Sunday, December 30, 2012

Christmas #4

Today was our third Little Christmas (where we give and receive gifts to and from others), with the Real Christmas being the one where Santa came. This was a very Lego-intensive Christmas. I'm not sure, however, who is enjoying them most.

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Trio

Finally, a decent picture of all three of us.

Monday, December 24, 2012

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Imagination

This is the man's house. And you know what, Mommy? The man had so many pet alligators that he'd watch them race. And when they were finished, he'd put the hammer down so they'd stop. And this is the window so he could watch his alligators race. And these are the stairs so he can turn into a scuba diver. And he's resting on his boat. And Mommy! He has a parachute now. Now he's going back to his home.

And then there was the whole part about the pirate ship and the monsters in the speeding boat.

'Tis the season...
















It's really interesting to experience how Zack's behavior has changed across Christmases. He definitely understands that he'll get gifts, and every time he sees a toy store flyer he goes through it and says, "I want this for Christmas. I want this for Christmas. I want this for Christmas...." Let's just say it'd be easier for him to list what he doesn't want for Christmas.

But he is also starting to understand better that it's also a time for giving, and we've actually had to move a lot of our gift wrapping to times when he's not around because he started wanting to give away a lot of things from our house. He wrapped up a little toy pitcher for his cousin Ella, which is perfectly acceptable. But he also decided that the vase that he made for me for Mother's Day would be better off with Grampa Jim, in spite of my protests to the contrary. He also wanted to give one of my ornaments to someone else. It was at that point that we made gift wrapping a covert operation.

But not before he wanted to help wrap his gift to his Daddy. I had bought it online and showed it to him. He promptly wanted to wrap it. And as you can see, he wanted to do it himself. And in true Spotts male fashion, he made sure it was well-taped. Doesn't he look so grown up doing all this?

He is also very excited for Christmas to come. Here's the conversation we had this morning:

So do you know what we're going to do tomorrow after we pick you up from school?

Yes.

What?

I don't know.

We're going to get in the car and go to Nonnie and Nonno's.

Yeah! Today?

No, tomorrow.

Is tomorrow today?

No. We'll leave on the day you have karate.

Do I have karate today?

No, today is KidFit. Tomorrow is karate.

I like KidFit. Remember yesterday {keep in mind that "yesterday" is a catchall term for any day in the past 4 1/2 years} when we went to Nonnie and Nonno's and you picked me up before sleepy time {naptime at school}?

Yes, but we're not going to pick you up that early tomorrow. It'll be after naptime.

I'm going to tell Miss Carol that I need to sit in a chair at sleepy time because you're picking me up. I'll wait for you to come. And when Miss Carol goes out into the hall, she'll see my Mommy and Daddy.

OK, but we're not going to be there that early.

I'll wait for you to pick me up so we can go to Nonnie and Nonno's. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have a feeling that it might be a long car ride to Connecticut tomorrow night.

Thursday, December 06, 2012

Who let the dog out?

Last Sunday, we invited about 10 of Zack's friends from school and the neighborhood to decorate gingerbread houses. Of course, my camera filled up after about four pictures, so there isn't much documentation of the fun that was had. All the kids were great and I noticed that the mess was less than last year.

But that's not what I wanted to talk about.

For this event, I put Georgia up in our bedroom. She gets a bit nervous when there are so many people in Her House, so it's just easier all around for her to be out of the way. From past experience, I knew that I should lock the bedroom door so that little hands didn't help her escape. The door locks from the inside, but it can be opened from the outside (Just wait. You'll find out how).

All was going well. Georgia barked for awhile, but when she started to hear all the kids downstairs, I think she was grateful to be holed up with a bed all to herself. After two hours, all the kids had left except for one and we were starting to clean up. All of a sudden, there was Georgia, licking up sprinkles and pretzels from the floor. Interestingly, Zack was close behind her. I asked him what Georgia was doing downstairs.

"I let her out."

Now I had tested that door and I knew it was locked. So I bit. I asked him how he opened the door.

"I got a stick and put it in the hole, and wiggled it, and the door opened."

And that, my friends, is how you open our locked door from the outside.

Wednesday, December 05, 2012

Lost in translation

I think I need to talk to Zack's Spanish teacher. Zack has been singing Felice Navidad as "Police Mommy die." And he's rather convinced of his version.

