Fun weekend with Enzo. On Saturday, we drove across town to a birthday party. There was a great park, and many many kids. Enzo did stop by to eat the frosting off a cupcake, but mostly played in the park. He practiced his firehouse pole sliding - "bumps or no bumps!". He fell asleep in the car on the way home, and we took turns sitting in the driveway with him until he woke up.

Later that day, we went to the South Pas pumpkin patch. Enzo picked out a little baby pumpkin for himself. Again this year they had these creepy zombies and monsters and skeletons at the patch. Enzo was a little freaked out, and stayed on the outer edge of the patch - "what is that?"

Sunday morning was a little rough. Eric and Wes stopped by for donuts, then we went to the grocery store. Enzo didnt eat much for breakfast and just seemed tired all morning. We were all a little grouchy actually. Around 1PM, we all laid down in "mommy's bed" and took a huge 2-hour family nap. It was a brand new day when we woke up.

Jack came by with his dad, granddad and baby brother. They play well together for the most part, but some tense sharing moments inevitably crop up. Jacks granddad proved to be a master attention deflector, and defused a few standoffs over a dumptruck and then a firetruck. Jack and Enzo spent most of the time throwing two Superman action figures around the yard. We had a good proactive bath time, and a fun night playing with Enzo getting him to say funny things into a voice recorder.

Back to work on Monday. The temp has dropped almost 30 degrees in two days here, so got cold in house last night. Enzo woke up and came into the bedroom to snuggle and drink milk. We've realized he's grown out of all his winter clothes, and now has only two pair of sweats that fit him. I think he's grown about 6 inches from last year.

We're feeling good about school. We made the decision to just let Alex take him for a while. We'd been mixing it up, sometimes taking him or showing up to pick him up, but the uncertainty of whether or not one of us would suddenly appear was making him anxious. He'd spend the last hour of class asking when we were coming. He seems to be developing bonds with the teachers, and hopefully will with some of the kids too soon.

Zoe on call again tonight, so Enzo and I made some pasta. Although he's just had a snack at 5, he was stuffing fistfulls of noodles into his mouth the minute a put his plate down. We were having a fun night until I suggested taking an early bath. He wasnt thrilled about that idea at all, but we worked it out eventually. He was happy to see his dem bones long sleeve pajamas again.

Enzo came into bed when he woke up, as he's been doing again the past few days. It's so nice to curl up next to him and get that extra 5 minutes of sleep. We had a fun morning, playing with toys, and eating a leftover cupcake from the other day. He likes the idea of a cupcake more than the cupcake itself. After a few nibbles of the frosting, he's done with it.

After Zoe left for work, we played Dem Bones with his new scary skeleton. He likes the very end of the song when the skeleton falls into a big heap, so he just repeats the last line again and again "....of the lord", and drops the skeleton on the floor.

When I got home, Enzo was sitting on the front wall holding a package that came in the mail. He'd been patiently waiting for me to come home so he could open it. He was stoked to find a Superman costume inside, and wanted to put it on right away. He flew around the house, stood on the potty to see himself in the mirror about ten times, and posed for a photo with his serious superman face.

Zoe is on call tonight, so Enzo and I did our usual Friday run to doggie day care. There was a huge line at the burrito place, and Enzo said he didnt want one, so we just got the dogs and came home. We had leftover ribs and pasta and corn again for dinner, while we watched some Toy Story.

After dinner, we roughhoused in the living room and played with toys for hours. I threw him up in the air, we wrestled, he climbed up my back, and we danced with dem bones. We drove the three aliens around in a lego tractor, and sent them crashing into the wall. For a long time we sat playing with the lego excavator. I would hide a little animal in the back compartment, and then he would guess what I'd hidden, before opening the little doors to see what was inside. It was funny because every single time, he guessed it was an alligator. And we did it about 50 times. He was laughing so hard. I kept saying, "it's not an alligator! guess some other animal.", and he'd stop and think, and then shout "it's an alligator!" Finally, I found the damn alligator, and hid it inside. "It IS an alligator!", he said when he discovered it inside. And that was the end of the game.

I waited too long before getting him upstairs for a bath, but I managed to get him in there for a minute before he ran to get his milk. He flopped around some, but went to bed pretty easily tonight.

Sunday — We ate breakfast at Heirloom before heading to Whole Foods to stock up for the week. We came back and played with toys until it was time for Enzo's nap. After nap, we went to a neighbors house who was having a meeting about Pasadena public schools. Enzo won't be leaving Pacific Oaks anytime soon.

With winter approaching, we're starting to find ourselves at 6:30PM, two hours away from bedtime, dark outside, and not much to do. Tonight Enzo played and watched some Superfriends. Zoe told him it was time for bath, and he said "no it's not time for bath". So Zoe said, "yes it is time for bath". And he replied, "no means no mommy".

