our week with zeeke

Monday, Zeeke's school was closed for New Years, so we invited some of his friends over for a Play Dough Party.  

Saturday, Steve & Zeeke ventured out in the snow for Zeeke's gymnastics class.  After his nap, we fashioned a sleigh out of a laundry basket and some clothesline.  Steve dragged him down the snowy streets while Zeeke sat back, yelling, "Mush!  Mush!"

Sunday, we met Jen & Amelie for lunch at P'unk Burger.

Conversations with Zeeke:

"Well, Daddy, actually, the main characters in my stories are always raccoons, frozen plants, or really unhappy dogs."

Monday, Karen & Zeeke went to the art museum with Tara & Moira.  

Saturday morning, we went to his friend Maddy's birthday party.  Then in the afternoon we picked up Dena and joined Matt, Tara & Moira at Jen & Kim's for New Years Eve.  Zeeke had fun playing with Moira, Jack and William.  There was lots of bouncy house and light sabres (not at the same time).  Dena had the kids light the candles on the menorah for Hanukkah.  And then we put the four little ones to bed in the same room, which went very well.   Jack & William are good at going to sleep and Zeeke was comforted having other people in the room with him as he fell asleep.  

Sunday morning, the kids got up and started playing without the adults, which was amazing.  After breakfast we drove over to Carpenter's Woods for a little hike and then headed back to the city.

Conversations with Zeeke:

Zeeke drawing pictures:
"Daddy... this one is called the The Lonely Lion. This one is The Boy and the Unhappy Dog. And this one is The Sad Kitten. And this one..."
"Oh, he's got a happy face!"
"Wait, that was a mistake. Let me fix it."

Friday, Steve and Zeeke had lunch with Steve's old friend Edwin, then went to the Christmas Village at City Hall to watch the ice skating.  Zeeke expressed a strong interest in skating.  After his nap, they made Christmas cookies.  Unfortunately, Zeeke got sick while he was sleeping and had to sleep with Karen after vomiting in his own bed.

Saturday was Christmas Eve.  We went to see "A Year With Frog and Toad" at the Arden Theatre.  Zeeke had a fantastic time and couldn't stop singing the songs from it.  During intermission, he wrote a letter to himself that the theatre will send to him in one year (just like a letter in the play that was delivered by snail).  That night he opened up a present from Aunt Dena, cards with sight words on them that can be arranged into sentences, and had a ball creating insane poetry with them.  Then he sprinkled Grinch dust in the back yard and reindeer food on the front step and went to bed with some new Christmas books.

Christmas morning, Zeeke found his stocking by his bed and a present from Santa under the tree.  He opened his presents from his parents, playing a little with each of them and giving lots of grateful hugs.  In the afternoon, we went over to Aunt Sarah and Uncle Mike's house.  Zeeke had fun playing with his cousins and even walked their big dog, who normally terrifies him.  When it came time to open presents, he threw dramatic fits whenever he received clothes, often stomping hilariously out of the room, but he was thrilled when he got the BB-8 bicycle he wanted from Grandpop Bob-Bob!

Saturday morning, Karen & Zeeke joined his pals Zoe and Delano for a gymnastics class at Nest.  Zeeke had a great time, especially riding the bus with his friends.  In the afternoon, Steve & Zeeke drove out to the Discovery Museum for Asif & Sofiya's birthday party.  His favorite parts were making snowflakes and giant bubbles.

Sunday, we went to P'unk Burger for lunch and then after his nap, drove over to Pop-Pop & Gigi's for an early Christmas with Steve's side of the family.  Zeeke got lots of awesome presents and had fun playing with his family and doing activity books (still his number one addiction).

Conversations with Zeeke:

Zeeke telling a story about a bee who got caught in a spider web:
"And then the spider's brother who was also a spider said, 'You have to swim because our web is now an ocean, so watch out for sharks, but it's also still a web.'"

"You have a smart mommy and a smart daddy, so when you grow up you'll probably be even smarter than us."
"Oh, Daddy, I'm already smarter."

"Now you've messed up my whole life!"

