Circle of z 2

"It's getting complicated"...

2012-01-30T14:30:00.005-05:00

One morning while rushing to get out of the house (it's like moving mountains...):

Zoë: Mom, it's getting very complicated with Choo Choo Baby. (Choo choo baby, as some of you might remember, is Zoë's favorite doll)

Mom: Hmmm, why? Put on your shoes.

Z: Yesterday she told me that she has a baby.

M: Hm. That is complicated. Baby's can't have babies! Then what happened? Put on your coat.

Z: Choo choo said that I was her daughter!

M: Really! Give me your other arm. What did you say?

Z: I told her that then I must be her sister and you were both of our Mom.

M: Yes, that sounds about right. We're late! Let's go!

That was a fun way to start the morning! Everyday is an adventure...

Happy 2012 ... so far!

2012-01-16T21:50:00.007-05:00

We have had a hectic but fun beginning to 2012. The pictures on left are from our visit to "Choochoo Mall", our treat after spending the weekend car-shopping.... more about that later.

This last week, I went (and returned from) Austin for the American Astronomical Society (AAS) conference. It was ... fun/depressing/overwhelming/busy/useful/stimulating/... anyway. Zoë and Matt stayed here and kept themselves busy. Even in that week I was gone, I was surprised to hear Zoë's language getting more and more complex and was shocked with what she has "recorded" in her brain. For example, we bought a new car (long story... ) at the VOB car dealer and Matt has had to go to get something fixed. Later today she asked "Do you need to go to VOB again?" It seems ordinary except that neither Matt nor I realized that we ever referred to the car dealership by name during this discussion. Perhaps at some point we joked that we had a VOB license plate or something, but it was surprising to us that she put these random pieces together to realize that when Daddy goes to get the car fixed it is at VOB.

In this video, she's leading a yoga/ballet/aerobics class... and I catch certain descriptions that are unlikely from her ballet class, but probably more likely from a yoga or walking DVD (those are my go-to's in these cold winter days when outdoor exercise seems uh less than tempting, shall we say...) and possibly also in her daddy's football games? We are considering just video-taping Zoë's impromptu exercise classes and selling to top fitness producers as a side business. After all, she's cute, very energetic (considering it's bedtime), amusing and uses very creative instructive terms like "march and intercept". Too bad we started rolling the tape midway past the best stretches and instructions -- there was so much more! Ah... but for that, you will need to buy the full DVD -- it will make you sweat! It will tone your core muscles (as you laugh away your stress)... oh the possibilities!

Holidays in CA

2012-01-02T15:29:00.022-05:00

We are back from vacation in California -- two weeks of family, fun and good food! The link to the full set of pictures is here (including videos!), but below are some of the highlights:

Trip to San Francisco & Ghiradelli with Mom, Ninamashi, Boris and Didun We spent an evening (after nap!) in San Francisco. We took the BART train there and back, which was one of the most exciting things. Then, we walked to Union Square to see the Christmas tree and Macy's while Boris held our space in line for the Cable Car, then we got to ride the Cable Car to North Beach where we had yummy pasta! Then we walked to Ghiradelli Square for dessert-- a hot fudge sundae!

"Polar Express" Trainride -- "All aboard!" This was a pretty cool experience! First we took a bus from the parking lot to the train. The train went from Union City to Sunol and back. This train was covered with Holiday lights and full of happy children and families (when they weren't stressing about saving and finding seats). Naturally, we had to drink hot cocoa and eat goodies. The best part: Santa and Mrs. Claus were on the train too and made the rounds. Zoë was surprisingly nonchalant with Santa (not super excited, but unlike last year, not scared either). Dadu pulled Santa's beard and offered a cookie in retribution. I am guessing he received coal this year...

There were, of course, many other fun parts of our visit to Walnut Creek like: decorating the tree, going to the park, Mom and Dad had date night at the ballet, having brunch with Sabina, Ruxana, and Nuru, opening presents (Santa's elves arranged an early visit!) and general hanging out.

Then we flew off to San Diego (thank you, Southwest Airlines, no reindeer required!)... Mimi came to the airport to greet us with Grandpa. Here, also, our vacation sped by at whirlwind speed. The highlights included time at the park, time playing with Emiley, Sasha and Allan and all the new toys, Christmas Eve at the Crulls where the train elicited squeals of excitement that might have been heard at the North Pole, and the beach (75 degrees in December?! What a special gift for us)!

Did I mention we had some professional family pictures taken of the whole Zych family?

Sadly, this Holiday season has seen one casualty-- Matt got rear-ended on his way to the airport and our poor dependable Honda was totaled. We ring in the new year with a new car, Welcome Passat! (no pics yet)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Ballet (in Dec)

2011-12-09T22:18:00.005-05:00

Last week was observation week at Zoë's ballet class. Of course, she was a bit more distracted (and so were the other girls) than usual, but it makes for good TV! I posted a few favorite video clips here and some photos, but visit the link for lots lots more (mainly videos).

From Ballet

We are getting ready for our visit to CA. Family: see you soon! Friends: hope to see you all soon too! Lots of love and happy holidays (since it's unlikely you'll get another post until 2012! Woohooo...)

Come and visit Zoetown

2011-12-03T15:09:00.013-05:00

We have been playing at home more and more these days. It isn't even that cold, but I guess the dark days of Winter are upon us... or maybe it's the potty training practice that keeps us here. Anyway, today we make a city, complete with train system (Brio!) and tall buildings... even a small suburban neighborhood for fun. And that's all I have to report for now :)

Holidays (yes, that includes Halloween)

2011-11-19T14:49:00.007-05:00

We have entered the Holiday season. While my yoga classes have helped keep me sane by reminding me to focus on what's important and meaningful... life is still hectic after all. Not enough time to write a blog, for instance. However, I did upload pictures of Halloween and Fall splendor (including a video of fun at the pumpkin farm with Grandma and Grandpa). Here they are:

From Fall fun -- 2011

Some non-pictoral updates:

Zoë has been doing a nice job with potty training! She has a sticker chart and everyday there are more stickers and more successes on the potty. But one big thing is that she doesn't seem to have much of a problem with having accidents and hiding it from us... and then being very nonchalant and silly. I feel like we hit some boundary or potty training -- this is our current challenge. And then, with Holiday travels... I'm nervous about going backwards.
Zoë's verbal abilities are simply amazing! The other day she sang "We wish you a merry Christmas" song all the way through. I think they are practicing for the holiday party (which we are sadly missing by heading to CA early) and she holds a paper in front of her and sings very seriously. It's really cute! (I hope to capture by camera one of these days).
I am also really impressed with her observational skills. The other day she said "I see moon! But Sun's up too. That's interesting. " So we talked about how moon and sun can be in the sky together, but not when moon is full. She later explained that to her Dad.
Zoë still loves her ballet class. She's got her piqué's and curtsey's down!

Fall... (ing behind)

2011-10-21T09:44:00.004-04:00

Two months have passed and there's much to update. So I think I won't even try. The Zych grandparents came a few weeks ago and we had lots of fun (Happy slightly belated Birthday, Grandma!)

The next few months will be very busy as I am applying for new positions (aiming a little ambitiously at a few faculty positions, and mainly more fellowships and postdoctoral research positions). As things are once again sitting on the precipice of total disruption, the level of stress and list of things to do are out of control! But luckily, tales of funny Zoë have been keeping me chuckling (and closer to sane, though she brings to our lives her own toddler angst). I wanted to share a few here before I forget!

******

Yesterday, while we were sitting down for breakfast, I found her licking the dining table. Now she is just getting over a bout of stomach flu, probably brought on by her recent deplorable habit of licking EVERYTHING. (Weirdly, she wasn't super-licky as a baby, but in several ways I find she has been "testing" baby habits, regressing a bit on skills that she had down -- like trying the potty, getting dressed, brushing her own teeth, etc. So I had a conversation with her:

Me: Zoë, why are you licking the table? You know that the table is not food! Babies lick tables because they are learning what is food and what isn't. But you are older, you already *know* that the table isn't food. Can you eat a table? No! Can you eat a book?

Zoë: No.

M: Can you eat Mommy's phone?

Z: No. It's not food.

M. Right! Can you eat cheese?

Z: Yes. It's food.

M: Exactly, so you can put it in your mouth. See, you know what's food already. If you see a baby eating the table or eating blocks, you might want to say: "Don't eat that! It's not food." But the baby has to figure it out for herself. She might not listen to you. But you can try to explain that some things are food and it's ok to eat. But other things are not food and should not be put in the mouth!

Z: Ok! I know! I need to tell Choochoo baby (that's her doll with a train on the chest) right now!

Hops off the chair, runs into the other room. In her sternest, loudest "teacher" voice, she yells:
Z: Choochoo baby, DON'T LICK THE TABLE! IT'S NOT FOOD! YOU DON'T LICK THINGS. YOU ONLY LICK FOOD. Table's not a food, is it? No... you don't want to eat it, do you? NO!

I can report that Choochoo baby learned her lesson -- she has not licked the table since.

****

This morning, another Choochoo baby story (these are starting to remind me of Calvin and Hobbes... only Choochoo is Zoë's naughty alter ego). For several months, Zoë has been saying "I don't like you" to me and Matt. I think it started as a form of protest, when we would make her do something she didn't want to do; and then it was silly, just to provoke some reaction like "fake crying", etc. In fact, once, first thing in the morning, she responded to my "Good Morning, Zoë!" with "I don't like you. Go away". Still sleepy and thoroughly disarmed, I reacted with "Fine. Since you don't like me, I am going away to New York tomorrow"... which was true, but I regretted telling her this way, making her think that my trip was a "punishment" or lesson for that phrase. She did stop saying it after that... but now that I have to travel again, we'll see how it goes. Anyway, this morning,

Zoë tells me, (in a tattle voice): Mommy, Choochoo Baby said she doesn't like me.

Me: Hmm... that's not nice! Maybe you should tell her how it makes you feel.

I heard her again sternly addressing Choochoo Baby in a quiet, ominous tone.

