Zen, Madison, Grandma and Papa

A classic game, enjoyed by many generations.

Celebrating Family Birthdays

Grandma Betty and Kelsey shared a birthday party recently in Schaumburg. Zen and Zion had fun playing with cousins--here are some pics and a video.

Not Like His Mommy...

Here is Zen on his first pony ride a few weeks ago, during which he screamed like he was being boiled in oil. I did manage to pry him off of me and snap one picture, but he continued his howling and attempts to climb up my arm and onto my shoulder (anywhere but in the saddle!) until I took him off the animal, thus ending his trauma.

During a trip to the Evanston Ecology Center recently, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to let almost all of the animals out of their cages to handle and play with them. It would have been a fine educational experience for Zen and his friend Bea, but for one problem--Zen was NOT impressed by mommy's animal handling skills. He was dismayed when the turtle stretched its snake-like head out towards him. The Madagascar hissing cockroaches made him scuttle into a corner, and forget about touching the gecko or the bearded dragon! He almost warmed up to the hermit crab until asked if he would like to hold it. His response was a violent shake of his head and a quick retreat!

Horrified by horses, terrified of turtles, scared of snakes, and aghast at arachnids...that's our Zen, who I am pretty sure will NOT follow in Zion's footsteps as a budding naturalist!

Snake Bite

Here is Zion's first official scar as a budding herpetologist. He learned a valuable lesson about getting between a snake and its food--and about not petting his snake when it's getting ready to eat!

Mom emerged as the hero after donning leather gloves and prying the 3 and a half foot python's jaws off Zion's hand, where it was trying to digest the meat between his thumb and pointer finger.

Zion recovered quickly and had a cool scar to show off at school, although I got an interesting phonecall from the school nurse the next day. Waiting for a call from DCFS any day now...

Zen's Haircut

This is old news, but I'm still posting the pictures. Zen finally got his curls cut off due to the fact that he was developing little rats' nests every time he lay down and had a lack of tolerance for having them combed out. We were a little haircut shy after his ugly haircut at Great Clips right before Christmas last year, so we decided it was worth the splurge to take him to Kid Snips. There, he was treated like a little prince, as they sat him down in a mini taxi cab and trimmed and styled his little locks. We resisted the temptation to buy any of the many cute toys that surrounded us while we were there. Zen came out looking more like a big boy and less like a baby (sniff, sniff). Here's a picture:

Lincolnwood School: Zion's First Day

Zion's New School

Here he is on his first day...a little nervous, understandably. His school is gorgeous! He's taking the bus for the first time in his life (boy, has that made MY life easier!). Mrs. Purnell is his teacher--a lover of books and science, hopefully they will be kindred spirits. He's only got one year here at Lincolnwood before he goes to the junior high down the street. Hope it will be a good one!