NiklasAndZoe.com

Slip up and forget your green on the 17th and Cuddles will get you.

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

April 2013

2013-03-03: So, Zoe's had a bit of cold the last few day and by bit, I mean really bad. I guess that should be "by bit of" lest it read "really bad of cold" which doesn't make a ton of sense. Anyway, cold; Zoe has one. She's been extra fussy on account of that which as been pleasant. Niklas has been unaffected thus far excepting the times Zoe has turned her fussiness toward him. She can hit pretty hard for a little girl with a cold. Anyway, we've been laying low for the last few days.

Well, since I posted Niklas's baby videos last week, it's only fair that I post some of Zoe. Here's 25 seconds of Zoe as a five week old. I'm working on the rest of her five hours, I guess.

2013-03-04: Zoe's cold kept us out of t-ball today. It also kept her fussiness at an elevated level. We did run to the grocery store in expectation of being snowed in tomorrow, so at least we won't starve while we add cabin fever to the list of things Zoe is furious about. Niklas had a good day in school, so there was that.

Here's a video of a not terribly furious Zoe taken when she was eight months old:

2013-03-06: So yesterday, Zoe skipped music class on account of her cold, but she was feeling well enough by the afternoon to insist with her brother that we play in the snow after school despite the fact that it was still snowing at that point and that said snow was going sideways. The kids had a fine time with that whereas I do not find getting snow whipped into my face that desirable.

Today, Zoe was pretty much feeling normal, though her voice is still comically cold-afflicted. It was pretty sloppy outside and we didn't have anything going on, so we laid low nevertheless. Niklas and Zoe did do a bunch of playing in the snow (and slop) after school, so there was that.

Niklas had a field trip to the science theater a couple of weeks ago. Here is his report:

2013-03-10: Well, things have been going on. To wit:

Thursday: Andrya had the car, so Zoe and I took the bus (two, actually) to swimming. The facetious best part was when none of the sidewalks in the industrial park had been shoveled and we got to walk a quarter mile through nine inches of snow. The actual best part was how Zoe continues to improve with her locomotion about the pool. Meanwhile, Niklas was celebrating Dr. Suess's birthday in school, so he made a cat in the hat hat which I have not documented, but this is a close approximation.

Friday: Niklas had a dentist appointment to install a spacer to replace his recently pulled tooth. We also learned that if his front two teeth on the bottom don't fall out within two week they'll have to be pulled because his adult tooth is already in giving him a similar setup to this guy which is apparently not what we're going for. After that, Zoe and I went to the gym where she had fun in the playroom and I became very concerned about my running ability.

Saturday: Andrya and I took the kids to Goose Island for lunch, but we spent most of the day lazing about.

Today, Grandma and Papa Meeker came up. The kids had a great time with that. Zoe and Grandma played with Zoe's dollhouse, put together some puzzles and likely did some other stuff, but I try not to get too involved when people are giving me an opportunity to not watch my children. Niklas and Papa played an Angry Birds card game, put together some paper Marvel figures and again, did stuff that didn't require my attention. Thanks for visiting, Grandma and Papa!

There are a few new pictures up here. Hope you're not looking for pictures of Niklas.

2013-03-11: Well, Zoe and I made it to t-ball this morning despite having to break the car out of the garage due to a broken garage door opener. Later, Zoe helped me to fix the opener by behaving herself while I took it apart and then by being reasonably quiet when I called the garage door repairman.

Niklas had a good day at school today. His only complaint was that a couple of other kids asked him to help them tie their shoe which ate up a few minutes of recess.

Here's a classic video of Zoe on her second St. Nicholas Day. (By the way, you can see all the videos I've uploaded of the kids at youtube.com/niklaswaynesmith )

2013-03-13: So yesterday, Zoe and I blew off music class (Me: It's time for music class; Zoe: *incoherent screaming*) and went to the playground instead. This was our first trip to a non-Alcott playground this year, so Zoe was super excited. She spent a good forty minutes on three different swings, sat on the teeter totter while I pumped it up and down for a while and invented a game called "throw rocks down the slide" which is pretty much what you'd think it is. All in all, we were there for about an hour and half which wasn't long enough for Zoe but seeing as how it was about 35 degrees, I wasn't up for anymore.

