time outs.

for the first time, i've tried putting zane in a time out a few times. he keeps playing with the cats' food and water, and he just won't listen to "no." i don't know if it's his age, or if he's just being stubborn. time out only consists of my putting him in his crib and then leaving the room, just for a minute. i'm worried that he'll think i don't love him by doing this, and studies say that time outs (and especially spanking) are not good for kids, but i don't know what else to do. i try to have a firm i-mean-business tone of voice when necessary, but he doesn't seem to recognize it. i also try to have him look me straight in the eye, but it's hard to get a 14 month old to look at you. sigh.

haircut

somebody got a haircut, from mommy...

z giggles

daddy gets the giggles out of z. i love it!!!

spoon?

z was playing with my breakfast spoon this morning, while daddy & i were doing some planning. after awhile, the spoon had disappeared. it wasn't on the floor. it wasn't in his high chair. we looked around for awhile before i found it in z's hood. he had no idea it was there. thought it was worth a picture.

z brushes hair

i have an extra hair brush that has retractable bristles. z loves it. it helps keep diaper changes crying-free. he loves carrying it all around the house. it's just this week that he started brushing his hair with it, and in the case of the movie below, brushing other peoples' hair.

hug.

yesterday z & i went to target. it was pouring rain outside, so all the carts were wet. i decided to just let z walk around with me, and i have to say, he did a fantastic job of gripping my finger & walking with me. we ran into another little one his size, a girl, who started following us. z didn't really pay any attention to her until we were in the baby section. once he actually noticed her, they did the typical toddler things... touching each other's faces, walking away, walking towards each other, babbling... when it came time for us to walk away, z gave her a hug! TWICE! this was without any prompting from me. it was the sweetest thing ever! totally made my day.

z draws!

on tuesday, m & l came (along with little e of course) to check out our new home & play. we had lots of fun, and z drew for the very first time! he didn't draw very much, or for very long, but he's come a long way from just chewing on the crayons. he also loves just taking the crayons out of the plastic pack, throwing them on the floor, picking them up & putting them back on the table, and throwing them down again. sigh.

monster?

our little pumpkin is turning into quite the rude diner. his recent behavior, which originally we thought was cute, was to feed us pieces of food, which was all fine & good until he started pretending to give us bites, only to steal them away & put them in his mouth.

yesterday & today, he's started to either spit things out that he used to love, or lick things & then spit them out. in the past, if he didn't finish all his pasta spirals or carrot pieces, we would eat them. if he licks them & then puts them back on his tray, that's just too disgusting. sometimes his behavior is so gross, but so funny, so i have to turn away in order to keep a straight face with him, so he learns the proper behavior. he's so cute, but he needs to learn better table manners!

giant tinker toys

did any of you play with these giant tinker toys as a kid? here's a brief video of z moving a huge contraption (that daddy made) around. he's a strong kid!

BOO!

z says BOO!!!!

more blueberry pancakes

yesterday, before my piano rehearsals with students for today's recital, daddy made us blueberry pancakes.

they were yummy. blueberries were everywhere!

z & daddy dancing

just some more friday night dancing, daddy style.

mommy's b'day lunch

our parents (j's & mine) treated us to lunch this sunday at the deschutes brewery to celebrate my birthday last weekend. the food was delicious, and z was well behaved. it was a fun afternoon! thanks so much everyone!

puffy coat

z always tends to fall asleep in the car whenever he's wearing his puffy coat. it's so comfortable. i think i would too.

puffy coat

we were on our way out to my birthday lunch. the weather is really cold here at the moment, so z was bundled up in his down puffy coat. it's so cute seeing him waddle around.

chocolate chip cookie

i can't remember if this was z's first taste of a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie, but here are a couple pics nonetheless. he liked it!

climbing buddies

on saturday we went to our annual ugly x-mas sweater party & book exchange at our climbing friends' house. we couldn't stay long because z was beginning to get super fussy, and it was way past his bedtime, but we caught a couple shots of him & his friend m.

z is pretending to share. they're m's toys, by the way.

z is now trying to eat m's toys. he's clearly not happy about this. m is with his mom, k.

randomness

thought this was funny. z was playing with a bowl at lunch time.

xmas tree

look, but don't touch!!!

xmas tree

z was getting too fussy while i was assembling the tree, so i waited to finish until he went down for a nap. this is a video of him seeing the tree for the first time...

getting ready to put up the tree... we did this on friday while daddy was busy working from home.

there's our treeth in the background, in the box. z didn't really like wearing the santa hat.

z doesn't quite know what to make of the tree. he has fun with the curtain, though!

z's newest trick is to climb into the rocking chair (that used to belong to mommy, and before that, mommy's grandpa - note to self - watch out for lead paint). he likes to hold the orange ball & rock away.

isn't this sweater cute?

moving

z had a bit of fun in the boxes as we unpacked...

moving

before all this moving took place, i spent an evening out with friend j at a lecture by lawa ole nydahl on tibetan buddhism. we stayed for a blessing, and my refuge name given to me was karma pema - lotus flower of all buddhas. the evening helped me cope with the events as they unfolded. eventually, everything fell into place, although not without a lot of encouragement from our realtor, and we closed in time to keep our moving appointment the day before thanksgiving.

the moving truck

the effortless moving of the freezer up from the basement. getting the freezer down into the basement was a nightmare.