peekaboo

cutie pie

for the man who has everything

Pete's mom knitted him a Beer Sweater for Christmas. It's hilarious!

we're home!

We have so much to talk about:
Zoe is ONE year OLD now!
And we had a lovely Christmas vacation in Missouri.
And then we came home to LOADS of snow!
I have lots of photos to share so I will Upload some slideshows as fast as the blog will allow.
For now, here are just a couple of my favorites.
Merry Christmas! Much love.

playing with aunt annie

snow !

It's snowing here tonight! Pete wrapped zoe up so she could enjoy our winter wonderland.

in.the.drawers

when.will.she.want.to.put.stuff.back.into.the.drawers?

walking.with.sticks

walking

laptop2

laptop

dad.sent.this.laptop.for.zoe

zoegiggles

listen.to.zoe.giggle.at.rowan.

wreath

seattle-tree-lighting

Constance
Zoe
Sara
downtown
tree
lighting
and
Macy's
star

jumping.with.rowan

walking!

some.books.are.fun

the.spacebar.on.my.laptop.is.not.working.

it.is.very.irritating.

Mom.gave.this.book.to.z.at.easter.We.have.looked.at.it.lots.of.times.but.now.she.understands.
that.opening.the.cover.makes.the.music.play.
I.could.hear.her.in.her.room.opening.and.closing.it.
I.like.what.she.does.with.the.book.that.doesn't.light.up!
Someday.she'll.be.able.to.read.and.the.other.books.will.be.more.exciting.

crawl & song

Some people have asked if Pete sings to Zoe. And the answer is.... well, sort of.

in the kitchen

This is a constant, daily activity.

the very messy lunch

So we're supposed to be teaching Zoe how to drink from a [sippy] cup and use a spoon and all of that. I'm not really worried that she will never learn to do these things, so I haven't pressed it. I decided that this particular lunch could be a messy one so I gave her a sippy cup with some water and her own spoon & baby food. As you can see, it went really well. She definitely had a bath when it was all over. The thing about sippy cups is that it is much more interesting to see the water pour out of the little holes in the lid than it is to drink out of it. She actually drinks just fine out of a regular glass with a little help.

Hey this fits!

I was thinking that this outfit was still too big for Zoe, but it fits perfectly now. I think it's a 9 month size. She wore it to breakfast with her sweet, little hat. We went to the Maltby Cafe. Yum! If anyone is ever here, make sure we take you there for breakfast, it is so very tasty.

Zoe is outgrowing her pudgy, baby tummy & cheeks. Some people have told me that she looks skinny, but she still has her baby legs and her tummy does pooch out after a good meal. Still in the 50 percentile, she just happens to be a little girl.

I finally took her 6 month clothes out of the closet. They were all summer clothes anyway. It's about 40 degrees here today, so we're moving on to anything warm and cuddly. She could use a warmer coat, but I haven't found one small enough yet. If anyone sees a coat for a 12 month old, let me know.

Milestone

I've been waiting to post the news until we got a video, but it hasn't happened... Zoe took her first real steps last Friday! Pete came home from work early (well, earlier than usual) and I held Zoe's hands and walked her toward the front door to see him. She kind of stopped and just stood there so I let her go. Pete knelt down and she took the 5 steps over to see him. It was really wonderful! That evening she walked a little bit a few more times. Now she stands on her own fairly often and practices her steps whenever she is brave enough. Hopefully I will get a video of her soon.
Speaking of video, I added the list of "labels" for my blog posts on the left. So if you want to see all of the videos, just click the link and they will all come up. If I have any other kinds of repeat postings I'll start labeling them, too.

why we take fewer pictures now

I'm taking far fewer pictures these days. And here's why. Everytime I get the camera out Zoe wants to hold it and drool on it. If she doesn't get to hold it and drool on it she becomes very dramatic and whines "ma ma ma ma ma". Her favorite "toys" are the camera, phone, and laptop.

Where do you keep the extra babies?

Sagittarius + Tooths

Look at Zoe's 4 teeth! They are super sharp. I know this because I have to "brush" them every night with this little rubber thing that I put on my finger. Zoe likes teethbrushing time because she likes to bite my finger off while I'm doing it. I know she looks like she's getting big, but she is still pretty small. She is still wearing some of her 6 month clothes and none of her 12 month clothes, despite being 11 months next week. There was a baby at the YMCA today who was 8 months and completely round. She was really cute, but just as big as Zoe.

We are all doing fine. Zoe had a little cold the past couple of days. Her nose is runny but she is a quick healer. I read that babies get 5 colds their first year, and this is her 2nd.

