Why Sleep?

I figured I should just load the video (mentioned in my last post) while I actually have time. So without further ado...



That's cousin Danni helping her on the slide, my mom throwing the water and my niece, Alix taking the video for me (I think I was feeding a baby). Listen closely to Zoe at the end of the video. I just love how she talks. She starts preschool on Monday and I have a feeling they'll tell me that speech therapy may be in order, but I just think her little 'accent' is adorable. In case you can't get it, my mom says, "That's high for you." Her response to my mom is, "Yeah it is! I want to do it again!" It comes out as, "Yeah tis! Ina do dit adain.

Labor Day Weekend

I'm going to keep this short and sweet since all three kids are sleeping, so should I!

The kids and I spent six days (two of those spent mostly, it seemed, on the road) around Labor Day at my parents in Newaygo.


Zoe on her maiden voyage down the same slide I slid down every summer of my childhood. If I can get time, I will load the video. She was so, so proud. As you can see, it really does take a village!

Ms. Alyse during tummy time. It's not her favorite thing. "Hey, can someone help me out here?"

Alyse, crashed out on Honey after a hard day of entertaining.

Mr. Mitchell, flirting as usual. "What'd you say? Oh yeah, I know I'm cute!"

Cuddling our friend, Lori.

The September Birthday Crew. Papa, Uncle Bill, Cousin Sam and Sis Shane (holding Alyse).

Zoe enjoying some birthday cake on Uncle Tommy's lap. She has him sooooo wrapped!

It was a great visit! Thanks all.

Take care,
ZMA's mama

Catching up...

A lot has happened in the three-and-a-half weeks since the last post: Two visits to Newaygo, my return to work (early, due to that darn best rest), a trip to Bay City and Mitchell and Alyse's two month check-up.

First, some pictures from Zoe's trip to my parents' house at the end of May, where she got some major spoiling.

Observe Zoe in her self-decorated ballerina outfit, courtesy of Honey. Now she thinks she's a ballerina princess! I'm sure Rich will be putting in some overtime playing catch with her to counteract this stage.

Enjoying the beach with cousin Danni:

Petting a stingray at John Ball Zoo. Notice how she has her tongue in her cheek. This means she's extremely proud of herself.


Until this visit to the zoo, we could rarely get her to pet anything more wild than Busia and Dziadzia's cats or my sister's small dog. Quite a step for her. As I was told, it took a bit of coaxing and a lot of patience.

Honey, Aunt Shane and Danni started Zoe in the petting zoo and worked her up to this....

What happened to ponies?

Thanks to the family for showing her such a great time.

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As I've mentioned, I don't know where we'd be without all the help we've received the past two months. This includes Monday visits from The Good Doctor and Wednesday visits (which often extend into Thursday ... or Friday) from Busia. Here she is on one of those visits. I left her alone with the three kids to run errands and came home to find two sleeping babies and a happy 3-year-old. Ahhhhhh! What a pro.

The second week of June we all trekked to Newaygo. Rich was supposed to go on his annual kayaking trip with the guys from the News. They kayak the Pine River and camp in a town about 30 minutes from my parents. Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate and his kayak remained fastened to the top of our mini-van. While Dad rode out the storms, Mitchell and Alyse got acquainted with some of their cousins.

Cousin Sam was more than happy to take a baby off my hands and soon had Mitchell chuckling.

Seeing a cute photo op, I plopped Alyse in cousin Sid's arms. He was decidedly less enthused about holding a baby (I believe his exact words were, "Could you take this baby NOW?"). Despite that fact, Alyse tried to charm him with her sweet smile.

Zoe spent every morning at Honey's in her favorite spot...the hammock swing.

This past Sunday was not only Father's Day, but also the day we took a trip to Bay City to celebrate Busia and Dziadzia's June birthdays.

The trip enabled Mitchell and Alyse to meet their great-grandmother, SupaBusia!

Zoe kept busy playing lawn darts with Dziadzia, petting her 'best friend' Calico...

... and running through the sprinkler.

Mitchell had a good time grinning for the family (Thanks for holding up my head, Dad)!

As did Alyse.

The birthday boy and girl.

A final bit of news. Mitchell and Alyse had their two-month check-up on Monday (they are nine weeks). Mitchell tips the scales at 10 lbs. 7 oz. and is 22.75 inches tall. A gain of 9 ounces and 1.75 inches.

Ms. Alyse checked in at a mere 9 lbs. 4 oz. and 22.5 inches tall. A gain of 3 oz. and 1.75 inches.

Both kids remain in the 50th percentile for weight and the 25th for height for their actual age and 75th and 50th for their adjusted age (the age they would be if they were born on their due date).

That's all for now. Take care.

ZMA's mama

The Answer

The scary thing is, Cobbler Court's litter box comment was the closest...
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From what I'm told, the conversation went something like this:
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Sonja: Honey, what are you doing?
Zoe: Going potty.
Sonja: What!?! You can't go potty in there.
Zoe (with disdain): No go potty.
Sonja: Oh... are you pretending?
Zoe: YoYo pretending.
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So there's your answer. She was dipping her butt in the water, then leaning forward and watching it stream from her backside, as if she was going potty. Sonja said it went on for about 10 minutes... and never got less funny.
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Potty humor. Gotta love it.

