Happy First Birthday Zoe!

Zoe has kept me so busy that I've been a bit delinquent in my posting lately. Here are the highlights from the past few weeks:

Zoe turned 1 year old on November 7th. We had a little family party and she handled the chaos like a champ. For me, it was a wake-up call that I can't entertain the same way I used to. It's nearly impossible to cook & attend to guests with one arm tied behind your back and a 20 pound giggle ball attached to your hip. I'm so glad I figured this out before we host Thanksgiving dinner next week. (Can you believe it's NEXT WEEK!!)

I was looking back at photos from our trip to China and I'm amazed at how much little girl has changed in the past 6 months.

6 months old


12 months old


Girly-Girl vs. Danger-Girl
We're seeing more and more evidence that Zoe is going to be equal parts girly-girl and danger-girl.

Exhibit A
The girly-girl loves shoes, hair bows and any kind of poofy skirt with ruffles.
Meanwhile, danger-girl will try to climb anything.



Exhibit B
Girly-girl squishes her birthday cupcake, then freaks out because her hands are sticky.
Meanwhile, danger-girl continues to taunt the dog..."I'm not touching you...I'm not touching you..."



Exhibit C
My girly-girl loves to try on hats.
My danger-girl like to wear the box :-)



Exhibit D
Girly-girl loves to push around her new shopping cart, while danger-girl loves to help daddy put it together (and checks to see if screws and washers taste as good as they look.)



Sleeping
We went through a 4 week period where Zoe decided she was too cool for naps. Thankfully she outgrew that stage before mommy completely lost her mind. Now Zoe has developed an affinity for 3:00 AM. She will sleep soundly through the night-- until 3:00 AM, at which point mommy must come move her out of the corner of the crib, find a lost blankie or unwedge a fat little thigh from the rails. The fact that it's always 3:00AM is not the strangest part. On the weekends (when it's daddy's turn to get in the middle of the night) Zoe wakes at 1:00 AM. She goes to bed the same time every night, but somehow she seems to know who is "on duty" that evening and wakes us up accordingly. Go figure?

Wardrobe Wars
On Sunday, I was going out to run errands and daddy was in charge for the afternoon. Before I left I laid out some pink overalls, a cute sweater and (of course) a hair bow. When I can back from shopping, I found daddy and Zoe on the couch...watching football. Zoe was wearing a Patriots sweatshirt and jeans and the two of them each had a remote. What happened to the clothes I put out for her? Apparently you can't watch football in pink :-)