Pinwheel Palace and trains

Beth took Zoe out for the afternoon while the workers are painting the house.
SOMEONE has to stay for them in case there is anything they need or a problem or something. (Not to sit around and play Rock Band all day....NOOOOOOOO....that wouldn't be cool. ;) )

Anyways. Off to Griffith Park where there is an old timey carousel and a toddler train and, well, a park. It's a nice place to visit IF your 1 year old daughter likes ponies and pony rides, but, really, what kid is into that stuff?

You can't see it from the pics but when she wasn't riding the train Zoe is holding on to the gate and screaming to get on. What a joyful little girl, huh?


When she was given a pinwheel she also discovered her shadow. She chased that all day.



Who needs ponies?

The Guest House Part 2

Remember this?





Well, now it looks like this:










That's better, no?
Kind of beachy, no? It's hot and I still have to do something about the grass. But, for the time being, lovely. Already had someone inquire about renting it. Too bad there's already someone in there.

The Guest House

Oy.
We are finally getting the guest house painted.
It's been a long time coming, but the change is gonna come.
Beth's dad and her nephews, Tommy and Aaron are coming out in a few weeks to do the back yard. Decking, grass, drip system, trees, a little oasis in the back.
It seems a shame to have to stare at this the whole time.


Here is the front. The look of desiccation. The guest house is about 90 years old. It was built 10 years after our house, in 1922. The side door with the steps no doubt was access for the housekeeper, maid, slave, wife, husband, who knows? We had a toilet on the porch, that was for that person as well.
It is currently housing a sweet older church deacon and his 30-something son. They fell on hard times and have to live together in this...thing.
We inherited them with the house, they had been living there for 7 years before we bought it.
The inside needs a lot, A LOT of love but that would entail them leaving and, truth be told, if they go for the amount of time I need to make it nice, then they won't be back.
Most of what makes the inside so bad is their stuff. They have enough crap to fill a 1000 foot storage space and they are living in a 600 sq foot house. Do the math.

Anywho. It's getting the much needed and much deserved paint job.

This will be the view from Zoe's room and the kitchen.



I will post the new pics when the coats are done.

This will be dual posted in www.septenary.blogspot.com

Self awareness milestone

One of the games we like to play with Zoe is "where is?"
Where is your nose? She touches her nose.
Where is your hair? She reaches up to her head.
Where is Huck? Where is Mom? Where is...... you get it.

Today I tried something we hadn't done before.

"Zo? Where is Zoe?"
Long pause while she stares blankly at us. The eyes working, something going on in her head...and then...
She touches her cheek!

So, Zoe knows who Zoe is.
She's Zoe.
And she's AWARE!
Word.

And now: Zoe.



Cheesecake, anyone?



Chilling out on the changing table.



Zoe and Mom

Our cute, little Spawn.

Why do I think this is just the beginning?

Zoe at the Strawberry festival

A little animatic about a little girl and the magical place called The Strawberry Festival!

Is Anybody out there?

I really have no idea who reads this. If anybody reads this besides the one or two who, thankfully, comment. I don't know if anyone cares or if I am pissing into the wind.
I am just going to keep plugging along and if you're out there, hope you enjoy watching my daughter grow up.

I don't consider myself a photographer. I know nothing about exposure or ISO's. I like to think that I, occasionally, have a good eye but, at best, I am an amateur with delusions of artistry.
That said, how fucking great is this picture?


Because it really captures Zoe at her best. At her most playful. I think I really got her. (And she got me.)

This is a kid at a get together. He's a camera ham. I think his parents shoot a ton of him. He was never hesitant to pose and wait for pics to be taken. So, it was actually kind of hard to get him in a candid moment. But I snuck up on him and Zozo and managed to get this. The amount of communication is sort of astounding when one considers that neither of them can speak yet.



On Saturday we ventured down to Garden Grove to the annual Strawberry Festival. It was really a free to enter carnival with Strawberries a very distant theme. But there were rides, oh, yes, plenty of rides.
Turns out, while Zosie may have inherited certain genes from me (eyes, fat, temper) she has inherited her mother's love of nausea-inducing rides.



And a healthy appetite for Strawberries. Can't get enough.



And corn dogs. CORN DOGS! Crikey. Battered meat on a stick. Yeah, go for it, Zo.

