zeebob

This blog is dedictated to our son, Zander.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Don't Kick the Dog



Zander has a new imaginary friend named Friend. Waffle is still around. Zander mentions "him" occasionally and it's clear that Waffle is the evil imaginary friend who hurts Zander, picks fights, and generally hangs out in the basement. Friend plays games with Zander, asks for a snack when Zander has a snack, and can sometimes be implored to ask Zander to do something when Zander isn't listening to us.

In July we got a German Shephard puppy and although Uly and Zander's relationship was a little rocky early on with all the jumping and mouthing, Uly is growing and learning fast and she and he are forming the beginnings of a bond. Zander likes to lay next to her crate and pet and tug her hair. She doesn't usually seem to mind and she's play-attacking him less when out of her crate. Yey!

He's riding his tricycle really well. He loves Star Wars (we're on our third or fourth revival currently; he just showed me his imaginary green sword a la Episode VI). He asks me about once a month how to knit and we play a bit with yarn and needles. Matchbox cars are still ragingly popular. Z likes to watch Cars and line up his 50+ vehicles. He likes Legos and recently passed on his huge megablocks to his cousin Natalie and later that day inherited some much smaller duplos from his neighbor-friend.

Z recently discovered scissors and likes to sit for an hour fringing paper. The other big art discovery this summer is chalk pastels, which are not expensive and are way more satisfying than sidewalk chalk (but use on paper not cement). Also there has been painting. Learn from our experience: do not to bother with finger paints--they are overpriced and lesser quality. Washable tempera paint is much better. He still loves to draw with markers and crayons and will go on a Blues Clues jag for a few days now and then.

He's potty training in earnest lately. This has been going on (and off) for over a year but three weeks ago we got him his very own chamber pot and he took right to it. He spends a lot of time half naked while we're at home and does well at going to the bathroom without any accidents. The more layers (underwear, pants) we put on him, the less well he does at making it on time or even telling us if he's had an accident. That's rather disturbing. I guess we make progress and then plateau. I've tried chocolate and candy and, although he wants them, they do not motivate. We'll get there eventually.

The best part about Zander's development lately are the things he says. He's got a great sense of humor and can communicate it all the better these days. For example:

(riding in the car with Zander and Uly)

Me: Zander, stop kicking the dog!

Zander: I'm not kicking the dog; I'm petting her with my feet.

Uly on the day we got her, 12 wks old

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