We spent a couple hours visiting with all of Enzo's favorites. It was a cool morning, so we got to see some animals that are usually hiding during the day to escape the heat, like the koala. Some other highlights were the mommy and baby gorilla, the "ginant turtles" (all four out and about today), and the "fat" hippo. The monkeys were really loud this morning.

On the drive home, Enzo drank yet another big bottle of milk, and read fish books in the backseat with Dee. I successfully transferred him to the crib, and he slept for about an hour. He woke up in a crabby mood, but quickly cheered up when he saw mommy and Dee and Buzz were all home. He asked to watch "shallow seas" and drank yet another bottle of milk.

We all went to the park to dig in the sand and climb and slide. Enzo was having the best time taking "huge" jumps off the stone wall (actually only about a foot high). He finally ate a little bag of chips, which turned out to be the only solid food he'd eat for the rest of the day.

After the park, we drove out to pick up the dogs. We stopped to see the turtles and fish and "kit cats" too.

Back home, we went for a family walk down the street with the "sweeper". He stopped to run up and down our neighbors little grassy front yard slope. He was exhausted and out of breath. Back at the house with played in the back yard. I got Enzo laughing pretty hard in the swing. Zoe ran out to get some dinner, but Enzo just wanted another bottle of milk and some more shallow seas.

He was really tired after his bath, so Zoe read just a few books before we put him to sleep.

It was only 9:AM, and he fell asleep in the car seat. So I knew then, he wasn't feeling well. After about 40 minutes asleep, he woke up sobbing. I asked him what was wrong, and he said, "sick again". So we went home and watch Totoro.

Around 11, I asked him if he wanted to go see Miss Adrienne, and he said yes. I wasn't expecting a good day, but we went anyway, arriving just in time.

He actually ended up having a pretty good day, thanks in part to daddy's new ninja caveman reverse psychology toddler communication strategy. He was, for the most part, happy to be there, and was the life of the party. Saying goofy things, running around shouting out animal names, talking and running around non-stop.

After snack we "jumpt" off the hay bales, and played with the old fashioned water pump. Enzo also had to "gulp" water from the fountain and got soaked. Before going in for closing circle, he sat with Adrienne on the bug bench. She was especially impressed when he pointed out the "mantis".

Alex took him out when I got home, and Zoe and I got the house cleaned up. Li and Andy, and Dee and Buzz showed up around 6:PM. Enzo was happy to see everyone in the flesh. He thanked A-Ma and his "friend" Andy again for the catbus. And then he quickly warmed up to Dee and Buzz. He didn't eat anything all day, and refused dinner also. Milk day.

After things settled down, he sat with Dee and read books before bath. When Enzo got in the bath, Dee gave him is surprise "diver man" gear. He spent most of the time in tub using the snorkel as a fishing pole and bubble maker.

Eric and Wes stopped by with Nacho to say hello for a few minutes. Then A-Ma and Andy popped in to drop off a big catbus that came all the way from Japan. Enzo was stunned, and couldn't quite believe he had his very own cat bus. He showed it to everyone, including the dogs who were outside looking through the back door. He said thank you many times, and gave A-Ma big hugs and kisses and Andy a nice hug too when they left. He of course had to watch some Totoro before bath.

We played in the bath for a long time. Enzo told me about some of the animals he saw today, "hippo drinking water" and "sleeping lions". After bath, he sat quietly in the bean bag for about 20 minutes playing with Legos, whispering to himself. We read a few books, and then I put him to sleep. He was very sweet and cooperative tonight.

After breakfast, Enzo and I went to the park to play before school. He did some climbing and sliding, but spent most of time digging in the sand. Some kid left his shoes sitting by the big tree, and Enzo filled them up with sand. We sat at the picnic table and had a snack before heading up to school.

Enzo had a great day today. He was happy, running around, and talking so much. He spent most of time running back and forth across the room, bringing things to Miss Adrienne - trees, cats, whales, fruit, etc... He had super ants in his pants for snack, and then went straight outside to play in the mud hole. He is such a boy. After closing circle, he gave Miss Adrienne a kiss on our way out. When I was putting him back in the car, he pointed to the D on my Denison shirt, and said "number D", which made me laugh. Yes, Enzo that's the number D, I said.

