Noah's ark

Zeke has a toychest that I think we inherited from someone, I forget who, decorated with bright-colored Noah's ark motifs. I've never given it much thought. Today, though, he was sitting looking at it and pointing out the pairs of animals. For each pair, he told me, "That's the mommy alligator, and that's the baby alligator. That's the mommy giraffe, that's the baby giraffe." Et cetera. Anyhow, it occurred to me that the Noah's ark story, which of all Bible stories we probably treat as the one most appropriate and least complicated for young children, is a story that most little kids probably completely misunderstand, given that they wouldn't have any clue why there would need to be pairs of animals on the ark. The cute, innocent "floating zoo" -- the impression that I suspect many kids have of the ark -- is a little world containing only adult animals, none of the animal babies that small children are often so interested in. Which, to me, is just an interesting example of the way common ideas in our culture might look very different from a small child's perspective. I wonder when Zeke will figure out that the pairs of animals on his toychest are not actually mommies and babies.

P.S. That picture is a random toy I found online, not something we own, but if you have a hankering for it, it can be had for about twenty dollars from a website called -- ahem -- Punkin-Butt. It's down at the bottom of the page.

Zeke and Talia playing together

Sometimes I get the feeling that Zeke still thinks of Talia as just another toy (at least, at good moments). Here, he's dressing both of them up using some cloth rings that are actually part of a whole different toy.

Overheard conversation

Zeke and one of his very best friends, a two-year-old girl who lives next door, were having a fairly involved discussion by toddler standards, which I overheard part of.

Z.: Can you come to my house?
K.: No. I don't want Jimmy to hiss at me.
Z.: Do you like Jimmy?
K.: No, I don't like Jimmy.
Z.: Do you like Lucy?
K.: Yeah, I like Lucy.
Z.: Do you like Hector?
K.: Who's Hector?
Z.: He's a cat.

I didn't hear where it went after this. And yes, it's true; to our chagrin, Jimmy has started hissing and swatting at small children (sometimes older people, too). Seems like he finally got fed up with the stress of having two little kids in the house. Hopefully he won't get too much nastier.

Zoo pictures from D.C.

I guess this is a little on the predictable side. Oh well. These are from our visit to the National Zoo in D.C. this weekend. Mostly the photos are of animals, with a few of Zeke. Nothing of Talia came out decent. Click here to see the whole set (a dozen pictures or so), presented with great drama.

www.flickr.com

Talia is almost crawling

Talia - early July 2007 - mosaic, uploaded 12th July, 2007.

Here are a couple of recent photos of Talia. She's not crawling yet, but she's trying. I don't think it'll be much longer now. She's remarkably cheerful about the whole business.

A visit with Carmen

A couple of very good friends are back in town after being gone almost two months. We visited with them tonight. Talia sat on the grass, diaperless, and consented to being amused by Carmen's funny noises.




Later, Zeke and Carmen had some ice cream together.


A few more photos are here.

More animals: Elmwood Park Zoo

Today we visited the Elmwood Park Zoo in lovely Norristown, PA . Talia rode around in her stroller...


... and Zeke ran here and there.


Some favorite animals:

From top left: Flamingoes, sheep, Nubian goat, four-foot alligator supposedly found roaming around in Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, peregrine falcon, jaguar.

Zeke also rode a pony. See the previous post for a one-minute video.

Pony ride (one-minute video post)

Click To Play

Today, July 4, we took the kids to Elmwood Park Zoo in Norristown. Zeke rode a pony named Chocolate, probably the smallest pony I've ever seen.

Independence Day is just around the corner

At bedtime, Zeke heard some fireworks in the distance and asked what they were.
Me: I think those are firecrackers.
Z.: (long pause) Can you eat them?
Me: (chuckling) No, not crackers. Firecrackers.
Z.: (nodding sagely) Oh. Because they would burn your mouth, and that would really hurt.

Miscellaneous photos of kids and animals

Today we visited Upper Schuylkill Valley Park, which is about ten minutes from our house and very bucolic. Note: Click any of the photos to view a larger version.

We saw lots of animals there.

Piglets ...


... turkeys ...


... an owl ...


... and a noisy crow named Scrappy.

Click To Play

Talia rode in her stroller...


... and Zeke and Heather admired the animals on foot.

(There's a donkey in that paddock just out of sight.)

Yesterday was a pretty quiet day.

Talia slept, like a baby, as the saying goes...


... and Zeke and Heather admired the garden.