Zeeke's new joy is joining shadows. Whenever we're walking down the street lately, his eyes are on the ground trying to merge his shadow with ours, even if it means getting trampled by us in the process.
After an auspicious start to the Purple Flower Mountain season, he's gotten back into the habit of staying close to the adults when his friends run off to explore the far end. If one of the kids mentions seeing a dog or a monster, he sprints to Steve. The hot new activity there is for all the kids to grab sticks and sketch in a pile of dirt until they stir up a dust storm. The game started as art, but quickly evolved into, "Let's make our mommies and daddies cough!"
Thursday, after school, we went to dinner at Punk Burger with Zoe, Sofiya, and Amelie. The kids had a blast playing with the Ms. Pac Man machine, despite having no quarters, but Zeeke preferred coloring while waiting for the food. Zeeke ate his first ever grilled cheese sandwich, because that's what the girls were ordering.
Saturday morning, Steve & Zeeke made lemon cookies. The sugar fueled his refusal to nap, so he and Steve went to the playground with Lettie, Asif & Sofiya.
Sunday, we spent a lazy morning making art. After his nap, we headed to Steve's parents for Easter dinner. Zeeke had fun hunting for eggs with Jackson, making chalk drawings with Taylor, and building pillow stairs with Aunt Kathy.
Conversations with Zeeke:
"Daddy, at school today we were reading magazines and I had some bad bacteria in me so I had to pee it out. And Miss Briana said I should wash the bacteria off my hands."
"You were reading magazines?"
"Oh, yeah...."
"Daddy, what is a wasp?"
"They're like bees."
"Do they live in Philly-delphia?"
"I think they mostly live out in the woods."
"Daddy, I am never going camping in the woods!"
"Don't worry, pal, If you see a wasp, just walk away from it."
"I would never walk away from a wasp, Daddy!"
"If you walk away, you won't get stung."
"I won't walk away from a wasp and I will never go to the woods!"
"Mommy, did you remember to bring my Easter candy?"
"No, I left it at Pop-Pop and Gigi's."
"Mommy! Why did you forget my candy!?!?!"
"I'm just joking. It's in the trunk."
"HAHAHAHAHAHA! Joking's NOT funny, Laugh-Man!"