Zoe, Stella and Family: Fall and Winter Fun

Hey ZoZo and Nuggie Fans,

It’s been a while since we have officially reported the goings-on of Zoe and Family, but hopefully you've enjoyed our happenings in pictures and in real life. Above all, we are excited to announce the advent of ‘Nuggie’ who is scheduled to arrive on June 28^th. Yiayia and Papou found out a little early, but we had some fun with Situ and Jidu when we announced it to them on Christmas Eve (video below and here). We wrapped a Zoe-sized 'Big Sister' t-shirt into a small Christmas gift and had Situ help Zoe open it up. It took her a few seconds (it’s fun to watch her mind working), but when she finally got it she said, ‘Zoe! OMG!’ Jidu’s reaction is just as priceless – he can’t stop cracking up as he hears the news.

Keeping the secret from October to December wasn’t easy, but we had a lot of fun family times along the way. In October we went applepicking with cousins Ryan and Dylan and celebrated Ryan’s second birthday with a truck-themed party;

John Deere and Ryan Pangis are definitely BFF.

For Halloween, Zoe dressed up as Pooh from head to toe, complete with a little stuffed belly. She rang doorbells up and down the block collecting candy until she finally fell asleep on Daddy’s shoulder for the walk home (even though she had eaten SIX lollipops already).
In

November we had a great time visiting the dinosaurs again at Field Station: Dinosaurs with Serafina Visco, and by Thanksgiving we were back at Ryan & Dylan’s house in Brewster for some turkey.

Nothing beat December and New Years, though. Christmastime was all about celebration and cookies and presents and fantasy football playoffs. You guys didn’t know Zoe plays fantasy football? She’s hooked – she had four teams and made the playoffs in all of em. Unfortunately she didn’t win the championship pot of gummy bears this year though. She did, however, build a gingerbread house with Serafina, bake sugar cookies in the shapes of leg lamps and ‘deranged easter bunnies,’ and leave out milk and cookies for Santa who declared she was a ‘nice’ girl this year.

We had THREE Christmases. The first one was Christmas Eve in Tenafly which had lots of action. We all met Uncle Ben’s mom for the first time, Jidu didn’t put out dinner til 9pm (as usual), we announced Nuggie, and Zoe opened at least a dozen presents before she got fatigued and finally broke down at 11:28pm. That’s the latest she’s ever stayed awake since she learned how to sleep, and she did it without a nap. I don’t know if I should be proud of her or reprimanding myself!

The next morning was Christmas #2 in Rutherford. Santa had come and he left Zoe a note and presents to thank her for the cookies and milk. Once again it was mostly about the wrapping paper, but we had a great time playing with our new toys Woody and Buzz Lightyear.

By the afternoon we had Christmas #3 in Wyckoff with the Mirases, Pangises, Zarwis and Farah too! Santa made a special appearance and Zoe was a great little helper for him. She earned a bunch more presents and had fun shadowing Juliana Pangis (4 years old) around the house.

We had a great New Years Eve / Day wraparound celebration with the Mig-Mallows and the Van-Viscos and our 4.3 children – Noah got the coin in the new years bread this year! Zoe was happy for Noah, but also happy for herself that she was one day away from a trip to Disney World! Later at Yiayia and Papou's, Zoe helped Yiayia cut the bread and Zoe got a coin too!

Disney was a perfect vacation trip for Zoe this year, especially following Christmas. All of the characters from Monsters Inc., Toy Story and Winnie the Pooh were fresh on her mind, and there was no shortage of character sightings around the Disney grounds. We stayed at the Polynesian resort which was a hop, skip and a jump to Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom and Epcot Center. We dined with ‘Chef Mickey,’ gentle princesses, wicked stepsisters and of course Pooh. We took pictures with Sulley and Wazowski and Green Army Men. We danced in the parade with Woody and Jessie. We rode lots of rides and even did a safari, but the best parts of the trip were just hanging out carefree. Well, I also liked posing with Mike Wazowski – we have matching mouth appliances!

Now it’s back to reality, but it’s not all bad. I keep telling myself I enjoy shoveling, and Mommy keeps telling me ‘never again’ every morning after she wakes up sick J But Zoe is learning how to pee and poop on the potty, she’s napping at daycare now, and she doesn’t mind staying in from the cold to hang out with mommy and daddy all day long when she can.

That’s all for now – stay warm! If you need inspiration, check out Zoe’s summer album!