our week with zeeke

Zeeke's nap schedule was in flux this week. His resistance to going down got tougher and longer and we thought he might be shifting from two naps a day to just one nap, which we believe is what they do at day care. It was a very rough, restless, cranky week and by the end of it we were back on the two nap schedule.

Zeeke's favorite book of the week: Rah, Rah, Radishes! by April Pulley Sayre.

Monday, Karen & Zeeke met up with Addie, Elspeth, Katie and their kiddos for a picnic and playdate.  Later on, they bumped into Sharri, Paul & Nate and had another playdate!

Tuesday, since Zeeke wasn't napping in the morning, they went to storytime at Santore Library for the first time in months. Miss Lindsay was so happy to see Zeeke! They also bumped into Will (& his dad) from music class.

Wednesday, Zeeke and Karen cooled down at the mini-water park Jen & Kim built for the twins. Zeeke actually got in the baby pool!

Thursday, Zeeke & Karen had a playdate with Leah & Zack.

Friday, Zeeke & Karen took refuge in Chestnut Hill while Steve slow roasted the pork shoulder for Zeeke's party, then came back and dragged him out of the over-heated house for dinner at Birra.

Saturday, we celebrated Zeeke's birthday (a few weeks late) with a family party at Karen's sister's house.

Sunday, we went to visit Jen, Kim & the twins. In the evening, Zeeke and Karen went to the playground where his push car was a big hit with all the kids.

Zeeke has three new loves. The first is a plastic push car that he can ride in when we go for walks. The hard plastic wheels make a loud rumble as we cruise down the sidewalks of South Philly, but Zeeke doesn't mind. He happily giggles and claps and pretends to steer. It also gets him up close and personal to his second new love: dogs. He gets so excited when he sees a dog, stretching his arms out to them and laughing, that Karen has to take him on evening strolls each day just to go dog spotting. His third love, which may be related to his fondness for dogs, is his family of stuffed lions. He always needs all three to be together. In the course of just a few nights, he went from needing to say goodnight to them before bed, to having to pat them, to needing them to sleep in the crib with him.

We've been trying to eat meals at the same time as him, but it's difficult because he demands whatever we're eating, which gets awkward when it's something he can't have. On Sunday, we were walking over to Liz & Kate's barbecue and he made us stop every few steps so he could have some of Steve's roasted edamame salad.

Zeeke's favorite book of the week: Tanka Tanka Skunk! by Steve Webb

Monday, Karen & Zeeke went to music class.

Wednesday, Karen & Zeeke visited Jen & the twins.

Thursday was the day they picked up Zeeke's push car.

Friday, Zeeke & Karen went to playgroup at Circle of Hope.

Saturday, the three of us ran errands in preparation for Zeeke's birthday party.

Sunday, we went to a great kid-and-baby-friendly barbecue at Liz & Kate's house.

Zeeke's new favorite game is "Where's Zeeke?"  We'll be sitting together on the couch, then he'll decide to slide off, lower himself out of sight, and spring up smiling when we ask "Where's Zeeke?" He's really gotten into crossing the living room back and forth using his walker. We've moved furniture to give him a clean path. As exercise goes, it's a lot easier on our backs than the constant trips up and down the stairs, although he still does that too and is descending the stairs with greater and greater confidence. We bought him a set of toy gear refrigerator magnets and he amazed us with us how quickly his playing with them evolved from frantically tearing them down to carefully placing them in their bucket to actually sticking them onto the fridge himself. He also got a great dump truck for his birthday from Paul, Sharri & Nate that he enjoys loading and unloading. This week we introduced him to black beans. At first he seemed bothered because he was expecting them to be blueberries, but once he got used to the flavor loved them.

Zeeke's favorite book of the week: My Food / Mi Comida by Rebecca Emberley

Monday, Karen and Zeeke went to Music Class.

Tuesday, he had his twelve month checkup: 22.3 pounds, 30.3 inches.

Wednesday, Karen & Zeeke visited Jen & the twins.

Thursday, Karen's mom babysat Zeeke for a bit and Zeeke had such a ball that he seemed not to care about Karen leaving and coming back. Later that afternoon, they had a playdate in the park with Sharri & Nate.

Friday, we finally got a new washing machine. Steve's parents came and took us to lunch at Paradiso. They sat us by the large, open window which was the perfect height for Zeeke to stand at and people watch.

Saturday, Steve & Zeeke spent the day together while Karen sold clutter from our basement at the Donatucci flea market.

