good morning, crazy hair!

This morning when I got Zoe out of bed she had the CRAZIEST hair yet! I took her jammies off and then she heard Pete so she had to go find him and she also grabbed the balloon we brought home from a 1st birthday party we attended yesterday. She was in such a good mood, as she usually is in the morning and Pete got the camera out. I've added a few things to her wall over the past month, like the bumblebees and purple 'unicorn'. She had crazy hair all day until bath time. We'll see what happens tomorrow!

front porch

We played on the front porch when it was sunny. Zoe was a little upset that I put the gate up in front of the steps, they are the best part of the porch you know. Pete & I are talking about how & when to tear this porch down and build a new one. Last summer we knew we needed to rebuild and after our very wet & snowy winter the situation has escalated. It's not really proper deckwood and wasn't painted well by the previous owners either. If you have any good porch-building tips let me know!

outside on the front porch

outside

update

I realized a couple of weeks ago that Zoe really understands most of what I'm saying even though she isn't really talking herself. I can ask her where things are, like "where's your blankie?" and she will go find it and bring it to me. She knows that her jacket & shoes are needed to go outside. Pete put a pink hoody on her and she brought him a different jacket [the one we had been using lately]. She opened the veg drawer in the fridge and handed me a banana saying "bana" that she wanted to eat. When her milk is gone she loves to say "more" and watch me get some more for her. At night we say Bath Time! over and over. She recognizes that pictures of things in her books, like bunnies, monkeys, bananas, ducks, balls are also in the house and frequently climbs out of my lap to get those things and then happily show them to me. She is very good at getting dressed. We are learning to roll a pink kickball back and forth and I am trying to teach her how to kick it, too. She loves, loves, loves to open things, take lids on & off, and put things away. She opened a kitchen drawer, took out a box of ziploc bags and carried it into the living room where she removed all of the bags from the box [thankfully it was almost empty] and then put the empty box back into the drawer and closed the drawer. Where was I? I think I was washing some dishes and this all happened in about a minute. She is quiet and speedy when she's working.
Tonight she was whining and pushing Pete around [well, trying to push him] while he was washing his hands. She has started pushing her little hands against me when she wants me to get something or pick her up so that she can see something. I was sitting on the floor and she walked around and pushed against my back until I stood up to help her see something. Anyway, she was doing this to Pete and getting loud and I told her she should not be so bossy. She put her little hands down and looked up at him so sweetly and said "ite" which is her word for "up". She also says "hi!" and a sort of "byebye" with a wave.

She loves animals, cats and dogs in particular. Dogs are everywhere and are on tv a lot and there's a barking dog that lives at the house behind ours. She jumps up and down and squeals and wants to pet them all. They're just hilarious.

We are finally having some lasting spring weather so we have spent some time outside in the yard. At first the grass really freaked her out but she got over the ticklish feeling and had a good time just walking around the yard. She really likes the ants that crawl around. I really hate the ants. Zoe says "what's that?" nine thousand times and then it just takes one little press of her finger to smash one. I have some pictures of her outside that I will post soon.

I am looking at plane tickets for the end of May. I am considering flying out with Zoe, staying for a week and then Pete would come out on the 29th maybe? I'm trying to use my United miles for a free flight but it limits my options quite a bit of course. And I really want to get a seat for Zoe because I can't imagine holding her by myself. So I don't know. I need to do some more thinking. At the very least, Pete & Zoe & I will be there Thursday night to Tuesday afternoon that last weekend. I don't know if we will travel to Kendra's wedding on the 30th. We will definitely see Trisha & Maisy, probably in St Louis. And I want to take Pete to Worlds of Fun and/or Six Flags. We might just stick with our original plan to fly in, leave Zoe with whoever wants to watch her, and drive to St Louis for the weekend. Tickets on United are about $250 right now. If anyone wants to visit us this this summer this is a good time to shop for airfare.
love from Seattle!

grassy

I have had this little grass plant sitting on the front porch waiting to be planted somewhere. Zoe fell in love with it. When we go outside she picks it up and carries it very gently from one spot to another. I let her bring it in the house one afternoon. And then I vacuumed up some dirt and we took it back outside.

climbing

I tried to put these in order, but it's just not happening. You get the idea. zoe is a big-time climber/explorer. This adventure was impeded by the string cheese stick that she absolutely would not let go of. Most of the time she is holding onto something whether it's food or a toy and some of her most frustrating moments are when she wants to pick something up but does not want to let go of the other things she already has.

zoe & rowan

Jen & I were finally able to see each other for breakfast again and let Zoe & Rowan giggle at each other. We let them play for a while at Jen's house and they loved to run around on the couch and scream. I don't know why I didn't take more/better pictures or get some video of playtime. Next time.

slideshow april 9th

What do you think of these slideshows? It's a little more time-consuming than just posting photos, but I'm not likely to post all 50 of these photos for you individually so consider it a little gift from me to you.
We haven't heard from anyone for awhile, so I'm just assuming that you are all okay. We are still planning a trip out there at the end of May.
Pete has been working quite a bit lately. Now that he is Fire Safety Certified he is asked to do smoke control testing on the new buildings they are putting together. This has to be done in the evening or on the weekends. Yuck!
Last Sunday we had Auntie Constance come babysit and Pete & I got to see a movie! I think the last film we saw was 007 in November. We paid $25 for 2 leather seats and watched Monsters Vs Aliens in 3D. It was totally worth it. If this is in 3D near you - go see it!
Spring is finally here, sort of. We had 4 glorious days of 70 degree weather and then the Marine Layer rolled back in. It's still warmish. But overcast. I really want our lawn mowed. The grass is so tall it's laying over. I bought a big bag of potting soil for some reason. All of the trees are flowering. Pretty soon it will be tulip time.
Zoe is taking her midday nap right now and I have not yet eaten lunch, so I'd better get to it. We're going to the YMCA this afternoon for some exercise and out-of-the-house-time.

big bird song