A picture!

This is what we look like, in case you forgot:

This picture is from a couple weeks ago; our pumpking patch outing with the Roses. I probably have better pictures to post, but this was intended to be a test in my on-going quest to figure out why I can't post pictures. So... I can upload pictures from Scott's work computer, but not ours. Now I just have to figure out what the difference is. Simple, right?

Gump around

I forgot to mention Zach's latest accomplishment on my last post - jumping! Or "gumping," as he says it. Yep, both feet leave the ground at the same time. His vertical is nothing to write home about, but he's very proud of himself. So needless to say, we are spending a lot of time jumping around the house; our neighbors probably think we're a bit odd.

An educational weekend

Zach loves Dancing with the Stars. Friends had told me that their kids got a kick out of it, so he watched two dances before he went to bed tonight. After he saw the first one, he said - again! Dance again! Unfortunately, the second dancer was Cloris Leachman...

We are back from our weekend adventures. Zach, my friend Cindy and I drove to Milwaukee Thursday so Zach could spend the weekend with G&G Klicka while Cindy and I jumped on the train to Chicago. The detour through Milwaukee enabled Scott go on Rosie's 4th (3rd?) annual bachelor party. Yes, you read that right.

Before I forget - another big thanks to my parents for making the weekend possible!

The end result is that we all had good weekends. Cindy had never been to Chicago, so in addition to shopping and eating, we did some of the more touristy stuff like the architecture boat tour, the top of the Sears tower, etc. We got to see my friend Amy for brunch too; it was great to catch up with her. But I have to say the highlight was seeing the musical Jersey Boys - if you get the chance - GO!!!

I don't think there's much to tell about Scott's weekend... it was the usual golf and gambling, with more than a few beverages thrown in. 'Nuff said.

As for Zach, I learned on the drive down and once we got to my parents what a ham our son is. He loves to recite his ABCs (he's getting much closer, only forgets a few letters here and there, and sometimes can make it all the way thru), count (he gets to 13 accurately, twenty inaccurately), and sing songs. I knew that. What I didn't know was the lengths he'd go to get all attention on him! We were having a nice dinner with my parents, and if he wasn't the focus, he'd start yelling "hi grandma!!" until we acknowledged him, and then he'd launch into one of his routines, getting louder and louder as he finished. And then he cheers for himself; a nice big "yay", or our new favorite "Zach did it!" His confidence definitely isn't lacking. :)

Holy cow mama!

This morning provided another example of why we need to watch what we say...

I was taking Zach's diaper off, asking him if he'd pooped, and he responded with "yes, pooped. Holy cow!" It took me a minute, since holy sounded more like "hody", but after I figured it out, I asked if that's what he said. His response - "mama, holy cow mama!"

I guess holy cow is better than the alternative!

It's not just me

I'm delighted to report it's not just me! Others are having problems uploading images to their blogs too. I finally got an error that was helpful (as opposed to "internet explorer cannot display this page"), so I was able to find others with similar errors out on the blogger user group forum. That's the good news. The not so good news is that they haven't fixed it yet - but I should be happy they are working on it. I guess that's as much as you can ask for when using a free service.

In Zach news, I've noticed lately that he's definitely confused when it comes to pronouns - particularly "me" vs "you". He has been saying "snuggle you?" and "carry you" - and he clearly does not mean he wants to carry one of us. But it was really obvious the other day when we were playing our new game - he runs from the kitchen into the living room and crashes into me as I sit on the floor - he kept saying "knock me!". You try explaining to a toddler how personal pronouns work - it isn't easy!

I also may have found the cable that I need to download video - yahoo. Haven't had a chance to try it out yet, but maybe once this issue with uploading photos is fixed, I'll be able to do video too! With all the chattering Zach is doing these days, we need to get it on video. Especially him "reading" his books and singing, which he does all the time these days.

A month in pictures

Since I still haven't found the solution to my photo uploading problem, I'm trying something else. Below is a link to a snapfish album, that contains pictures from all the events I already mentioned - the visit from Mary and Kelly, our playdates at the sculpture garden and Kenwood Park, "truck day", and pumpkin adventures in Cokato. Hope you enjoy them!

http://www2.snapfish.com/share/p=829181224334062411/l=430619542/g=86576253/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

We also just unpacked the video camera; we need to capture Zach's latest talent - singing. And trust me, I use the term "singing" loosely. For some reason, one of Zach's favorite songs is Do Re Me. I sang it to him the first time in the car when he was crabby and I was drawing a blank on a good kids' song. And a few days later, I realized he was singing it himself. Here's how his version goes:

"doh...deer...fee deer...ray...sun...me...name m'self...fa...run...so...bread...la...so...tea...bread...back doh-oh-oh-oh!"

He also loves Twinkle Twinkle, pronounced "Tinkle Tinkle", and the Itsy Bitsy Spider. Ring around the Rosie is a favorite game, although he refuses to actually fall down most of the time.

As I feared, we also really need to be careful what we say these days. The other day I was stuck behind someone who was merging onto the highway at 40 mph (despite a very long, downhill on-ramp - UGH!). In my irritation, I said "hit the gas, lady!", and seconds later, a little voice from the backseat said "gas lady!". And it wasn't so much what he said, but how he said it - he had my tone perfectly. Yikes.

Hobber Dobber

That's right, curling season has begun. The Willard rink started the year off with a win on Friday night. It's a nice change to curl on Fridays instead of Sundays... no need to rush home since it's not a school night. We curled with Jamie and Adam this week (we have a 5 person team, so our team will rotate weekly between the three guys - Rosie is the other guy), so we were fortunate to have Jamie's mom and her husband volunteer to not only babysit Sylvia, but Zach as well. Thank you again Charleen and Mike! It was a fun night - good to have some adults-only time.

Saturday was all about the kids. We started off our morning at "truck day" in Woodbury - sure wish I could post the pictures. There were all sorts of trucks parked at the library here, everything from fire trucks to a UPS truck to a school bus, and the kids got to climb around and in them. Zach is all about driving lately, so he got a pretty big kick out of sitting in those seats, turning the wheel. It was hilarious to walk towards the parking lots and hear constant horn honking. :)

Saturday afternoon we headed out to Cokato Lake, back to the Brodd Family Compound, for pumpkin carving with our friends. We stopped at a pumpkin patch along the way, and Zach was delighted to find a cow nearby. He walked up to the fence, stopped, and said "big!" I always forget how big cows really are too! The cow cooperated by mooing, and Zach's eyes got huge. We eventually got his attention back to the pumpkins, and picked one out, although once we got to the Brodd's, he wasn't the least bit interested in carving it. However, our friend Kirsten cleverly brought along some golf tees and a toy hammer, so he did have fun pounding the "nails" into the pumpkin. In addition to the pumpkin fun, Zach played a lot of football with the other kids and some of the dads too, we feasted on chili and all sorts of yummy snacks and desserts, and hung out by the bonfire (it gets dark so early these days!). It was oddly warm for this time of year, so it was good to be outside. A good day with our friends and their kids, wish I could show you the pictures. Sigh.