Decorating the tree.

A couple of weeks ago, Daddy and I put the Christmas tree up and got the house decorated. Daddy says if it were up to Mommy, we probably wouldn't even get to have a tree, but since we're willing to do all the work ourselves, Mommy let us put one up anyway.

Some stuff I know about decorating the Christmas tree: you get really dizzy sometimes.

Unbreakable ornaments are a good idea.

No, unbreakable ornaments are a REALLY GOOD idea.

GRANNY ALERT!!! Granny if you are reading this, you should stop. Do not proceed. The next video will make you all shakey and nervous, and we both know that's bad for your heart.

Daddy didn't put the ladder up quite quickly enough, and I tried it out. It works pretty well, but I need a taller one to get to where I need to go.

Our latest Chuck E. Cheese Adventure.

(Mommy's note: This actually happened several weeks ago, but Mommy's eye just stopped twitching enough to allow her to write about it. He was up in that stupid tube and WOULD NOT COME DOWN for about 45 minutes. Mommy simply cannot figure out why that place does not sell tequila - they would do jam-up business, for certain.)

Balloons!

Apparently, my Daddy works in a place where he can have as many balloons as he wants. It's true. He told me so himself. Occasionally, when he's feeling generous, he brings me a balloon. This time, I guess he was feeling REALLY generous, because he brought me one of each color! That Daddy. I sure do love him.

Christmas card photos - the outtakes.

Where are you, Aunt Barbara?

I thought you were going to keep this thing updated for me. What happened? Did you get too busy with the utility bugs?

Love, Zackie

147 (the number of pieces of candy I ate yesterday)

So, Mommy and Daddy have been telling me about this Halloween stuff for a while now, but I think they downplayed a very important aspect of it. We talked about the costumes, and the jack-o-lanterns, and the trick or treating, but we didn't really dwell on the important part - the CANDY!

But I'm getting a little ahead of myself. Let me tell you about my entire day yesterday. I was up early (too early, according to Mommy) and I got to put my costume on first thing! By the way, I was a superhero! Mommy and I went to visit Granny and Aunt Barbara, and I had such a good time there. Granny is so good at playing, plus she's pretty funny to boot!

Daddy came home from work early, and brought me a pizza for dinner, then we had to work out some of the logistical details about who was going where:

It's a good thing I was there to help sort all that out. Anyway, after we decided that all of us were going to go trick or treating, we hopped in the wagon for a ride! Well, I got to ride. Daddy pulled me, and Mommy mostly took pictures.

Then the real fun started. We went to some houses, and here's the deal. If you walk up to a house and yell "trick or treat," you WILL GET CANDY! No joke. It really works. Watch:

Daddy kept saying things like "Save some for later, Zackie" and other such nonsense. Boy, it sure is a good thing, he's cute, huh? I preferred the suckers. I got 2,487 different ones, and I fully expect that they will last through the weekend.

We were all getting tired by this point, and it was getting dark. It's a good thing Granny gave me some glow sticks to use. We may not have made it home without them. Anyway, we all had a great time, and I'm not sure why this all has to be limited to once per year. I'm going to look into that, and I'll get back to you.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Jack-o-lanterns!

I'm not sure if you all know this, but tomorrow is Halloween! I get to dress up and people will give me candy! How cool is that? Anyway, today, to get in the spirit, Mommy and I made Jack-O-Lanterns. They turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. My Mommy, she's good at EVERYTHING! Tonight, after it gets dark, we're going to put candles in them so they light up. Pretty neat, huh?

Hannah!!!

Some of you may remember my friend Hannah from The Boddeker Blog. Well, today, Hannah and I got together for a fun playdate! We did all kinds of stuff! We had a couple of disagreements along the way (is it a tractor or a lawnmower? is it a cracker or a pretzel?) but we mostly got along very well. We shared some hugs and kisses and juice and snack, and our Mommies got to visit a little bit, too! Here's how we spent the rest of the day:


We played on Hannah's "playground." And we jumped on the trampoline. We had a few spider and ladybug scares, but don't worry, we got it all sorted out. We spent some time admiring each other's footwear, and then we had a bit of an argument with a dog. We won. Later in the afternoon, we swam in Hannah's pool! Hannah has some mad swimming skills. I mostly hung out and played with a bucket, but it was still fun. Hannah, it's your turn to come see me. I'll have to come up with quite an agenda to top today. Thanks for the fun time!

