Glimpses of Summer

We are finally getting a break from the rain and cold. The goodness of spring is fighting its way through and we are trying to take advantage of it as much as possible. We go to the park, cook on the grill and walk everywhere we can think to go.

Playing in the flower boxes in front of the apartment

Dirt is the COOLEST

Best Buds

Hugs from Emma

I got away with cutting the corn off the cob once before she made sure I knew how she wanted to eat her corn

She's all cob baby!

Daddy Pile!

Zoe is doing so many new things. More words, more movement, and more comedy. Daddy is reaping the benefit of most of these new skills since they all seem to involve him. She has three names for him: Dada, Daddy, and Dad-o. Aaron prefers the latter. She now recognizes the sounds that are made when he comes home. She'll say his name when he's opening the first of three doors. Crazy stuff.

Dad was stretched out on the floor the other night and Zoe took this as an invitation to tackle him repeatedly. It was the funniest thing to listen to her squeal as she smacked his belly and jumped on his chest. Dad would fling her around and tickle her with his scruffy beard.

OH! Right in the zyphoid process!!

(I think it's a real thing)

Get him Zoe! Get him!

Everyone is tired after the tackling

Not so fast. I'm still up for some fun

Time for some kudos for Dad. I just have to say how lucky I am to have such a great husband who engages his daughter and has real respect for her as an individual. I look forward to watching him interact with her and I have such confidence in his ability to meet her needs as she grows into a young woman. I know, not so fast. Let's keep her a baby for as long as possible but given the inevitability of the life cycle, I think he's on the right track and we appreciate his very much.

Just Hangin'

Thought I would post a few shots of random every day fun. Zoe is one of the most fun people that I know. It doesn't really matter what we do. Sleeping, reading, running... it's all good.

Hmm... inherited sleeping positions?

Giving a little love to the monkey (Thanks Becky!)

Grammy Mary says she's doing some yoga in her sleep

Having a great day with Nanny Kellie

Bath time now involves the bath tub

(previously in her own tub in the living room)

The World's Worst Hair Day

I have had some pretty disastrous hair days in my lifetime, but I must say, I believe Zoe has eclipsed us all. She usually goes to bed with damp hair from her bath but it's most often curled up and doesn't change much during the course of the night. I don't know what happened this particular night but GOOD LORD! The only thing I can figure is that she must have been repeatedly rubbing her head into the corner of her crib.

See what I mean... a real rat's nest. It was actually teased!

She, of course, was amused by my documentation of the moment.

I think she's giving me a warning here.

I swear she's wasn't electrocuted.

Amazingly, just a wetting of the head brought every follicle back to normal. Her hair is a lot like her dad's and gets super curly in the humidity. We are finding out just how curly as we get closer to the height of summer. Super cute!

The Laundry Basket Trap

On my days off, I try to get as much done as possible. Zoe really likes to help with the laundry. She will take the clothes in and out of the baskets (albeit after I have folded them) and she is really good at scooting the baskets around the apartment to various locations (finding them is like an adventure).

On this particular day, I was cleaning one of the various messes in the house when I heard Zoe wrestling something in the living room. I turned around to find her with the laundry basket on top of her.

It was all fun and games until...

She couldn't figure out how to get out of her self-imposed prison. I tried to show her but she was getting hysterical (which of course was very funny to me).

Once I was able to free her, you can see she recovered quickly and was off to get into other kinds of mischief.

I'm waiting for the time when watching them get into these predicaments is old. There is just so much to discover and observing how they approach their world is just too much fun. They are amazing little people with such a simple love of most everything around them. As of yet, no one has been able to hold onto this quality to adulthood. I guess I am hoping to achieve the impossible in raising my babies but I'm sure I'll screw it up. Still, I suppose there is no harm in trying.

Storm King Art Center

Daddy took a sick day and we all decided to head north to Storm King Art Center. It is a giant state park near near Bear Mountain that has a huge collection of American and European steel sculptures from the 1960's to the present.

The weather was gorgeous and we were ready to enjoy being out of the city and OUTSIDE! It's been a long winter. We packed a lunch and started our own tour of the grounds.

All wheeled up and ready to go

Kenneth Snelson
Free Ride Home, 1974


This sun is NICE!

Alice Aycock
Three-Fold Manifestation II, 1987

Alexander Liberman
Adam, 1970


Zoe and Daddy



Peekaboo!


Robert Grosvenor
Untitled, 1971


Mark di Suvero
Pyramidian, 1986/1998

Roy Lichtenstein
Mermaid, 1994

Andy Goldsworthy
Storm King Wall, 1997-98



Zoe and Daddy in The Storm King Wall

As you can see, I really liked the Storm King Wall. I have to admit it was the whole reason I wanted to go to Storm King in the first place. When you see it and think about how each stone was laid by hand and just how many there are in this rambling structure, it's just astounding. I think Zoe dug it too. More for the acorn hunting I'm sure, but I can pretend.