bedtime prayers

Tonight in our hotel in Illinois during our fall trip, we watched Zuzu put her doll, Babydoll, under the covers in bed. She followed it by praying,

"Dear Jesus, God bless Babydoll as she sleeps."

Amen.

she loves her some Jimi

The girl has taken a liking to Jimi Hendrix. She gets near the stereo and repeats "I want Jimi, I want Jimi! I want to listen to Jimi Hendrix!" until I put the CD in. The first song produces lots of dancing (often in circles), frequently checking out her reflection in the TV screen, and sometimes a family dance party. The second song results in pleas for more Jimi. "Zuzu, this is Jimi!" we tell her. Sometimes we'll try other songs on the CD. No luck. She doesn't understand all the other songs are also Jimi Hendrix. By the time it's all over, we've repeated "All Along the Watchtower" ten times and she's stripped down to her diaper.

lookin' out for numero uno

FOUR. Count 'em, cuatro. That's the number of times in a row Zuzu has gotten right down to business and successfully used her potty. Never mind the fact that she placed the used TP on her head last night. And then sat her bare bottom upon me. That's what soap is for, right?

I am beaming with delight. My fears of hours in the bathroom with nothing to show for it are long gone. I'm thinking that this kid could be a potty training genius.

snow tease

It snowed yesterday. Our first mistake was telling Zuzu it snowed. We should have curbed our enthusiasm.

Our second mistake was giving in when Zuzu said she wanted to wear her boots. Even though this was followed by "okay, honey, but we're not going outside," it translated in her toddler mind as "Yes, Zuzu, here are your boots. We'll have a glorious time outside in the snow."

Our third mistake was allowing her to put on her winter coat and mittens, again followed by "you can wear them but we're not going outside." To Zuzu, getting on her boots plus the winter coat AND mittens, despite the warning, meant "Mommy and Daddy are bluffing -- score! Outside to the world of snow we go!"

The kiss of death was actually opening the front door to look at the snow. And locking the storm door. It's just plain cruel.

Are you kidding me?! But I have my coat on, and boots, and mittens!
This is the end of the world, I tell you! Horrible! Tantrum! Tantrum! Tantrum!

We apologized. Even today she was still asking for her sled.

z's boots

On Saturday afternoon Ty and I had a parenting faux paus when we both feel asleep -- one on the couch and the other on the floor -- each assuming the other was watching Zuzu. Thankfully it's taken two and a half years for us to make this mistake. Little Z was apparently delighted with the uninterrupted playtime, evidenced by the fact that when we woke up her toys were everywhere and she was in her own little world, flitting around from room to room and whispering to herself and her dolly. She had taken advantage of the opportunity to undress herself (thank goodness she kept her diaper on), leaving a trail of clothes in various rooms. She also went rummaging and pulled her winter boots out of the hall closet. Ty woke up in time to see her put her boots on by herself, which involved the following steps:

1. Place boots on floor.
2. Lean forward until head and hands touch ground.

3. With head on floor and rear in the air, step into boots, with the left boot on the right foot and the right boot on the left foot.

4. Stand up and walk until feet are firmly in the boots.

Later that day she had her first peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She loved it so much she ate all of my sandwich too. Of course, she ate it at the kitchen counter with her little legs dangling, wearing nothing but her diaper and her winter boots.

recent zuzu musings

Last week at Von Maur, with Zuzu in my arms while I try on shoes:

"Mommy, LOOK!" (Zuzu wildly points over yonder). "Those men are NAKED!" (I look over, relieved, to see the headless/limbless underwear manikins in the men's department). "And Mommy!" (Zuzu is shouting now) "I can see their NIPPLES!" (I put the shoes back on the rack. We leave the store).

------------------

Two weeks ago at Lowes:

Zuzu dramatically announces she has a dirty diaper. She awkwardly leans over a lawn chair in the summer clearance section and yells "popo!" Ty runs out to the car to get her diaper bag. While we wait, Zuzu repeatedly tells me what's in her diaper. People in the store stop making eye contact. Either they think I'm not going to change my kid's poopy diaper, or the smell starts to make their eyes sting. Ty returns with the diaper bag and takes her to the men's room. In the midst of changing what is reportedly a humdinger, Zuzu looks at Ty very sweetly, smiles, and says, "it was just a little toot."

why we say our prayers

Last night while standing in the kitchen:
Ty: Zuzu went down to sleep really well.
Jenn: That's great. Did you say her prayers?
Ty: Yes.
Jenn: Did you remember "God bless our house and keep it safe and keep us safe in it?" I say that with her every night.
Ty: "No, I didn't pray that."
Jenn: "Uh oh."


