Easter Part I

Yes, we realize that it is now the end of May. Please to be quiet and enjoy the picture show. 

Somewhere in there, we dressed up and went to church. Another exciting post for you to anticipate!

Monkey's New Trick

Without any warning, he surprised us all (especially his teacher) with this:


To celebrate his new skill, he got to pick a special treat. He elected to go downtown to the candy store that we visited with Aunt B at Christmas time for some gummy bears(and pet the carriage horses, of course.)

The last few days, he's been writing it backwards. Is that a lefty trick we haven't seen before?

Joker

Monkey has been very interested in 'jokes' lately. Are they tricks? Are they funny? Do you say them? It's so complicated.

Tonight, we were treated to his first ever joke. It changes a little bit every time, but it goes like this:

M: Ding Dong!
Us: Who is it?
M: It's Batman!
Us: Batman who?
M: Batman Auggie! (or, alternately, August Henry!)

This is, as you can imagine, hilarious.

First Bike

Monkey got his first 'big boy' bike yesterday. We had been talking for a few days about getting a big boy bike, and it just so happened that our local bike shop was having their big sale this weekend. We didn't intend to buy a high end bike, but thought it would be a good place for him to get on a bike and get their opinion on fit and sizing and all that. So we did that, and then we went to Toys R Us and tried a few more, and then Monkey was still talking about the 'red bike' at the bike store (of course he was, it was on sale for $160) but Mrs. Z agreed that there did seem to be some differences between the 'red bike' and the TrU bikes. Monkey was getting really tired so we came home and while Monkey was napping Mrs. Z took a browse on ye olde Craigslist to see what was out there. Lo and behold, there was a black and red Specialized Hotrock 12" for a good price. So Mrs. Z drove up to 'Canada', where the good stuff on Craigslist always seems to be, and came home with a new bike. It could use some new paint and has definitely been well-loved by other little boys, but it doesn't seem to matter much to this particular little boy. We're going to the store today to get a bell and then maybe we'll fit in some more practice time later tonight. Mr. Z helps him with his 'balancing' while Monkey pedals... or hits the brakes with no warning. You know, whatever.

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

Mr. Z managed to wrangle a few hours off to go to the St. Patty's day parade with us. It was ridiculously nice out. Monkey really loved the fire engines - he had to pose for pictures with them.

Sprinkle Fever

Sunday morning we woke up ready to try a new mass at a new church. Unfortunately, as soon as we took off Monkey's jammies we realized that he was covered in a rash and running a fever. So we stayed home and made cookies instead. Monkey wanted 'sprinkle cookies' and Mr. Z wanted snickerdoodles, so they compromised.
Monkey was diagnosed with scarlet fever on Monday, but after 2 doses of antibiotics his fever was gone and the rash was fading fast. He's back to school today, although still pretty tired. Hopefully this is the last of the winter illness (ha ha ha. famous last words.)

Play Date

Sometimes we have play dates. Here is a picture from a few weeks back, with a fellow Monkey friend.