Not long ago, I chronicled the difficulties of staging a photo shoot with a toddler. Getting our 600-day photo yesterday also proved challenging – and let’s just say it wasn’t Lou who kept the camera snapping!

First, Zoe didn’t want to put her legs down.

Then, she wouldn’t look at the camera.

Next, she insisted on “honking” Lou’s nose.

Then, she got a little sleepy.

After that, she decided to roll away…

And then, she was gone for good.

She may not be easy to get photos of, but she certainly is entertaining!

-M

Zoe is 600 days today and, per tradition, we snapped a picture of her with Lou Seal. Below is today’s picture, followed by her 500-day one (taken on April 6). She’s a few pounds heavier than she was in the spring, but the biggest change seems to be with her hair, which is longer and curlier. And perhaps she’s looking a little more girlie – ?!

-M

Speaking of quiet time, we had a lot of it this weekend. (It was the first weekend in ages in which we had nothing on the books, and we took full advantage.) Zoe didn’t seem to mind being mellow, and yesterday, she and “Baby” spent a good chunk of the morning just relaxing in our bed. I had to share the pictures here.

-M

Life with a toddler can be pretty exhausting – and it’s a good idea to sneak in little breaks if you can. Q recently captured one of these “breaks,” and what I love is how Zoe stayed by my side the whole time. She didn’t run off when I closed my eyes, but instead sat quietly and patiently flipped through her books. (My nap wasn’t terribly long, but it was good while it lasted!)

-M

It’s been several weeks since I’ve done it, so today I scanned the archives for some good, never-before-posted pictures. Here are four fun ones – all from the last month. (I’m particularly fond of the third one, which captures one of her favorite car-games: taking her shoes on and off.)
-M

And the winner is…drum-roll please…..Zia Angela! (See proof below.) Angela Gargano was the lucky viewer of 20,000 hits and as a reward her prize is in the mail. Let’s all congratulate the winner and hope she posts what her surprise is when she gets it!

Q

As mentioned below, it’s not every day that Zoe wears a dress – so I had to snap a picture yesterday to mark the occasion. Zoe’s hair is a little messy, but I love the smile on her face. And she looks pretty girlie, doesn’t she??

-M

It all started on October 26th when Zoe was just Sesame and we were only 30 days to her due date. Well, it took us about 10 months to get our first 10,000 hits and now just under 12 months later we are approaching another milestone – 20,000 hits! In honor of this feat, we are going to give a prize to our 20,000th visitor. If you come to the Zoe site and see the 20,000 marker at the bottom of the page, you win! Just send us a screen shot of the moment so we can post it and you will receive a surprise. Thanks for making Zoe’s site such a hit!

Jon Q

Dropping off your kid at daycare can be a sad thing – but it doesn’t have to be. Just now, when I took Zoe to Elena’s, the two of us were greeted by a small army of kids who were chanting Zoe’s name – and then one of the little boys took Zoe’s hand and ran off with her. As she watched them go, Elena commented that Zoe (who’s wearing a dress – a rarity for her) looked like a little princess today. I left with that sweet comment on my mind, and the sound of Zoe’s laughter in my ears, and I couldn’t have been happier. (And I didn’t even mind that Zoe barely looked my way as I said good-bye. I knew she had more important things to do!)

-M

Our fun holiday weekend was capped off with a Stevie Wonder concert on Sat. night. (His A Wonder Summer’s Night tour made a stop at Shoreline Ampitheatre, about 30 miles south of San Francisco.) While Q and I danced to Superstition, I Wish, and the like, Zoe played around with her favorite babysitters, Uncle Dan and Jenny. Here are a few cute pics from their evening.

-M

PS – I never knew that Stevie’s song “Isn’t She Lovely” was written for his daughter (who is now a back-up singer on the tour). Now that I’m a sappy mom, I couldn’t help but think of Zoe and tear up a bit when I heard him sing it (“isn’t she lovely/isn’t she wonderful/isn’t she precious/less than one minute old”) last night.

As mentioned below, Zoe was all ready to kick off the 4th of July festivities on Fri. morning. Not long after she woke up, we took a quick, 30-min. drive to Walnut Creek, where we wandered around downtown, soaked up the sun, and enjoyed the hotel pool. Zoe was too sleepy for fireworks (maybe next year!) but the three of us still enjoyed the holiday.

-M

Fourth of July has always been a favorite holiday of mine, and Zoe seems pretty excited about it this year, too. Just a few minutes ago, she grabbed her baby and said she was ready to start the weekend. We’ll have more pics soon…

Have a fun holiday!

-M

Thanks to modern technology (more specifically, Skype), my parents got to “babysit” Zoe this afternoon while I was in the other room. Here are a few fun screenshots from their session. (She’s “hugging” them in the second pic.)

-M

With the holiday approaching, I’ve been trying to remember how we celebrated Zoe’s first 4th of July. A quick look in our archives gave me the answer (we went to a BBQ in Dolores Park) and also produced a cute pic of her red-white-and-blue outfit. (I wish she still fit in those pants.)

I predict she’ll be a little more active in pictures from this 4th of July!

-M

When Q’s working in the kitchen, he often plunks Zoe down beside him and chats about what he’s doing. The other afternoon, Zoe got a little tutorial about preparing corn – and I just had to snap a few pictures.

-M