I brought him home to play with Alex. She took him to Kidspace for a few hours.

Enzo was a little tired tonight. Zoe got him to eat a decent dinner, and then we took an early bath. After a few books, he played at his table with animals and little people. We just sat back and listened to him narrate his play. When he's really focused and narrating to himself, he uses this tiny little whisper voice. He asks himself questions, and answers them. (with a little family of wooden people around a table with chairs - "man sit here? no. sit here? yes. ok, sit there. closer, closer (pushing chair toward the table). oh. num num num. no. num num. good. (elephant or hedgehog or fish on the table)."

Enzo has been doing this funny thing lately. He'll just be sitting there or playing, and suddenly say, "idea!" Tonight, it was after dinner. He's sitting in his chair at the table, when he says "idea!". So we asked, what's your idea. And he says "pop!", and then laughed. So of course we had to give him one.

After dinner, we ran outside to walk with Jack up and down the brick wall. Then we came back inside for some Totoro snuggle time. After bath, we played on Enzo's new rug, and then read stories.

We had buttermilk waffles and sausages for breakfast. Enzo tried to help by whipping the egg whites but the beater kind of freaked him out so we let him crack and egg in a bowl and he sat on the kitchen floor happily mixing away.

We took a trip to the grocery store and Enzo ate about a quarter pound of green grapes before it occurred to us to pay for them before he got arrested. He was in a funny, talkative mood all morning. When we got home, mommy started on yet another 5-hour Sunday bolognese sauce and daddy and Enzo sat in the kitchen nook and painted. The painting led to ripping up colored construction paper and scattering it all over the house. He tried hard to help clean up by sweeping, but this led to paper under the fridge, in the dog water, then the dog water all over the floor and all over Enzo.

We had the brilliant idea of turning his train table over and filling it with dried beans so that he could play with his dump truck in it - cannelli beans seemed like a choking hazard so we used dried beluga lentils instead. Big mistake, but at least Enzo had a great time.

After Enzo woke up from his nap, we had a late lunch and he went up to Wesley's house for a visit. Later that afternoon, he was a bit cranky, and said he was "mad" at "mommydaddy" but we never managed to find out why.

Before dinner Enzo sat down with his animal stamps and crayons and tattooed himself and his parents. We had a nice dinner which he thoroughly enjoyed. After dinner, we were watching a bit of the Oscars and Enzo all of a sudden started saying, 'ichat? ichat?" and asked to speak to A-ma and Dee. After he chatted with A-ma, he was still asking for Dee so we called them and managed to get a little late ichat in with Dee and Buzz. After we hung up, he picked up his old man doll and said, "Buzz?"

From there we went to a park in Montrose to meet "gabeluke", as Enzo calls the Metcalf boys. Enzo had a lot of fun. It's nice to see him mixing it up with them.

After the park, we stopped by to get Enzo's hair cut. We had to wait forever for some crying kids ahead of us, but Enzo did great. He sat there perfectly silent and still, watching Nemo, eating a little treat. Back home, we ate lunch, read our new books from Grandma Susie, and his Baby Animals magazine that he has completely memorized in two days. Then Enzo went down for a monster two-hour nap.

After nap, we had another lunch and some Totoro. We popped back up to Montrose to check out a toy store. Enzo saw many things that he wanted, including a big stuffed boston terrier and a fire truck. We got him a Mr Potato Head instead.

Enzo ate a couple fish sticks and a potato cake for dinner. And then we played with trains and trucks before bath. Mommy made it "rain" in the bath tonight. Enzo thought it was funny at first, but after he got the shower on his head a couple times, he quickly stood up and climbed out of the tub. Then he went to potty and peed standing on his step.

After Enzo woke up from his 2 hour nap, mommy was home and she made him some lunch. He was more interested in feeding her and daddy than actually feeding himself. We showed his some cards that came in the mail, and when we asked him who they were from, he yelled, "Dee!" Daddy was roughhousing and tickling Enzo before we left the house and Enzo said, "stop it, Ralph!"

We were waiting forever for mommy to come downstairs, and Enzo started yelling, "mommy, where are you?" up the stairs until she came down. We went to Amy's playground and he had a great time running around and jumping and bouncing. We finally forced him to stop and have a snack. We went to the grocery store for dinner stuff then picked up the dogs.

