E I E I O !

We've been getting a lot of mileage out of Old McDonald this past week. Zander likes to try and sing the chorus of E-I-E-I-O.

I started giving him milk and cereal in a bowl with a spoon. He loves that. He doesn't actually use the spoon to great effect but the meal gets eaten one way or another. For a couple weeks it was cheerios but lately I've been giving him mini frosted shredded wheats because that's what I eat most days and he whines at me for shredded wheat (he's got that demanding pointer finger down) after the cheerios are gone. In my laziness, I am skipping the cheerio stage. If the boy wants to eat shredded wheat, who am I to say no? The cutest part? He sucks the milk out of the shredded wheat before chewing it up.

This morning - being a humane 70-something degrees Fahrenheit outside - I did some gardening for the first time in two months. Zander understands weeding - you pull plants out of the garden. He thinks, I can do that! And so he can. Mostly he pulled on the chives, which of all the non-weed things in the garden, can certainly take the abuse and they are non-toxic and tasty to boot. (Come to think of it, I doubt anything in my back garden is toxic since it's all herbs... plus the rose, which has thorns.)

Then came the watering. I watered the herbs and the rose and the vegetables and the baby. He wasn't in full-on waterplay mode because he actually wanted to take a nap so he didn't get wet enough to even warrant a change of clothes.

Speaking of waterplay. Zander was jamming last night in a friend's paddle pool. Matt is opposed to the pool because he doesn't want to store it. Although I would prefer a durable hard plastic pool, I am willing to compromise and get an inflatable one so it will pack down smaller. Are you reading this, Matt?

Zander LOVED the kiddie pool! And I love it because, unlike with the sprinkler, he wanders off less and doesn't get me wet (picking up the sprinkler and moving it).

In a few more days he will be fifteen months old. Which means he has an appointment to see his doctor. We're sure he has gained no weight in three months although he is something like six inches taller and lots more smart.