Our Busy Bumble of Joy

So you've all seen evidence of wee Zoe Mae's crawling and standing skills, but we thought we should share a few more photos to show you how many new skills she really has.  Each day she surprises us with something new-- it's a blast!  Because these pictures speak for themselves-- we'll keep the commentary to a minimum...  Here we go!

Zoe Mae always carefully plots her next move...

...and then executes with certainty!

She's got this standing thing down.

"Look Ma!  One hand!"

She loves to chase after Rocco's tennis balls...

...and sometimes she'll even share.

She's also been perfecting her downward facing dog...

...and she's a master at giving high-fives.

Finally, she knows how to be coy,...

...how to be a ham,...

 ...and how to be darn cute!

Look Who's Standing!

Ladies and gentlemen, Zoe Mae's newest trick:

She was mighty proud of herself...  we're just not completely sure if the smile was because of her new acrobatic feat or because of the present she left for mama in her diaper... Either way-- Success!

Movin' on Up

Baby steps...  Everybody's got to start somewhere, and last week Zoe finally mastered the art of crawling.  She'd gotten quite proficient at hopping around, but with the whole alternating-leg thing came infinitely more range.  Now she can get pretty much wherever she wants to go, assuming there aren't stairs or public transportation involved.

She's picked up a fair bit of speed since this we shot this video, but for now she's a happy, crawling little girl.  Mind the drool.

A belated Christmas post

Time really does fly when you're having fun.  Here is a short, but sweet, post to keep you coming back for more.

Zoe Mae had fun practicing unwrapping presents before Christmas morning.  Paper is soooo cool.

So are fun new toys!

Baby laptops are pretty fun, but let's not underestimate the awesomeness of envelopes...

Then came Christmas morning.

New bibs!!  Yay!!

And a pint-sized pint glass.  What fun!

A successful Christmas was had by all-- Zoe is ready for next year!

Another New Year!

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A very happy new year folks!  We'll be doing our best to rock the peace, love, & joy, and we hope you do too!  Have a good one...
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A Christmas Story...

On a clear, cool Saturday afternoon after Thanksgiving, the Costello family decided it was time to participate in the age-old tradition of cutting down a Christmas tree.  Since this was to be Zoe Mae's first Christmas tree, they all took on their roles very seriously.  Zoe's role, of course, was to dress in camo as ferocious bear, while donning her well rehearsed skeptical look.

On the Christmas tree farm, Cara's role was to interpret Zoe Mae's gurggles and kicks so that they could find the conifer that was destined for their living room.  After careful inspection, Zoe settled on this one:

After the tree selection, Tommy's role was to chop down the tree with his bare hands.  And by chop, we mean "saw", and by bare, we of course mean "mittened".

Tommy's secondary role was to entertain wee Zoe to distract her from the cold.

While Tommy had the tree measured and bundled, Zoe Mae shed her fur coat and waited in the warmth of the wee box.  Even though she was warm, Zoe started to become impatient as she waited and waited...

But then, she discovered something wonderful.  The stick shift!  Her enthusiasm for manual transmissions is commendable, especially in this day and age, but she still has a long way to go before mastering the art of shifting without the clutch.

After Zoe's first driving lesson, Tommy engineered a way to pack himself, Zoe, Cara AND the tree inside the wee box for the trip back home.  After all, why strap a tree to your roof when you can enjoy the fresh scent of pine all the way home?

Back at the homestead, Zoe Mae supervised while Tommy and Cara decorated the tree.

And that is the story of Zoe's first Christmas tree.  And Santa, if you're ever looking for someone to be your apprentice, we know a wee little girl who might be interested... She's already got the belly and cheeks for the job, and she's been practicing her "Ho Ho Ho" noises.  

Happy Christmas!!

The Attack of the Cousins (times 2)

Nothing says "holidays" more than family.  And nothing says "fun" more than crazy cousins to entertain our wee Zoe Mae.  This November was packed full of festive family fun- starting with a visit from the west-coast cousins and Grammy and Grandpa Costello. We celebrated an early Thanksgiving here in Pittsburgh and decided to show James and Mills some of the city's highlights for kiddos.  Of course, there was a trip to the zoo.

In between snoozes in her carrier, Zoe had her first glimpse of some pretty cool creatures...

