What are the odd's that both of us have to travel for work at the same time!!

About two weeks ago, Sonja and I learned we were both going to have to travel for work the same week.  Actually, we had the same day of departure, same airline just different destinations. It's funny because Sonja rarely travels and when she does it seems we are both scheduled to travel at the same time. How weird is that. So far, we have found away to balance it all. So the question was, who is going to watch Zoe and Nathaniel while we were away traveling this week.  Fortunately, my trip was just an overnight trip to Atlanta while Sonja was traveling to Cleveland for four days. Call in the Grandparents.  Sonja's parents (Jerry & Judy) were awesome.  A special "thank you" to Jerry and Judy for taking time out of their busy schedule to come to Bellevue from Lincoln and stay overnight and watch them both.  Both Zoe and Nataniel enjoyed spending time with their grandparents.


Now for my second concern, this was the first time both Sonja and I have left Zoe.  We were not sure has she was going to respond.  However, Zoe managed through it just fine.  I thinks she now knows that we have no intention in leaving her or letting her go.  It is also nice to see both Nathaniel and Zoe getting along well. At the restuarant, Nathaniel played one of those coin operated cranes that tries to pick up stuffed animals. Well he won three stuffed animals and gave two of them to Zoe and one to his grandparents. It was his own idea and not prompted by his mother or father.  How cool is that! I know Zoe misses Sonja because she continues to ask for Mommy.  I just tell her she is at work but will be coming home soon.


Nathaniel just started high school and really likes it at Gross.  He is meeting a number of kids and has found a few he likes to hang out with. His first football game is next Thursday and they have him at safety and wide receiver. He seems to enjoy quite a bit it but football definitely takes a back seat to baseball and wrestling. Nataniel also seems to like all his classes and is already learning to march for the band. In a couple of years he may have the opportunity to play football and then at half time march with the band...wouldn't that be cool. I think he may find he is being challenged in his Theology class...he may have to reach out to his cousins as some of the assignments are specific to Catholicism and his parents have no clue how to help him on some of the questions.  However he is eager to learn and it should be interesting learning the different world religions.  So, cross your fingers that he continues to enjoy his high school experience.

Zoe in front of her daycare..she has a great time there

Zoe is also going to day care/preschool. She looks forward to going and every morning runs up to the teacher and gives her a big hug.  That is a good sign.  She comes home most days with artwork and continues to pick-up more words and we are now starting to make out some of the words.  How exciting. Zoe has made herself at home and is just fun to watch her as she learns new things. I know she will be excited to see her mom who arrives home later tonight. An update from posts a few months back, when Zoe first arrived at our home she was terrified of our two dogs. She would jump on a couch and watch both dogs to make sure they did not get close to her.  If they did she would try to kick them and she would make this sound warning them to go away. Well now she is tolerant of them.  She has no problem walking around them and she will even pet them from time to time. So we can breathe just a  little easier now that she seems to be OK when she is around the dogs.  Phew!!!


 So, for now...all is well. Thanks for dropping by.

Summer Time....is almost over!!!

It appears summer is all but coming to an end.  In the past week Sonja has gone back to work and Zoe is now going to day care/preschool.  She absolutely loves it. There a number of other 4 year olds that she gets to play with on a daily basis, they get to a lot of fun art projects and they have a structured preschool which is really helping her learn new words. Today when I dropped her off we went into the room of 4 year old and she immediately wrapped her arms around her teacher. It is fun to watch her as she continues to adjust to her new environment. 

Zoe as the Masked Crusader

Zoe's art project at school (cape, belt and mask)

Zoe was so proud of her super hero costume

When she is around the house, Zoe loves to color, watch TV, sing and run around the house. She likes barbeque, sweet corn, mac-n-cheese and tuna fish.  She also now likes cold milk! We have also learned she does not like pickles. Zoe particularly likes to look at herself in the mirror.  Sometimes she will look at herself for 4-5 minutes making silly faces, she also likes to walk by mirrors and look at herself as she walks by. She no longer shows any fear of Abbey and Bear our two dogs and likes to wrestle with her brother. She still is having problems sleeping.  As she continues to wake up in the middle of the night and begins to cry. We are hoping as she continues to adjust that this behavior will fade away.  So, all is going well…much better than we had ever anticipated.

In the next few weeks Zoe should begin playing soccer and gymnastics. She seems to enjoy being active so we are keeping our fingers crossed that she has fun. Going through sports with a girl should be a lot of fun.  I know Sonja cannot wait to get her some pink cleats.  Really….pink cleats…so I will need to adjust.

Nathaniel starts high school (9^th grade) next week. Football practice started last Monday afternoon and they are already in full pads going through all the various hitting drills. Compared to many of the boys, he is sooo small compared to many of the other boys. Last three days that had band camp at school.  Nathaniel plays the trombone and is learning to March. He seems to enjoy it and both Sonja and I like the fact he is doing something outside of the sports arena.  Finally, he starts fall baseball next week which should be fun.  Fall baseball is much more relaxed and allows him to pay other positions and work on parts of the game he wants to focus in on.  Nathaniel is a switch hitter, so he likes to focus on his left side during the fall.  Oh, I forgot to mention that I let Nathaniel drive my car the other day.  Needless to say I was a nervous wreck. I felt I had just time traveled back to when my father was teaching me to drive a stick. Now I understand!!! Nathaniel likes to punch the gas and slam on the breaks. Like he is playing an x-box video game. My neck still hurts.  The great part of teaching Nathaniel is knowing that I know he has my life in his hands…how scary is that!!!!

Nathaniel trying on his Gross High School Football Helmet