Halloween

Zoe didn't have much choice in costume, since her older sister was a (sad) cow when she was this size.  Zoe wasn't too sad, though.  She was very excited to collect candy and very methodical about the process.  Door-to-door, don't wait for the other kids … the only thing that slowed her down was a neighbor dressed up like a headless man.  

 

Tessa and Zoe were in a gaggle of kids tailed by about as many parents with cameras.  

 

Trick or treat!

We got to go trick or treating at Daddy's work on Friday. They invited children of all the staff in the EEOB to come trick or treat. Tessa and Zoe had a fantastic time.

Here they are, eager to get inside!

Zoe, learning how to select a candy from the jar.

Zoe, way in the background, was having trouble keeping up with her sister.

 

Pretty soon, though, Zoe's hesitation wore off and she showed us that she had this down!

 

Zoe enjoys her first wedding

Last month the whole family flew across the country for aunt Casey's wedding. Zoe was very excited to get to attend her first wedding! She had heard so many great things about weddings and she wanted to experience them for herself. 

You get to dress up in pretty clothes. Here she is trying on Mommy's sweater (it might be a little big still, Zoe).

You get to see lots of family! Here she is with Mimi and Mommy.

But best of all, you get to dance!

(Long delayed) photos from North Carolina

We apologize for the delay in posting these. It's been a busy summer, but we wanted to make sure you all got to see some of our favorite photos from our trip to NC this summer.

Zoe realizing she can climb onto this outdoor chair on her own.

Found the winter hats!

Learning about hand puppets.

Look at me!

Chilling

Perfect sized chairs

Recognize this one?

This is my serious face.

Because pants ARE overrated

Zoe made Robbie ride this merry-go-round five times in a row.

Wow. This water is colder than it looks.

The clan.

Driving the train.

I love you!

I love the dog!

I love this wine glass! (No babies drank wine in the making of this photo.)

This is one of Zoe's silly faces. If you hang out with her long enough, she'll show it to you.

Sunday stroll

Zoe in Florida

Zoe is almost 1.5 now and her personality has really started to take shape. One thing that we've noticed is that she is very observant and extremely persistent. This makes it difficult to parent her because the job of a parent frequently involves (1) hiding something from a child, e.g., the adult-sized fork that the three year old is using that is too unwieldy for the younger sibling and (2) distracting the child until their attention drifts, when said child sets their eyes on something that is age inappropriate. Needless to say, it is now almost impossible to do either of these important parenting tasks with Zoe.  Our littlest one is also rambunctious -- she throws caution to the wind and climbs on and in anything.  As a result, she is frequently covered in bruises.  In the last week, she smashed her forehead twice in the same spot, once falling off the leather chair in a huge jumble onto the wooden floor.  Ouch! 

When we go to the playground now, Zoe insists on doing everything that her sister is doing. She wants to climb the stairs and go through all the tunnels.

 

She is also a lot of fun when we're doing things like playing at the beach, because she can easily spend the better part of an hour playing by herself with a bucket, some water and some sand.

Water play

Magnet ring

Zoe discovered Tessa's magnet ring last week. It has provided hours of entertainment already for her. You'll see how intent she is on the game in this video:

Still a busy lady

We did a nice photo shoot with Zoe and Tessa last weekend that produced some great pictures. Here are some of Zoe, to show how she never stops going. The first four are a series where she's throwing the ball for Aly

Then watching Aly go get it.

Then trying to get the ball back.

Then saying "please" in sign language to ask for it back :)

Here she is with Daddy and Tessa. We're trying to get a nice photo, but Zoe refuses to be restrained. Let me go!!!

And, she breaks away...

Finally, though, I caught this super cute picture of her in between activities. You can already see her planning out her next activity.

 

A busy lady

Zoe is a full-fledged toddler now. In fact, she is starting to move beyond the "toddling" stage into the "rearranging" stage. She frequently picks up items that are absurdly large for her little body and moves them to another location. 

For example, here she is moving the chair up the step and into the screened porch.

 

 

And here she is doing her best impression of Terrell Davis.

And, saving the best for last, here she is picking up an (empty) 5 gallon water jug that is 3/4 her height and that is certainly larger than her (volumetrically).