In honor of Nana

Blogs are not books and they don't usually have dedications, but permit me this once to dedicate our blog to Grandma Florence (Nana): To the classiest lady with her twinkling eyes and big heart full of love and life, we love you and miss you. Hope that your eternity is filled with joy and peace.

Here are some of our stories, of recent...
(Sorry: Because of the large number of videos & photos, the page is a bit slow...)

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"Energy"

I underestimated Zoë's sudden abilities on her bike and made the mistake of taking her out for a leisurely ride (not even wearing my sneakers or work out clothes!) I ended up sweaty and chasing her down the trail yelling "STAY TO THE RIGHT!" and "Red light. RED Light. RED LIGHT!!!!" (our code for stop NOW!)

Somewhere on the trail, she got very upset with my constant "advising". Um, that's my job, kid! To keep you safe. But there was pouting and some scolding: "I'm never going to talk to you again, Mom. Never, never, never. Then you can't tell me anything. Until my birthday. Don't talk to me till then." 

There wasn't much of a chance, anyway, since she rode off in a huff, me in chase once again... until we got to a bridge:  "Mommy, can we go that way?" So, back on track and on a road with fewer speeding, triathlon-types and then we suddenly were friends again. We both could relax on this smaller, friendlier trail. Suddenly, she stops and waits for me and then holds my hand and covers it with kisses all over and says: "You know how I yelled at you before? But I still love you and now I want to give you lots of kisses. Because I know you were being a good mommy. We are buddies, right?" True. The rest of our ride was peaceful.

Then we hit a big hill, she tells me: "Oh Wow! I just got some energy! I think it's because my food just broke down and got digested. You know, when it breaks down it gives you energy!"

 

Here's a 10 second video of her, before I worried that I will get too far behind (sorry for the shaking-- it's hard to run and video!)
For comparison, here she was a few months ago!    

 

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"Dance with abandon"

Sometimes it is the small stuff... today I caught Zoë dancing like she usually does, with utter abandon (and a lot of turns). Time for Kathak? 

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"Sheep and Wool Festival"

Who knew? Every May, all things sheep and lamb congregate about 20 miles from us in a "Sheep and Wool Festival". It's a rather strange hodge-podge of people and events, including the wrangling, showing, and sheering of sheep, ... eating, drinking and being entertained in with farm-fresh fare, ... but for knitters and yarn lovers, the best part is the showcasing of new yarns, wool, and fiber. We went with little expectations, and had some fun! 

Zoë got a sample bag of raw, shorn wool. This wool would get cleaned, washed and dried, before being made into yarn. We saw some people taking their cleaned wool and spinning it into the thin threads with would be mutliplied into thicker wool and then dyed, and then... made into something awesome, no doubt!

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"Ms. Nelson is Missing"

This is a favorite story that I remember from my childhood. One day, I heard Zoë telling "her students" this story. (Even funnier is that they learned the story from a tape-recording at school, so she says "beep, page X", since the recording has those markers). 

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 "Whooosh"

We went to a carnival fair with a set-up "moonbounce" (if you aren't in the know: these are all the rage in the toddler scene: giant inflatable jungle gyms). While Zoë has had lots of exposure now to them, there are times when she charges in and then requires a bit of help to climb to the top, still. In this particular one, the lady warned us that it's for 5+ and we might have to go in and bail her out. But ... tickle me pink -- Look at her go! 

Actually she climbed faster than I could react and video-- so I only have the part where she enjoys the slide back down, the prize for her efforts.

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"Living in the Moments"

In between school and the "have-to's", we manage some "want-to's". Know this quote?  

Step with care and great tact and remember that Life's a Great Balancing Act. 

-- Dr. Seuss

"Fall"-ing behind

It is officially Fall. How do we know? The leaves are all sorts of pretty colors, the temperatures have fallen below freezing once or twice, the closet switch to Winter clothes is complete, and we have now been apple picking TWICE -- once with Zoë's class (Mommy came too!) and the other with her family! This week Zoë will be taking another fieldtrip to the Pumpkin patch!

It has been busy with birthday parties and Fall-themed outings (this weekend, we went on a beautiful hike in the woods near the Potomac and saw mushrooms, fallen leaves, feathers, acorns, and even a horse up close!) On top of that, Zoë has been learning a lot in ballet class -- see her video here or in the links below!



Our photos are all here -- please feel free to browse.


