Growing up: cupcakes, rainbows, asbestos, and Annabelle

Zoë is now three years old. My friends have warned that three is a tricky age, but so far so good. Well, almost. The days leading up to and including the birthday were a little ... icky. Actually, let's go back to the birthday party, which was actually the weekend before (Feb 11).

Zoë had a party at a music center, with her buddies from school and a very nice music instructor, Sherri, who chose Zoë's favorite music -- songs about trains, "Roy G. Biv" about rainbows, and old classics like "Hokey Pokey". Only... after a relatively calm (read: boring!) Winter, the weather on this random Saturday in February decided to entertain us with all heaven had to offer: snow, ice, sleet, ... all offered in dark, pelting fashion at exactly the time that Zoë's party was supposed to begin. So... things did not go exactly as planned.

The biggest lessons I have learned in parenting: 1. Make plans, or you are sure to fail. 2. Always expect plans will be demolished in the most unexpected ways. Hey-- I can't complain that life isn't spontaneous and interesting! Anyway, about half the guests made it and all had fun, ate cupcakes, and made music. See the pictures here (press play to see the whole slideshow! There are a couple of videos too. The pictures aren't great because of the flurry of activity and low light conditions -- again, I blame the weather!))

Upon returning from the successful party, we find an email awaiting us at home. Zoë's school will be closed on Monday because someone drilled in a ceiling tile where they were not supposed to and ... now there was asbestos exposure and the clean up and testing would close the center for the weekend and Monday too. Well... embracing spontaneity, Zoë and I spend the morning back at the MusiKids center -- since their open play was on Monday morning, we had never been here (besides for her birthday party) and here was a shining opportunity. In anticipation of turning three (as we were informed, "3" is almost grown up and Zoë is almost as big as us, we are "4", after all. Eh... who's counting those extra 30 years anyway?), she put her coat on by herself... as you can see here, we are still mastering some of our skills before becoming totally independent. Kudos for trying! We had a super time with bubbles, and meeting new friends, and climbing and silly time. As for work... Daddy came home in the afternoon and Mommy practiced super-efficiency.
Then, Zoë's birthday and Valentine's Day: cupcakes are ready for school party, but Zoë is lying on the floor saying that she doesn't want to go to school. Of course! It's because Mom was so much fun yesterday, right? Well... after checking all body parts, nothing seemed amiss, except general lacklusterness. I was reluctant, but decided, maybe she needed a bit more sleep. But... in about an hour, she was burning with 104 degree fever. Hmmm... off to the Dr. and the rest is too sad for documenting here among her well-wishers. As I like to put it, we spent this day much like her first one on this Earth -- Mom and Dad worrying for her health, lots of snuggling and cuddling, and sleeping and resting. With the gift of Tylenol, we managed a sad-ish birthday celebration complete with homemade cupcakes (those never made it to school after all) and payesh (yup, somewhere in this weekend, I managed to made a yummy batch of this!), candles and gift opening. Plans 400-410 for this day out the window...(somewhere in that was some silly New Year's resolution about "cutting back on sweets"... someone had to eat the cupcakes and pudding and make space on the counter and in the fridge! Matt helped too.)

This is getting to be a long birthday post, but wait! The story has a happy ending, no fear. Zoë's school came through asbestos-free, Zoë recovered fever-free (and soon enough, Mom and Dad through stages made it too through their respective illnesses-- damn Global warming and the crazy weather. Hello Daffodils... shouldn't you still be sleeping? Go away Cheery Blossoms-- not yet, I say! Oh look, it's hailing now. sigh.)
-----
Matt and I have been compiling our favorite random Zoë-isms... today alone, there were two gems (you can't make this sort of thing up!) --

1. Annabelle, author extraordinaire:

Z: Choo- choo baby needs to make a card for Annabelle.

Me: Who's Annabelle?

Z: She's the Children's book author.

Me: (feeling awfully out of the loop... yikes, how did I miss this great celebrity?)Oh yeah? What did she write?

Z: Oh. She writes about Choo choo baby.

Me: (slap head with palm... right! How could I forget?! The imaginary author... that Zoë, the wise, worldly, and well-read three year old, invented over breakfast this fine day...) Aha! hmmm... I can't remember the name of her book. What was it again?

Z: (with some attitude, if I might add)Welllll... Car and Bus -- that's the name.

How silly of me to forget... the adventurous Choo choo baby explores the world in car and bus, but of course. Naturally.
----
2. Later, as we are getting ready to nap, Mommy and Zoë are being affectionate.

Me: Zoë, have a good nap and I love you.

Z: (patting Mommy's face gently)Yes, I love you too. Always remember to love yourself.

Me: Wow. That's really nice. Who taught you that? Did someone say this to you?

Z: (And I know this will be shocking to all of you... )Choo choo baby.

I really need to start writing up these stories in a book. Adventures of Zoë and Choo choo baby., my pseudonym would be... Annabelle.

"It's getting complicated"...

One morning while rushing to get out of the house (it's like moving mountains...):

Zoë: Mom, it's getting very complicated with Choo Choo Baby. (Choo choo baby, as some of you might remember, is Zoë's favorite doll)

Mom: Hmmm, why? Put on your shoes.

Z: Yesterday she told me that she has a baby.

M: Hm. That is complicated. Baby's can't have babies! Then what happened? Put on your coat.

Z: Choo choo said that I was her daughter!

M: Really! Give me your other arm. What did you say?

Z: I told her that then I must be her sister and you were both of our Mom.

M: Yes, that sounds about right. We're late! Let's go!

That was a fun way to start the morning! Everyday is an adventure...

Happy 2012 ... so far!

We have had a hectic but fun beginning to 2012. The pictures on left are from our visit to "Choochoo Mall", our treat after spending the weekend car-shopping.... more about that later.



