December, our third month home with Zeke, has seen several “firsts.” This was Zeke first foray into the world of rabbits, his first Christmas, and his first major snowstorm. All brought out facets of Zeke that further serve to showcase his personality and character.
First, with regards to the rabbits, we had mentioned last month that Zeke seemed to really like animals. His brothers Ed and Joe, and sister Emily, each added a rabbit to the family. Ed and Joe’s rabbits are Netherland Dwarfs and Emily’s is a Holland Lop. These three rabbits are actually the older kids’ 4-H projects and seem to spend a fair amount of time hopping around the house. If the rabbits are out of their hutches, Zeke is sure to be close by. He loves petting and holding the rabbits, is very interested in all aspects of their care and feeding, and is pretty much “involved.” We’ve found that he loves attending the kids’ 4-H meetings and will flip this spring when we add Emily’s Navajo-Churro Sheep and Joe’s Nigerian Dwarf Goats to the mix. What fun he’ll have just experiencing all these things.
As for Christmas, Zeke was not sure at first about the tree in the house, but took great pleasure in telling Hana, “no touch.” Regardless of those warnings, there was a lot of touching of ornaments and the tree, not to mention the presents underneath. Then Christmas morning rolled around and he was speechless. In our house only a handful of presents show up under the tree before Christmas morning. On Christmas morning, though, it’s pretty impressive. Even if everyone just got a few gifts, when you multiply that number by five children, two parents, a grandmother who lives with us, and various other relatives, it’s a big pile. Then add five stockings, all the lights, a fire in the wood burning stove, and it’s a pretty neat site. Overall, Zeke had a great day and loved opening presents. He encouraged others to open their presents, shared his toys with his brothers and sisters, who also shared with him, and thoroughly enjoyed himself. We also spent quite a bit of time talking about the true meaning of Christmas, but it’ll be a while before Zeke understands the birth of Christ and the significance of the day. It’ll come in time.
And then there was the snowstorm. Zeke has now experienced snow several times at our home in New Mexico, but he can now say that he has been in a fairly significant snow storm. Just before Christmas, New Mexico and Colorado were hit with a snow storm that left about 8 inches of snow at our house. It was great, didn’t really cause us any inconvenience, and allowed the kids to have some great fun outside in the snow sledding and playing. At this time we learned that Zeke and sleds are not a good combination. In fact, Joe and Ed decided to take Zeke and Hana down the hill on sleds and, from the screaming and tears, you would have thought the two little ones were being sent to their deaths. After the second trip down the hill, with more crying and an attempt by Zeke to vault off the sled in mid-run (Joe caught him), we decided that sledding was possibly not their thing. We will continue trying, though. Then, right after Christmas, before our earlier storm remains were gone, we were hit again. This time the snow totals approached 3 feet and we were snowed in. In fact, most of New Mexico was snowed in and it took several days to clear enough snow to be able to venture out. Again, Zeke and Hana were less than impressed with the snow. We’ve learned they like the snow in small amounts and they don’t want to see a sled anywhere near their location. Over time, though, we’ll keep working on these two and will, hopefully, teach them to enjoy the winter season, the snow that it brings, and all the outdoor fun just waiting for them. Until, then, we’ll have to be sensitive to their concerns as we send them careening down the hills with their siblings.
All is going well and we continue to thank you for your prayers for Zeke and our family. We’ll do one more update for Zeke in January and close with his 3rd birthday. We hope you had a Merry Christmas and have a very happy New Year. Blessings to all of you from the Allen family: Steve, Heather, Ed, Joe, Emily, Hana and Zeke.
What a handsome young man
Zeke having fun at a 4-H meeting
Zeke checking out something cool in his stocking
Zeke on his Sit-n-Spin Christmas morning
Zeke driving his new fire engine
Hana and Zeke checking out their first snowfall of the year
