Talking with Z

Zachary is 29 months old now, I just realized, and I haven't posted a lot of funny things he's done lately, so today I'll share some of the things he's been up to lately. :)

Z loves the Veggie Tales song, but doesn't know a lot of the words, so he'll sing random things like, "Cauliflower, sweebedour, halfaroub, Beggie Tales." :)

Things that make him laugh hilariously include:
Watching me get tickled by Daddy
The sound the elephant makes on his new alphabet desk toy - it is not really elephant like at ALL, so it made me laugh out loud, and now he thinks it's the funniest thing ever.
anything anyone else laughs at
when I say 'blorp' or other nonsense words unexpectedly
being called anything that he's not (Natalie, corn, a lady, etc.)

He loves when we're talking about something and he says a random word like coffeemaker. And then I say, "Coffeemaker? You're a coffeemaker!". "No, I'm not!" he laughs incredulously. Then we call each other coffeemakers back and forth for a while. :)

He is very specific when I ask him what he has or what he's doing - he'll say, "I have this red lid from the milk carton" or "I am playing with my robot toy". If he says, "I'm not getting into nothing" or "I don't got nothing", that's how I know he's into something he shouldn't be.

On the way to town the other day, he shouted, "Wow, look at DAT! It's a CASTLE, Mom! A castle!" It was just a house, but he has quite an imagination, I guess. :)

Z is getting so good at helping me with things - I often ask him to go cheer up his sister if she's fussing while I'm in the middle of something - and she loves to see him, so she perks right up when he comes over by her. :) When we got back from the doctor's office the other day, I had a wet diaper of Natalie's in her diaper bag, which I remembered while I was feeding her. So I asked him to go get it out of the diaper bag and throw it away in the diaper pail. And he did! And tonight he got the vacuum out of the closet for me while I picked up all the toys so I could find the floor to vacuum it- it's pretty neat to see all the things he can do to help me now!

Z loves lip gloss - he will take it and stick his tongue in it and eat it, it's so gross. He has eaten two tubes in the last two months!

Some days it seems like all I do is clean up messes - in the last week, I've cleaned up a pile of salt on the table, a BIG pile of parmesan cheese on the floor, and a large puddle of laundry detergent on the floor and two rugs, among other smaller messes, not to mention how many times I sweep the kitchen floor every day! But then there are shining moments like this morning, when he was reaching for something he shouldn't, and I told him to make a better choice, and he pulled his hand back and went to find something else to play with.

He loves to go outside, but doesn't like to play by himself - I had these visions of sending him to play on the porch while I worked on stuff in the living room & kitchen with the door open so I could see and hear him, but he will not have any of it. He tries to drag his bike or basketball hoop inside or just stands and whines if I don't go outside with him.

His favorite CD lately is the Music Machine, and he can often be heard singing, "Whirr whirr chicka bong bong".

Anytime you ask him what he wants to eat for any meal or snack, he responds with 'chicken noodle soup'. Apparently chicken noodle soup is funny. Yesterday I asked him what he wanted to eat for supper, and he said, "Lunch. I want to eat lunch for supper." and then laughed uproariously at his own joke.

Hubby and I will squeeze Zachary between us for a 'sandwich' hug, or we sometimes call it a 'burrito' hug. The other day, Zachary asked us for a 'lunch' hug. :)

Whenever Z is scared, you can tell because he announces loudly, "I am not scared. I am very brave. This is not scary." I set him on the counter to put his shoes on, and sometimes I forget to set him back down on the floor in the flurry of packing up to get out the door, and then I remember when I hear his little voice saying from the counter, "I not going to fall. I am very brave. I am not scared."

Riding in the cart around Wal-Mart yesterday, Z pumped his fist and chanted, "Wal-MART, Wal-MART, Wal-MART!" He is so funny.

Z always wants to know everyone's name, which can sometimes be rather embarrassing when you're shopping and he is shouting, "What HER name is?" of the store clerk and you shop in the same little local store every week, and you asked her name last week, and you can't remember....

One of his CDs has a song on it with the phrase "Wanna be an imitator of Jesus, I wanna be an imitator of Him" and I sing it all the time, because I like the tune, and I think it's a great reminder to imitate Christ. So earlier this week, Z starts asking to sing the 'Tater' song. I could not figure out what he was talking about, but I started singing the 'imitator' song later, and he said, "Dat's the tater song, Mommy!" All this time I thought I was imparting spiritual truths, and he thought we were singing about potatoes.


Oh, and so many, many more... he is always talking and chattering, I couldn't wait for this stage, so I try really hard not to get weary of hearing his little voice. :) My sweet Zachary is such a blessing!