Peek a boo

The kids are learning.

They can point to their nose.
They can point to their toes.

They can point to their head.



That's where monkeys go to perch.



That's where hats go.


Next year. Mama did some clearance shopping for next years winter clothes.

LOL

LOL



Your grandma posted on her blog about this. Texting, why OF COURSE. Zoe is texting. Do we need to explain to future R & Z what that was? I already practiced my story of how when we first got Netflix we had to wait 2 whole minutes (or so) for a one hour episode to download. Imagine that! Waiting! (Or when I was in grade school we were one of the first to have a VCR. We'd have people over to watch movies. It was a novelty. I digress).

Like many things, it's quite cute to let the kids play with something. When you want them to.

Any your nice Aunt Shannon let you play with her phone.
Lucky kids.

Jalapeno poppers next.

No excuses, kids. No excuses for not writing.
Tonight while walking to my car after work I had a chezDeux moment.

I thought of the look on Roman's face last night.
Roman and Zoe had eaten dinner. Now it was mom and dad's turn. I had made chili and didn't think it was something they'd go for.

I was wrong.

Like dogs, or like our cat Sam, these two are at our feet anytime we have food. No matter what it is, they want some. So we gave them a kidney bean. Mmmm. And some more. Roman was sitting next to me. Pretty soon he was trying to put his hand in my bowl. He was successful once. ROMAN! It was the memory of the look that made me smile today. It was "what? What am I doing wrong?". Funny in retrospect. Mama not laughing in the moment, but isn't that often the case?

dadSongs: Motherless Child

Motherless Child
Eric Clapton

Your dad is the big Clapton fan. I've learned to appreciate Mr Clapton beyond the big radio hits. Although pre-dad I did have a copy of the BB King/ Eric Clapton album Riding With the King (and it's awesome).

Some time ago, pre Ro/Zo, I had the From the Cradle album playing on my ipod. I talked to your dad about the album and he mentioned this song. I can't remember if he said it was one of his favorites on the album, but he did specifically mention it. Then he said he didn't like the title. My memory of what he said is hazy, but I recall the feeling at the time - love and caring. Your dad didn't want to even think about a "motherless" child. Hey, that means he cares. I don't know why I'm always surprised, but I guess it's moments like this that drive it home. I want to say I was pregnant with you two at the time, but I don't think that's true. He was just anticipating your existence!

Roman had his turn with a phone awhile back.



Now he just gets to watch on while Zoe takes her turn.



She made full use of it. And had fun.

Somebody's here to tickle you!

Your Aunt Shannon is here for a visit.Roman went right to her. Zoe, in typical fashion, needed a few minutes until she made herself available for hugs and kisses.
And Tickles.

Back to the title of this post - Good thing it's not Elmo. Zoe still is a bit anxious about Tickle Me Elmo.
Curiously though, when we went to the Mall of America on Saturday and were walking thru Sears Zoe just about jumped out of the stroller screaming "Melmo!" when she saw him in the toy section.
Go figure.

From your Grandpa Jon

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Beauty Queen

Daddy went out on the side stoop for some "fresh air" and was rewarded with this view thru the back door.



No comment.

dadSongs: Hotel California

Hotel California
Gipsy Kings

I'm not sure what I was listening to recently (the radio? It seems unlikely this version would come on!), but I heard this. It stirs up a couple of things. It's a tangle of The Big Lebowski and driving around somewhere diligently listening and trying to translate.
I think of your Dad and I both first heard this (independently) in that movie. It's a remake of the Eagles song by The Gipsy Kings. Flamenco-ized and translated into Spanish. It's actually pretty cool. And we know your dad appreciates a new spin on the old (while still loving the old). Your dad had it burned on a disc during our 2004 adventure. That's where I come in. I recall listening to it over and over in the car with your dad, attempting to translate the Spanish back into English. I didn't know the English lyrics, but your dad could confirm. Did we come to a conclusion? I don't know. All I recall from it when I listen now is champana en el hielo/champagne on ice. They're singing too fast! And my Español is getting to be nearly 2 decades out of practice. Ugh.

