Zander is 4 years old

I can't believe it? Where did the time go? We had a big weekend. On Saturday, we went to breakfast and then to Zander's soccer game. He did kick the ball 1 time when he was playing goalie. Then we picked up the cake and went home to take a quick nap. Next we went to the local gymnastics place for his party. It was so much fun. I was a little disappointed that no one from his school showed up. Including Zander there were only 5 kids. It turned out to be the perfect size group. They had so much fun and got some exercise at the same time. After the party we went to Zander's favorite Japanese restaurant. The Brady bunch and Zachary joined us. It was really good and Zander ate like he had a tape worm. It is worth the money to see him eat a good meal. We all went home and crashed.
Sunday was Zander's actual birthday. He chose cherry turnovers for breakfast. Then we gave him his other present. We had already given him a new fireman hat, coat and airtank complete with a firehose that sprays water. Today he received a firehouse and all of the furniture and little firepeople that go with it. He really enjoyed playing with it. Then it was time to go to the local firestation. I wasn't really sure if the firemen would like us just showing up, but they were all very nice. They treated Zander like a celebrity. He got to sit in the firetrucks, turn on the lights and wear the fire chief's hat. Of course when it was time to go he was very upset. Then it was time to meet CiCi and PaPa for lunch at the mexican restaurant. He ate all of his shrimp and then CiCi pulled out a bag of strawberries. He ate everyone of them and then they sang to him and brought him a mexican dessert. He ate every bit of it as well.
Next we went to Granny's and CiCi and PaPa brought his present. It was just what he wanted, Fire House Dog DVD. Of course as soon as we got home, he had to watch it. It will not be the last time. All in all, it was a great birthday. Happy birthday Zander B. Momma loves you.

Soccer

With Zander's sensory issues, basketball was quite a struggle for us all and not very enjoyable. However, outside soccer is a different story. He still hears and gets distracted by everything, but it is not frightening to him. I think we may have found our sport, if he will stop eating grass, leave the other children alone so that they can pay attention and keep his head out of the holes in the goal. He does seem to enjoy it although he doesn't quite understand what he is supposed to do. Well, I shouldn't say that he doesn't understand, he just can't quite put it all together at the same time. So he puts on a very serious face and just runs. He has managed to kick the ball by accident once each game.

Zoo

Zander's class went to the zoo last week and all of the parents went along. We had a great day and alot of fun. It was really hot that day. We did get to see alot of animals. Here are a couple of my favorite pictures.

Science Museum

I was able to attend the Zander's field trip to the science museum. It was alot of fun. We went to a program about insects. The children learned all about different kinds of creepy crawlies. At the end of the program they got to see some of them up close. Zander's favorite thing was the meal worms. He picked them up with plastic tweezers and put them in a bowl and looked at them with a magnifying glass. He did that for a long time. He also played bug dress up. Next we went out to a music area. They had a life size piano that the children could play with their feet and a harp with invisible strings.
Zander and I went to the health section. He loved the dentist exhibit. He was able to play dentist and use the drill and water suction. I didn't think I would ever get him out of there. We also went outside to visit the animals at the barn and the river otter. It was a great day.

Deal or No Deal

I don't know what I was thinking, but I thought that it would be fun to camp out at our local mall all night to audition for the TV show Deal or No Deal. I didn't think it was a big deal, after all I have camped out all night many times for concert tickets and had a great time. However, that was at least 15 years ago. My friend Amy and I, met at the mall at 10 PM. The line officially opened at noon that day. When we arrived, we were told that we were numbers 998 and 999. We set up our chairs and snacks and proceeded to sit and wait. Did I mention that it was very cold and extremely windy as a cold front was moving through. The weather caster said that there might be a passing shower until midnight but them we would be in the clearing. As the night approached, we thought we were in the clear as it had not rained at all.

I decided to get in my car and drive across the street to purchase a drink and use the restroom since we couldn't go into the mall. I thought this was a good idea, but the caffeine kept me up all night while everyone else slept. When I returned it had gotten much colder and so windy I had to cover my head with a blanket and wrap myself in a comforter. It was still freezing. We were just very happy that it was not raining.

