These Days

My fellow bloggers have noted what I am finding to be true which is that when you stop doing monthly posts, you feel that something is missing. So, in lieu of monthly posts, I'll start doing "These Days" posts, so I can document from time to time just what Z is up to "these days." They may or may not occur around monthly birthdays, because I like to keep things suspenseful.

He's almost 17 months old (insert shock and awe on the part of the mom, astounded at the passing of time). He babbles A LOT. In fact the other night, he must have been performing his rendition of "The Tonight Show" because all I heard in the monitor was babbling. But, what could I do? He wasn't crying, but he sure wasn't sleeping. Roll over, go back to sleep. I hope that isn't becoming a habit.

He is obsessed with a few things, some typical, some not so much

1. Books. He can say the word book, but it is more like a sound than a word (kindof like he leaves out the vowels, if that makes any sense at all). He loves books. He would sit in your lap and let you read to him all day and night if time and social norms would permit. The other day I went to pick him up from school, and all the kids were walking around the classroom, and he was sitting in the floor surrounded by books. His favorite right now is Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. He has become discerning in his book taste. He picks through the books until he finds the one he wants, then he brings it to you and crawls into your lap to have you read it to him.

2. Socks. "Ahck" in Z language. He loves socks, yours, his, it doesn't matter. The other day I went to get him out of bed after nap and he had one hanging out of his mouth, like a little dog. Whenever we are getting ready to go anywhere, I tell him to go get me some socks, and he opens his drawer and gets them out, hands them to me and crawls into my lap so I can put them on.

3. Outside. This is my new favorite word. He says it like this: "ow-siii," usually with a change in inflection in the "siii" part. This is no surprise, but the child loves walking around outside. It wears him out too, which we all like. It has become a bit of a problem though when we are loading up the car and he hears the garage door open, because he always wants to go out there, but has to get in the car instead. I can usually appease him with a pocket pack of kleenex, which he also likes, but not enough to make the list.

4. Fasteners/buckles of any kind. This obsession is fairly new and comes quite in handy at places like Kohl's (the ultimate source for school clothes and PJ's) because he is entertained in the cart for many minutes (how much more can you ask for with a toddler?).

5. TV. Well, this was inevitable. The child loves him some TV. We just got Nick Jr., and he loves pretty much any show on there, especially the ones that include singing and dancing, like Fresh Beat Band. I feel like Moose A. Moose is the fourth member of the family. He also watches TV at school, mostly Sesame Street, which he likes so much that he ignores me sometimes when I arrive to rescue pick him up. The horror.

 What would a post be without a few pics?