Fooling around on the slide

Zeke really loved the slides for a good long while. Shortly after learning to walk confidently he started to enjoy being lifted up to the top of the slide and coming down on his own. Soon he began using them independently. Then, a few months ago, he stopped. He never seemed overtly afraid -- he'd climb to the top of the slides, sit down, and look around, grinning, but he suddenly became reluctant to let himself go. Just a few weeks ago he changed his mind again and now he loves them again. I'm glad.

   

   

   

Another amusing tidbit from a few days ago, in the bath:
Zeke: I'm like a turtle.
Heather: You're like a turtle? How?
Zeke: I'm like a turtle with my bum. (Slides across the bathtub.) See, I slide.

Photos from the weekend: excursion to the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, plus a few of Talia sleeping

The fourth photo (counting from the top left; the one that looks like a bunch of tiny light-green leaves hanging from a white shelf) is the pupa chamber of the Academy's live butterfly exhibit. I understand butterfly exhibits are popular these days, but this is the first one I've seen, and it was pretty mind-blowing. The first two, and the last, photos were taken at home.

Zeke & a buddy

Enjoying a few lollipops on a hot afternoon. This is a few weeks old I think.

Zeke finishes his yogurt

Click To Play

This was kind of fun to make.

Talia goofing off

Taking a break after completing the very serious business of winning -- at least for the moment, knock on wood -- a fairly intense, two-day-long battle with constipation.

(Larger versions here.)

Zeke scolds his classmates

When I dropped Zeke off at daycare yesterday, the women who work there told me he's adopted a kind of finger-wagging stance towards his friends there. When someone falls down, for example, he'll say, loudly, "You're okay!"



This post is not all that cute. It's just me talking. Click the little triangle to hear it. If you don't have speakers attached to your computer, or you're embarrassed for your coworkers to hear this post, call (510) 248-0386 and you should be able to listen to it. I hope. Or click the orange button below.

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podlinez.net

mp3 link

Visit from Pop-pop and Nani

Zeke asked Pop-pop to read him a few Mother Goose rhymes before bed tonight.

Overheard: a one-person, two-shoe dialogue

While we were in the car, driving to daycare, this morning, I overheard something along these lines from the back seat:

Ordinary Zeke voice: Hello, I am a shoe.
High-pitched, squeaky Zeke voice: Hello, I am a shoe, too.
Ordinary voice: Hello, shoe, we are friends. Let's dance!

He proceeded to wiggle his feet.

Recent photos of Talia

She's started eating some cereal. It's messy as hell.

Visit to the American Helicopter Museum, May 19, 2007

Click To Play

New game

Talia in walker, uploaded 9th May, 2007.

She likes this. She has also been trying some very thin, diluted rice cereal with breastmilk, which she seems to like but still has trouble figuring out what to do with.

This is Patrick

As of yesterday, Zeke has a new friend, Patrick, the baby elephant. He's the baby and Zeke's the mommy. He laid Patrick out on a blanket on the floor of his room, lay down next to him, held him close, and sang him a lullaby ("Hush-a-bye, don't you cry"). Then, he picked him up and inserted Patrick's trunk into his (Zeke's) belly-button and explained that Patrick was drinking milk. The name, "Patrick," was Zeke's idea.

The nice man gave me a lollipop

    

This is behavior we probably shouldn't be encouraging. The lollipop was a present from the mailman, who is pretty nice.

Poison ivy remedies

  
Last night was a good night.

Update

Talia is doing a lot of sitting up, and she seems to enjoy it. Here's a little video (though it's kind of hard to see much). She was showing tremendous abdominal strength. She'd sit, then pitch forward onto her face, then just lift herself up back into a straight-up sitting position without using her arms. I couldn't believe it.



Zeke got poison ivy at the Envirofest on Sunday. He spent most of last night awake, frantically clawing at himself, and screaming. It was miserable for everybody, except Talia, who somehow managed to be oblivious and sleep through the whole thing. He seems better tonight, so far at least, knock on wood. It really sucked.

A little set from today.
  


She admired herself seated before a mirror. Then fell. Click for larger versions.
  




Just for cuteness' sake (Heather took this one):

Taken at this year's Pottstown, PA Envirofest, which was Saturday and included a petting zoo.



Zeke, Talia and Heather sitting on the floor.
  

Video diary #2: Talia sits up (take two)

Click to Play

A quick update on what Talia's been doing lately. It's kind of quiet so you may want to turn up your volume. Also, the video seems to skip, and the video and audio aren't quite in sync. Scheißtechnik, as they say in Germany. The gist is: Talia has been sitting up, smiling all the time, grabbing at things, and even turning herself over. And she smiles a lot in this video, which I think is about three minutes long.

Talia and me

Something surprised her in her carseat.


And a few of Talia and me:






I actually took all of these, believe it or not.

Watching ants

  

Uh oh

Zeke had to sit on the naughty bench at daycare yesterday.