on zander

...a few things about Zander, so I never forget.

~ I forget that he's only 16 months old. There's just something pretty deep that goes on behind those eyes.

~ I simply cannot get over how independent he is. He wants to be outside all the time and much to our surprise, he doesn't really don't care where we are when he's out. This farm is about 400 acres and we have endless trails to go walking on. Nate took him out the other day and sort of hid for about 15 minutes at a time, all while Z was still within his sight, and Zander happily toddled around exploring and never once looked around to see where Daddy was. Amazing.

~ The boy is also fearless. He'll walk right into the horse pasture and think nothing of it. And he LOVES dogs. There are two here, one of which is huge, but there's no fear whatsoever. There is a stream that runs through the property and the boy is drawn to it like a magnet. He needs constant guiding to keep him from walking/falling right into it.

~ I do believe this boy is going to be musical. He's always banging on a drum or tambourine or playing a recorder or harmonica. Sometimes all of the above, simultaneously.

~ He makes the cutest, surprisingly accurate noise when asked what a horse says.

~ Even still, when encouraged to say 'Mama' he always says "Dada", with a sly grin. 

~ The smell of his head is just intoxicating, except for when it smells like butter after a good waffle smear. I'm sure it's just a mother thing.

~ I'm in love with our independent, fearless little man. He's awesome.

Being a trooper during the worst teething week ever. photo by Andy Johanson

photo by Andy Johanson

photo by Andy Johanson

photo by Andy Johanson

See? On the drum, harmonica in hand.

A chilly day but he insists in being in the water.

Haircut!

got ramps?

We've got them as far as the eye can see.

wordless wednesday ~ happiness

baby's first worm

Well, I guess this was bound to happen. . . 

a chat with aunt Sam

We handed Zander the phone when his Aunt Sam called and he surprised us by having a 'conversation'. Too funny.

love

I know a little boy who's in love with his new home.

change your life

and here we are

Our boy was just not himself. That infectious smile that warms our hearts each day was gone and in it's place was a fever and many, many tears. It didn't take long to realize that Zander was getting his first molar. And it was rough. For all of us.

Unfortunately, we had arranged to start moving then but with a sad, feverish, clingy toddler who we just couldn't make happy, we simply had to postpone a few days. He just needed our love and full attention. In addition, we're sure he was picking up on our moving stress and anxiety and that he was confused about all of the packing and boxes. It was hard on all of us. The good news is that we made it here and all is well. Z's working on his second and third molars now and things seem to be going much better this time.

It was both wonderful and overwhelming to be reunited with all of our belongings which have been in storage for seven months. There's nothing quite like a move to bring you right back down to reality when you think you're living simply. There's just so. much. stuff. We weren't in the best frame of mind when we were packing to leave the last place, so going through things then wasn't an option. The good news is that we're in a relaxed space now where we can go through things and weed out what we don't want or need.

That brings me to this place. Oh, this place. We don't own it, nor do we think we'll be here for any great length of time, but it's magical and it's just what the three of us need right now. It's beautiful and so, so quiet. Zander loves it here. I mean, the boy would live outside if we let him. He cries when it's time to bring him inside. As soon as we moved here, his molar finished coming through, he started dancing, talking a lot (ok, rambling) and just blossoming into this whole new kid. In fact, we all did a little bit of blossoming. I think we all needed it.

The deal here is that we help take care of the animals and in exchange, we have a cute little house and ridiculously low rent. We also have a huge garden which we've been busy preparing. We're still undecided as to what kind of farming we'll be doing here. We're taking our time considering the logistics of it all. More on that later.

For now, we're just enjoying our days.

For now, life is good.