Fashion Show

Manhattan Mini Storage has some pretty funny billboards, I have to say.  I saw this one today (the blue and yellow storage commercial version, like some of the ones below) and it made me laugh-- I was on the subway, playing the little inside-my-head game that I always play in the city when I don't bring a book, or when I'm walking around-- Rate Their Outfit.  Do you not do this, too?  Is it something everybody does?  To be fair, I always rate myself, too.  And I try to be sure I'm valuing all wardrobe genres.

Is this something I should not teach my baby to do?  (I do not rate my baby's clothing, just fyi, if you are judging me!)

Oh, Manhattan Mini Storage, you know me so well!

Accessorizing

I'm having a moment of slight understanding for those New Yorkers and their dogs.... you know, the ones that shop at those posh stores that you think are baby stores until you notice the doggy biscuits and the odd shape of the "onesies"?  The ones that carry their dogs in baskets and even baby bjorns?

Because, the rest of the world smiles at dogs and babies!!

I'm very used to walking around wearing her instead of a bag (and the Ergo can even hold my things!)  I've gone out a couple of times lately without Z-- something that I usually do so much of for work that I avoid otherwise.  I usually trek her around with me for my weekend outings.  But there have been a couple of recent occasions where I've been social without her....and I've noticed, without this little moving and giggling accessory strapped to me, the world is just not quite as friendly of a place.

I'd gotten a bit used to the smiles of shopkeepers and the waves of passerby's, the goofy faces of the person sitting across from us on the subway, the overheard "aw, she's so cute" sounds that the world apparently just makes when there is a baby!  Not everyone, it is true, but most people that you meet at random simply love a baby.

And it seems that even on a good hair day, with cute new boots and a great pair of jeans, I'm simply not as much to smile at without her.

Can you imagine what it would be like to simply walk down the street and live your life interacting as if everyone you met had a puppy or a baby with them?  Give it a try for a day and let me know!

Person-Like

Zoe is becoming a person.

I have always said that she is more of a critter.  From the get-go, she squeaked and snorted and grabbed-- more work and more fun than a pet, but not a fully formed person.

When I meet friends for brunch I say, "3 people and a high chair, please".  I realize I'm confusing the hostess- yes, the baby is also a person, but asking for a table for four seems absurd. 

She still has her critter-like tendencies.  She shrieks, laughs like crazy for no apparent reason, grabs your face and nose and hair all at once, chases other babies at the park, and picks things up off the ground to put in her mouth.  She runs with her hands out into glass doors and smushes her face into her reflection.  She tried to hurl herself down stairs or off of high surfaces with no inclination of care.

But, recently, she's had these moments of person-ness.  Where I can see the little girl waiting behind the baby.  Where she looks at a book, or gives a hug or a wave, or just walks down the street not like a critter at all.  Personlike. 

Highlights from a Brooklyn Saturday

Walking on her own for the first time at the farmers market...

Laughing and calling out "hi!" to the passing crowd.

Sharing a croissant, sitting outside of the library.

Playing peek-a-boo around the poles.

Listening to some street performers with rapt attention.

Just a nothing-to-do kind of Saturday.

Birthday Vacation

If you saw this article you know that companies know more about us then we do based on our shopping and computer habits.  This rang true a few days before Zoe's first birthday, when I checked my junk mail email box and saw that all of the random baby or pregnancy related items that I got had all suddenly substituted the word "baby" for "toddler."  Gone were "Helping your baby sleep" emails, and in their place, "Best toys for toddlers".  Apparently, according to consumer culture, I no longer have a baby.

We celebrated (okay, I mourned) the end of Zoe's baby status with a week in Florida- our first official family vacation.

Directly outside our hotel

We stayed at a golf resort outside of Tampa, where we had a one bedroom apartment with a balcony (a must for a vacation when the baby goes to bed at 7:30).  Zoe loved running around a new apartment, and she discovered the fun of the pool. 

Loving the pool!

She met her first trip to the ocean with less than what I would call enthusiasm.  Due to her incredible hatred of a car seat (she is a city baby, for sure, and does not understand WHY she has to be constrained in a car, although it improved over the course of the week) she arrived at the beach in a state of post sobbing confusion.  She did not want her pretty little feet to touch either the sand or the water.  Very high maintenance baby!

Don't let go of me, mama!

No I will NOT smile for the camera!

Her next trip was far more successful, and we enjoyed watching her run towards the water on her own!  We had a lot of fun on a boat ride (aboard Little Toot, which is now making a reappearance in our lives as Zoe's nickname when appropriate) and saw loads of dolphins.

Okay, I'll touch the water!

I like it!

 
Other highlights included gorgeous views, the amazing Spanish moss that hangs from so many of the trees surrounding where we stayed, palm trees and lakes and oceans.  We were able to visit with Aaron's grandma as well, and really enjoyed a fantastic, relaxing week with family.

What a difference a year makes!