When we got home, Enzo read books and pushed the broom around with daddy while mommy made dinner. He pushed the broom around under the breakfast nook table and said, "all clean under there!" We had a nice iChat with A-ma and Andy. Mommy made Italian wedding soup with chicken meatballs and swiss chard, and used tiny pasta called ancini di pepe and Enzo loved this dinner like no other dinner before He sat in silence for the better part of 20 minutes, shoveling spoonful after spoonful of this soup and pasta in his mouth, and finally looked up and said, "mmm, good" After dinner we had some ice cream, read some books, and had a nice bath.

Not much happening this evening. Kind of cold and rainy, so we stayed in. Enzo got a big plate of ribs and fries for dinner. He loves to gnaw on the bones. About halfway through dinner, he looked up and said to mommy, "mmmm, ribs are good"

We watched a few minutes of Totoro, then went upstairs for bath. Enzo stepped in the bath, and said "potty", so we quickly scooped him up. Unfortunately, he dropped a little toy turtle into his poopy potty, so daddy picked it out with some kitchen tongs. After bath, Enzo read books with mommy.

When Alex brought Enzo home, he was in such a great mood. He squealed with delight when mommy came home. While mommy was making dinner, Enzo and goofed around and wrestled in the living room. He loved mommy's shrimp pasta tonight. He had to eat the long noodles from daddy and mommy's plates rather than the noodles we cut up for him. He likes to slurp them down. Sometimes he forgets to chew and swallows them whole.

After dinner, we watched a thing with Enzo about mice and cats. Before going upstairs for bath, Enzo asked to look out the window again for the "police man", and then made me take him outside to double check. He was disappointed. We had a short bath, followed by a loooooong potty reading session. Mommy and Enzo looked for Gold Bug before bed tonight.

We had such a nice night with Enzo. Before dinner, we went for a walk down the street. Enzo found "two sticks" and "flowers" for mommy. Mommy made tonkatsu for dinner. Enzo ate some and a lot of corn. We all sat on the couch and had a pop, and then iChatted with Dee and Buzz and Josie. After his pop, Enzo hopped off the couch, turned to us and said "bathroom". So we followed and put him on the potty. Such a good boy!

On the potty, Enzo wanted to see his new book about visiting the aquarium. There's one page with a "diver man" down in the tank feeding in the fish that he loves. Wanted to look at it over and over. So after we watched a documentary segment of the Planet Earth DVD about guys diving with sharks. Then in the bath, he wanted to play with his little diver man again, pretending that he was swimming around looking at the fish in the bath.

After bath we played with legos and read some books with mommy.

Enzo ran to the door screaming "daddy!" when I got home tonight. I gave him a little snack, and got dinner started. When mommy came home a few minutes later, Enzo and dogs went "crazy", screeching, barking, running around. Quite a welcome.

After dinner, we played around the house, making pizza in Enzo's kitchen, and watching a bit of Totoro with a post-dinner snack. We had a nice long bath followed by a few books. Enzo got several "one books" tonight before I brushed his teeth and we put him to bed.

After he got nice and tired we went home and threw the ball and turned the hose on for the dogs. Enzo was very helpful in pointing out all the doggy land mines in the yard for mommy to pick up. He just points and yells, "pooooop!" Mommy and Enzo snuggied for awhile and watched some Totoro right before daddy got home.

Daddy and Enzo shared a lunch of leftover ribs, and Enzo was happy gnawing on bones. He took a 2 hour nap in his crib, a rarity these days. He woke up in the best mood, as he always does after a 2 hour nap. We ate lunch, a hot dog bagel. When he reached down and yanked the hot dog out from inside the bagel, he looked at it and said, "awesome". We went on a bike ride down street and around the block and finished lunch along the way. He was especially loved his satsuma mandarin oranges that mommy got from the Japanese market today and was munching on then on his bike. We said hi to the neighbors (they asked, where's your broom?), and found dandelions to blow on.