Zoë (to Choochoo Baby): Choochoo, You don't say, "I don't like you". IT'S NOT NICE! When you say "I don't like you" I get sad and feel mean.

(Pause the then sweetly) You don't want that, do you? You should say "sorry". You think what you said. I go to school now. When I come home, you say "sorry, I love you."

Choochoo Baby is no doubt contemplating her harsh words right now...

*****
THE END (for now).

What to do in a hurricane

2011-08-27T19:23:00.009-04:00

Now that Irene is here, I'm making my list of what to do in a hurricane:
1. get water, flashlights, and emergency supplies ready,
2. backup all important documents (photos, etc),
3. Until the power goes out, run the A/C, dryer, oven, and all the lights ... that isn't a strict rule but we gotta do laundry and store up some edibles, after all!
4. and most importantly, update the blog!

So things are definitely interesting here in Maryland. We were struck by a historic earthquake earlier this week, and nary the damages have been noted that we now have a hurricane bearing down on us. At least now it looks like Irene will be much meeker in D.C. than in other places (New York, Philadelphia, etc) and also as she moves up the coast there's not much fury left in poor Irene. Still, there's only so much shaking of the windows that ones nerves can take from the 9th floor of a building not accustomed to the full brunt of nature's forces.

So, Zoë is doing fine, although definitely at her wits end being holed up with no way to release her energy. With a toddler's many moods, it is not the hurricane that I fear most. As you see here in this picture, Zoë, herself, is a force with which to be reckoned. But she's doing pretty well under the circumstances. She and her father have made the daring journey downstairs (did I mention that we live on the 9th floor of a building with an electric elevator, which is slated to shut down immediately upon power outages?) to kick around a ball and hopefully run all the sillies out.

She says the most awesome things these days ... like: "First of all, we need to get cupcakes, then we go to the choo choo mall, then we get my ears pierced." Not all her wishes were granted (despite being impressed by her articulation), but she wants her ears pierced to be more like Mommy and Didun, who was visiting past few weeks along with Dadu. You can see that Didun sort of rubbed off on Zoë ... and so did Dadu! But then again... "Dadu's a boy! Zoë's a girl", so the ear-piercing desire still remains. Stay tuned...

Also, it turns out that Zoë is a super hero -- did you know that? So no need to worry about Hurricane Irene! Perhaps this video will convince you that we will be fine. (Ninamashi, this one's for you, especially!)

From july-august2011

In case you find yourselves worrying about us, may we offer some pictures and videos to watch instead? Look at how much fun we have been having -- peach picking, train riding, ... and generally (witnessing Zoë) growing up! Here's a slideshow of our recent fun (those documented by a photo -- there are some videos too -- you might have to click on the link to access those).

Enjoy!

What is going on??? OR -- Summer 2011, part 1

2011-07-30T23:27:00.010-04:00

So it has been just too long. So long that I freeze up thinking about how I can possibly update the blog properly to reflect months of excitement, glorious changes and growth. Since the last entry there has been: trips to Europe, New York, ... Since the number of stories rival the current national debt (trillions, that is, if anyone is counting...yes, that is what has us all holding our breaths here), I decided to give up and just offer a smattering of random tales (possibly not chronological, or any type of logical, for that matter). Also, beware, this entry may be long or broken into several entries. Here goes:

1. Europe, overnight train from Munich to Paris.It was 10:30 p.m. and we boarded the overnight train, expecting that Zoe will nod off very soon. We apparently violated the number 1 rule of traveling with a toddler -- NEVER expect anything. Not only was she not sleepy, being on the train made her more excited than anything else, she was bouncing off the walls. This was particularly tricky because everyone else had turned off their lights and were ready to sleep. The elderly Frenchman in the lower bunk was already a little annoyed by our very existence since it interfered with his perfect bedtime ritual (perhaps he offers an excellent example of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, OCD?). Every time someone walked by him, he had to readjust the sheets and blankets just so. With his headphones and eye mask, Zoe's chatter and giggling did not sit well with him, to put it mildly. I figured that in the dark, bored, Zoe will eventually go to sleep if we just try. After laying with Zoe on the 18 inch berth, fearful of moving lest we fall off, Zoe decided that sleep was not for her. But she tried to help the situation by singing everyone else to sleep... she cycled through all of her favorites ("Farmer in the Dell", "Itsy Bitsy Spider", "Old MacDonald"...) and then sat up. Apparently Mom was being just too uptight with her "Shhhhh-ing" and needed some "pat-patting" (this is where she slaps my back with all the force that she can muster up in her tiny body and sings in her clearest, loudest voice "Jesus loves you evermore"). I had to inwardly smile a little, because the older man's grumbling seemed to tone down at the mention of Jesus. Anyway, after many rounds of this song, Matt took Zoe out to the "luggage room" to bounce off the (padded by bags) walls there, where I joined after the nearly involuntary Franco-grumbles unnerved me sufficiently, and we discussed politics and love with some nice, beer-chugging, German youth. The adventures continued in our cabin when the girl on the upper berth made trouble by getting sick, causing more grumbling from our friendly neighbor. But eventually we all managed a few hours of rest, without falling off the berths. (p.s. how weird-- in the morning, we learned that the upper berth travelers were family of, well..., an ASTROPHYSICIST! They left Dad/Hubby behind to do science while touring Europe on their own. It's a small world.)
2. Street performers. Ever since being put in a certain *ahem* awkward situation in New York, Matthew has developed a fear of street performers. Unfortunately for him, Zoe finds them quite inspiring. Late in the evening (well past Zoe's bedtime), the sun had barely set in Paris and we were out roaming the streets with Ben on our last night in this wonderful city. We were in front of the Notre Dame when we saw some "popping" (the break-dancing type art where movements are really sharp and jerky, kind of like Robots... pretty cool, actually). Zoe tried some of that too. Then "Popping" was replaced by "Fire-juggling" and Zoe did the less dangerous version of this too. I think the poor street artists lost some audience to her, as she did her best to mimic them (we did not solicit funding for our talents, however, since we were leaving Europe and had little use for Euros at this point... just kidding. )! Here are a few videos.

From europe2011

3. Prayer out of school. For whatever reason, Zoe has always been rather in tune with some form of spirituality or other. Starting with her fancy for Buddha, to singing "Jesus loves you evermore" when singing her dolls to sleep... Since our vacations, Zoe has realized that she likes to have "Mommy-Daddy-Zozo" days all the time -- cries of "I don't want Daddy to go to work", "I want Mommy to be with Zoe", ... and "I don't want to go to school"... have replaced her enthusiasm in the mornings for getting ready for school. We talk about her friends and discuss all the things that she loves about school -- circle time, art, water play, Ms. Namalie, ... Naynay (Nathan), Omeed, Rahrah (Ryanne)... we talk about how Mommy and Daddy will both pick her up later (soon!) and we can go to the park and have special Mommy-Daddy-Zozo time then, we plan to look for and count the "Daddy" buses and school buses on the way to school... eventually we manage to get out of the door and repeat again once buckling into the carseat. The other day it was pretty silent all the way to school -- we did not encounter any school or Daddy buses that day. When I went to the back to unbuckle her at school, I found her eyes closed and her hands together, the lips softly mumbling.

"Zoe, what are you doing?"
"I'm praying."
"For what? Can you tell me?"
"So we can have Mommy-Daddy-Zozo day and no school."

It kinda broke my heart to send her to school that day.
------
I hope to recount some other favorite stories again soon. To hold you over, here are our pictures from Europe. (It began with an Xray Astronomy conference in Berlin for me alone; then we met in Vienna and spent a few days with Rinka; finally we had a family trip to Paris, where we met up with Ben, Michel, Frederique and Chloe.)

Class is in session

2011-05-02T21:36:00.008-04:00

We had a wonderful day today. After school, we went to cupcakes and then used my long-awaiting Living Social coupon for sushi at Sushiko. Zoë was covered in rice attempting to use her special kid-friendly chopsticks. It was really fun to watch her manipulating the chopsticks and stabbing at the rice (Boo hoo-- I forgot my camera today and can only describe in words this scenario! It was picture/video worthy). Then, we went grocery shopping at Whole Foods, which was nicely empty and gave Zoë the chance to run around as she and Daddy ran around finding things on the list. The best part was checking out -- Zoë was too excited when the checkout lights would blink to signal an open register. She was almost uncontainable as she got super-excited and yelled "Mommy Mommy -- blinking! Get ready, Everyone! Get READY!"

But this entry is really about this: Zoë loves school. So much that she doesn't get enough at school. When she comes home, she plays "teacher". I remember doing this too and since I tired of being bossed around by my favorite toddler teacher, I borrowed from my childhood ideas-- setting up her stuffed animals to be her class. She really like that. And is it any wonder that she's a natural teacher? After all, teaching is in her blood (both grandmothers, and aunt!) The funniest part is that she mimics her teacher's mannerisms. She regularly puts us on "time-out" these days. And poor Lamb! She was scolded for falling asleep during class!

Here are some videos of her class (don't you just dig the necklace??? She MADE it. :) ):

Also, another video of "cooking"-- apparently, Zoë's imagination is really exploding these days.

Finally, it seems worth mentioning... today marks a historic day: Osama bin Laden was killed last night and there was much rejoicing. But... as much as I understand the sentiment and appreciate the momentousness and significance of this event, I can't help but wonder... How does this evil man's death bring any peace to us? Don't we become morally corrupt by rejoicing in his death? As much as I want to rejoice in solidarity and unity with the rest of the world, I can't help but feel that hate should not unify us or we are no better than the terrorists. Apparently, I am not alone in this quandary. Anyway, I leave you with these thoughts:

“Where is the justice of political power if it executes the murderer and jails the plunderer, and then itself marches upon neighboring lands, killing thousands and pillaging the very hills?” -- Khalil Gibran

"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Our Little Ballerina

2011-04-22T10:37:00.004-04:00

Zoë is taking ballet classes. Okay, it is really interpretative-dance-with-your-adult class, complete with story reading, costumes and musical instruments and some demonstration of "plié" or "jeté"-- perfect for a toddler. As much as I love that my girl likes planes, trains, balls, science ("boy" things) too, I am really loving that the class has some girly magic too: "fairy dust", glitter, and lots of imagination-- poor boys! They also should have some of this, no? And plenty of brothers look into the class looking a little sad and left out. Several months ago I read this mother's blog and it really touched me. I hope that more parents feel this way about their children -- boys or girls. But I digress...