Afterschool, Zoe and I spent another 30 minutes at the Alcott playground while Niklas played with his friends Andy, Andrew and Eli. They invented a game where one guy slides sideways down to parallel slides and then the others do the same until they're all piled up at the bottom. No one brok anything, so success, I suppose.

Today, Zoe and I went to the gym and ran some errands. That was exciting as always. Niklas spent about half and hour Beyblade battling after school, then he and his friends played a game called "toilet flush" which involves a tube slide, some climbing about and very much yelling of the word "flush".

2013-03-17: Happy St. Patrick's Day from Niklas and Zoe!

That face pretty much sums up Zoe's attitude today, by the way. There's been some non-gas face goings on of late, too.

Thursday: Zoe had swimming class. That went well, as is per ususal. One of these days I'll get a picture of her with her slicked back pool ponytail. It's a sight to behold, as is her "mean face" she makes when she's trying to swim fast. After class, I took her to the McDonald's on account of how she did a good job and also because I wanted to watch the Big Ten tournament and a Happy Meal would soften the blow of not being allowed to watch Yo Gabba Gabba.

Friday: I had an eye doctor's appointment, so Zoe and I met Andrya downtown. Zoe was pretty excited to get to spend a bonus hour with mommy. Before that (linear story telling is for suckers who write clearly), Zoe and I saw the Marching Illini playing on the street, so passersbye were treated to Zoe yelling "go, go, Illini!" while listening to Illinois Loyalty (this despite the fact that the relevant lyric of Illinois Loyalty is "go, Illini, go"). We also went to the bookstore to buy some new books for Niklas who had finished his third lifetime chapter book (The Fantastic Mr. Fox, Dinosaurs Before Dark and Cam Jansen And The Mystery Of The Missing Basketball), so that was fun.

Yesterday, Niklas went to his friend Devin's birthday party at the bowling alley. There was so much jumping up and down and laughing and crazy dancing I thought there might be a gas leak. Niklas actually bowled pretty well rolling one true strike and banking a couple other ones off of the rails. Meanwhile, Zoe talked Andrya in to her second trip to McDonald's this week making this week a success for Zoe.

Today, Niklas had his swimming lesson which apparently went well. Zoe spent her day acting like a two year old who's been cooped up all winter.

There are a few new pictures up here. The one at the top of this post is in there, so I guess that one's no longer new.

2013-03-20: Right. So, Zoe had what may have been her first ever fever on Monday. She may have had one in the past, but this is the first time since she's been born that we've had a working thermometer in the house. That wiped out t-ball which was a drag, but seeing as how she spent two hours laying on the couch with me (breaking her previous record by about 115 minutes), it was the right call.

Tuesday, Zoe was feeling a lot better so we were able to make it to music class. Zoe had a lot of fun there, particularly when they played the song where the kids all roared like dinosaurs. Niklas had a field trip at school to see a production of Aesop's Fables. Niklas's summary: "There were a bunch of different stories. My favorite was when the boy kept saying there was a wolf but there wasn't and then he got eaten."

Today, Zoe and I had nothing going on and seeing as how Andrya had the car and the wind chill outside was one degree (ONE! I WANT MORE DEGREES!), we laid low. The kids played a bit at the playground after school despite the fact that it was the kind of day where your hands get ridiculously cold even though you're wearing gloves. To sum up, my children are tougher than me when it comes to the cold.

2013-03-25: Hi! So we're having a bit of a sping breakdown (word play!) in Niklas-and-Zoe-town. Last Thursday, Grandma Meeker was up to help Andrya look after the kids while I was in Columbus drinking beer with Josh. Side-note: Josh and I are well off our career high abilities in the beer drinking game. I took Zoe to swimming before I left; that went well. On Friday and Saturday, things happened, I'm sure. I didn't really have a chance to get a recap from Andrya because she had to leave on a work trip pretty soon after I got in on Sunday. I think Goose Island was involved, so that's cool.

On Sunday, I took Niklas to swimming. He's getting pretty good at freestyle but back stroke would be his go-to event should he require a go-to swimming stroke. Today, Zoe had t-ball, we had McDonald's for lunch, we went to Rotofugi and then Niklas had a birthday party at the bowling alley. You'd think I'd have a bit more to say about that, but look at that list; it's exhausting.

I hope to have new picture up tomorrow. We'll see how that goes.