our week with zeeke

Zeeke's teacher created a monster this week when she described his dancing as "so freaking cute." Now it's his new go-to phrase.  "I'm going to eat striped dumplings and they're gonna make me so freaking cute!"

Tuesday, after school we went to his friend Zoe's apartment to celebrate her mother Nadine's birthday.  On the walk home, he and Delano used a fallen awning as a sled.

Wednesday, Lettie was at Purple Flower Mountain with her new baby sister Winnie.  

Saturday morning, Zeeke slept in til 7:45 this morning! Bliss!!!  After breakfast he invented some new sea creatures: the accordion seahorse, the sea tarantula, the jack-knived whale (with the cut-up tail), the dignified ringtail dolphin, the pinefish, the flying goldfish, and the balloon fish.  Steve & Zeeke went to the zoo where they discovered two new animals they hadn't run into (the okapi and the river hog), then met up with Matt & Moira.  After the zoo, we zoomed back to have lunch at Birra with Karen, Kim, Jen & the twins.  After lunch, the boys had popsicles.  

The new thing to do at Purple Flower Mountain is to explore The Jungle (formerly known as the Treasure Room and/or the patch of tall weeds).  

Monday was Memorial Day, but nobody in the house felt like changing out of their pyjamas so we bailed on the parties and just ate hot dogs at home.  

Friday evening, Steve had to make a surprise trip to check on his parents at the hospital (everything turned out fine), but Delano's parents Kate & Ali picked Zeeke up from school for us and took him to Purple Flower Mountain.  When Karen caught up with them, she and Zeeke went to P'unk Burger for dinner and video games.

Saturday, ZoomDance had a free event at Gold Star Park.  Zeeke was reluctant to participate at first, but soon he was dancing and having a blast.

Sunday, we went to the Wheat Beer Fest at the Point Breeze Pop Up Garden.  Zeeke liked the music and discovered that he really likes beer.  His preference was for Monkey Knife Fight (an APA from Rubicon).

Tuesday was picture day at Zeeke's school.  Zeeke gave demonstrations of his smiling performance at Purple Flower Mountain.

Friday was a half day because of Memorial Day weekend.  Zeeke, Amelie & Lettie got together in the late afternoon for a backyard pool party.

Saturday, Omi came by for a visit and treated us to lunch at P'unk Burger.

Sunday was Zeeke's birthday party (three weeks late) at Smith Playground.  The kids had a blast playing and going down the big slide.  At Zeeke's request, Steve made a rainbow unicorn cake (which made most of the adults think of The Godfather).  After his nap, Steve & Zeeke went to the playground.

Conversations with Zeeke: 

 "Why aren't you in bed, Zeeke?"
"Daddy, what's that on your computer?"
"It's a kinemassic field generator. A guy in 1971 thought it could generate a gravitational force field that would make objects lighter."
"And nobody knows what color it is!"
"No, I guess not. This is just the schematics for it. I doubt it was ever built."
"I know what colors it is. Can I color it?"
"Sure, we'll print one out for you."

"Zeeke, don't bite me!"
"Oh, sorry, Daddy, I thought you were a cookie."
"Promise me you're going to stop biting people, buddy."
"Ugh... I'm tired of arguing with you about this, Daddy."

"Mommy, I love you too much!"
"I love you too much!"
"Mommy, that's my line."

Tuesday, we picked Zeeke up from school and took him shoe shopping.  After making the poor salesclerk fetch the same two styles of shoe in many, many colors, the temperamental young man chose red Chucks.

On Wednesday, after school and a quick trip to Purple Flower Mountain, we went shopping for a helmet to wear with his new scooter.  As an art lover, he was sorely tempted by black helmet that you can decorate with special markers, but in the end he went with the black helmet covered in red flames.  

Thursday, we did a little scooter practice on the way to Purple Flower Mountain.  The quest for self-propulsion faded after about half a block and we walked the rest of the way.

Saturday was rainy and Zeeke was keen on having a lazy day.  Dressed in pyjamas, we watched cartoons, painted some watercolors, and ate leftover pizza.  After his nap, Yasmeen, Asif & Sofiya came by for a surprise visit.  They tried to tempt us out of the house, but Zeeke wasn't having it.  After that, we popped some corn and watched the movie "Happy Feet."

Sunday morning, Zeeke got the perfect birthday present.  The night before Karen had won a bucket of art supplies at a charity auction.  He was enraptured by every item.  Steve & Zeeke went to the zoo with Nick, Nadine & Zoe and Asif & Jawaad.  Zeeke was disappointed that the vampire bats were on vacation and so excited to see the bird migration movie (for the sixth time) that he could barely look at animals along the way.  After his nap, he managed to use every item from his art bucket.

Conversations with Zeeke:

"And were the baby birds hungry, Daddy?"
"Yup, so the mama bird came over and fed them."
"And what was the food?"
"Regurgitated worms. Does that sound good?"
"No, regurgitated worms sounds rotten. I only like plain worms with no regurgitating on them."

