Tag: Zoe

A Tiring Day with Zoe?

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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 at the Library

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!!

Zoe at the library

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!

 

Two Fun Afternoons With Miss Zoe

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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…

 

Zoe with a ring on her foot

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

Zoe with balls2

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

zoe with balls

Of course we played peek-a-boo……

Zoe Peek a boo

 

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

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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!!

Grammie and Granddad Babysit Zoe……….

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.…..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!!

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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

Zoe turns 10 months – Oh My!

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The Ever Quiet Zoe is getting a little  Fiesty at 10 Months!

 

So over the last little while I have posted more about my grandson Oliver, than my granddaughter Zoe. The main reason for that is Zoe’s mom Melissa left her job several months ago and I haven’t been babysitting Zoe twice a week like I was back in the winter. My wife and I see her at least once a week, or so, and she is a wonderfully happy little girl. She is standing by herself now, and walking several steps,all with the small great smile she has always had. Every month her mother has posted a picture on her monthly anniversary. As a sign of growing independence Zoe wasn’t much interested in having having her picture taken last month…..

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Then this month,she seemed to be amazed at how old she was., exclaiming “I can’t believe I’m ten months old!”

Zoe oh my!

.Her Grammie says that she is just channeling her “Inner Munch”

Zoe Channels Munch

 

But then again, she may be just thinking, “That painting sold for HOW MUCH?” ‘The Scream’ Is Auctioned for a Record $119.9 Million

It took 12 nail-biting minutes and five eager bidders for Edvard Munch’s famed 1895 pastel of “The Scream” to sell for $119.9 million, becoming the world’s most expensive work of art ever to sell at auction.

Bidders could be heard speaking Chinese and English (and, some said, Norwegian), but the mystery winner bid over the phone, through Charles Moffett, Sotheby’s executive vice president and vice chairman of its worldwide Impressionist, modern and contemporary art department. Gasps could be heard as the bidding climbed higher and higher, until there was a pause at $99 million, prompting Tobias Meyer, the evening’s auctioneer, to smile and say, “I have all the time in the world.” Read the Full Story….

So Happy “10th Month” anniversary to a great granddaughter!!  Here’s Miss Zoe celebrating by doing a little dancing to the Minions singing “YMCA” and “Barbara  Ann”……

 

 

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Yoga first, then Babysitting Zoe this AM!

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Morning Yoga then off to sit with Zoe where I hear Wah Yantee from Kundalini Yoga!

Babysitting my granddaughter Zoe this morning. When I got here this morning her grandmom said that she wouldn’t go to sleep, Thought she may have been a little cranky – not!

Zoe after morning yoga!

She played nicely for a while and then she went to sleep about an hour later.(9:30) She’s still asleep an hour and a half later. Now she’s off schedule but she will  be fine. Because I didn’t have to be here until 8:30 this AM, I had time to do a yoga routine. Since I ran yesterday (more on that later) I just wanted to do some simple yoga, so I turned to routine 1 of 3 from Richard Hittleman!

When I first started to do yoga probably 30 years or more ago, this is the book that I started with and I still do at least one of the routines in it every week. It’s usually the 2nd routine, because that has a head stand at the end of the routine!

Richard Hittleman's Yoga 28 day exercise plan

This is what the publisher says about the book:

This short time is all it takes to master the 38 simple exercises in this book. You will quickly grasp the ancient Yoga secrets of breathing, concentration, nutrition and muscle control — in just minutes of your spare time and without any discomfort. Day by day you will notice astonishing results — loss of weight, greater firmness, more energy, relief from pain, freedom from stress and an overall feeling of youthfulness and well-being. This Yoga regimen will become a lifetime program to keep your whole organism radiant with a natural beauty and health.

This Yoga regimen will become a lifetime program to keep your whole organsim radiant with natural beauty and health! Read More

I totally agree and highly recommend this book for beginners!!

The playlist for this morning’s exercising was provided by Pandora. I turned on Pandora and created a Steven Halpern station and I got some great yoga music. The second track that came on was from Deuter’s Reiki Hand’s of Love. It wasn’t until after I was finished that music from Halpern’s 1991 album Music for Yoga came on! Maybe that can be the soundtrack for yoga later in the week!

