Happy Halloween

We had a fantastic Halloween. Every year I re-realize that Mahncke park is the happiest place on Earth.

We're with Her

I had the busiest working mother week of my life this week. It left me tired, occasionally exhilarated, and... tired. So tired that my residual tiredness means I can't come up with a better word for tired.

So, when Friday came, I was relieved to spend the entire day just mommying. I let Zahra sleep in until it was obvious that I was just keeping her home all day. And that meant I knew what our day had in store: we were going to vote. And run. We all know there's no better way to vote then covered in sweat and pushing a double BOB.

I let Zahra dress herself and she emerged from her bedroom in a purple tutu and girls rule shirt and I thought, "yes, my dear. I have done well with you."

We ran about 3 miles in a loop through Brackenridge Park and then headed to Lions field to cast our early vote. I voted for Hillary Clinton with a happy heart.

I voted for her, and Her, and my grandma and all of the women that I love. I voted looking to a future where Zahra's understanding of a woman's potential is simply an understanding of a person's potential. There are reasons that I'm excited for Hillary that have nothing to do with her gender but when I remember this day that's what I will remember. And someday I won't think it's such a privilege to cast my vote for a woman.

Note that we did not pull any Trump signs out of the ground.

Ziyan turns five months

This fabulous boy has turned 5 months old and he seems so big! He's up on his hands and knees ready to crawl around but hasn't figured out how to make it work yet. Every time you put him on his belly he ends up backing up until he hits the wall and then he cries because he can't figure out where else to go. He's got his chubby Brown Michelin Man arms and I love them. He's starting to laugh freely and happily with the joyful spirit that I can see radiating inside of him.  He loves singing, especially You Are My Sunshine and other sweet sounding songs. He vomits more than anybody I've ever seen but he doesn't cry about it. And he's obviously gaining weight so we don't worry too much.

Saturday Morning Discovery

Z3 Makin' a Move

Sometimes when you're chilling with Ziyan and you've got him on his back he gets an idea to make a move.

He begins by rocking himself into an almost seated position. I think with enough core strength he could stop at seated but he tends to fly right over seated into crouching.

Then he is sure he can crawl so he gets on all fours and wiggles his way around. He can move as far as three feet with this wiggle.

If I don't want him to learn to crawl I'm going to need to carry him in the wrap more often! He is definitely rolling all the way across the room lately!

And here is a video that makes my heart swell. What a sweet loving young boy.

Z3 Makin' a Move

Sometimes when you're chilling with Ziyan and you've got him on his back he gets an idea to make a move.

He begins by rocking himself into an almost seated position. I think with enough core strength he could stop at seated but he tends to fly right over seated into crouching.

Then he is sure he can crawl so he gets on all fours and wiggles his way around. He can move as far as three feet with this wiggle.

If I don't want him to learn to crawl I'm going to need to carry him in the wrap more often! He is definitely rolling all the way across the room lately!

And here is a video that makes my heart swell. What a sweet loving young boy.

My mini me

Once my Little King finds his thumb it's only a matter of minutes before he's passed out in the wrap. I love being snuggled to him while he sucks his thumb. I've taken so many photos of him sucking his thumb this week, anyone watching must think I'm obsessed with selfies.

Exhibition day at ALA

Zayd has changed so much since he started kindergarten. There's the things I don't like such as all of the new and more colorful words he has learned. Or his obsession with Pokemon and the way he talks about guns more often. But he also seems a little Freer. He seems more silly and more open to being a goofball. He reminds me a lot of his dad lately with the way he tries to get a laugh out of me. It's a less-serious version of the son I was raising before he started kindergarten.

With all of these changes I want to spend time with him at his school. I want to see how he interacts with the other kids and how he exists in this new universe that I'm not a part of. But I also want him to have the independence and the freedom to become whoever it is he wants to be at ALA. For this complicated mix of reasons, I was so excited when they announced a picnic and exhibition day this Wednesday. They've been working on a project called "who are we?" where the Kinder through third graders have been voting and working on a renaming project for the school. Groups of four to five kids made giant brochures to show data about the school, maps about the school and to provide a vision statement for this new adventure they're all taking together. I think it was a great idea and I was excited to come see what his brochure looks like.

First we ate lunch and he's already informed me that next time he wants me to bring a happy meal like Brayden's mom did. As soon as we were done eating he wanted to read books together which warmed my heart and reminded me of this sweet little boy and I know it home.

Then he showed me some of the work that they have displayed in his classroom. There was a book about each of the kid's talents and here is what Zayd said:

Miss Allison tells me that he stood at the front of the room and showed how he can make his hand pretend to be a snake with the head at one end (indicate by opening and closing his hand) and the other end functioning as a tail. 

Then there was the what is our favorite color chart. I love seeing that his square look different than everybody else's. That meshed with the Zayd I know. Can you spot Zayd's?

Next I discovered that there's one kid in the class who rides a scooter to school. Who might that be, you're wondering. That seems brave for a kindergartner! It's my son. Or so he claims. He was furious when I suggested that that wasn't true...so I let it slide. 

And here is Zayd advocating to change the name of his school to the X-treme Genius Academy. Ha! What a smarty!