Zoë has been saying lots of smart and funny things. Unfortunately, I can't think of any examples now. She pays attention in sometimes shocking ways. Like the other day, we were listening to the radio on the way to school and I was only half listening and talking to Zoë about her upcoming trip to the fire station that day. We were both pretty tired since this fieldtrip meant getting up extra early. Suddenly the radio said something about cuts at the fire station. So I told Zoë: "Hey, they are talking about fire stations! And you will be going to one today. Cool!" and she calmly responded, "Yes, Mommy, but the ones they were talking about are in Chicago. Don't worry, they aren't going to cut anything here in Maryland." I was pretty impressed that she had the context of the news report and knew that the situation in Chicago does not affect that in Maryland, etc.

There have been other similar funny, but impressive stories. Especially now that there is so much in the news about the election, she seems to pipe in her two cents. The other day we were also discussing how we should vote on a Maryland bill to allow casino gaming. Zoë decided it was a bad idea and she gave her reasons. I forgot her reasons, but I was convinced. Zoë for President! :)
  

What is going on??? OR -- Summer 2011, part 1

So it has been just too long. So long that I freeze up thinking about how I can possibly update the blog properly to reflect months of excitement, glorious changes and growth. Since the last entry there has been: trips to Europe, New York, ... Since the number of stories rival the current national debt (trillions, that is, if anyone is counting...yes, that is what has us all holding our breaths here), I decided to give up and just offer a smattering of random tales (possibly not chronological, or any type of logical, for that matter). Also, beware, this entry may be long or broken into several entries. Here goes:

1. Europe, overnight train from Munich to Paris.It was 10:30 p.m. and we boarded the overnight train, expecting that Zoe will nod off very soon. We apparently violated the number 1 rule of traveling with a toddler -- NEVER expect anything. Not only was she not sleepy, being on the train made her more excited than anything else, she was bouncing off the walls. This was particularly tricky because everyone else had turned off their lights and were ready to sleep. The elderly Frenchman in the lower bunk was already a little annoyed by our very existence since it interfered with his perfect bedtime ritual (perhaps he offers an excellent example of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, OCD?). Every time someone walked by him, he had to readjust the sheets and blankets just so. With his headphones and eye mask, Zoe's chatter and giggling did not sit well with him, to put it mildly. I figured that in the dark, bored, Zoe will eventually go to sleep if we just try. After laying with Zoe on the 18 inch berth, fearful of moving lest we fall off, Zoe decided that sleep was not for her. But she tried to help the situation by singing everyone else to sleep... she cycled through all of her favorites ("Farmer in the Dell", "Itsy Bitsy Spider", "Old MacDonald"...) and then sat up. Apparently Mom was being just too uptight with her "Shhhhh-ing" and needed some "pat-patting" (this is where she slaps my back with all the force that she can muster up in her tiny body and sings in her clearest, loudest voice "Jesus loves you evermore"). I had to inwardly smile a little, because the older man's grumbling seemed to tone down at the mention of Jesus. Anyway, after many rounds of this song, Matt took Zoe out to the "luggage room" to bounce off the (padded by bags) walls there, where I joined after the nearly involuntary Franco-grumbles unnerved me sufficiently, and we discussed politics and love with some nice, beer-chugging, German youth. The adventures continued in our cabin when the girl on the upper berth made trouble by getting sick, causing more grumbling from our friendly neighbor. But eventually we all managed a few hours of rest, without falling off the berths. (p.s. how weird-- in the morning, we learned that the upper berth travelers were family of, well..., an ASTROPHYSICIST! They left Dad/Hubby behind to do science while touring Europe on their own. It's a small world.)
2. Street performers. Ever since being put in a certain *ahem* awkward situation in New York, Matthew has developed a fear of street performers. Unfortunately for him, Zoe finds them quite inspiring. Late in the evening (well past Zoe's bedtime), the sun had barely set in Paris and we were out roaming the streets with Ben on our last night in this wonderful city. We were in front of the Notre Dame when we saw some "popping" (the break-dancing type art where movements are really sharp and jerky, kind of like Robots... pretty cool, actually). Zoe tried some of that too. Then "Popping" was replaced by "Fire-juggling" and Zoe did the less dangerous version of this too. I think the poor street artists lost some audience to her, as she did her best to mimic them (we did not solicit funding for our talents, however, since we were leaving Europe and had little use for Euros at this point... just kidding. )! Here are a few videos.

