Zoe has the distinct honor of being able to claim Waukesha, Wisconsin, the hometown of the great Les Paul, as her birthplace. Even though she comes from the middle of the country, and has heritage in the deserts of the west, she can definitely identify with the beach bum crowd. She likes the beach so much that she's got nick names for each one that we go to. This is a picture of me having just buried her at "the Far Beach" (Cannon Beach). This was the only way I could get her to stay in one place long enough for us to get a decent picture. Zoe has also learned to love sea creatures since we moved to the North West, and actually does a spectacular Sea Lion impersonation. Notice all the super cool purple and orange star fish on the bottom of the rock behind Zoe in the picture below.
A few Christmases back we made one of the biggest mistakes that parents can commit; we bought her a little girl drum set. I've yet to regret this decision, even though it has resulted in a lot of rock and/or roll...at least as much as can be produced by a drum kit with Elmo on the bass drum. Many a times we've put on little concerts with Zoe on her drums and me on the guitar. I love it when she raises the orange drumsticks over her head and bangs them together to count off the tempo of the song, usually getting all the way to seven or eight. Then she starts bangin' the drums and makes up lyrics as she goes. I've exposed little Zoe to a lot of Beatles music, as a matter of fact, her first night home from the hospital she and I walked around
our apartment listening to the Beatles Lullabies CD that I had put together. She is now able to sing most of "
Drive My Car" and "Eight Days a Week". I couldn't be more proud. It makes me really happy when she shouts "Beep Beep, Beep Beep Yeah!" when we're driving about. Maybe she likes "cool" music (as she calls it) because we drag her to countless concerts in the park all summer. Here she is enjoying an Elvis impersonator. She was thrilled that her shirt matched Mr. Presley's car.
It's not just Zoe that has big plans for her future, Sara and I have also made a few goals for her. Sara has been very successful in accomplishing their mutual goal of transforming Zoe into a beautiful princess.
I can't think of many times that we've left the house without Zoe and Sara spending first spending several minutes primping and curling so they can look their very best.
The latest beautifying weapons are her Sunday morning curlers, which she's not afraid to show off with a classic glamour pose. I'm so lucky to have such a great wife to raise such a great daughter.
My big hopes for Zoe's future mostly involve her menu choices. Currently she still demands a very limited cuisine of orange foods including ronis and cheese, cheetos, fishy crackers, corn on the cob and ramen noodles.
I'd like to mold her into a lover of seafood and international cuisine, as I am still the only one in the household (beside the cat) that ventures into these gastronomical genres. Maybe I can build on her love of sea creatures to create a shrimp eater out of her. She still refuses to eat any candy except for the occasional M&M. Weird kid.
I love my little Zoe, she is such a special little person to me. I can't believe that a day will come when we'll sit with her as adults and have great conversations with about religion, politics and child rearing. Until then, we'll try to listen as intently as possible to never-ending stories about castles, weddings, purple bikes and pet ducks
(which usually end up being boiled and eaten for some reason). Zoe couldn't have been much past two when she first sang from the backseat of the car, "Daddeeee-a-leeeee-a-leeeeee-a-leeee", and my heart was officially melted. I'll do anything to keep that little girl safe and happy. Her daddy must be her favorite person always and forever. What a lucky daddy I am!
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