5 Random Things

If you are a fellow Facebook-er, you've probably seen the 25 Random Things list. So while I was keeping a running list of things about Zach in my head that I wanted to capture on the blog, I decided I'd just start writing an occasional "random things" feature. 25 seems like way too much, so I'll keep it to more manageable numbers. And maybe every once in a while I'll write some random things about Scott, just to keep it interesting. :)

So here is my first list of 5 random things about Zach:

1. He is fascinated with eyebrows. He'll come up and say "can I touch your eyebrows?" He'll then run his thumbs over your eyebrows, which is a very disconcerting feeling. Earlier this week he told me he liked my right eyebrow better than my left; when I asked why, he said because it had more hair. I never knew.

2. He has favorite puzzle pieces. Not favorite puzzles (well, yes, he has those too), but actual pieces of the puzzle. He tells us most often with his Diego puzzle - he likes the pieces with both sand and water on them. He tends to just tuck those into his left arm while we're doing the puzzle - he doesn't actually want to use them, he just wants to hold them.

3. Zach spent the entire day on the 4th of July calling our hostess "Sylvia's grandma." Such as "Sylvia's grandma, do you want to run over there first and then down the hill and around there?" (I think that was an actual example.) We tried to explain that he could call her Virginia, but apparently Sylvia's grandma was easier. Sylvia's grandpa, on the other hand, he simply called Jim.

4. His favorite way to play with his grocery cart is to offer us the food. We generally get two or three choices, one of which is often a frozen cucumber. I have no idea why he thinks that particular vegetable should be served frozen, but if you want a cucumber, he only has frozen.

5. When playing "I spy", a game we regularly play in the car, Zach always spies something pink. It doesn't matter if there is nothing pink for miles, which is often the case, he'll tell you to just keep looking. Pink is no longer his favorite color (it's now a tie between red and blue), but he still thinks this is hilarious.

4th of July Celbration

No, that's not a typo. If you're not familiar with the story of how our annual 4th of July get-togethers became "celbrations", check out my July 14th post from last year. I also started out writing this post reminiscing about how much our celbrations have changed, but then I realized I did that last year! But wow, it is funny to think about how the focus has shifted in the last seven years. Here's a hint: check out all the pictures (it may not look that way, but there were adults present). Left is Kasey showing off her skills; right is Sylvia - someone get that mosquito on her forehead!

The other thing that has shifted, I think for the foreseeable future, is the location of our celbrations. We are now delighted to be invited to the Brodd family compound in Cokato, which is only about 80 miles west of the city. Besides having a great waterfront (and a jet-ski!), lots of open space for the kids to play, and wonderful hosts, the fact that it's a short drive means we have been able to expand the invitation to include other friends.

In summary, we had a wonderful day. The weather was perfect, the food was extremely over-abundant, and the drinks were plenty. Here are a few shots that I think summarize the day well.

Sylvia loving life in the lake; super-Kasey!

Team Willard v. Team Rose; Zach and Kasey "hiding"

Stuart and Zach discussing how to reassemble the tee

Zach hiding from Kasey; Sylvia fascinated by bubbles


Zach and Scott on the jet-ski; Zach's version of a thumbs-up

On top of celbrating the birth of our country, we also got to celebrate Sylvia's upcoming first birthday. She did an excellent job demolishing the cake, and the red frosting really made for an interesting look!

While this may seem like a lot of pictures, I took just a few more. If you'd like to see all 128 of them, they can be viewed on snapfish: http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1431845013/a=86576253_86576253/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Family photos

While at our friends' cabin yesterday for the 4th, our friend Jodi agreed to take a picture of our little family. Here are the unedited results:

I don't know when we'll be able to get a picture of us all smiling and looking at the camera at the same time. But looking at these, I think that's ok.

(more 4th of July "celbration" pictures to come)

Ow

Remember when Zach had to wear a helmet? Remember how much we hated that thing and counted down the days until it came off for good? Well, we wish he'd had it on this morning, when he tripped while running down an asphalt path on a hill. We actually saw his head snap forward and knew it wasn't good...

his first real lump, complete with road rash.

We iced it when we got home, and he was very funny about it - kept telling Scott that he had an owie on his belly and his knee, so he needed to put the "boo boo bear" there too. He doesn't seem any worse for wear, but man, does it look like it hurts!

Do a little dance

Zach and our little friend Kasey (age 16 mos) decided to make some music and do a little dancing yesterday. We're finally starting to see them interact, and it's so cute...

Catching up

I'm a bit behind in our adventures lately, so here are some random pictures of things we've been up to the last couple weeks.

I recently read that Woodbury has a swamp area, complete with boardwalks and walking paths. Sounded like a good adventure to take Zach on, so that was one of our outings last week (one of the few days it was not raining or 90+ degrees). I was absolutely delighted to find a path through a forest of mature trees - for those of you who haven't been to Woodbury, our suburb is definitely lacking in trees above 20 feet. My attempt at taking a picture of Zach and the tall trees resulted in what Scott has dubbed the "blair witch picture".

