Santa Claus Made Me Cry

It’s official.  Santa Claus is a jerk.  Not because he didn’t bring me things I wanted as a kid - no issues there.  He’s a jerk because he made Zoe cry.

We went to the mall tonight and had pictures taken for the first time with Zoe.  It was all fun and games while we waited in line, but once she was propped up on his jolly fat lap the waterworks began.  As much as we tried she never warmed up to him.  Jingling bells, fuzzy stuffed animals and funny faces didn’t work.

Oh well, maybe next year!

A Few Photos Of Me…

Just a little mosaic of me I made last night after Mom & Dad went to bed.  Did you know this was my first time on a swing all by myself?  Well it was!  I Had so much fun.  Maybe next time Mom & Dad can find some cleaner ones for me to play on.  These were really dirty, but I’m a kid and kids like dirt!

Time To Childproof The House

It finally happened.  Just 1 week shy of 7 months and she’s crawling.

It all started on a warm summer night.  The Bar-B-Que was lit, warming for a delicious creation.  The sun was setting.  Everything was right for a perfect evening.  And then it happened… Zoe crawled.  Jason was on the floor playing with her when she popped up and made a frantic lunge forward.  She’d done this before, but when she began to move her arms and legs in sync things got interesting.  He backed up quickly to give her room to move.  As she put together 3 or 4 “steps” we looked at each other and asked “Did you see that?” which was quickly followed by “Grab the camera!”.  A perfect evening just got better.

From there it’s been great.  She’s really figured out how to scoot around quite well.

Here’s a bit of her figuring it out.

Zoe Forgets To Crawl First

We tried telling her that for centuries people have crawled before walking but she wasn’t hearing us.  I guess we should get used to that.

Zoe vs. Rice Cereal

We were told to wait until six months to introduce rice cereal, but Jennifer flexed her medical degree in “everything” and decided to give it a whirl one month early.

Not too much to say about this step except we were very surprised.  Surprised at how it was like she knew exactly what a spoon was for.  She even opened her mouth when she was supposed to.  We just looked at each other in shock!  See for yourself!

Sea World In The Spring

Could we have asked for nicer weather? Not a chance. Today we went to Sea World with some friends on another perfect, sunny San Diego day. It was also Zoe’s first time and although we both know she’ll have zero memories of the trip, it’s good for her to get out like this and take in all of the new sights and sounds. Plus, our friends have a baby exactly one month older than Zoe so it worked out perfectly. They both have similar eating schedules, both need diaper breaks and both generally seem to be in sync in several other ways.

We walked around like complete tourists for about an hour which is truly sad to admit considering Sea World is literally 20 minutes from our home. Maybe because it’s so close we take it for granted. That’ll be changing real soon. As Zoe gets older we’re going to visit the other great theme parks here in town, too.

We saw the Dolphin show which was great. They even trained Pilot Whales to perform just like the Dolphins, including splashing water on the audience. Zoe slept through most of the show, waking to sing us a little blah blah blah song of hers just over halfway through. The Penguin Encounter was cold and noisy, probably just like the Antarctic would be. Zoe woke up for this one which was cool. She would track the Penguins as they swam by leaving a trail of tiny bubbles. As a parent it’s so wonderful to see her senses developing so quickly. Sight is certainly her favorite. We walked through the Freshwater Aquarium exhibit without much interest from her but she was awake. She slept through the Manatee Rescue exhibit which wasn’t all that interesting since for the most part they just hung out against the back wall. Kind of a lame encounter but the rescue theme is cool. The Flamingo’s still smell like shit. It’s really gross when they stick their beak into the same water they just polluted. I don’t get it. Zoe didn’t either.

We didn’t get to the Otter and Sea Lion show or the Shamu show, but we’re planning to go back later this summer when the weather heats up a bit and catch some evening shows which should be fun.

Jenny and I are having so much fun getting out with some good friends and doing things we normally wouldn’t do. In a way I suppose we owe this fun to Zoe, so thanks sweetheart, we had a great time and took some pictures to prove it.

Zoe Roots For UCONN???

Some people enjoy watching college Basketball, others couldn’t care less.  We never thought Zoe would pick her favorite team at such an early age.  It just doesn’t make sense, but today she decided to tell us that UCONN was her team.   That’s good news for her since they’re still alive in the 2009 Tournament.  It’s bad news for Jenny and me because we have UNC and Memphis respectively.

Here’s Zoe proclaiming her love for UCONN…

Zoe Gets Out To The Park

After weeks of having either weekend events or rainy weather we finally had a nice day and took advantage of it.  Around the corner is a small park with swings, slides and rings, and while Zoe is way too young to use any of these by herself, Mom took Zoe for her first ride on a swing.  Did she like it?  That’s hard to say.  She didn’t seem to care if she was there or home sleeping.  That makes sense because I suppose she didn’t even realize where she was.  That comes with time, something she has plenty of, and we’re in no rush to see her grow up fast.

Why did we buy this crib?

Since the day we brought Zoe home she has slept in every room except her own.  The front room? Yup.  Our bedroom?  Yup.  But her own?  Nope.  Not yet at least.  Our plan was to begin transitioning her to her room by the time she turns three months old.  Today she is closing in on two months old and so begins the slow (and painful for Mom) process of adjusting Zoe to yet another environment to catch a few winks in.

For the first time we put her in her crib.  We were prepared to hear some serious screaming and thought for certain that she would just hate being in it.  She hates the basinet so why would this be any different.  Just in case, we wound the mobile so it would play some music while it spun around in mesmerizing rotation.  Were we right?  You decide.

Who do I resemble most?

The first question asked after Zoe was born was “Who does she look like?”  Everybody has their opinion, and they’re all easy to agree with.  Because her cute little face seems to be changing almost daily the odds of her looking like one or both of us at one point or another are pretty good.

To put it all to rest we turned to the Internet (duh ???), where we uploaded pictures of Jenny, Zoe and me.  After a little abacadabra it was determined that…

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