Future Musician?

Here are a couple more pics from Austin of Zoa at Becky and Dick's piano. She did such a nice job playing the piano that we feel certain that she is on her way to musical genius. She played the keys with both hands and preferred to play each key individually rather than banging on the keyboard. This combined with her ability to keep a beat on her drum at home speaks to her musical destiny.

Back in Omaha our Home-aha

After a busy weekend jet setting around the continental U.S., Zoa and I are back safe and sound in Omaha. We had the pleasure of visiting with Unky Jeff and Aunt Jennifer, as well as Becky-Dick and Emily (see photos). Over the weekend while I attended and presented at a conference and caught up with colleagues (see photo of David, Zoa, Sarah & me), Becky and Dick babysat and Jen and Jeff babysat as well. I also took Zoa to my old favorite places like Sarovar, Curra's Grill and Mi Madres. Of course, almost all of our jaunts were food-related. Zoa did seem to enjoy her first experiences with Mexican food as she supped on refried beans, rice, masa, corn, and cheese. We also enjoyed one nice afternoon in Hyde Park and a walk around the neighborhood as well. The weather was not as warm as I would have hoped, but at least it was warmer than Omaha.

The plane trip was hard on both of us and I can honestly say that I hope to never travel alone with an infant again. Zoa is definitely an even-tempered baby, but she is also very active and does not like to sit still. She also is not what I would call a cuddly baby, so holding her on my lap was a constant struggle. During our plane trips Zoa alternated between passive resistance by going completely limp and complete resistance by going stiff as a board and turning bright red. The other passengers loved us and especially enjoyed Zoa's cries of frustration. On my trip from Houston from Omaha at least I had a breif respite from battle as Zoa took a nap.

Brian was extremely happy to have both of us home yesterday (Well, mostly Zoa), and we certainly are happy to be home as well. Thanks to everyone in Austin for their hospitality. I hope that the whole family can make it back soon.

The Dread Pirate Bugsly has Taken My Soul

Empty crib. Empty play-dog-yard thingy. Empty house. Empty soul. Bugsly is gone and she has taken my joy with her. Normally when Melly leaves, she comes back in a few days and I ask, "Where have you been?" She typically responds with a quaint, "It's none of your f#$%ing business where I've been" and that is that. But this time she has gone and taken my Bugsly with her.

Sure it is under the clever guise of a "business trip". I ask you, what "business" does a woman and her ten month old baby have going to Austin, TX in the middle of March. None, I tells ya. None.

So here I am, sitting in Omaha, the Paris of the Midwest, by myself, alone. Sure I called my neighbor, Spompy, to hang out. But little Spompy has a head cold and can't even pull himself to hit the farm auctions to find his Red Wing stone jugs. Is he a 35 y.o. man or a 65 y.o. woman? Hard to tell.

So I sit and page through the memories of Bugsly. Bugsly digging through the cupboards. Bugsly digging through the toychest. Bugsly digging into electrical lines in the yard. All the precious memories are there.

So Melanie is suppose to be home on Sunday. We'll see if that happens. My guess is that she may or may not show up. Perhaps she'll drop off Bugsly because having a baby when you're out carousing doesn't make one a very "hep cat". Either way, my life is certain to improve in the near future. The good news from all of this is that our horribly disturbing teddy bear room has been dismantled (de-wall papered) and painted. Now our guests won't have 1,345,698 teddies staring at them as they sleep.

Snowed In

Well, it is the first day of spring and we are celebrating it with a snow day. The snow started yesterday and has kept coming. It is supposed to stop on Tuesday morning. So, here are a couple photos of Zoa in the snow. She did not seemed to mind being plopped in the snow for a few minutes, but looked a little confused about her surroundings.

Other big Zoa news is that she started her first kisses with Mom and Dad last night. As I played with her last night, she rested her head against mine and then turned to plant a kiss on my lips. When I Brian came in the room she then gave his head a big hug and kissed him too. It was so sweet that it made me cry.

I just wanted to write a quick update as I know it has been a while. However, I am off to enjoy the rest of my day snowed in.

Here comes trouble...

It seems like Zoa has been developing in fast-forward lately. She is extremely active crawling, pulling herself up on furniture, and taking first steps behind her car. This past weekend we embarked on an emergency baby-proofing endeavor that included installing baby gates and cabinet locks.

This new activity has also meant even fewer naps. You would expect with all the energy she expends during the day that she would nap more, but our girl has gone the other direction. She has recently started taking one 30-45 minute nap a day. This means that poor Brian is going non-stop too, and he is pretty exhausted by the end of a day full of Zoa rangling. Zoa will occasionally completely shut-down due to her new high-powered antics. For example, on Friday she went to bed at 6:30pm only waking up once to eat and then sleeping again until 7:30am.

She also now refuses to be fed. Zoa refuses all pureed food and swats away any spoon headed towards her mouth. Thus, we have changed to an entirely new menu for Lady Zoa. Her new favorites include whole peas and small pieces of tofu. Other recent foods include teething biscuits, cheerios (or their generic equivalent) egg yolks, and cottage cheese. This new self-feeding means that her meals take a lot longer, but she really seems to enjoy feeding herself.

I am just posting a quick update here as a death in our family today will surely keep me away from the blog for a while. For those of you in the Minneapolis area, we will be seeing you again shortly. Zoa sends her best to all.