BBZ and the Baby Sister

Announcement: There are no announcements contained in this blog post. Resume regular breathing pattern now.

October 15: BBZ was born. October 16: people started asking when we’ll have the next one. Friends warn and tease about it, family members try to disguise eagerness as nonchalant-ness and even strangers have opinions. Of course, anyone who knows us well realizes that Daddy Zog was preparing to return to school before BBZ was born, took the GRE the month prior to his birth, interviewed with grad schools five months later and started a PhD program before BBZ celebrated his first birthday. Anyone who knows us well knows the next addition to our family will be a PhD we proudly hang on the wall. Anyone who knows us well knows there is no way we can feed, clothe and daycare another baby right now unless BBZ goes out and finds himself a j-o-b. And yet, the suggestions and comments persist from those who are afraid for BBZ to be alone or possibly just don’t think it’s fair that we only have one kid to chase through the Whole Foods parking lot.

What I never expected was for BBZ himself to have an opinion on his only-child status. It started about a month ago. “Paloma has a baby sister,” he said. “Dexter has a baby sister, William has a baby sister, Ryan has a sister,” he’d list. “Mommy, you have a sister! Daddy has a sister too! But not me…I don’t have a sister…” (Insert super long, sad face on my adorable boy here.) Then some serious family role playing started. “Big Bird is the Mommy. Grover is the Daddy. Elmo is the baby sister.” All of a sudden toys were not just toys – they were families and they all had baby sisters. Then about a week ago, his baby sister appeared. Her name is Rainnen. (I think he named her the day it was rainin’ outside last week. But who knows?) It seems she is very cute and super sweet (you know, just how an actual newborn would be.) She doesn’t steal his toys or encroach on his time with Mommy. She is, by all accounts, perfect.

But apparently, she was not enough. Our friends Bridget and Doug babysat for us on Friday night and of course, BBZ marched right over to Miss Bridget and said, “Do you have a sister?” I froze. I knew what the answer would be. Darn Catholic family. “I have FOUR sisters and ONE brother,” Miss Bridget said to BBZ as his eyes doubled in size while he comprehended the possibilities. And so, I now have a whole gaggle of imaginary children living in my house. BBZ’s sister Rainnen, and his two brothers Unzel and Dunzel. I’m not certain if they are twins; I don’t think BBZ knows about twins. Fortunately, none of them are demanding food, clothes or a place to sleep just yet. If they do, let's hope they all have minuscule appetites like BBZ does.

And so I find myself with a new feeling. I’ve never really cared what anyone else thought because they aren’t a part of our little family and really, what do they know about our life? But my son IS a part of this family and so his feelings count – at least more than the mom of the kid at daycare whose name I don’t know who insists as she’s lugging a screaming infant into school to pick up her kid whose been in time-out all day that we should have another one. If it’s in God’s plan for us, we’d like to have another baby someday. I know that. But I’ve never thought about BBZ’s opinions or feelings about the matter. I never thought to ask him. It seems the older he gets the more he works his little way into every breath I take and every thought I have. For now, his requests present a great teaching moment where we discuss how we can’t always get what we want. Knowing how these things hash out in the end, I’m sure by the time we have little Rainnen, Unzel or Dunzel he’ll have moved on to just wanting a puppy. But for now, I just try to remember he’s three and doesn’t really understand how much this event would change his life - a dog or a sibling, that is.

Oh, and for anyone wondering, we are not the kind of people who find this story cute enough to actually name any real future children these names. Again, resume regular breathing pattern now.

New Smile

Usually, I do not avoid things. I like to deal with them head on, rather quickly. Get it out there. Over. Done. Move on. I don't have time for the drama. Rip the band-aid off as they say. I like to consider myself proactive. In fact, as I age, I've had to teach myself not to always act so quickly. My sense of urgency is one of my biggest character flaws.

So, the fact that I have not blogged about BBZ's accident is interesting to me. Maybe I think if I don't blog about it, it didn't happen. But yesterday, I realized that it really is not that big of a deal and best of all, it's over. I want this blog to be an honest and accurate journal that will tell BBZ about his life.

Of course, I'm also a full-time working mom, so I'm going to cheat a little...er, a lot. This entire entry will be directly copied from emails sent to family. In fact, I don't think this story will be news to any readers of this blog. There is no new info here. I just wanted the whole story in one place.

