Zoo with friends

 We went to the zoo on Tuesday with friends, and we got some cute pictures. Here is Tahli checking out the giraffes. This was the first trip to the zoo where Tahl really seemed to notice the animals and have a great time.

Zev checking out the animals. 

Here is a little video of Tahl walking on the duck pond bridge.  If you have your volume turned up, you can  hear him quacking. He is walking 10-12 steps at a time before he falls now.  He is practicing all the time. 

 

I was crawling behind Tahli in the tunnels when we shot this one. We really had a great time.

Zev was playing on the elephant statues with his friends.

We got lots of cute pictures of all the three year olds together.

They are all looking at something. 

They had so much fun, they did not want to get down. 

Here they are crawling out of the koala exhibit.  This crawling was sadly not inspired by an animal, but by Tahl.  Tahl is quite the trend setter in this group. 

When we got home, we decided to play zoo after nap.  Here is Zev setting up our zoo. The biggest spot was for Zev.  Besides being a zookeeper, he was also a giraffe. He feed the animals, made them lemon water, and read them books. 

Here he is feeding them all "cake" balls. It's a very healthy zoo.

This was a great day beause Ari got home early, and we took the boys swimming. Then we ate dinner outside on the porch. After baths, we took the boys for a walk before bed.  This is a little video of Tahl barking at our neighbors dogs.   He loves to bark. It sounds sort of like "oooh oooh".

 One another note, on Monday I took Zev to the doctor for his three year old check up.  He was 37 and one fourth inches tall (25-50th%) and 34.6 pounds (50-75th%). He got his finger pricked and did a great job. The funniest moment was when the pediatrician asked Zev to raise his right hand, which he did. This was completely lucky as we have never discussed right and left. Then she asked him what his other hand was called, and he said, "my wrong hand?" She said he was a smart kid.  We think so too!

Zev is THREE!

Today Zev is three! I tried to do it up big, the way I would have wanted my birthday when I was a kid (or even now...) The birthday paparazzi were at our house again all day long following every detail of Zev's day.

When we opened the door, Zev found this birthday hallway!

He didn't quite know what was going on, so instead of breaking through the streamers, he slithered underneath them. 

Here he is admiring the balloons.

He was pretty excited when I told him he was supposed to break them down so he could go through his door.

This guy loves DESTROYING things.

Ari helped him get the ones up high.

Two similar guys removing the tape off the door frame. 

Tahli liked the balloons too. 

After we left the birthday hallway, Zev went to the breakfast table where he found a big surprise: a doughnut with chocolate frosting and rainbow sprinkles! He was very excited.  He did not want Ari to steal a bite though. 

Yum.

He was so proud that I let him eat off the "you are special" plate, which is glass. 

He even wanted to rest his cup on it. 

He insisted that I take this picture. Maybe he wants to remember his doughnut. 

After breakfast, the two guys got dressed, and we went on a walk before Tahl's nap. Tahl likes to wear these goggles. I swear he smashes them on his face until I put them on.  He already wants to be just like Zev. 

When we got back Tahl took a nap, and Zev and I read lots of books. 

Then we made patterns with the bears. 

Next we had friends over to play.

After our friends left, Mimi and Kade made a quick stop over to give Zev a present.

 Then it was time for a rest.  After the rest, these guys had a snack.  Tahl was in a much better mood than Zev.

This mean face was for show. 

This looks more like his real face. 

He has a very short new haircut as I'm sure you can tell. 

Tahl loves veggie straws and pears.

Zev is dancing in this one.

Next we went to the library and the park.  Ari got off work early and met us as a surprise to Zevi.  Tahl is doing really well on his walking.  He is walking more like 40% of the time now.  He likes to walk like a kid on the side of deep pool.  He holds on to different things, takes five steps to another thing, and then scoots along that.

Both boys did a little swinging.

Zev loves to ride behind Ari's bike.  He has been hoping for a ride for a few weeks.  He asked Ari today, and Ari said, "of course!"  Then Zev said, "that means yes!" in a very excited voice.  He kept telling me, "he said of course!" at least two or three times.  I think he then fell asleep on the big ride he had been hoping for so much. 