At home he and daddy painted another masterpiece and played outside with the dogs for a bit. The Metcalfs came over for dinner and Enzo had a great time at dinner. He had just eaten a big lunch so wasn't that hungry for our early dinner, but he sat happily in his chair, talking back and forth with Luke. After dinner, the boys did some climbing and sliding and swinging before coming inside to play. Enzo was happy to share his train and kitchen with his friends.

We had a nice bath then had some milk, after which he asked for more milk, then a snack (we went downstairs and had a little more dinner and another orange), then more milk again. Another growth spurt. Enzo was soooo easy and fun and cute today, saying all sorts of silly things, and literally not a moment of fussiness.

Enzo took a nice nap on the way home. At home we had some lunch and watched some whales and dolphins on tv. We ran some errands and then went to the park. When we got home Enzo started to get a little irritable - it was pretty obvious he had not had enough of a nap. We coaxed some dinner into him, had a nice long bath and some books, and finally to bed.

When we got home Enzo was not yet home so we were able to get our things together for a dinner party we had planned later. When he got home from rumpusing at Kidspace, he was in a giddy mood and it was fun to run around after him. He had some chicken and French fries for dinner and he once again demonstrated his love of food he can "dip".

We had a nice bath and read books until bed. As soon as the door of his bedroom closed, the first of our dinner guests walked in the door. Perfect timing.

After a couple hours, I took Enzo from Alex, and we went to school. He was upset on the way over about leaving home, but after he drank his milk and crashed for a bit, I thought he'd be OK. I carried him up with his head on my shoulder, and he seemed to be happy when he saw Adrienne and she sang her circle songs. But only after about fifteen minutes, Enzo was upset again and asked to go home so we did. Back home, after a snack and some milk, he was his usual silly self.

After spending a few hours with Alex, I took Enzo downtown to pick up A-Ma and Andy. Traffic was so terrible, but it gave Enzo a chance to finally get some much needed sleep. He woke up when they got in the car, and spent the ride home looking through his animal encyclopedia.

After dinner, we all sat on the couch and talked about animals. Enzo performed some tricks - counting, saying his name. A-Ma thought it was especially cute when he said "enzo koji deleece". And then we went to his little table and drew with markers. Enzo also made A-Ma and Andy some pizza before they had to go. Enzo was very sweet tonight with them, and asked for hugs and kisses as they walked out the door.

Mommy got back while Enzo was still in the bath. So we had family story time, and then to bed.

Enzo was running around yelling "crazy" when I came downstairs to take over from Alex. Soon after Zoe got home, he kind of crashed and burned for a few minutes, but rallied after Zoe got some food in him.

We had a very mellow evening. After sharing a frozen banana with mommy, Enzo watched some Totoro, and then played in his the kitchen. He was his usual sweet self tonight. He's started to refuse to be picked up out the tub and carried to the changing table. He now has to climb out of the tub by himself like a big boy, and walk naked dripping wet into the bedroom.

Everyone was happy to see Enzo back at school after missing a week. Enzo seemed happy to be there too, but soon got a little antsy, and was asking to go go home. I calmed him down and we went back inside. Enzo sort of played with some of the kids today. He sat on the seesaw with Chloe for a bit and helped Isla push the baby carriage around. None of kids interact too much with each other directly yet. Parallel play, as it's known in the developmental psychology world.

Enzo was happy to be outside after snack, and as usual was the only one playing in the dirt and mud and water. When Miss Adrienne sang her little song again, Enzo ran back in for trot trot. I was trying to coax him in to sitting on Miss Adrienne's lap. He thought that was funny but said he wanted "daddy's". We stopped for a few sips from the fountain on the way to car, soaking Enzo's shirt, and then back home to meet Alex.

When Zoe and I got back from running errands, Enzo was happy to us. We got hugs and kisses several times tonight. We sat talking on the couch about his day, and then we had our dinner.

Enzo gnawed on a rib bone for a few minutes before realizing that the bone itself is not actually part of the meal. He discovered the meat part and said "mmmm". After dinner, we shared a family ice cream cone. Enzo was very polite, saying "yes please", "more please" and "thank you" at all the right times. Before bath, Enzo cooked us pizza in his oven.

In the bath, Enzo pretended to serve mommy and daddy some coffee, and mommy taught Enzo how to clink glasses and say "cheers" before drinking. Add that to Enzo's quiver of party tricks. After bath we played with some little people and a dining room set that he got today. We asked him to pick one book before teeth, and then off to bed.

