Here Comes A New Shelmet

This past weekend was Zoe's third birthday party. We decided to hold it at Bounce U in Langhorne because if there is anything Zoe loves, it's jumping around like a lunatic. A bunch of her friends and family were invited and she had such a great time. She got to sit in the Bounce U throne and Joe Pop was there to sit with her. When we first walked in to the room, all of the motors used to keep the bouncing equipment inflated were very loud and it looked like Zoe wasn't going to have a very happy birthday after all. Thankfully, while she was upset, she saw her friends run in and start playing, and all of a sudden the noise wasn't so bad any more. The first thing she enjoyed was a large round area that had a giant red ball on a rope. She would swing it out, brace herself, let it smack her in the face, then fall to the ground laughing. Everyone had a great time running around and playing, including most of the adults. I know that I certainly had just as much fun ...

Zoe does a lot of playing both in school and at home. The other day I was hoping to get some pictures of her dressed up as a doctor and she obliged me... for the most part. She was very good at doing some serious doctor poses. But she was also really good at showing her beautiful smile. One of Zoe's favorite gift combinations is her bin of kinetic sand and her Barbie and Ken dolls. For some reason those two love going to the nude beach and getting buried in the sand while wearing the silliest of hats, and Zoe is always more than happy to oblige. Here she was burying them while wearing one of her sparkly, red tiaras. When Zoe's gymnastics class is over, we typically drive up the street to have a lovely brunch at Wendy's, also known as Fry Fry House. What you may not know is that when we're there, or anywhere else, Zoe talks non-stop. Now she's still fairly camera shy, so what I'm able to capture on video is never what it's really like, but, fo...

This past weekend was kind of a bummer in regards to the weather. It was cold and after all the snow and rain it was a mucky, yucky, cold, wet mess out. Regardless of that, it was still a lot warmer than it has been, so we took a trip down to Clark Park. Zoe really enjoyed going down the slide and having her boots jiggle as the heel would stutter while she descended. She also liked throwing little bits of ice at the fallen tree. And, of course, no trip to Clark Park would be complete without seeing Dickens and the turtle. So on Sunday morning, before our potluck dinner with her classmates, I loaded Zoe up in the car just to get out of the house for a bit. I didn't really have a plan as to where to go, so I asked her what she wanted to do. She said she wanted to go to my office and see the dragon. I find it hard not to comply with simple requests, so we went to my office and she got to take her picture with the dragon. Of course, she couldn't actually look at the camer...

I apologize for the obscenity, but we had a remarkable breakthrough tonight. As some of you may be aware, Zoe has been using the potty very regularly, but only to go pee. When it came to pooping, she was a bit leary of the toilet and preferred her time alone in a pull-up. Well, tonight she used her green potty and actually went poop! On the potty! Of course we were all super excited. Cheryl got to wipe her and I got to dispose of the evidence. I was told that it would be in poor taste to take, and then post, any pictures, so you'll just have to use your imagination. And after mommy put a diaper on her and brought her back in to the bathroom, what did Zoe ask? "Daddy, where my poop go?" Where indeed. Here's to hoping that potty time has moved to the next level.

This weekend there was a lot more snowfall than we were anticipating. This, in turn, kept us snowbound on Saturday afternoon when we had planned to head out across the river for some photoboothing and shopping. Making sure that the weather didn't keep us trapped all day Sunday, we decided to hop on a trolley early and ride it down to 19th Street to visit the Academy of Natural Sciences. I had taken Zoe there earlier in the month and she really enjoyed the Outside In play space they have where kids can pet animals and interact with different environments. Here are a couple of pictures from that day. This time, like the last, wasn't much different. The main attraction for Zoe was Outside In, although she does enjoy seeing the butterflies and looking at all of the animals in their dioramas.I can't help but think that she finds it weird that the animals are all behind glass, she she's able to actually pet them at Mimi and Joe Pop's house. Even though she wasn...

This past week Zoe was home for a few days because she wasn't feeling well. It all started after she went to bed on Monday night. I was just tucking Cheryl in when it sounded like Zoe coughed. She coughed again and when I went in to look in on her, she had thrown up all over her bed. We took her out and I washed her up in the shower. Cheryl spent the night laying with her and I took off Tuesday to stay with her at home. She was eventually able to keep food down, which got her spirits up a bit. Even though she wasn't feeling her best, she still insisted on taking care of her babies and dressing up like a princess. Of course, all of that work can really wipe you out. That's probably why when she requested to lay on the couch and watch the Wizard of Oz, she didn't even make it to Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Before Dorothy even started singing, this is what she looked like. The next day Cheryl stayed home with her and took her to the doctor where she was diagnos...

This past Saturday we hosting a get together with a number of friends. Among them were two new babies, Karim and Luke. There is nothing that Zoe enjoys more than a baby, except for insisting on holding them and ensuring everyone that the baby likes her. Before everyone showed up I was taking a few pictures of Karim and Zoe got in on the action. Here are a couple of them. You can see all of the pictures in the Baby Karim set on Flickr. Zoe was very well mannered during the meal. At one point she played a rousing game of Barrel Pirate with Hicham. It was a pretty close game and every time the pirate jumped out, Zoe would squeal with delight. Hopefully we can get everyone together again soon.