Just after midnight.
Thunder! Rain! Boom! Boom! Jenn and Ty both jump up and run to the patio doors. They watch the rain outside. BOOM! CRACK! Biggest crash ever. White light outside and through the skylights. Darkness. Jenn and Ty each say they think the house was struck by lightning. Zuzu starts crying and her alarm clock, oddly, starts ringing. Jenn and Ty grab flashlights. Check the breaker box -- almost all the switches are flipped.

12:45 am:
Fire department arrives. Thankfully without a siren but with a very bright spotlight on the house. Inspection, infrared camera, confirmation that we were struck. Fire department leaves at 1:00 am.

2:00 am:
Jenn, Ty, and Zuzu go to bed together.

4:00 am:
Zuzu starts crying and wants Horsey and Giraffe. Jenn brings them into bed.

6:00 am:
Zuzu starts crying. Ty puts Zuzu in her crib. Delirious with sleepiness, she repeats the word "dinner."

7:15 am:
Ringing. Where is it coming from? Jenn goes into Zuzu's room and discovers it is her alarm clock again. Zuzu wakes and says it has "loud bings and bongs."

8:00 am:
Ty and Jenn start writing down all the things that don't work. This light switch, that appliance... An electrician's call is in order. Jenn groans when the garage door is added to the list.

9:00 am:
Call to contractor to uncover second sump pump line (just in case). Call to siding guys to put our gutters back up (just in case), which they took down the day earlier. Call to insurance company to make a claim.

Later today:
We will buy some lottery tickets.

curlylocks

These pigtails make my heart melt.

little people

I found these two loitering on the floor in the corner of the kitchen. Guy and Girl were in a time out. They must've been up to no good. Rumor has it that a naked toddler escaped from bathtime wearing a bunny towel on her head and released them later this evening.

arts fest 2009

Last weekend was Arts Fest in downtown Iowa City. Great art, great weather, great food, great tradition. Ahhh, great fun.

goin' with the flow

Things were going swimmingly with our house excavation project until last Monday when the driveway came out. Ironically, one of the noisiest days of the project began with the pounding of concrete when Zuzu was sick and needed to stay home. Ty took the morning shift at our casa and called me around 10 am to say, according to our contractor, the soil under the driveway was horrible. At noon I came home and saw a vast expanse of chocolate pudding where our driveway used to be. Three construction size truckloads of goopy mud had to be hauled away.

Around 2 pm the guys knocked on the door with news. When they dug a four foot deep trench the length of our driveway, water started flowing down it. It turned out a river was coming out from under our garage. I could not believe what I saw; Zuzu’s rubber duckie could’ve floated down the current of this thing. Down in the yard water started to bubble up through a newly dug hole. These were not good developments. A test by the city indicated it was all natural ground water; our house was built on top of a natural spring. A friend who works for the city confirmed a creek, which likely went through our property, ran where our street now stands. The whole area was wetlands. The developer filled in the creek and built our neighborhood.

With more drain tile added to relieve the river and a few extra truckloads of rock, the concrete was poured:

We had the fun of entering the house by walking a plank instead of climbing over the front railing. Ty carried Zuzu across it; I think Zuzu would’ve loved to walk the plank but we didn’t want to chance having a little impression of her rump in the concrete.

It’s still an eyesore outside but we are hoping the regrading (and topsoiling, and seeding, and patio rebuilding, and retaining wall replacing, and air conditioner reinstalling, and…) begins in the next few days? weeks? whenever the piles of dirt around our foundation have officially settled. Zuzu can’t wait to see the diggers in action again.

diggin' it

Zuzu summed up our house excavation project by waving her finger in the air while exclaiming, “That’s a LOT of mud. That’s VERY VERY dirty!” After water in the basement twice, two failed rounds of interior drainage system installs (think jackhammers, concrete, big mess), a triple sump pump system running much too frequently, and a very big “etcetera” to sum up everything else, the only thing left to do was dig up around the house.

Three big digging machines arrived last week. Out came the deck, patio, retaining wall, anything living (plant or chipmonk), and loads of dirt to expose the foundation below the footings. Without wasting any time, they put in tile. One crew member said the water was "gushing" in and another said it "had a current." The gist of it was that it didn't sound like a normal situation.Also revealed was the original drain tile (incorrectly installed), crushed and full of mud. Lots of clay and sand. Lots of water at the footings. And oh yes, old pop cans and the original metal LOT FOR SALE sign with metal holder (what, doesn’t everyone have something like that buried around their foundation?).

