No Big Whoop

Despite my occasional browsing of celebrity tabloids, my new obsession with Tori Spelling's reality show, the one time I operated the rice steamer with no water in the appliance, and a recent loss of my cell phone in my own home, I am a reasonably intelligent woman. I KNOW toddlers go through phases that they neither initiate nor choose. They are toddlers. They know not what they do.

I have loved Baby Zog from the moment the little stick showed a + sign. He is part of me, grew in me, makes my faces, has my big brown eyes, yada, yada, yada. He might not know it yet, but he loves me. At this point in his innocent life, he doesn't know he has a choice not to love me (bonus for me!). This I know. Remember, I am a reasonably intelligent woman.

However, I am also a first time mom. And lately, this means it's my first time experiencing the "daddy infatuation phase." Boy oh boy is Baby Zog in that phase. When I gather him up from school, he runs to me, looks around, and says, "Daddy?" This afternoon, while I was at aerobics he had an hour of true two-year old tantrums and bouts of will against his father, and yet, when I picked him up for a hug, he cried for Daddy (seriously, Daddy hasn't given you your way for an hour and you still prefer him?)

The one that really hurt was at bedtime. I'm fortunate that - for the moment - his love for books is strong enough that he'll overlook me as the reader. We finished Polar Bear Polar Bear, Good Night Moon, Hippos Go Bezerk, Chugga-Chugga Choo Choo, and Doggies. All was well. I put him softly down into his crib, tucked him in with his beloved Ernie and he looked up at me and said, "Night, night Daddy."

"No buddy, I'm mommy," I said, curious about his memory lapse. "Can you say night night Mommy?"

He looked up at me, shook his head furiously and said, "No? No. Night Night Daddy!"

So now, I am a reasonably intelligent woman with a bruised ego. I'm resisting the urge to take it personally becuase I know the "mommy phase" must surely be coming soon.

Dancin' Man

Enjoy a recent compilation of our man in motion! Click here.

Professor Daddy Zog

If you are a follower of this blog, you know chances are good when you log on (or check your RSS feed) that the newest blog post will be about the merry adventures of Baby Zog.

However, there are two other Zogs living here in Zogland and I am particularly proud to be married to one of them!

Daddy Zog had quite a month. He finished his first year of the PhD Program (with flying colors), got accepted to three academic conferences (and counting), and is now teaching summer school Media Law - mostly to juniors and seniors who failed previously or just haaaaadddd to take it in the summer.

The best news related to all the above is that we have Daddy Zog back! The photo above is my proof. Exhibit A: Daddy Zog holding Baby Zog and Baby Zog's best bud (a.k.a. 56 lbs of baby) at a Blue Grass festival last weekend. We went out as a family and enjoyed ourselves! No studying or paper writing for Daddy Zog. No Mommy and Baby Zog wandering around Target on our own to kill time so Daddy can type in peace at home. We are very happy to have him back. And Mommy is happy to have him return to household chores that he excels in such as dishwasher unloading and garbage collecting.

WE ARE PROUD OF YOU!!!

Opposites

Since the day we started reading to Baby Zog my mom has told me that one day soon he'll begin to memorize the books and we'll think he's brilliant for "reading" at a young age. Well, the day has come. Forget what mom says, he IS brilliant and I'm certain that he has the ability to read (and not just the ability to memorize what word comes next based on the pictures in the book.) :)

Here is a video of Baby Zog and his daddy "reading" his opposites book. Each page features two words that are opposites.

Now that he's mastered reading, I guess we'll start teaching him physics.

Enjoy!

6:45 p.m.

Since all of our family members live out of state, sometimes I like to video tape a little bit of "normal life" here in Zogland. So, here is a video of this evening - post dinner, pre bath. Baby Zog has been quite chatty this week and it's pretty amusing.

Click here to enjoy!

Mother's Day

Between the ongoing Ernie passion, a newly formed attachment to his Daddy and fascination with his visiting Papa, Baby Zog's affection is spread thin these days and I wasn't very optimistic for a large helping of it on Mother's Day. But, I was pleasantly surprised. We enjoyed gifts (for me), book reading (to him), a trip to TCBY and a yummy Mexican Dinner. I even got this great photo out of him!





Also, my sister and her sweet baby Josie were in town so we were able to share her first Mother's Day with her over a lovely brunch that Josie slept peacefully through - snuggled next to her mommy in a sling. We are two blessed girls - loving husbands and beautiful children. What a great celebration!

MY JOY

Once again, my joy is sweet Baby Zog. I love his undying devotion to Ernie (seen here tucked under his arm). And I love watching him learn and love new things. In this case, it is sidewalk chalk which our friend - and Baby Zog's main squeeze - Laura brought over last week. It brings me joy to see him reach for it and say, "Chalk? Chalk?" and then run to the door to go outside. Happy, happy Mother's Day!

Further Ernie Evidence

Every morning, Baby Zog wakes up around 7:30 a.m. and plays with the toys and books in his crib. This play usually results in everything in the crib being triumphantly tossed to the floor. When he runs out of toy entertainment, we hear, "Mooommmyyyy. Daaaadddyy," through the monitor and drag ourselves out of bed and up the stairs.

But this morning, I opened his door and couldn't help but laugh. As usual, all the "friends" in his bed were on the floor -- save one. Look in Baby Zog's hand. See who was saved from the brutal toy tossing?

I looked at him playfully and said, "Why don't you throw Ernie down there with everyone else?" Based on the reply look he shot me, clearly I have lost my mind and was talking complete nonsense that didn't even dignify a verbal response.

So I ran and grabbed the camera.

Attachment

For 18 months now I have been amused by and somewhat boastful of the fact that Baby Zog hasn't formed an attachment to anything. He never really took to a pacifier. He was never attached to his bottles and giving them up was not a problem at all. He welcomes new people to play with. He has favorite books, but will read all of them. There is no blankie, no lovey, no woobie.

UNTIL NOW.

The family Zog has a fourth member and his name is Ernie. He goes everywhere with us, eats our food, slides down our slide and tries to jump into our bathtub. If he is not with us at Whole Foods, Baby Zog loses...his...mind.

As I type this, Baby Zog is frantically pacing the house with a concerned note to his voice saying, "Ernie? Ernie?" (Don't worry, I know where Ernie is - under the kitchen table where Baby Zog left him about 30 seconds ago.)

I actually find it sweet that he's in love with Ernie. I just fear the day we lose Ernie....

Mommy Tricks

Here is what I learned last night:
If you offer Baby Zog a honey sandwich on whole wheat and say, "Here buddy, want to eat your sandwich?" he will run away, shake his head and say, "No. No."

But if you offer Baby Zog the same honey sandwich on whole wheat (the very next second) and say, "Here buddy, cookie," he will open his mouth for the first bite and proceed to take down the whole thing saying, "Cookie. Yummy," over and over again.

Hmm...I am a smart mommy.

April photos are posted over in the photo album section to the left. Enjoy!