Here Comes A New Shelmet

This Wednesday, Cheryl and I took both Zoe and Charis home for a little dinner date. It is always interesting to compare and contrast kids. For example, on the crowded trolley ride home, Cheryl was holding Zoe and she was planking and thrashing and wanted to get down, even though there was no room to be put down. On the other hand, I was holding Charis and she just relaxed in my arms, occasionally sucking her thumb. The two had fun sitting in the kitchen, reading books and jumping around. Here are a few pictures. They both seemed to have a really good time. These pictures were all taken with my phone, so you can find more in Zoe's Mobile set on Flickr.

With the bad weather this winter, Cheryl asked if I would pick Zoe up from daycare so she doesn't have to take her both ways. I now take her home after work. Every day, after we walk out the door and I'm carrying her to the sidewalk, I ask her, "How was your day?" Every time she answers, "Issac, June." I'm not sure what that means, but I like to think she's saying she had a great day. Zoe has been singing more and more songs recently. She does Itsy Bitsy Spider, Happy Birthday and Wheels on the Bus really well, but one of her newer numbers is the Sesame Street theme song. She doesn't know all the words, and sometimes you have to use a little imagination to hear it, but it's there. So when we got home today I started her off with a little "Sunny day." Take a look. She has such a lovely singing voice, it's just a shame she doesn't always want to use it. Don't believe me? Take a look at another time when I just could

The weather had improved throughout the week and by Saturday it was really nice out. After Zoe woke up from her nap, we decided to hop on the trolley and take her to the Academy of Natural Sciences. The first thing we did when we got there was to check out the new dinosaurs. She was equal parts excited and terrified of the monsters. After the dinosaurs we went up to the third floor where they have an exhibit called Out Side In. Here they have a lot of different hands on areas where kids can play with stuffed animals, touch live animals, there's a little beach area and another area with hands on toys like doctor's equipment. The stethoscope is probably Zoe's favorite and it is quite entertaining to watch her shrug up her shoulders to try and keep it in her ears. Needless to say she had a great time. Of course, when we ask her to pose for a nice picture of just her and mommy at the end of the visit, we get this. But I feel like we've come to expect this.

Tonight Cheryl brought out some paint, ink pads and paper to see if Zoe would be willing to cooperate with possibly making some cards. She was surprisingly good, but did make a bit of a mess. Take a look. This is, most likely, something we'll be doing on a regular basis. Now we just need to find an area that is easy to wipe down.

Zoe has been doing lots of stuff this new year. Sadly, I have been derelict in my duties of reporting those things here on the blog. To the loyal readers, I apologize. That being said, I will try to get back on a good pace to have at least one post a week. To make a show of good faith, here are some very random pictures and videos to share. At some point, Zoe and I were hanging out in Barnes and Noble. She wandered over to the bargain book area and picked out something to look through. She didn't care if other people wanted to walk in that isle, she needed to read. Apparently we'll be getting her a guitar in the near future. When she's hanging out with her mom, she is usually extra cute. Here she is holding her umbrella while it snows and helping make some pancakes. One of her favorite gifts is her kitchen. When she was making simpler meals in her kitchen, I was able to get some video of her putting it all together. She's getting really good with that a