Sunday, December 02, 2012

Buddies

Zack seems to be maturing in his relationship with Georgia. There is less obvious "sibling" rivalry and more involved interaction. When Zack wakes up in the morning, he has to spend some time snuggling with and petting Georgia, saying such sweet things to her, including "I love you, Dorjia!". He plays with her more, rather than doing things to her (though this does still happen). And he's generally more concerned about her well being--feeding her, giving her treats, petting her so sweetly. To her credit, she's responded by letting him pet and snuggle with her, by listening to him more, and by generally being less wary of him. And, of course, by giving him hugs. Which TOTALLY make Zack's day.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

The weather outside is frightful...

Someone may have made sure that another someone was appropriately dressed for the cold weather we've been having.

 
This piercing glare may give you some indication of how that someone else felt about all this attention.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Grinch

A couch full of Grinch watchers (Kelly was there too).

Friday, November 16, 2012

Mental Note


Last night Zack and I went to PetSmart to find a prop for this year's Christmas pictures. 

What never even occurred to me was that they sell reptiles there. And where are those tanks? Why, they are front and center as soon as you walk in. Why yes, we did spend about 30 minutes looking at those 8 tanks, as well as the birds and the fish. And yes, his desire to own his very own lizard has been rekindled. And yes, the first thing out of his mouth this morning was to ask if we could buy two lizards today. {probably not}. No, Mommy, after school, not now. 

The first thing he told his teacher when he walked into his classroom was that he was going to get two pet lizards today. And then he went on to regale her with the whole story.

I mentioned to him that we'd have to do some research on how to take care of them because we don't know how. His response? We can ask the man at the store how to take care of them. 

%^*&*&##. Whose idea was it to raise a kid who can think for himself? 

My one hope in all of this (because really, I do NOT want a lizard in the house. And those things are EXPENSIVE.) is that when we stopped at Trader Joe's on the way home, I'd told him that one time I'd seen some lizards in the rock wall by the parking lot. Well, he seems to think that he can catch two of those lizards and put them in a cage. I told him that they're hibernating now, and we wouldn't see them until he was wearing shorts again. He seemed to get that. And I'm really hoping that by the time he's wearing shorts again, he'll have forgotten about the lizards in the Trader Joe's parking lot. 

Oh, come on. Let me delude myself for a few months, please.


Friday, November 09, 2012

Tuesday, November 06, 2012

Waiting to vote.

He was really excited to go with me and he did a great job clicking on all he right boxes.

Friday, November 02, 2012

Pizza


Zack and I went to Pacci's tonight. He had his usual--margharita with sausage. The unusual part was that he ATE THE WHOLE PIZZA. After he was finished, he sat back, sighed and said "That was SOOOO good.............It was wicked good."  He topped it all off with some gelato. 

Now I am absolutely terrified of our food bill once he becomes a teenager. And my belief that we should be saving for that food bill rather than college has been confirmed. Yikes! 

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween!

Zack was a transformer--along with his two buddies, Boden and Emiliano. Yes, it was planned.

Kelly "strongly encouraged" me to dress up to answer the door. And she just happened to have an extra costume. Zack got lots of loot and we had lots of trick-or-treaters. Poor Georgia wasn't so excited about all the door bell ringing and visitors.

Monday, October 29, 2012

Jack-o-lanterns

If nothing else, today was a good day to carve pumpkins. Zack drew the face on his and helped cut it put. I went for a simple cyclops. Kelly and Rob still have to do theirs.

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Friday, October 26, 2012

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Dreaming

Zack had crawled into our bed at some point last night. I was getting ready for work this morning when he woke up.

Mommy, Mommy!
Yes?
I was dreaming there were jellyfish in my bathtub! [he sounded bemused]
Really? Was that a good dream or a weird dream?
A good dream!
Were you playing with the jellyfish?
Nooooo [said in an "are you out of your mind, Mom?" tone of voice]

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Sunday, October 21, 2012

And then they went searching for frogs...

First fish

Zack had an awesome time on his first real fishing trip today. He and Rob went with Dom and Sean. Not only was it his first real trip, but he also caught the most fish (two) and the biggest fish.

Margaret and I went to a sheep and wool festival while they were fishing. When we got home, Zack was just about bursting out of his skin wanting to show me his fish. He was so excited!

Saturday, October 20, 2012