a sure sign of fall

i (mama) was sewing

i love it when she sleeps

if you look close enough, you may see the blueberry smoothie she put up her nose that morning

when i pull out the fuzzy socks on monday, but have the fan on and windows open on wednesday, and zoey sits on a gourd on friday, it's definitely fall in new england.

(walt whitman wrote that) just kidding!

juicy

people don't believe she doesn't like fruit.

half-nekid

she drums dramatically

i'm amazed and relieved (that she's got good motor skills) when she builds towers. i built this one, but when she adds a block to a shorter tower she holds her hand and slowly adjusts until she's sure it's not going to fall off. i thought she'd just put it on top and if it was off balance it would fall so i was impressed.

ps: she's shirtless in a lot of pictures because of the humidity that fills our house this time of year.

sweet lashes

my mom told me i used to go in the ocean for a minute, then come out and wallow in the sand on my belly, rolling around until i was covered (which is strange since a grain of sand in my sock, mouth, bathing suit, or anywhere else on me drives me crazy at this age). i think i liked how warm it was. so, i didn't teach this to zoey, but she really enjoys making wood chip angels at playgrounds.

kohle looks so sweet. zoey was caught in a special moment.

we

baaaaaa

bunny slips

hey baby

shopping soon

she loves slides

14 months

look at those eyes!

it took zoey 1 year to realize that avo will scoop her up in her arms if she goes near enough to her. so she walks toward avo, then gives a sly smile and veers off before avo can grab her. avo is fast for a woman in her late 80s. still, zoey loves her, even though she smothers with kisses as a storybook grandmother would. the other day, i was nursing zoey, sitting next to avo on that horrible plasticky couch you see in the above picture. avo can't keep her hands still any more than a 2 year old can, so she was rubbing zoey's foot and leg. usually zoey is distracted by something as small as a fly farting in the next room, but she was fine and seemed to enjoy avo's massage. it lasted for like 5 minutes, then zoey pops off and has the biggest smile, and looks at avo, and wanted to go to her. so i put her in avo's lap and she gives the best hug ever and kissed avo on the lips. then she hugged her again. she's gives the greatest hugs lately, she squeezes tight and for a long time sometimes, and repeatedly grasps and un-grasps her hands on your arms. what a sweet pea. i was so happy for avo who is always in search for a kiss or hug.

zoey enjoyed time with coco chanel at alexa's birthday part (eric's cousin). the dog weighs about 1/10 as much as zoey does and licked her face and was so cute and spazzy.

in addition to laundry basket pushing, she also enjoys pushing coolers around the kitchen and living room. big coolers.

i decided to let go of my mess issues (yes, i have mess issues, about food and stuff, not clutter obviously) and let her feed herself oatmeal. in retrospect, i should have started with pasta or something and when she was actually hungry.

my baby looks like she's in a cult because she was wearing this cute prairie dress when i realized we didn't have her sunhat at an impromptu park visit.


i swear she was happy, even hugging me. the camera always catches false emotions.


leaf! band-aid is from hitting the corner of an end table in our living room. close call!

zoey says a lot of things now. she can point out any picture of her cousin kohle and say koh. she was trying to perfect water last night. wa-ah. so cool. also she calls a lot of things dah for dog. she loves dogs. walking is old hat and she only stumbles a little here and there due to the elements, like a piece of paper underfoot on the kitchen floor. she is eating much more of our dinner type food and baby oatmeal every morning. i have to distracte her the entire time or she reaches into her mouth and pulls the oatmeal out. hmmm. sweet pea. it's breakfast time now actually.

bib model

nh in august

lake waves

tromp tromp tromp

peek

boo

blueberries for zoey

lips

is that a shark?

nope, just grass and fun!

playgrounds

munch with monchichi

squats

can't resist front door pictures

cousins in a bubble

i feel a kiss coming

kid in shoes!

loves sliding

daddy shadow

badonkadonk

he won't leave her alone, but he loves her so!

i spend a lot of time at playgrounds. i know nothing, but i hope to entertain zoey and myself on this adventures. actually, i know a couple things, like both zoey and i get very tired of the living room after a certain amount of time. our days involve a carefully orchestrated and unplanned, but innate, pattern of getting out, putting dishes away, feeding ourselves, and naps. i'm sure there are other things...oh yeah, playing! playing with toys. i try to get down on the floor with her once in a while and connect, which is hard but so necessary. it's along the lines of stopping to smell the roses. if i sit on the couch on the computer for too long (in zoey's world this is 5 consecutive minutes) she stands at my feet and whines, or pushes books in my lap. i find if i hug her and play with her for 5 minutes or so on her level, then she's satisfied and goes off to play by herself for a little while. yay!

so, playgrounds. i'm not sure how to explain how i think. in fact, i'd feel bad for you all if you understood how i think, because it's really exhausting. basically, i have a sort of tunnelvision which causes me to hyperfocus or obsess at times. i'm always noticing playgrounds lately, and the culture that lives there and around wahm (work at home) moms/dads and their kids. if i have zoey, almost everyone gives us a smile. when i go out alone, although free and unfettered, i feel common and totally uncute. there's always a bond between humans in common situations, so generally everything is shared at the playground including boogers.

so, in my search for new places to take zoey i noticed a neighbor's swingset play structure thingy and thought, wouldn't it be hilarious if we just started playing in everyone's yard as if they were public playgrounds?

it was more funny at the time. in fact i laughed to myself all the way home.

i really need more sleep.

kohle + zoey

attitude

she's got spirit. she's so sweet though. she listens very well. better than i thought she would. hopefully this continues. i adore her ways. i still hate her sleeping habits, but i suppose i'm to blame. she still nurses every two hours all night, but i'm not ready to wean her yet, and i don't think she's ready to wean either. so it goes.

little nh friends

violet "i will get on this now, which means zoey will get off"
zoey "what's happening? i don't like it!"

zoey "mimi, are you sure sharing is fun?"
violet "after i behave sweetly for a while, i will get this thing to myself"

zoey "mom says i have to share"
violet "this isn't too bad"

okay, we're cute, and sort of okay with this situation

sweet sisters

when in someone else's kitchen (someone who hasn't had kids under 5 in many many years) we have to improvise. water in plastic wine glasses works. and so they cheersed