From europe2011

From europe2011

3. Prayer out of school. For whatever reason, Zoe has always been rather in tune with some form of spirituality or other. Starting with her fancy for Buddha, to singing "Jesus loves you evermore" when singing her dolls to sleep... Since our vacations, Zoe has realized that she likes to have "Mommy-Daddy-Zozo" days all the time -- cries of "I don't want Daddy to go to work", "I want Mommy to be with Zoe", ... and "I don't want to go to school"... have replaced her enthusiasm in the mornings for getting ready for school. We talk about her friends and discuss all the things that she loves about school -- circle time, art, water play, Ms. Namalie, ... Naynay (Nathan), Omeed, Rahrah (Ryanne)... we talk about how Mommy and Daddy will both pick her up later (soon!) and we can go to the park and have special Mommy-Daddy-Zozo time then, we plan to look for and count the "Daddy" buses and school buses on the way to school... eventually we manage to get out of the door and repeat again once buckling into the carseat. The other day it was pretty silent all the way to school -- we did not encounter any school or Daddy buses that day. When I went to the back to unbuckle her at school, I found her eyes closed and her hands together, the lips softly mumbling.


"Zoe, what are you doing?"
"I'm praying."
"For what? Can you tell me?"
"So we can have Mommy-Daddy-Zozo day and no school."

It kinda broke my heart to send her to school that day.
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I hope to recount some other favorite stories again soon. To hold you over, here are our pictures from Europe. (It began with an Xray Astronomy conference in Berlin for me alone; then we met in Vienna and spent a few days with Rinka; finally we had a family trip to Paris, where we met up with Ben, Michel, Frederique and Chloe.)

Our Little Ballerina

Zoë is taking ballet classes. Okay, it is really interpretative-dance-with-your-adult class, complete with story reading, costumes and musical instruments and some demonstration of "plié" or "jeté"-- perfect for a toddler. As much as I love that my girl likes planes, trains, balls, science ("boy" things) too, I am really loving that the class has some girly magic too: "fairy dust", glitter, and lots of imagination-- poor boys! They also should have some of this, no? And plenty of brothers look into the class looking a little sad and left out. Several months ago I read this mother's blog and it really touched me. I hope that more parents feel this way about their children -- boys or girls. But I digress...

Zoë absolutely LOVES ballet. And in her leotard and tutu, even she can't resist "chassé"-ing away from the route to stare at herself in the mirror: "Mama, that's Zoë!" she says proudly. Then, her Didun sent her a multicolor tutu and I might never get this off her! She poses here with her bunny ears (made in school): our little Easter Ballerina. Poor thing, there will be no ballet this Sunday and she's already asking ... I guess we'll have to hide more eggs to keep her mind off ballet. Here are some more pictures from our adventures of late.

Fall has fallen! (part 3)

So my September posting has gone into November -- perhaps that says something about how frantic our lives have been last few months. In October we had a day trip to the pumpkin patch, Halloween and Nina and Boris' visit for the "Rally for Sanity" (where I forgot my camera , so no pictures for the blog!) These tales will have to wait until... January? Just kidding. Hopefully just until next week or so-- although we do have some fun and busy weeks planned ahead in November: visit from Basu Grandparents and a trip to NYC for Thanksgiving.

But now... September! The other wonderful and momentous blog-worthy event was having the Zych grandparents visit and our trip to the Homestead Farm for apple picking. Here's a slideshow of the pictures from those days, including: the apple picking, adventures at the "choo choo" park, cupcakes and bubbles! In these cases, I think the pictures do tell you the story fairly well about the fun we had and the big girl that Zoë has become.



During this trip to the apple orchard, Zoë also made friends with some chickens. After observing them carefully, she choreographed her own "chicken dance" -- complete with clucking, arm (wing) waving, and several squatting gestures, but some spins and Zoë flourishes too! Unfortunately she become rather self-conscious (relatively) with the video and I was not able to capture the full splendor of this dance. Enjoy the video and imagine it 100 times more hilarious! :)



Once she got the sillies out with the dance (actually she was pretty serious about that too), she grew very diligent about the apple picking experience. She did manage to pull a few apples from the tree with the help of her tall father and grandfather, but mainly she thought someone should pick up the apples on the ground (who cares that they were rotten!?) Here are two videos of her working very hard to collect apples.




The days are flying by. Just the act of writing this blog for our life 2 months ago forces me to reflect on quickly Zoë is growing and becoming a full-fledged (no pun intended!) little girl! In these short two months (short for us-- went by in a flash, barely time to upload the photos!) she has really mastered several skills: walking, climbing, drawing circles, thinking, reasoning, communicating, her vocabulary has grown from ~40 words to ~120. She sings her "ABC's", she throws fewer tantrums because she can articulate what she wants. Her fascination with the world around her impresses me and reminds us to slow down and enjoy life a bit more -- she seeks out the "moon" and "stars" (Mommy is proud) and likes to ride "bus" and watch "Choo choo" (Daddy is proud), she discovered the magic of watching the autumn leaves swirl around her on a blustery Fall day. She helped make her Halloween costume -- but that is a story for a different day ...