Zoë will be twelve weeks old tomorrow.  She has done some "leveling-up" recently.  She now wears size 2 diapers... she is grabbing more things with her Baby Grab power... and she is breaking free from her swaddle at night.  Maybe this weekend we will try putting her to bed at night without the swaddle. 

I take taiko drumming lessons at the local community college.  Among other programs, they have some sort of horticultural studies.  There is a cactus garden on the campus.  Due to my fear of plants, I usually stay far away from the cactus garden.  But this past weekend, the usual parking lot was closed -- probably for the holiday -- so I had to park by the cactus.



The sign reads, "Please do not take the cactus.  If you want cuttings, go to building..."  Not likely.

For Zoë's first Fourth of July, she wore her Patriotic onesie.  My childhood friend Tara gave us this onesie.  Zoë looked very proud of her country.



She's all ready to drool on some terrorists.  We didn't do a lot for the holiday.  We ended up hiking up the lighthouse trail again.  Zoë has contintued to perfect her Baby Grab, and she successfully manipulates her Eeyore.



The picture's a little blurry because we were in the car. 

Fortunately, the fireworks didn't bother Big Z too much throughout the night.  I was a little worried, because Zoë definitely reacted to them in utero.  For New Year's, Then-Flipper-the-Fetus-Now-Zoë  was kicking my belly constantly when the neighbors were lighting off fire crackers.  But thankfully our neighbors weren't lighting them off for the Fourth, so the sound was farther away.  Zoë slept just fine.

Brian had today off, so we went for a drive.  First, we went to the lookout off of Kalanianaole Highway.  The water was deep blue.

Zoë got to look out over the ocean from her car seat.

 

Then we went to the Halona blowhole.  This time, Zoë strolled in her stroller.  There were lots of tourists out today.



After that, we ate lunch in Kaneohe, and then drove out to Pearl City to go for a walk along the harbor.  Big Z enjoyed the drive.



Happy Day Before the Fourth of July (or as Brian says, Happy July 3rd!).

 

These days, with the prevalence of SIDS, babies aren't supposed to sleep on their tummies.  They're supposed to sleep on their backs.  The problem is that because of never being on their tummies, they don't develop upper-body strength.  So modern parents turn their babies upside down every day for a period of time referred to as "tummy time."  Most babies hate it, and Zoë is no exception.  She cries as soon as we roll her over.  Brian doesn't even let her go the full ten minutes, because he can't stand the crying.

Here's Big Z on her tummy:



And here's her typical angst-filled expression:



Poor baby. 

Someone needs to make this game with a prosecutor as the protagonist.  And it should be a chick.

Zoë likes to watch me practice my taiko drumming.  I generally pound out the rythm on our bed.  So I gave Zoë a bachi and let her play.

Zoë has reached an important Female Baby Milestone:  she has discovered that it is fun to take her dress hem and pull it up.  Here she is preparing with her Baby Grab:

 

Then finally, success!

Check out that action shot.  Anyway, this is why baby girl outfits have bloomers.
 

Poor Huluhulu. He is constantly licking himself. I think he might have allergies. He licks himself until his fur is completely damp. Then he takes a break to scratch himself. Then he licks himself again. He has been doing this for the past few months. Brian thinks Hulu might be allergic to our tree that is flowering right now. We will take him to the dogwash. If he keeps licking and scratching after that, then I'll take him to the vet.

Hulu's other problem is this one particular picker bush near where we live. Every time Brian takes Hulu for a walk, Hulu goes right for it. Then Brian has to cut the pickers out of Hulu's chin when they come home.

Big Z already has quite a collection of stuffed animals. It's hard not to keep buying them for her. Today, Yo gave her a cute honu. Soon, Big Z's stuffed animal collection will be bigger than her mother's. Now we just need to work on the jewelry... :p