We’re back online after an extended hiatus without internet! We received many laments about Zuzu’s blog absence, and all we can say is life has been, well, busy. We’ll catch you up on our happenings in another post, but for the moment we’ll share a few of our favorite pictures from the past months. During the time that has passed since her first birthday, Zuzu has blossomed -- goodbye baby, hello toddler. Zuzu's first haircut was in May. Don't let her smile fool you -- despite eating an arrowroot biscuit while sitting on Jenn's lap at our friend Jen’s salon, Zuzu knew something was suspicious the minute the vinyl cape was draped over her shoulders. We spared you the squirmy "during" pictures and just shared the end result:
One of our "must do" traditions is going to Arts Fest every June. We spent a steamy Saturday downtown inspired by creations, listened to music, took a break for an Indian lunch buffet (another one of our traditions), looked at more art and then lapped up melting gelato. Zuzu carried her rubber duckie around all afternoon. If anyone finds a rubber duckie in the Ped Mall, please call. That weekend she’d started to become confident in her ability to walk and was thrilled to hold onto a pinky as she strolled in the summer breeze.
While Zuzu is a consistent cuddler and loves to be held by one of us, she has become quite busy in her play time at home -- walking a loop between the kitchen, dining and living rooms and sometimes wandering down the hallway only to return with a loose sock or a stray shoe held excitedly above her head, babbling and spontaneously giggling. It's so fabulous to watch her explore. Below was one of those quiet moments in the midst of play time that lasted just long enough for me to grab the camera:
Walking became official in June. Zuzu walks on her tiptoes so much that she wore holes her birthday shoes. Sometimes she has blisters on her toes, but doesn't seem to notice them at all. She is just thrilled to be prancing around on her own. After going barefoot most of the summer, she fell in love with a pair of Crocs from cousin Ella. 
Jazz Fest fell on a hot, humid weekend but Zuzu still seemed happy to be out and about. I think we wound up running into people and talking more than sitting still and taking in the music, but even a brief time on the lawn in front of the Old Capitol among the crowd was fun. With a summer full of long work weeks we were hungry for any time together as a threesome.
Zuzu is saying more new words than we can keep track of. We last counted in June and she was at about 30 words at that time, so I really can’t guess how many she’s saying now. Our favorites include hearing her say "broccoli" and "Amen!". Now she's starting to pair words together a little bit – “Bye bye agua” (in the tub), “What is that?”, “Hi Daddy”, etc. A few weeks ago she started singing “yeah, yeah, yeah!” along to a U2 song. And books, which she loves to read over and over, keep her busy and repeating lots of words.
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