Dinosaurs Eat Peas

The mind of a two-year-old never ceases to amaze me. Our "Zaniac" is quite the talkative, imaginative character. You can always tell when he's deeply focused on things or concentrating on new concepts because it's the only time he's ever quiet! He even talks in his sleep! He said his first word just before he turned 7 months old and had about a 25-word vocabulary when he turned one. I always thought this was more advanced for his age group, but didn't realize how unique Zane really was until Cruz came along. (He's 14 months old and barely says 2 words!)

Zane often asks you to say things in a certain tone or voice. He is very curious about life and it's surroundings; a two-year-old sponge. He seems to enjoy the act of conversation, but doesn't always know how to carry one. Zane: "Mommy, say 'Do you want to snuggle with Zaney?" Me: "Zaney, do you want to snuggle with Mommy?" Zane: "Yes, I want my blanket. I DO like my blanket to get snuggly. You can snuggle with Zaney."

Today's questions seemed to center around animals and what they eat. "Mommy, what do elephants eat? What do lions eat? What do frogs eat?" After about 15 or so similar questions, I was growing tired. Then Zane wanted to know about his favorite animal at the moment, "Mommy, what do dinosaurs eat? Roar!" I started to answer in teacher mode that some eat plants and grass and some eat meat..then the mom side of me had a better idea. Like many toddlers, Zane is at the stage where he feels that any green veggie is sure to kill him. So, I decided to tweak the truth a bit and told him, "You know what dinosaurs really love to eat? Green Peas!!" To my amazement, he was convinced and continued his "roar" and pretended to eat peas.

For tonight's dinner, we served those wonderful peas on his dinosaur plate. We did manage to get some of the peas down in between roars, but it was abruptly put to a halt when he said, "You know Mommy....dinosaurs eat ice cream too! ROAR!"