We started our day with a family trip to Peets for a coffee and some breakfast. Enzo had to sit the big boy chair and have a "big" piece of daddy's bagel. After mommy left for work, Enzo and I went across the street to watch the crane for a few minutes. He settled in on the wall, and ate the rest of his breakfast.

Enzo and Alex were walking up the sidewalk with the broom when I got back from downtown. Enzo came running up the driveway yelling "crazy!" and "running!", which gave me pretty idea of how my night alone with Enzo was going to go. He spent a few minutes whacking the bushes with a big stick he found before coming inside for Thai noodles. He ate dinner while I read him a few books at the table.

After dinner, we drew pictures with his markers. He spent most of the time taking the markers in and out of the little case they come in. Then we built a cave with pillows and blankets on the couch. Way back deep in the cave was a treasure of little fish that Enzo had to retrieve. He went in and out and in and out of the tunnel grabbing handfuls of fish. Of course every time he brought some out, I threw a few more in, so this went on for a while. Until finally, out of breath, Enzo looked up and asked "water?". We also broke out the tempura paints and made potato stamps with little cookie cutter shapes. Actually not as big of a disaster as I thought it was going to be.

Enzo asked to go "up stairs", so we played in his room with all his little animals, then looked for Waldo while on the potty, and then took a bath. After all that, it was still only 7:15PM, so we read books and played with animals some more. Enzo sat riveted for an entire 60-page Little Bear book. Then "one book", then to bed. Then daddy drank a beer.

After breakfast, we went to Garfield Park. There was sweet little cat there running around after the many squirrels. Enzo spent some time stalking the little cat and chasing squirrels before we went down the hill to climb and slide. Enzo noticed a little shovel and rake in the sand, so I sat with him and dug a nice hole for him to sit in. For about 30 minutes we built and "smash!" sand towers. Mommy returned with some coffee and a snack, so we sat at a picnic table in the shade to refuel.

Back home, Enzo played in backyard with the hose, trying to spray Betty and fill up his water table. The last two days have been our first glimpse of summer with temperatures in the 80s. Enzo was happy to get soaking wet and finally cool off. We sat at his little table for lunch, then came inside to change and use the potty.

I drove Enzo down the hill for a Jamba Juice, and he fell asleep on the way back. I transfered him to the crib, but he only slept for about 40 minutes. He was hard to get settled when he woke up. He wanted mommy, but mommy was grocery shopping. He was happy when she got back a few minutes later.

After he pulled himself together, he ate some sushi and a little frozen banana thing Zoe picked up at the store. Zoe got started on Enzo's favorite pasta sauce for dinner, so I took him out for a drive. Somehow, we ended up at the Zoo.

Enzo and I did the loop in record time, stopping to see all the big highlights. It was insanely packed with "many people", most of whom were headed in the opposite direction. Enzo rode on my shoulders for a while as we weaved through the crowd, and then he walked and held my hand. We stopped for snack at the giraffes, and stood calling the giant turtles from there house. And said hi to all of Enzo's favorites we could see. A lot of the animals were sleeping in their shelters to escape the heat.

When we got home, we went on a family walk down the block. Enzo brought a broom from the garage to push as we walked. He tripped and nearly hit his face on the sidewalk but thankfully got his hand out just in time. Just two scraped knees to add to his bruised forehead and shins.

After dinner, Zoe busted out a big chocolate ice cream cone for dessert. We sat on the couch passing it among ourselves, saying "please" and "thank you" (haven't gotten to "your welcome" yet). Enzo really got in to it, and was being very sweet and generous with the cone. As we finished it up, he asked daddy for a hug and kiss, and then mommy for a hug and kiss, and then said "group hug!", and so we did.

At about 6:30PM, we piled in the car, and drove downtown to say hi to A-Ma who is in town for a doctors appointment. We met them on the street by the hotel. Enzo gave out a couple kisses and performed a few tricks like counting and naming animals. And then we were back in the car on our way home.

In the bath, we talked about the day. Zoe asked, "who loves Enzo?", and he said "Gabe. Luke." Then she asked him to talk about Betty and Harriet. About Betty, he says "crazy. loud.", about Harriet he said, "cute face".

