Entertaining Zola

Check out Rhett's skills.
Turn the sound up and you can hear Zola laugh.

This is Zola's favorite video to watch. She laughs really hard - and not that fake laugh either.

Zolie's Been Tagged

3 Joys

1. When Dad comes home from work
2. Being outside















3. Her blankie. Especially the tag on her blankie. Really the tag on anything gives her joy. Basically any tag or strap is great.


3 Fears

1. The vacuum








2. Big Dogs - not the clothing line, although it scares me a little bit.










3. Never being as cute as she is right now.











3 Goals
1. Travel the world



















2. Sample every kind of food














3. Be just like Dad.















3 Obsessions

1. Wormie
This is a picture of Zola at about 3 months old, but she still carries that worm around with her everywhere.










2. The little white cap that covers the screws at the base of the toilet. I know, it's disgusting. I call it an obsession because she has only successfully reached it a couple of times, but she knows it is there, thinks about it, and goes for it every time she is near the bathroom. She can't remember not to eat when she has a pacifier in her mouth, but she can remember the white cap even when she is not near the bathroom!




3. Every tiny piece of dirt or lint that is on the carpet








3 Surprising Facts
1. Zola has never rejected any kind of food. She loves everything and is the best eater. Lemons, limes, celery, broccoli, small bugs. You name it; she'll eat it.









2. Zola is a very strong little girl. She could move her neck when she was born, as she curiously looked around the delivery room, eyes wide, probably thinking, "what the hey just happened?"















3. She is the coolest baby ever. I guess that's not too surprising.

The Big Apple

On the spur of the moment, we accompanied Rhett and Kim to New York City to visit Rhett's parents for the weekend. Hotwire.com landed us a (semi-) affordable room in Midtown Manhattan, and we enjoyed being city-slickers for a couple of days. We all had tons of fun.

We hit a fancy Greek restaurant called Molyvos. It was excellent. I had the moussaka, Jana had a Greek salad, and Zola had about 4 pieces of bread. Zola seems pretty happy to be up after bedtime. Mont and Kristy McNeil (behind Z. on the left and right) made it a fun night all around.


We stopped for a quick photo in front of the Prometheus statue at the Rockefeller Center.


Radio City Music Hall.


Kim, Rhett, Zola, and Jana hanging out on the steps to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.


The subway is lots of fun. This guy with a scary look on his face is just part of the experience.


The Brooklyn Bridge is over a mile long and took 13 years to build (1870 - 1883). Zola didn't even bother waking up to look at the skyline.


Chinatown.


Dim Sum for lunch at Dim Sum Go Go. Yum. Zola ate like a champ, but she needs some work on her chopsticks techniques. [Those are lotus leaves on the plate that the rice was wrapped in. It's tasty.]



Little Italy with Mont, Jana, and Kim. There was a festival going on just like the one in Godfather II, when Vito shoots Fanucci. We had a canoli and some gelato and enjoyed Little Italy's version of the Grange Fair.


Here's a little video we shot of Zola in the McNeils' hotel room. She loves the baby in the mirror. If you listen to the audio, you can hear Rhett and Kim plotting a fraud scheme that, for security purposes, we can only refer to as "Operation Free Chocolate Chip Cookies." Kim and Rhett, you both know "THOSE COOKIES ARE FOR LUNCHES!!!!!!!"


A special thank you to Mont and Kristy McNeil, who shared their weekend with us, and especially with Zola. Mont is a really good peek-a-boo player (it only took him 7 minutes to learn! What mental acumen!)


And Zola loved having Kristy hold her.


These guys are going to be great grandparents.