Tag: Zoe

Uh, I Think the Run was a wee more tiring than Zoe!

Ok so today was not a work at Target day. It was a babysit Zoe day, which is a little more fun. Watching Zoe is a cake job. I really don’t think you can say that about most 2 1/2 year-olds! When I arrived at 9:30, Zoe had just gotten up. She was watching TV and eating her breakfast. So I look at some stuff on my Kindle for a little while. After finishing her breakfast, she grabbed my hand and said it was time to play doll house. All that really meant was I had to sit by the doll house while she played. She basically played with the doll house for the next hour until it was time to pick up my wife for lunch. We came over to our house. Zoe played nicely with a finger-stamping set. She also had some yogurt.

No Nap for Zoe means No Nap for Granddad!

At 12 o’clock we took my wife back to work and headed back to Zoe’s house. She finished her uncrustable while watching Paw Patrol. I kept telling her it was going to be her nap time soon. A little before 1 o’clock she said she was ready for her nap. We went into her room she got her binkie and I put her in her crib and closed the door, Typically, when I watch her I watch her through the nest cam and when I initially turned it on today she seemed to be laying down.

The next time I looked I was looking not at Zoe but the curtains and Zoe was talking wildly! Hmm, wonder how the camera got moved!  Anyway each time I checked for the next twenty minutes or so Zoe was talking a blue streak!! Finally things got really frantic and I went in her room. She popped up took her binkie out and said “I’m done my nap, done sleeping” I responded that she had not in fact – done any sleeping!!  oh well!

Zoe on a prior visit to the library

Off to the Library

Since I had a book to pick up at the library, I decided that we would go to the library to kill some time until my wife was done work at 3:30. We had fun, Zoe played with some of the toys. Back in the summer the library had a ball toss set up in the children’s library. So today after playing on one side of the library, Zoe took off to the other. As I followed I could hear her questioning – where the balls were!!

Again , Zoe on a prior visit to the library!

Anyway, we made a quick stop ar Dollar General on the way home to pick up some hot dog rolls and then it was off to pick-up my wife. Because there were now a lot of people around to watch Zoe, i.e my wife, daughter Elizabeth and son Nicholas, I was now free to run. So off I went on a four-mile run……..

Now the reason that I have written all of this is that I always have good intentions to write about my run and the music I listened to after the run. But invariably, by the time I finish showering, taking Zoe home.making and eating dinner, watching Jeopardy, cleaning up from dinner, starting a load of laundry, my brain is fried! And now it;s time to get ready to go to bed. so I can go to Target in the AM!

Anyway, it was a good run and I listened to some really good acoustic blues. I will try to write about that tomorrow!! Static in the Wires from Martin Harley and Daniel Kimbro (Daniel plays bass!) was album that was the soundtrack for the run.Here is a video of them performing together. Enjoy! I know I did!

Babysitting Miss Zoe while Father Pete Went Off to the Doctors

This week my son Peter had two doctor’s appointments for his recent bouts with pain in his upper abdomen. The pains sent him to the hospital and left the doctors scratching their heads. All of his major organs look fine i.e.gall bladder, kidneys and liver. The initial diagnosis was pancreatitis. On Tuesday, he had an endoscopy and Thursday he had an appointment with a urologist. Since his wife Melissa went with him, we were happy to step in and watch Miss Zoe.

On Tuesday, she was shy at first and was clinging to Grammie, but after a while she was fine and we had a great time. She really is an amazing child, so calm, nothing seems to bother her. She is  quietly interested in everything, and really studies all that she encounters. My wife always says that she reminds her of Elizabeth in the way she is always quietly analyzing everything!. If she turns out to be like Elizabeth, that bodes well for Peter and Melissa!!

On Thursday when we arrived, Zoe was almost asleep, lying on her Aunt Dolly. She wasn’t ready to give in, and soon got up and was ready to go! You would never have known, unless you were told, that she had only napped for twenty minutes instead of her normal hour and a half! After a while, I got down and started playing with her on the floor. First we were playing with blocks, which she stacks really well. Of course, she also knocks them down and tosses them very well! When she did throw them I said “there’s no clapping for that!” Her response was a hysterical (I’m really tired) giggle!! One of the first that I have ever gotten from her! I added to the giggling by putting on of her stacking rings on her foot!! The result was more giggling and when the ring came off – the foot went up to put the ring back on!! The best thing about her giggling was that the  crash and hysterical crying that usually comes shortly after this type of laughing never came!!

Here’s a picture of Zoe with the ring…

Here she is with two of the little balls from another toy….

hum. I forget what was going on here, but I see the block box in the picture……

Of course we played peek-a-boo……

the other game we like to play with Zoe is the “Oh No!

All in all, we spent two fun afternoons with Miss Zoe. Oh, and the endoscopy found that Peter has a hiatal hernia, at least now we know that it is something that is treatable!!

.…..and have a great two days with Zoe, can’t wait for the next two (Monday and Wednesday)  with Oliver!!

My son Peter and his wife Melissa spent an anniversary weekend in Boston this Friday and Saturday, so my wife and I go to spend some extended time with our granddaughter Zoe. While Miss Zoe is a lot more active now that she can get around on her own, she is still a sea of calm compared to the whirling dervish that is grandson Oliver.

It’s fun watching her play, she takes in everything very seriously and plays well by herself. The bad thing about yesterday was that she didn’t want to nap. She shortened her morning nap from two hours to about 45 minutes and then she shortened her afternoon nap to about 30 minutes. Even with not sleeping though, she was still pleasant and we had a great day.

Today,I’m resting up, because tomorrow we are babysitting Oliver!!  Okay, I’m taking bets on the time that he will first point to the stroller and want me to take him for a walk…..forecast for tomorrow calls for 60% of scattered thundershowers all day!! The plan is to borrow my son Andrew’s car seat just in case, so that we may be able to substitute, a ride say to the Deptford mall and a walk inside!! What a plan!! Either way I’m sure we’ll enjoy the day!!

Here are some pictures of Zoe that my wife took yesterday!! I love it when Zoe puts her hands up on the sides of her head!!

[espro-slider id=29110]

The featured image at the top of this post shows that new fiesty side of Zoe. First, she dumped out all of her blocks and then put the box on her head. Now if you think that you’ve seen that before you have only it was Mr Oliver doing the dumping and the putting of the box on his head. You can check it out here, Now I want to know how Mr Man Oliver taught his cousin that trick or is it just in the genes