Apple Bottom Jeans, Boots with the Fur!

Manuel and Jayden listen to clean wrap in Manuel's car and when present, so does Zion. He is picking up so quickly now that we've got to be careful what we say, do, and listen to around him. The other day we were all riding together to get some ice cream and "Apple Bottom Jeans" came on. As soon as the music started playing almost in perfect harmony, Jayden's and Zion's heads started to bob (which I expected but what I didn't expect was for him to sing the words of the song, and on beat!), and Zion started in "She's got dem apple bottem jeans, bunts, wit tha fur, and the whole cwoud was lookin at her". We laughed for the longest.

Real Men wear Cowboy Boots!

Over the weekend we attended a black Rodeo in Tulsa and Jayden just had to be dressed for the occasion. The week before the even, he requested a pair of boots. I found some (Red Leather) at Tops' Shoes in Springdale's going out of business sale for only $5 a pair. I also got Zion a pair of black ones. They wore jeans and of course, shirts to match their boots. I couldn't find a red Cowboy Hat in Fayetteville, so when we made it to Tulsa, we stopped at a store and picked up a white one. They both looked so cute. Before we left the Rodeo, Manuel bought Jayden a rope to match his hat. I know we entertain his whims too much, but it was so much fun, getting them all dressed up and the event was absolutely a blast. We will definitely do it again next year.

Head Phones for Everyone!

This past weekend we hopped in the car and headed to Tulsa for a day of fun and RODEO! We have a dual DVD Player in the car, so I popped in a Elmo dvd for Zion and a Scooby Doo dvd for Jayden. Zion has never been interested in television and this time was no exception. He played with a ball for a good bit of the trip down and then fell asleep. On the way home, however, he had just gotten up (we spent the night and headed back first thing the next day) and was not sleepy. He was still uninterested in Elmo and having a fit to get out of his car seat, but then the most wonderful thing happened! He found an extra pair of head phones in the seat next to him and plugged them into his dvd player (he saw Jayden plug his in), placed the ear buds in his ears... all by himself, and was completely captivated. Can you believe it? He will watch the video with the headphones, but not with the volume simply coming from the player???? Not exactly sure why this fascinates him, but hey, whatever floats his boat.....lol. After that, it was a peaceful ride home. Not a peep from the back seat what so ever.

"Joo Mall"

Zion has never been interested in stuffed animals. The only toy we've gotten him to play with is a ball. He goes crazy over balls. Saturday we took the boys to Incredible Pizza in Tulsa before the Rodeo and Jayden has to have a custom stuffed animal. I thought, I'll take Zion over and see if he's interested in any of the animals and to my surprise he actually picked up a Red Monkey. We purchased it of course and I immediately gave him a name that would be easy for me to remember and the same for Zion. I called him "Red". A few hours later, we were sitting at the table eating and Zion was having a conversation with his new found friend. I asked him "what's your friend's name?" He replied "Joo Mall..." (interpretation: Jamal). From that point on, whenever he'd refer to the monkey, he called him Jamal. Where on earth he got that from I have not a clue. We don't know ANYONE named Jamal.......

"You ok Mommy, you ok?"

Zion can be just about he sweetest little boy around or a holy terror all within a 30 minute gap of one another. But this particular day he was being a sweet little boy. I sneezed and he looked up at me as serious as could be, placed his tiny little hand on my leg and said, "You ok momma, you ok?" I replied "I'm ok Zion". He kind of patted my thigh, then removed his hand and said "ok, mommy, ok..." and walked away. Awww, just melts my heart. Sweet boy!

1st Day of School for Zion

Zion is quite an aggressive little boy as he's used to interacting with people more than three times his age. We've been so blessed to have had Mrs. Perry as his nanny since he was 8 weeks old, but as he personality is developing, he doesn't understand how to interact with kids his age (he hits, bites, scratches, and pinches). He's also having a difficult time determining boundaries with adults. When he's given a command, he considers it a mere suggestion.... We're going to see if the structure of a traditional day care will help him sort this ideal of respect out. Today was his first day! We talked it up to him and was trying to be really super excited about it. We gave him a back pack and told him that he was going to school like a big boy and when Jayden put his back pack on to go to school we encouraged Zion to do the same. Poor little guy, had no idea what was coming. When we got to the school we let him walk up to the door on his own. He wasn't that excited to go into the class room, so Manuel went in with him while I filled out the paperwork. When it was time for us to go, he pouted a little and in the saddest voice you ever did hear he said "By Daddy..." His teacher said he did very well, he stayed all day and wasn't super anxious to leave when I picked him up.

"ELIJAH!"

Zion is so quickly becoming a HOLLY TERROR! He's so demanding and down right combative most of the times. He's bull headed. He considers your commands, mere suggestions and he chooses not to listen. Last night, I was watching American Idol and LiL Rounds was just about to perform when Zion started pulling the restaurant receipts off the stairs and throwing them all down the hall. I said "Zion, no!" as usual, he continued as if I wasn't talking to him at all. In a desperate attempt to watch the performance but get his attention enough to get him to stop I called his middle name "ELIJAH!" He stopped dead in his tracks and looked at me and said "momma, no Elijah!" Ha, ha, I got his attention. For the rest of the night, if he didn't listen to my direction, I called him Elijah and he listened. Now I know why parents sometimes have to use a kid's whole name. It gets' there attention. Who would have thunk it?

Hold you!

Zion has no problem verbalizing what he wants you to do. Just recently, he's gotten where he wants you to hold him ALL THE TIME. When he's ready, he'll say "Hold jew, momma, hold jew" with his hands lifted in the air. If you don't response the commands only become louder and more demanding "hold jew, momma, hold jew", if I don't submit, he moves on the the next victim, which is normally Jayden, "HOLD JEW, JAYDEN, HOLD JEW!" He's so big that when Jayden picks him up he has to sit with him until, Zion is done. Then Zion gets down and the both resume whatever they were doing before.