After the zoo, we ventured to Phipps conservatory.  Zoe Mae took it all in... including a healthy dose of oxygen which prompted wee Zoe to swiftly fall asleep.

Back at the homestead, Zoe was endlessly entertained by cousins James and Mills.  At first, they approached baby Zoe with caution.

But soon, they threw caution to the wind.

A tackle or a hug?  You decide...

Zoe had a grand old time with the Costello family, and after sleeping off the fun for a few days, we packed her up and headed to Neversink for Thanksgiving madness- Part II.  This year, Thanksgiving happened to fall on Grandma Phillips' birthday.  To celebrate, all the grandkids gathered on her lap to "help" her blow out the candles.

While at Grandma and Grandpa's, Zoe had fun practicing her new found sitting skills alongside cousin Gavin.

In fact, she was pretty happy to sit and watch the madness go on around her the whole time we were there.

Of course, she also enjoyed a good round of airplane now and then...

So, what did Zoe think of all of these visits with her cousins?  We can't be sure, but we think she's ready for more.

The Blog F.A.Q.

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Lately people have been asking me about the blog. . .  So I decided to blog about the blog.  I suppose it's like meta-theatre for blogland.  Here goes:

Q: What does command central for your blog look like? 

A:  Command central looks like this...

 
In this instance, Cara's hard at work on the blog.  She also appears to be using her "phone-a-friend" lifeline.  The messy office is purely Tommy's doing.  If you know anyone else working on a PhD, you'll know that this is the office in its reasonably tidy state.


Q: When do you find time to blog?

A:  Sometimes we don't, but we attempt to update the blog every week or two.  We generally try to update the blog in the evenings after we're home from work but before Tommy settles into writing.  It also helps that we don't watch television... Aside from the occasional Antiques Roadshow.


Q: Why does your blog have ads on the side?  

A: Several reasons...  But mostly because of wee Zoe Mae:

1. Every click on those ads generates cash that we're stashing away for wee Zoe Mae.  Maybe it'll pay for her college education.  Maybe it'll pay for her first car.  Maybe it'll pay for a book while she's at college.  Maybe it'll buy her a new spoon.  It all depends on how many clicks...  So far this blog has generated about $50 for Zoe, which is great.  So keep on clicking those ads, and watch wee Zoe's bank account grow! 
2. Google is kind enough to host this blog for free, so we decided to allow their ads.  This is purely optional, but it's fun to see little Zoe's piggy bank grow - especially since she doesn't know what money is yet. (Though she'd love to eat it if given the chance!)  And with Google, sometimes those ads are actually useful.

Q: Why do you have a blog?  

A: Because it is a great way of keeping family and friends abreast of what we're up to.  Plus, everyone loves pictures of cute kids and cute fluffy puppies.  We've now got one of each.  We would love to mail you all physical pictures, but this way you can keep pace with us at your own leisure.  

Q: Who actually reads this blog?

A: We wonder this all the time.  Often it feels as though nobody reads it...  Yet even if that were true, the blog is still an excellent way for us to keep records and photos organized.  Think of it as a purposely public journal.  Which should become increasingly hilarious as the years pass and we can all look back through the archives!

That said, we often have people tell us that they've been keeping up with us via the blog, which is fun.  And Google has this amazing analytics service which shows up where people are reading the blog:

So to more specifically answer the question, people in 29 countries have been known to take a look at the blog.  We've got North America covered, have nearly taken Europe, and have a smattering elsewhere.  We seem to be strangely popular in Hong Kong (perhaps old TESOL friends?) and recently had someone reading the blog from Jordan.  Perhaps more interesting is that the 7th most active country/territory visiting our blog is listed as "unknown" - now that's what I'm talking about!

Google continues the breakdown by country, region, state, city, etc.  So we've made a decent inroads into the US: 37 states isn't too shabby.  Though I'm surprised that we don't have Montana yet.  Unsurprisingly, we have a LOT of hits from New York!

Getting creepy yet?  Underneath all the rubble, the interwebs are a well organized place.  Thankfully, this is as specific as Google's analytics get - and it's not quite 100% accurate.  It is, however, really fun to be able to get an idea where people are reading from.  And it encourages us to keep up the good work!

If you're still creeped out, we'll leave you with a cute picture of wee Zoe - the real reason we started this blog in the first place!