When I finally did try to rock Zoe to sleep (the first time didn’t work) I turned on Soundscapes on Music Choice.The song that was on was “Wah Yantee”  from Snatnam Kaur. This chant is one of the Morning Sadhana mantras of Kudnalini yoga. You can read more about it here at the Spirit Voyage blog! Remember them for yesterday!  Do you think there’s something spiritual going on here to rekindle my Kundalini yoga practice! Here’s a video of Snatnam Kaur’s “Wah Yantee”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I16ogcUbAIk

Wah Yantee

Wah yantee kar yantee, jag dut patee,
aadak it waha, brahmaday trayshaa guroo, it wahay guroo

Translation

Great Macroself, Creative Self. All that is creative through time, all that is the Great One. Three aspects of God: Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh. That is Wahe Guru.
Three aspects of God: Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh.
That is Wahe Guru.

Ek Ong Kar
(One God, One Creation)
Sat nam!
(His name is Truth)

This Week in Babysitting – March 15-21!

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Babysitting Zoe

Another Fun Week with Zoe and Oliver

 

Babysitting this week included three days with Zoe and one with Oliver.For two of the days with Zoe, my wife was with me, for the third day my son Nick was there, like you need two people with Zoe!  Now for Oliver, and extra set of hands, or two, or three, would be welcomed!

Babysitting Zoe is a lot like watching paint dry, or the Tour Dr France, you know there’s a lot going on, but it doesn’t seem like it!  Zoe is really observant and takes everything in. She watches her toys very intently and plays well by herself for long periods of time. This week she had her first taste of baby food and loves it! Somehow I don’t think that even at the same age, Oliver would have played the same way with this toy!!

In between my days with Zoe was a fun day with Oliver. After Oliver’s now normal crying protest when Mom and Dad leave, which ceased on Thursday fairly quickly, we played a little until it was time for breakfast. At breakfast Oliver looked tired, and granddad had visions of Oliver taking an early and nice long nap!! The first video I  sent Grammie was this one from breakfast!!

Then after breakfast and Oliver got his second wind, I sent this video, asking the question: Does he still look
tired?? Her response – not one bit!

She also questioned why he took the long way around the table to get the book! Who knows the mind of Oliver!!

By the time it rolled around for Oliver’s bottle, I was convinced that he would go to sleep, which he did,I tried to lay him on the couch but h stirred and then I tried to take him upstairs to lay him down. At that point he wanted no parts of a nap.  The short sleep that he did have, must have been a power nap, because he was good to go for another hour or more of playing!! Finally,  I decided to give him lunch early so at least I could sit down for a few minutes. He started eating a nugget,  his eyes started to droop, and he soon fell asleep sitting up!! I quickly took him upstairs to put him in his crib and then followed with my laptop and my lunch so that I was sure to hear him when he stirred. He slept for almost two hours! Yeah!!

After his nap, he had his second bottle and we had a great afternoon. We played with his big Lego blocks, the abacus, and even read some of his new books. All in all, it was a good day, as is any, that I get to spend with him. Good – but tiring – it’s why young folks have kids! Old folks get tired too quickly!!

The other day, I wrote about how on the way down in the morning, I listened to the rocking blues of Joanne Shaw Taylor to get me ready for the day, well, on the way home I listened to the latest album Firelight from the quiet nuevo flamenco guitars of Terra Guitarra to recover from the day!! I can’t wait until Monday to start all over again with Zoe then Oliver and back to Zoe, should be another fun week!!

Here is Terra Guitarra with “Malaguena” from the album Firelight (more to come)

Zoe Provides a Recovery Day!

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Oliver provides the Workout and Zoe the Recovery – Yin and Yang Once More!

 

If babysitting Oliver is the workout, then babysitting Zoe is the recovery day!! About the only part of my body that got a good workout yesterday were my fingers. They were chewed on by Miss Zoe most of the day! They were preferred over the teething rings! When I got there Zoe was asleep, Melissa said she would probably wake up about 9:30 and she would be ready to eat again at sometime between 10:30 and 11:00, sounded good to me! So I set up the laptop and got to work and occasionally checked on her. The checking became more regular as she was still asleep when 9:30 came around, She was still asleep at 10:00 and at 10:30 now I was worrying, but she was still moving around, so logically I knew she was ok. At about 10:50 or so I was texting with my wife she asked when Zoe was supposed to eat, I said about  five minutes ago,- LOL! Anyway we both thought that her stomach would have her waking soon! Our thoughts were borne out when she awoke a few minutes later, and Kathy wished good luck.

