In honor of Zooey's 4-month birthday, here's a video of the little lady rocking out to some mid-80s Austrian pop goodness. You know you want to sing along.

My good friend Thomas was in town this weekend, along with his wife Colleen and his very handsome son Christopher. We took advantage of their presence and had ourselves a little Baker University reunion. Food! Toys! Moderate destruction! It was just like old times (except, you know, for the offspring). Here are some photos of the occasion.

Below is Thomas with Christopher. In the foreground is Emily's son Cooper, who is taking a picture of me while I take a picture of him.

This is a picture of Christopher meeting Zooey for the first time.

Nick, Zooey, and Michael.

Michael's son Parker is in the Cozy Coupe. Behind is Thomas playing with Christopher.

Alan and Kristen on the sofa. Emily sitting with Cooper, and Nick sitting with Zooey.

And finally, here are a couple of photos taken of Zooey in the outfit that my talented friend Mary Ann made for her.

Karate kick!

As the title indicates, here's a collection of random photos taken over the past few weeks.

First up is my latest project, the Octopus's Garden jacket. I used green and white damask fabric and cut out an octopus shape that I had drawn out. I then applied fusible web paper to the back, heated it until it was attached, and stitched it all on with light blue contrast thread. And added button eyes, natch.

I love this picture of Zooey playing with her daddy.

Mere moments after this photo was taken, the truck unhinged its jaw and devoured the little sedan beside it. Seriously.

"Oh noes! More pictures of me!"

Cute baby, cute dress, nuff said.

I ordered this charm on Etsy (an online crafts bazaar). Remember the evil robot Maximilian from Disney's "The Black Hole"? This is him! Isn't he the coolest?

And last but not least, more Tummy Time!

Last week my mom and I took Zooey to the Bloch Building, which is the newest addition to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in downtown KC. We learned several things on this trip. First, Zooey has a teeny tiny bladder. Second, Zooey really likes contemporary art, especially the work of George Segal. And third, Zooey does not care for the 16th-19th century Indian paintings we looked at (apparently the detail is too fine and no one provided her with a magnifying glass). All in all she did pretty well, and we're hoping we can take her back when she's older.

Here we are by the Thinker, hoping to tune in to his very profound thoughts. (Fire power.)

This is the inside of the Bloch Building. As you can see, the design is really beautiful and the windows are placed so that the interior is absolutely full of light.

Here's my mom holding Zooey beside a bronze statue that we befriended.

Other recent developments in our lives include . . . a fabulous new table! (Zooey's wardrobe was provided by Mama, who can't seem to stop making cutesy applique designs for her little one.)

"Punk Rock Girl, give me a chance

Let's go slamdance, we'll dress like Minnie Pearl

Just you and me, Punk Rock Girl."

Here's Zooey in the bath . . .

And on her tummy . . .

And with her pacifier . . .

For Memorial Day, we took a family trip to the playground and helped Zooey play on the equipment.

Here she is licking the snozzberries on her shirt.

And here she is again, just looking adorable. Does she really need to do anything beyond that?

Guten tag! Here are some photos from my first Mother's Day, as well as a few stragglers that I just thought were cute. FYI: Mother's Day this year was on the same day as our anniversary (my "mom-aversary" as Nick says), so, as we do every year, we went out to Clinton lake and had a wee picnic on the spot where Nick proposed to me. You can see that the weather contributed to the romance by providing a healthy dose of coldness and drizzling rain.

So here we go.

Below, you'll see Nick offering Zooey a sip of his soda. (She politely declined, opting instead for her usual beverage, which was conveniently on tap.)

This photograph was taken mere moments before a massive poop. Maybe you can tell by her expression?

As you can see in this picture, Zooey has started drooling quite a bit recently. I'm really hoping this doesn't mean she is about to begin teething. (Apparently I started teething at about 6 weeks, so there is genetic precedent.)

Try as she might, she just can't keep her eyes away from the food source. "Zooey, honey, my eyes are up HERE."

Trying . . . and failing . . . to get her to look at the camera.

Still trying . . . .

Zooey looking cute as she attempts to devour her hand. As a side note, you know what I think of every time she does this? That painting by Goya where Saturn eats his kids for breakfast. I'd link to it, but . . . well, you know. Kinda gross.

I made this monster applique and sewed it onto a onesie while I was pregnant. Now, finally, she can fit into the thing.

And finally, here I am reading to Zooey from the Brown Bear book that Aunt Emily got for us. Yay!

Lately, our little Zooey has been associating with some rather notorious characters. Just this past week, for example, I've observed her chatting with Che Guevara . . .

Cavorting with Cthulhu . . .

Fraternizing with the Fett . . .

And . . . um . . .

playing with Nick.