Sunday, October 3, 2010: I wanted to let you know that BBZ had a bit of an accident Saturday morning. He fell while playing on Campus. He wasn't running too fast or doing anything dangerous, he simply tripped - as all preschoolers do - and fell. Unfortunately he landed on his mouth and it was a brick step that caught his fall. He chipped his two front teeth and displaced the upper right incisor significantly. In other words, his front teeth are broken and the right front tooth is now shoved up into his gums. That displaced tooth was also rotated pretty badly, but the dentist turned it and it actually looks much better than it did. He also cut the inside of his upper lip quite badly when he fell. We don't know if it was the bricks or his teeth that made that cut. I'm going to find out today if that cut needs stitches. He bled a lot yesterday, but it has nearly stopped now. He is pretty swollen - more today than yesterday actually, but that should go away. We are waiting for the swelling to go down and then will be able to see if there is any nerve damage that will adversely affect his baby teeth or his future adult teeth. He can't have any crunchy food or bite into any foods for at least two weeks. This is because it could hurt him, but also because the biting action could increase the possibility of nerve damage. We will watch for certain things that could develop and try to make sure he doesn't fall again so the teeth have time to heal. His teeth could turn grey for awhile. Motrin is helping with the pain and should also help with the swelling. BBZ isn't really keen on ice packs, so we'll just have to wait for the swelling to go down on its own. As for his teeth, we are hopeful that the displaced tooth will come down a little on its own over time. But there is no way to "fix" his teeth. They will be broken until they fall out in a few years. We hope his adult teeth will be unharmed.

The "no crunchy food" rule is a hard one. It's especially difficult for us because he had just started eating really well in recent weeks. For the last year, we've been trying to get him to eat. He finally started and now we have to tell him he can't have his favorite foods (anything crunchy, especially raw veggies). Yesterday he was crying for a carrot; that was hard for us. He can have things like fruit, bread, and cheese as long as its served to him in bite size pieces. He can't bite INTO anything. We are hoping to use this time to teach him to like soft things like yogurt, applesauce, grits, pasta and cooked veggies. But we aren't certain he'll eat them because usually he won't. In the meantime, I am taking out stock in Kroger-brand Pediasure and in the very least, he'll drink 3 or 4 of those each day. We will talk to his daycare director and teachers tomorrow morning because they need to know how to feed him. I'll be supplying his food for school (which typically they do not allow.) The good news is that he can defiantly have cake on his birthday in two weeks!

I am so proud of what a strong, brave boy he is. This child doesn't complain! He was starting to perk up about 90 minutes after the accident and was really back to acting like his usual self by lunchtime yesterday. He has always responded extremely well to ibuprofen and I am so thankful for that! As long as we stay ahead of the pain, he seems to be in great spirits. He slept great last night and is happy as can be watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse this morning.

I am also proud of my husband. He had the unfortunate experience of witnessing the accident. He acted calmly and swiftly and I totally believe his actions helped both BBZ's injury and spirit. I expected BBZ to be much more afraid than he was when I saw him. His daddy made everything better for him.

We KNOW that an injury to the mouth and teeth is by no means a tragedy. Worse things could have happened to him. Worse things happen to kids every day. We are beyond grateful that his injury is not worse. Having said that, this is still the worst thing that's ever happened to HIM, so we are a little shook up, sad, disappointed, worried, upset, regretful, fearful. Our son, of course, is just fine. And that brings me joy. Mommy and Daddy will catch up to his good mood. I know as the days go by we won't dwell on what happened and what's to come.

The biggest blessing is our friends the Hardins that God sent to us in a coffee house right here in Chapel Hill in 2008. Not only are they true and dear friends, they are dentists! And Annelise is our PEDIATRIC Dentist. Daddy Zog called them right away - of course they were at the coffee house - and they met him at their home. Over the next 3 hours they treated BBZ, took care of us, washed blood-stained clothes, fed us, picked me up from the gym, let me use their shower, gave us all clean clothes...the list goes on and on. Their son is our son's best friend, so to have him right by his side was special too. They will never know how grateful we are that we didn't spend the morning in an ER or cold dental office. To be in their house with their friendship (and Thomas the Train on their tv) surrounding us was crucial. I know it was hard for Annelise to see BBZ that way because he is not just another patient. I know it pained her beyond the reach of her professional responsibility to reach into his mouth and turn his crooked tooth, but I'm so glad she did. She is a great doctor. It helps us so much to know they will guide us through the healing process too. I don't even know how to explain how wonderful they are...

