This Week's Instagram Faves

I have had too much of people this week. These months, actually. It's nothing personal; I'm just an introvert. I was doing all right until Zinashi started getting needy again, and also until I went to a mall on President's Day. As much as I accept my introverted nature, I still have trouble asking for what I need because it seems so selfish. But asking for a morning to myself in the house is far better than being exhausted and resentful of my little family because I haven't gotten the kind of rest I need, so I asked for it, and here I am, still in my pajamas, alone. Zinashi was under the impression that she was being whisked away to the playground so I could get work done, but I haven't done any. I finished my library book, and now I'm reading blogs. It feels great. So great, in fact, that I uploaded some photos for you without feeling under duress. Enjoy.

Zinashi can occupy herself almost anywhere now if she has some small toys to play with. Here she has borrowed some little cars from her friend Amos and is playing with them while we wait for our friends outside of Safeway. She does similar things when we wait for public transportation, or while we are on public transportation.



We finally got library cards this week; we live just two short blocks from the library, so you'd think that we would have gotten to this sooner, but we just...didn't. Zinashi went to the beach with a friend on Monday and then watched Oceans, and suddenly wanted to know everything about "all the animals in the water beach." This curiosity is exactly what leads me to believe that we will do marvelously at homeschooling. She has such thirst for information; she couldn't even wait to go upstairs to read her books, but sat down in our little stairwell entryway to get started.



She won't always let me dress her, but for now she gets pretty excited about combinations I put together, particularly if they involve shorts. She added the scarf, sunglasses, backpack, and chicken (with sweater!) herself. I love this.



At the airport when we were meeting my parents, the woman who took our order revealed to Zinashi that she could order cold chocolate milk with whipped cream. At the airport, they do not have the kid-sized cups, so she got a tall cup. At other Starbucks, if we ask for a kid's chocolate milk with whipped cream, they put it in the kid-sized hot cup. This is not acceptable to Zinashi. "I want the one with the kid of the lid that goes," and gestures like she is forming a dome with her hands. I could say no, that she has to order the kid version, but I don't, because she loves that domed lid so much. Also, it's funny.



I am not the only one who has been worn out by our schedule as of late. Zinashi has been having a ton of fun with friends and with my parents, but it was apparent she was hitting the wall, and this was before we dragged her onto the Golden Gate Bridge in a stroller. Before we even left the house yesterday, actually. Still, it made for a very cute photo, and today she is fine, well-rested and happy to have breakfast at the bakery and play outdoors. That's my good little cowgirl.