Zoë absolutely LOVES ballet. And in her leotard and tutu, even she can't resist "chassé"-ing away from the route to stare at herself in the mirror: "Mama, that's Zoë!" she says proudly. Then, her Didun sent her a multicolor tutu and I might never get this off her! She poses here with her bunny ears (made in school): our little Easter Ballerina. Poor thing, there will be no ballet this Sunday and she's already asking ... I guess we'll have to hide more eggs to keep her mind off ballet. Here are some more pictures from our adventures of late.

Buddha continued...

2011-04-13T21:40:00.003-04:00

This evening, Zoë requested her father to read to her from a Buddhism book and then she took our Buddha statue and tucked it in for sleep (on the couch, where it almost got sat upon by some less enlightened soul). Then Zoë said "Daddy, let's see Buddha on the computer!", followed by ecstatic jumping and clapping. So the two of them researched and analyzed Buddha images from around the world. We then meditated as a family, after spending some time turning off ALL the lights (even those that were in other rooms, as commanded). During her mediation, Zoë had an epiphany and said "I am Buddha too." (I kid you not. So far I have not made any of this up... ) Matt and I exchanged impressed looks and several chuckles. Then we put on pajamas and headed for sleepytime in our blissful and peaceful states, but... apparently our Little Enlightened One is very particular about socks, because in the end we had a complete meltdown over them -- to be honest, I don't know what part was so contentious: the color, who put them on, the mere suggestion of cold feet? In the words of Buddha:

I teach one thing and one only:
that is, suffering and the end of suffering.

Looks like we are still learning.

Big phrases from a little person

2011-04-08T21:32:00.008-04:00

Zoë proudly shows us her new creation: a Duplo bus.

"I made it!" and then ... "Oh my goodness!"

Well that phrase isn't too common in our family, so I ask (impressed): "Wow, Zoë, who says that? "

Zoë: "Zoë says it. "

Ah, yes well, naturally...

Spring! (sort of)

2011-04-03T22:11:00.003-04:00

So the weather hasn't completely committed to Spring... one day is 30 degrees and snowing and hailing and the next is sunny and in the 70s. The weather in these transition days is almost as erratic as the moods of a toddler. And similarly, perhaps, just as beautiful when the blossoms finally emerge. It's amazing that the poor cherry blossoms survived the recent meteorological whims -- suddenly blooming, then stopping abruptly during the freeze, and shedding with hail and wind... but somehow reaching peak and looking gorgeous.

Zoë's moods have gotten much better after the last few weeks -- she has finally stopped crying when I drop her off at school and speaking of blossoming, her vocabulary has suddenly exploded! What is particularly fun to watch is that they aren't just practice words anymore, she is learning the subtleties of language and using the correct words with actions. For example, yesterday she said: "Daddy, calm down! Baby is sleeping." (because, ahem, Daddy and Mommy were having a loud discussion and Zoe was putting her Pinky baby down for a nap). She's been saying "Mommy, I like this!" when she enjoys some food, activity or book we are reading. She likes to make up her version of songs "I like books, there's no doubt about it!" (that's my favorite!) Everyday, it seems that she has an opinion about something around her and she now has the words to voice that, and that's exciting to her and us! We are also getting better at knowing the triggers for her sudden "thunder storms" (hunger! sleepiness... lack of attention, etc.) and being healthy does make the crazy less frequent. Thank goodness.

Anyway, we went around the neighborhood today (who knew we live in a secret wonderland spot for the D.C. cherry blossoms???) In fact, this was the closest park to us and is often completely quiet. Not today! It was like a parade of children, lemonade stands, bake sales, tourists, families, cameras and their owners... Even Matt(!) and I could not resist taking several photos... check them out here:

Dealing with a sick toddler...

2011-03-20T13:59:00.005-04:00

... is like hostage negotiation (or so I imagine).

***
Loud crying... "I WANT SGHSKGOWG"

"Zoë, when you cry like that I can't tell what you want. I need you to stop crying and clearly state your demands."

"NOoooooooo... " Escalating volume of crying.

"I am leaving the room until you stop crying. I will not negotiate with a loud cry baby. We will talk when you calm down." (Help! I need reinforcements.)

"BAHHhhhhhh... I WANT lsbjsdgbksgbslkgjb, MOMMY, NOWWWWWW"

"What? You want juice? Until you stop screaming and step away from the mirror, I can't talk with you."

"NOOOOOOOO." Wild thrashing and dangerous, erratic movements. Keep head down, go for the tackle. Deposit screaming two-year old in safe crib. Run.

***
So went the afternoon. Finally, I got her settled and down for her nap. We call that a win-win situation. Now I need a nap.

an Acorn.

2011-03-06T13:46:00.006-05:00

Rather than apologizing for the long gap, I will try to share a sampling of evidence that Zoë has grown in the meantime ... One big update is that she is now an Acorn. She has been promoted from "Dragonfly" to "Acorn" and managed to adjust to the new class, teachers, and buddies. She is a TWO-YEAR OLD! No longer a baby... and yet, always my baby :)

Here are some vignettes highlighting other gems of Zoë's "growth":

"I want Buddha": This may be an old story, but worth documenting in her blog. At the young age of 20 months, she has shown an uncanny affinity to Buddha. I was away at the Swift proposal review, when Matt took her to a Vietnamese restaurant for dinner and she pointed to the statue in the corner and clearly showed interest and said "Buddha". This was interesting, since her only other introduction was 4 months prior at an Indian restaurant where a huge, wall-sized gold Buddha apparently made quite an impression on her. But after coming home, Matt gave Zoë a tour of Buddhism (courtesy of Wikipedia). They also (re-)discovered our Buddha on a bookshelf. At this time, Zoë had only recently shown minimal interest in dolls and stuffed toys, but this Buddha became her security object. Especially during meals, she wanted Buddha close by. (Keep in mind, our Buddha statuette is made of heavy rock and almost acts like a paperweight... it isn't cuddly nor easy to manipulate.) One day, Zoë and Matt were on the way to the store, but Zoë adamantly refused to go because "I want Buddha. I WANT BUDDHA!!!" This sparked a long religious lesson about how Buddhism is about suffering and about detachment and if she were a real Buddhist she would carry Buddha in her heart and this statue is only an illusion, etc. etc. etc... Zoë listened respectfully. But... "I WANT BUDDHA!" (Update: in the following several months, she has made significant headway into embracing the purer Buddhism philosophy and has practiced detachment with the "Buddha" statue more and more.)
"A Dose of Sympathy": In the mornings, while combing her hair and getting her ready, Zoë and I play the game of "Faces" -- "show me a happy face... now, Zoë's sad... " etc. Mainly this is to entertain her while I get her ready... but this day in January, Mommy bumped her head and I pretended that I really got very hurt and I pretended to cry and cry and cry. For a while Zoë seemed to think it was funny, but when I didn't stop she looked very shocked and horrified. Then all of a sudden, she began to cry. I think she was so forlorn to see Mommy in such a state that she felt helpless and maybe even empathetic. I told her that a hug and some gentle patting would make me feel better and we soothed each other -- me for my head "boo-boo" and her for her sympathetic nerve "boo-boo". Then we played.
"Curiosity never potty-trained the cat (or the girl, for that matter)": In the last few weeks, Zoë has shown more and more curiosity in the potty. She seems to have a "love-hate" relationship with it (also the vacuum -- she runs away and hides when we vacuum, but always wants us to vacuum ... we will call this curiosity). She has coined several unique phrases, encapsulating her love for the potty, like "Giggle giggle POT-ttteeee" (you have to say it just right, or she will correct you!) or "Pretty pretty POOP!" She likes to walk around the toilet and investigate it, to see if it bites. It doesn't. We got her a "Zoë" potty and it was like Christmas, again! She was so excited to open it and set it up, but ... screamed bloody murder when we suggested that she sit on it. She does like to have Pinky Baby sit there all day. It's been a few weeks and we are getting used to it for now... reading Potty books and toilet training her doll (except more recently, Zoë put a diaper on Pinky Baby).
"Happy to you!": We had a birthday party for Zoë the weekend before her birthday. There were 10 kids (!) and their parents(!!) and we all survived. There were balloons, balls, bubbles, bubble wrap (we only play with things starting with "B". Just kidding...), also stickers and pasta necklaces, and ... food! CUPCAKES, naturally. Payesh, very important. And snacks and pasta salad, and ... good times were had by all. Instead of presents, we asked people to donate to a Children's Homelessness organization (Project Night Night), and this idea was very appreciated and we got very nice cards! We bought Zoë a nice train tent (pictures forthcoming!) where she likes to play hide and seek, and especially climb around in with her friend Mary, who also lives in our building and is the same age. Here are some pictures and a video from the celebrations (that's right-- plural! We also had our small family party).

Also noteworthy... on Zoë's birthday, a sneaky fox (we hear his name's "Swiper" and he makes mischief on Dora the Explorer) stole all of Zoë's bottles ("Oh No!") and so we can only do sippy cups and regular cups now. Swiper is a known bottle thief in our building, Mary also suffers from his acts.
"A sense of immediacy": In case anyone was unsure about the cleverness of our girl, we have proof. For awhile, Zoë would ask for something and we would say "ok", hoping she would forget, and then when she became more insistent we would modify her request to satisfy our time constraints, like: "Yes, yes... Of course, you can eat chocolate. Tomorrow." So she adapted. She learned the word... "NOW". "I want chocolate NOW!" So now, we are working on understanding the meaning of "No" and "wait".
"Is she at the stage where she throws tantrums in public places? Yet?": We have had one such incident and ... I'm too traumatized to write about it. But this was the question that someone asked me awhile ago. I thought it was funny then. Now I think it is mean. (The nice gentleman had two sons -- 12 and 10, so I guess his wounds have not healed. Yet.)
"Mommy's Competent" and other verbal gems: We are in the stage where Zoë throws out what she hears. (BEWARE!) On this one occasion, we were reading her report card and we were telling her that we were proud that the school found that she was competent in her growth milestones. Then Daddy said "You will have lots of report cards. Why, even Daddy got a report card from work - Zoë's competent and Daddy's competent". Zoë counters with "No. Mommy's competent." Well, my job's done. Whew. :)
More pictures: Fall in Shenandoah

Christmas (Caveat Emptor: I did not take many pictures on our trip to CA, so please donate to this album!)