I am a rules person and the rules were, you get in line and stay in line until it is your turn. Some people started going to their cars and sleeping. I couldn't believe it. This would have never been allowed when camping for sports or concert tickets. Some people even left and went home to sleep for a while. By this time, we had been told that the line was over a mile long and people were still coming. I found out later that there were 4000 people in line. I was quite perturbed by this point. Around 6 am Amy went and got us a biscuit and something to drink. Then it started raining. It was slow at first but then it soon turned into a downpour. There was standing water everywhere and it was about 42 degrees and windy. Even with an umbrella, there wasn't a dry spot on us.

The auditions were supposed to start at 10am. At 7:00 someone from Deal or No Deal came by with a bull horn and said, "Go, Run!" I couldn't believe it. Where we were at in line was almost all the way around the mall. People picked up what they could carry and ran! I had a chair, a queen size comforter, a bag with 3 20 oz. drinks and dominoes, a folder with our applications, my purse and a large umbrella. Some how I picked all of that stuff up and ran. The water was standing everywhere and each time you stepped you got more wet. Amy and I were separated. When we reached where the line stopped, we got back together. It was then that I realized our cars were still on the other side of the mall and we couldn't take any of this stuff into the mall with us. I left Amy in line and ran, still carrying all of my stuff all the way back around the mall. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I had to hurry because up in front of where Amy was standing there were baricades and I knew if I didn't get back in line quick, I wouldn't be able to get back into line. I dumped all of my soaking wet stuff into the car and drove around to where she was. Then I went to get her stuff and put it in the car and got back in line. Little did I know that we would continue to stand there from 8 to 11:30. By this time it was so cold and I was so wet that I couldn't use my fingers to hold the umbrella. They did not work anymore. My feet were so cold that they went back and forth from killing me to being numb.

Finally, it was our turn. We were herded into the mall and placed into lines. Another line! This one moved quickly however. Then we were taken to tables in groups of 10. There were 10 tables set up. It was very loud in there and you could barely hear what the directions were. Basically, this young maybe 20 year old with a stop watch said, "You have 20 seconds to tell me about yourself, Go". We had been told by others that did not make it, not to say anything about the show, just talk about yourself. I thought that I did great, but a man that said,"My name is Ken and I am a broker. I want to kick the bankers butt" got throught to the next level. I couldn't believe it. I was funny and made them laugh which is what they wanted, but I didn't make it. Did I really stand in line in the rain and cold for 14 hours for this? I must have.

Note to self. This was not fun. Do not do again. Buy a lottery ticket on the way home. I would like to go and take a nap, but Carolina plays at 8 pm to get into the final 4 and we are going to Paige's house to watch. Wish me luck, maybe I will be warm by then.



For some reason the videos will not link to this page, so go to http://youtube.com/user/friendsmiling66 to view the 3 videos. Enjoy.

Kids Show

On Saturday, Zander and I had a date. We went to the 3rd annual Kids Show. It was alot of fun. For those of you that know Zander, you know that he has not taken off this fireman hat since October, I think. When I heard that Sparky the Firedog was going to be at the kids show, I knew that we had to go. When we arrived a local law firm had a dog and Zander had his picture made with him, but then he saw Sparky. Sparky was with Elmo. He was very excited but when it was his turn, he didn't know what to do and seemed a little scared. I took his picture with both of them. The lady firefighters gave him new stickers for his fire hat. He was very excited about that.
Next we went to kids alley and he played with the animals. There were bunnies, a hedgehog, turtle and snakes! I think that he is going to like snakes just like his mom. He held a ball python and a corn snake.
Then we went over to the tumble bus and some kind of jumping thing. He had a blastg and then it was time to go home. It was a great day even though we got soaking wet going in.

Cultural Arts Festival

On Friday, I went to Zander's school for a Cultural Arts Festival. It was alot of fun. He had his first snow cone, played carnival games for prizes, jumped in a jumper and watched the special guests. The schools drumline and steppers made a special appearance and the kids loved it. I also had the chance to purchase some of Zander's art work from this year. It was very special and I will save it all. However, could someone other than me please tell the students that his name is not Alexzander? That is what they write on almost everything that comes home and this time it was on the handprint in clay. I will keep it anyway and tell him about all of the times that I stood up for the correct spelling of his name.