For his birthday dinner, Zev requested hot dogs.  He had a hot dog, sweet potatoes, sauerkraut, and a little salad.  He followed it up with the other thing he had been talking about all day, a cupcake. 

He was so happy to have it on his plate. 

It's very hard to resist digging in while your family is singing to you.

Next Zev opened his two presents from his mom and dad. 

Tahl tried to help a little.

Zev got to choose his own color for his fun birthday bath.  He told me he wanted "yellow like pee pee".  Boys are gross. 

He let Ari add some red to make it orange.  Tahl did not want to take a bath tonight. 

 Tahl got out and did some sort of strange naked dance.

Zev, of course, had to put out a fire before putting on his pajamas.

He was really excited about his new Buzz Lightyear pajamas that we gave him for his birthday.  He is making muscles here.

"To infinity and beyond!"

 

Zev is sweet, funny, and smart.  He is also stubborn, destructive, messy, and he is starting to argue with everything we say.  I am pretty sure this is typical for a guy his age, but it can test my patience. As soon as he gets out of time out though, he will give me tons of hugs and kisses.  He is the most loving kid I know. He is doing much better with being kind to Tahl, and even sharing with Tahl has improved some. He is creative, and he LOVES to play.  He still loves legos, playing fireman and working guy, and digging in the sand. He loves to read and would listen to probably as many books as I would be willing to read. Ari and I both know how lucky we are to have this kid in our lives. I am proud to be his mom.

Birthday Questions

I am planning to ask Zev these questions on his birthday every year. That way we can remember who he was each year and what his favorite things were. On several of these, I tried to get him to reconsider, I mean passover is your favorite holiday?  What about Christmas and Hanukkah? He is sure about Passover though.  He did edit enchiladas as his favorite dessert when I asked him if that's what he wanted for his birthday dessert.  Suddenly cake was his favorite again. Zev is really his own person just like every other almost three year old.  He is funny and sweet with  A LOT of defiance and craziness thrown in. He makes me laugh everyday, and I am proud to be his mom.

1. What is your favorite color? Blue and red 

2. What is your favorite toy? Trains, Lego's, and sandbox. I wish there was more sandbox at our house. 

3. What is your favorite fruit? Strawberries 

4. What is your favorite TV show? Dora and Diego 

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Broccoli, many things...

6. What is your favorite outfit? Red shirt, backhoe shirt

7. What is your favorite game? Dora matching game 

8. What is your favorite snack? Baloney meat

9. What is your favorite animal? All the animals, giraffe, bunnies

10. What is your favorite song? Let it be

11. What is your favorite book? Pete the Cat, Knuffle Bunny, Frog and Toad

12. Who is your best friend? Dora and Diego, Christopher, Maddie, and Elliott 

13. What is your favorite breakfast food? Spinach eggies

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? play in the sandbox

15. What is your favorite drink? Tea with lemons and lemon water

16. What is your favorite holiday? Passover

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Babies

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for dessert? Enchiladas or cake

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Hot dogs

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A working guy and a fire man

We have big plans for Zev's birthday. I will be taking lots of pictures tomorrow to hopefully be posted soon!

Hats!

We have had a few friends over this past week. Tahl did lots of playing with Grey last week before he and Emily had to go back to Mississippi.

 Here is Tahl playing with Maddie.  She came over to play with Zev, and her sister was here to play with Tahl, but he and Maddie just love each other.

Zev got jealous for a second, but then he got over it.

Here is Tahl wearing his birthday party hat!

Tahl always wants to wear hats and be a big guy. He has now taken the letters off of this thing quite a few times.

Here is cowboy Tahl coloring at a birthday party.

He did so good, I decided to try to let him color at home.  He mostly ate the crayons then.

He ended up  a little messy.

Tahl is getting so big! He has been walking five or six steps on average so far before he sits down or starts crawling.  He is getting a little more confident every day.  I had a friend babysit him for me yesterday, and he walked around 10 steps to get to me because he was so excited when I got back! We are so proud of him.  He is persistent too. When T falls, he gets back up and tries again.