While Vacationing in Sun Valley this Week

Zoë is 18 Months Old! A few things we love about her...

OK Zoe-bug. It's your time. I tweeted and posted on fb about you, but never did an official round up for your 1st birthday! Our Christmas Letter was the closest I came, but most of it is dedicated to your brother's musings (sorry sweet child).

The first things that come to mind when I think about you:

• climber - the other day you did multiple rounds of chair, to table to kitchen counter top. Oi vey. 
• Nursling (who knows how long we'll last?)
• awesome laugh
• loves dresses
• obsesses about EVERYONE's shoes (and wants to put them on) 
• Loves the water: you'd take three baths/showers a day if we'd let you.  
• Swims with your 'floatie' life jacket - and you can jump off the diving board by yourself. (Boating this summer is going to be epic with the kids)
• Good listener... and you even know how to mind. 
• You likes CLEAN PANTS - and are pretty good at using the potty when given the opportunity but are not diaper free (yet). 
• You're Our Little Yogi: love to down dog on anyone's yoga mat. 
• Love to Dance. 
• Love your big brother -- officially started sharing a room with him last week, and you even sleep in bed with him (well, you start out the night sleeping with him...)
• ORAL FIXATIONS: Play Dough, Chalk, pennies, legos... pretty much anything that's a choking hazard you STILL like to put in your mouth. 
• Digs Tutu's and Handbags
• Great eater: from onions in pasta sauce to green chilies in dips: not much for animals though (I don't blame you!)
• Like to be cuddled and held
• Will go  anywhere in "the pack." (Technically the Ergo, and primarily on my back but you're also a big fan of the stroller). 
• Learning to "jump" and can balance on one foot. (Makes sense since you've been walking since you were 10 months old!)
• Love your Daddy - snuggles, games and are (more often than not) devastated when he leaves for work (or at least you acts that way). 
• Favorite word is "yeah." 
• You love your Grandparents...and you have a special relationship with each of them. It's pretty awesome to watch. 
• Favorite Foods: Blackberries, blueberrries and strawberries (pretty much any kind of fruit really). Grilled cheese sandwhiches. Pasta with home made marinara... black beans and rice, oh and you TEAR UP pizza.

Things Zoe Bug is not into: 

• Sleeping 10 hours straight... {due to my recurring breast issues (engorgement and multiple rounds of mastitis) from Z sleeping through the night at a very early age (6-8 hours at 2 weeks!); I started waking her to nurse at night more often. I then became the human nighttime pacifier, and have yet to wean her from her quick few 'sucks' at night and then back to sleep. Since we are a co-sleeping family, it was just easier than getting up at night to pump or having to take antibiotics because I have soooo much milk. (yes I'm a cow... In a past life, I'm pretty sure I was a Wet Nurse).}
• Potatoes: maybe if you sneak a french fry from your brother or someone's plate, (but out side of that neither of my kids are into pommes de terre... doesn't matter if they're baked, boiled or mashed.) You don't want them. 
• Keeping darling head bands and bows in your hair -- but with amazing curls like yours, they're not really necessary. 
• Your 'size' of clothes. {Zoe is currently sporting 3T tops and bottoms with primarily 4T pajamas. She's been 97 - 100 percentile since she was about a month old. Her check up is in a couple of weeks... should be fun to see where she is.}

A few other words about my darling girl:

 Everyone thinks she's older than a year and a half; and not just because of her size (though she is starting to 'thin out' a little bit.) She's got a maturity to her that is so different from her brother. I've signed her up for a gymnastics class 20mo - 36mo starting in a week (I figure she's old enough since she turns 20 months during the session... albeit she turns 20 months the last week of the session, but still.)  She seems more ready to me for this class than Holden was at 36 months! In fact, I kept him in the mommy and me portion until he had started preschool. She just 'gets' things... she eats with utensils and prefers to drink out of a cup (not a sippy cup mind you, a cup... even if she's not great at it). 

She's definitely got more of my coloring (even if her hair is getting blonder by the day). Her tan lines are as adorable as the Coppertone Baby. 

So final words for you my sweet darling:

I wanted you so bad. I told everyone I didn't care if you were a boy or a girl, but secretly, I ached for you to come and be a part of our family. I wanted you to be a girl so bad! My mother is one of my best friends in the entire world and I hope we have a relationship as amazing as mine is with Mama Suite. I love how you surprise me with some new trick each day... I love how you explore and the world is so magical. I am torn between wanting time to freeze you in this amazing stage, trying to live in the moment and thinking about how things get more fun with you each day. (Consequesntly, this is also why I have cleaning ladies... life is too short for me to be cleaning all the time. And I would be, because let's face it... you and your brother are kind of like Tazmanien Devils when it comes to the house.) 

I love you so much Zoe. Your birth was a miracle and one of the single most spiritually astounding experiences I've ever had. Your life is a gift to our family and we're so glad to have you here! 

Some Highlights from The Del

So we had an amazing opporuntiy last month to head to Mexico for 5 days "on our way" to some of Danny's business meetings in Coronado. I'll need to do a separate post about Mexico sometime, but I got the Sand Diego pictures loaded so I guess I'll start there...

Due to the NADCO conference and Danny working for such an AMAZING company
we got to stay at the historic Hotel del Coronado; here's Danny and Z poolside

This was right inside our room... our little "Ute Diva" getting ready to paint the town one night

The first morning we were there I took the kids down to the beach
and we had the entire place practically to ourselves... it was heaven.
The picture of Z below is one of my favorite from the entire trip.

I said it on Instagram, FB and it bears repeating: why a Daddy needs a daughter, and vice-versa. 

MWSBF treated us to a Padres game. The kids did fantastic -
we stayed in our seats through the 7th inning stretch and then called
it a night before any meltdowns happened...
Zoe looks forlorn but this was a few minutes before we left. 

Making memories... We discovered our kids are just as joyful at the beach
as they are at Disneyland. Sand seems a lot cheaper. 

Another of my favorites. It was really amazing how
she'd just sit and stare at the water...

I call this photo: "Holden Daniel-Craig Mangum." He was not yet in swimwear, and since
it was still 10 in the morning, he just got down to his "unders"and made it happen.
Even the morning cloud cover and cold Pacific water temp could not deter him...

Mama Sherpa: since Danny was in meetings for most of our trip during the days
 it was either get out on the beach and to the pool myself, or don't do anything...
so we put the stroller and the Ergo pack to good use and like a pack-mule made it happen! 

Our last night in Coronado - we ordered pizza and let the kids play on the beach. 

I was grateful Danny had booked us a later flight.
So after out late check-out we hit up Mama Testa's for tacos,
found this cool urban art piece around the corner and then discovered what
Will Ferell and Eric Weddle already knew: that Mariposa Icecream is divine.
It's covered in pictures of famous celebrities and Beatles memorabilia - 

as we were leaving, and crossed the road having just seen 

the Abbey Road cover Holden remarked, "Hey our family looks like the Beatles!"