Merry Christmas!

Fun with markers

Of course, they were non-toxic.

Winter Ice Cream and Holiday Jenny Party

Uncle Bryan and Aunt Lindsey stopped by for dinner last weekend. They also brought their ice cream machine, so we made chocolate ice cream with hazelnuts. Nothing like delicious homemade ice cream on a cold winter night. Really, there's always time for ice cream especially if it's homemade!




Also, every few months Lisa's college friends from Knox College get together for their Jenny Parties. We were at the Griffiths' house for the Jenny Party this weekend and not only the couples but their kids came too. Zoë enjoyed walking and playing with everyone, but her favorite had to be the household dog Freckles. Zoë now has two specific words in her vernacular - cat and dog - and she loved letting everyone know where the dog was in the house.

Tantrum!

Zoë has been exhibiting age appropriate behaviors which include temper tantrums. Sometimes her tantrums look like breath holding spells. The good news is that they usually only last a few seconds to a couple of minutes, and she doesn't have them very often. They are kind of funny to watch. Of course, laughing at her during these tantrums sometimes makes it worse, and (understandably) she gets angrier. This was a video filmed in the past 2 months.

Weekend celebrations - Holiday, birthday and possibly a new governor

Lisa and I had our holiday parties at our respective residency programs on friday. Once again, like last year, both our parties were on the same night of the year. This year, we spent more time at my holiday party because we only got to see my friends for about 20 minutes at last year's party. Luckily, our respective parties were only a few doors from each other - hers at the Omni Hotel, mine, like last year, at Grande Lux Cafe. It was a lot of fun with lots of drinking, eating and dancing. A few people got sick but certatinly nothing wrong with a little holiday cheer! People loved Zoë in her outfit which included a beret. I only snapped a few pictures before she and mom had to go home for Zoë's bedtime. I stayed behind to enjoy more festivities. After we closed Grande Lux, we all went to the W Hotel for drinks. Lauren and I then went to the Melrose Diner for a 2 am breakfast before I drove her home.


The next morning we all went to the farmer's market and bought fresh bread and cheese as well as enjoyed a nice mug of warm hot cider with caramel sauce. Delicious on a cold day. We also went into the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum where the farmer's market was held. Zoë was last there about 6 months ago in their butterfly exhibit, but Lisa had never been inside. After a nap, we all went to Irv and Jamie Birkner's house to celebrate their son Sam's 3 year birthday.

On the way home, we also stopped by Governor (or shall I say, soon to be former Governor) Blegojevich's home which was only a few blocks from the Birkner's. We didn't see the Governor because all the blinds were drawn, and the place was saturated with secret service, police and the media. Zoë could have cared less because she fell asleep in the car. She understands what's important in life.

Zoë's busy agenda

Peach has been taking more steps walking and recently discovered how much fun splashing water during bathtime could be.

A busy, long weekend with Aunt Becky

My sister, Becky, came for a 5 day visit from San Diego. Becky was able to watch Zoë while Lisa and I went to work during the day. Zoë enjoyed spending the days with her aunt! Zoë was also taking a lot of steps on her feet (video to come)!