The very first time Wayne and I laid eyes on Zoey was at our first ultrasound. She was just a little peanut – waving and wriggling. Looking for all the world like she was dancing. Really! She blew us away. We were scared to death and had no idea what we were in for.

I loved her instantaneously.

She’s still wriggling her way through my life. Teaching me to be patient, to compromise, to enjoy every moment. It’s all happening too quickly. There’s truly never, ever a dull moment. I haven’t uttered the words “I’m bored” in 18 months.

She’s coloring on her clothes, the floors, the walls – and usually the paper too. She’s using two-word phrases like: big ball, say please, I pee, twinkle star, I got, all gone. She’s pointing to everything – in fact, those index fingers are out all the time. She cut her first molar on the upper right side. She has a picture dictionary that’s bigger than she is – she lugs it out everyday and knows all the words in it. She grins at me when I tell her “no” and runs away when I come after her. She’s so super-amazing smart it knocks my socks off.

And, sadly, Wayne’s missing it. But he’ll be home this summer, and she’ll have bigger and better tricks up her sleeve to show him.