Zeeke got a new scratch pad for his birthday (thanks, Pop-Pop & Gigi!) and got right back into his favorite addiction this week.  He didn't care about eating or playing or even watching television, as he wildly scratched away, revealing the hidden pictures.

Thursday, the kids were had fun "helping out" at the public garden next to Purple Flower Mountain, then Steve & Zeeke went to P'unk Burger with Jen & Amelie and Katy & Odin.  On the way home, they ran into Erin & Everett and hijacked his wagon for a ride.

Saturday morning, Steve & Zeeke went to an event called Art in the Open Philadelphia.  There were a lot of artists working on projects along the Schuylkill River Trail happy to chat with us about what they were making.  At the kids craft area, Zeeke made bags of liquid color, sketches of a nautilus shell, colorful pom-poms, a mask covered in purple flowers, a dragon tongue bean necklace, a pinwheel, and a hand-painted cardboard tube fish.  He loved it.  After refusing to take a nap, he & Steve joined Lettie & her grandmother Eileen at the playground.

Sunday morning, Karen & Zeeke let Steve sleep in, then Steve & Zeeke headed out to the zoo where they ran in to Tara, Matt & Moira.  Zeeke rode a camel, a pony, a train, a dinosaur statue, and the carousel (twice).  After another non-nap, it was back to the playground!

Conversations with Zeeke:

"Mommy, I'm counting in my head!  Can you hear me?  Now I'm singing in my head!  I'm singing 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star!'"

Zeeke is now four years old!  

Thursday, Steve picked him up from school early and took him to his first dental checkup.  He did great!  Karen had read him a book about going to the dentist the night before so he was all prepared.  He watched the fish tank in the waiting room, chose marshmallow-flavored fluoride treatment, and was positively giddy when he got to choose a prize from the prize box.  After the dentist, they went to the playground at Marconi park to play.

Friday, we brought a cake (yellow with chocolate frosting and lots of rainbow jimmies) into school for him to celebrate with his friends at school.  After climbing some trees at Purple Flower Mountain, Steve & Zeeke went to P'unk Burger for dinner.  Zeeke played old arcade games and drank a chocolate milkshake.

Saturday morning, Steve & Zeeke painted some watercolors and went to the comics shop for Free Comic Book Day.  Zeeke was especially fond of a Sonic the Hedgehog comic that he insisted we read three times in twenty-four hours.  In the afternoon, they went to the playground where they hung out with his pal Lazlo and chased bubbles.

Sunday was Zeeke's birthday.  It was back to the playground in the morning, then we all hopped into the car and headed to Jersey.  Zeeke had been asking for a happy meal, so we stopped at McDonalds for a special treat on the drive.   We met up with Omi, Sarah, Riley & Bella for a showing of Zootopia, then went back to Sarah's house for a Mother's Day bar-be-que and a donut cake for Zeeke's big day.  Zeeke even ate grilled clams!

Conversations with Zeeke:
"Daddy, I dreamt about a dragon that knocked over a bowl of pencils. And the pencils broke. And there were people there and they yelled, 'That dragon broke those pencils!' and they sent him away to another house in Australia. And in Egypt."

Monday, instead of Purple Flower Mountain, Steve & Zeeke went to Tolentine after school.  It made for a nice change of pace.  Zeeke, Sadie, and Esme raced around, using benches and planters as an obstacle course.  At one point, they discovered a jump rope tied to a tree and amazed the adults with how many games they played using it.  

Saturday afternoon, Steve & Zeeke went to a kite festival at Penn Treaty Park.  Zeeke did a great job decorating his kite, but there wasn't much wind at first so he had to run around to keep it in the air.  He enjoyed the playground there, but it wasn't half as compelling as climbing around on the rocks along the river.  While doing that, we met up Katie, Dave & Greta.  Greta & Zeeke had a fun time playing together.  Just as the festival was coming to an end, the wind finally picked up and we got Zeeke's kite way up in the air, which was awesome.  When Karen got off work, she hopped a train to fishtown and we all went out for barbeque at Fette Sau.  Zeeke was a little rambunctious there until we discovered the chalk board by the bathrooms.  After that, Zeeke & Greta had a ball drawing machines.

Sunday, we went over to Jen & Kim's house for Dena's (slightly late) Passover Seder.  Zeeke enjoyed his meal and had a great time playing with Jack, William, and Moira.  

Conversations with Zeeke:
"Freddy is a dinosaur that lives in my backyard. But he moved away to a cave full of lava."
"Did he like it there?"
"No, got hurt there, so he came back. Then he left and went to an ice world. But he died and I miss him soooo much!"
"That's so sad!"
(moment of silence)
"Do you want to hear about my other dinosaur?"

Driving up Columbus Boulevard with the windows down:
"What's that bad stink? It smells like dirty sheets and rotten tacos!"

Our afternoon trips to Purple Flower Mountain have been including more and more time at the community garden next door as the kids "help" parents with their gardening.  Thursday, his friend Zoe shared her picnic dinner with him at the garden while they played dinosaurs.