We arrived just as the door was opening at 9:AM. We walked straight to the huge 50' high kelp tank, and for a few minutes we had the whole thing to ourselves. We stood there for a long time watching the leopard sharks and big groupers swim by.

Then it was down the hall to the seal and sea lion tank. Enzo stood in his usual spot where the seals swim through a tunnel under the walkway and pop out right in front of the glass. "Coming", he says, as he waits for the next one to come.

From the seals, we went to the shark and ray touch tank. We pretty much had the entire thing to ourselves, and spent about 20 minutes reaching for little sharks and rays. He was up to his elbows, leaning over the side, trying to grab everything that swam by.

We walked up the stairs to the invertebrate touch tank. Enzo was very anxious to touch the anemones. He touched them all so many times that by the time we left the tank, they had retracted all their tentacles in an effort to hide. He also manhandled some starfish, sea slugs, and cucumbers. On the way into the second floor gallery, Enzo stopped for a staring contest with a harbor seal.

On the second floor, we saw the divers feeding a big school of fish in the same big tank where the turtle lives. Enzo got a great view of the turtle. It sat there for a minute and then swam up the glass right in front of him, "wow". We also saw a big octopus swimming around, a shrimp tank that Enzo was really in to (he told everyone that came by, "shrimp!"), and a king crab tank. As we sat on the edge of the crab tank, I said to Enzo, "this is the biggest crab". "Ever!", he exclaimed. So we went back and forth - I say "the biggest crab", and he yells "ever!"

We stopped at the kiosk to listen to sounds that whales make. He liked to listen to the humpback and orca most of all. At the otter tank, we sat for a snack, and then moved on to the clownfish and tang tank (aka Nemo and Dory). Enzo asked to use the potty, and took a pee.

The aquarium was starting to get very crowded but we fought through to go see the shark and ray touch tank again. Right when Enzo got to the edge of the tank, a huge ray slide along the rail with it's wing way up out of water, splashing Enzo. Kind of freaked him out, so we went to picnic area for another snack, and then headed out.

We stopped in the gift shop to buy a little stuffed whale that Enzo clutched in his arms has he drifted off to sleep in the back seat. I thought it was interesting that this visit, Enzo really seemed to notice and appreciate more details and small critters than last time. It wasn't all about sharks, seals, and turtles.

Enzo slept all the way home. The rest of the day was pretty mellow. Zoe has a miserable night on call, and Enzo and I were pooped too. We watched some videos, played out in the back yard with Betty, and then went to the dog park. Before we left, Enzo pooped on the potty. When he saw how big it was, he said, "oh my goodness!" Enzo asked to chat with A-Ma, but she wasn't there. Then he asked to chat with Dee. He told Dee and Buzz about his day at the aquarium, and then told them the elf story. Mommy picked up some dinner, and Enzo took a bath. He was so tired, so we put him to bed early.

We got back home just in time to use the potty. Without getting in to too much detail. Let me just say that it was pretty impressive.

Zoe is on call tonight, so Enzo and I went out to get dinner. We got burritos over near doggie daycare. He seemed excited about the prospect of his burrito with "rice. beans. cheese.", but when he finally got it, he looked up at me like, "are you kidding me?". He did take a few bites and tore off some tortilla to munch on as well.

We walked across the lot to the pet shop. Inside we saw all the usual suspects - turtles, fish, etc.. And we picked up the "crazy mutts", as Enzo called them. I noticed Enzo was trying to poop, so I asked to wait until we got home so he could use the potty. I asked if he understood, and he said yes. And he did wait, and then used the potty when we got home. Such a big boy.

He asked to watch some obscure thing on one of his DVDs, which took me a long time to find. He sat on the couch asking for "hat? hat? hat?" until I found it. Enzo coughed, and said "enzo sick". I asked him if he felt more sick, and he said "yes", which made me nervous. But then I asked him if he felt less sick, and he said "yes". Then I asked him if he felt good, and he said "yes". Then I asked him if there was anything I could get him to make him feel better, and he said "noodles". I asked him again if he really wanted noodles or if he was just being funny. He said he really wanted noodles, so I made him some. And surprisingly, he actually ate some.

