Here Comes A New Shelmet

Now that we have moved out to the burbs, we are very close to the Willow Grove Mall. It is a wonderful place with plenty of stores, places to eat and holiday related activities. Along with all of that, they also have a carousel, which Zoe enjoys to ride. One of her favorite stores in the mall is one that sells beanbag-like pillows of all shapes and sizes. She enjoys making up a bed, lying down, flopping around and general play, which all of the employees seem to tolerate. Oh, the things she gets away with because she is adorable. When we were there on our last trip, the Easter Bunny was hanging out for pictures. Mixed in with him was an entire Alice in Wonderland setup complete with backdrop, silly hats and masks on sticks and Alice herself. On top of all that, Zoe actually requested to sit on the bunny's lap for a picture. We couldn't believe it, but it's true. It is great to see her showing such bravery in the face of terrifying people in furry costumes...

Well, they don't call it a laundry tub for nothing. Zoe takes a bath at least once a week, whether she needs it or not. Tonight, with Cheryl out of the house, I asked Zoe if she wanted to take a shower in our bathroom or a bath in the laundry tub. She enthusiastically voted for the laundry tub and I had to document the occasion because some day soon she won't fit in the tub anymore. As you can see, she had a great time. She got clean and really enjoyed playing with the sprayer in her small space. Now we just have to wait and see what mommy says.

A couple of miles from our house is Lorimer Park. We took the last couple hours of daylight to pay our first visit. Of course with all of the nature, hills, dirt, water and cliffs, Zoe decided to head out in her finest flip flops. She had a great time, even if Cheryl and I weren't ready for her confidence. We found a large, fallen tree that had a number of branches sticking out, which made for an impromptu drum set. It was a pretty good jam session. There is still a lot of the park that we have to explore and I know that I can't wait to go back. Next time, we'll all wear appropriate footwear.

It was pretty cold on the way into school the other day and, of course, I didn't bring gloves for Zoe. Luckily for her, I am always willing to share. She still has a long way to go before my gloves will fit properly but, for now, she looks good. Since we recently moved into the new house, we have been looking around the neighborhood for new places to play and eat. One of our new favorites is Señor Salsa. Zoe and Cheryl were happy to share their drinks. Of course they didn't actually share their drinks, but I did take a sip from both and they were delicious. Finally we took a quick stop at Target to do some shopping. Zoe found a new poncho style towel that she just had to have. And, of course, she had to try it on in the store. It doesn't quite cover her, but she does look adorable in it.

Today we had to say goodbye to Tinkerbell. I probably have more scars from that cat than from anything else. She was curmudgeonly and poorly socialized, but she never raised a paw to Zoe. That girl could get away with "loving" that cat more than anyone ever could with her bear hugs and face plants. We got a couple of nice pictures of the two of them before saying goodbye. Tinkerbell will be missed, but I know she is swatting ankles and eating cupcakes in a better place.

Zoe's daycare was closed today, so I took the day off to keep an eye on her. I decided we would go down to the Academy of Natural Sciences, not realizing that it was eventually going to start snowing. One of the first things she wanted to do was go see the butterflies. We eventually circled back for a second look at the beautiful butterflies, but not before she went to do a little digging. With her digging tool and goggles, she went looking for dinosaur bones. She didn't find much, but she looked adorable doing it. After the digging we took a look at a live animal show. There we saw a hawk and learned about where they live and what they eat. That's when we decided to go get some lunch. she made a bit of a goofy face, just like her father would. Once we had eaten, we made our way upstairs to the dinosaur treadmill. This is push powered treadmill that moves a mechanical dinosaur. Zoe wanted to do this over and over again; however, she wasn't strong, or heavy,...

Zoe wanted to play outside in the snow again while Cheryl and I did a little more shoveling. This time Zoe wanted to do some baking, so there was a lot of kitchen implements and large chunks of snow being carried around. And, of course, some sampling of the food that was being prepared. There was also a little shoveling while this was going on. Thanks mommy! Then there was a lot of climbing, exploring and general rolling about in the snow. All of which was a lot of fun. This was a lot of fun. Later in the day Joe Pop stopped by so that we could make our way up to the new house to make sure the sidewalk and driveway were shoveled. While we were there Zoe got to try out her new sled and investigate the icicles behind the bushes. That kid certainly loves the snow. I hope we can go snow tubing at some point this year. I know Cheryl is scared of it, but I think Zoe will love it.