with "Slip Slidin' Away" and "Train in the Distance". He likes to sing along, sometimes adding in a mention of Thomas (the train engine) during "Train in the Distance".

Boys' Bedtime

Yes, I'm still posting stuff from a few weeks ago when we were in Florida. These aren't great pictures, but they were from a great moment. Zeke decided he would go to sleep with his uncle and cousin on one of our first nights there. When Zach hopped into the bed, Zeke just followed and, for a brief moment, it seemed he might even fall asleep there! He snuggled under the blankets and closed his eyes for a bit, though he did eventually got tired of me watching from the door and came and closed it. I found the moment hilarious, partly because it was cute, but mostly because it was so unexpected. As most toddlers are, Zeke is a true creature of habit and has a very particular night time routine: same songs, same order of events, same things said to Daddy. It just was so out of character for him to drop the routine and insinuate himself into someone else's routine. I can't remember what happened, but there was some noise and Zeke eventually came out back to me and his routine.

Dixie Dog joined the boys briefly.

Nana

We were so astounded and pleased to see how excited Zeke was to see all of our family in Florida. One of the many downsides of being so far away from family is worrying that Zeke doesn't get to see them often enough and build attachments. As usual, though, there was no reason for me to worry -- other than it being my nature. From the moment we got out of the car, he waved and said hello to everyone by name. (I'd prepared him for the trip by showing him pictures of everyone from our last few trips and practicing names with him.) He wasn't shy at all and even as the evening got late and his bedtime came and went, he wanted to visit with everyone, especially his great grandmother. He went into Nana's room and sat with her on her couch, sang her some songs, drew for her and then drew with everyone. I'm so happy to have these photos of them together -- the middle photo is my favorite!

Beach boy

Despite the fact that we travel to Florida at least twice a year and that our Pisces baby loves water, we rarely make it to the beach. We are always just busy with family. Going to the beach for an afternoon, therefore, even just for some wading, was a top priority this past trip. Zeke walked in the warm, shallow water, and seemed positively fearless in walking out further and further, even after toppling over into the fast moving water a few times. (All this despite the fact that Zeke won't let me wash his face or pour water on his hair in the bath.) In the water, we spied little fishes and little hermit crabs.

Investigating a bed of sea grass, palm trees in the distance.

Some shots of a hermit crab.

About to take an unexpected dip!

Sometimes you're the couch. Sometimes you're the permanent marker.

Which do you think I am today?

War Paint

We've just returned from a quick trip to Florida to visit with all of my family there. I spent one afternoon with Zeke and his cousin doing some painting. You can see that we painted more than paper. Zeke wouldn't let me take a picture of the paint on his legs and belly (though you can get the idea from seeing his Crocs), because apparently he was ready for his close-up.