Thunder Snow event

Random Winter photos...
Videos! :

Food critic-in-training

Video within a video

snow=winter (part 2)

2010-12-11T14:28:00.008-05:00

And apparently it also means that I suddenly have the boon of extra time! Because I just posted all the comings and goings for October earlier, and now... onto November!

Oddly it seems that I gave my camera the month off because I took very few pictures. And oddly, I have very little memory of this month... it seems that it went by too quickly. So, I will try to memorialize what I do remember!

Ma and Baba (sorry... Didun and Dadu!) came to visit and we went to the Shenandoah one weekend. It was beautiful! Zoë really enjoyed seeing the deer playing. The timeshare location and the lodgings were very relaxing and peaceful.

We spent Thanksgiving weekend in New York City... visiting several friends and enjoying our time very much. Zoë was so oddly comfortable and at home there...given the amount of fussing in the car towards the end of our drive, she immediately became hyper-observant and interested as we entered the City-- pointing out "taxi!" and "choo choo" and mesmerized by the lights and tall buildings. Maryam had a beautiful apartment and was so sweet to share it with us and make us so comfortable. Simona made her first Thanksgiving meal, turkey and all, in our honor and it was delicious and lovely and ... TOO MUCH FOOD! Then Jen and Brendan hosted Fakesgiving and we went over in the morning. It was nice to be a part of the cooking-all-day and getting ready. We had a wonderful time... but Zoë was beginning a bad cold. We spend the rest of the visit much more low-key, resting and chatting with old friends. It was nice spending some time in the department (my previous second home!) catching up with Jacqueline (my Professor and a very supportive mentor).

After NYC, we all spent a week sick and struggling to stay afloat with our responsibilities... a depressingly common feeling this past year. It was frustrating to have been in NYC surrounded by support and friends, and return home where in our dark hours we feel so alone. It is better now. Partly it was a struggle because Mom had to participate in a Proposal Review panel and evaluating the proposals while sick was a challenge, and then leaving Zoë and Dad to stay in a hotel was hard too. But we all survived, and it was important and a great experience ... and in the end, it didn't kill us, but it did make us stronger!

snow = winter (part 1)

2010-12-11T13:51:00.005-05:00

Which means that I better get with the program and summarize the rest of our Fall :) The days are going by so fast that I didn't realize it's December and I blinked and then we are now halfway through this month! The good news is that December means the holidays and that means visiting California-- we are so excited! YAY...

But hurry hurry... what happened in October and November?

Well... in October, we played with pumpkins and had Halloween and Nina and Boris came to visit. Zoë was the moon for Halloween and Mama made her costume (with Zoë's help!) We practiced wearing the costume and that was good because she was so happy and comfortable in her costume during the Halloween parade at school. But, on Halloween... somehow we got off schedule and Zoë fell asleep when it was time to trick or treat! Then she awoke ready to go out at 9pm... when only the older kids were out. It was fun to surprise the homes when we rang the doorbell, the people would expect a grown up kid and be mildly shocked that a little toddler (cute as can be, might I brag) was there requesting a "treat"! It was, in fact, a fun little "trick" for us :).

We also had a nice trip to the pumpkin farm and took a haystack ride on the tractor to the pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkins and then of course... carved them into sppooooooky Mr. P. Umkers.

We had several other fun adventures like saying "au revoir" to Rinka and Rumadida, and wearing cute boots, and watching the leaves change color, and eating Butternut Squash risotto, and ... well, you can check out our pictures here for a summary of October, 2010.

And though we have no visual record of this (shock!) we went to the Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert rally in D.C. with Nina and Boris and showed our support for sanity. Zoë slept.

Fall has fallen! (part 3)

2010-11-07T15:00:00.005-05:00

So my September posting has gone into November -- perhaps that says something about how frantic our lives have been last few months. In October we had a day trip to the pumpkin patch, Halloween and Nina and Boris' visit for the "Rally for Sanity" (where I forgot my camera , so no pictures for the blog!) These tales will have to wait until... January? Just kidding. Hopefully just until next week or so-- although we do have some fun and busy weeks planned ahead in November: visit from Basu Grandparents and a trip to NYC for Thanksgiving.

But now... September! The other wonderful and momentous blog-worthy event was having the Zych grandparents visit and our trip to the Homestead Farm for apple picking. Here's a slideshow of the pictures from those days, including: the apple picking, adventures at the "choo choo" park, cupcakes and bubbles! In these cases, I think the pictures do tell you the story fairly well about the fun we had and the big girl that Zoë has become.

During this trip to the apple orchard, Zoë also made friends with some chickens. After observing them carefully, she choreographed her own "chicken dance" -- complete with clucking, arm (wing) waving, and several squatting gestures, but some spins and Zoë flourishes too! Unfortunately she become rather self-conscious (relatively) with the video and I was not able to capture the full splendor of this dance. Enjoy the video and imagine it 100 times more hilarious! :)

Once she got the sillies out with the dance (actually she was pretty serious about that too), she grew very diligent about the apple picking experience. She did manage to pull a few apples from the tree with the help of her tall father and grandfather, but mainly she thought someone should pick up the apples on the ground (who cares that they were rotten!?) Here are two videos of her working very hard to collect apples.

The days are flying by. Just the act of writing this blog for our life 2 months ago forces me to reflect on quickly Zoë is growing and becoming a full-fledged (no pun intended!) little girl! In these short two months (short for us-- went by in a flash, barely time to upload the photos!) she has really mastered several skills: walking, climbing, drawing circles, thinking, reasoning, communicating, her vocabulary has grown from ~40 words to ~120. She sings her "ABC's", she throws fewer tantrums because she can articulate what she wants. Her fascination with the world around her impresses me and reminds us to slow down and enjoy life a bit more -- she seeks out the "moon" and "stars" (Mommy is proud) and likes to ride "bus" and watch "Choo choo" (Daddy is proud), she discovered the magic of watching the autumn leaves swirl around her on a blustery Fall day. She helped make her Halloween costume -- but that is a story for a different day ...

Fall has fallen! (Part 2)

2010-10-03T20:26:00.002-04:00

September was the month of visitors. In one weekend we had Ben, Simona and Dan visit! (Next weekend the Grandparents Zych were here -- more on that in the next blog entry) Zoë was thoroughly stimulated and had someone to play with her nearly all the time... no wonder that when they left she was especially needy. It seemed that in the mornings before dropping her at school she suddenly needed extra Mama time to assure her that 1. Mommy wouldn't leave like the other visitors and 2. that she has my attention too some of the time. I think this is better now!

I digress now with a recent tale: She is still testing her boundaries, in her wise toddlerhood -- and with only limited communication skills she sometimes asserts her wishes, opinions and independence in shocking ways. Like the day that she bit Haven in school because Haven tried to steal a cheerio from Zoë. The teachers were rather relaxed about it, but I had to have a stern talking with Zoë: "You don't like having bugbites. It is mean of the bugs to bite you. You can't go biting other people-- it hurts. Use your words!" Eventually she did say "Soree" to Haven. The teachers said that this was age-appropriate behavior -- she is testing different ways to communicate. Generally she is so sweet and sharing and friendly. But not about her space. And definitely not about her food. Hmmm...

So when the gang was visiting, we went to the park. Lately Zoë has been coordinated enough to scramble up the stairs and find her way to the reward-- the slide doooooooown. Whhheeeee! Here's a video:

Also this weekend, Zoë was invited to her first birthday party! Emil (the son of friends of ours from New York -- and introduced to us by Simona and Dan, no less!) turned two! Here are some pictures of Zoë at the party. The outfit fit her perfectly (from Didun, brought from India several months ago!) Unfortunately she was in a mood -- overall pleasant, but once Mommy wanted to take a nice picture with her Zozo, she was sour. Sadly, no good shots of the two of us :(

Ok-- I did not make my deadline to finish September blog entries by September... oops! (But did anyone really notice, I wonder?) More updates soon...

Fall has fallen! (Part 1)

2010-09-26T18:45:00.003-04:00

There goes another month. Like last month (or was it two months ago) we have several stories to tell and only so much time to give in telling them. Here is a "table of contents" foreshadowing future posts (hopefully I can cover all of this by end of September... 4 days to go!? Can Mama do it?):

Growing up... Eating Corn

Attending Emil's birthday party

visit from Dan and Simona and Ben!

Grandparent (Zych's) visit

Apple picking at the Farm and chicken dance

miscellaneous cute-ness :)

A little teaser for now as we await the rest of the pictures to finish uploading and getting organized -- could take days. Really? who knows.

Zoë has become quite a little girl. She's not a baby. If you show her a picture of herself where her hair does not resemble the crazy-clown-cute-curly-wonder-that-it-is-locks-of-glory, she calls that "baby". To be fair, she does feel fondly of babies and has two dolls (three now! but the third is a gorgeous Eskimo doll from Alaska, courtesy of her grandparent's, and can't justly be called "baby") and she feeds them "baba" (bottle) and cares for them.

