Sewing!

Sewing!, a set on Flickr.

Joe

I've never been much of a pet person. I liked the kittens we had when I was younger, but only when they were kittens. I got a cute little kitty and named him 'Charlie' when I was 19 and after a month or so decided it wasn't working out so I brought him to my dads house and I came back to pet him once in awhile.

When I saw my kids love for animals it changed my mind, a little. As soon as Zeke learned to communicate he's always shown an interest in animals, especially puppies. Whenever he would see one he'd stick his tongue out and say "ruff, ruff, ruff", before he could even say puppy. He pretends to be one daily, getting on all fours and giving puppy kisses, even in the middle of the grocery store.
We finally decided it would be fun and a good way to teach them some responsibility to get a pet. We went to the pet store and after seeing the teddy bear hamster decided on him. For the ride home they put him in a little cardboard box with air holes. I held him cause we were afraid of what Zeke would do if he got a hold of him in the backseat. As soon as we started driving I saw his tiny little teeth in the air holes trying to make his way out of his little carrying box, when he ripped through enough to where he could climb out Michael held him in there, and drove.

Zeke's 2!

It feels like he's been experiencing the 'terrible 2's' for quite some time but Zeke's just now turning 2!

With his big hugs, "More, PEASE?", and his "Sowwww!" (sorry!) after you get hurt, Zeke can be the sweetest boy ever. He can also be quite the monster with the fits he's learned to throw lately. He screams (almost) as loud as Anna did and we're having some real trouble with biting, scratching and hair pulling. Anna seems to get the most of it but I got a pretty bad black eye the other day when he threw his sippy cup when I wouldn't put Mickey on. I'm hoping the 'terrible 2's' don't last too long since we got started early.
Zeke has felt like a toddler trapped in a baby's body since he was turning 1. He's wanted to catch up to big brother and sister for awhile now. It's so cute now that he's learning to talk, he copies almost everything they say. His latest thing is saying "Oh!!! Cool!!!!" after you tell or show him something. "Wassat???" "It's a book." "Oooooh! Coooool!". When it gets close to bedtime he asks "GOOO? Pawk?" "Go? Gym?" "Weeewoo!!!" (His interesting way of saying shoe). He's had a shoe obsession for the past year. He puts on any shoes he can find but especially Anna's high heels. When she takes those back it gets a big hair pull.

His birthday was on a Thursday, he spent the morning playing with balloons while I decorated his cake and for lunch Anna, Zeke, and I went to McDonalds to play and eat then we got him down for a nap so we could be sure he'd be in a good mood when daddy and Ezra got home (Ezra begged to stay home from school, "Please don't do anything fun without me!"). When they got home we had cake (Mickey!) and he opened his presents. He got a little balance bike, which he LOVES, Lego's, Choo-Choo book, Mario Kart car, Mickey car, and a Minnie plate and silverware. After dinner we all went outside and had fun playing in the yard, Zeke on his bike, Anna on the swings and Michael and Ezra shooting hoops. 

The Saturday after his birthday we went to Chuck-E-Cheese to celebrate a little more. It's one of our favorite places to take the kids. Anna and Ezra run around getting tickets and Zeke is fine pushing buttons and getting on the rides. He also loves walking up the skee ball and trying to steal the basketballs. They love watching daddy on the basketball game, the sirens go off and he gets tons of tickets from beating the high scores.