The Importance of Having a Spotter

A very determined Zain learned to climb the other day. 

Zain's Day

Some scenes from a typical day in Zain's life....

 

A pantsless drive, probably illegal in most jurisdictions

A new use for the potty

He loves leaves

 

A new project - zipping Monkey into the Peapod

Giving Puppy a drink

Monkey is hungry

Spilled Milk

A few recent tidbits from Zain's life:

You know how people say if their kids have been quiet for a long time, you know they're doing something they're not supposed to?  Today, after such a quiet moment, I ended up stuffing about 25 Kleenexes back in their box. And, apparently, I'm not good at learning this lesson, because about an hour later this appeared on the floor.  And his jeans were soaked.

He also was feeling nostalgic today:

"Remember when I was like 6 months old and I could do this??"

Zain has also become quite the helper.  He grabbed the broom out of my hand today so he could finish the job.  I guess this is better than taking all the clean clothes out of the laundry basket.

His latest obsession is tickling us.  He'll reach up under our shirts and tickle our tummies.  We're trying to make him understand that is not an activity for outside of the house.  :-)  If we're sitting on the floor, he'll commence a "back attack", where he'll grab on or tickle us.  And if you're lying on the floor, you will become a horse.  He'll hop on and start bouncing and neighing.

A few other shots from the past couple weeks:

He loves to rearrange the furniture.  And he's strong.

 

Do they load test these things?

Adrianne is a good influence (that's mustard)

Out for a lunch date with Mommy

He feels the need to process some food (I think this is Stu's influence)

 

Tazzie Auntie was visiting from Atlanta!

 

He loves to close anything - gates, doors, drawers

 

Boy and Two Janes

Halloween! We had to think of a costume that didn't rely on any kind of headgear, because it simply would not stay on Zain's head for any length of time.  I joked that we should make him Tarzan - no hat and no shoes, which he is also not a big fan of.  Then the more we thought about the idea, the more we loved it.  I had to do a bit of googling to remember some Tarzan details.  I had totally forgotten about Boy!  It was perfect.  So our boy became Boy.

We also ended up with a little bonus.  I had gone to a thrift store and bought all the animal print items I could find. After we made Zain's loincloth, there was a lovely leopard print dress left over that happened to fit both me and Shif perfectly.  It was too much to resist, so we both became Jane. I wore the costume to a party Saturday with some of our 1-year-old pals, and Shif wore it trick-or-treating Monday night.  We thought it was appropriate that Boy had two Janes and no Tarzan.  

There was a Cheetah, too!

Zain won the pin the nose on the jack o' lantern contest!  He was the best of a not-very-accurate group.

Sharing.  That's a good sign.

 

Boy seems to be in the middle of a Tarzan yell

 

One of the other moms is a music therapist and she brought lots of instruments to play with

He loved playing with a drum

Boy doing a little cooking

This woman got on the subway with us on the way home from the party.  Seriously, what are the chances??

Going out Monday night required a few more layers

Jane #2

Maria came out with us

Trick or treat at Michelle's house

Auntie Michelle, what is that on your head????

Zain walked most of the block, with a few pit stops to collect leaves or to see what was in the street

The family, including Pumpkin Dog

Sticks!  Awesome!