Grandma

The other day we went out to eat with Mom. Zander had on his fireman hat as he has since October. When he got in Mom's car, she said "Is that a fireman getting in my car?" At first he said yes, but as we started down the road, he said, "CiCi, that wasn't a fireman getting in your car, it was your sweety heart." How precious.

Kite Day

I have been so busy that I haven't had time to write down what has been going on. Friday, the 28th of March was kite day at Zander's school. All of the parents came and we all went out on the practice football field and all 32 children tried to fly a kite. When you think of a football field that sounds like a lot of room, but when there are that many children running, looking at the sky instead of where they were at, it got very interesting. We had alot of fun and I got some exercise.

Then and Now

My how the time flies! This is Zander in 2005 with his first Easter basket.
This is Zander at Easter this year. How could he have gotten so big. It seems like yesterday when he was that little.

Easter

This was a big Easter for Zander. We went to an Easter egg hunt at church then we had an easter egg hunt at Granny's farm with his classmates. On Saturday, we went to the flea market and Zander saw his first puppy and petted a baby duck and a baby turkey. Of course he wanted to bring them all home with him, but I have already been there and done that. Ducks are meant for a farm not in the living room.
The easter bunny came this morning. It was very lucky for me however that Zander forgot he was coming because apparently he forgot to come until Zander had been up for quite some time. He was a very smart bunny because he knew that Zander did not need candy or chocolate. He brought garden tools, firemen, and other small toys. He really only looked at his toys for a few minutes and then decided to help his daddy with the remodeling of the bathroom. This afternoon we will go to Uncle Steve's to watch the UNC game in the NCAA tournament and then to dinner. I will swing by and see Granny at some point today also. This is the first year in my life that we have not all been together for a holiday. Tracy and I decided that we would do our own thing this year. I guess it is time to start my family traditions. Mom and Dad are usually in Texas, so it looks like this is the way it will be from now on.
Zander and I dyed eggs this morning. It was so much easier than the old way. With this kit, you drop the hard boiled egg in a plastic bag and put in a few drops of color. Then he simply rubbed the egg around in the bag and presto! tye dyed egg. Then you put white sparkly glitter on it and let it dry. They were really pretty and it made absolutely no mess and we were done in just a few minutes. Now we will see if all of the color comes off on your hands when you try to eat one.
Happy Easter to you all!

Easter Outfit

Here is Zander's new Easter outfit. Do you think he likes it? The little bruises on his skinny legs are so cute. He was so silly when I was trying to take some pictures before we left for school for pictures that I didn't think he would do well with school pictures. I was wrong, they are adorable.

Easter 2008

Flying Rabbits???

Apparently rabbits can and do fly if they are tossed into the ceiling fan. Zander discovered this after we got home this evening. Thank goodness it scared him and I don't think he will do it again. It reminded me of the email that was circulating awhile back about all of the things that little boys do. I do believe flying animals are on the list. Maybe I should have saved the email as sort of a check list so I will know what to expect now.

On a different note, will he ever take off the fireman hat? It has been months. He wants to sleep with it and cries to take it everywhere we go. I hope this is a phase.

Africa

Zander's class is studying Africa and Kenya this week. Mrs. Brown has been showing them pictures from Africa and the people that live there. He told me last night that they read a book and a little boy had a necklace on his bottom and he didn't have on any pants. We talked about the differences living here in America and living in Africa. When we got to school this morning, I was telling Mrs. Brown what Zander had told me and she said, "Guess what he did at circle time?" I just held my breath wondering what he had said now. She said that he stood up and said, "Now listening guys, you are African Americans and I am a Caucasian American. I am pretty sure that Kaden is too." She said that all of the teachers about fell out laughing. I don't even know where he heard that word, but he used it correctly.
His other new favorite word is antioxident. We have been talking about what kinds of foods are healthy choices and which ones have antioxidents. He has had a good time helping me pick out foods at the grocery store. He ate almost a whole container of blueberries at dinner tonight. I hope it doesn't upset his tummy!

