I love rice!

Zooey's new ride

Mean mommy's never far.....

On our way down to Dana Point a few weeks ago, 

we stopped by the Barnes and Noble at Fashion Island.  This was Zooey's first time in the children's section and she made a beeline for this mini Adirondack

If you look closely, you may recognize her intense look of 

concentration from this post last year, and you would be correct in guessing that an on-site diaper change was needed. 

Well, we went back to B&N this past weekend and again, saw her furrow her brows intensely.  One might have believed that she was super-focused on the Elmo book in front of her, however, the 'grunts' also coming from her direction revealed the truth...another diaper change was in the IMMEDIATE future!!

Sigh. 2 for 2.

We hope this is not any indication of a future aversion/anxiety 

to books and studying.

After all, her birthday #1 future career pick was "scholar." 

Does this mean gastrointestinal issues are also inevitable?? 

I love water!

Last week was really warm here in SoCal so I took Zooey 

out to our yard to play with water.  

Yes. We have a pool.

"Dear Daddy, please clean the pool so I can play IN the water

and not in this teeny tiny tub.

Love, your Zooey xoxo"

Fun at Gymboree

Zooey continues to enjoy going to Gymboree to play and sing.  The kids are all  starting to interact more with each other, which is very cute to see, 

and Zooey is usually one of the most active and vocal ones there.

Zooey, the puppy

We were walking around Victoria Gardens (an outdoor shopping mall)

when Chuck heard a puppy barking.  He looked around to try and show Zooey the dog, only to discover that it was actually Zooey barking like a dog. 

The girl loves dogs - her favorite stuffed animals are all dogs (and she has quite the collection) and whenever she sees dogs, she goes beserk! 

A few days ago, we went to a friend's house for dinner, and they have two small dogs.  When Zooey saw them, she started squealing with excitement, raising her hands up in the air, and running towards them.  Unfortunately, we didn't catch this on tape but it was very cute.

If she keeps it up, I think Daddy will cave soon....

then Zooey (and mommy) can get a REAL dog!!!