Spanish lyrics - I can still pick up words, but you know words don't a sentence make. Well they do, but not the way I see them.
On the desert road, the wind somethings me.Up comes the aroma of colita. What's colita? Ha! The moon, the moon of no-one. There in the distance a light centela. The idea of my being.

See? Doesn't work! But I'm still glad I studied language. ;)

Here's a switch.

Zoe



Zoe eating oatmeal.


Roman, waiting for oatmeal.



With a spoon.
For awhile now Zoe has wanted control of the spoon. Spoon Queen. Spoon Princess. Fair ruler of spoondom. Something like that.



She grabs and takes control. When she was made she was dished out her fair share of determination. So I give. Here you go, this is the path we WANT you to go down - self reliance (although I do have my moments of remembering your total reliance on me and your Dad and flash forward to the inevitable self-definition...It's so interesting to see life from another perspective. From the passing the torch view. Cycles. Not to get to deep, but the end becomes more real when you see the beginning)



Roman's happy to be fed by one of us. He's most interested in what's ON the spoon.



Funny thing is, and you may have gathered it from the photos above, Zoe holds the spoon in one hand and helps herself to food with the other.



That's okay.



As long as some of it makes it to the tummy! :)



Our baby bird opens wide.



MMMM good.



Roman's now got several molars...He'll be eating steak any time now!



Thank you IKEA for these bibs.



Thank you Roman and Zoe for the photo op.



Spoon Queen. In the end she had 2 of them! Don't mess with the S.Q.

The Wiggles

File under "if you would have told me this 10 years ago I would have said you were nuts".

We splurged.
I don't know how this happened. What was the trigger? Daddy got a blu ray player? Was that the starting point? Back in November your dad found a good deal on a blu ray player. Movie/tv viewing nut that he is he'd been waiting for an opportunity to get one. Me, well I don't really see the difference. And I REALLY didn't want to open the floodgates. He's a dvd collector. He WAS a dvd collector before we put the reigns on spending (due to you guys and due to the economy). Getting a blu ray player made me think that he'd find this the opportunity to re-buy his favorite films in a new format. NOOOOOOOOOOO!
At any rate the blu ray was in the house.

He strategically purchased one that had the capability of streaming Netflix. Did we have a Netflix subscription?
No.
Within a week we did.
Was our internet connection fast enough to stream movies?
No.
Upgrade our connection speed. Upgrade to a new router (to boost the wireless connection), buy a new modem (to fix the connectivity issues, which later turned out to be our providers issue- they kept bumping us back to a "heavy users pool" even after we paid the extra $5 a month to avoid this)...Ah. Finally by Christmas we had the Netflix portion of the blu ray fully functioning.

It is AWESOME!

We've been watching episodes of LOST from the start. We got into it late, so it's been fun to go back and watch the first couple seasons of episodes.

Then one night I was scanning the instant download kids section and saw the Wiggles. I'd heard of them, so I thought I'd check it out. The particular title I found was their "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" dvd. Wow. Really?



Lots of Color, music, dancing. Zoe and Roman were mesmerized. A short time later I found another one - the Wiggles Go Bananas.
Monkeys! Bears! all kinds of aminals. I've lost count of how many times we've watched that one now. Zoe dances. We keep trying to catch it on video. Let's see if we're successful.

So...It is AWESOME too. In a different way. I think I actually enjoy Go Bananas as much as the kids. And that has come as quite the surprise to me. Oh well, embrace it.:)

Belows a link to a short promo. The cockatoo in the beginning always makes Zoe laugh. And the song is one of my favorites on the disc. It comes with some dance moves the kids are going to enjoy when they get a bit bigger.



I really like this song. Roman and Zoe like this song. Daddy - he's tolerating it.


