Speaking

One year ago my little love muffin still was not talking much so we had a speech therapist coming to the house once a week to work with him. We were doing sign language to get some form of communication so the frustration level wouldn't get out of hand. It was very trying for him and I both so we sought out the help of the therapist to help.
And Help she did!
Now we have plenty of conversations about any and every thing! The other day when I called to talk with him on the phone he was telling me he was 'having a discussion with dad about going to the park'. He uses plenty of big words now. You just do not expect these big words to come out of this child.
The other day he wanted to go to the bookstore, I told him no. He turned around and asked Kris. Kris told him maybe so I spoke up and said I told him no. Zack tells me that Daddies make the rules and I shouldn't lie. (I can only imagine what Kris is teaching him when I am not within hearing distance). I went on to explain to Zack that Mommies and Daddies are equal and we make the rules together. He responded with a big "well that's impressive". I nearly cried I was laughing so hard.
I just think back to a year ago and I am in total amazement at how far he has come with his speech and his comprehension of the English language.

Yes there are plenty of moments I think back at how quiet it used to be in the house but I am so glad we got help at an early age. It has been seven and a half months since the therapist said she no longer needed to come out here and I think if she saw him today she would be floored with him.

First day of Vacation.

A few weeks ago we went on our vacation for a week to Ocean City, Md. with David, Lilly, Indigo and Kris' family. Upon arriving in the state of Maryland we hit rain. A lot of rain. It took forever to get over the bridge to the house. The streets were flooded.
When we arrived at the house, I did the typical traveler thing...ran in to go to the bathroom! When I came out Zack and some of his cousins were in the road running through the water which was just below his calves! So much for staying dry.
Once we unloaded the car we were all getting a bit hungry so we headed to the boardwalk to get something to eat. Dough Roller here we come! While there my careful, gentle little well behaved darling son knocked his cup over. All over the table, the chair, him, the floor and Kris.

We decided to let Zack play on the pirate ship for a while to get some energy out since he had been cooped up all day in a car. I don't know whose bright idea it was to go down by the water to check it out but that was the direction we went. I knew before we ever reached the water there was no way this kid of mine was going back to the house dry! Once he hit that water he owned it! No-one or nothing could get him out of it. The water was cold. His skin was like ice but he didn't care. He didn't want to leave. So we walked down the beach so he could continue to run at the waves. I don't know how we got him to go back the house but once there we had to give him a shower to warm him up.

He went to bed a bit later than normal but every morning we were there he was up by 6:30 am. Way to early for me. Don't kids know what vacation means? I need to work on this for next year.

I will post more with some pictures tomorrow.

Grandma's teachings

Thanks a bunch Mom!

You see my mother likes to 'teach' Zack such helpful things. When I say helpful what I really mean is just means more work for me. ;)

When she came out for a few days last week she was nice enough to teach Zack to wash his face... without a wash cloth. You know when you use your hands to cup water then toss it at your face to get the soap off. Yeah she taught him that and he has tried several times but quite frankly there is more water on his shirt, the counter and the floor than there is going on to his face.

Another great thing she taught him was to clean the toilets. Yes she handed him the toilet brush and told him to scrub. Now this in theory would be the most wonderful thing she could teach him since I despise cleaning them... BUT Mr. Helpful came running out of the bathroom today saying "Mommy I scrubbed the potty like Grandma told me." Oh great I think while walking in there not knowing what I will find. Yes he did indeed scrub the toilet only he did not use the toilet brush, he used the little scrub brush that came with his kitchen set!!
Umm yeah that isn't going back in the playroom!

Oh Mom I do have to tell you a great big Thanks. The other day we were driving home from the store and since my radio does not work anymore Zack says from the backseat "K sing the beans beans song" K told him she did not know it so he proceeded to sing it! "Beans Beans good for u , da more u eat da better you feel". Yeah I know he does not have the words right but he tried. At least he was not trying to sing the 99 bottles song you were trying to teach him. I think I would have gone nuts with that one.

I can only imagine what she is going to teach him next. LOL.

Bob

OK Bob if you want attention you do not need to do it this way! Now get out of the hospital bed and stop pretending to be sick.
Oh wait I think I get it, you wanted a vacation right?
Well that really isn't a good place to vacation. They don't let you sleep, they poke you with needles all night and day, the food is not very tasty at all (although my mother would disagree with that) and they don't have that many channels on the television (you can only watch so much junk before getting bored).
So get up and get home soon! You know Zack can not come visit you there, they never allow kids in and I seriously do not think I could keep him quite long enough to sneak him in.

Spelling

This is a warning to all the parents out there.

You know we all do it at one time or another when we do not want our children to know what we are trying to convey to someone.

We spell.

Go ahead and admit it now. You do it just to try to save yourself some frustration.

Well you have been warned that it can and will turn against you.

Today while driving home Zack says "Dad where is the 'g y s t o x d'?" Kris was unsure of what he was talking about so he asked him what that meant. Zack replied "Dad the 'g y s t o x d' you know the Thomas train stuff!"

I was trying very hard to hide my laughter but poor Kris could not hide his.

As so it goes he has been 'spelling' different things the rest of the day.

Promise to update soon

I know I am getting a bit slack with my blog but I promise to get back on track here soon.
We were on vacation the first week of August which I will tell you all about later and have some pictures up for your viewing pleasure.
Then this week has been nothing but doctors appointments and physical therapy for me so it has been a bit hectic. Lets just say getting old really stinks!

So for the people who never leave comments but have asked me why I haven't been updating I leave my promise here that I will be updating soon :)

Priorities in packing

We made the mistake of telling Zack several weeks in advance of leaving for vacation. Not a bright idea because that is all we heard about multiple times a day. We listened to everything he wanted to do when he was on vacation.
"Mom I want to go surfing"
"Mom I want to put sand in the water"
"Mom I want to play in the water"
"Mom I want to wipe out"
"Mom I want to go in the water with Daddy"
And so on.

Several days before leaving I pulled his suitcase out of the closet and told him we needed to start packing so it would all be ready to go when the time arrived.
Like most kids his packing priority consisted of toys, toys and more toys with books thrown in too.
I walked out of the bedroom to get the clothes from the dryer, sat on the couch to fold them and peeked into his room to see all his trains, every book from his bookshelf and all the 'babies' from his bed stuffed into his suitcase. He was trying his hardest to get it closed. He could not zip that suitcase to save his life. I watched those wheels turning in his head.

He tried so hard to zip it closed but it just was not going to happen. Then he asked me to come and close his "soupcase" because he could not do it and I told him no because I was busy.

So he stopped and he thought about it.

I do not know where he came up with the idea but I was laughing when I saw it. He chose to sit his butt on top and try to zip it closed that way. It was so cute to see him use his mind to come up with ways to try to get that closed.

Oh and if you are wondering, he never did get it closed and I repacked so he didn't have to run around all week with a naked butt for all the world to see.