Valentine's Day

This was a very strange Valentine's Day. We had a very unexpected snow last night and because of that my office and the public schools were closed today. However, Zander had a party at school and I had to watch his class while his teacher had a special lunch. I also had a class on campus at 4:00. Zander's school opened at 9:30. I didn't find out that I didn't have to go to work until 9:00 so Zander and I went to have breakfast. After that I took him to school and I just stayed in his class all day. It was alot of fun and interesting to see what his day was like. I know that you will all find this hard to believe, but he is very active and talkative especially after a party full of sugar and chocolate.
During the morning he made a collage and had to be told repeatedly not to pour out all of the glue on the page, imagine that. Then he made me a special valentine with his handprint. I loved it. The teachers picked on him all day asking him whose valentine he was. He didn't want anyone to be mad at him, so anyone that asked him, they were his valentine until someone else asked. That evening, he told me he was my valentine.
That evening we went to the pizzakin restaurant. You might ask yourself, "What is a pizzakin restaurant?" Well the pizzakin restaurant is next to the Mexican restaurant and it has pizza so it is a pizzakin restaurant. Guess who came up with that? He also asked them for a heart shaped pizza and was quite disappointed when they didn't have one. Then it was bed time. I took some pictures and I hope that you enjoy them. Oh yeah, Zander would be the only child in the class that didn't have on pink or red. I forgot!

Here is a link if you can't see the slideshow.

Superbowl party

We had a great time at the Brady Bunch superbowl party. They had not had Christmas with some of the children there, so they exchanged gifts. One of the little girls got a make up kit. All of the boys went to play video games and the girls and Zander went to play spa. Ms. Lisa was playing with them. They put lotion on feet and polish on toes. I went to check on them and realized that Ms. Lisa was no longer playing. Zander is sitting on the carpet with a bottle of red polish open and spilled on his pants. There is just a puddle of polish on his jeans. I was able to get the pants off and into the trash before he got it all over the carpet. There were a couple of little dots, but nothing major, thank goodness. So now he has a big red line of polish all the way down his leg. Next I looked at his toes to find that one foot is red and the other sparkle brown. He also has blue sparkles all over him. It was time to put away the makeup!
Enjoy the pictures.

Bubbles

http://picasaweb.google.com/bohenstiel/Bubbles?authkey=hDFuiwicXuI
What happens when mom leaves the house and leaves daddy in charge of bathtime? They get into the jacuzzi tub, lather up and turn on the jets. For those of you that have jacuzzi tubs, you know that is a no, no. Even a little bit of soap makes a lot of bubbles. As you can see from the photo, we don't even have the walls around the tub tiled yet. They were supposed to be careful not to get anything wet. It has been caulked so too much damage can't be done.
I remembered to get the camera this time. Here is Zander's explanation.

Spanish

Zander informed me today that his name is now Zander Dominco. I am not sure how to spell it because I don't speak Spanish or French. He has been speaking other languages now for a couple of weeks. His class has been studying other countries and he is very facinated with the other languages. However, he will not say the words that he does know in French or Spanish, he makes up his own words, or should I say paragraphs and conversations. His teacher told me today that he asked her, "Don't you understand my French?"
I wonder how long this phase will last?

First Snow

It is hard to believe that Zander is 3 1/2 and this week was his first snow. It seems like when we were young, it snowed alot. I remember going out with Dad and using inner tubes to slide down our front yard. We would do it forever. Then there was the time that Jenn, Vicki, Tracy and I make a snow fort and stayed out all day playing. We were playing in the cow pasture. Would I let Zander play in the cow pasture? Hmmmmm. Times have changed.
When we went to bed, we were very excited because we knew it was supposed to snow during the night and then turn to sleet and freezing rain early in the morning. When I got up at 7:00, there was snow on the ground and it was starting to rain. I woke Zander ande got him dressed. We all went outside. He walked around in the snow and rode his arctic cat for a while. We didn't get to stay very long because it was raining and freezing. 3 days later it snowed again. This time he got to see it snowing and there was enough to make a snowman and do some sledding. We had a great time and Zander cried when it was time to come in. It was very cold as you can see from his cheeks. Maybe we will get some more before spring.

Winter 2008

Check out this link for more snow pictures and videos.

