My sweet little 3 year old boy couldn't be more fun to be around. Here are some recent pictures and videos and also some of the big things and tiny things I've kept track of during last several weeks /months. I seriously want to write down everything he says because he's so funny, but at least I can document some of it. :) I'm sure only a few people will read the whole thing because it's so long!!
Here is Zane's last haircut - before and after.
He got a massage at the end and looked so much older...
At night now, Zane reads himself to sleep with his lamp on and then tucks himself in before falling asleep. This is how I found him and his friends all tucked in when I went to go turn his light of the other night.
My sister gave us a bunch of clay that her art classes don't use anymore and my kids LOVE it. Zane sat in this very spot ALL morning the other day. He made animals, food, letters, you name it, he made it. He of course talked the whole time and kept me updated on every single thing he was doing.
Here's a snake he made - notice the eyes stuck on in front.
The kids love hanging out at the Hub, Zack's youth hang out center. Zane got to sing on the real microphone and he gave us some real songs and some of his made up ones. The teenagers were nice to put up with it for a few minutes because it was pretty loud and a little obnoxious.
Untitled from Josie Weingartner on Vimeo.
Untitled from Josie Weingartner on Vimeo.
This is Zane dancing in his underwear in Zack's office. Yep, I turned around for a minute and the next thing I knew he had stripped down. I sang the song from one of his favorite books now, "Shake Dem Halloween Bones."
Untitled from Josie Weingartner on Vimeo.
Here's Zane talking about Dumbo. He says, "He's cute and he's smart. He grows up and he was in my tummy. He goes so high and flies in the sky and (he made up a rhyme)." He tells me some of his stuffed animals came out of his tummy, like they're his babies. :)
That noise Emerson was making in the background is barking.
Untitled from Josie Weingartner on Vimeo.
* His storytelling skills are progressing and expanding. He uses phrases like, "Little did they know that the storm was coming after all." and "The giant said to the boy.... and the then the boy yelled back to the giant..."
* Lately, to add to the list of people and characters he acts like, he has been a super hero. He talks all the time about how he's really brave and strong since he's a super hero and that he saves people and helps. Anytime he wants something, he says, "Well, super heroes really like Skittles, so I need them" or "I'm not going to cry, because super heroes usually don't cry."
* He has a "work place" that he likes to go to work. He rides his spaceship (our bed) to get there. It's usually bumpy at first, but then smooths out. At his work place, he does all sorts of things. The other day, he said he was writing new games and songs. He said he had a lot of ideas for games, but he needed to write the directions. When we play new games, he always pretends he's reading the directions.
* He has pretty good manners - he says sorry, thank you, that's ok, please, sorry, etc. and is so loving. If I seem sad or get hurt he asks all about and usually gives me hugs and kisses.
* He's really into talking about healthy food vs. junk food and analyzes everything he eats - because he says he doesn't want to get a stomach ache or a cavity or just be unhealthy.
* When he went to ride his spaceship the other day, he told us it was broken and said, "Well, since I'm the only one in the house who knows how to fix spaceships, I better get busy." He went over and grabbed his tools and fixed it for us.
* He gives us choices all the time now for what game we're going to play and he lists them while holding up one finger at a time. The choices are usually 1. Alvin and the Chipmunks 2. Shrek 3. Hungry Hungry Hippos 4. Toy Story friends, etc. Then, he let's us pick the game and then assigns roles. He says, "How about Mommy be's Simon. How about Emmy be's Theodore. How about Dada be's Dave. And I'll be Alvin." Sometimes, he just says, "How about we be Daniel Friends?" We all just know what it means. As long as we act like those characters and calling each other by the right name, he's happy. :)
* One time, he gave me two choices of who I could be - Junior or Godzilla. I picked Junior and he said, "Nope, actually that ones already taken. You're Godzilla." I was cracking up.
* He corrects us on everything now. One wrong word and he's there to say the right one. Any wrong part of a story and he corrects us. Like when I said Emmy's playing the piano, he said, "No, Mommy, that's a xylophone!"