Saturday, Karen had to work and Steve was a tad hungover.  Zeeke was thriled to stay in pajamas, watch television, and work on a jigsaw puzzle all morning.  After nap, they went to the playground and hung out Karen's friend Kathy who was visiting from Cape Cod.  Karen swung by after work for a few rounds of chasing Zeeke around before heading out to dinner with Kathy.   

Sunday was a mega-busy day.  In the morning, the three of us picked up Dena and headed out to Bounce U. in Horsham for Jack & William's birthday party.  Zeeke had a blast bouncine and sliding.  After his nap, we went to a Pop-Pop & Gigi's for a fun multi-birthday dinner.  Zeeke drew with chalk, opened presents, bounced in the back of pickup trucks, and got an old stethoscope from Pop-Pop.

Conversations with Zeeke:
"Daddy, if you took your head off, you'd be dead right? And all the blood would pour out of your head. Is that right?"
"Yup."
"And then Mommy and I would have to live in another house because this one would be all bloody, right? And it would just be me and Mommy because you wouldn't live with us anymore. Is that right?"
"Yeah, I guess so, buddy."
"I think Mommy and I could clean the floor with soap and water and then put your head back on. And then you could live with us again."

Zeeke is very interested in the human body and how it works lately.  He and Karen have been spending a lot of time reading a book about it and listening to each other's hearts. 

Some new stuffed animals came into his life this this week (all of whom are expected to tell him what they did all day when he gets home from school).  The first was a frog whose mouth contains a butterfly, a dragonfly and a spider (Zeeke named the bugs Rainbow, Ice Water, and Cupcake, but the frog remains nameless).  He often tells the frog not to eat the bugs when they're in his mouth and reassures the bugs they'll be safe.  Then on Saturday, he bought a stuffed tiger at the zoo (with birthday money from Grandpop Bob Bob).  The tiger's name fluxuates a bit.  Sometimes, he Tigey (like his other stuffed Tiger), sometimes he's Zoo-chini (pronounced like Zuchini), and at times he's even Zoo-chini Zoo-chini Zoo-chini Dinosaur Zoo-chini Giftshop!  

Monday, during our after school visit to Purple Flower Mountain, Zeeke checked out Nadine & Zoe's garden plot and was very interested.  Steve promised him we could plant some things in our back yard.

Saturday we went to the Zoo with Grandpop Bob Bob and Grandma Joy.  Zeeke rode the carousel and we paddled swanboats.  He enjoyed showing them his favorite exhibits and had a great time spending birthday and Easter money at the giftshop.  When we got back to South Philly we got an early dinner at Bing Bing Dim Sum.  After dinner, we ran into Erin & Kate.  Zeeke and Kate had a blast launching things into the air with one of her old toys.  

Sunday, the three of us visited the consignment sale at Neuman-Goretti, where Zeeke spent the last of his Easter money on a 300 piece jigsaw puzzle depicting a myriad of animals, made a sign, and got a free lollypop.  After that, we went to the playground until lunchtime.  In the afternoon, we babysat Kate for a couple hours while Erin ran some errands.  Zeeke & Kate got along famously, mostly playing with Lego. 

Zeeke had been very into telling us stories lately.  Many of them are his personal twist on fairy tales, such as the princess that wished for a dragon (but didn't want her wish to come true).  Sometimes when we're walking together, he and his pal Lettie will tell a story together, alternating lines.  

A stuffed rabbit that Zeeke received in his Easter basket (from Pop-Pop & Gigi) went from being ignored in a bag of candy for a week to becoming his most beloved stuffed animal.  He brings Rabbit places, protects her, introduces her around.   She catches him and his friends when they go down the slide.

Tuesday, Zeeke introduced Purple Flower Mountain to his friend Del.  The purple flowers were finally blooming! 

Saturday was a rainy day and Karen had to work, so Steve & Zeeke were stuck inside all day.  Fortunately Zeeke was in the mood for a lazy pajama day and it turned out just fine.  They built many many Lego vehicles, listened to music, and made lots of paintings and drawings. 

Sunday morning, all three of us went to Zoe's birthday party at Smith Playground.  We had a great time playing with all his friends, eating pizza and cake, and sliding down the big wooden slide.  In the afternoon, Steve & Zeeke went to the playground and hung out with Mike & Esme.  Zeeke and Esme were particularly enthused about playing in a puddle.  On the way home they went out for dumplings and noodles at Bing Bing, where Zeeke was super adventurous at trying new foods.  For dessert they got gelato.

Conversations with Zeeke:
"Daddy, I have a cow in my head and it wants to be the biggest thing in the whole world. It wants to be so big that it bumps its head on Saturn!"

"Daddy, I really want to be inside the refrigerator!"
"No, never. You might not be able to get out."
"That's not true! Mommy used to put me in the freezer when I was a baby and I would just pop out!"

Zeeke lost his mind because a character in one of his tv shows was watching one of his other tv shows:
"Chloe is watching Adventure Time! A show watching a show!" Pause. "Daddy, are we a show?"

"I was born in a coffee pot. And I would get so mad because people were always picking up the coffee pot because they wanted some coffee. So when I was done being born, I moved out of the coffee pot. It was a red coffee pot."