Safety First

So now that Zoe is a mobile girl, her world just got a lot more interesting! Besides the fact that she continues to be fascinated with eating every speck of dust she finds , she now likes to play with electrical outlets. We got the outlet covers so she can't stick her finger in them ,but she will find every one in a room in about 2 minutes flat. Then she's on to dog food, paperwork, fax machines, glass vases, dirty shoes, TV buttons, lamp cords, cable cords, drawers, cabinets...the list goes on...and on...and on. Now I know why there are actually people you can hire to baby proof your house!

Pretty Smart for a Dumb Dog

We have an 80 pound Rottie mix named Boston that is a sweet, sweet dog. We got him when I was about 3 months pregnant. Needless to say , it wasn't a unanimous decision, but I was determined. So fast forward almost a year and a half. Boston never really seemed to know what to think about Zoe until, that is, she started being able to feed herself solid food. Now he is a pretty big fan - especially at dinner time! The ratio seems to be about three to one. Three pieces of food get thrown on the floor, one goes in Zoe's mouth. Boston used to go get each piece as it fell. Now he just sets up camp under her high chair until dinner is over! And to think, most of the family thought Boston was a dumb dog!

Another Tracy Parenting Rule bites the dust....

"My child will not watch TV until she is at least 2 years old." This is what I have said with conviction for as long as I can remember. Today, I bought Zoe her first Barney DVD, and even worse -watched it with her! OK, here is my rationalization... In order for me to stay home with Zoe I need to be able to work from home at the jobs I have discussed in detail for months now. The operative word in "work from home" is WORK. I can not do this because Zoe does not really nap, so I don't have much time to do the aforementioned "work". If this keeps up , I can't stay home anymore. If this was to happen, my heart would break into a million pieces and Zoe would be scarred for life. OK, this is a slight (huge) exageration, but it is not what I want to happen. Since Zoe does not nap well, there needs to be a few blocks of time where I can make phone calls, talk to clients, and just work. This is where the videos come in. If I can get her to be entertained/distracted for a half an hour, I can work. She is even starting to play on her own, so that will add to the work window as well. I figure that the small amount of time a day that she will be watching TV is greatly outweighed by me being able to stay home with her every day. At least this is what I tell myself. And it helps that she absolutely loves the kids in the Barney video, and has quickly become a fan of Elmo as well!

Family Time

The three of us had some fun in the "Pig Pen" this afternoon!

These boots are made for walkin'

Zoe is on a roll - literally! She grabs her little push cart and takes off around the house. The first time she did the the other day I had a total Mommy moment. It was the first time I ever saw her walk away from me by herself and I got this warm fuzzy feeling combined with a little sadness. I was so proud that she is becoming a little girl, but a little sad about having to start to let go of my baby. But overall, it is fun to see her roll around the house, and so cute to see her pride in her new found independence!

Sprout

Is it such a bad thing that I am desperate to put Zoe's hair in a sprout- like pony tail on top of her head??????

Snow!

It snowed in Wilmington! It hasn't snowed here in years! The people around here always talk about the Blizzard of "89 when they got a foot of snow on Christmas day and it shut the city down for a week. This time, the day before it even snowed here (two inches were predicted), they cancelled school for the following day and then after it snowed about 1 inch they cancelled schools for the next day! So funny! As soon as it started snowing we took Zoe outside and she was looking around and laughing! We made her a snowman and Gramma fed her and Daddy a snowball. It was so nice to see snow even if it was for a short time. Yay!