Happy Thankful

Thursday afternoon we gathered around our family table, began enjoying the best Thanksgiving meal we've ever pulled together, and started taking turns saying what we are thankful for. Mommy had her turn, Daddy had his turn and Baby Zog was next. Not expecting too much, I looked at Baby Zog and said, "Well, son, what are you thankful for?" Every eye at the table turned to my small one-year-old. He looked around at everyone, smiled and just said one word. The greatest single word I've ever heard. "Happy," he said with a grin. What more do I need to be thankful for? That is everything I could want. Happy Thanksgiving!

Dancy Dancy

Anyone with children totally understands that kids don't perform on que, but we did manage to get a few seconds of Baby Zog's new style of dance on video. Prior to grabbing the video camera, he was really shakin his groove thang, but of course he got camera shy and calmed down as soon as we started recording. But I still think it's adorable! Click here to enjoy.

One Month Later - BIRTHDAY PHOTOS

I'm sure everyone has forgotten about First Birthday Photos, but I haven't. So, one month later, I finally present to you Baby Zog Turns One. Click here for photos. Many thanks to my sister-in-law for the fine photography. (For those of you who know her, this also explains why there are photos of the food!)

It's strange to look at these photos from just a month ago. He seems so much more mature than this already. He couldn't say apple then, but he can now! Total maturity, right!!?!

Well, this is going to be a short post. I am quite tired. Poor Baby Zog is finally asleep after a long day of being home with me. He has an ear infection (again) and the croup. Breaks my heart to hear him cough like that. We spent the day laying on the sofa, reading books, and trying to stay occupied. He's finally asleep for the night. I hope he rests well.

Zoggy Love

One day early last week, I hopped out of my car at Baby Zog's school and headed to the playground to scoop him up, cover him with kisses, and take him home. I saw him standing by the fence when a little girl who is seven months his senior - we'll call her M - came over and pushed him to the ground. (By the way, I am NOT cool with that.) A few days later, I was out of town when Daddy Zog called. "I think what you saw the other day between M and Baby Zog might have been a lovers spat," he said. Apparently, when Daddy Zog dropped Baby Zog off at school that morning, M ran over to him, hugged him and followed him around trying to hold his hand. Sure enough, when we dropped him off on Monday she walked over to hug him and the teachers all cooed, "M look, it's your special friend" with huge smiles on their face. The affair must have progressed in recent days because yesterday she came over to him, started swaying from side to side, and then lifted her shirt to show him her tummy. Now, I'm no expert on toddler love, but I think tummy exposure signals this is the real deal. True to his male DNA, Baby Zog is completely unaware of M's advances and much prefers to walk around playing with a ball or a truck. Oh, my son, it's only just beginning!

Halloween

I guess for a baby whose daddy is a PhD student and mommy is great with a glue gun, it makes sense that you should end up dressed as a Greek philosopher for Halloween. We decided it was boring to just be Socrates and so, I present to you... Willcrates.

Halloween was really fun. We enjoyed dinner with some dear friends and their sweet 5-month-old daughter and then we all went to a local church festival. Soon after we entered the church gymnasium, a little girl who was around seven came up to me, pointed at Baby Zog in his costume and said, "Oh, I see. He's Jesus." I was stunned. Then she added, "But without the thorns!" It was actually pretty funny (while I was thinking, "um, no.") Someone else said he was a cute "Cesear." Throw in a few wise men and apostles and we'd have had the entire New Testament! Anyway, the church gym was just the right atmosphere for a one-year-old to enjoy Halloween. Baby Zog really loved the carnival games and even won himself enough tickets to take home a prize. They had a rubber duckie in the image of Frankenstein on the prize table, so the evening ended on a high note for sure. Click here for more photos. If you really want more, click here for a two minute video reel from the evening.