Pumpkinhead Zola

Some cute shots from our visit to the pumpkin patch. It was the first time she had seen pumpkins and she was very excited. So much so that we bought one and have taken it everywhere with us over the last couple of weeks.

Edited by my sister, Stevie

11 Months

All of a sudden we have a walking, talking toddler. Zola is walking all over the house, climbing everything and adding new words to her vocabulary every other day. These are the words we understand:

Hi, Mama, Dada, Amen, Book, Ball, Baby, Hey

She's also singing (La La La), saying 'moo' when she sees a cow, and trying to repeat whatever we say. Her third tooth has recently made it's appearance. Teething seems to be getting harder for her with each tooth. This one is on top and it took weeks to break through- including several rough nights and purlpe, blistery gums. It will be really sad if this is what she has to look forward to for the next year.

Things are not slowing down over here travel-wise either- St. George Island, A stop in Pensacola, and 2 weeks in New Orleans. Here are our favorite shots (pumpkin patch photos to follow in another post):

St. George Island, FL

Walking on Pensacola Beach

New Orleans, LA

The view from a hotel room

How Grant and Zola spent the evenings...reading, "Moo, Baa, La La La"

Photo shoot in a cool park downtown

Zola LOVED dancing with the street musicians

Photo shoot in a beautiful courtyard we came across

In the hotel dining room

The Audubon Aquarium - So fun!

Please don't poo on me!

Petting a shark

It's the extremely rare ZolaFish

Happy Birthday Grant! At the Crazy Lobster... After trying a fabulous Hurricane.

Sundays (or Mondays) are for Food

Sunday: Cubed Pork Steaks, mashed potatoes, peas

Monday: Black Bean Enchiladas, fresh pineapple

Tuesday: Book Club for me (yay for margaritas!), so husband will be having leftovers from Sunday- minus peas, plus broccoli

Wednesday: Out

Thursday: Leftover Enchiladas

Friday: Usually homemade pizza but we have company this week so I will be making pasta shells stuffed with pears and asiago cheese in a light red sauce, and some kind of chicken and bread and salad

And on This Week for Dinner, Jane has promised an upcoming recipe for Thai Chicken Pizza...mmm... I am looking forward to that for next week.

New Wardrobe

Today I told Grant that I am in need in of a new wardrobe. And not because of my post-baby, nursing fluctuated body- but because I am in dire need of a new style.

And I am 100% sure it will be more Granola than Princess.

This is was the final straw:

We went to an outlet mall today... when we go to an outlet mall it usually takes up most of the day and involves hours of walking. So I thought to myself, 'Emily, you should be sensible today.' That was #1.

#2. I wore a black Ann Taylor Loft tee with a cute neckline and flirty short sleeves... Black = no stains and invisible sweat.

#3. I wore a pair of red Ann Taylor Loft capri pants. Not so bad unless you inquire about the many zippered pockets where I kept my phone, credit cards and cash- so I wouldn't have to be bothered with carrying a purse. All I can say to myself at this point is, Thank God I didn't wear a fanny pack.

#4. I wore sensible tennis shoes with socks. No cute flip-flops or sandals for me... No siree. I went all out today. My feet were cooommfffyyy. Yeah.

#5. The mom haircut. Grant assures me that it is normal for all new moms to cut their hair short in the name of convenience and maybe even looking older. He's also hoping that I grow out of this phase quickly and that my hair grows back even quicker. But I do offer one excuse- I did have a very cool short cut and color a few months ago...and my current style can be fully attributed to the 'growing out' phase. Plus, it's actually a good haircut... but a short, bobbed do, coupled with this outfit...well, I'm pretty sure you're getting the picture.

#6. There is no #6. But if there was it would probably involve crumbling tissues in my pockets and granny panties and wiping off my daughter's face with my spit (oh wait...I have done that one).

So in summation- if you have any hippie skirts or funky shirts from your pre-mom days that you have willingly boxed up in favor of comfort and sensibility- please, oh please send them my way.

And in case you haven't seen it, this is what I want for Christmas:

Mom Jeans

WALKING!

Zola took 11 steps today- BY HERSELF!

I think we have an official toddler on our hands people. Oh my.

Here's a photo of her walking on Pensacola Beach.

She's on the move, people, she's on the move.

It has been another HUGE weekend for Zola; develomentally that is. Will this ever stop?

In addition to knowing where her head and her belly are, tonight I asked her where her toes are... we haven't tried this before but she immediately grabbed her toes! Of course lots of clapping and 'yeahing' ensued.

And yesterday she decided she could now climb the stairs. All the way to the top. Quickly.

And this evening I handed her an empty diaper box (one of her favorite toys, among water bottles and altoid tins). I turned around to pick up some toys and when I looked back at her she had turned the box on it's side, pushed it over to the cedar chest and proceeded to climb up and grab the picture frames we keep at the very back edge- the place that used to be out of her reach. She had a problem, formed a plan and executed it. We are pretty sure she's a genius.

Obviously this means that she must be feeling better. The snot sum was significantly lower in our household today. We also discovered a new top tooth just below the surface- which may have been the cause of some of the snot, fever and general crankiness this week.