Grandma and Grandpa came to visit!

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit!

Zoe spent weeks waiting for this moment.

Every night she'd pull down their picture and ask for

"Bampa" and "Bampa" and it looks like they heard her request!

Grandma and Grandpa came all the way from Vermont

to spend time with Zoe!

Zoe was excited to show them her favorite spots in our neighborhood.

Zoe wouldn't let go of Grandpa's hand the whole walk.

So sweet.

First she showed them the best dirt in the Valley.

Hey kiddo -- drop the dirt and smile.

That's better.

We stayed until the sun went down.

Grandma had a few surprises up her sleeve.

Here she's lulling Zoe to sleep with some magical rubs! 

Hey, that feels good...

Starting to get sleeeeeepy...

I will do anything you ask.  Just keep stroking my face...

Grandma and Grandpa brought Zoe some 

wonderful gifts for Valentine's day!

How did you know I loved books?!

I love learning from Grandpa!

Zoe also got fun presents from Mommy and Daddy...

Curious George!

This book is all about Curious George, too!

And Grammie and Grandad got Zoe an airplane 

so she could get used to the idea of flying before

our big trip in April!

And a friend of Grandma and Grandpa made Zoe this beautiful quilt!

Then Zoe got the best Valentine's day gift of all...

A CHOCOLATE CUPCAKE!

This was Zoe's first chocolate.

Ever.

She loved it!

Grandma and Grandpa took us out to lots of fun restaurants 

so Zoe got to try other foods that also started with "C" like...CALAMARI!

 

...and grilled Cheese!

Okay, so she's had grilled cheese before...but not like this!

We had so much fun dining out together.

Zoe even broke out her "Mother Theresa" impression!

Deb and Brian drove all the way up from San Diego to join the fun!

Grandma and Grandpa practiced taking selfies with Zoe...

And there was lots of time to read together.

And eat together.

Curious George wanted a bib, too.

And play together.

Zoe thought Grandpa would look dashing in this apple hat.  She was right!

Zoe learned how to color, too!

She even colored her own eyelids just like Mommy does every morning! 

And we colored some eggs before cooking them!

We still love going to see Dream.

And he loves the attention!

Zoe decided that she wanted to go to the Zoo!

She ran upstairs and tried to figure out what to wear!

First she tried on Mommy's sunglasses...

These are too big for me...

So she grabbed her own sunglasses!

Much better!

Then she grabbed her froggy hat and practiced an 

Italian accent in front of the mirror.

What'sa matta-you?

Ready for the zoo!

Zoe knows all the animals at the Zoo!

This chimp came up close to say hi!

We love visiting with the Giraffes.

There's so much to see!

After we got home Zoe showed Grandma and Grandpa

where we walked on the map!

 

But Zoe's favorite part of the visit was just 

spending time together.

Eventually Grandma and Grandpa had to go back home.

Zoe was exhausted after working so hard to show everyone such a good time.

Thanks for catching up with us!

See you again soon!

Happy Birthday, Grandma!!!

Zoe wanted me to post a very special message to Grandma:

...and now on to the pictures!

It is with GREAT pleasure that I report that Zoe is now officially a big girl

and has slept in her bed -- through the night -- for the past few weeks.

She wakes up a few times but puts herself back to sleep...something we 

had never experienced and (I think it's safe to say) we all enjoy much more

than the previous routine of sleeping in chairs together.

She's even been sick and wakes up coughing but settles back down on her own.

Some of the credit goes to her Baby Doll and some to her blankie -- both of which 

seem to help, but Zoe should take most of the credit herself 

because she figured out how to sleep like a big girl.

In the days leading up to this wonderful development, Zoe would ask to be put 

in her crib (which she never did before) and would show us she 

knew how to lay down and go to sleep on her own.  

Needless to say we were overjoyed.

Who's a big girl?  I am.

Zoe's other favorite past time is to pull out her step stool from under her bed

and plop it down wherever Mommy and Daddy are, climb on it, and help explore 

all the fun drawers and desk-tops that were previously out of her reach.

She loves to grab this picture of Grandma and Grandpa and talk to it.

Apparently they have some funny things to say.

I can see outside!

The last big development is that Zoe now eats with a fork!

January was full of visits with friends.

We went over to Megan and Will's house and were treated to an AMAZING

Greek feast.  Zoe even tried Tzatziki for the first time...

...and LOVED IT!

Then our friends Bobby and Laura came over -- and they brought Benny!

Zoe and Benny got along famously.

Zoe thought that Benny's bed looked comfy...

So she climbed in!

Look at our city girl -- her dog in a handbag and her phone out.

Typical.

Zoe then invited Benny to join her for the post-dinner 5k around 

the dining room table.

We also had fun trying on hats

                                          

We had fun trying on Mommy's socks and shoes

Fun stomping leaves

Fun being tourists with Jon and Laura who visited from Austin

(but somehow escaped photographic evidence)

Fun riding our horse...and giving her hugs, too!

Fun calling Daddy on the graham cracker phone at lunch.

Apparently I had a lot to say

We had fun going for drives in Zoe's convertible

Enough of this sidewalk stuff...let's drive on the road!

We had fun coloring!

We had fun playing basketball

Zoe thinks it's gotta be the shoes.

We had fun lifting weights

We had fun turning on and off the light

                                        

                                               

We discovered DIRT and had a lot of fun playing with it

                                          

Dandelions, too.

Fun playing Peek-A-Boo!

Peek a boo!

Fun raiding Mommy's closet.

And of course...fun reading.

Grandpa and Grandma fly out tomorrow to come join the fun.

Zoe hopes you can all visit soon, too!

Zoe called Grandma the last night.  She wanted to be
the first to wish Grandma Happy Birthday!