But SHE is NOT a baby. She dresses in jeans or corduroy pants and real stylish shirts (rarely a onesie!) and is offended if we forget to put on her pants after a diaper change (only babies walk around in diapers without pants!). She insists on feeding herself with a spoon (and does very well, getting most -- 80 % of the food actually into her mouth). She uses words well: Moon, apple, cheese, socks, shoes, pants, elbow (and almost all body parts from fingers to toes!), walk, eat, cook, park, cookie, ... there are so many and she can mimic and say practically whatever you tell her. I think now is the time that we have to start watching our words and actions... to avoid embarrassment later! (Not that we do anything weird or embarrassing that we don't want perfect strangers to know about. Really! we are very normal. Ahem.) She doesn't play as much as she cooks, sweeps, and does work (evidence forthcoming in the "Zoë gathers apples in a bucket" video). And don't think you are the only person who can blow bubbles -- oh no! She needs to control the soap wand and blow them herself (drinking large amounts in the process... are we fools for feeling better somehow that the labels say "non-toxic"? Gotta pick your battles!) She loves looking at photo albums -- unfortunately, these aren't as rugged as her board books and she is learning to be gentle with the pages!

So given that introduction (or summary), here's a video of Zoë eating corn (or I think attacking, is more appropriate of a term!) right off the cob. It is both heartwarming and pride-inducing, as well as appropriate advertisement for the late summer-early Fall bounty that we have here in Maryland. In Zoë's words: "Num num!"

Stay tuned for more in the next few days!

Proud day for Astronomy

2010-08-03T14:25:00.007-04:00

Sorry Zoë fans, this is a digression about Mom and her friends this time! NO worries, we posted only yesterday, so you can read about Zoë below.

Check out my friend, Amber, here at Goddard, NASA in this video from the Jimmy Fallon show. She's the pretty redhead. Yay, James Webb Space Telescope... we look forward to your inception :)

Now back to work.

July Part 3 -- Life is Art!

2010-08-02T15:35:00.013-04:00

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up. ~Pablo Picasso

Oh! the calendar did it again... another month managed to race by before I could keep up! But fear not! I am two days late, but here's the last of our July trilogy and so as to be fair, I am even going to add a few highlights fresh from August.

From the title and first quote, I bet you can guess that we spent a nice part of July in museums! yay :) We are making an effort to actually enjoy D.C. since it has so much to offer. Over a couple of weekends we headed to three museums:

1. National Portrait Gallery -- we LOVED the courtyard! They also had several neat American impressionists like Mary Cassat and I found I also liked Childe Hassam.
2. Building museum -- this is a great space! They also have some interactive play. Zoë liked helping to build the arch with giant (as big as her!) blocks. Also, the building itself is pretty awesome.
3. The Phillips Gallery -- this is not a free collection. I know!
What were we thinking when we are in D.C. surrounded by free museums... ? but it was sooooooo worth it! The museum is located near Dupont Circle in what appears to be a lavish home. Many rooms have furniture from the same time period as the corresponding art. The pieces ranged from Monet's Luncheon of the Boating Party to more modern Rothco, with some Goya and Matisse's thrown in. I was impressed by the unique Van Gogh selection-- many I have never seen or heard of! We bought a cool boardbook for Zoë with Van Gogh paintings and a simple story to go with it. Feel free to check out all the pics in this slideshow...

Some other fun that we have had around town:

Zoë's favorite park has the usual playground stuff, but also lots of toys to share. Here she is driving a police car!
We've been exploring neighborhoods. U Street is a little like Telegraph in Berkeley. It has a long history of African American activism and is where the poet and activist, Langston Hughes, worked as a busboy. In his honor, a wonderful cafe/bookstore/restaurant/brunch locale named "Busboys and Poets" was founded. It was yummy and fun! (Thanks to Nina for the recommendation, ages ago!)
Nearby in Adams Morgan, we also found a fun cafe/lounge/restaurant called Tryst. How awesome that a bar also has a large number of kids toddling around and has bookshelves stocked with books, boardbooks (for kids) and toys. Zoë loved the Etch-a-sketch and shapes matching toy-- which was high quality, made of wood and everything. AND the coffee is good! We are going to live @ Tryst. Matt doesn't know yet... but it's sort of a must. Zoë rocked the milk drinking with a straw-- we were duly impressed. Rather, relieved since it was our fault for not bringing an extra bottle. When will we learn? Apparently now it is unimportant! Ha.
Zoë loves her Box. She loves "baby" (her doll) too and the two of them live inside Box. Box once housed Mom's new printer, but now it is where Zoë brushes her teeth, hides, plays, ... etc. We like Box.
The weather has been nuts! The heat and humidity have caused crazy storms that no one could have predicted... well, except for the global warming experts. We had a tornado watch. The hurricane level winds took out most of the power in our county (luckily not ours but Zoë's school was closed for 3 days). On the plus side, when the storm cleared, we had pretty sunsets. Talk about a silver lining!
We all went on a bike ride! Zoë liked it enough in the end to subject herself to more helmet wearing, even for fun. Plus, the helmet has ducks on it. She can practically form a story, with WORDS. It goes: "helmet ... bike? oh no! Bye bye ducks (these would be the ducks on her helmet) ...". Translation: "If I wear helmet, can we go on bike ride? No? Ok, then bye bye ducks (since not wearing helmet requires a polite goodbye to her good friends!)" We rode to the Farmer's Market and got vegetables and yummy bread, including these french morsels of delight called "Canèles" -- they are chewy, custardy, crispy and AMAZING! Zoë, with her cuteness, scored herself (and us) the sweetest, juiciest donut peach (tiny peach shaped approximately like a donut).
Check out the pics here for more fun! Like: Zoë eating messy foods all by herself and Mommy making castles for Zoë to demolish (the prettier the stack, the better it falls, I tell you!)...

July Part 2: A Very un-Happy Birthday and Other Tales

2010-07-24T15:56:00.011-04:00

Here's the next installment in our most recent debacles. The title above should actually read: "Other Tales and a very un-Happy Birthday", since that will be order of discussion... (in case you care for an outline. How very scientific of me, I know...)

I start with a "Zoë is growing up" story. The first (of many, I suspect) Zoë versus Mom episode(s). We didn't do the whole sleep training thing. Zoë sleeps in our bed, we transfer her to her crib -- we sleep better without fighting her and she sleeps better too. But, this particular Friday night Zoë threw a fuss when transferring her to her crib. Back to letting her fall asleep in our bed, ... transferring her. Again, a fight. This pattern continued 3 times until it was 1am-- 3 hours after she first went to sleep. Finally, I had it. She's old enough now to understand that her bed is the crib and that there are boundaries. She's also simply too big to sleep in our bed with us, comfortably. And... it is a Friday night, so if there's ever a time to lay down the law, this is the time. So... I embark upon the battle of wills.

It is epic, it is fierce, it ends with Mom winning the battle. I will not relive it all here and now. However, here are some highlights:

There was some rationalizing: "Zoë, you are old enough to sleep in your crib now without much fuss. We still love you. A lot of people love you a lot... (list of names), but you can't sleep in our bed anymore. You are a big girl. And when you wake up, you will see moon -- but even moon is sleeping now. So it's best if we all sleep soon." (Sadly, by the end of this process, both moon and Sun were on the brink of rising).
Zoë understood all this. She nodded. She pointed at the window. "Moon", she said. More nodding. Less sobbing. She pointed at Daddy, "Dadda" she said (who, by the way, was snoring blissfully at this point. HOW???). She pointed at me, "Mama". She pointed at herself, "Zozo". There was complete understanding ... until "WAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" when I put her back into her crib. Lots of kicking, lots of screaming, lots of thrashing. All understanding undone. Back to square one.
At one point, I found myself saying: "Zoë, I know you are stubborn. But you didn't get that trait from your father. Cry all you want. Scream all you want. But this time, I will out-stubborn you. So there!"
The statement above was made with me kneeling on the floor, arms dangling over the crib railing. How ironic that while I was not granted any sleep, my arms were fast asleep, now throbbing from the numbness. Sigh.
Patting, bursts of screams, more patting, lots of shushing... for ~2 hours. Sleep. My armpits hurt, but sweet sweet sleep at last.

We have joined a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) for fresh produce for the summer. Every Tuesday, we pick up a grocery bag full of farm-fresh produce that is grown biodynamically to be the healthiest and with the least negative environmental impact. Zoë enjoys cleaning and learning about her food too! Here, you see her playing with the garlic, whose stalk is taller than she!

WARNING: Like Lemony Snicket, I warn you and possibly discourage you from reading any farther if self-pity and tales of woe deeply depress you.

So, ten years married and 32 years on this Earth... and yet, the momentous day started with poor Zoë puking on poor me (aka, birthday girl). Zoë's school had an outbreak of Hand Foot and Mouth, which is NOT Foot and Mouth (despite the creative naming similarities). In this case, the name comes from the outbreak of blisters on the hand, foot and mouth (see here). The main concern with the disease is that the mouth blisters become so painful that children will stop eating or drinking and will become weak and dehydrated over the week long healing process. Zoë didn't have any of the symptoms except a few blisters on her heel and maybe a few on her hand. With the recent mosquito bites it was hard to tell definitively anyway (bonus: she can now say "bug bite!").

Other than throwing up, she did have a slight fever a few days earlier, and just seemed a little tired in general -- poor Zoë was missing her usual sparkle. When I called the school to share the news, the director told me that in addition (ooh! how exciting!) to this Hand Foot and Mouth, the school also had a recent confirmed case of Roseola. Back to the internet to research this one. Roseola has symptoms of incredibly high fevers (like >104 degrees F!) followed by a full body rash. Zoë's fever was much milder... but on close inspection, she was covered by small dots! Super.

Next: call the Doctor to make an appt. Followed by the call to cancel the appointment at Vidalia, the much anticipated restaurant where I was supposed to enjoy a nice birthday lunch with my husband. "Is this how birthdays go for grown-ups?" I think... closely followed by thoughts of worry and concern and "what if's" -- after all, we have had > 6 months of near-constant barrage of illness and none of us had any immunity left to fight another aggressive illness. Now what?

The Dr. barely walked five feet into the room and declared: "Roseola. Classic case." He then checked her temperature, ears, throat, ... I asked him to look at the blisters on the heel: "Are these also related to the Roseola?" He looked a little surprised and said that that was probably Hand footh and mouth. SHE'S GOT BOTH?!?? "Yup! They are different viruses, so no reason she can't have both" and that was that. He made it sound like I should be thrilled that she was chosen by the germ Gods to bestow both illnesses (mis-directed birthday gifts, perhaps?) upon our lucky little one-- Is that like having your birthday cake and eating it too? Luckily(if that's the right word-- silver lining outlook...!) she appeared to have a mild case of both SIMULTANEOUSLY.

