our week with zeeke

Friday was a half day at school for Memorial Day weekend, so Steve & Zeeke went to the playground where he played with Zoe, Odin, and Owen.  

Saturday morning, Steve & Zeeke went for a hike along the Wissahickon Creek, then picked up Karen and went to Tim & Tanya's where Zeeke & Lettie played while the adults relaxed in the backyard.

Sunday we went to the pop-up beer garden in FDR Park.  We hung out with Matt, Tara & Moira for a bit, then chilled in the hammocks with Therese & Bee.  We even took out one of the paddle boats.

Conversations with Zeeke:

Singing the song "Footloose":
"Oh, Jeez, Louise, you're rockin' the chimpanzees!"

"Daddy, for Memorial Day I drew a skeleton lying on the ground next to a black house."

Explaining another of his drawings:
"That's two people that are STUCK TOGETHER!"
"Haha!"
"And these are two birds that are STUCK TOGETHER!"
"Haha!"
"My theme of the week is STUCK TOGETHER!"

"Mommy, can I chew your toenails?"
"No, you'll have to chew your own toenails."
"But I don't have any left."
"That's why you have to let them grow."
"So that I can eat them?"

Tuesday, Zeeke had his third dentist appointment.  He couldn't keep his hands off the equipment, needed to know what every single thing did, and chose birthday cake ice cream flavored toothpaste and fluoride treatment, which said tasted horrible.

Saturday, we had a fun-filled trip to the zoo with Mike, Sarah, Riley & Bella.  Zeeke had such a great time with his cousins, riding swan boats and horses and carousels.  When we got home he had fun with some birthday gifts they bought him from the gift shop, a remote control bug and replica tiger claws that he had to excavate from a plaster egg.

Sunday morning, Zeeke made some more egg carton animals, including his first totally original creation (a psychedelic, cyclopean squid) and then we drove out to Tara & Matt's place in East Falls for a play date with Moira.

Zeeke turned five this week!  On Monday, we brought in mini-cupcakes for his class and he got to wear a crown.  

Thursday, after school there was an Info Session at Southwark, the school where Zeeke will be attending kindergarten in the Fall.  He and his pals Zoe, Sadie, and Lettie were were thrilled to visit their new school and had a great time making crafts with their future teacher while the parents got information.  Zeeke interrupted the principal's welcome speech twice, once to volunteer that he knew the school's mascot was a dragon and a second time to ask a question.  After the session, we went to Birra for pizza with Nadine & Zoe.

He was so excited all week long for his birthday party at Smith Playground on Saturday.  He asked Steve to make "a strawberry-vanilla swirl cake with chocolate frosting with spiderwebs and spiders on it."  Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate, but he didn't let us get depressed about it.  As we watched the rain pouring down over the massive playground, he said, "That's ok, Daddy, it's a really great day for those flowers we planted!"  Fortunately, the 16,000 square foot playhouse still provided plenty of space to party and amazingly everyone who rsvp'd actually came.  It was a really fun time and there was a literacy event going on in a nearby tent, so there were free books, more snacks, and cool crafts.

Sunday was Mother's Day.  Zeeke insisted that he & Steve make Karen breakfast in bed.  He had a whole bag of of Mother's Day crafts he'd made at school, including a great survey where he answered questions about his mom.  After waffles, Karen & Zeeke took a trip to the art museum where he did a self portrait and spent some birthday money on a kit to make egg carton farm animals.  After lunch, Zeeke made a painting with oils and glitter, then he & Steve went to playground for a while.  When they got home they worked on the egg carton animals which turned out very cute.

Conversations with Zeeke:

"Mommy, don't touch my Hammer Smasher! Anyone who touches my Hammer Smasher gets POOF! smashed flat!"

This was Zeeke's last week as a four year old!  He finished it off with one of his two favorite meals, a hot dog with mustard and ketchup.  

It's been a fun, strange, hard year.  There was a lot of development and a lot of regression.  Zeeke sleeps through the night in his big kid bed, gets dressed by himself, and is finally accepting that he's responsible for wiping his own bottom.  He goes to bed easy some nights, but pulls countless shenanigans others.  His fears are strong and unpredictable.  One dog will illicit a happy giggle from him while another will send him into an outright panic.  He'll happily run down the block and try to hide from us, but at home he's afraid to walk from the living room to the kitchen by himself.  He's getting better at talking to people he doesn't know well, often charming strangers by initiating unexpected conversations.  He's fast, agile and strong, but also an oblivious klutz who hurts himself and others because he's not paying attention.  His favorite things to do are stay in his PJs on weekend mornings and correct people if they say something he believes is wrong.  His parents are learning too; trying to shout less and to enjoy each and every time he says "I love you."   