Cam Ham

After a year of magical elph shots and crappy cell phone pix today I bought meself a presento. My birthday is in one week and I was lucky enough to get a little bit of found cashola.
So I got an entry level Nikon SLR.
And immediately got home and sought out Zoe for some candids.
Here's some new ZoShots.
For no reason except that she's damned cute.










No captions necessary.

Zoe makes our Coffee!

Yes, Zoe has learned how to make our coffee.
Precocious, isn't she?
In fact, if we want to distract her from something in the morning we now have "help Daddy make his coffee" in our arsenal of shiny objects.

Zanimoto!

You know me, Mr. Early Adopter. So, when this new app came out, I had to try it. We only used a couple pics.
I will get something more interesting in the future.
enjoy.

Japanese Toilet Training for Kids

Oh, those wacky japanese.
To quote my friend Kristen, "Why don't we have this here?"

Crack for Zoe

I have, on many occasions, extolled the virtues of Noggin's "Jack's Big Music Show" program. It contains a huge variety of musical forms and it's completely adult friendly and tolerable.
It's also crack for toddlers.
Zoe has been ambling around the living room this morning, generally crying over absolutely nothing. I can't keep my eyes open, since she has been crying to get up since 5.
Time to feed her the crack.

One Month Checkup...one month late....

Sitting here in a coffee shop, readying myself for an audition I found a couple minutes to update the blog.
So much has been happening and yet I haven't written. (Bad dad!)
So, you know that Zoe is walking. Yes. She toddles like an alcoholic epileptic and crashes on her padded bottom. It's a site, but she just gets right up and starts again.
The terrible twos (which are really about the second year) have officially begun. Gone is the sweet cherub who loves everyone and everything and, on occasion, she is replaced by a screaming, demanding devil child who hates the word "no". But, to her credit, even though we get those crocodile tears, she has learned NOT to pull the wire, NOT to push the buttons on the dvr, NOT to...well you get the idea.
She is infatuated with Balloons. Can't leave a store without one. MUST.PLAY.WITH.BALLOONS! It's an obsession. But we like balloons and so it is a compromise. Ballon, yes. Dangerous electrical cords, no.
Doc says Zozo is in the 20% for height and 30% for weight. Or maybe that's backwards. But not to worry. It's not a big deal. She's gonna drop weight as she gets more active (chasing balloons!) and given the legacy of Molly, Lee, Batya and Beth & Me, there really was never much of a shot that she would break 5'4" anyways. He thinks 5'3". I think that makes for a cute little monkey girl.
Beth has joined a bunch of mommy groups and lo and behold the Zoster has found a toy that she is fanatical about.
Here it is:

If she isn't moving then she is shouting and rocking back and forth to make it go! No doubt Beth and i can finally get in shape with this thing.
So, there ya go. That's a quick update. I gotta get in to the audition soon. Here's a shot that I snapped of Zozo the other day when we were off to Toys R Us to buy a (impossible to find) Wii.
How cool is this kid?

Walkin', yes indeed.

So, there's no doubt that we think Zoe is amazing. And why the hell not? After all, we're white and according to Stuff White People Like it's to be expected, right?
Well, thanks in no small part to her nanny, Michelle, Zoe has begun to walk. I think Beth and I sort of figured she would be early on this, given that she has been TRYING to stand up since she was 2.5 months. But, once she figured out crawling (Thanks, Nana!) it looked as though she would just settle into that for a while. She's a speedster on all fours.
Then there was Balloon. Her first balloon, given to her by the cashier at Ralph's. The helium had pretty much given out within two days but she loves it nonetheless. And Michelle held it just out of reach while Zoe was standing and, boom, she was off. She has been able to do one or two steps since her birthday. After the second, she would collapse on her butt and race to your lap like a cockroach. The ballon was all it took. 8 steps.
Then I was holding her bouncing ball and scooted myself back and she took another 8 to get to me and get her ball.
Cruising? That is so yesterday.
Zoe's a walkin'.

The T-Shirt says it all.
The t-shirt and the mullet, truly.

The Maestro.

The birthday festivities continue. Look at that smile. It's fun now. Wait til we start the drills. The left hand will be the bane of your existence, sweetie, but play you will. Whether you like it or not.