Enzo had a hard time getting to sleep. He kept getting out of bed, and I kept telling him to get back in bed. Finally, after about 30 minutes of this, he came out and said, "I took a poopoo in my diaper. I need to use the potty. I tried to tell you, but you told me to get back in bed." I almost cried. And to top it off, he had some serious GI issues, and was feeling sick. He asked, "Why did my poopoo go swooooosh?"

Monday — Alex took Enzo to school today, and he had a great day. Maybe starting to get comfortable there. After work, we played around the house. William stopped by for a minute before dinner, but then slipped and hit the driveway pretty hard. So he left.

Zoe made a big noodle dinner tonight. When she asked him if he liked it, he replied, "I'm disappointed", but then he ate a lot. Enzo got a little Buzz Lightyear rocket as a potty reward tonight, and he played with it for about 2 hours straight. Before bath, we did some running around the house, playing hide-n-seek. Zoe jumped out from under a pile of pillows on the couch, and it scared the hell out of him. He threw his hands in the air, and screamed "ahhhhh!"

Easy bath tonight. Unfortunately Enzo's milk gave him the runs again tonight. Not sure what's going on. Maybe we'll try lactose-free milk tomorrow.

We can't believe how much he talks now. Unless he's vegging out in front of some movie, it is literally non-stop. His main game with his toys is "make them talk to me", with Enzo holding one action figure or animal, and one of us holding something similar, and we carry on a conversation through the toys.

Wow. Big day with Enzo. Enzo and daddy drove to the aquarium in Long Beach first thing this morning, while Zoe went to the hospital to round. We had a blast. Enzo ran right past the entire first floor of exhibits to get out bakc to the shark & ray touch pool. After that we stood on the ledge of the big shark tank to watch the divers clean the tank (while swimming with the sharks). After manhandling a few invertebrates and a couple more rays, we worked our way through the second floor tropical fishes before heading back to Pasadena.

Enzo was up early, so he took his nap early in the back of the wagon. I sat in the driveway for anoth 45 minutes to let him sleep. We ate a big pasta lunch while watching some classic Superfriends, and then iChatting with Dee and Buzz. It was a rainy day here for the first time in months, so we hopped in the car to go for a drive. We stopped by a toy & book store to look around, then we invited ourselves over to the Metcalfs for dinner and a USC game.

The boys had fun tonight. Enzo discovered a giant talking Superman action figure that he played with for the first 30 minutes, but then he turned his focus to Gabeluke. Gabe let Enzo wear his Superman muscle costume, and he was stoked. After dinner, we had a exciting game of hide-n-seek. Enzo doesn't quite get it yet. If when looking for him, you say "where's enzo?", he jumps out of his hiding place and says, "i'm right here! and gabeluke are under the bed!"

He was exhausted by the time we got home, so he went straight to bed. For the first time I think since he got his new bed, he fell asleep by himself. We just left the door cracked open a bit, and he was OK.

Sunday — Today was super hero day. Enzo spent most of the day playing with his pocket Superfriends and his doll house. He went on for hours talking to and for his "new guys". He actually spent all day talking, and said a couple funny things to us - "you understand me?" and "i can't take it!"

Enzo and I donned our red caps, and flew around and around the house until Enzo flopped down on the floor saying, "i'm tired!" After dinner tonight, we drove to Target to try to find a Robin action figure to complete his collection, but had no luck. When we got home, he said he was tired and wanted to go to sleep. Trying to put him to sleep early was a mistake. He got a second wind and spent nearly two hours goofing around and jumping in and out of bed, and didn't fall asleep until almost 9:30.

Monday — Enzo woke up and crawled into bed with us for some stories. Zoe started to read him a Japanese folktale about a monkey and a crab, but he stopped her and said, "a monkey and a crab? what, are you crayzeeee!" We laughed, so he said it 20 more times. Later that morning, he said "i want my wee wee to come out and say hi to me!" We had breakfast at the bakery with Zoe before she went to work, and then back home to meet Alex.

Zoe picked Enzo up from school today. He was happy to see her, but then wanted to go home. They managed to make it through a few songs before Enzo was really ready to go home. Before bed tonight, we all played hide and seek. Enzo gets a huge kick out of chasing us around the house. He loves to be surprised, so we hide around corners and in closets and behind doors, and then jump out and grab him. He shrieks and says, do it again.

Tuesday — Zoe was up and out early this morning. Enzo and I spent some time watching Blue Planet, and then headed out to Cindy's for the usual. Same old cast of characters there. Enzo was especially cute this morning, and he put smiles on the faces of a lot of grouchy half-asleep people at the diner. We played with the elite Superfriend team (Superman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman) and ate a big breakfast.