This last week, I went (and returned from) Austin for the American Astronomical Society (AAS) conference. It was ... fun/depressing/overwhelming/busy/useful/stimulating/... anyway. Zoë and Matt stayed here and kept themselves busy. Even in that week I was gone, I was surprised to hear Zoë's language getting more and more complex and was shocked with what she has "recorded" in her brain. For example, we bought a new car (long story... ) at the VOB car dealer and Matt has had to go to get something fixed. Later today she asked "Do you need to go to VOB again?" It seems ordinary except that neither Matt nor I realized that we ever referred to the car dealership by name during this discussion. Perhaps at some point we joked that we had a VOB license plate or something, but it was surprising to us that she put these random pieces together to realize that when Daddy goes to get the car fixed it is at VOB.



In this video, she's leading a yoga/ballet/aerobics class... and I catch certain descriptions that are unlikely from her ballet class, but probably more likely from a yoga or walking DVD (those are my go-to's in these cold winter days when outdoor exercise seems uh less than tempting, shall we say...) and possibly also in her daddy's football games? We are considering just video-taping Zoë's impromptu exercise classes and selling to top fitness producers as a side business. After all, she's cute, very energetic (considering it's bedtime), amusing and uses very creative instructive terms like "march and intercept". Too bad we started rolling the tape midway past the best stretches and instructions -- there was so much more! Ah... but for that, you will need to buy the full DVD -- it will make you sweat! It will tone your core muscles (as you laugh away your stress)... oh the possibilities!

Holidays in CA

We are back from vacation in California -- two weeks of family, fun and good food! The link to the full set of pictures is here (including videos!), but below are some of the highlights:

Trip to San Francisco & Ghiradelli with Mom, Ninamashi, Boris and Didun We spent an evening (after nap!) in San Francisco. We took the BART train there and back, which was one of the most exciting things. Then, we walked to Union Square to see the Christmas tree and Macy's while Boris held our space in line for the Cable Car, then we got to ride the Cable Car to North Beach where we had yummy pasta! Then we walked to Ghiradelli Square for dessert-- a hot fudge sundae!

"Polar Express" Trainride -- "All aboard!" This was a pretty cool experience! First we took a bus from the parking lot to the train. The train went from Union City to Sunol and back. This train was covered with Holiday lights and full of happy children and families (when they weren't stressing about saving and finding seats). Naturally, we had to drink hot cocoa and eat goodies. The best part: Santa and Mrs. Claus were on the train too and made the rounds. Zoë was surprisingly nonchalant with Santa (not super excited, but unlike last year, not scared either). Dadu pulled Santa's beard and offered a cookie in retribution. I am guessing he received coal this year...

There were, of course, many other fun parts of our visit to Walnut Creek like: decorating the tree, going to the park, Mom and Dad had date night at the ballet, having brunch with Sabina, Ruxana, and Nuru, opening presents (Santa's elves arranged an early visit!) and general hanging out.

Then we flew off to San Diego (thank you, Southwest Airlines, no reindeer required!)... Mimi came to the airport to greet us with Grandpa. Here, also, our vacation sped by at whirlwind speed. The highlights included time at the park, time playing with Emiley, Sasha and Allan and all the new toys, Christmas Eve at the Crulls where the train elicited squeals of excitement that might have been heard at the North Pole, and the beach (75 degrees in December?! What a special gift for us)!

Did I mention we had some professional family pictures taken of the whole Zych family?

Sadly, this Holiday season has seen one casualty-- Matt got rear-ended on his way to the airport and our poor dependable Honda was totaled. We ring in the new year with a new car, Welcome Passat! (no pics yet)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Ballet (in Dec)

Last week was observation week at Zoë's ballet class. Of course, she was a bit more distracted (and so were the other girls) than usual, but it makes for good TV! I posted a few favorite video clips here and some photos, but visit the link for lots lots more (mainly videos).

From Ballet

We are getting ready for our visit to CA. Family: see you soon! Friends: hope to see you all soon too! Lots of love and happy holidays (since it's unlikely you'll get another post until 2012! Woohooo...)

Come and visit Zoetown

We have been playing at home more and more these days. It isn't even that cold, but I guess the dark days of Winter are upon us... or maybe it's the potty training practice that keeps us here. Anyway, today we make a city, complete with train system (Brio!) and tall buildings... even a small suburban neighborhood for fun. And that's all I have to report for now :)

Holidays (yes, that includes Halloween)

We have entered the Holiday season. While my yoga classes have helped keep me sane by reminding me to focus on what's important and meaningful... life is still hectic after all. Not enough time to write a blog, for instance. However, I did upload pictures of Halloween and Fall splendor (including a video of fun at the pumpkin farm with Grandma and Grandpa). Here they are:

From Fall fun -- 2011

From Fall fun -- 2011

Some non-pictoral updates:

• Zoë has been doing a nice job with potty training! She has a sticker chart and everyday there are more stickers and more successes on the potty. But one big thing is that she doesn't seem to have much of a problem with having accidents and hiding it from us... and then being very nonchalant and silly. I feel like we hit some boundary or potty training -- this is our current challenge. And then, with Holiday travels... I'm nervous about going backwards.
• Zoë's verbal abilities are simply amazing! The other day she sang "We wish you a merry Christmas" song all the way through. I think they are practicing for the holiday party (which we are sadly missing by heading to CA early) and she holds a paper in front of her and sings very seriously. It's really cute! (I hope to capture by camera one of these days).
  
• I am also really impressed with her observational skills. The other day she said "I see moon! But Sun's up too. That's interesting. " So we talked about how moon and sun can be in the sky together, but not when moon is full. She later explained that to her Dad.
• Zoë still loves her ballet class. She's got her piqué's and curtsey's down!