YMCA basketball

Well, the season is almost over and it has been quite an adventure. Zander started out the season crying all the way through practice. The first several games we had to be on the court with him for him to go out there. He was very afraid of all of the noise in the gyms. He has gotten used to it now and only looks at me for support when he hears the buzzer and he has learned that he can cover his ears.
I have really enjoyed watching the kids. Their attention span is very short and they are crawling or rolling around on the floor as much as they play.
His pictures are really cute but if you look closely, you will see that he is bawling. His daddy had to get in the picture with him just for him to take the picture. I think next year will be better because he will know what to expect.
Dare we try soccer?

Let the jumping begin

What a cool idea! Some brilliant person decided that it would be fun to by a bunch of the big jumpers and rent them for birthday parties, etc. We went one time when Zander was about 18 months old, but this time was much more fun. They have an obstacle course, slide, jumping house and jousting house. Zander had a hard time with the climbing so Summers and I had to help. I think that we had more fun than the children did. We had alot of fun jousting. Unfortunately, it is so expensive that most people can't take advantage of it. We now have two different companies doing this in our area. Wish I had thought of it!

Pump It Up

Santa

Zander's first Christmas




How cute! Zander with Santa at 3. I will have to find last years picture, I am not sure where it is.

Go Tarheels, Go!!

Last week, four UNC basketball tickets fell into my hands. I had been trying to get tickets all season and there either weren't any or not enough together, so I was very excited. There was only one catch - I had to take 3 children with me to Chapel Hill.
I was able to take Zander to a tournament game last year at our coliseum, but I wanted him to experience the Dean Dome. He was so excited. We packed our things the night before and picked up cousins Matt and Josh around 3 in the afternoon. We all changed into our Carolina attire and placed a tarheel foot on our faces and then we were off. We went to the park and ride location to catch the bus. While we were waiting, Zander started talking to a police officer. He was very nice to him and let him get into his car and turn on the lights and look at all of his stuff! He loved it.
Then we got on the Tarheel shuttle bus and went to the Dean Dome. We walked around and looked at all of the Carolina gear and ate supper. We were there early enough to watch the team warm up. It was really exciting and it never gets old to me. I didn't think that this was going to be a good game but it turned out to be very interesting. The other team had a guy that was 7'7" tall. He wore a size 28 shoe. Zander looked up at me and said, " Mom, he is taller than Uncle Michael!" That is what we measure everything by. Our tallest player, came up to the bottom of his shoulder blades. He could dunk the ball standing flat footed under the basket. I couldn't help but think about the scene in King Kong where Kong is on top of the building swinging his arms and knocking the planes out of the air. That is what it looked like. He just stood there and batted everything that they threw up away. I don't know how they scored any points. At one point, our favorite player, Tyler Hanbrough got frustrated and somehow took it in and dunked it right in his face. I thought the building was going to come down with all of the noise. It was all very exciting and I hope that he remembers it fondly. I am glad that we could share it together. Here is a link to the video and other pictures from the game. You can clearly see from the video how excited he was. I hope that we get to go to many other games together.

Tarheels game

Santa

All Zander wanted for Christmas was a drum set. That is all we have heard for months. So, low and behold when he woke up this morning, Santa had brought a shiny new red drum set. Zander was so excited. He loves it. He sat down and drummed like he had been a drummer all of his life. I think the drum set will be going into his room. He also got a workbench and the Ratatouille movie. At Cici and PaPa's, he got a fire truck. His Christmas would be complete now, but we will also be going to meet with the rest of the family after lunch today for more presents. Oh yes, Aunt Jennifer sent his a Thomas Aqua Doodle which he loves!! I like it also because he can make a mess with it.

Christmas Play

Last week we went to Zander's first Christmas play. It was really cute. All of the children sang Zander's favorite song. It is a Swaheli song called "Funga". The two year olds sang a couple of songs and then it was Zander's classes turn. The little girls had on tutus and snowflakes on their heads. They sang a snowflake song and then it was the boys turn. They had on reindeer suits and performed the reindeer hokey pokey. It was really cute. Zander couldn't decide if he wanted to do anything or not. This is not the cutest part of the video but I couldn't get it to upload.