Happy Birthday Zoe Lulu

Shooting down in Texas I was completely surprised by a scheme to help me celebrate ZoZo's first Birthday!
There's cake and presents and, well, one touched, happy father

A Year

Zoe turns a Year today. April 2nd. Wow.

I know I haven't written much here. Truth is, so much has been going on I just plain got lazy with it.

So, here's the skinny: It looks like Zo's an inch or two away from walking. Seriously. She's holding on to the back of her train and using it as walker. Her new nanny, Michelle, has been encouraging this. Oh, yeah! We got Zo a Nanny. So Beth could get schoolwork done and I could get writing and other things done. So, I have done almost nothing and Beth hasn't gotten any schoolwork done. We're still getting used to having the help. Zoe LOVES her! And she has been so great with ZoZo. She's a college frosh who answered our ad. She was the first one who did and she was the best. 

Anyways, she' just getting Zoe to do SO MUCH! and it's great.

Not much else, so I'm just gonna post a few pics. 

Here's the happy fam:
Easter ZoZo



Easter Huck



ZoZo's Dad, half a life ago...



Beth Lulu, Mrs. ArmadilloMan!

Zoe the Reader

It's been a while since we posted some video so, indulge us, please.
Zoe likes to 'read'. She looks at the pictures and the words and babbles. We guess it's because she know that when you read, you talk, because that's what we do when we read to her.
Interestingly, she has picked up on the whole Right to Left thing.
Anyway, here's Zoe the Reader.

Everyday Zo-ings.

I had written this long and, I must say, interesting post, then I accidentally deleted it. So, screw that. Your loss. Trust me, it was pithy, funny, smart and erudite as well as tasty and obsequious.
Mama Lee is out fer a visitin'. Zozo is in heaven. The full on, full time play has resulted in 2 hour naps during the day. Just like when Nana was here. Ah, the bliss of a child sleeping.
We are back on that track and it's awesome. Seems like when its just me and Beth Zoe has less reason to sleep as long. This could be because we ignore her, leave her to her own devices and, generally, pretend that she isn't the burden we know that she is.
She does like her grandparents, though. Must have something to do with attention. Feh!
On the new foods tack: Homemade Butternut Squash has been a hit with the Zoester. As well as various chickens and veggies. Didn't think she would like zucchini, but cut into small bits and roasted she gobbled them down.
Last night I made chicken and zucchini fingers in a pretzel coating with a dipping sauce that was, basically, a splash of dijon mustard in a roue with a ton of cheddar cheese and milk. Zoe got a taste. Immediately her eyes bugged out and her finger pointed, or we should say, stretched out from her arm with such zeal we thought it might come off her socket. Obviously she had some more.
We are now 10+ months in with no sugar (I think she has tasted it thrice but no actual snack of her own) and Zo's doing great. I think we will be able to make it at least to the holidays.
Now that she has mastered crawling, she is the 20 pound cockroach. She's into everything. Mostly she loves the illuminated blue on/off button on the dvd player. Since this is the conduit or go-between from the satellite to the television, when it is "off" we can't see tv. The DVR still records but we see no picture. Then, after we figure out what she has done, we spend the next x minutes searching for THAT remote.
Good times!
Okay. As Marty DiBergy would say: enough of my yakkin'! Here are some pix!


This is a really cute top that Aunt Julie got me. It FINALLY fits! Mama got me the hat. Soon I will be able to toss it in the air in a glorious act of emancipation and womanhood! I'm gonna make it after all!


Remember Erin Sullivan? The mother of my future husband, the fair haired Leo? This is Leo's dad! He stopped by for a visit. Since we really loved knowing them when they lived here and then they moved without even consulting us, my dad says they are "dead to us". But I think he's just just kidding.


Someone handed me money. Do I really need to elaborate?

Happy V-Day!

Not so much about Valentine's Day as it is about Zoe at a restaurant. I had just gotten back from Vancouver and we decided to go out and have a little celebratory anniversary dinner.
We love this restaurant but COMPLETELY forgot about the three magic boxes (televisions) they have.
Zoe could and would not remove her gaze from said box.
On the plus side, she ate and loved zucchini and pasta.
Happy V-Day to everyone.