After hearing Karen sing "I'm hot blooded.... check it and seeeeee.....":
"Ugh.... chicken and beef! That's my worst nightmare!"

Zeeke definitely has the Christmas spirit.  He's singing Christmas songs, drawing Christmas pictures, and watching all the old Christmas specials this week (Rudolph, Frosty, Charlie Brown, the Grinch, etc).

Saturday morning, we decorated the tree, then went to an art event to have him photographed sitting on a wooden moon.  After Vietnamese food and a nap, we walked along Passyunk Ave, checking out the ice sculptures in front of local businesses.  The highlight was watching them sculpt a lifesize Olaf the snowman (from Frozen).  Zeeke was especially excited to take home a piece of discarded ice which he insisted we keep in the freezer.

Sunday morning, we went to the Zoo.  It was a little chilly, but they had some fun Christmas displays.  When we were looking at the Sifaka lemurs, Zeeke was very interested in what the numbers on their sign meant.  Steve explained that it was the birthdays for each of the lemurs.  Later, at the Treehouse, they had a table set up where kids could make cards for the animals.  Zeeke worked on his for a while, then ran over and asked how to spell "happy," then "birth," "day," "Sifaka," and "lemurs."  Sunday, evening, Karen rearranged his room, bringing his desk upstairs, which he seems to like.

Tuesday night, Zeeke & Karen went over to Dena's house for dinner, treats, and games.

Thursday night was the neighborhood Christmas Tree lighting.  Zeeke enjoyed playing around the tree with his friends, hanging out with Santa, and getting cookies.

Saturday morning, Zeeke & Steve made some art and added Purple Flower Mountain to Google Maps.  Then Zeeke decided that they should make blueberry muffins.  After his nap, they went over to his pal Lettie's house for a magic faerie dance party play date.

Sunday morning, Zeeke & Karen went to a cookie making party at Zoe's.  He had a blast decorating cookies.  After his nap, we we all went to a dessert party at Steve & Dave's, where Zeeke ate many treats, played ping pong, and made crafts.  When the party became too much, Zeeke & Steve took a stroll down 13th Street to see the amazing holiday displays.

Conversations with Zeeke:

"But, Daddy, I did take a nap!"
"You were talking the entire time."
"But, Daddy, I was just sleep talking."
"Sorry, buddy, you have to nap."
"Oh, Daddy, now I'm going to call the police!"
"Go for it."
"Hmmmm... where is the phone?"

Zeeke is in love with activity/puzzle books these days.  As soon as one puzzle is finished, he skips over any intervening coloring pages and asks us to read him the rules for the next one.  Grandma Joy gave him one when we were in Maryland and even though the daylight was fading and he hadn't seen the movie it was based on he chose that over his iPad for the drive home. 

Thursday was Thanksgiving.   We drove out to Malvern for a big holiday feast with Karen's mother's side of the family.  Zeeke played with cousins and ate tons of appetizers and desserts.

Friday, Jen & Amelie came over for play date. They had a great time and Zeeke was shockingly good at cleaning up.

Saturday, we drove down to Maryland for a late Thanksgiving with Karen's Dad's side of the family.  Zeeke, Riley and Bella had a great time playing together and dressing up in paper feathers ("Look at me!  I'm a turkey!" shouted Zeeke proudly).  Zeeke had to be dragged out of the house but he was excited to go our hotel, where he got to sleep in a bed with Mommy.  

Sunday morning, we had breakfast at the hotel and then went swimming.  After checkout, Grandpop Bob-Bob and Grandma Joy treated us to Chinese food and then we took a hike in the woods and drove home.

Conversations with Zeeke:

Zeeke, getting philosophical in the early morning:
"People can't know themselves, daddy, because they are themselves!"

"Daddy, do you want to hear about another superhero from India?"
"Yes."
"His name is Pipelito and he shoots paper pipes out of his mouth!"
"He shoots pipes out of his mouth?"
"No, Daddy, he shoots pieces of paper with pictures of pipes on them out of his mouth."
"Oh. And under the picture of the pipe, does he write, 'This is not a pipe'?"
"No, Daddy, why would he even do that?"