She is learning to do all sorts of things. Yesterday she carried a magnet around the kitchen and tried to get it to stick to things.

Halloween Meow

Here's Zoe in her complete Halloween ensemble. Mom made the quilted trick-or-treat bag, just the right size for our little kitty. Pete's mom knitted the hat, of course. Aunt Tammy sent the kitty onesie and the black "karate" pants are from American Apparel where Aunt Annie works in Portland. In fact, this photo of Zoe and Aunt Annie [she's a cat burglar] was taken at the store on Friday while we were there. We never got around to carving our pumpkins. Oh well, this way they will transition nicely to Thanksgiving decor.

slide away

While at the park [see photos below], Pete took Zoe on the slide. First he went with her, which was a little boring for our adventurous baby, so she got to go by herself a few times too.

the swing!

On our way to Portland we stopped for gas and needed to get out of the car for awhile. Magically, there was a park at the end of the road that had huge, wonderful trees and lots of playground equipment. Of course Zoe got some swing time. It was a little cold outside so we didn't stay for long, but it was a fun time & better than a highway rest stop.

at the yarn garden

We went to Portland Thursday & Friday to see Pete's mom and grandparents before they all left for Hawaii. While at the Yarn Garden, Zoe found this little shopping cart that is used to display boxes of beads. She pushed it around the store pretty well - each adventure ended with a small crash. She's wearing her Halloween outfit, except that we traded the kitty hat for this Christmas tree hat that Jo had just finished knitting.

We had a nice time in Portland, did lots of driving around and a little tax-free shopping [there is no sales tax in Oregon]. We needed to buy a new carseat as Zoe has outgrown her infant-sized one. With our 20% off coupon & no tax we saved quite a chunk of change. The new carseat is the safest available and should fit her for a few years.

I think Portland is more like the Seattle that people think Seattle should be. Everybody walks or rides a bike and there are little nieghborhoods everywhere that are filled with cool shops, small restaurants, and drab-dressed young people looking cool while having vegan Thai food in small restaurants.

So curious!

honeybee

This bee costume was in the bag of baby clothes that mom got from a friend at work. I don't think Zoe will wear it out anywhere this year - she's going to be a kitty instead. It's pretty cute, though. The top photo shows what happens when you make a bee mad. In related news, I bought The Bee Movie for Zoe. If you haven't seen it, take a couple of hours and watch it. The animation is wonderful and Seinfeld wrote an amusing script. Zoe loves it! Maybe because so much of the movie is bright yellow and the music is bouncy.

cheerios

Uncle Doug gave Zoe this Snack Trap. It's a cup with a flexible lid - the treats go in, but they don't come out when it's tipped over. Zoe eats lots of Cheerios these days so I keep this cup filled and out for her to snack whenever she wants. She hasn't exactly mastered taking one or two Cheerios out, but she's working on it.

Pumpkin Patch-palooza!

Sunday afternoon we went to Stocker Farms and picked some pumpkins. Jen, Mike & Rowan met us there. Zoe wore her pumpkin hat that Nana Jo knitted for her. So cute! We got 3 pumpkins and lots of pictures. The pumpkin patch was gigantic. You can find any color, size or shape that you want. They also have a corn maze. Pete was pretty excited about getting lost in it so we went back after Ken's birthday party with Ken & his sister, Terrina. It wasn't as creepy as we thought it would be. I guess there's another corn maze that gets you truly lost that we'll try to go to before Halloween. Zoe was strapped in to the Kelty where she was warm & happy. See the slideshow for all of the great photos.

Watch out Rowan! Zoe is on the loose!

fun in the tube

Pete's friend Ken had a family birthday party Sunday. Ken's nephews brought this green fabric tube thing upstairs for Zoe to crawl through. It collapses into a flat circle. I think we'll have to get one - Zoe loved it! Ken's mom is looking through the end of the tube.

chatter

In this clip you get to hear some classic Zoe noises, see some slow crawling and watch her walk along the table.

babies are weird

More ponytail holder delicious-ness. The top photo shows how her eyes are still a dozen different colors. They are gray on the outside and kind of blue inside with gold flecks and brown spots. Every person who sees her says something different: "she has brown eyes like you!" "she has hazel eyes!" "she's so lucky to have green eyes!" "she has such pretty eyes...what color are they?" I've noticed that her hair color is kind of the same way in different light. Some days she's blonde but it's also fairly red or light brown. Poor, mixed up DNA. I guess Pete and I gave her all of the options.