About a 5 year old boy

Our boy had yet another birthday celebration!  My parents would have preferred to come up on his actual birthday weekend for the festivities, but instead they once again did us a big favor by coming up the weekend after.  You see, we needed them to watch the boys for us so we could curl in a bonspiel that is incredibly fun and always right around Zach's birthday.  So while we had a great time on the ice, Zach and Charlie had a blast with Grandma & Grandpa for three straight days.

I can't tell you much about that celebration, since I wasn't there for much of it, so instead I thought I'd take the opportunity to catch you up on all Zach's latest stories and funny quirks.  There are a few, let me see what I can remember!

The last couple months have felt like the end of an era around our house.  For years, since he was about 2.5 years old, Zach has been all about cars, with a capital C and regular old cars.  And the other day, he told me Charlie could have all his cars!!!  He does still occasionally play with them, but he has definitely moved on, and yes, it appears anything Super Mario Brothers is his new obsession.

The other change that I didn't expect this soon is the desertion of good 'ol cowbungadee.  I'm a little sad about this one... he's been toting that little blue cow with the yellow stars around since he was a baby.  I knew he wouldn't go to his first sleepover with him, but I also didn't think there would suddenly come a day when he was just unceremoniously replaced.  First he was replaced by the plush round reindeer he got for Christmas from a friend of ours, whom he called "meatball."  But now, he's cuddling at night with a stuffed Yoshi.  If you're not familiar, you can probably guess - it's a Mario character.

Zach loves the show Phineas and Ferb.  But it makes me laugh that he can watch that show, with its humor that I suspect often goes right over his head (and makes us laugh), and then watch Max & Ruby, a show that is a bit like nails on a chalkboard for most adults!  He wobbles back and forth between being a "big kid" and a little one, I guess!

This story is an old one, but it illustrates Zach's disdain for anything that is considered for girls.  His class at preschool this year is much more divided; the only girl he seems to play with is one that is willing to join in the chase games outside.  Anyway, while we were shopping for the little Xmas gift for a girl in his class (he was randomly assigned her name), I asked him if he knew what she liked to play with, if he had noticed what she liked to do at school.  He told me she liked ponies.  I said something about her liking My Little Ponies, and he said:  "I don't know, ponies are pretty much just like dolls" in the most disgust-filled voice possible.

On the other hand, Zach is starting to pick up that most boys don't like the color pink (it's still his second favorite color, behind gold).  I was pretty proud of him when he told me that none of the other boys in his class ever picked the pink choice (I don't remember what they choose...?) when they are the helper at school, they always pick the white one.  But he was still going to choose the pink one.  Stay strong buddy!

As the NFL playoffs approached, Scott asked Zach if he wanted to create a fantasy football team and play against him.  Zach was concerned he wouldn't know who to pick, so Scott told him he'd write out all the players (not meaning "write out" literally... who writes things with a pen anymore?).  Zach said - Ok, but don't write it in cursive - I can't read that!!!

A couple of Zach quotes:
Mom, do you know what I like best about winter?  I get to drink lots of hot chocolate and play lots of Wii.  And you know I love both of those things!

Dad, remember how you have to be a certain amount of high before you can watch a movie on the airplane?  (this was apropos of nothing, and it took Scott quite a while to figure out what he was talking about... different kind of high)

This is perhaps my favorite Zach story in quite a while.  While we were in Montana over Christmas, Zach was outside with his cousins and his uncle Ian.  Bryn, his 9 y-o cousin, told her dad she wanted to talk to him privately.  Zach was confused by this, so Ian told him that sometimes Bryn just needed to tell him some private things.  Zach nodded his head, and said in a very knowing voice, "oh, she needs to talk about penises."