Halfway through his bath, he looked up at me and said "daddy?", and I said "yes, enzo", and he said "hug. kiss.", and so we did. It was getting late, so we only read one long Little Bear book. He almost fell asleep in the bean bag while I was reading, but perked right up and asked for "one book" when I suggested it was time for "teeth". I made him promise that after this one book, he would let me brush his teeth without getting upset. He promised, we read our book ("elf"), brushed our teeth, and then went to sleep.

We drove up the street for a Jamba Juice. On the way there, we went through the whole alphabet replacing the J's in Jamba Juice - e.g. bamba buice, zamba zuice. Enzo really got in to it, and was laughing and being super silly. He fell asleep soon after getting his smoothie, so I pulled over and let him sleep for a few minutes. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that I'd pulled over one block from a fire station. After about 20 minutes, a truck pulled out of the station with sirens blaring. End of nap.

Enzo was still hacking and sneezing, so I decided we wouldn't go to school. But we had to stop by and drop off snack for the class. Enzo said hi and then bye, and then we went to the park. Enzo was climbing and running all over the place. He was mesmerized by two older boys, about 5 yo, who acting out a fight scene from a Star Wars movie. Great.

We ate lunch back home, and then Alex came to play with Enzo for a few hours.

Enzo came home soon after Zoe, and we ate dinner. Enzo picked at his food, asked for a pop, and made a big mess. As per usual. Then he and mommy played in his kitchen, watched a bit of Totoro and some bats. He got upset about having to upstairs for bath, so it was a quick one. He settled down, and we read him some of his new books. Surprise, he likes the one about the whale and the one about the octopus and the other one about the whale.

We were up in the fort when Enzo asked where mommy was. I said she went to work, and he asked "mommy, telephone?". So we went inside to try, but mommy was busy.

When I got home, Enzo was in a good mood. We ran a quick errand, then back home for lomo saltado. Mommy came home right when we sat down to eat.

After dinner, we drove across town to Vromans to see if Enzo needed more books. And he did!

On the way home, Enzo got upset because we didn't have his blankie with us. Something he never really cares about. Poor baby was soooo tired and still sick. He calmed down when we got home, and got to watch a couple more minutes of Totoro.

He took a bubble bath, mommy read him a couple new books, and then to bed. In his little sleepy voice, he said "one book. one book. one book." as I put him down.

After work, I took Enzo in the backpack on a walk with the puppies. He ate a box of raisins along the way. Zoe had noodles waiting when we got back. I read books while Enzo ate, and he did really well. Zoe rewarded him with a little fruit pop. When he got his pop, he looked up at her and said, i love you ("lahb loo"). Then mommy and Enzo played in his kitchen.

During his bath tonight, mommy taught Enzo that his name is really Enzo Koji. He was so cute, saying "koji" and "enzo koji" with a big smile on his face. He can almost say DeFelice too ("fleece"). We put him to bed a little early tonight because he only took a 25 minute nap this afternoon.

He seemed a little better when he woke up again around 7:AM, but still sick with a super runny nose. Zoe made a nice big breakfast for him, but he didn't have much of an appetite.

I let Alex go around 4:30PM. Enzo played in the backyard with Betty while I grilled short ribs. We also did some swinging, climbing and sliding. He had a lot of energy.

Enzo was happy to see mommy when she got home, and we enjoyed a family dinner. Enzo gnawed at a short rib for awhile before he got tired and asked for a pop. Unfortunately he was not keen on the flavor and tried to give it to mommy or daddy. He got a Jamba Juice with a shot of vitamin C for dessert. After we got home from Jamba Juice, we read some books and goofed around with the pups. He ate a second dinner of noodles that daddy was sweet enough to make for him.

We had a nice long bath, then a few books, then bed. When Enzo asked for his usual "one book" before we put him down, we said, "ok, Enzo, one last book" and as we started reading it to him, he said, "thank you". He is coughing up a storm in his room right now. Hope he is comfortable enough to sleep through the night.

We went to do our usual early morning breakfast and food shopping, and we were all recognized by some random people because our episode of Bringing Home Baby recently aired again. We were mortified.