"Daddy can you tell me the five least apple-eating birds in North America?"
"... what?"

Zeeke's class made posters of what they're thankful.  Zeeke chose his family, his friends, his grandparent, his cousins, his two favorite stuffed animals, the Zoo, and Purple Flower Mountain.

For the past couple months, Zeeke's teacher has been grading the kids' behavior with reds for bad, yellows for needs improvement, and greens (or stickers) for good.  Zeeke been getting a lot of reds and it's been stressful for everyone involved.  Bribery usually works better than punishment with Zeeke, so this week we promised him a piece of Halloween candy every day he gets a green and the Trolls movie if he manages a whole week.  Even though he kept warning us that he didn't think he could keep it up, he managed to be good every day this week!  Although, as often happens, the stress of trying to be good made for some early morning wakeups (although he's officially done with sleeping in pull-ups!).

Saturday morning, we drove out to New Jersey and caught our celebrational showing of Trolls.  Zeeke loved it, but was very concerned about the characters who spent much of the movie under threat of being eaten.  After the movie, we met up at a park in Cherry Hill for a playdate with his pal Asif, who moved out to Jersey last spring.  They got along just like old times, climbing, playing soccer, and taking photographs.

Sunday morning, we went to brunch at his pal Delano's house.  There was great food and lots of friends to play with.  In the afternoon, in order to get a break from his obsession with the show Wild Kratts, we re-introduced Zeeke to his old favorite show Team Umizoomi about a tiny team of math superheroes.

Tuesday was Election Day so we headed down to the community center to vote as a family.  

Zeeke's school was closed on Friday for Veteran's Day, so we joined joined his friends Zoe and Amelie at Franklin Square for a morning of carousel riding and Philly-themed miniature golf. 

Saturday morning, after dropping Karen off at the library, Steve & Zeeke went out for breakfast and then headed over to the Academy of Natural Science.  While waiting for the doors to open, we ran into Tara, Matt & Moira by the animatronic dinosaurs.  Zeeke did some enthusiastic dancing to pass the time.  He put on a puppet show in the activity room and had a lot of questions for the expert during a presentation about live snakes.  In the afternoon, we dipped back into the past and revived Zeeke's forgotten love of Lego and Bob The Builder.

Sunday was a shockingly warm day so we headed to the Zoo, where we ran into Elmo and took a photo.

Monday was Halloween.  We met up with a bunch of Zeeke's friends on 13th Street for some intense trick-or-treating.  Zeeke was a bit overwhelmed but still really enjoyed demonstrating how he could pick up candy with his lobster claws.  We ran into two other lobsters (one child and one dog) and heard rumors of others!  

Saturday morning, Steve & Zeeke went to the Zoo.  We realized we'd never explored the Goat Bridge and Tower.  The goats weren't around, but Zeeke had a blast climbing the tower and crossing the rope bridge.  In the afternoon, all three of us went to The Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education for Moira's birthday party.  We walked through the woods collecting treasures to turn into faerie houses, climbed trees and enjoyed a fantastic fall day.  During the tour of the houses everyone built, Zeeke declared that his was actually for bats, not faeries, and went into a detailed explanation behind each architectural element of his house.

Sunday, Karen & Zeeke went to Pirate Day at the Brandywine River Museum of Art.  Zeeke made pirate crafts, learned about knots, hunted for treasure, and enjoyed a Peter Pan storytime presented by Hedgerow Theatre.  In the afternoon we made chocolate pudding.

Conversations with Zeeke:

Flipping through the channels....
"Ok, Zeeke, you can watch Sofia the First, Daniel Tiger, Curious George, or... Ed Slott's Retirement Road Map."
"I want Ed Slott's Retirement Road Map."

"Daddy, do you want to make a video of me eating oyster crackers?"
"Oh, sure. Sounds great."

"What would you like for dinner?"
"Well, I think I'm only hungry for chocolate pudding."
"That's for dessert. First we have to eat real food."
"Well, for some people, dessert is real food so they eat that first."
"Yeah, but we're not that kind of people."
"Daddy, everyone is that kind of people!"