I sat Zoe up with her toys for a few minutes while I heated her bottle and I sent this video to my wife……

 

 

With the comment “I like this playing!” Anyway I gave her a bottle and then we watched some videos and played a little, at around two o’clock she got a little fussy and fell back to sleep. That nap though was a short one and only lasted about half an hour! But then she only had a short time until she could eat again, which she did, Then she got changed, and we brought some more books downstairs and we again watched videos, played with some toys, chewed on Granddad’s fingers and before I knew it her dad was home. Here is one of the toys she played with. This video was not from yesterday but the time before but she is still amazing with her body control, for a six month old!

 

All in all it was another fine day with Zoe and my fingers have recovered nicely. They say that “variety is the spice of life” and I must say that Renaissance Granddad’s life is wonderfully spicy because of the variety in my grandchildren. One thing is the same though, Zoe and Oliver are both the best grandchildren ever and both super smart!!

Oliver and Zoe – Our Yin and Yang

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A Fun Day with Yang Grandson Oliver

 

I am a strong believer in the duality of both nature and the human spirit, The yin and the yang, light and dark, male and female, Narcissus and Goldmund,, the active and the passive, Can you see where I’m going with this?? If you check, the post prior to this one is about our passive grandchild Zoe.Yesterday was spent babysitting  our more active grandchild Oliver. Included in the  description of yin and yang  at Wikipedia is:the following…..

…Yin and yang can be thought of as complementary (rather than opposing) forces that interact to form a dynamic system in which the whole is greater than the assembled parts. Everything has both yin and yang aspects, (for instance shadow cannot exist without light). Either of the two major aspects may manifest more strongly in a particular object, depending on the criterion of the observation. The yin yang shows a balance between two opposites with a little bit in each. Read More

While I am sure that both of our grandchildren have a little yin and yang in their spirit,, their yin and yang of Oliver and Zoe  have interacted to make our family a whole lot greater!! I know that the two of them have brought their brothers and their respective wives closer together, and the rest of us each want to be a part of their lives and consequently to their parents.

So what’s new with Oliver. I still marvel at his non-stop motor, and the way at eleven months, he flies around the house and bounces up and down when his music is playing. I also noticed that he has added the ability to crouch like his dad, who is a baseball catcher……

Oliver crouches for his booksOh and that book he is reaching for is about farm animals and their sounds. It also is a touch and feel book. I noticed yesterday, he was not picking at the sheep’s wool in an attempt to get a small piece that he could stick in his mouth,like he did last time!!

He also stares intently at the Speak and Say we gave him for Valentine’s Day. He spins the central pointer arrow, I guess, in an attempt to make it speak! Zack. their family cat, on the other hand attempts, to stop the spinner and eat it

Oliver also amazed me yesterday when it was nap time, well at least morning nap time, After he inhaled his bottle, he crawled off of me and laid down, well actually he kinda collapsed on the couch and went to sleep, for two hours!!  Of course that is why an afternoon nap didn’t happen!  Anyway, by the end of the day, while Oliver was still in let’s run around the house mode, Granddad wanted a little more passivity, so I tried to look for sitting things to do. One of the things that I tried was large plastic blocks, which usually goes Granddad builds the tower and GodzOliiver knocks it over, but to my surprise GodzOliver at least once or twice only took the top floor off of the tower. Several times though I held the bottom floors, but rather than try to knock them down he only took the top unsecured floor and then we slowly worked our way down the tower.

After all that block knocking down, it was exercise time! Now while Zoe exercised by herself. Mr Oliver used granddad for a mat!!

All in all, in was a great day with our little yang boy.. I can’t wait until next Wednesday when the yin girl will have me wrapped around her little finger, too!!

As for me, I have to continue exercising everyday because I don’t know what day next week, I may have to chase that little yang man around his dining room table!!!

 

 

Another Quiet Afternoon with the often Amazing Zoe!