Like I said, I know it will get easier and in the long run, it's not a tragedy. Daddy Zog already calls BBZ our "little boxer." We could use some prayers. Mainly prayers for swift healing with no permanent damage, for BBZ to be open to trying new soft foods, for no more falls for awhile and for Mommy and Daddy to perk up and to stop worrying about the future.

I've attached a couple of photos. The one in the cowboy hat is from yesterday and the one on the sofa is from this morning - he's really swollen today. I actually think his mouth looks better in the photos than in real life. Most of the damage is in the inside of his mouth , up under his lip and up into his gums.

Monday, November, 1, 2010: Just a quick update on BBZ's teeth. We went to the dentist this morning for the x-rays and follow up visit. She wanted us to wait one month for all the swelling to go down. The good news is that is right front tooth (the one that was displaced and rotated in the accident) is healing well and has come back down a lot. So, really it's just a chipped tooth. The bad news is that the left front tooth (the one that we thought was just chipped) has turned grey and has nerve damage and infection. It's still causing him a lot of pain if he accidentally bites down with it. This morning we were told it has to be removed.

So, we are scheduled for an appointment to have that tooth pulled on the 11th. The dentist will use laughing gas and a topical numbing agent, but will not have to put him under for the procedure. There will not be a fake tooth or anything like that in place of the pulled tooth. He'll just have a hole there until his adult tooth comes in. We are glad to go ahead and do this because it will hopefully prevent the nerve damage from causing damage to his future adult teeth. It will also eliminate the pain he's been having. We hope it will also allow his diet to return to normal because the limitations on what he can eat has had a negative effect on his weight. He's lost over a pound in the last month. Really, we are also glad to go ahead and do this and move past the whole ordeal. Just thinking about what they have to do to him makes me sort of dizzy and nauseous. But we are thankful for his overall health and happiness.

I've attached a photo of him on Halloween; you can see the grey tooth that has to come out.

So, we have some more rough times ahead, but we'll be okay. BBZ is definitely aware of the trauma and has his own fears, but I hope that ending the physical pain will help with that.

Thursday, November 11, 2010: Well, we are minus a tooth!

Everything went well this morning - and fast too! Daddy Zog and I actually waited in the waiting room, which was probably best for everyone. The Dentist said when she saw the tooth she was so glad we went ahead and pulled it instead of waiting because it really needed to come out. Said we did the right thing at the right time. She also said the other tooth looks good and although there is a chance that it could have to come out, she is optimistic that won't.

He stopped bleeding very quickly and hasn't shown any signs of pain or discomfort at all since then. We are giving him Motrin and that seems to be working to keep any pain at bay. We came home and played and then watched Toy Story 3 (Thank you uncle E! He was VERY excited to see it!!) Then we had lunch and a nap - everything as usual around here. He should be able to eat with his other front tooth in a few days.

We decided not to do the "tooth fairy" thing this time around and we are very glad because his tooth is pretty disgusting to look at and I think it would scare him to have that thing under his pillow. We won't be showing it to him. We did give him a gift in the car on the way to the Dentist with another that he knew he got to open after we left. Both seemed to be big hits as both were Yo Gabba Gabba products! Now he's busy practicing how he'll ask Santa for things. So cute..

Above is a photo of his new smile. Pretty darn cute if I do say so myself (and I do!) A lot of times I think we won't even notice it's missing.

Thank you for your prayers and thoughts. We are doing much better!

Halloween and October Pics

Whew! We had a fabulous Halloween weekend. Click on the photo below to see pics from Trunk or Treat at BBZ's School, my costume for work (Halloween is a BIG deal at work!), and our fun on Halloween Night in Aunt Katie and Uncle Jim's neighborhood. After expressing for weeks that he wanted to be a lion so he could go roar and after Sitti bought him a beautiful lion costume, BBZ decided the night before Trunk or Treat that he ab-so-lute-ly did NOT want to be a lion and in fact wanted to be a dinosaur. Duh, Mommy. So, what you see is the result of my late night trip to the craft store topped by an adorable hat he was given for his birthday. Not too shabby. Next year, I just might be forcing him to wear his lion costume.

Halloween 2010

And click on the photo below to see more pics from the month of October.

October 2010

Happy Third Birthday!