Unlike Alice's very happy unbirthday, this birthday was my very unhappy birthday-- a backward day. You know? Where good is bad... and in kind, my birthday this year would instead be celebrated on July 21st. I started a list of 32 reasons that this birthday sucked (the self-pity oddly made me feel much better), but just at the moment that I got to #23 (note: that is 32 backward!!!) Stephanie wished me a happy day and gave me several reasons that I should feel good about myself and my special day. I received birthday wishes throughout the day and I realized that I did have many blessings to count. I did make it to Vidalia. Zoë is better and stronger now. This year I got the best gift of all-- I got a do-over. Two birthdays, two chances to appreciate my life, my family, my friends and our health, two opportunities to gain wisdom and perspective in this often too hurried life. And, my wonderful, supportive husband brought home a cake worthy of pictures, memories, and a few extra pounds.

July Part 1: Trip to Outer Banks (OBX)

2010-07-19T16:23:00.007-04:00

This month has been eventful and fun. To make it a bit more manageable to read and write, I am breaking into 3 sections. Hopefully I will be able to write all three sections within the month of July... otherwise the title would be incorrect!

In this first part, Zoë and her parents travel to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. Matt and I celebrate TEN years of marital bliss. I admit that at some point, I felt that maybe we should have planned earlier and better and gone someplace really exotic and extravagant. After all, we deserved it. Ten years is no laughing matter. But... we were busy. 2010 has aged us, and taken us by surprise, and as a result, we have little vacation time, lots of premature (?) white hairs, and a real need for some downtime and relaxation. Jetting off to see Macchu Picchu or even lay on the sands of Hawaii, though eventual pies in the sky, just seemed overambitious and exhausting for now. So... we set off instead to the town of Manteo in OBX and ended up having a perfect time!

This was an interesting and fun trip for several reasons. We stayed in the town of the first settlement (where the first child, Virginia Dare, of British born parents was born in 1587) of the United States on the Fourth of July. As we watched the fireworks and sang patriotic songs with our fellow inn-mates (sorry, pun NOT intended!), it was amazing to envision those first pioneers building the very town where we were this day.

It was also fun to visit two of the lighthouses -- there are a chain of famous, haunting lighthouses in the area, including one on a remote island where horses roam free and wild! But those areas are not accessible by car, and would require more time and planning than for what we had the luxury. Someday later, perhaps...

Then there were the beaches on both bay and Atlantic Ocean. Imagine if we were a little more ambitious, we could watch the sun both rise and set over water in one day! We chose instead to sleep in. Zoe preferred waiting for "moon" anyway.

We also enjoyed the Elizabethan Gardens very much! Zoe befriended many a butterfly (new word for her-- dunno why, but she picks up those "b" words really well! Another recently learned phrase: "bug bite").

It was just so, so nice to sit in the rocking chairs at the lovely Inn where we stayed, and look out onto the piers and shimmery blue waters, watching the lighthouse grow warmer in the setting sun, and just ... re-ee-la-aaaaa-x-... every day we found new wonderful, independent, fun coffee stores with fresh, fragrant, coffee and treats. As expected, Zoe made friends everywhere we went. :)

That was pretty much it for the four day vacation. If you want to see more pictures from our trip, here's a full slideshow and a video of Zoe stretching her legs and walking with her recently growing sense of freedom.

A Father's Day Story.

2010-06-19T12:54:00.011-04:00

I know! It is a real rare occurrence that I post twice in a month! But... in honor of Father's Day and as a gift to our fathers near and far, here are some Zoë-isms.

First, Zoë loves our balcony (our oasis, we call it!), where she likes to run around, blow bubbles and look at the moon. Here are several videos:

Saying Sayonara to the moon with a special bedtime dance--

Encore!

Blowing Bubbles with Daddy (the long version!)

More blowing bubbles with Daddy (but shorter...)(the long version!)

And we end with a short story about Zoë and her daddy. After a long day of park, shopping, cupcakes, and running around, we still have grocery shopping to do but Zoë is cranky and in desperate need of a "serious" (i.e., not in the carseat or stroller and uninterrupted) nap. So Matt (aka Daddy) drops Zoë and me home and goes to the store (across the street and visible from our 9th floor windows). After entering the home, Zoë grows concerned: "Daddy?" I explain that Daddy is at to the store and when she awakes from nap, Daddy would be home. She goes to her favorite place, the window seat (that is only a few inches off the floor, and therefore only a "seat" to Zoë) where she likes to sit and look out the window. But she keeps repeating "Daddy? Daddy? Daddy!! DADDYYYY!" She begins to grow hysterical-- banging on the window with her little palms and yelling "DDDAAAAAADDDDYYYYYYYY!!!!!" so loud that I am convinced he can hear from the store. At first I let her scream, thinking it is her way of getting out that last ounce of energy before crashing to slumber. But not so... after around 5-10 minutes of intensifying concern for her father, I decide it was time to call Daddy on the phone and make sure he is ok (did Zoë have some premonition?!) and hope that his voice could calm Zoë down. Daddy talks to Zoë on the phone. After the niceties, Zoë reveals her cause of concern: "Nana! Nana!" (her favorite food, of course, is banana and we did tell her that we ran out and would get this from the store). So she needs to remind her father of this important grocery item! Zoë settles down and takes her nap, and when Daddy returns and she wakes up, she happily eats her banana.

Hours pass. We are making dinner and we hear "Daddy!!! DADDY!!!! DAAAADDDDYYY!!!" -- Zoë is back to slamming the window and yelling. "But I am here", says Daddy. Zoë smiles and shakes her head and returns to her new pastime-- "DAAAAAADDDDYYYYYYY!!!!"

------------------------------------------------

See? Daddies are indeed very important! For coming home, for getting bananas, for blowing bubbles and ... just because.

Happy Fathers Day.

patience is a virtue

2010-06-13T15:25:00.008-04:00

Yes, yes, we know... the blog has fallen by wayside to life. In all fairness, we have been lax with the posting, but not with the playing, having fun, growing, and all other such important things. And now we will rectify the bad blogging with oodles and oodles of photos and links to more photos!

In early May, Didun and Dadu came to visit for a week. It went by pretty fast because we went to Williamsburg. Zoe became acquainted (no! enamored!) by "ducks". Everything that remotely looked like a bird was dubbed "duck". Also, the weather was nice enough to visit lots of parks.

When they left, we were sad in our relatively empty house, but we found ways to have fun still... like hide and seek. Zoe likes the window seat and hides behind the curtains. Then she pulls the reindeer bookmark on her neck (like a tie or scarf) and begins her serious projects. Sometimes, that is: reading a book, coloring, sorting cards...

and who knew? Zoe loves jumping on her bed-- she learned about the "Five Little Monkeys" but that didn't stop her!

Then, a few weeks later, Ninamashi and Boris came to visit. We all had a great time hanging out at the Bethesda street fair, eating cupcakes, and generally playing.

By the end, Zoe really make best buddies with "Niminininash" and "Dibits". And Matt and I got a date night. Score! :)

By the way, Zoe's vocabulary has increased a lot-- she says several words, including: Duck, Moon, water, milk, more, all done, Bye, Hi, ... I think there are still others (anyone else want to add to the list?) She also sings, "Five little monkeys", "Row, row, row your boat", "Wheels on the bus", ...

Hope you enjoy the photos... and take your time relishing these captured moments. Most of the photos were taken on Didun's or Nina's camera. Mom is taking a mini photo vacation and well, blogging just isn't the first priority. But visit soon and visit often and please please please leave us a note!

Adieu.

Walking (!) and other tales.

2010-04-26T17:15:00.005-04:00

Dear Everybody,

It is now official-- I can walk! I can also climb. And with my new skills, I like to explore. Particularly those places that are not so safe and where my parents prefer me not to go. For instance, they put out all my toys, but I go right past them to the kitchen. I like to either climb onto the dishwasher or climb and hide in the oil cabinet. Sadly this weekend, Mom and Dad put special tricky locks on those. But, the one I love most gave them lots of trouble, I am happy to report! And even funnier, Mom didn't want me in that cabinet because there's oil and vinegar in glass bottles, and they can break -- and I didn't break them, but Mom did! Oops. I am learning "oh oh" so that came in handy. I also now say "Ball", "Mama", "Daddy" and "Up". I can say "Milk" and "more", in sign language.

It's Spring now and we went for a bike ride. We go to the Park a lot. Oh! and yesterday, we made a garden on our balcony with flowers, herbs and vegetables. Mom said that I can water them once I walk better. Now I am working on putting on my shoes by myself and feeding myself with a spoon. I think I can do it!

Bye.

Spring!

2010-04-11T20:06:00.005-04:00

Welcome to the NEW and improved (?) blog! Same characters, same story... new background. Because? It's SPRING! and we are celebrating new things. Like... the daffodils, the tulips, bikes (well... still waiting for Zoë's helmet and child carrier, but keep an eye out for those pictures, for now... we are just posing.)


From DC delights in Spring

Last weekend we checked out the cherry blossoms in D.C.

and lately we have been roaming the Monuments and our favorite hangout spots.

Zoë is growing every day. She's developing quite a personality... she definitely likes to sing and dance. Itsy-bitsy Spider, Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, Wheels on the Bus are all within her dramatic abilities. See videos of an attempted capturing of her performance--
. She's too cautious to be caught walking... but one of these days she will let go and start flying.
In school she is making friends and learning words. She counts to "twee" (sometimes... sort of) and "Ball" is her favorite toy (she still loves to read though). When things get dangerously quiet, you can usually find her "reorganizing" things from the shelves in various favorite nooks of hers. She works very hard to keep all items meticulously strewn about the floor. In this epic battle-- Mom vs. Zoë; Zoë usually wins. Except once Zoë finally goes to sleep... if Mom manages to care by that point.

One!