There was a playground at the entrance to the swamp, so of course we spent some time there, despite the wind. The second picture of Zach cracks me up; I wish my lens had been clean.

Last weekend we went to the Roses for some "swimming" and a yummy barbecue. The kids had a great time splashing Scott - I think that was the highlight of the night for those two!

Monday Zach and I, along with some friends, went to "play day at Midway." Midway Stadium is the home of the St. Paul Saints, our minor-league team. They are known more for their family-friendly entertainment than pure baseball, and we got to take advantage of that on a day they did not have a game. The kids had the chance to go out in the outfield and play baseball, or if they were little like Zach, to hit a ball off a tee. I think he would have stayed out there all day, despite the heat. Mudonna the mascot came out for a meet and greet, but Zach wanted nothing to do with that bright pink pig! Our little friend Logan, on the other hand, was fascinated. Other fun options included a playground, a bouncy castle, and this fun batting thing where a wiffleball is suspended on blowing air. I was amazed - Zach was able to hit that ball! Again, he could have stayed there all day, but I was wilting in the heat.

On Tuesday we found the best way to spend a 95 degree day - at the pool! Our friends Wendy and Vincent invited us to their community pool, and it was absolutely delightful. I didn't bring my camera along, anticipating I'd be in the pool with Zach the whole time, but it turns out they have a great kiddie pool, so I missed out on some fun photo ops. Hopefully there will be a next time. :)

Fathers

When reading my People magazine, I find myself rolling my eyes when there is a story about a celebrity who has just had a baby, because there is often the quote “he’s such a good dad – he even changes diapers!” But as I’ve thought about it, I’ve realized it’s pretty difficult to provide concrete evidence as to what makes a good dad. Changing diapers is just one example of how the father is involved in the day to day care, which is clearly important. But that's not even a hurdle for Scott; from day one, there was nothing I could do for Zach that Scott couldn’t (ok, other than certain biological functions).

So how do I quantify that Scott is a good dad?? I know I don’t need to… but since ideally this blog is something that Zach will read as an adult – I like the idea of trying to paint a picture of what a fantastic dad he has. Plus, the guy deserves some props!

There are two things that come to mind immediately that make Scott stand out: his seemingly endless supplies of patience (I often wish I could borrow some from his reserves), and his complete and pure joy in spending time with Zach. Again, it’s difficult to quantify, but any time I am watching the two of them in the backyard, it’s so very obvious to see. For those of you who haven’t had the experience lately, playing with a two year old can be quite boring, frankly. They like to do the same thing over and over again, and those things are often very simple. When Zach and I are playing some sort of ball, I am generally ready to quit after about 4 minutes. Not Scott… he is constantly reinventing the games and coming up with new ways to entertain Zach and himself.

Now, of course, it helps that in some ways Scott is an overgrown boy who just loves to play any kind of sport (and that Zach is following in his dad’s footsteps). But it isn’t just ball games – the laughter that comes echoing down the stairs while Scott is giving Zach a bath often makes me want to go up and investigate exactly what is so darn funny.

Which brings me to my next somewhat-related thought – bear with me while I provide some background. When Zach was an infant, he and I started our first ECFE (Early Childhood and Family Education) class; picture 12 or so new moms in a room with their babies, talking about all their anxieties and concerns. There was one mom who was there with her second baby, so we often listened particularly closely when she spoke, since she wasn’t a rookie like the rest of us. And one piece of wisdom she shared with us has really stuck with me: Everyone brings something different to the table.

What was she referring to? Similar to the old adage about it taking a village, she was simply saying – you and your husband are not going to do things the same way, and that’s a good thing! I’ve thought about that advice on and off over the last 2+ years, and I’ve seen countless examples – from the way Scott plays with Zach to the way he handles it when Zach throws his toys in a fit of frustration – in how we differ in our approaches. So while we still manage to provide the same consistent message when it comes to discipline, we are certainly not identical. And it clearly is broadening Zach’s horizons, teaching him there are different ways to accomplish the same thing – including having fun!

I was also reminded of this wisdom when we were visiting my parents last week. I had one of those moments that I wished I could capture in my mind forever, as I watched my own dad playing with Zach. Zach and I have played cars many many times, but Grandpa was playing in ways I would never have thought of – cars were racing down ramps and knocking people and animals over, going over jumps to end up in a big truck, etc. Zach was absolutely captivated.

Let me try to bring this blog to some sort of closure that makes sense… what it all boils down to is that Zach is very fortunate - he has a dad and two grandpas who all bring something different to the table. He doesn’t lack for good male role models, particularly models of the many ways to show your love to a two year old boy. Since he's too young to truly appreciate it now, I hope when he reads this someday he'll smile and remember; for now I say thank you on his behalf!