Well, it's a good thing I've started referring to him at BIG BOY Zog on this blog, because he is now officially three years old and certainly not a baby! We had a very full and wonderful birthday weekend last weekend. Dinners, brunches and breakfasts with family who'd come from near and far and one wonderful and crazy party at the Tumble Gym. What a great place for a party. You pay them, you bring the cake, the kids run around and have a blast, and then you go home. No mess to clean up! Click on the photo below to see pics from the party and some gift opening on Sunday morning. A special thanks to Sitti for the super cute "3" shirt and a special shout out to my very talented friend Dalis for the Cookie Monster, Elmo and Oscar the Grouch cupcakes. They were both adorable and yummy!

Happy Birthday, son. I love you more every second you are alive.

Third Birthday

September Photos

We had so much fun in September and then I totally forgot to post photos. What a great month! Click on the photo below to enjoy.

September 2010

Mommy, let's make a movie about me!

Family Photos

We spent yesterday morning with a wonderful local professional photographer. She took some amazing photos of our family. I can't believe BBZ is almost three years-old and we've never had a family portrait made. We were way over due. She shared some previews with us and they are posted here. The full set of proofs will be ready in two weeks. I'm so anxious to see the rest. Thank you Kimberlee Edwards!

Mommy Scare Me

So here's a little story. Daddy Zog and I attended a Murder Mystery Party last night that required us to dress like our assigned characters. This particular Murder Mystery was set in a trailer park, and so in keeping with the theme, I was supposed to be a sexy, scandalous tattoo artist and Daddy Zog was supposed to be a redneck, hippie, pot-smokin', musician just waiting for his big break.

We planned ahead and asked the babysitter to arrive a bit early so she could handle dinner for Big Boy Zog while we completed our transformations into Bonnie Sue Montana and Jamie Moon.

What we failed to plan for was BBZ's reaction to his parents in costume. "Daddy look silly. Mommy scare me," he said in awe. Daddy's wig was indeed silly and although you can't tell in this photo, Mommy DID apply three week's worth of makeup to accompany her big hair and black nail polish. Also not visible in this photo are the enormous tattoo on my back and the smaller ones on my legs. Basically he was a little freaked out, so after my three requests for a bye-bye hug were denied, I relented, telling him I'd see him in the morning when I was looking like Mommy again.

The conclusion to this story reminds me that my son is growing up before my eyes and that his mind and heart are growing just as fast as his hands and limbs. We returned home later that night (neither of us ended up being the murderer - whew!) expecting the usual report from the babysitter. "I almost sent you a text as you were leaving," she said. Assuming something traumatic had happened, I listened to her explain that my sweet boy apparently felt enormous guilt over not having hugged me goodbye. He was waiting for me to come back and finish the "game" and give him a hug. "I need to hug my Mommy," he said over and over to our wonderful sitter who ran to the garage to try and catch us only to see our taillights zooming away from the house. Then he progressed to, "I'm bad. Mommy no scare me. I need to hug my Mommy." Eventually, she felt confident she'd convinced him that he was not bad for being scared and that Mommy would give him a big hug first thing in the morning.

Yes, at this point, my heart was broken and I considered running up to his room and waking him with a super hug, but then I remembered that I was still dressed as Bonnie Sue and taking that action might just scar my little man for life.

This morning, I bolted to his room the second I heard him stir and was greeted with, "Oh hi Mommy. You came back! You no scare me" followed by the best hug I've ever had.

So, I learned a few things last night.

1) For this small boy, Daddy Zog and I represent his sense of "normal" and any deviation from this should probably be proceeded by some discussion and preparation. Oops.

2) He is old enough to feel guilt and shame, but not old enough to know when it's warranted. That makes me feel very aware and very determined to make sure we always talk about his feelings with him.

3) He has learned to judge people by the way they look. Hmmm.....this could be both good and not so good.

4) There is a lesson to be learned in nearly every situation. Last night's lesson: If you don't speak up, there may not always be another chance later. Even for a hug.

This morning, everything returned to normal. Lots of hugging, playing and laughing. And plenty of BBZ being opinionated and bossy, "Mommy, your fingers are black. I don't like it. I like pink. Take away the black." And so this morning's lesson was all about how fingernail polish remover works. Some lessons are easier learned than others, but all are important!

