Beth's Birthday!

Yesterday was Beth's birthday so we took advantage of Disney's "Free on your birthday" special and took Zoe, who is also still free, since she's under 3.
Holy crow. She was a trooper. Only took a little rest in the afternoon for about 45 mins and had her only meltdown wayyyy after her bedtime.
She approached every character she could on the streets, talked them up, hugged them, it was a blast. Thank goodness she's cute because she kept cutting in front of people but they didn't care because she's so adorable.
Haunted Mansion wasn't scary, nor was Jungle Cruise but the new Nemo submarine underwater tour (which is really neat, go Pixar!) had her clutching Beth for dear life.
Some of the smaller rides rendered her quizzical at best, like Mr. Toad, Pinocchio, etc. Dumbo she loved, but nothing was as exciting to her as the "Merry-Go-Around"! Which she had to ride more than once.
It's a great time of year to hit Disneyland as, by 5 O'Clock the wait time for Pirates of the Caribbean was 5 minutes. And Haunted Mansion was 2.
She tried to hide on Pirates, but, eventually, with coaxing, she realized it wasn't terrifying. Just noisy.
"I'm not SCARY!" She would say after a particularly terrifying ride.
Or.
"That wasn't scary for me!" even though it was.
She did great.
And we all had a blast.
Happy Birthday Beth!




Ice Cream Cookie Sandwich as a treat for being such a great girl.




Mickey and child.



Zoe and the birthday girl on the "Merry Go Around!"



Zoe and Chip. Or was it Dale?



A new Disney Veteran.

What's Zoe going out as on Hallowe'en?

Duh.
I mean, Dora! (Her idol)

The importance of Rocking Out.

It's been a long time.
I could go on and on about how there's been no change and things are just same old same old, but it wouldn't be true.
The truth is (and I don't say this to engender any sympathy or commentary, it just is what it is) that I was taken to task by a family member for posting so much through electronic media about Zoe.
I never felt that this person was right in the assessment and I always felt like, hey, you don't like it? Don't subscribe, don't read it. But that wasn't necessarily possible for that person and I found myself becoming very tentative in regards to shouting to the rafters about how great my kid is.

But, you know what?

Fuck that.

I'm more and more impressed by this kid every day. And there is NOTHING as great as walking in through the front door and catching Zoe's eye and watching her face light up, smile and yell, "Daddy!". It's awesome.

I never really had that with Liz. I've entered new territory. It's all new now. I'll explain.

When my ex and I split up and what will from herein be referred to as The Bad Time began Liz was just about 2 and half. She was still a little older than Zo is now. But there was a major difference.
Liz spent so much of that time in the hospital that there was no "normal" for me. I didn't know what it was like to spend time with a child that was going through all the cool stuff that happens when they are in their 2's.
I'm not going to dwell on what Liz couldn't do or didn't do. Suffice to say that this is just...different.
And yet, weirdly, the same.
When Liz was about 2 she fell in love, hard, for Green Day's "Dookie" album. She would dance like a hummingbird whenever "Basket case" would come on. When I bought the CD she couldn't get enough. She learned how to turn on the cd player. She would point to her ears when Billie Joe would sing, "Scream at Me until my ears Bleed".
It was adorable. She was a rocker through and through. When that edgy rock was taken from her she got pretty sad and depressed. After a while we brought some rock back to her life and she became a pretty cool, tweeny emo rock chick. (She had place in her heart for Bowling for Soup AND Dresden Dolls). We really got to bond over my favorite thing: music.
Because of her adoration for Green Day I've always associated Green Day with Liz. She adored Dookie but used to sing along to Warning and, especially, American Idiot.
When she died so did my ability to listen to one of my favorite groups.

So, here we are, 2007. Zoe is 2.5 years old. And I've been wondering a LOT what music Zoe will lean toward. It goes without saying that there is a lot of music in this house and, hell yes, I'm biased. I like the rock. I like it loud. I like it edgy.
Zoe has been tasting a LOT of music over the past few months but one album seems to have garnered her attention.
She is in love with the NEW Green Day album. She begs for the song "Viva La Gloria!" in the car. "Gloria!" she yells. And then she sings ALONG WITH THE SONG.
When she wants to hear it she says, "Daddy, do you want to rock out?" and that means Green Day.
She always wants me to play "Know Your Enemy" on Rock Band. "Eh-Nuh-Mee!"

She's made it okay to listen to them again.

Beth and I went to see Green Day last week at the Forum. The concert was the last of the American leg of the tour and they played all night.
Three solid hours.
Audience members were brought on stage to stage dive. To play the band's instruments. To sing the lyrics to famous songs.
T-shirts were shot into the air.
Flames and explosions abounded.
Billie Joe ended the 45 minute encore with a three sing acoustic set.
It was sublime.
Liz would have loved it.
But I guess I get to bring Zoe in a few years.
You never know how your kids will change your lives.

Quotable Zoe

August 16th, 2009.




"Mommy! That's where the french fries live!"

Off to Asheville.

