THAT'S USING YOUR NOGGIN'

Gotta love it when a good story falls in your lap!

Literally minutes before the phone rang, I was making my typical lunch-time Web site visits and thought to myself, "Hmmm... haven't updated the blog in a while. What can I put on there?"

When the phone rang, the first thing I heard was, "You'll never believe what your daughter just did." Typically, that's a precursor to a funny phone call... but, today, I was a little nervous. When I left this house this morning, Sonja was at the computer, trying to finish a couple important projects with tight deadlines (she's supposed to put in four hours from home on Wednesdays). Meanwhile, Zoe was sitting on the floor next to her chair, hollering at Mom because she wanted to play. It didn't look like the beginnings of a great day.

So, what did she do? Apparently, dumped an entire plate of gnocchi on top of her head. Good times!

Since Sonja was there, I'll let her email that accompanied the pictures tell the tale:

These pictures don't quite do the mess justice, but they do show how proud (see below) she was of herself. All the gnocchi fell off her head before I could grab the camera. I was ready to strangle her, but at the same time I wanted to laugh. I wasn't happy when she then threw the plate, but I knew it was coming.

She also put her hand in my hair while I was picking the gnocchi off the floor. I ended up sitting her in the tub and told her she was going to get a shower like daddy takes. I hosed her off. She thought that was pretty funny.

TIC TACS AND CORN-ON-THE-COB

Yes, as you read in the last post, Zoe does favor me. But there still are moments that make Sonja and I wonder if we really created this wonderful creature. The whole tall-and-skinny phenomenon tops that list. Sonja and Zoe's recent grocery shopping adventure is another example.

To help occupy Zoe's time in the shopping cart seat, Sonja handed over the best (and cheapest) toy ever invented -- a Tic Tac container. Zoe loves the sound of rattling Tic Tacs and assumes everyone else does, too. So each time somebody walked by the cart, Zoe performed for them. We've learned over the past 13 months you can categorize all people into two groups: Those who stop to smile at babies and those who don't. Zoe was pretty pleased with those who stopped. When one of 'those who don't' tried to walk past without acknowledging her, she'd stare them down, grunt and give the container another vehement shake. Such demand for the attention of strangers from a child born of two adults who avoid impromptu conversation whenever possible.
Makes me wonder who she's been calling:


We had a nice, stay-at-home Memorial Day weekend. It included Zoe's first romp in her new pool...

...and a cookout on the deck. Zoe's top two teeth are coming in (the first one finally poked through on May 24, her 13-month birthday), which apparently was the impetus she needed to give corn-on-the-cob a try.

The corn was great. But cheese is still her favorite:

The weekend also included a night out for Sonja and I on our fifth (WOW!) wedding anniversary. Big thanks to our friend, Dani, who watched Zoe for us.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

The demand for photos from Zoe's first birthday has been overwhelming. (OK... actually only three people, but that's three more than have ever requested photos of me!) So without further ado (or Freddy Adu) ...

You've gotta start with a cake shot, right? A first birthday party without the messy birthday cake is like a Skynyrd concert without Freebird (even though cousin Sidney doesn't seem particularly thrilled at this moment).


Being the consumate party planners we are, we tested Zoe's affinity for chocolate cake Saturday, the day before the big party. She seemed to like it then, but never really took a bite Sunday. She just played it like a bongo long enough to get some frosting in her hair.

Maybe her interest in cake waned because of the huge pile of presents nearby. She certainly enjoyed those... and got a helping hand opening all of them from Mom.

As usual, our family and friends spoiled the little one. She has a plethora of new favorite toys, a bunch of great books, some cool (I couldn't get myself to type 'cute') new outfits and a gift certificate good for another full year of Monday daycare from the Good Doctor. That's a gift that Mom and Dad are eternally grateful for.

A special thanks to all our family that traveled from points north and northwest to be with us. At least there wasn't a blizzard this year! Thanks also to the family and friends that sent birthday wishes. As you can see, Zoe was pretty much thrilled with the whole day.

So that was Sunday. Zoe's actual birthday was Monday... which Sonja and I both took off from work so we could extend the celebration. The highlight of the day was Zoe's (and my) first trip to Chuck E. Cheese.

The Domino's Pizza lunch at Sunday's party was such a big hit with Zoe, we figured we might as well pile it on. (Seriously... the kid has eaten nothing but organic food since birth, then sucks down nearly an entire slice of pizza. She loved it. Guess I'm in the right business. Oh, and I'm sure she'll really think customer satisfaction is cool some day, too!)

Anyway... back to Chuck E. Cheese. After lunch, she got to hang out with some goofy characters, like this one...

... and this one...

... and also tried her hand at a couple games, some rides and a slide. In all, a great day. And, as you can see in this last picture, she's already looking forward to the big No. 2. (That wasn't a poop joke. "No. 2" as in birthday No. 2. Really, people.)

If I may take one moment to be sentimental: Thanks to my two beautiful girls, Monday marked the end of what was by far the happiest, most fulfilling one-year span of my life. There's a twinge of sadness associated with that sentence, until I realize what's yet to come.

10 MONTHS OLD!

Zoe turned 10 months on Friday! Can you believe it? Despite having a pretty crappy month, health-wise, she's still in good spirits. Here's Zoe kicking back with Daddy. While he watched the U of M game, Zoe caught up on her reading.

That is, until she spotted Mommy with the camera.

Ever the goofball, she had to make a funny face for me.

We managed to get out this weekend too. In honor of Honey and Papa's vacation to Puerto Vallarta (we miss you), we ate at their favorite restaurant, Los Tres Amigos. Zoe enjoyed sitting in a booster seat for the first time.

She thought she was quite the big girl. She became fasinated with a sticker on the wall and spent the better part of the meal trying to get it off (she succeeded).

So, as you can see, Zoe is doing pretty well these days. She's still on the mend from the stomach flu which she contracted almost immediately after recovering from her respiratory issues.

A quick update on that front, Zoe went to an allergy and immunology specialist on February 12th. She had to go through some nasty testing, but took it like a trooper. We'll get those results on March 12th. We don't expect bad news, but it will be a relief to chalk up all of her health issues to the germfest that is daycare.

Until next time!
Zoe's Mama

I CAN DO IT MYSELF (& BIRTHDAY WISHES)

Mom had a brunch date with some girlfriends today, meaning dad and Zoe had some time to kill. How does that idiom go? Idle hands are the devil's tools? That seems extreme... but something like that.

Zoe decided it was time to give that whole eating thing a go on her own. It seemed successful, although some serious clean-up work (including a bath to get the sweet potatoes out of her hair) was necessary.

Zoe also wanted to give a shout out to Great Busia Rezler (she still prefers the alliterative intonation of 'Supa Busia') who is celebrating a birthday today. Here it goes:

Hope everyone has a great week.