Denver

Being a PhD Student isn't exactly the best paying job on earth, but it is rewarding and offers some great perks like all-expenses-paid trips to cool cities for conferences. What's even better? When said conference is in a city where dear friends live. We recently enjoyed a trip to Denver - Daddy Zog for a nearly a week and me for a quick weekend. He enjoyed a conference and we both enjoyed a night out with his school colleagues and a weekend spent with my good friend Alison and her family.

Thank you to Sitti and Ainee for staying with Big Boy Zog for the weekend. We always enjoy a trip away and he always enjoys your undivided attention!

Pics here.

July Photos

Turns out we didn't do a very good job of taking photos in July, but we remember to snap a few during a friend's birthday party where BBZ enjoyed a bouncy house and birthday cake and during the VBS "show" during church where BBZ enjoyed refusing to sing with the other kids. (I have a video of this too but it's not worth sharing as it literally consists of 60 seconds of my son standing perfectly still whilst casting a disapproving look at the music director.) Anyway, click on the photo below to be directed to the album. Then you can view them as a slide show if you want to.

July 2010

Bye Bye Motionbox

Thanks to my great friend Jen who looks out for her fellow mommy-bloggers, I am aware that time is running out for my current favorite website for video sharing. The site I've used for nearly three years that allows me to easily upload, edit and share videos with you on this blog has apparently grown large enough to capture the attention of Hewlett Packard, and was bought by them. The downside? HP is shutting them down and offering no comparable substitute for the Motionbox users.

Mommy-bloggers unite! Thanks to Jen's endless research, we have found http://www.pixorial.com/ and -it's still early - but I think I might like their services and options better. There are certainly more steps involved between uploading raw video and sharing final product, but so far, so good.

Here is our test run. Let me know how it works for you, if you have problems watching it, etc. If the video keeps stopping, pause it for a few seconds to let the blue line run past the orange line.



And now to begin the task of pulling the last three years of our videos off Motionbox and uploading them to Pixorial...

Happy Birthday America

Independence Day Check List:

red, white and blue attire
coffee, lots of coffee
great parking
aunts, uncles, cousins, grandma
live bluegrass music
man on stilts
chicken in cage
$0.25 american flag made in china
walnut, pear, and gorgonzola salad
3 hour nap
aunt katie and uncle jim's new house
beyonce dance party
ice cold riesling & yeungling
split lip
blood stained shirt
wasp sting
grill that won't heat
cameras soaked by water
another split lip
yo gabba gabba
toddler picnic on living room floor
great burgers
homemade flag cake
more ice cold riesling & yeungling
fireworks in HD
Proud to be an American

June Photos

How adorable is my baby's most recent school pic? (Family members, your copy will be in the mail soon... I've gotta print them first.) On our camera, a visit from Sitti, fun in the pool, first trip to the movies, hangin' with the Cuz, and a visit from Uncle E highlighted BZZ's month. Photos here.

Big Boy Zog and the Weight Gain

This post is a sequel to Baby Zog and the Calories which I posted in January and can be read here.

For the last three weeks we have seen a wonderful positive change in BBZ's eating. He still gravitates toward crunchy/grainy snacks, fruit and dairy products. We still sneak high fat and high calories like cream cheese or yogurt smoothies into his daily diet. However, he has definitely expanded his "food portfolio" lately and seems more willing to try new things. For the most part he remains to be what I call a "food purist" - meaning that he'd rather eat foods in their pure form than foods that have been combined into a certain dish or meal. In other words, he's likely to eat a slice of bread, a slice of cheese and some turkey, but not if you put them together into a sandwich. In fact, at school he pulls the cheese off and eats it first; then he eats the bread. However, every now and then he'll surprise us in a major way. Last week he ate celery with pimento cheese and yesterday he ate an entire half of an egg salad sandwich. I about fell on the ground when his teacher told me that. Never underestimate the power of two-year-old peer pressure to make a kid eat!

The biggest change is that he consumes LARGER quantities of the foods he loves. We stopped counting his calories back in March because we found it to be very stressful and not all that helpful. We have a good idea of what he needs each day and lately he seems to be getting it! The anxiety is starting to wane and we are very encouraged. We can actually dine in a restaurant and just order off the kids' menu for him. It sounds simple, but that is such a great feeling.