As of today: new drain tile? Check. Rock? Check. Blackjacking? Check. A/C unit sitting cockeyed in the middle of the back yard next to a ditchwitch, a pile of dirt, and a couple of pallets piled with the stones that used to be our patio? Check. Toddler that wants to play in the dirt? You betcha. Next week: bring on the jackhammers, goodbye driveway.

highchair entertainment

zuzu has been providing us with plenty of drama lately. enjoy the show!

pop quiz

the marks on ty's head are a sign that:

a.) zuzu really likes the neighbor's dog.
b.) zuzu needs her fingernails trimmed.
c.) daddy shouldn't have zuzu on his shoulders when she could potentially get really excited about something.
d.) all of the above

los dientes

In preparation for Zuzu's first trip to the dentist, we talked about going to the dentist a lot. We practiced opening wide at home, took turns peeking in each other's mouth, and hyped up brushing (not her favorite thing to do).


I warned Dr. Elliott's office that it could be tough: a highly teary visit to the peds clinic once prompted a physician to ask if she'd ever had a traumatic experience at a doctor's office. Zuzu doesn't seem to like people in masks, exam gloves, or lab coats. No sooner were we in the office door than she began asking about the "speshul ice cweam" casually mentioned in the parking lot (promise, this is the first time we've bribed her). Then she was concerned that the dentist would be a rabbit since that's what one of the framed cartoons in the waiting room showed (certainly confusing to a toddler), plus I had to explain that unlike the half-dressed rabbit which she duly noted, Dr. Elliott would be wearing pants. Thankfully the waiting room was empty during that conversation.

She and her dolly were really patient through the whole visit. She pushed the buttons to make the chair move and sat on my lap for the exam:



She got a cool new toddler toothbrush which she loves to use:


She gave the hygienist a five:
And then picked out these sweet sunglasses from the treasure chest (Dr. Elliott uses bribes too):

And then we went to the mall for ice cream. She was HAAAAPPPPY!

walkin' around. neighborhood.

...that's how zuzu puts it. lately, we've had some great weather and have been trying to take advantage of it by getting in some strolls around the block.

here are some recent pics of our walking adventures.

yes, it is

Yes, it's underwear.

Yes, it's clean (right out of the package -- an Elmo incentive for future potty-training).

And yes, I do see where it is.

perfectly beautiful

A few weeks ago, Ty set up Zuzu with a paintbrush while I was out of the house. The results were amazing. The two paintings below were surprises for my birthday and I was overjoyed by how beautiful they were.

Zuzu's first time using a brush with acrylics:

Acrylic and watercolor:

Thanks, Zuzu (and Ty). Perfect, perfect, perfectly beautiful. :)

kickin' it with the cousins

Ama, Poppa, and the Franco girls visited today. Zuzu was so excited about their arrival that she jabbered all through her morning nap time and was on cloud nine while they were here. Her grin was huge. Since it was a special occasion, Zuzu and her cousin Ella got to sit at the little girls' table for lunch (no high chair). Ella sat in her chair on her bottom, ate her pizza quietly, and used a napkin. Zuzu, hopped up on excitement, talked all through lunch. Notice I didn't say anything about sitting on a chair or using a napkin. Later the two of them enjoyed a little snack together following a good old fashioned tea party.

She had such a great day playing with family that she had a short meltdown after everyone left (not surprising), took off all her clothes and ran around in her diaper saying "cousins!" and fell asleep in her high chair in the middle of dinner (so tired she barely ate). She went from high chair to crib still asleep a little after 7:00 pm. Amazing.

valentine's day love

our valentine's day was full of zuzu's love and sweetness. here's a little taste of what we got to enjoy this morning from our favorite valentine...



we are the luckiest people in the world, without a doubt!

in our fridge

Zuzu likes to hang out in the fridge -- she opens the door, we hear a lot of giggling, and usually one of us has to drag her away from it. This has been known to last for up to ten minutes at a time. Somehow she doesn't mind the cold inside the fridge. I even tied a bell from Greg and Holly's wedding on the fridge door so we'd know when she opened the door, but she does it so much now that I'm immune to the jingle. Last night I went to grab a glass of juice and found a caterpillar instead.

from my babe's mouth

This afternoon after lunch I was cleaning in the kitchen while Zuzu played in the next room. I heard her say, "Even. Even! Even bite!"

I was delighted to see that she had her children's Bible open and was looking at pictures from the story of Adam and Eve --- and was talking about Eve taking a bite of the apple.

Then she pointed to Adam and said, "Burp! Amen!"

getting some "Z" before getting some ZZZs

nighttime has been pretty entertaining at our home lately. watching zuzu play freely, explore, discover, and generally have a good time is way better than watching the latest reality tv show, so i thought i'd give you a taste of some of what she's been up to.

zuzu's christmas 2008

check out this slideshow of images from zuzu's christmas experience.