NiklasAndZoe.com

Niklas will tell Zoe the names of all of these buildings, even if he has to make them up.

August 2012

2012-07-01: Well, it was a t-ball-tastic (double hyphenate!) weekend for Niklas Wayne. On Saturday, he had his first Lil' Sluggers instructional league game which he thought was fun. He was a bit upset with the other team because "they didn't hit any balls to me," but other than that, a fine time was had by all. Today was his last game with the Braves. That went well. It was promoted to super-well after the coach gave everyone popsicles after the game.

Zoe continues her efforts to make Andrya and me rue the day when we bragged on her failure to wreck up sheets after the fashion of her brother. Her thing continues to be removing her diaper and letting nature take its course all over the crib and elsewhere. Did anyone throw a handful of poop out of a crib today? I think you know the answer to that.

There are some new pictures here. Try not to flip out.

2012-07-05: Niklas and Zoe hope everyone had a good Fourth of July. They both certainly did. Jared, Dana, Aaron and Zach came over yesterday and the kids ruckused about quite a bit (was I shot at with various super hero/star wars type projectiles? obviously), played some Nintendo and tried to eat their weight in hot dogs (a bit of a failure, that). Today, Niklas's particular lady friend Caroline came over for a play date which went well, as I understand it. Also, we played a ton of Uno and avoided the outdoors lest we burst into flame.

2012-07-07: We've been laying low for the last couple of days because of the heat.

Me, stepping outside yesterday to pick up some groceries

I don't think the kids have been outside since we went to the playground during the early morning hours of the fourth. Zoe continues to try to beat the heat by taking her diaper off when she goes to bed which continues to make no sense seeing as how the air conditioning is on and it's not that hot inside the house. Niklas has spent the last couple of days playing with his slot car set and going a bit stir crazy. The weather isn't supposed to be fatal tomorrow, so I hope to get Niklas and Zoe outside so as to run off some of their crazy.

Since the holiday week has thrown off my internal calendar and it feels like Sunday to me, here are some new pictures. I blame their sparseness on the heat.

2012-07-15: So, who did a lousy job of updating the website last week? Yeah, it was me. I blame the heat. IT IS SO HOT. Anyway, here's what we did:

Monday: Andrya had the car for work... I have no idea what Niklas, Zoe and I did. Mini-golf, maybe? Yeah, we walked to the mini-golf course in the billion degree heat instead of taking the air conditioned bus, possibly because my brain melted upon stepping outside the door. The kids like smacking the golf ball around though, so there's that.

Tuesday: Zoe and I dropped Niklas off at school and then we went to the gym where Zoe playroomed it up in the ol' playroom. She impressed the ladies there by pointing out apostrophes in the book they were reading. Also, she says "apostrophe" better than her brother. Later, we did something else, most likely.

Wednesday: Niklas had school again. It was beach week, so he was able to show off the vast beach knowledge (sand, water, whatnot) that he gained in Bermuda. While Niklas was getting his learn on, Zoe and I went to the playground. It was pretty empty so Zoe was able to ride each of the swings multiple times which she rather enjoys.

Thursday: The kids had dentist appointments. Zoe's exam went well. Niklas got a spacer installed to fill in the hole in his mouth caused by the removal of his unsuccessful metal tooth. He also has another cavity in his legendarily awful molars. This is a drag, but it does provide me with another opportunity to get his CPS dental form filled out on account of how I remembered to take it but neglected to actually pass it on to the dentist.

Friday: Zoe did some finger painting at the playroom, Niklas took a shovel for show and tell and later we played Candyland. Zoe crushed Niklas and me.

Saturday: Niklas had a Lil' Sluggers instructional baseball league game. He had a couple of balls hit to him so he counted it as a marked improvement over his last game.

Sunday (Today, but earlier): The Patels came over and Niklas and Zoe tore it up with Jai. There was a mighty battle between Thor (Jai) and Captain America (Niklas) and then Godzilla (Zoe) destroyed several major metropolitan areas.

And so, that's that. Pictures tomorrow.

2012-07-16: So yesterday, I said I'd post some new pictures today, but then I put them up yesterday anyway and just didn't link to it. It's still hot. Here they are. Not much went on today. Niklas is getting very close to being able to tie his own shoes, so that's a plus. Zoe's getting good at throwing shoes at Niklas, which is less good.

2012-07-22: So seeing as how I provided very few updates last week, I guess last week was uneventful. Let's just go with that. We didn't do much on Tuesday or Wednesday as I was dealing with a work emergency. Niklas had school and we all hit the playground Wednesday afternoon, but nothing really of note. Thursday, was pretty busy. Niklas got his cavity filled in the morning and then he had his six year old checkup in the afternoon. After that, we bused it up to Waveland park for Niklas's t-ball practice. While he was hitting the ball (in a much improved fashion), Zoe was running about which is usually fine except for how it had rained that morning and there were tremendous mud puddles surrounding the field.