Reminiscing...

Well, Halloween is in one week. I've been thinking about how my mommy chose my Halloween costume a couple of years ago. I was just a kid then; I couldn't talk yet, so I wasn't able to tell her what I wanted to be. I'll have to say, she did a pretty darn good job in choosing a monkey costume. I was really cute, even if I do say so myself.



Now that I'm older, my mommy asked me what I wanted to be, so I told her and guess what -- she got me exactly what I wanted!!! I've already worn it around the house some (a kid's gotta practice, you know). I can hardly wait for Halloween. It's going to be so much fun!!! I'd tell you now, but it's going to be a surprise. Stay tuned for more updates!

In case you noticed I haven't been around much lately....

Hi everyone. First of all, I want to apologize to all of my loyal fans who follow me so faithfully. See, it's like this. My mommy always helps me with this, but she's been very tired lately. She keeps mumbling something about the person who schedules her for work doesn't like her very much, and she keeps getting the bad shifts. I'm not sure what that means, but I do know that somestimes it makes her very tired. I think I'll recommend she take that person something for lunch one day, and maybe she'll be nicer to her. Also, sometimes when I'm tired, Mommy wants me to take a nap. Mommy, can you take a nap at work? It will make you feel better when you wake up; at least that's what you tell me.

Anyway, my Aunt Barbara is going to help me until my mommy gets some rest. She's never done this before, so I'm not sure how good she'll be, but at least I'll be able to get messages out to my fans.

Dancing ...er... King?

My friend Hannah at the Boddeker Blog recently showed off some of her dancing moves, and I thought I should practice my dancing skills too. Maybe with a little work, Hannah and I could take this show on the road!

Random scenes from a 12 hour car trip.

Well, SOMEBODY had to clean this mess up.

Last week, we had a crazy windstorm, and it blew down a bunch of limbs in our yard.

Daddy kept getting distracted by the pretty flowers.

Mommy couldn't be bothered to put the camera down.

So, once again, all the hard work fell to me.

It took HOURS...

But I think I have us looking presentable again. Good grief, who knew it was this much work to keep your yard looking good?

My last vacation post :(

Today was our last day on vacation, and on the beach, so I had a lot to accomplish. I wanted to make the most of my time. So...

I dug up some random things that only I could see.

I pretended that my boogie board was a kite.

I ran.

And I let Daddy bury me in the sand.

I wore my goggles and pretended to be a bird.

And I wore my cape and pretended to be a superhero.

I've had a great time on vacation, and I fully expect Mommy and Daddy to bring me back here whenever I want. However, I have to go take a nap now, because we're going out to dinner tonight, and Mommy says she doesn't want a "repeat of yesterday" whatever that means.

A "Running-Around" Day.

Today, we didn't go to the beach AT ALL. Instead, we went running around all over the place. The first place we went was The Children's Museum of South Carolina, where I had a great time!

I got to play, and explore, and mess with stuff, and nobody cared how loud I was. It was loads of fun!

We spent most of the afternoon tooling around Myrtle Beach looking for a shark that I could take home (long story - maybe I'll go into it another time), and then we went to dinner at this place:

And this is where it all started to go bad. Mommy called it "a complete and utter melt-down" and Daddy just looked confused and sort of sad... Mommy says that I must issue a blanket apology to anyone who happened to be eating there when we were there, and that I should send out a heartfelt thank you to the waitstaff who tried to console, cajole and otherwise bribe me with stuff so that Mommy and Daddy could eat. So, I'm sorry, and thanks. But good grief, Mommy and Daddy, what do you expect when you drag a two year old across the country? Little Mr. Sunshine? I don't think so...

Saving Mommy from the Shark.

This shark ate my Mommy. It Ate. Her. Up. Whole. One minute she was there, and the next, she was inside the shark. Daddy and I had to be superheroes and go in to save her.

Here, let me tell you all about it.

Vacation, Day 2.

We started the morning out at the pool. I didn't love it.

But I did love the outdoor shower.

This afternoon was the beach. I had lots of things to accomplish there. I tried to get all the water out...

And I ran from Daddy a lot.

Then I buried him in the sand.

Now we're back at the condo and in for the night. I'm shinier and blonder and really, really tired. I wonder how we're going to top this tomorrow?

