Walking

Zoë is completely walking now. The first half of the video is shortly after Christmas and the second half is her walking a month later. You can definitely appreciate her improvement in balance and gait in the past month.

Curling up with a nice book

We've gotten Zoë in the habit of reading a few books together before heading to bed. She loves books, and we enjoy this quiet time with her. She has become so accustomed to this that she now knows it's bedtime when we pick out books before bedtime.

From books and bedtime

From books and bedtime

Graduation

Zoë reached the 15 month mark this week and is therefore "graduating" at the daycare from the infant room to the toddler room. This means she will be in class with kids her age (or older), a bigger class and participate in more age appropriate activities. It's a little exciting for her because lots of the kids in the toddler room are her former classmates in the infant room, so she will be able to hang out with her old friends. We thank her infant teachers, Marion and Michelle, for being such wonderful teachers to her these past 6-9 months. Zoë will certainly miss them but will see them daily as she spends her days a few doors down the hallway from her old room.

From infant to todder

Out for dinner

We haven't gone out to eat as a family in awhile. Time has been tight but we were finally able to get together with the Birkners yesterday at a popular Persian restaurant in the city called Noon O Kabob. The great thing was that they have two little boys so they totally understood the challenges of bringing a child to a restaurant. It was a fun time and Zoë seemed to enjoy the time out in a new setting. On top of this, the food was great!

Cold season

We had a mellow and different holiday this year for several reasons. First, we had Christmas dinner in our own home. I made prime rib, roasted potatoes, and Lisa made homemade marshmallows for hot cocoa. We feasted like royalty. Also, at the last minute, we had some friends who were stuck in town come over for dinner. My high school friend, Hetty, whom I hadn't seen in almost 18 years, came over for dinner. Her train to Rochester, NY was canceled because of the weather so she was by herself for Christmas. Also, our friends Alison and Geoff came over for dinner as well. Afterwards, we played a round of Wii. It was great being spontaneous and having friends over for dinner.


Second, Chicago got hit hard by the winter weather with record snow accumulation. This affected all sorts of travel. Third, Zoë caught a real bad viral infection and was dealing with congestion and high fevers. She felt miserable. This also meant Zoë couldn't go to daycare. This was tough on Lisa and me because Lisa was working during the day, and I was working night shifts in the ER so neither of us were getting a break. Lisa and I would see each other on average 1-5 minutes a day - she'd arrive home and I would be on my way out. All this time, Zoë would be crying or having no desire to eat. We were tired. Because of the travel conditions and Zoë's condition we decided at the last minute to cancel our trip to Lisa's parent's house the weekend after Christmas. However, we really needed help with child care so we called Lisa's mom, and she hopped on the first train to Chicago. She has been a tremendous help. The great news is that Zoë is feeling so much better now and is no longer spiking fevers. We also had sort of an impromptu, late Christmas celebration a week after Christmas with Lisa's mom, her brother Bryan and his fiance Lindsey.