After we got home the rain had really started to come down so we all put on our rain boots and rain jackets and went outside to walk in the rain and jump in puddles. The dogs lasted about 45 seconds before they started shivering uncontrollably. Enzo had a great time jumping in all the puddles. Daddy and mommy took turns touring a neighborhood preschool that is awesome and we are hoping hoping hoping that Enzo will be one of the lucky few kids to get in for the fall.

Enzo took a short nap after a quick trip to Jamba Juice for a shot of immune boosting vitamin C, but he was only asleep for about 20 minutes before he woke up coughing. That was his only nap for the day, but he managed to stay pretty chipper all day despite the lack of sleep and the runny nose.

We spent the rest of the day trying to get Enzo to eat (we made many many different things for him, but ultimately he stuck to Jamba Juice, fruit and a pop), watching videos, visiting the turtles at the pet store, running around after Enzo, running around after Enzo running after the dogs, and watching the Super Bowl.

He got super silly with mommy on the potty, and was totally laughing his big belly laugh because he thought repeating the word "poo" was hilarious. We took a long bath, read a lot of books, then he was off to bed.

It was a gorgeous day and we met Katie, Luke and Gabe at the zoo. Enzo asked to see the "ginant turtles" first, and when we got to the Galapagos tortoise exhibit, they were all huddled in their enclosure under the heat lamps, but one was having a tasty breakfast of lettuce. The boys all called for him to come out, and lo and behold he did. Slowly.

We saw a hippo also having his breakfast and yawning, a beautiful jaguar pacing his cage (Enzo walked up, saw him, and said, "oh, gosh!”), and assorted monkeys and tigers. Enzo kept asking to see the "gibbons", but found them to be too loud once we got to them. The giraffes were also having their breakfast, and one was literally staring him in the face, which made Enzo uncomfortable. He said he was scared ("cared"), so we went up to grab a snack.

After snack, we saw the sleeping lions, then orangutans with a baby, gorillas, and zebras. So fun listening to him say all their names.

We went to Eric's favorite bakery for lunch, and Enzo did not eat much more than their special marshmallow that mommy gave him to tide him over before lunch. We ran around at the park for awhile, and Enzo made friends with a wily squirrel. Seriously, this squirrel was making us nervous. He was about three feet away from Enzo, on his hind legs, and twitching his tail back and forth. We came home, took a walk, and later he had a much needed nap.

After nap, we watched a little Nemo, then played outside with Betty. He got pretty good at throwing the ball for her. ("I throw"). He climbed up the big ladder and slid down the slide by himself over and over again.

We hit Borders to browse some books (Enzo requested a new book about whales). On the way over, I was playing in the backseat with him - driving a little truck up his leg and arm and over his head. He drove the truck in the "tunnel" (aka pant leg), and when I asked him if the truck was in the tunnel, he said "i think so".

We got some burritos for dinner. We had initially planned to feed him off our plates, but he kept insisting on having his own burrito, so we got them to make him a small, special Enzo sized burrito - a great success. Dessert was Jamba Juice. On the way home, he tried to sing a song about peaches and sausages, that went something like this, "peaches. sausages. peaches. sausages. peaches. sausages. peaches. sausages."

Then home for some playing with his kitchen and trains, then books and bed.

After breakfast, we stopped by the house to grab the dogs. After dropping them off, we got a Jamba Juice and a coffee, and went to the nearby park. Enzo made mommy nervous with all his climbing and sliding and running, but he managed to not hurt himself. We went back to house to drop off Enzo for Alex.

Zoe was tied up in the OR a bit late tonight, so I made Enzo a special dinner of leftover noodles from last night. He inhaled them. After dinner, we rumpused in the living room and drew animals on the chalk board. I ask Enzo to draw me an animal, and he does some crazy scribble, and says "shark". So I take the chalk, and draw a shark somehow incorporating his scribble. The he asked me to draw a "cello" and then a "violin". Random.

Enzo screeched when Zoe came home. Zoe mentioned how hungry she was, so Enzo went to his kitchen and brought out a "hambunga" and "fries". They sat in Enzo's kitchen, and shared a real burrito. One of us mentioned bath, and Enzo got up and ran to the stairs yelling "bath!". So we took a bath. Then books, then bed.