Zeeke turned one this week. The mail brought many cards from loved ones. Uncle Jay and Aunt Brenda sent flowers. This week, we introduced Zeeke to chick peas and he loves them (they're also great for keeping him occupied while you prepare the rest of his meal). This weekend, Zeeke was doing laps in the living room with his walker, but the staircase continues to be Zeeke's favorite toy. This week he's added descending the stairs to his skill list. He's still not as confident going down as he is going up, but he's getting there. He's been enjoying spending more time upstairs, playing in his room and in the master bedroom. One of his favorite games is pulling out all the extra plastic hangers from the wardrobe and throwing them on the ground. This was his third week of doing a great job sleeping through the night (with just one setback), while also taking a morning and afternoon nap daily.

Steve couldn't take off on Zeeke's actual birthday, so he took off on Monday instead. We all went to Zeeke's music class together, then got lunch at Shake Shack and visited Ms. Liz at the PCI library.

Wednesday was Zeeke's birthday. He & Karen went to the museum with Mark & Maya, celebrated with cupcakes at B2 and then went to the park to burn off the sugar.

Thursday, Karen & Zeeke went to Smith Playground with Elspeth & Auggie & Grandma Emmy. Zeeke tried veggie straws for the first time and couldn’t get enough.

Friday, Zeeke had a playdate with Leah & Zack at the park. That evening, Zeeke & Karen took Steve to his D&D game. Zeeke had a good time visiting with John (Hi, Michael!), ate lots of strawberries, and actually waved to Ed without any prompting.

Saturday, we spent a quiet, drizzly day together and then capped things off with Vietnamese food. Zeeke ate eggplant and squid and pickled carrots.

Sunday, Zeeke and Steve took Karen out for breakfast at Chhaya. After Zeeke's morning nap, we went to Penn's Landing for the Art Star Craft Bazaar.

Zeeke's favorite book of the week: Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by Eric Litwin & James Dean

This is the second week that Zeeke has been sleeping through the night! We're still in disbelief! Morning naps have been very consistent too. No more nursing to sleep and tears are getting fewer.  In his crib, Zeeke has been taking comfort from a musical stuffed monkey with a glowing belly that Steve's parents gave him.  His love for blueberries has become a mania over the past couple weeks.  It's a good thing they've been on sale.

On Monday a package of books arrived for Zeeke's birthday from our friend Laura and her family. Zeeke loves the lift the flap Maisy book so much that he rarely puts it down. Later, in music class, Zeeke held his rhythm sticks in both hands and actually hit them together to the beat of the music several times. After music class Zeeke & Karen had lunch and a play date with Leah & Zack and Brooke & Audrey.

Tuesday, Zeeke took the little step stool from his room and, using it as a makeshift walker, pushed it all the way down the hallway. He made good friends with a lady at Sabrina's who gave him French fry after French fry and then went for a walk around the Italian Market.

Wednesday, after his morning nap, Zeeke & Karen headed out to Chestnut hill for a day of hanging out with Jen & the twins. Jen's mom was there as well and everyone spent the afternoon outside soaking up the sun. For lunch, Zeeke tried Chinese food for the first time and loved it! He kept demanding more faster than Karen could give it to him. That night Zeeke was able to go to sleep without any tears; he just needed his back to be stroked for a while. Amazing!

Thursday, Karen's Mom came to babysit and was there when Zeeke woke up from his nap. She said he looked around for Karen at first, but settled into a fun time with his Omi. Later, they all took a stroll down Passyunk Ave. to get some gelato. Zeeke ate gelato too. That evening Zeeke and Steve worked on climbing down the stairs. Zeeke was able to climb down six stairs.

Zeeke's favorite book of the week: Maisy's Big Flap Book by Lucy Cousins

After a horrible weekend of sleep, we decided the time had come for a new sleep regiment. It's basically the "cry it out" method. No more nursing or rocking to sleep and no more picking him up when he cries in the middle of the night. And once he is in his crib, he stays there until morning. It's tough to listen to him cry, but it's been working! Both nighttime sleep and daytime naps are getting more and more consistent.

Monday was Karen's Birthday! Steve took Zeeke to music class and had a great time, then they met up with Karen and took her to lunch at Parc.

Tuesday was the huge milestone! Karen put Zeeke down for his morning nap awake and he cried it out of the first time. No breast or rocking him to sleep. After his nap, Zeeke & Karen had a quick play date with Leah & Zack before lunch.

