Here Comes A New Shelmet

This year marks Zoe's third Thanksgiving and she was super excited to get to go to Mimi's House (that's what she calls it, sorry Joe Pop). Cheryl picked out a super cute dress for her to wear and, surprisingly, she was all to happy to wear it. Before we left the house she did a little modeling for us. Once we got there, Zoe was very excited to see her cousins. Before they got in to everything, we were able to sit them down and snap a couple of pictures in their holiday finery. The faces were pretty amazing. There was a ton of food to eat and, as per her usual, Zoe didn't eat all that much. She picked here and there and certainly had her fill, but she's not a big eater of things like mashed potatoes or turkey. After the meal was done, it was time for dessert, and there were plenty of cupcakes to go around. Zoe really enjoyed hers. Once the cupcakes were consumed and the faces were wiped, it was time to play. The girls all got along very well, but they

Zoe had her picture taken at PIC for the year and they turned out really well. There were a few to choose from, but we picked these three. As always, it is amazing to note the passage of time and see just how much she has grown. She looks like a little adult in these pictures. How they got her to sit like they did in the second picture and smile and fold her hands, I will never know. I guess she knows that she can just stick her tongue out when I ask her to smile and get away with it. I'll have to work on that.

This weekend I was at my parents' house. While there, I came across my old trumpet, which I used to play back in elementary school. It is in surprisingly good condition and I was actually able to make a few sounds out of it. When I brought it home, Zoe was curious and wanted to give it a try, and she did. Watch. Not only is Zoe musically inclined when it comes to instruments, but she also has a natural rhythm that allows her to dance like nobody is watching. While she doesn't do it for any real duration, on top of the fact that she doesn't much like being filmed, I was still able to get some video of her shaking her minuscule booty. Take a look. She really knows how to shake her groove thang. Expect to see more videos of Zoe dancing, since it is one of my favorite things to watch her do.

During the week, we had a few friends over for dinner. Becky was happy to bring Karim along, and Zoe was super excited to see him. She was very gentle, for the most part, but is also quite handys. By the end of the night she was doing a good job not tickling him on the face, but instead doing it on his belly or feet. At one point she insisted on holding him, and Becky was happy to oblige. Here are a couple of pictures. She was holding him so long, that I was able to take a quick video of it. While Karim is not really enjoying it, that doesn't deter Zoe from making sure he gets a sweet kiss on the head. It's a shame that I wasn't able to actually capture her saying, "He likes me," because it was just such perfect timing. No sooner does she say that, then he cries out. Typical Zoe behavior.

This weekend Zoe and I took some time and put together a fairly elaborate fort in the playroom. It involved the tunnel coming in under her table, a majority of the couch cushions, a few of the chairs and the sheet from our bed. When we got in there, we tried to read some books, but there just wasn't enough light, so I grabbed the headlamps from downstairs. That helped, but then Zoe got hungry. In the dark of the fort, I was able to get a few pictures, but it doesn't really look like we're having a good time. Let me assure you, it was fun while it lasted. Granted, it didn't last very long, but at least Zoe's eyes have been opened up to the potential of forts and how fun they can be. Now we just need to make them more elaborate and get properly lighting and we'll be all set.

Zoe's daycare had a Fall Festival today during the morning. There were treats, like cookies, pretzels and cider, as well as lots of things to do, like make paper crowns, sculpt with playdough and play music on pots and pans. Zoe had a great time swinging and blowing bubbles. You can see more pictures in the Fall Festival set on Flickr. At 3:00pm I picked Zoe up from school so we could get ready to march in the Halloween parade and do some trick or treating. This year Zoe decided that she was going to be the Little Mermaid, Cheryl would be Ursula and I would be Flounder. I know my costume was the weakest of the three, but together, I think we looked pretty damn amazing. She did really well with trick or treating. She only got upset once at a really scary mask that she did not like looking at. Other than that, she got a good amount of candy, which she ate a few pieces while we were walking from house to house. Eventually, we got to the block party and she had some ice cr