Given this recent progress I was about as excited for his 30 month check up this week as I was for the sonogram I had at 19 weeks pregnant. We got checked in and Nurse Maria asked, "are there any issues you'd like to specifically address?" My reply was simple, "If that scale says at least 30 lbs, we have no issues because it means he's gaining weight again." Maria coaxed BBZ onto the scale and flashed me a grin that said we were in the clear. Here are the glorious stats:

Age: 2 years, 7 months
Weight: 30.86 lbs (60%)
Height: 37 inches (73%)
BMI: 15.85 (37%, healthy weight)

So basically, he's tall and skinny, but healthy and gaining weight again. We'll keep on keepin on...

I wouldn't do justice to my pride if I didn't also mention that after a robust five minute conversation with BBZ during which he told the doctor all about his friends at school and pointed out his colors, numbers, letters, animals and shapes - including his favorite, the octagon - our pediatrician looked at us and laughed and said, "you two are in trouble. This kid is smart." Apparently, he's even smart enough to know he needs to eat!

In The Trees

Being a one-car family (or in our case a one-old-paid-for-covered-in-cracker-crumbs-SUV family) actually has advantages that out-weigh the disadvantages. Saving money and a little piece of the planet is nice, but my favorite advantage is that we log some quality family time while making the rounds each day.

Daddy and Mommy go to work, and BBZ goes to daycare - or "school" as we prefer to call it. Since my job requires me to have a car during the day, I am the elected morning driver who safely delivers her men to their destinations. During our travels, we have discussions about everything we see, what we hear, and where we are going.

Every morning we drop Daddy Zog off on campus and about eight hours later we collect him again. The hours of his day are spent in an office, library, or classroom as he reads, writes or teaches. All pretty routine stuff for a PhD student.

However, a few months ago, as we were slowing down at our drop off spot - see photo above - BBZ shouted, "Daddy go to work in the trees!" Hmm. Okay. Sure Buddy, if you say so. But it wasn't a one time observation. Since then, it has become apparent that BBZ fully believes that his Daddy works "in the trees." If you ask him what his Daddy does, the reply will be, "My Daddy works in the trees. Yep, in the trees." It's hilarious! Yes, Daddy Zog's campus is covered in many large, beautiful trees; however, Daddy Zog has never climbed them, manicured them, or studied them. Moreover, BBZ has been to work with his daddy, played in his office and watched him work. And still, the "in the trees" theory persists.

But here is my favorite part: We fully embrace the theory. How precious to be a toddler and have all sorts of wonderful, creative and exciting ideas in your head! Who are we to take that away from him? At this stage, it's not important for him to know what Daddy really does. The daycare director knows where to really find us and that is all that matters. I wish I could climb into my small son's brain and attempt to follow the logic that led him to the conclusion that his Daddy works in the trees. Unfortunately, I'll never know how his little mind brought him to this, but I'm certainly not about to ruin the fun - his and ours - with the truth. Someday he'll know that his daddy is "a doctor, but not the kind who helps people." Someday we'll drive onto campus and his sweet observation won't occur. Someday he won't have any interest at all in where his Daddy works. But until that day, we'll let him enjoy thinking his Daddy is special enough to work in the trees.

Elmo's Green Thumb

BBZ enjoyed his first live performance show this morning with Sitti and Mommy. We took him to See Elmo's Green Thumb. Unfortunately, Daddy was on his way home from a conference and wasn't able to join us. My sweet baby was the perfect audience member, sitting in his seat like a good boy, clapping when they said "clap," waving when they said, "wave" and otherwise staring in a comotose state trying to take it all in. The photo above pretty much sums up the concentration he maintained through the enitre 90 minute show. He loved every second of it and spent the rest of the day asking, "where are my friends?" We just kept telling him they had to rest so they could do the show again for other little boys and girls.

Photos are here.

Photos of May

We had quite a busy month here in Zogland, and it was a month of many firsts for BBZ. First time holding a newborn baby, first time planting things in the earth, first time successfully posing for a photo for mommy, first time getting a boo boo that required a band-aid (a fate that, according to BBZ, also befell poor Grover later that day, thus requiring him to need a matching band-aid. See above photo.) All in all, a great month! Click here for photos.

School Boy

Thursday was Picture Day at BBZ's school. I don't know how the professional photos will turn out and if we'll choose package A or D, but I sure do love the ones I snapped before we piled into the car that morning. We even got a great shot of Mommy and her baby and Daddy with his little man. I couldn't pick just one to share, so enjoy an entire photo album here. I would share my heartfelt mommy comments about how grown up he looks with his shirt tucked in or how I'm wondering where my baby disappeared to, but I'm in the middle of what I've dubbed "The Most Productive Three Day Weekend Ever," and must be off to scratch more things off my task list!