Tuesday was Teacher Appreciate Day at Zeeke's school.  Parents brought in a breakfast feast and the kids put on a performance of three songs ("You Are My Sunshine," "Take Me Out To The Ballgame," and "Skina-mer-rink-a-dink").  

On Saturday, we went to Free Comic Book Day in the morning, then came home and read our stash.  After lunch, we went to Penn Treaty Park for the Kite Festival.  Zeeke designed a kite, but was not immediately interested in flying it, as the loose stones of the river embankment were singing his name and demanding that he climb on them.  Once he'd had enough of that, we started flying his kite and one of the festival people ran out to surprise us with an impressive trophy for "Best Kite Design 2017."  Zeeke was very proud of his trophy.  When we got back home, his pal Asif swung by for a quick visit.

On Sunday, while Karen was hitting a kids clothing swap, Steve & Zeeke went shopping for his birthday party.  They bought the makings of his cake, fun stuff for goody bags, and then grabbed lunch at Wendy's where he got a great building toy with his kids meal.

Conversations with Zeeke:

"I only do what people say."
"Not what animals say?"
"Well.... I'll only do what animals say if they aren't trying to trick me."

"Daddy, can I have candy?"
"I don't know. I hear from a reliable source that you probably got a red or yellow at school today."
"Daddy, I'm your reliable source!"
"That's right."
"But I'm not that reliable, so I should probably get candy."

Zeeke's class was studying modern and contemporary art this week, so that was a lot of fun for him.  We especially liked his Jackson Pollock-style action painting ("The Dry Rainbow") and the self-portrait he did (his classmates' self-portraits were pretty amazing as well).

Thursday, his pal Zoe came home with us after school for a dinner play date.  We ran into Fran, one of their former teachers, so Zeeke & Zoe sat down on her swing and had a nice long chat with her about old times.

Saturday was full of superhero shenanigans.  It was the last day of our Amazon Prime free trial, so Zeeke was desperately gulping down episodes of his favorite shows Creative Galaxy and Tumble Leaf.

Sunday was Jack & William's epic Star Wars birthday party!  Zeeke had an amazing time, had to be dragged away when it was all over and passed out, happily exhausted, on the drive home.

Conversations with Zeeke:

Zeeke singing:
"Ring Man... his head is as shiny as a ring...
Ring Man... he never even goes to bed....
Ring Man... he's too tired to go to bed...
Ring Man... he gets so dirty he's able to wash....
Ring Man... sometimes he turns this whole place into FIRE!"

Zeeke's gang from school got a request to stay away from Purple Flower Mountain for a few weeks because some of the nuns that live there are recovering from surgery, so we've been going to the rec center down the street instead.  We'll see how long until they try and chase us off too!  Zeeke and his pals love having races, climbing on the planters and searching for treasures left behind by the kids in the center's after school program:  jump ropes, hula hoops, chalk, beads, metal rings.  Once they even found a book and sat down to try and read it.

Friday, after school, we went over to Lettie's house for an impromptu belated surprise party for their pal Zoe.  The three of them had some cupcakes and a princess costume dance party.

Saturday was Karen's birthday, so Steve & Zeeke let her sleep in while they went to work making a birthday card and waffles.

Sunday, all three of us went to the Zoo.  Zeeke demonstated his climbing skills for Karen and then they rode horses.  We fed birds, paddled out on our first swan boat of the season and had a nice lunch in the beer garden.

Conversations with Zeeke:

Rapping:
"Daniel Tiger is on the loose,
he ain't going back to the back of the caboose
he fell off the back
and then he died
and Mr. and Mrs. Tiger cried"

Lamentations upon an injured walk home:
"Why, Daddy, why did that have to happen? Why did I scrape my leg? Why, Daddy? Why do I have to bleed? Waaahhhhaaaaa.... Ahhhhh! A dog! No!!! Oh, Daddy, why did I have to see two dogs in one day? Why?"

Monday, Zeeke got a sweet ride on the pedals of our friend Jill's bicycle.