2010-02-22T00:37:00.008-05:00

Hey everyone,

I turned one a whole week ago! It was a great party. Small and intimate, but good fun with old friends. Hey, Rumadida was even at my Mom's first birthday-- so these are dear friends indeed. I really enjoyed opening my birthday presents. Besides Lars, my Austrian teddy bear, and a handknit sweater (in Cal colors-- Go Bears!) from Mom, I received many pink and red (yay, I'm a Valentine's Day baby!) outfits from Aunt Michele and my cousins and from Didun and Dadu, and other toys too. It was fun because everyday there was more mail and more presents, from my Grandparents and from Ninamashi and Boris. See? I think people must really LOVE me! And people called and wrote nice messages on Facebook for me. And my Daddy bought me a special walking toy that I can push around the hallway (but it is in the mail and not yet here). So my birthday actually lasted this whole week, and longer!

Anyway, the presents were nice. But the cupcake was AMAZING -- I think I want to have a birthday every day because then I can make a mess and spread crumbs everywhere and eat sweet, yummy, goodness. Here are some pics of the grand event. (Oh! If you click on the slideshow, it will take you to the Picasa website where you can see the pictures a little better and print or download).

But in case you aren't convinced how much I truly enjoyed the chocolate cupcake, here's a video. I can't even stop to clap ("thai thai") at my artistic endeavors. I am far too busy eating, no, RELISHING, my treat.

And here are some more random pictures of me since a few weeks ago. I've grown and am doing interesting things... like playing with dishwashers, finding new places to hang out, and feeding myself.

Ok-- that's all I have to report for now. Maybe in a few weeks I will have some more exciting news, like... saying words or first steps, or feeding myself with a spoon. These are the things that my parents are anxiously awaiting (and I CAN do them, sort of... but I like to wait and see them squirm. Shhhhh... don't tell them!)

Love,
Zoë

p.s. One of the teachers at school overheard me saying "baby" but I think I convinced my parents that it was only a fluke. They are so gullible. Ha.

chopin is her middle name (not really)

2010-02-08T14:17:00.008-05:00

We are snowed in on a Monday... so what better thing to do than upload more pics and videos. It's pretty much the only way we have now to connect to the outside world. We tried going out yesterday in a car, and let me tell you... that's an adventure. See our pictures of the "Snowmegeddon". Seriously though, things are at a standstill here. We are lucky to have a plowed street, power, an uncovered car, food and cancelled work/school. There are others who really have to brave the snow!

So we've been home-- cooking lasagne, baking cookies, healing from our respective illnesses (ear infection, bronchitis, flu, etc.) ... staying busy and playing! Oh! and Zoë is learning to feed herself! The slimy bananas were a bit tricky. But makes for good viewing :) Enjoy!

Here is a video that illustrate Zoë's piano abilities (we apologize for the darkness... the piano is in a dark corner).

Catching up...

2010-01-17T23:30:00.002-05:00

Dear Readers,

Mom and I really appreciate all of you! Many wrote to say that you read what we write here and others told us to keep it up, so we haven't written in a long time but it isn't because we are sad anymore. It's because we've been really busy! We flew to California and had Christmas, and I had several parties where I was the important person. So that means that I had to wear a pretty dress and behave. Oh, yes, my baptism was one of those occasions (see the pictures here-- and anyone else can add their photos here too, please!). Somehow the deacon was impressed that I was very good with the whole ceremony, even the oil and water on the head part, until I raspberry kissed him (or really "PTTTHHHHHHHFFFF"d at him). But I do that all the time. It's one of my favorite things. So is clapping (I call it "Thai thai" because it's part of a Bengali nursery rhyme, like "Patti Cake"). My best friend is the girl in the mirror, and guess what! She can stand now too! I like to stand at the chair and sometimes my Mom and Dad make an obstacle course at home for me (See our videos!) and I can do tricks while I am standing.

Only, I have to clap sometimes when I stand really well and people say I am doing good, and then I have to sit first. Otherwise, I might fall. Still, I am trying to do both-- stand and clap together! I almost succeed in this video-- see???

Maybe by my first birthday... which is coming up, by the way! I wonder what we will do? Ok, it's waaaaaaaay past my bedtime, so I better go now.

Love you all and Happy New Year (It's my first New Year :) !)--
Zoë

playing around

2009-11-28T20:46:00.004-05:00

So besides two new teeth(!!), the big new thing is that Zoë plays much more. She can sit and she can interact (communicate and understand-- or at least she seems to!). She chatters, she plays, she waves and claps. Everyday it seems there is a new and exciting action that she has picked up. Then sometimes she forgets the last new thing... she has forgotten waving, now. But she does the "Indian call" (horribly stereotypical and probably incorrect, but don't know how else to describe the call when you tap your hand on your mouth while make the "ahhhhh" sound so it sounds like "owowowowowow"), only Zoë has found her own method using the back of her arm to swipe across her mouth. I haven't been able to capture this on video yet, but maybe soon.

Here is a video showing her concentratedly playing with her toys, sitting up! Also, in preparation of her running wild... (aka: child-proofing) we have made her a play area. See?

This is a photo that Dadu (my father) took to resemble one of me and Ma... the circle of life and so forth.

Then we had a few other funny shots as we tried to take our family photos (courtesy of the timer option on the camera!) Enjoy!

I do apologize for merely glossing over Zoë's very busy life-- Thanksgiving was lovely. She ate mostly what we did... in her own version. Then there was the trip to Tennessee and visit from the Basu grandparents (Didun and Dadu). There are loads of photos from that-- we encourage you to visit the Picasa Album:

Halloween with Didun and Dadu

By the way, if you do visit the blog, please leave a comment. Sometimes it feels like I am talking to the computer. Which is not always a bad thing... but it is much less fun. And thereby, less motivating to keep up-to-date. Thanks :)

ooooh! Spooky ...

2009-11-03T20:16:00.006-05:00

Zoë's first Halloween involved a trip to the Pumpkin patch, some jack-o'-lantern carving (ok, she was safely asleep during this dangerous task!) and trick-or-treating. We made it to 4 houses only, thanks to Zoë's impeccable diaper-timing. ;) She made a cute Little Red Riding Hood (Sarah-- your sweater has been a fantastic gift, extending well past its intended purpose!) and I decided she needed a Big Bad Wolf companion to complete her costume. Enter Mom ... in 10 minutes, I found enough grey to transform into a scary wolf-- it's a little frightening, actually, how convenient this was. And yet-- people complimented Zoë's sweater without realizing she was Little Red Riding Hood. Makes me wonder what they thought I was doing-- Did they think that I normally dress like that? Yikes!

girl in the mirror

2009-10-18T15:19:00.003-04:00

Zoë has discovered the girl in the mirror. I mean she had seen her before, but now they play peek-a-boo and kiss. See?

The girl in the mirror has inspired Zoë to crawl over for a visit... and there are other such inspirations (such as the remote control), but these events haven't yet been caught on camera. Stay tuned...

a performance

2009-10-12T13:32:00.007-04:00

These days Zoë does much more than eat, sleep or poop. She eats solid food, plays, babbles, practically crawls, mostly sits up unaided, almost stands, ... and the list goes on! In this latest video you will find her displaying her oratory skills while she manages to stay standing, complete with a bow at the end. If you find yourself applauding for this performance, feel free to send a check addressed to "Zoë's mom and dad" :) We promise to spend the $ on Zoë's continued education in such matters.

In other news, have you seen how Zoë's list of gourmet pursuits has grown? She also does weird things with her tongue, and the sound "lalalalala" was born. It is possible that those readers with Linguistics education might disagree somewhat with this characterization, but it is so.¹

Zoë also enjoys the National Gallery of Art very much. She completely ignored her drooping eyelids and nap plans in order to absorb as much of the museum as she was subjected to. She was fully overstimulated... by art. Which is a good thing. Bravo! The day ended with Simona Auntie reading her Harold and the Purple Crayon. (This long blog entry is in large part credited to the >2 hour nap that Zoë has been taking in order to make up for the fun had by all and lack of napping, during Simona's visit to DC).

¹Those with statistics and science backgrounds should be less compelled by the small data sample from which this conclusion is drawn.

carrots are so ...

2009-09-13T23:37:00.002-04:00

FUNNY!!! We don't know why, but Zoe finds carrots ridiculously hilarious. I dare you... try NOT to laugh while watching Zoe eat her carrots and giggle. Her sillies are contagious.

Other than this, no other foods have elicited quite as strong of a response, and her experiences with solids foods has been very good! We are keeping a running tally of foods tried and enjoyed by Zoe on the side panel here. She's a pretty relaxed kid about food... except CARROTS. Why? Because they are orange... they have those funny green plants on top... they are teeming with Beta-Carotine... take your pick. Only Zoe knows why they are so special :)

In other news, Zoe is saying "Mamamamamama". Usually while hungry and bored. Go figure! She is also sitting up! With some help getting into the proper balanced position and getting herself into the "tripod". But she can hold the pose for quite some time. We are therefore eager to say she can *practically* sit up! Our little baby is growing up -- nearly 7 months old!

"Fathering"

2009-08-27T11:45:00.002-04:00

We read a nice article in the NYTimes. It resonated with us... particularly with Zoe's daddy. Check it out!

6 months!

2009-08-17T12:57:00.001-04:00

Hey everyone,

I'm 6 months old (and a few days)! I think I have mastered the art of giggling. I also love sitting with my feet in the cold water in the sink and playing with Ducky. He's a little tricky to catch but I can use my feet to hold him, better than my hands. Mom think that means that I will be a Kathak dancer since I am so talented with my feet. Anyway... one game that I love is hanging out in the bathroom with my feet in the sink (we call it "Spa time"), playing with Mom in the mirror. It's very confusing and cool the way that I see her playing with that other baby in the mirror and then she comes out of nowhere and kisses me! It makes me giggle. One day, Dad caught us playing this game and tried to video tape it... but I was too distracted by the video.