A Dam Good Time

We recently took another relaxing summer weekend trip to Newaygo, which included this Saturday walk down the street from Honey and Papa's house to the boat launch where Croton Dam turns the Muskegon River into a lovely lake. That's Zoe enjoying the view with Honey above, and cousins Sid and Sam below:

A big reason for the trip was to celebrate Aunt Shawn's birthday. Here she is blowing out her candles.

And here's Zoe digging into a piece of cake:

Like all parents, Sonja and I frequently find ourselves giggling at the things that come out of Zoe's mouth. During this picture, she actually told us... "Yoyo going down slide. I'll be right back." Ummm... I don't think so kiddo. Maybe next summer.

s

Side note: She's still referring to herself as Yoyo, even though she can make the 'Z' sound. We'll tell her, 'Say Zzzzzzzzz-OOO-EEE,' and she'll answer 'Zzzzzzzz- YOYO.' Close enough, for now, I guess.

A few weeks ago, we referred to Zoe jumping off the diving board at Honey's house but didn't have a picture. Sonja nailed one this weekend (and, as you can see, Honey had the other angle covered). Here she is thinking about it...

And then lettin' it rip... Our little daredevil. Nice form, eh?

This last photo is a little embarrassing, but too cute not to share. We tend to think our kid is pretty smart. And she gives us plenty of basis for that opinion. But there are also random times you can't help but wonder if she's doomed to being as dopey as her Daddy.

s

In fact, why not make this a little game? Take a look at the picture below and post a comment that attempts to explain what's going on. No cheating, Aunt Shawn!

We'll give you the real answer in a day or two.

s

Hope summer is good where you are.

The Graduate

Proof that pretty girls of all ages grow up too fast:

We headed northwest this weekend to celebrate the high school graduation of cousin Alix and had a great time hanging out with Sonja's entire immediate family and much of the extended group.

The party was Saturday. The highlight for Sonja and I (besides the company, of course) was the incredible Mexican feast. Really delicious. Since Zoe stuck mainly to the usual fare (refer to blog title), here's some of the party favors she enjoyed:

First, there was this adventure with Aunt Shane, our gracious hostess:

Then some swinging with Papa:


On to burning off some noodles on the trampoline:


Then catching up on family news with Aunt Shawn and cousin Stacy:


And, of course, plenty of time to get her drink on. (What Mexican feast would be complete without some sangria?)

There was also plenty of action back at home base, Honey and Papa's house, on Saturday and Sunday. Early in the morning, Zoe was ready to go for a walk to see the pool. Not surprisingly, Honey obliged. Here they are, still in their PJs:


And, still in PJs, hanging out in the tent Honey made on the clothesline:



We also were paid a fun visit by Sonja's childhood friend, Lori, and her daughter, Carle. The two little girls were born four days apart:

Here are two absolute favorites captured in one photo: Cousin Danni and the pool!

If you think Daddy's face looks surprised in this next photo, you should have seen it the first time Zoe jumped off the diving board. It was right about the time I looked away to say "There's no way she's going to..." that Zoe launched herself into my arms. Fun stuff.

We purposely skipped our Sunday nap so Zoe would sleep on the drive home. By about 3 p.m., she was pretty pooped, but extremely buoyant:


It was a very relaxing weekend and great to see everybody. We're already looking forward to our next trip.

You'd think that's enough for one blog post... BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!

As typically is the case after a fun weekend, the party extended for Zoe when Aunt Tephs came over for her Monday babysitting gig. This particular Monday also included a visit from Busia and Dziadzia, so Aunt Tephs could make an appointment.

Here they are, saying goodbye after a fun couple hours of walks and playing in the backyard:

That's a lot of visiting with a lot of wonderful people in a very short time. What a lucky girl.

Now, we start looking forward to a full week off.

Birthday #1 and Easter

We packed up the car and headed to Newaygo over the weekend to celebrate Easter and Zoe's upcoming 2nd birthday with my family. The weather even mimicked the day Zoe was born as we drove through a couple white-outs. Ahhhhh, Springtime in Michigan.

Zoe was more excited than I expected. She even insisted on having a, "happy bubu to you hat." This must be something they do at daycare because I can't think of one time that we stuck a hat on someone for their birthday. Luckily, my sister runs a daycare and had one handy. Zoe was so proud as everyone sang and she attempted to blow out the candle, with a little help from mom.

She even enjoyed the cake and ice cream in a big way. A huge difference from last year.

Right before the party, we decorated Easter eggs. Zoe thought it was great, except the kit had glitter along with it. You'd think this would be a little girls dream, but not for our little clean freak. Zoe loved looking at the glitter, but she didn't appreciate the glitter sticking to her hands and made Dad and Aunt Shane wipe her hands frequently.

Here's a shot of Zoe with her Easter morning loot.

After egg-hunting and digging through Easter baskets, it was time to dress-up for Easter dinner. Honey added some accessories to Zoe's outfit. Do you think it's too much? A little Chaptick completed the ensemble, then she was ready to pucker for the camera.

The last picture is of Zoe and Noel, the family cat. Noel hid in the basement for the majority of our visit, but graced us with her presence right before we left for home. Zoe knew to keep her distance since Noel had made it pretty clear that she wasn't interested in a cuddle at the moment.

Today we're excitedly awaiting the arrival of Busia. She's coming to visit and help out while Rich is away on business.

More birthday celebrations to come...

Take care,
Zoe's mama