Jealous?

Because this is what I'm doing RIGHT NOW!

Killer Zombie Attack.

(Mommy's Note: In case you can't understand what my adorable, loving 2 year old is saying, he's growling "I want to eat your brains." Now where in the hell do you think he learned that? As far as I can tell, our home has been Zombie-free for at least 6 months...)

Hunting with my Dad.

Stop laughing. Daddy and I really do go hunting. Here's what we do:

Through the open pantry door, we quietly and patiently stalk our prey. Decisions must be made, and things must be sacrificed. What will survive? What will become our sustenance?

Which of these delicious and moist snack cakes must give its life so that we can be fed?

Ding Dongs or Zingers? Zingers or Ding Dongs?

Oh, delicious Ding Dong, thank you for making my tummy full and my heart sing.

The blasted bear is back, and this time it's a POLAR BEAR!

My Grandma's Rice.

The other day, my Mommy asked me what I wanted for dinner, and I told her that I wanted my Grandma's fried rice.

Well, I didn't get any THAT day, but the next day, Daddy and I called Grandma, and we told her that I REALLY wanted some of her rice.

See, my Grandma makes the best fried rice in the world. Now, I mean no disrespect to the fine folks at the Eggroll House, who make excellent rice and who have gotten me through my rice cravings in a pinch, but really, Grandma's is the best.

So guess what? My Grandma must really love me, because she came over and brought a great big bowl, all for me!

I've eaten in for at least two meals a day for the past two days, and I'd eat it for breakfast if Mommy would let me.

Thanks Grandma! You're the best! Did I mention that I love eggrolls, too?

Personal preference.

According to Mommy, I have something like $1,458,543.90 worth of toys. She never seems to understand that really, all I need to have a great time is a stick.

They're mulit-purpose. You can poke things, hit things, and even pretend to be Darth Vader with a stick.

I never did find out what lived down this hole...

My stick even helps me take out all my aggressions in a constructive manner.

Mommy, save your money. Stick and I have this playing thing covered, ok?

Magical things.

Sometimes, Mommy has to go to work, and she lets me stay home with Daddy. And sometimes, Daddy makes magical things happen.

Sometimes, Mommy leaves for work and there is a completely empty spare room upstairs.

And sometimes, when Mommy comes home, she sees this in the room formerly known as the spare room:

Old friends and new.

Today, Mommy and Daddy took me to the play area at the mall to "run myself into the ground," as Mommy puts it, and while we were there, we ran into some friends!

See, a long time ago, when Mommy was a little girl, she had a friend named Karen. Karen and Mommy did practically everything together. They rode bikes, and played in the creek, and talked on the phone, and went on vacation (lost Smurfs and all), and loved Bo Duke, and ate lots and lots of ice cream cones and olives and Grandma Mary's spaghetti...

Now that Mommy and Karen are older and have kids of their own, they don't have time to do all that fun stuff any more. Mommy says that being a grownup is a lot of work. But today, I had the best time playing with Chloe and Zane, who are Karen's kids!

This is Chloe. She is six years old, is very, very tall, has beautiful long blond hair, and is just about the prettiest girl I have ever seen! She helped me to remember to stay inside the play area, and she helped me climb up things that were too tall for me.

This is Zane. Zane is 10 years old, and he is from Vietnam, just like my Grandma Johnson! Today, he showed me how to jump really high and really far from one thing to the next. He's really strong and really fast!

I had a really great time today meeting some new friends, and Mommy loved to have a chance to catch up with her friend Karen and Karen's Mom Kathy. We have to get together again sometime really soon! I don't want Chloe and Zane to forget me!

Learning to express myself.

"Toddlers sometimes get frustrated because they do not have the language skills to express themselves." - National Network for Childcare

Mommy used to believe that sometimes I might feel frustrated because I don't have enough words to verbalize how I feel. She helps me by reading to me, and teaching me lots of new words, and helping me to describe how I'm feeling. It's going well.

A few nights ago, Daddy suggested that it might be near bedtime. I wasn't ready for bed, so I used my words to tell him about it.

Here's what I said:

"Crap. You stupidhead. My no want to go to bedtime. I go sit over here on the couch and you yeave me ayone, ok?"

Mommy isn't worried about my ability to express myself anymore...

Proof that Mommy has too much free time.