Also, I am really into big people food items. I never cared before, but now I like cups and spoons and bowls. When Mom and Dad eat, I try to see what they are doing by sticking my fingers in their food and also I think that cups are neat. One day, Mom spilled her juice on me because I pulled on the cup while she was drinking. It was funny. But guess what!? Now I get to eat big people food too. I got a sippy cup and it's more of a toy now, because I still don't know how to drink from it (personally, I still like Mommy's milk best). But the real big news is that I eat rice cereal once a day from a real bowl (sort of) and spoon! And... I like it! I gobble it down. By down... I mean down the front of my bib, but still I like it! Then we have bath time, which is also "spa time" and Ducky and I play while I get clean. Yup... life is good. Check out my videos!

Later!

whew.

2009-08-09T17:36:00.008-04:00

Well... it's been a crazy hectic summer. We left NYC, we moved to Bethesda, Md. We went to CA for two weddings, and several other family events. We bought a car and have since learned that a certain person (initials are ZZ) isn't terribly fond of riding in cars. What else? Mom started working. Dad started full-time work in child development and house management, we call it "Zoe Studies 101" (except I think he's graduated to like the 200 series now). In short, we've turned our lives inside out and are still adjusting... sadly that has taken a toll on our blogging frequency :(

So dear readers, in the last few months, here's what we have learned about our little girl...

ZOE LOVES:
* kicking it at the capital,
* sparkly jewelry made by Didun (her grandmother),

* sweet cousins,

* reading,
* making funny faces with Dadu (her grandfather),
* dressing up pretty,
* Ratatouille (the movie caused her to stop feeding... for its entire duration!),
* the ice-cream and cake commercial for Baskin Robbins (go figure! I swear I didn't eat much of either while pregnant!)
* train rides (courtesy of Ninamashi)

Alternatively, ZOE HATES:
* riding in a C-A-R,
* car seats,
* new teeth (or rather, pain from ...)
* not being held or paid attention to ALL THE TIME!!! (thanks, doting people of California... now we are in BIG trouble.)

Hope the pics make up for the long absence. We vow to do better in the near future. As always ;)

busy, busy, busy

2009-06-01T12:40:00.005-04:00

Hello everyone,

Mom's kept me very busy the last month or so and plus, there was the growing -- Boy! have I grown! So... I didn't really have the energy left to write or post pictures. I'll play catchup now. First, there was Mother's Day and I really wanted to write because it was my first! (and Mom's first too!)But the computer broke. Now it's ok again. We were all very nice to her-- she got a beautiful handmade earring and necklace set from her own Mother (my Didun) and Daddy made her a cake. It was his first cake ever! Lots of firsts... I guess. Here are some pictures.

Then there was Mom's graduation. I wore a really pretty dress and mom took lots of pictures of me. I loved the bright colors. She wore a funny costume. Some other little boy asked if it was Halloween but since I don't know what Halloween is... all I know is that it means wearing funny clothes. We also had to sit in a pretty room and listen to old, boring people talk. But then there was champagne and strawberries and in the end I got a quilt from Aunt Jen. More bright colors. I like looking at the quilt a lot. It's like a rainbow!

Then we went to Washington D.C. because we had to find a new home. Everyday there was some adventure. My firsts: I rode on a real train! I rode in a car! I left NYC! I think I was a pretty good kid, but sometimes I had to cry for some attention. I felt better once we went for a walk in Bethesda, near our new home, and hung out at the playground. That was my favorite part (but don't tell Daddy-- he thinks I liked the train ride the most.)

I'll try to write again soon, or maybe Mom will write for me if I get too busy drooling or kicking or giggling or smiling (those are my new favorite pastimes.)

Spring!

2009-04-23T13:43:00.005-04:00

Last weekend was lovely! We have all been enjoying Spring in Central Park. Here are some more pics of our adventures. Zoë slept through most of it... but enjoyed the sun. Except when it was in her eyes, but that's where the oversized (as yet!) sunglasses come in.
Then we gave Zoë her first "real" bath. I swore never to take, post, share embarrassing naked pictures because sometime late in life they are cute to the parents and mortifying to the kids. But these are too cute. Really? Aren't they? and they are overall tasteful... not even intentionally. So I couldn't resist. Hope that 16-year old Zoë thinks so too! :)

good news!

2009-04-15T14:37:00.000-04:00

Dear Friends,

I wanted to share my good news with you. Since I was in my mom's tummy, I managed to confuse and perplex the Drs. At first, it was kind of funny how silly concerned they were about everything... but then it became annoying. I was sick and tired of being poked and prodded. First it was a missing heart chamber (um, at 16 weeks of fetal life... like they know! Ha-- a smarter, heart specialist Dr. figured out I was fine, though. No worries.); then it was a missing kidney; then the kidney was there but smaller and abnormal; then it was there AND normal, but maybe swollen and possibly infected; the kidney specialist said it was fine but to check for reflux...; my pediatrician thought I had a dislocated hip joint... BUT!!! Yesterday, I had both an ultrasound for my hip and a HORRIBLE, mean, pokey type test for my kidney and it turns out... I'm FINE! Both tests said so. I'm a normal baby. Ha. I knew it all along. My mom did also. So did my dad. But they said we had to check anyway.

So not only am I normal, but I'm amazing! I can hold up my head. Mom put me on my tummy for a little while today and I liked it! I didn't let my head flop at all. Nope. For some reason, Mom was very excited about this and made me wait and pose for a picture. Here it is.

So, I celebrated by hanging out with my stuffed animal buddies (picture attached) and eating a lot. It was fun. Though the polar bear scared me a little. I'm better now. Ellie, the elephant, always makes me feel better though. She's really nice and she helped me figure out how to come out 'cause my parents had her in the house before me (I think she's a little jealous of me, though, sometimes.) Anyway, she gets crabby a lot when I cry or if I pee on her spot (Mom calls her territorial and Dad says she's an Alpha something). I told her that she should write her own blog, you know, so she can share all these feelings and not let it make her so upset. We even decided that it would be called "EZ", you know for Ellie Zych but also she'd be talking about her life being not easy, so that's funny. Maybe she'll do it after all. Oh-- she's also a little put off by suddenly having to share her space with all these other stuffed animals-- she calls them 'Little Miss Zoë 's stuffed menagerie'. Oh well...

I need to nap now. Love,
Zoë
p.s. The video is my attempt at telling you all about my day, but I think writing this blog might be easier.

Blue and Gold, Baby!

2009-04-09T11:31:00.000-04:00

Make a Smilebox postcard

I found this cool application... still in a trial period. But here's Zoë sporting all the coolest Cal gear. Well, the socks and blankie are a present from Ninamashi, and the hat a handmade gift from Maria, the daffodils a present from nature and ... we're just having fun with the Blue and Gold. Go bears! :) no pressure, Zoë ... really!

Z 3

2009-04-08T12:22:00.000-04:00

Last week Zoë 's Grandparents Zych visited. (Hence the cubing... though it's probably mathematically incorrect. But it's cute and writing out an equation like Z ² + 2Z seems weird. But for you sticklers out there... :) ) We had a fun few days of exploring New York in minor ways with Zoë . Spring has finally made it's mark-- there were a few warm days with sunshine and blue skies, allowing the daffodils to bloom and the shoots in the trees to finally burst with life once again. So we had a picnic and walk in the park. We had Dinner and Brunch out with Zoë sleeping peacefully in her sling (thank you, Linda, for that! What a life-saver this sling is!) We even went to the Mandarin Oriental for High Tea (the view was magnificent and so was the food & prices). You can find the pictures from these past events here.

Zoë has apparently grown quite a sense of humor. Her new trick is to fuss and need food exactly when her parents are eating. It is an amazing quality. She's sleeping and there's no sign of waking-- no amount of poking and prodding affects her. A few minutes later, we warm and arrange the food and Voila! she's awake! and needs to eat NOWWW!!! But the funniest thing that she did recently was this: her Grandpa was reading Scientific American cards, quizzing our knowledge of various physics. He asked: "What is a Sonic Boom?" and on cue Ms. ZZ answers with the heftiest burp. It was magnificent.

Happy April Fool's Day!

2009-04-01T21:38:00.000-04:00

I can't seem to capture Zoë playing even though she's doing it more often-- perhaps she is camera shy? But this was a fun little session... Darn it-- the sound is not working on this file. :( Sorry... but just know-- she is babbling away!

power of prayer

2009-03-24T11:26:00.000-04:00

It's been a tough few weeks for us. Mom's been sick, Dad's been sick, Zoë 's been sick (= lots of Dr.'s visits), grandparents left, Dad got the flu (but it seemed like the plague) and got quarantined while Mom took care of Zoë all alone (= hard!!!)... during this, electricity failed in the half of the apt that supported sanity (no internet, no TV...) But things are better now.

We all suffered to see Zoë struggling with her cold-- her little face would turn red as she used all her strength on a coughing fit. Then in fatigue her eyes would roll to the back of her head and she would recover to look at us with such a look of betrayal: "Why did you bring me to such a place of woe?!" As the coughs became more productive, she would be even more exasperated by the presence of the icky goo in her mouth. She would make a face of total disgust. Anyway, during one particularly miserable episode she put her hands in prayer ... and somehow we all survived this month after all.

But-- this month wasn't all bad. Zoë had her first smiles! Here's to the next month!

background...

2009-03-21T19:58:00.001-04:00

eat, sleep, poop and scream... that's what I do!

2009-03-04T11:59:00.000-05:00

Dear Loyal friends,

My name is Zoë, and I am 18 days old. People want my mother to show more pictures of me, but I just wanted to say that mainly I spend my days eating, sleeping, pooping, and screaming (in the middle of the night. It's very fun. You all should try it! But for some reason, no one wants to play with me then. Weird!) I also occasionally play a little. Oh! And I have some visitors sometimes ... they say I'm cute. I try not to scream then. Here are some pictures of me doing these favorite things (except the pooping and the screaming. Mom said those were inappropriate for this blog. She's no fun.)

Love,
Zoë

p.s. I have more pictures at this website.

Born on Valentine's Day

2009-03-03T21:15:00.000-05:00

Zoë is our special gift of love, born on Valentine's Day. Her first series of pictures is on a separate website, here. But from here on out... check back here for the newest and latest photos and adventures of Baby Z.Z.