Zeeke was a real terror at school this week. He was breaking all the rules, talking back, ignoring attempts to discipline him, even hitting and kicking his teachers. They tell us us not to worry too much, that it's just a matter of waiting for his maturity to catch up with his intelligence, but it's been sad, embarrassing and stressful. When we talk about his behavior with him, he admits to everything he did wrong and seems genuinely remorseful. "Why do I do that?" he asks us, "I don't want to do that." The new rule is no tv if he gets a timeout, which bums him out, but hasn't fixed the problem yet.
Roughly 40% of the protein Zeeke consumed this week came from a jar of mixed nuts, which he became obsessed with and insisted on having at every meal. His favorite place to play was the storage ottoman that we use as a toy chest. He loves to sit in it and pretend to take naps in it (although he's under strict orders to never try closing the lid).
Saturday, Steve & Zeeke went to the playground and then music class, where Zeeke has gone from a little too shy to a little too boisterous. After his nap, they went to the library to visit Karen (and bring her home). While playing outside, Zeeke had a little urban safari, following around squirrells and birds that were looking for food.
Sunday morning, Zeeke & Steve watched videos of Komodo dragons stalking their prey and then took a walk down to the fountain. To keep Zeeke from climbing in and stealing all the pennies, Steve had to explain how people had tossed them in to make wishes, which only made Zeeke desperate to toss a penny in himself, a penny which Steve didn't happen to have, but which a kind stanger passing by was happy to give him.
That afternoon included visits from both Dena and Steve's parents. Zeeke had a great time reading, playing and acting out the story of the Three Pigs with them. Afterward, we walked Dena home and hung out at her house for a bit. Zeeke particularly enjoyed playing with and chasing the red laser from her new fangled level. On the way home, Steve and Karen started talking about when Zeeke's nose got smashed at school last summer and at first he was really curious about the story, but then he started getting extremely scared and nervous, saying that his stomach hurt. Seems like he still has a little posttraumatic stress disorder. When we got home he wanted to watch Frozen, which we had done for the first time on the day of his injury.