Friday night, we went to Jen, Kim & the twins' house for Dena's annual Passover Seder.   There were many delicious foods and many lightsaber battles.  Karen's mom joined us for dinner and took us out for breakfast at the Oregon Diner the next morning.  After breakfast, Steve & Zeeke went to gymnastics class, which turned out to be cancelled, so they crashed the Easter party instead.  They made crafts and played and Zeeke got his face painted.  On the walk back to South Philly, they found an excellent four seasons frieze.

Sunday, we had a picnic at the playground and then went to Easter dinner at Pop-Pop & Gigi's house.  Zeeke had a blast hunting for eggs with his cousin Jackson and chasing around Taylor's remote controlled car.  He loved Gigi's ham and tried to eat it all.

Conversations with Zeeke:

"Zeeke, I wish you had one big furry eyebrow that went across your whole face."
"Which way would you want it to go? Up and down or sideways?"
"Huh... I was thinking sideways. Which would you like?"
"I want one eyebrow that goes up and down the middle of my face and one that goes sideways underneath my eyes."
"Under your eyes or over?"
"Under."

Standing at the top of the stairs with his shirt off:
"I had to fight a gorilla."
"... That's interesting."
"Why, Daddy? Why is that interesting?"
"..."
"I had to fight a gorilla. Then I buried it under my stuffed animals."

Tuesday night, Karen & Zeeke went to a stargazing party at her old library.  Zeeke enjoyed looking at Polaris and the Moon through the telescope, but the high point was probably the donut that Karen's old co-worker Diane had waiting for him!

Wednesday, our good friend Patsy came for her annual visit from Michigan.  Zeeke was happy to welcome her right back into his life, especially when she read him books and let him bounce on the air mattress.  

Thursday night, Karen & Patsy headed off to the beach officially starting Steve & Zeeke's boys weekend.

Friday, after school there was an extra long trip to Purple Flower Mountain after school with lots of his schoolmates, followed by Chinese food. 

Saturday morning, the boys headed off to Smith Playground for his pal Zoe's birthday party.  Much fun was had and there were many, many trips down the big slide.  Zeeke was so worn out when they got home that he passed out on the couch ten minutes into his favorite cartoon.

Sunday, after making some paintings, Steve convinced Zeeke to go to the playground where many chalk drawings were made.  In the afternoon, they went to FDR Park to enjoys the outdoors and then over to the Swedish Museum for Easter crafts and an egg hunt. 

Conversations with Zeeke:

"What pokemon are you?"
"I'm Philliesrat."
"Are you a rat who likes the Phillies?"
"No, I'm just a rat."
"Oh."
"I'm an electric type."
"Is that because you throw batteries?"
"Yes. BATTERY TOSS!"

Apologizing to the television:
"I'm sorry, Diego, but I'm too tired to help save Baby River Dolphin."

Wednesday night, Jill, John & Del invited us over for dinner.  It was lovely hanging out with them and Zeeke & Del had a ball dancing and rolling marbles down a homemade track.   

Thursday, we got a call from school that Zeeke had a fever.  We weren't too surprised as he had been mildly complaining about his stomach for several days.  Steve picked him up and we had a four day sick-cation.  Zeeke was happy as a clam just wearing PJs, snuggling up and watching way too much tv.  We had just signed up for a free trial of Amazon Prime and so had access to a lot of cartoons he hadn't seen for a while, such as Diego Bubble Guppies.  We also discovered a new show there that rapidly became his favorite.  It's called Creative Galaxy and it's about space aliens doing arts and craft projects, so pretty much his perfect show.  We did a few of the crafts from the show, but mostly he just wanted to take advantage of the free rein we were giving him to watch tv.  Fever was going by Sunday, but, with the exception of a Saturday evening dance party, he still wasn't up for doing too much.

Thursday, Zoe came over for dinner and a play date.  She & Zeeke had a great time playing superheroes and then dug into a meal of spaghetti and meatballs. 

Saturday morning we made chocolate chip cookie dough and then had a super fun trip to Gymnastics class with Delano & Zoe.  After class, Zeeke wanted to hang out in the play room for a while.  When he & Steve finally left, the bus didn't seem to be running, so they decided to talk home.  Zeeke did a great job walking nearly two miles.  We stopped for a playground break along the way.  

Sunday morning, Karen & Zeeke went to the Museum of Art and made sailboats.  In the afternoon, the three of us went to his pal Maddie's house for dinner, games, and an impromptu furniture-diving dance party.