Amended later
Monkey Man by the Wiggles


inspires Zoe (not good quallity, but you'll get the idea)

dadSongs- Margaritaville

[anything by]
Jimmy Buffet

Ah, Jimmy. I think of a tent down by the river near Red Wing. Your dad was working in the event business and invited me down to watch him work. Your dad's like that. He's always wanted to include me. His free time could be short and sporadic, so he tried to take advantage of the down time during and event. So I went down to hang out with him. This had to be 2003 or so.This particular event was tied in with a marina and had a nautical/island type theme. Bring on Jimmy. Apparently the Buffet soundtrack had been used a fair number of times before by his employer. Your dad, he's not so fond of it anymore (and maybe he never was a Parrothead). So whenever one of his greatest hits comes on (Margaritaville, Volcano, Cheeseburger in Paradise) I think of your dad and giggle. Or sometimes sing along if he's in the room, just to pour salt into the wound.

Children's Museum

We finally took advantage of the gift of a family membership to the Children's museum this past weekend.

I grabbed a couple of pictures - we'll be going back this winter for sure, but this summer too to check out the roof top garden.



There's an area of the museum for 6-48 month old kids. A place to explore.
We started with the section above, which is really geared toward the smallest babies. Although Zoe and Roman liked it too.



We took a look at the itsy bitsy spider as well. There's lots to look at and lots of surfaces to climb. Even windows at their height to look out!



It was funny - Roman spent a lot of time crawling around. In large part because some of the flooring is wavy or bumpy or steep. Lots of textures and new things to explore. It's going to be fun as they get older.



Time to go ice fishing! Zoe and Roman peered on down to see the fish.


And jingle some bells




We didn't spend a huge amount of time in the other areas, but we let the kids wander in the section with an aquarium. They got a kick out of the turtle and the gold fish.

This is why we need full body armor

I mean bibs.







We're really in trouble when he starts eating the plates.

Shiny objects

We missed the opportunity of getting the kids dressed up and "pictured" with Grandma Candy on Christmas Day. So after bathtime on New Years Eve we dressed them up again (not a bad night to do so) and attempted some photos.



Zoe and Grandma. Zoe's holding a microphone that is meant to mimic the one used by Sid on her favorite show - Sid the Science Kid. She LOVES Sid. I downloaded the soundtrack (legally, mind you) and when we put it on she does a little dance. We'll capture that some day!




Okay, onto the Dressy Bessy doll. Something to keep Zoe still for the photo.


Maybe even smiling!



But she is a girl.
Jewelry!



Thanks for those adorable outfits Grandma Candy!

Roving

at IKEA.

Very quiet on a Tuesday night. Ready to let our little ones roam your room displays. Ready to let the kids touch and feel - such textures! So many drawers to open, mirrors to peer into and floors to stomp our little boots on.

We had a small return and a few things to pick up (bibs that are practically a shirt- perfect!). After that, fun times!

First we visited the couch mama wants to buy (likely in brown - Grandma Jane should get a kick out of that, after passing on her mom's Eisenhower era brown couch to uncle Andy). A corner version that would maximize the space we have in our living room - so much seating! We'll see. Then we let you loose. You meandered the couches for awhile. Zoe started stopping at the bin full of sheepskin rugs. So SOFT. Roman too.



Daddy was watching Roman and I was watching, or rather following Zoe. I couldn't help but think of a recent conversation with Shawn, their daycare provider. We were talking about the Roomba. A vacuum like device that wanders your floor and bounces off the walls, eventually getting to all the space. Zoe was a lot like the Roomba. Making random, zig-zaggy patterns but covering every inch. She had a lot of fun exploring the 562 square foot faux apartment. The bed was even on one of those low frames. She couldn't quite get up (her boots were making it difficult), but her brother did.
(let's now pretend mommy is doing a fancy blur on the next two pictures)




Daddy suggested we eat dinner there- in the cafeteria this time. Normally we grab a hot dog or pizza from the take out counter downstairs, but we figured we'd live it up. It had been a while since we stopped in the cafe - probably nearly a year ago (it's blogged & tagged!), and you two were drinking bottles at that point.




Not this time!



We lucked out- Tuesday's bargain: Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes and lingonberries for $2.50. Woo hoo



R & Z shared the adult sized version. It looked like a lot of food when I had it on my tray. But with Roman inspecting his sisters plate...



And Zoe eating her share...



It worked out. Zoe, are you learning eating habits from your brother?



Meatball on your nose even!