It's been a long summer for the Lulus and it just seems like it's gonna keep going.
Three weekends ago Adriana and Dave treated us to extra tickets to a Dodger game. I barely saw any of it, chasing the great Ziggy Zag around the stadium. She insisted on running, at break neck speed through the concourse.
Two weekends ago we drove the entire kit up to Sonoma in the new van. Thank god for DVD players and satellite radio. The purpose was to visit Gloria so she could see Zoe. She hasn't been feeling well and the thought was maybe Zig Zag could cheer her up.
While we were there we stayed with Beth's family in wine country and Zoe got to see the 4th of July parade.
Then last weekend was Kristen's baby shower which Beth was in charge of running with some other friends. It went brilliantly BUT that meant Dad and Zo were together non-stop. We hit the dog park, Target, lunch, Rock Band and a host of more stuff. Zoe was exhausted by the end BUT to make matters worse, now she doesn't want to go to school anymore. Who would after concentrated attention like that?
Now, we're off on a cross country adventure. Visiting the Benninghofens in Asheville with some time in Gatlinburg with the Breadons. Gonna be great but high octane and go go go.
I'll let you all know how it goes.

Zoe on the new CamApp

Hi, gang.
Sorry, not too much to report. Well, there is but I am loathe to sit down and write all about Zoe's new pre-school.
I really should, though. They dig her there.
In the meantime, Beth's phone got a new update which included a video camera application. So I took some video and sent it to myself and uploaded it all for you.

From the set

Zoe shot her first commercial today. They had three other kids that they shot for the same bit and I just don't think that Zozo made the cut. (I don't think she was the first choice, is what I mean). But, she had a blast. Made us proud.


This is Beth and Zoe near the process trailer (the vehicle that carries the car that Zoe was in). Zoe loved the process vehicle. And she loves her mom. This might be the best picture I have ever taken.



Here's the process vehicle.




Zoe was a trooper in makeup and wardrobe. (The wardrobe lady was a C**t that seemed to hate both children and her job).


Here's the little TV star with her mom.



Beth got a shot of the playback of Zoe in the car.


Needless to say. I was pretty effing proud.

Zoe Lulu. Working Actress.

Zoe at the first call for State Farm.

For those of you who don't follow our doings on Facebook here's the skinny:
I got a call last week that Zoe had an audition for State Farm Insurance. I took her to the session and actually, for the first time, got to see what my daughter is like "in the room". She's a pro. Doesn't need me anywhere to charm the casting director.
All she had to do was sit in a chair, eat grapes and be cute.
Oh, boy was she.
So, sure enough she got a callback.
I met up with Beth at the casting office to find my daughter goofily running from man to man asking them to pick her up and let her read to them. She was charming everyone in the place.
I went in with her, but it could have been Beth or no one. Zoe is super independent and hyper cute.
It wasn't such a surprise when we got the call that Zoe was on "avail", in other words, a top choice for the spot. And I confirmed with her agent that, when they are casting little children like this, they always cast more than one because you can't be sure how a child is going to behave on the day. They have limited time with the kid because of labor laws and if they don't get the shot, they have a better chance with another kid.
They cast 4 for this commercial.
Zoe was one of them.
My daughter, on her 5th audition, just became a working actress.
I couldn't be more effing proud of her.
She's gonna have a blast. And make a little coin for her future.
Zoe Mina. Actress.
And so it begins.

An early farewell.

A little over a year ago I was tearing my hair out.
Beth was knee deep in studying and, for all intents and purposes, I had become a defacto nanny-dad. Now, this is fine, I'm not complaining, except that it was killing me. ;)
I love Zoe. But I also love going to the gym, auditioning, having coffee, lunch with friends...it's been 20 years of establishing a lifestyle like mine and to turn it into, well, daddy-sitting was making me nuts.
All of this doesn't really make me sound so great, does it? Oh, well. This is what I get for being honest.
I adore Zoe. And I adore sanity. Call me selfish.
Anyways, after complaining (again!!) to my brother, he had the wisdom to convince me to hire a babysitter.
It was a daunting task, to say the least. We didn't want to put Zoe in day care. THAT seemed extreme. So, we needed to find someone.
As per Jonathan's advice, I took an ad in Craigslist.
In an hour I had a response.
We didn't need to talk to anyone else.
We hired Michelle that week and, because of her I am sure, Zoe started walking on her 1st birthday. She encouraged reading and the importance of simple play.
In a word, she was excellent.
Was.
We've decided that it's time for Zoe to get some socialization. She needs to be around other kids. And she also needs some slightly standardized education. Something formalized. Otherwise she will spend her days demanding to watch Wonder Pets all the time.
So, we're looking at pre-pre-Ks. We've found two that we are interested in. Basically, the cost is the same.
But, it is the end of an era.
So, in the next two weeks or so, we say farewell to Michelle. Zoe's first teacher that wasn't her parents. Her first best friend. Her first babysitter.


Thanks, Michelle.

3 pics

We're two years in now.
I think some of the energy to post here got knocked out of me. After all, 2 is HARD.

Here's some pictures and I implore you to come to Facebook where I post pics a little more regularly.

Smile!

I have GOT to get better at this. After all, I'm supposed to be documenting my child's life.
Well, today was a milestone. At the birthday party for a friend I was snapping pics like a madman. Some of them can be found here: Facebook Pics
But this one moment I trained the cam on Zoe and I told her to "Smile!".
This was the reaction.


One of those moments that you don't realize you will want to remember as incredible is the moment your kid realizes how to do what you ask.
When she comprehended the concept of a smile.
Bliss out.

Of course, just moments later I asked her to do it again and I got this:



So, as you can imagine, I'm really proud.