I picked him up from Pacific Oaks today. The teacher said it was his best day yet. Apparently, he spent most of the hot day (almost 100 degrees today!) sitting in a big red tub of water playing with a plastic octopus and puffer fish. We sang songs and then went to the car.

The power went out on our block during dinner, so we walked down the block to chat with the neighbors. It didnt come back on right away, so we drove out to the VW dealership to look at the new Routan minivan. They just came out a couple days ago, so they were only two on the lot, neither of which we wanted. But most likely will get it in the coming months. It is so huge compared to the Passat wagon, and comes loaded with an array of insane features. It will be a fun family car. Enzo climbed in one, and said, "it's so big!"

Enzo had two good days at school on Wed and Thurs. He's starting to feel comfortable in the group, and that the kids there are his friends. He's joining the snack table, and talking about school and friends when he's not there. He is still a little spooked by the teachers, especially when they try to touch him. He's warming up to them quickly though.

Zoe and I took the day off on Friday to play with Enzo. The big highlight of the day was the trip to see the Noah's Arc exhibit at the Skirball. It was pretty great, and Enzo had a blast. We fell asleep on the way home, so Zoe pulled over in a shady spot and let us sleep. Later that night, Alex came over to babysit, so we could out to dinner for the last time ever.

We spent most of the morning playing around the house with Enzo's new set of little Justice League guys, then we drove to Montrose to play in the park and buy a present for a birthday party later. With my birthday the other day, and this one, Enzo thought that maybe today was his birthday too. And he told us how he was going sing happy birthday, blow out the candles, and then eat some cake. Somehow Enzo ended up with an Apollo Mission spaceman toy to play with on the drive home.

He crashed hard for nap, and then we went to a friend's 2nd birthday. He had a blast running all over the place and diving in to the ball pit. But when the kids all sat in the center of the room, Enzo didnt want anything to do with it. He kept by himself, jumping & climbing. It wasnt until after we'd been there for nearly two hours, that he felt comfortable joining in the kids for a closing circle.

We strung him out another 30 minutes when got home to keep him awake. He took a nice calm bath, drank his milk, and was asleep quickly.

Enzo missed school yesterday with his cold, but I took him today because he was feeling much better. I had to wake him up from a monster nap to get him there before 3. He was all sweaty a groggy when we got there, but he quickly perked up and joined the fray.

He played with me or by himself most of the time, but he joined in the sandbox mud hole creation after snack and some group dancing at the end of class. He had one anxious moment when I went into the kitchen to prepare the snack, but he recovered quickly after he had a few bites of snack. Zoe snack yesterday of mini pancakes and today of cereal mix and raisins were both smash hits. A couple kids sat for a half hour grinding away on snack today.

We went up to Wes' house for dinner after school. Neither of them ate much, but they had fun running around and couch diving. Enzo taught Wes the dead man backward flop off the arm rest. Eric was really pleased about that. I still cant believe, with both of them diving off opposite arm rests again and again, that there were no injuries.

When we got home, Enzo asked to go straight to bed. It was only 7PM, so I let him watch Bee Movie for a few minutes while I got his bath together. After a very short bath and quick milk, he was out.

First week at school, first cold. Enzo so rarely gets sick, but I guess we'll have to get used to the non-stop runny nose.

Despite being feeling a little bit small, Enzo was a lot of fun this weekend. We really didnt do anything but bomb around the house, playing and watching a few movies. Enzo has discovered the Super Friends, so a big chunk of the weekend was spent talking for either Superman, Batman or Wonder Woman. He talks non-stop now. We set up trains in the living room too. Enzo did a lot of climbing on the couch for some "infinity and beyond", forward diving and backward flopping.

After dinner tonight, we went to South Pas to get an ice cream cone and watch the trains. When we got back home, I took him running down the block. About halfway into the run back up the hill toward home, he stopped, grabbed my hand, and briskly walked home with a very determined look on his face. Through the front door, and straight onto the potty. Such a good boy!

On Thursday, Zoe and I both brought Enzo to school. He had a pretty good day. He got a little burnt out with about 30 minutes to go, but otherwise had fun. He is starting to join in group activities like art and snack, but he seems to prefer to spend time alone right now. After dinner, we went to the park to run sprints. When we got back home, Enzo asked to go somewhere else, so we took him to the store.

This morning, Enzo and I ran the dogs to DDC, and then grabbed a bagel dog at Noah's. Enzo still loves a good bagel dog. After work, we went back to get the dogs and pick up some burritos. Zoe is on call tonight, so we ate dinner in the living room playing with toys. Enzo and Zoe had another great phone call. He told how he saw some chinchillas at the pet store, and she made him promise to take it easy on me tonight. Saying the word chinchilla really cracks him up. Effortless bath and teeth and into bed. As he was falling asleep, I whispered to him, i love you enzo. And he replied, "i love you three times!", which I took to mean three times more than than my single "i love you".