911

Zander's new passion in life is anything related to a fireman. This is very interesting to me because it is also the one thing that terrifies him. He has always been afraid of fire drills and smoke detectors. He counts smoke detectors when we go in any new building. When the firemen came to school a few weeks ago he had a melt down when they put on their masks. Ever since then at home he has pretended to be fireman Scott and fireman Steve. I can only assume that was the names of the firemen that came to school.
Cousin Marty is a volunteer fireman and he brought his gear to Granny's last Sunday. Zander could not have been more excited. They put all of the gear on him and brought him into the house. Mom stood him up and he fell over. The gear weighed about 40 pounds. That is more than he weighs! He looked so cute. Mom held him up long enough for me to snap a couple of pictures. Isn't he cute?
Oh yeah, 911. Zander has known how to call 911 for a long time and he pretends on his cell phone all of the time. I never worried about it because I have not shown him how to push the talk button first and then dial a number to really make a call. The other day I asked him to bring me the phone so I could call CiCi and I heard him push a couple of buttons. I told him again to bring me the phone. When he got to me he handed it up to me with a strange look on his face and I heard someone talking. I knew immediately who was on the other line. The lady said "911, What is your emergency". Well, I started apologizing profusely and she cancelled the call. Thank goodness she didn't send anyone out. We have had the talk about what is a real emergency now.

Artichokes, please??

Mom, can I please have some artichokes? You don't hear that often from your child. It hear it quite frequently at our house. Summers and Zander love artichokes. We buy the new Ziplock Steamer Bags and cook them in the microwave. Then they melt some butter and dip the leaves into the butter. After all of the leaves have been eaten, they remove the stuff that looks like hair and eat the heart of the artichoke. They are very expensive and I only get 3 each week. Zander has actually cried in the store and said, plese can I have more artichokes, mom? People in the store usually find it very funny.

Relaxing

I am very lucky to have a flexible, kid friendly work environment. Zander gets out of school every Friday at 3:00. I have to pick him up and take him back to my office with me. Last week, most people were out of the office for the holiday, so I brought along "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and made his a special spot in the cube beside of my desk. He had a snack and snuggled up with his favorite work toys, pillow and roly poly bag. I couldn't resist snapping a picture. The only problem was that this was the first time that he had used head phones and when he talked he was very loud because he couldn't hear himself. I guess it was a good thing that there were only a couple of people in the office.

Out of Zander's mouth

Zander and I went to a couple of parades this weekend. We had a great time.This picture is from the first parade that we attended. We always sit with the Brady bunch.
I know that you have all seen the email about the little boy that is in the bathroom with his mom and starts asking all kinds of questions. Zander has done that to me many times, but I always forget to write it down.
Yesterday at the parade, there were many people there and we had waited a long time. There was a man about my age and his 3 year old son beside of us. We had talked and the kids had played while we waited. Right before time for the parade to start, Zander said, ", do those two have penises?" Well, at that same moment I saw someone on the other side of the street that I knew so I was only paying half attention. I said, "What?" So he did what every child does that is frustrated that they are not being heard, he said, " I SAID, Do those two have PENISES?" Well, that time I assure you that I heard him loud and clear and so did everyone on our side of the street. I said, " I guess so, they are boys." That satisfied him and the parade soon started.
The second thing in the parade were the dancers from the local highschool. They had on little tiny skirts with their panties showing. Zander quickly asked if their privates were under there, and why could we see their panties? Don't you just love that? Three year olds know that panties aren't supposed to show. We went to Granny's afterwards and ate supper with her and PeeWee. Zander and PeeWee were talking about firemen and Zander proceeded to tell him that he needed to take care of Granny because she is very, enormous old. She was smiling so I guess she wasn't offended. That just goes to show that you never know what is going to come out their mouths. I wonder what he tells them at school? I don't think I want to know.

Ho, Ho, Ho

Last weekend, the Brady bunch invited us over to help eat left over Thanksgiving food. We had a great time as usual. The grown ups and Brady played Rook. That is a card game that I remember my parents playing with family and friends when I was a child.
Alana had just put up her Christmas decorations and all of the kids were getting in the Christmas spirit. Around bedtime, all of the little kids had on footy PJ's and Zander was running around with a Santa hat on. They were all so cute that I had to take some pictures. Have you ever tried to get 3 kids to stand still in front of the Christmas tree while you take a picture? Easier said than done. Anyway, they are cute pictures.