Wednesday, Karen & Zeeke spent the day in Chestnut Hill with the Jen & twins. Zeeke had Indian food for the first time and found it tasty.

Thursday was two library visit day!

Saturday was the big first birthday party for Jen & Kim's twins. Happy Birthday, Jack & William! A great time was had by all.

Sunday, we drove out to New Jersey for a combined birthday celebration in honor of Steve's dad and Karen.

Zeeke's favorite book of the week: Potty by Leslie Patricelli

Zeeke took a shower without any tears or screams for the first time. He still doesn't love it or anything, but he seems to be trusting us more. He has learned how to clap his hands, which is fun. He continues to fearlessly climb the stairs. None of this toys can hold a candle to the staircase. He just wants to climb them over and over again. Since there's no stopping him, we're taking advantage of his dedication to help learn how to do it safely. He still doesn't want to go down yet. Zeeke now gets annoyed when Karen carries him in the Ergo, so she has switched to using the stroller, which Zeeke is getting used to.

Monday was Zeeke's second music class and second subway ride. Later in the afternoon, he napped in car.

Wednesday, Karen & Zeeke went to the Zoo with the twins.

Thursday, Karen's mom visited to babysit.

Friday, Zeeke and Karen hung out with friends at Carolyn's house and Karen bought Zeeke a little kid-sized table.

Saturday, Liz & Kate babysat for three hours, so that we could go to brunch with Jen & Kim. It seemed like the three of them had a great time while we were gone.

Sunday, Grandpa Bob & Grandma Joy visited. They brought Zeeke lots of cool gifts, including a new book with a mirror on every page and a play mat with the Very Hungry Caterpillar on it. Everyone went to lunch at Birra, then to the park where Zeeke showed off his standing and cruising skills before walking home down Passyunk Ave.

Zeeke's favorite book of the week: And the Train Goes... by William Bee

This week, Zeeke started eating peas and blueberries and dried mango. His favorite game is being spun around while lifted up into the air by his daddy.  His favorite activity is climbing stairs. Needless to say, that's a bit nerve-wracking for his parents.

Monday, Zeeke took his first subway ride to his first music classes at the Kimmel Center. The teachers sing the whole time and the kids play with things like drums and shaky eggs. It was a lot of fun.

Tuesday, Karen & Zeeke went to Chestnut Hill to see Jen & the twins.

Wednesday, Karen & Zeeke went to the art museum for the stroller tour.   Later, Karen took Zeeke to the park and he walked the length of the playground holding onto the fence.  It was a busy day at the playground, full of people they knew.

Thursday morning, Zeeke climbed the stairs all the way up to the second floor for the first time. Steve stayed close behind him, ready to catch him, but Zeeke was fine, taking his time experimenting with different techniques and always keeping a good grip on the railing. Karen & Zeeke went to a new play group with Shari & Nate. Zeeke enjoyed exploring the new environment. That evening, he repeated his stair-climbing feat but with a completely different climbing method. This time, instead of holding onto the railing, he crawled straight up, gripping the stairs themselves.

Friday, Steve's parents came for a visit.

Saturday, we went to Morris Arboretum with Addie & Zephyr & Lois for an exhibition of Taiko drumming. Zeeke really liked it when the musicians combined flute and drums. We had a great time walking around the gardens.

Sunday, while Steve worked on the blog, Zeeke & Karen went to another music class in West Philly with Erin & Kate.

Zeeke's favorite book of the week:  Tubby by Leslie Patricelli, which is funny since he still hates being bathed.

This week, Zeeke started eating salad. He started with a little Caesar salad at Birra and continued with torn up pieces of spinach at home. He's mostly keeping up his napping schedule.

Our friend Patsy arrived on Monday to stay with us for a few days. Zeeke loves Patsy and it was great for everyone having an additional adult around the house.

Tuesday, Steve took the day off and the four of us went to New Hope. Zeeke was a great traveling companion, enjoying our hike along the canal, being a good sport while we shopped for books and behaving himself while experimenting with new foods at lunch. When we got back, Zeeke decided to show off for Patsy by climbing half way up the stairs and then doing a little dance behind the railing.

Thursday, Karen's mom took Zeeke for a few hours while Karen & Patsy went to lunch and did some shopping.

Sunday, we went for a hike in the Wissahickon.  Zeeke was unimpressed and seemed relieved when we finally took him home.

Zeeke's favorite book of the week:  Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell