rainbow bright meets flashdance

Sorry for the lack of postings/pictures as of late; our camera is out of batteries and the charger is in a very safe and logical place that I have not yet located.

But! We have a camera on the computer, so here is an impromptu photo shoot, starring Zoë and yours truly.

The End.

shameless, unadulterated bragging

I finally caved and took Zoë to have "portraits" taken yesterday. I was pleasantly surprised at the photographer's efficiency and ability to get Z to smile. I was even more surprised that I managed to escape without purchasing $300 worth of portraiture, despite that same photographer's concerted efforts. I was shocked that no one offered me thousands of dollars and a modeling contract.

Because HOLY SMOKES this kid is cute. Objectively speaking, of course.


I mean, seriously.


Where did she COME from?


Don't answer that. Rhetorical question.

today's post brought to you by the letter ë.

Z - O - E (dot dot) is sixteen weeks old!  Here's a little post to nibble on in her honor, along with (finally) some new pictures.

Tim and I tried to keep our potential baby names a secret during my pregnancy -- with limited success. It didn't help that we were pretty sold on Zoë from the get-go. As it turns out, nine months is a long time to keep a secret. Especially if your initials happen to be TWH.

What we couldn't agree on (besides whether or not to KEEP OUR MOUTHS SHUT) was the spelling.  A serious Salinger fan, Tim was partial to Zooey; I was convinced - rightly so, I still maintain - that this would result in the unfortunate mispronunciation ZOO-ee for the rest of her life. But neither Zoey nor Zoe struck our fancies. We loved the sound, hated the look.  

Don't be a hater, Mom.

Except. There was Zoë. I didn't know or care what the dots meant. I just liked 'em. To me, they added a little pizazz, a little flare. Not ONLY does the name have a Z, it also has curious dots. Whee! What more could a girl want?

Turns out the dots are actually legit.  Here is a mini-lesson from an admitted grammar freak on two dot punctuation, or the diacritic.

There are two types of diacritics: umlauts and tremas. Contrary to popular opinion, the dots in Zoë's name are not an umlaut. (Though it would be pretty sweet if her name DID have an umlaut.) An umlaut signifies a different pronunciation of a certain vowel.  

The trema signifies that the second of two vowels should be pronounced separately.  You may have seen it in words like naïve, or perhaps coöperation (if you read the New Yorker).  So Z's two dots mean that her name does not rhyme with "toe."

For the practical application of said dots, all you need is a simple keycode.  On a Mac, you press option/u, then the e.  Easy, right?  On a PC, it's a little trickier.  You hold down the left "ALT" key, then enter 0235 using your numeric keypad.  I think.  

Somëtimës I likë to put thë dots on all my "ë's", just for kicks.

So there you have it.  The funny thing is, legal names are no longer allowed punctuation (due to an ever-increasing number of punctuated names over the past few years), so Zoë's real name is Zoe.  But we'll keep rocking the dots anyway.  

Everyone needs a little flare, right?