Whoooooo is this?

Today, Zoë had a Costume Party/Bring your Friend to class in ballet. Zoë was a proud owl (an Owl Mama, in her words). We took lots of pictures in her natural habitat (that would be her room, of course). In true nesting temperament, yesterday we couldn't get her to leave the house because she loves to play teacher and exist in her imaginary world... at home. Park? What toddler can resist that temptation? Apparently, Zoë can! Well... this might be a good thing because of Frankenstorm.

What is Frankenstorm? Well, life in Washington D.C. continues to be exciting. For the third time since we lived here, we are expecting a hurricane to hit us. This one is stranger because... Whhhooooo has ever heard of a Halloween Hurricane? I thought tropical storms and hurricanes were summer phenomena? Yes, and because of that anomaly, this storm is behaving strangely, getting sucked back on land from the low pressures caused by cold weather above the middle of U.S. Poor Sandy is most confused which way to turn. In any case, we are prepared with water, food, flashlights, batteries, charged phones and tons of projects. Hopefully our little owl will not mind staying cooped (ha! pun sort of intended) up inside till Sandy passes through.

The good news? In the spirit of spookiness and forecasted gloom and doom, I've been making special treats. In truth, they are supposed to be for the school Halloween party (but who knows what will be by then) and I am justifying spending my Sunday afternoon in the kitchen as "preparing for food shortages in the storm".  Here are pictures of my creations -- yummy pretzel & chocolate spider webs and my pumpkin pie rice krispie treats.

More updates later. Till then, in case you miss us (we're fine-- Stop worrying!!! :) ), here are some photos to browse...

"Fall"-ing behind

It is officially Fall. How do we know? The leaves are all sorts of pretty colors, the temperatures have fallen below freezing once or twice, the closet switch to Winter clothes is complete, and we have now been apple picking TWICE -- once with Zoë's class (Mommy came too!) and the other with her family! This week Zoë will be taking another fieldtrip to the Pumpkin patch!

It has been busy with birthday parties and Fall-themed outings (this weekend, we went on a beautiful hike in the woods near the Potomac and saw mushrooms, fallen leaves, feathers, acorns, and even a horse up close!) On top of that, Zoë has been learning a lot in ballet class -- see her video here or in the links below!



Our photos are all here -- please feel free to browse.


Zoë has been saying lots of smart and funny things. Unfortunately, I can't think of any examples now. She pays attention in sometimes shocking ways. Like the other day, we were listening to the radio on the way to school and I was only half listening and talking to Zoë about her upcoming trip to the fire station that day. We were both pretty tired since this fieldtrip meant getting up extra early. Suddenly the radio said something about cuts at the fire station. So I told Zoë: "Hey, they are talking about fire stations! And you will be going to one today. Cool!" and she calmly responded, "Yes, Mommy, but the ones they were talking about are in Chicago. Don't worry, they aren't going to cut anything here in Maryland." I was pretty impressed that she had the context of the news report and knew that the situation in Chicago does not affect that in Maryland, etc.

There have been other similar funny, but impressive stories. Especially now that there is so much in the news about the election, she seems to pipe in her two cents. The other day we were also discussing how we should vote on a Maryland bill to allow casino gaming. Zoë decided it was a bad idea and she gave her reasons. I forgot her reasons, but I was convinced. Zoë for President! :)
  

March madness

The weather is weird as we transition into Spring. The poor flowers and cherry blossoms, I fear, bear the brunt of this. We had snow! followed by sunny, warm temperatures, and now... back to icy temperatures with lots of sun. The daffodils have begun to show their bright faces and the dark cherry blossoms (or plum, maybe?) are blooming, as well as magnolias. I think the cherry blossoms are correctly more hesitant... but can they wait until late March/April (when family and tourists will flock to the scene)? It remains to be seen.

In our home, Zoë continues to entertain us with her antics. Mainly she's testing that the boundaries haven't shifted much since she was two... are clothes still necessary? Can I say no and then yes twenty times without incurring parental wrath? Is bedtime still in effect? When we are getting ready for school, can I run and hide 6 times without sending Mommy into exasperated sighs? etc. etc. etc. We are still fighting to maintain sanity, rules, and our previous hair condition (i.e. by not pulling out each strand in frustration, not going gray and white over an evening filled with gazillions of mini tantrums, etc.) The past week has been better. Although, this picture is what resulted when Mommy tried to get herself dressed while simultaneously trying to get Zoë to wear her sweater... you can see the (often funny, yet challenging) end product.





Last weekend we headed to the Natural History Museum (it's embarrassing that we waited three years to visit this gem! When it is so close!) We spent only a few hours and there was a lot to see -- we figure we will visit again soon. This time we went to see the dinosaurs (on left Zoë is making the RAAAAAAWWWWWR face), the gems (pretty pretty things!) and we went to visit the Butterfly Pavilion but they were resting (already closed).


Also, Zoë's ballet class read and danced the Frog Princess. The costumes were too adorable and I (nor any other mother's as far as I could tell!) could resist peeking and taking photos through the glass. Studious Zoë was awesomely focused on the task at hand, which means that all I have in my pictures are the backs of her head. It took great restraint to not break into the classroom with the camera. Luckily observation week is coming up and I can promise a video and flurry of apt photos from that. Stay tuned...

In honor of new weather and new age, we took an interview with recently turned three Zoë -- we hope you will enjoy and find amusement. Till our next post...

Ballet (in Dec)

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...)

Our Little Ballerina

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.