* He was been SO GOOD to Emmy lately! He has been playing with her, sharing with her, teaching her, reading to her, etc. Not all the time, but most the time. When they eat together or are playing, he talks to her and asks her tons of questions and then responds to any noise or word she says. He'll ask her if she likes something and if she says no, he'll ask her why and then he tells me what they talked about. If she's sad or crying he tells me, "She's probably just hungry or maybe just grumpy." or whatever else he thinks of. He also plays hide and seek with her and pretends he can't find her and thinks out loud like we do with him... "Is Emmy in here? No, I don't see her..." Now when she bumps him or grabs him, he usually laughs instead of getting mad and is so much more patient about playing together and taking turns. He tells us he loves her all the time.
* He told Emmy the other day when she didn't want to get into her carseat, "Emmy, you have to wear your seat belt so you can be safe." He also started asking her at one point what she wanted and kept giving her choices. Finally, he got frustrated and said, "Do you want ANYTHING?" When she said no, he asked her why and asked me why and just couldn't figure it out.
* He has a crush on another little girl in his class. He tells me that he likes her so much and that he likes to give her hugs. The teacher even told us that he waves at her and loves being around her all the time.
* He still makes up silly names for everyone and new toys. His latest are Swine, Cuz his pet rock, Bobe, and Poopy.
* When he asks for something at the store and I say no, he'll usually ask if it's because it's too expensive or if it's because it costs "35 bucks."
"He's starting to know what day it is based on what we do. He knows he has school on Tuesdays and Thursdays and church on Sundays. He knows Dad is home Fridays and Saturdays. It's funny though, because when he's telling me a story about something, he just says the name of any day like he knows and it's totally random.
* He remembers everything - seriously everything. I feel like if he asks a question and I answer it once, he'll remember it permanently. It's so crazy that he'll bring something up a week later after I just mentioned it quickly earlier.
* He is so good at guessing why things happened or why they look a certain way or why someone did something, etc. He also predicts what will happen in books and stories based on just the cover or what will happen next. He always starts with, "Maybe because..." or "Ummm, probably..."
* He loves reading books by himself and can tell me almost exactly what happened in the story after just looking through it before we read it. Same with just telling me what happened yesterday or some other time - he remembers so many details and can retell them in order pretty well.
* He talks about "when he gets older, he wants to..." and "when I was a baby, I used to..." like he's so old. He asked me, "What comes after older?" and I told him "old." So, then he started to say, "When I get old, I want to ..."
* We have in depth conversations about all sorts of stuff, like the seasons, hibernation, traffic jams, basically everything going on around us - he asks and I answer all day!
* A couple of weeks ago, I casually told him that there's this place called Disney World and started to tell him about it and he interrupted me and told me that one of his classmates just went there and told him all about it. He told me a million details about the rides and what's there, etc. I couldn't believe he got all that from another 3 year old in his class.
* Emmy calls Zane "Zzzza" so Zane asked me, "Mom, did you name me Zane or Zzzza? I'm just checking."
* He asks me now, "Do you want the good news or bad news?"
* One day, he drank a bunch of water and said, "I felt sick, sick, sick, but then I burped and now I feel better."
* When I asked him what the noise was that he made, he said, "My throat was just growling."
Theodore...
Zane was trying to hold Emmy's hand and she was escaping.
Emerson wasn't sure what to do at first, but got the hang of it quickly. She spent most the time like this, looking down searching for candy to eat. She kept asking us to open up suckers, her favorite. Zane was so sweet - he kept grabbing 2 of each candy and putting one in Emmy's bucket for her.
Then, we went to lunch and of course, made the day complete with some Gelato. Let's just say it was a sticky experience!
I love all their expressions when Emmy's going for the cone on top.
Finally, tonight we cleaned out and carved our pumpkins. Zane wasn't sure about getting messy at first, but then had fun grabbing the seeds out. Emmy never minds a mess so she had a blast.
