Zoe is super attached to her dad – a fact that was quite evident the other evening. Q headed to the backyard to do some grilling, and Zoe, who unhappily watched him walk out the door, was insistent that he come back. After a few sniffles and “dad-dee”s, she knocked on and pressed her face against the glass door to get his attention; lucky for her, she was rewarded with some kisses.
-M
As you’ve probably figured out, we take a lot of photos. It’s a necessary thing, really – because for every ten pictures there’s usually only one that we deem cute (or appropriate) enough for this blog. (Let’s just say that Zoe moves really fast and makes lots of funny faces.) A lot of photos, even relatively good ones, don’t ever make it to the site – and I thought it would be fun to reach into the archives and find a few recent ones to post. So, here are four from the past few weeks.
-M
You know how little kids are always showing you how to appreciate life – how to stop and smell the roses, so to speak? Well, Zoe is very much into smelling flowers, both figuratively and literally. The other day, during a morning stroll through Noe Valley, she couldn’t help but check out the merchandise at a little flower stand. Luckily, we had the camera close at hand.
-M
Zoe has shown an interest in gardening before, but she lost her focus a bit the other night. Instead of helping her dad pull some weeds, she decided to fling some mud around. Q thought it was pretty funny, but – since I’m the one who does laundry – I wasn’t nearly as amused. (Made for a cute video, though.)
-M
It was too nice yesterday to stay inside for long, so when Q was done with work, Zoe and I grabbed him and headed to the zoo. It was still pretty warm out – even Zoe got a little sweaty – but we all had fun running around and taking pictures. (And, after the day’s activities, Zoe slept very well last night!)
-M
San Francisco gets, if we’re lucky, about a half-dozen 85-degrees-or-warmer days each year. We’ve already gotten two — yesterday and today – and Zoe and I took advantage of this morning’s sun by hanging out at Golden Gate Park. The highlight for Zoe was chatting with her friend Zander; though she’s seen him weekly for the past year-plus, she’s never been quite so enthusiastic about saying “hi” to him. (And he was pretty excited about it, too!) Check them out below.
-M
I don’t do yoga, but Zoe (like other toddlers, I presume) seems to have an interest in it. Here she is last night, doing her best “downward dog.” Zia Angela, what do you think?
-M
It’s been a pretty hectic week – Q and I are both really busy at work, and our mornings have been more harried than normal. This morning I was feeling particularly rushed – running around and trying to get out of the house with Zoe by 7:30 in order to miss traffic – and I found myself doing something I’ve never done before. Once in the car, I checked to make sure that my shoes matched. (They did, thankfully. And so did Zoe’s.) I don’t think I’ve ever felt more like a rushed mom than at that moment, and – needless – to say, I’m ready for the weekend!
-M
Zoe went into her first store when she was just 13 days old, and she’s been shopping many, many times since. While she was once just a passive observer, she’s now a bit more involved in the process – often grabbing merchandise off of shelves and even encouraging me or Q (through little grunts or eye bats) to make a purchase. The other day, for example, she took a fancy to this large pink ball at Target. We didn’t wind up getting it for her (which she was a good sport about), but it sure made for a fun photo op!
-M
As you could probably tell from the pictures below, the three of us had a fun holiday weekend. Q and Zoe took me to the warm and sunny East Bay, where we participated in two of my favorite activities (shopping and eating) on Sat., and played at Pixieland Amusement Park on Sun. The park was perfect for us – small, uncrowded and geared towards small kids – and Zoe got to go on several rides for the first time. Here she is zooming around on one such ride with her dad.
-M
Well, it was more like Mommy’s weekend! As usual, I think we best show it in pictures. Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there!
Q
Zoe and Mommy spent Saturday shopping:
Our Mother’s Day room service tradition (or at least food prepared in the hotel room):
A quick Sunday morning peek-a-boo session:
Fun with Mommy on the Pixieland Express:
Even more fun on the merry-go-round:
Mom’s little cupcake in a tea cup:
Sharing our picnic with the locals:
One last family shot before heading home for the weekend:
As many times a day as I hear “mama” and “mommy,” I don’t think it has completely sunk in that I’m a mom. Great mothers in history (including those from my own history) are typically strong, wise, nurturing, selfless – and those aren’t the first words I’d use to describe me. (Okay, so I’m a *smart* person, but I’ve never been wise about kid stuff. When the picture below was taken, I was totally clueless.) Most of the time I just feel like Michelle, with a kid – and maybe that’s the way it’s going to be for awhile.
Despite how I may feel, I *am* a mom – and I need to thank Zoe (and Q, of course) for giving me that title and making my life much happier/crazier/more unpredictable than ever before. And I need to wish all other moms (including mine and Q’s) a happy day. I’m not sure my kid-cluelessness would have ever decreased without you!!
-M
Another Friday, another playgroup. Zoe wound up taking a mega-nap after her time at the playground with Miles – which is always a sign that she had a good (and active) time. Here are some fun pics from her morning.
-M
A friend of mine has twin girls a few months older than Zoe. Last year, when Zoe was still in the cute-but-not-terribly-active stage, and the twins had just entered the cute-and-actually-doing-things stage, my friend told me that her girls were constantly making her and her husband laugh. I’ve never forgotten her comment, and I feel that it now applies to Zoe too – since she’s always doing silly/funny/adorable things around me and Q.
A good example comes from last night, when I put Zoe to bed. It took several attempts to calm her down (she kept bouncing, whimpering and demanding more rocking and singing), but her eyes finally closed and I was able to think about dinner. I was in the kitchen a few minutes later when the oven timer went off and a very loud and very clear cry came from Zoe’s room: “beep, beep, beep, beep!” This was so unexpected (she recently started beeping along to the microwave, but I didn’t know she could hear the oven timer in her room – plus I thought she was asleep!) and so terribly cute. I wanted to rush to her bedroom and give her a big squeeze, but I resisted – which wound up being the right move. A few minutes later, she was asleep. And I had had my good laugh of the day.
-M
Zoe is a big fan of feeding herself – so much so that she’ll often refuse to eat if she’s not the one holding the spoon or fork. I’ve gotten used to these streaks of independence, so I shouldn’t have been surprised this morning when she refused to let me dress her. She clutched on to her little yellow pants for dear life, wiggled away from me whenever I approached and then tried (unsuccessfully) to put her feet through the pant-legs. She finally gave in and let me help, but it took awhile. After this little incident, I’m convinced we’re going to have our hands full as she gets older – and insists on doing more and more things “on her own”!
-M