Me: Zoe, stay out of the mud.
Zoe: (runs into the mud; stands there) OK Daddy!
Me: All right. We've got to clean your shoes up.
Zoe: Clean up! (runs into muddy puddle of water and stomps about)
Me: No, not like that. Come here.
Zoe: (faceplants into mud)

I don't know how many wipes it takes to de-mud a two year old, but it's more than the ten I had with me. I have two other quick tales of Lady Z:

1) Zoe still hasn't left her "take all of my clothes and diaper off at nap time phase" yet. She will sometimes try to put her clothes back on, though, which is why I often find her with her shirt on inside out and pants with no diaper. Delightful. The best one was when I found her with her both of her legs jammed up to the knees into the neck hole of her teddy bear's shirt.

2) Yesterday, I asked Zoe if she was a baby. "No, Daddy. I'm a two."

2012-07-23: So, the kids and I went to Navy Pier today. We learned important things:

The 66 bus is crowded at all hours of the day.

The train is moved outside during the summer despite the fact that it's a billion degrees.

The children are not about to let billion degree temperatures deter them from riding the train.

Twice.

It's much cooler at the top of the ferris wheel than at the bottom.

It's cooler still inside the Children's Museum.

The sleeves of the raincoats you wear in the Children's Museum's water room can be used to redirect water into your shoes.

2012-07-24: Zoe is a bit under the weather with a bit of a frequent pooping issue. This kept us tied to the house all day. Zoe showed her displeasure for that by emptying absolutely everything out of her dresser. So, there was that.

2012-07-29: So, I finally finished up a big work project this week, so updates should be more regular from here on out unless I'm stricken with lazy again, which you should probably count on. Anyway, here's what's been going on:

Wednesday: Andrya got up with Zoe which is why she was the one who got to discover that Zoe had taken her diaper off and pooped all over her crib. Thanks for taking care of that, Andrya! Niklas had t-ball practice in the afternoon. He did pretty well but he still needs to work on his running, which is to say, he still needs to run once he hits the ball. YOU WILL NOT GET INFIELD SINGLES WITH A HOME RUN TROT, NIKLAS! While Niklas was sauntering about the baseball field, Zoe and I played catch and worked on the thing where I walk around while she stands on my shoulders and cackles madly.

Thursday: Niklas had a playdate with his upcoming kindergarten classmates. They ran about the playground near Alcott for nigh on two hours while Zoe and I played on the swing and generally tried to avoid the pack of twelve or so five year old boys that was rampaging about. Also, there were juice boxes.

Friday: Tammy came over in the early evening to watch the kids while Andrya and I went to the movies. Zoe screamed for about a minute, but then was all about showing Tammy baby Stella and her many, many accessories. Niklas has always been down with Tammy, so he had fun.

Saturday: Zoe passed her... internal discomfort on to me, so I stayed home while Andrya took the kids to Niklas's t-ball game which went well except for the running. Zoe raised a notable amount of ruckus.

Today: Grandma and Papa Meeker came up to collect Niklas as he'll be spending a few days down at their house. Zoe showed them all of her Yo Gabba Gabba cards and successfully avoided taking a nap.

So, that happened. There are two weeks worth of pictures (including some of the aforementioned stuff) here.

2012-07-31: So yesterday, Zoe and I went to the zoo. "I see monkey! I see another one monkey!" said Zoe. It's always "another one" noun with her. I'm sure I'll get around to correcting that one of these days, but it's a fairly cute affectation so I'll let it slide for now. Anyway, in addition to the monkeys, we saw the giraffes, the meerkats and the polar bear, all of which were super popular with Lady von Z. Before we left, we stopped at a picnic table for a snack. Zoe was drinking a "big one bottle of water" and eating some pretzels when a sparrow landed on the table. She didn't notice it right off because Zoe eats with some intensity. As an aside, I'll mention that she has been claiming that there are birds in her room for the last couple of weeks, which defies explanation, but she's given no indication that this is a problem. "Zoe, who's that on the table?" I asked. Zoe looked at the bird and let out a gasp and shuddered in what I can only assume is heart attack fashion. Then she started screaming in terror. "Oh no! Bird!" So apparently, Zoe is terribly afraid of birds.

Today, we went to the playground. It was early enough that no one was there, so I pushed Zoe on the swing for what seemed like forever. All the while, she kept yelling "don't get my back, birds" while looking from side to side suspiciously. I'm not sure in what fashion she thinks the birds would try to get her, but there's that.

From what I understand, Niklas is having a fine time at Grandma and Papa's house. Legos have been involved prominently.