Who is this man?!

Zippy got his haircut the other day and it wasn't even a drastic cut for him....but Zoe woke up from her nap and did not want anything to do with him. She was sitting by me eating her lunch when he came in, she kept eyeing him funny but when I walked away, she started crying! When I came back, she buried her face into my shirt and would occasionally peak over at him. She wouldn't let me walk away without hysterics! We then went down to the play room where she was okay for a little bit. He picked her up to give her a kiss and she started crying again and trying to get away! Poor girl...of course I had to a take a couple pictures to capture the moment!

Zoe: Eleven Months

Dear Zoe,
I think all that screaming you did last month was the beginning of you trying to communicate with us! Luckily, the screaming has declined and you are more vocal but in a good way! You are signing "more", "all done", "eat", "dog", and "daddy." And you say "mama" now too, it was your very first word. Soon after that you started saying "mmmmm!" anytime you see food and sign "eat." You babble all the time. You love to wave and clap and engage with people so much now it is adorable. I love love love this stage so much.

You got pink eye for the very first time this month. Fortunately, we caught it before you could pass it to everyone else. It was really sad to see your eyes so goopy and itchy but you recovered quickly and were a good little sick girl.

You continue to be a little daredevil. You love to climb on everything. Boxes, chairs, stools, your brother...you love to push your limits. You have mastered the stairs both up and down. You race to the top of the stairs and spin around and slide down feet first on your belly. We have to be really careful about putting up our baby gates or else you disappear very fast! You are such a tough little girl, you still just roll with the tumbles and get back up again. It is amazing what you put up with from your brother. I think you are just happy that he is playing with you. Other times, you scream at him because he won't leave you alone.

You have officially joined our nightly soccer games in the living room. It is usually you and daddy versus Grey and me since daddy carries you around and then let's you kick the ball when Grey is not close by. You giggle and enjoy yourself so much. It is so fun to watch! If we aren't playing and you find the soccer ball, you will bring it over to where we are and start bouncing it around. You haven't decided to walk. You will take a few steps here and there but would much rather crawl to where you need to go. You can move so fast! It is really funny because you can be in the middle of the floor and can stand up without holding on to anything and dance...this takes so much more coordination than walking!

You absolutely love to be naked. You crawl away as fast as you can when we are getting dressed and love when you can go diaperless. You protest when we try to get your jammies on or get dressed for the day. The only way I can get you to hold still is to tickle you or put a diaper on my head and sing a silly song. You are starting to get into identifying body parts. You are obsessed with grabbing everyone's nose and you know where everyone's hair is. You love to kiss people's noses too and we have to be careful that you don't bite it!

Your brother lives to make you laugh. He does everything he can to make you stop crying and comes running to me yelling "Zoe wants your mommy's milk!!" if he can't manage to get you to stop. He waits patiently for you to wake up for the day and loves to run in the room to get you. It is so sweet. You adore him and always try to find a way to play with him and what he is doing. So far, it hasn't been too big of an issue and I just dream that this will continue as you two get older. A mom can hope, right? He is also your protector. If another kid wants to come play with you or talk to you, he is right by your side, holding your hand, and telling them that you are his sister. He always makes sure you have a toy to play with and other kids better watch out if they try to take something from you!

I am not even going to mention sleep. It is hit or miss and I can't wait for the day when you actually sleep all night long. For right now, I get through it reminding myself that you won't always want to cuddle and want your momma like this. Now eating is another story. You have that down to a science. You often out eat your brother these days and that is saying a lot. You have yet to turn anything down and you eat everything we eat.

I am so grateful I get to watch you grow, Zozo. You are starting to turn into the cutest little toddler and I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Love,
Momma

PS. Here are some more photos from our attempted photoshoot.

Had to get a shot of that naked booty since you wouldn't let me get you dressed!

 Love being naked!

 Quick break to play trains with Grey

 See, Paige! I put something in her hair and she immediately starts trying to get it out. We keep trying...

Crazy Girl!

Zoe has taken a step or two but she just doesn't seem that interested in walking. Instead....she is climbing. anything she can find!

It started before Christmas...

And has escalated from there...I love how she gives me this look!

She is getting smart. If something is out of her reach, she can figure out a way to get it!

She loves to climb into this chair. She can't quite figure out how to get onto our furniture without help from her brother's chairs or a box...but she can do it at Grammie's!!

Happy New Year!

Better late than never, right? Finally time for a New Year Eve post now that we are finally over the illnesses that has taken over our household starting New Year's Eve. Around 11 pm, after a fun filled party at the Wings, Grey came down with a fever of about 103, the next night he was vomiting, more fever, etc, etc...as soon as he starts to get better, Zoe gets the fever and then pink eye. And in between all of this, Brandon and I get it all too (minus the pink eye...we think it was just sympathy eye itching since it was never as bad as what Zoe had!).

Anyway...back to the party. This is our 3rd year of between invited to one of the best New Year's Eve parties in town! As you may remember, we celebrate with the UK and a few other countries every hour starting at 4 pm until we put the kids to bed. The kids had so much fun this year and so did the big kids! Michelle was a wild woman and let the kids pop confetti poppers in her living room as we counted down the New Year online with England. The kids thought it was the coolest thing ever!

Zoe & I with Michelle, the best hostess ever!

 The big boys ready to party!

 The little boys loved their noise makers...

 Zoe enjoying her first New Years

 The whole gang

 After most of the guests left, Brandon helped teach the boys how to jump off the couch

 At least they were patiently waiting their turn

 Zoe and Alex loved playing with some of Andrew's new toys

Toasting with their champagne (or sparkling cider)

 Running off the cider at the end of the night...thinking they had one glass too many :)

 You would never have guessed that just a few hours later this little guy would be hit with a bug and down for almost a week! Luckily, no one else at the party got that sick and hopefully we will still be invited back next year!

Fairy Land

I am playing catch up! We went to Fairyland in Oakland during the week between Christmas and New Years. We met one of Brandon's coworkers who lives nearby and his 3 kids for a fun morning. Fairyland has been around for quite awhile, Brandon used to go as a little kid and so did Grammie! There are a couple kid sized rides, I was reading about them online before we went, and most were put in there in the 50s. It is a perfect toddler, early elementary aged park. The kids go by themselves on the 3 or 4 rides, no adults allowed, and everything is based off of the old fashioned mother goose style fairy tales (the old lady who lived in a shoe, Humpty Dumpty, etc) or a little Disney (Peter Pan, Snow White, etc).

Riding the Ferris Wheel

 Carousel all by himself

 Zoe watching the Velveteen Rabbit Puppet Show

 Taking a moment with Grammie

 Zoe excited about the 7 dwarfs. Can you name them all?

 I love iphones and google...we got them all except for this one in the glasses!

 Look! A gigantic sofie the giraffe!!

 Everyone was worn out after a fun filled day!!

Crane Canyon

Crane Canyon Regional Park is one of our favorite little getaways right by home. It overlooks our town and is a perfect couple mile loop for the kids to hike and explore. Even though it is officially winter, we have been able to catch quite a few beautiful days here! Grey loves to run along the path to try to find the next perfect tree to climb.

He still loves riding in the backpack!

 Zoe's first ride in the backpack. She loved it!

 These shots of Grey crack me up!

 He was so proud to be able to climb this one all by himself