Enzo definitely has a cold today after only four days of school. Poor baby couldn't breath out his nose as he was falling asleep. I cant believe he hasnt woken up yet.

On Tuesday, Alex brought him to school, and I got there about an hour later. He had a great day, spending most of his time talking to Harry's dad. He told him all about his rocket ship, about 50 times. Zoe came near the end of class, and Enzo was happy to see her. After school, we drove up to see Gabeluke, and brought them dinner. Chaotic but fun meal. Enzo "borrowed" another Superman from Gabe. He also grabbed Batman and Wonder Woman. He likes Wonder Woman. A lot.

Today, I took him to Cindy's for breakfast, and Alex took him to school. We had a nice dinner over at Jacks house a few doors down. Enzo loved all the "new" toys. He found a Woody doll, and then asked us "where's buzz?" every five minutes. Luckily the phone rang right at bath time. He thought is was the police man reminding him to get in the tub, so he ran upstairs for a bath.

Enzo had a very good day today. He woke up super early and we lounged around the house. We headed out to the awesome annual South Pasadena Fire Station Open House - Enzo thought he had died and gone to fire truck heaven. It was the open house for the police dept next door, too - he got to climb on and in at least 6 different trucks, touch all the gear, met a bunch of firemen and policemen, got to sit on a police motorcycle, met Smokey the Bear, pet Rex the police bomb dog, met some police divers, and even got to hop onto an LA Fire helicopter and watch it take off. He had the best time.

The best part was we got a fireman and a policeman to gently remind him to take a bath or shower every night and brush his teeth every night (the last few nights, for whatever reason, there was a lot of carrying on and tears before the usual bath and teeth ritual). He listened to them very closely and was very very cooperative for bath and teeth tonight.

We called all the parents of young kids we knew to let them know about this, and met up with William and Jake and Eliza down there.

After the firetruck extravaganza, we ran a few errands and went grocery shopping. While we were in pottery barn kids he found a ratty old little Buzz Lightyear that some other poor kid had left behind. He was so excited about this thing.

He took a nice nap and he was in the best mood all afternoon. We had a fun dinner and he rediscovered his love of the sweet potato. We ran around after dinner, had a long bath, and he went to bed exhausted.

We have realized that he will come across certain words that he just likes the sound of and he will laugh hysterically when he hears them. Today these words were "Jeez Louise!" and "slop!"

After work today, we took Enzo out to Pie-n-Burger. We stopped to look at the construction site. Now there's a building where there used to be a big hole in the ground. Enzo wanted to hop the wall to go exploring.

Zoe dropped me and Enzo off at the park, and took the dogs home. Enzo and I ran the length of the park about 10 times. By the time Zoe came back to get us, he was exhausted. It's getting dark earlier, and Enzo is started to go to bed earlier too. After I brushed his teeth tonight, he said "now my teeth wont fall out anymore!"

We had a great day at school yesterday. Zoe took the afternoon off again, and Alex came for a few minutes too to meet the teachers. All the kids played, while we got a chance to sit and chat with the other parents. So far, it seems like a great bunch of people, and we're looking forward to getting to know everybody.

Enzo spent most of his time at class in the sand box, and running around wearing a red cape. He spent some time playing on his own, but checked in with us a lot. We still can't imagine leaving him there.

After work today, we just hung at the house playing with Legos and playing with "buzz light beer". We've been letting Enzo run around the house with no diaper on, and he goes to the potty every single time if he's not wearing one. He still is so proud, especially when he goes with us prompting him.

Today was Enzo's first official day at Pacific Oaks. He had the best time! We were well prepared - we asked Alex to make sure that he got his nap today and when we got home to bring him to school, he was in a very good mood and ready to go! He met Ralph at the door saying, "want to go to brand new school!"

PO is amazing; the campus is beautiful and the classroom well stocked and filled with things that kept Enzo very entertained: different costumes, including a funny red cape, cars, dolls, playdough, musical instruments, stuffed animals, puzzles, books. He spent most of his time in the sand box and playing with the water pump. He never even got to the slide or the boat or the paints or colored water.

His teachers were so nice and we all liked his classmates and their various parents. There is a girl there that lives right up the street from us; there is another girl in the class that has been with Enzo in various places since he was 6 months old at Gymboree. There were only 1/2 the usual number of kids there today; the classes are staggered for the first week. It will be interesting to see what the place is like when there are 14 kids in there instead of the 7 that we had today. When we left this afternoon as we were getting in the car, he turned to us and said, "I like this place!"

He was exhausted from all his running around when we got home - it made for a peaceful dinner where he ate a ton and an easy bath and bedtime.