Choo Choo!

Zoe is really into trains these days, so this afternoon we took her to the Orange Empire Railway Museum in Perris. She was so amazed at the size of the actual trains, and the impressive sound of their horns and bells, that for a while after we arrived, she looked more shocked than pleased by the outing. But eventually she warmed up to it, and we all had a good time riding the trains.

Sunshine again

As I am typing this, Zoe is in her crib. She is not napping however. Instead, she is sitting up and playing phone with her rabbit. By that I mean the bunny (Peter Rabbit to be exact) is put up to her ears and she is going "Hello? Oh? OH! Bye Bye." It is extraordinarily cute and reminds me of how much Zoe has come along in her development and how nice it is that the nasty week we just had is over (or probably over... not to jinx it). We are not quite sure what it is, but it is probably teething cum heat rash (for we had a heat wave that brought the temperatures to 102 F). Zoe was cranky, fragile, demanding. Who could blame her? She was in obvious discomfort and had great difficulty sleeping because of the ailment. I was quite flustered because I didn't have nerves of steel and did not know what to do. Is it eczema or is it heat rash? They look alike but the treatment plan is completely different (Aloe Vera Gel versus Aquaphore). In the end, I figured out that it is heat rash and slathered on the aloe vera. What a week!

Still, in spite of it all - lack of appetite, sore gums, angry rashes everywhere, a nasty fall - Zoe managed to string three words together two days ago. She said "Ernie and Bert." I'm glad the sun came back out again.

Customer in Training

A new Henry's grocery store opened up recently, and they have these cute toddler-sized shopping carts. In this video, Zoe was a little groggy from having napped in the car, but she did pretty well pushing our cart around for us. This baby thing is already starting to pay dividends!

What Noise Does The Horse Make?

A bit of silliness.

Tea time

One of Zoe's favorite games is tea time. It's a highly ritualized endeavor, and her rules of engagement are strict: Elmo, teddy bear, and at least one parent must be present.

Shapes

As we've already mentioned here, Zoe seems to be accelerating in her development these days. Here's an example: as recently as a few weeks ago, Zoe still hadn't figured out how to sort shapes. Now she can.

Thrill of the Hunt

After Easter service this morning, Zoe participated in the egg hunt. She had been expertly coached by me the day before, when we staged a "practice egg hunt" during her playgroup at our house. As you can see in this video, she did pretty well.



Some photos from the morning:

Jackie, Zoe, and our friends' daughter Caroline, waiting for the egg hunt to begin.



Zoe and Caroline after the egg hunt.



Zoe and Mommy at the coast in La Jolla. It was a picture-perfect day!



Zoe, completely spent. It was a busy morning.

PB

On Sunday we drove to Pacific Beach to spend the afternoon with the Scholz family, in celebration of Karen's birthday. Zoe had a lot of fun digging in the sand, but she was initially a bit reluctant to dip her toes in the surf.