I Wanna Hold Your Hand

When I was pregnant with Big Boy Zog I got loads of advice about how to handle pregnancy, child birth and parenting. But perhaps the best advice we received in those nine months was from people who had managed to get married, have children, stay married and above all...be happy. At its core, the message was, "Put your marriage first, above jobs, above circumstances, and yes, even above the children. If your marriage is solid, loving and on track everything else will fall into place."

My own observations on this topic could result in a second blog dedicated solely to the subject, but at the end of the day, I agree with this philosophy 100%. Of course as any parent knows, daily practice can be challenging. "Honey, I want to sit on the deck shile sipping wine and having an indepth conversation about our dreams and goals and the steps we'll take together to reach them, but right now this diaper really needs to be changed and there is spilled milk on the rug." So, we've learned to find small ways to stay on track.

One thing we are dedicated to is spending time together, away from BBZ. We were a couple for 11 years before he came onto the scene, so it's nice to reconnect and remember why we fell in love...long before he was the #1 joy in our lives. We grab dinner out on the town as often as we can, but we also like to get away for a few days from time to time. Since BBZ's birth 30 months ago, we have traveled alone to Philadelphia, PA; Boston, MA; Aurora, NY; Blowing Rock, NC; Biloxi, MS; Raleigh, NC (I know it's close by, but we were gone overnight so it totally counts!) and - this past weekend - New York, NY. Thanks to generous birthday gifts from my Mother-in-Law, we were able to travel up to visit Daddy Zog's sister, Deenie. We hung out, ate, laughed, went to the Met, rode the subway, and just generally had a great time. I kept telling Daddy Zog, "This is so fun...we don't have to worry about BBZ running out into the street, so instead you can hold MY hand!"

Of course, coming home on Mother's Day to our excited favorite person who tried to run up the down escalator at the airport when we saw us headed his way was just as wonderful as seeing Renoir at the MET or enjoying an apple martini while sitting rooftop amid the NYC skyline. It's not about one or the other, but a balance that makes me feel like a great mommy and a very happy wife. What else could I ask for on Mother's Day?

Click here for pics of our trip to NYC.

Daily

Baby Zog is a full-blown two-and-a-half now. In honor of this milestone, he will now be referred to on this blog as "Big Boy Zog" or BBZ. If he had any idea I was calling him BABY Zog, he would furrow his brow, shake his head and say, "No Mommy! I not a baby. I a big boy!"

Our Big Boy continues to be our greatest joy. He appears to be a typical two-year-old, but has a pleasant disposition and inclination to behave...most of the time. Most of my amusement regarding him comes from looks he gives me, voices he uses, or funny dances he does. These things are difficult to communicate via blog, but lately I've also noticed some funny repetitive things to share. He does something new just about every day, but like the rest of us, he has certain activities that work their way into his routine daily. A day spent with BBZ will most likely include the following:

Being told not to hug or kiss him.

A conversation regarding how his daddy works "in the trees." (We have no idea...)

A complete and utter meltdown if you attempt to put him into his car seat. This task is only to be completed by BBZ. ON HIS OWN!

Observing him consume milk, cheddar Sun Chips, and popsicles made from frozen yogurt smoothies.

Pretending to eat plastic ice cream cones with plastic cutlery - and being ordered to return to said activity if you stop too soon.

Watching and trying not to memorize Doggie Ducky Dinger Jamboree.

Falling for his claim of "I made a messy" and then realizing he really just wanted attention and the "messy" consists of one cheerio or pretzel he has gently placed on the floor.

Grover and Elmo dolls acting "not nice" and being placed in time out.

BBZ asking for a "listening sticker" for his chart - a reward he may or may not have earned, but will ask for regardless.

Two tubes of chapstick - purple, then orange. Then purple, then orange...

Conversations about Marco, his friend at school that he tells "no get me in trouble, Marco!"

Being served a piece of wooden birthday cake, participating in conversations about birthday cake or eating actual birthday cake.

Funny, unexpected statements from BBZ like, "Oh hi Daddy, whatcha got there?"

Innocent but loud observations at the park such as "that little girl has two mommys."

Stalling tactics at bedtime that are actually quite clever.

Impromptu statements of "I love you Mommy" that will make it the best day of your life.