Zach Knievel

Zach is definitely our little dare devil. Conner has always been fearless, as are almost all young children, but Zach.... well, Zach is another story.

I walked into the living room yesterday to see Zach standing on the arm of our big "comfy" chair. Not just KIND of standing there, but standing right on the edge of the arm of the chair with his back to the open air like he is getting ready for a back-flip. He is just standing there perfectly balanced and standing as straight and tall as he can. So, of course, I immediately tell him to "Get down from there!" and what does he do? He leaps into the chair. Not gently... but just..leaps. Then, a few minutes later as my attention is diverted, I turn to see him standing in the chair. At least he's standing in the seat of the chair this time. Then, before I can tell him to sit down again, he LEAPS the 1 foot gap between the chair and the ottoman to land successfully on his feet on the ottoman and make a flourishing little hand movement like, "ta-da, I did it". So, NOW I tell him, "Zach, stop standing and jumping on the furniture... get down!" and he immediately turns and leaps back into the chair before I can get to him. This isn't a completely new phenomenen. Conner has been seen leaping from couch to ottoman, to chair, to ..whatever and has likewise gotten in trouble for it. However, Conner is FOUR. Zach is 19 months old. I mean... ONE AND A HALF FOR crying out loud! /sigh

This little guy is a mess.... a MESS I tell you.


Well, this afternoon after lunch, Anita has to strip him down because he had pizza sauce all over his shirt and pants. In the meantime, I wipe down Conner and then he runs off to go to the bathroom. I go back to eating my pizza (I got a late start because mine took longer to cook) and Anita starts cleaning Zach's place at the table. About 30 seconds later, I hear Conner yelling, "I need help" from the bathroom. This isn't uncommon. This is his standard call for when he's peed on his underwear, the toilet, the floor, can't get his pants up, needs help wiping, etc. etc. Since Anita is still cleaning up Zach's place, I get up and go to his aid. As I approach the bathroom I see Zach step out of the bathroom and then I peer in to see Conner standing there with his pants and underwear around his ankles and he's holding Zach's shoe up in the air by the tip of the shoelace and he says, "Zach threw his shoe in the toilet!" I immediately and instinctively grab the shoe because Conner is holding it out to me. It is as I grasp it that my mind comprehends what he just said and my brain goes, "bleccchhhhh" and I toss the shoe on the counter. I look over and Zach is just giggling! Seriously, a triumphant kind of giggle too. This boy is TROUBLE. I can smell it coming. He's a little stinker and I think he KNOWS it.