Worth More Than A Thousand Words...

just gotta love that face...

Uh oh...Time for Math Lessons

Tub Time

Holiday Girl

...with a little runny nose.

Birthday Girl

Float Like a Butterfly...

...in case you don't know the rest, here's a little hint...















HAPPY HALLOWEEEEEEEN!!!
Love, Lilah Bee

My Little Pumpkin

Happy Halloween! Part Two!

It's Curtains Fer You, Missee...

Who Can Resist...

...a girl in a pink dress.

How To Make A Mess - A Step-by-Step Guide

step one, open jar.

step two, place baby spoon in jar.

step three, attempt to feed baby.



step four, distract baby with camera.


step five, shove spoon in a first chance you get.

step six, repeat until food is all gone.


step seven, love that face.*



repeat daily until baby is old enough to ask for car keys.

*beautiful baby not included.

Eight Months...How Can That Be?

Since we've been a wee bit delinquent in sending pics of our little one, it's time for the proud mama and papa to show off. Enjoy!

Erin Clow

A few weeks back, my wife had the brilliant idea to hire our wedding photographer to come over and shoot some candids...

Her name is Erin Clow, and here is here website:

http://www.erinclowphotography.com

...and here is her work:







...just magic.

Casualties of War - A Bedtime Story

The other night, Lilah managed to have a rare, fussy night. She awoke at about 2:30, and would not settle down for hours. No matter what i did, she would just writhe and cry and kvetch and crank. Eventually, however, i could tell she was getting tired, and i was way past pooped. But every time i would try to lay her down, or even sit with her, she would be at it again. So i strapped on the trusty bjorn, and got to rockin'.

We rocked back and forth for over an hour. She would kick, and wriggle, and whatnot, but there was nowhere to go. I was going to outlast her. And as usual, as soon as i thought she was out, i would try to sit down with her, and she would be up again.

But finally, i managed to get her to sleep with her on my chest, as i sat down. There was only one problem - i couldn't remove the bjorn without waking her.

I awoke three hours later to a strange clicking sound.

See, my wife is a real character. She's nothing but helpful and supportive almost every moment of her life. However, in this case, she decided to record a moment in time, before offering any aid.

And i present it to you. Portrait of a loving father and daughter.



And yes, that is the sun coming up in the background.

Score One for Genetics

The other day, I opened an email from my father, and was stunned.

Apparently, retirees have a good amount of spare time on their hands, and one of the things they do is play with Photoshop. So pops decided to show everyone just how marvelous the world of science can be.

For those who aren't quite sure, that's David on the left, and Denise on the right...


¡¡Viva la shag carpet!!

Live Nude Girl

it appears that my daughter has just found her 'get out of jail free' card. something tells me she's gonna get away with a lot in her future...

Siiiiiiigggghhhhhhhhh...

Forgive me for not posting until now - it's been a somewhat trying couple of weeks.

My theory is that Lilah's gonna be a heck of a jazz musician, cuz she's gettin' really good at improvising.

One day she'll be peaceful and easy, and then the next she'll cry and cry and cry - she's fed, changed, and adored, but nothing seems to calm her.

And just when I'm about ready to open a classified ad for 'Wanted - Jedi', I look down at what was once a little ball of fussy energy, and she gives me this:


As Phyllis Diller said, "A smile is the curve that sets all things straight."

This can't be my girl...she can't possibly come from part of me. My wife, I can understand, but there's something else going on here...

I swear she's made of magic.

Merry Mish-Mash!!!

Many of you may know that my wife, Denise, and I have created a mixed home. Not only do we enjoy many kinds of cheeses, but we were also raised with two different, though similarly flexible, religious traditions. I was raised Jewish, and Denise was raised Lutheran. So what better time of year to bring those ideas together than the first time since 1959 when Channukah and Christmas happen on the same day?!

Of course, many of you have heard of the war on Christmas (first drugs, then terror, now Christmas...), so I've been searching around for the right way to greet people. "Happy Holidays" has been deemed too inclusive, and therefore intolerable to those less tolerant. And unfortuately all of the other options have proven too...um...sectarian, to suffice. It was quite the conundrum.

Fortuntately, I opened the paper that morning, and found the answer to my woes. Apparently, a family in LA have come up with a catchy concept. Now, I'm not as down with their clumsy gutteral "Chrismukkah" (www.chrismukkah.com), but I did appreciate their way of wishing everyone a "Merry Mish-Mash!!"

So, I bring you warm wishes from the Zweig family...brought to you by our soon to be spiritually confused little girl...

Radio Silence...Well, not quite "Silence"

So you'll all have to forgive me for the last few weeks. Things have gotten more or less hairy around here, and we have one word to blame for it - cholic. Yep, it appears that our lil' girl has just decided to test all of the acoustics in our townhouse with what else? Her sweet, sonorous, shrieking for no good reason.

After a while, you just gotta do whatcha just gotta do.


We're not bad parents...really...

Fortunately, however, we've been able to figure out some work-arounds, and we've been duly rewarded lately. Our lil' girl is starting to make eye contact, and follow people around, and even crack a half-grin here and there. We haven't been able to catch that on camera yet, but I must admit my staring at this from time to time.



Can ya blame me?

Budding Artist...Blooming Geek

This last weekend, my in-laws came to town. Denise's Mom, Stepfather, Sister, and Nephew came to town to get a glimpse of our baby girl...Lilah was smitten instantly.

And all it took was one look at our little Lilah, and her cousin Ben was inspired. He sat down and drew drawings of his favorite subject and mine - Star Wars. Every character lept from his pencil - Darth Vader, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Han Solo, and everyone else. He did a few from the new trilogy too, but the original stuff hits my heart.

So I am proud to present to you, the world premiere of the hottest artist on the scene - Benjamin T. Zahniser.

Check this kid out:



Yeah, my kid's quite the muse...just like mama.

I mean, just look at that...

Sleepless Night

Over the coming weeks, i'll keep attempting to keep everyone in the proverbial loop, not just with what's going on in our lives, but our minds as well.

So for those of you who aren't all that versed in human nomenclature, allow me to explain where we got Lilah's name from.

When I was a kid, my pops used to tuck me in every night with the gentle phrase, "lilah tov, bubbelah". Mind you, "bubblelah" was often replaced with "lollipop," "lambchop," or "sugar" (for a while I thought my folks were trying to decide on a recipe for me). But the steady phrase was always as such.

So when it came time to pick a label for this being i'm holding, i kinda tossed that out there. We toyed with many names...annabelle, miranda, chloe...but lilah always seemed to stay toward the top of the list. After a while, we just kept trying it out on her belly, and it just clicked.

And now, at 1:44 a.m., as I try every baby kung fu trick in the book, I see why. You see, Lilah means 'night'...as in...the time when she prefers to be awake.

Sigh...good thing she's so damn perfect.


Yeah baby...high five. Love you.


and of course, when all is said and done, she's eventually go down for the count. I could watch her sleep all day...which she's done.