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Yesterday, i spent the afternoon with the very quiet, now five month-old Zoe. That quiet part may change though over the next few  months as she becomes more mobile. Somehow though, I still think she will be somewhat calmer than Mr. Oliver.  Kinda’ like difference between Oliver;s father Andrew and Andrew’s sister Elizabeth, Guess which one loved to stand at the top of a wooden sliding board, when he still wasn’t walking and shake it back and forth!!

It is amazing though the way that as a grandparent, you  notice the  changes that occur every week, small things that go unnoticed when you are dealing with them 24/7!  One of those little things I noticed yesterday, was how well Zoe can  sit up, and then reach forward and pick up little things, like her pacifier…….

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And while she can pick the pacifier up really well, and get it to her mouth, she still has some problems with the positioning……. she gets close though!!

 

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Another thing that amazed me yesterday, well it has actually amazed me before , so maybe I should say amazed me again, is the way she goes to sleep. I have seen Peter and Melissa, just lay her down, wrap her inside a blanket and watch her go to sleep. Unbelievable! Anyway yesterday, when I got there Zoe was asleep, Melissa was going to put her upstairs in the crib. I asked Missy, how deaf granddad would hear Zoe, I know that they have a camera and an app for the iPhone (DropCam?),, Well, we didn’t know what to do so Missy brought Zoe back downstairs and laid her in a bassinet, upon laying down Miss Zoe’s eyes immediately opened. It was obviously all hope for that nap was gone! Missy left at 12:30 and said that Zoe would be ready to eat again at around 3. Luckily she played well by herself for a while and then we watched some videos, read Chicka Boom  Chicka Boom! and before I knew,  it was almost 2:45, only 15 minutes till a bottle and hopefully at nap!  Well, Zoe laid back on me,  then laid sideways with her head cradled in my arm and she went to sleep!! Wow! Four kids, two grandchildren and I think that’s the first time that has ever happened!! And she was right in a position so that I could lay her down!! She slept for about an hour, then had her bottle. We read and Zoe played some more and before we knew, Dad Peter was home!! Now, well rested, and feed Miss Zoe decided that it was time for some exercising…….

 

photo (23)A few pushes or a nice yoga plank will do it! Actually, Pete was enticing to crawl the little Yoda doll, ignoring Missy’s warning of the dire consequences of teaching her to crawl!!  All in all, it was another fine afternoon with Miss Zoe. If you excuse me now though, I need to go exercise, because I will need to be in shape for my workout tomorrow with Mister Oliver and I eagerly look forward to it!!!

Granddad Babysits a Cranky Zoe – not!

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So yesterday I babysat my five month old granddaughter Zoe. I watched her from 12:30 until my son Peter got home around 5 o’clock. When I first got to their apartment, my daughter-in-law Melissa was holding, said Zoe was a cranky baby, who wouldn’t nap! So I thought I was going to be in for a tough afternoon with a cranky baby!! After Missy left I laid Zoe down on her playmate and much to my surprise she did not  fuss and cry. Instead she laid there and played very nicely!!

Zoe lounging!

SShortly after laying her down I took this picture and tweeted it to my wife…. Her response was “LOL she doesn’t look cranky to me” and she wasn’t! I read to her for a bit,  then we watched “Baby Einstein on the Farm” and “Wheels on the bus” and before long it was two o’clock and time for her bottle. I still don’t have this bottle thing down, four kids and it took me until I was 63 to give a child a bottle! Anyway, Zoe drank about 2/3 of the bottle and then fell asleep. She stayed asleep until after 4:30.When she got up, I read to her again and she sat and played  with some toys, – by herself! Before long Dad was home and granddad was on his way home!!

Zoe being cranky-not!

Here’s the way see spent most of the afternoon! Oh what a difference five months makes. Here’s a composite video of my grandson Oliver Edward Karn taken over the last month or so. In the first part, he is doing a little home redecorating and later he is rocking out to “Uptown Funk” Of course, Mr. Oliver has ALWAYS been a little more active than Miss Zoe!

Anyway it was a nice afternoon, with a very non-cranky, good napping little girl ……LOL! Now with that said, next week may be a whole new ballgame!!

 

On the way over to babysit Zoe, the new album Blackbirds from Gretchen Peters was the soundtrack for the ride and  on the way home it was a great new blues album from Brandon Santini. I will try to write something about both albums at Me,Myself, Music, and Mysteries later tonight or tomorrow I will post a link when the posts are done!!