As promised, here is a cute video of Zoe on her first plane ride.  This picture was taken just after the drink service, so she was feeling pretty happy!

Jon Q

I write about medical research for a living, so I’ve come across my fair share of unusual studies and findings. I have to admit being pretty surprised, though, when I read this morning about a Johns Hopkins study looking at the connection between a mom’s heartburn and her baby’s hair. The resesarchers set out to disprove the old wives’ tale (which I had never heard of) that women who experience heartburn during pregnancy will have babies with full heads of hair – yet the findings actually backed up the old adage. (Out of 28 women who reported moderate to severe heartburn, 23 had babies with average or above-average amounts of hair; out of 12 women who reported no heartburn, only two had babies with lots of hair.) The link – which has something to do with the hormones that cause heartburn – seems pretty bizarre to me, but I guess it could be valid. After all, I had fairly bad heartburn during the last trimester – and Zoe now has a nice big head of hair (as shown in this pic from earlier today).

Zoe, I think you owe me one!!

-M

 

As Q mentioned below, we made it back from Madison last night. I had been a bit nervous about flying with Zoe, but she handled it like a champ (and the airline – American – was great to us). As for the trip, we were only in town for a long weekend but we really packed a lot in. Zoe got the chance to hang out not only with her grandparents and Aunt Sandy, but also with some new friends: her cousins Aimee, Neill and baby Tanner (see 12.28 entry for more on Tanner); her great-aunt and uncle Joanne and Al; her mom’s college friends Eva, Beth and Drew; and her honorary great-aunt Kathy. Playing with Tanner, of course, was a real highlight: they’re only five days apart and had been dying to meet. Oh, and did I mention that Zoe saw snow for the first time??

Here are a few more pics from our weekend.

-M

 

It is official, Zoe made it out of California and back! Except for a little crying on the descent into SFO, she was pretty perfect. She slept the whole trip from Madison to Chicago. Then had a fun time people watching in Chicago (and people watching her.) Then on our longest leg (4 and a half hours) Zoe mostly slept and played. She is getting very talkative and the videos are soon to come.  For now, here are a few pictures of our final 2 flights…

Mom and Zoe on take off…

Zoe napping…

Wakey, wakey…

Sleeping on her second plane of the day…

Ready to play…

Jon Q

Flying was everything Zoe thought it would be…sleeping, people watching and little bags of peanuts!  She certainly was a model flyer and we will give everyone updates on all of her flights when we return.  We’ll also post a bunch of pictures of Zoe’s Madison trip in a few days (we have only taken 150 pictures so far, including 25 videos.)  But for now, here is a photo timeline of her first day of flight.

All set to go at 6am (of course, we didn’t leave until 6:30am) –

Ready for take-off (sleeping, her second favorite thing to do while flying) –

Snack time (eating, her favorite thing to do while flying) –

Layover in Chicago (people watching is also fun) –

Made it to Madison (at least one of us is well rested) –

With the Grandparents (hi, Grandma Vicki and Grandpa Larry!) –

 Jon Q

So, tomorrow is a big day for Zoe – it will be her first trip on an airplane! We are heading to Madison for the long weekend and will return on Tuesday afternoon. Zoe is very excited for this trip…she has already packed and is out shopping with her mom for some last minute clothes. The forecast is good for Zoe to see her first snow tomorrow. She keeps talking about sledding and ice skating, but for this trip she may just be staring at the snow through the window. We are crossing our fingers that she likes air travel as much as we do…

Jon Q

I’ve never been much of a baby person. I was never the type to stop moms on the street to coo at, or talk about, their babies – and I was always the first person to roll my eyes at the sound of a crying child. I never thought I was terribly maternal, either – a belief that was perpetuated by the fact that as a little girl, I would throw my dolls down the stairs (instead of hug and care for them). Although I *wanted* to be a mom, I honestly wasn’t overly excited about taking on this new role. (There were even a few times during my pregnancy when I told Q I couldn’t blog about what I was *really* feeling; I was convinced our readers would think I would be a terrible mother!)

Imagine my surprise, then, when I gave birth and fell madly in love with Zoe. Every cliche I’d ever heard about childbirth and parenthood played out before my eyes, and I understood in an instant what all the hub-bub about babies was about. I was completely (and foolishly, I know) unprepared for the intensity of my feelings and the experience, and I remain in awe over the fact that a person can care so much about someone they’ve just met.  

Twelve weeks after giving birth to Zoe (Happy 12-Week Birthday, Zoe!), I’m still recovering from the shock and wonder of everything that has transpired. I don’t necessarily feel like a totally different person (and I think that’s a good thing) – but I do consider myself a happier person. A luckier person. Oh, and maybe even a baby person. :)

-M

 

One more fun video of Zoe on Valentine’s Day 2007.

Jon Q

Zoe just wanted to wish everyone a happy Valentine’s Day!

Jon Q

Now that Zoe’s a bit older, she’s quite curious about the world around her – and she spends a good amount of time just sitting and taking in everything. Her two favorite hang-out spots are her pink Boppy pillow and her musical chair; check out a few of this morning’s chill-out minutes in the chair.

-M

OK, so it has been a few days…but Zoe has been very busy.  With her dad in Las Vegas and mom partying with Zia Angela someone had to take care of the house.  Well, we are all back now and having a good time.  Here are some fun pictures of little Zoe and a little video of her chillin with Dad.

Jon Q

Zoe loves all the fun toys she gets. Just the other day, she got a fun Badger mobile and it is hard to get her off her changing table! Check it out:

Jon Q

Both Zoe and I are pretty cheery this week. I’m in a good mood because I’ve been getting lots of sleep; Zoe slept through the night *again* last night! (Could this be the start of something permanent?) Zoe, meanwhile, is happy because she discovered a new toy: her thumb. She seems to have lost interest in shoving her entire fist in her mouth; now she prefers that one little digit. I couldn’t help but snap a few pics of Zoe in all her thumbsucking glory…

-M

This isn’t, sadly, surprising news – but a study came out last week showing that the U.S. has some of the weakest workplace policies in the world for families. According to an AP article on the Harvard/McGill University study, we lag “far behind virtually all wealthy countries with regard to family-oriented workplace policies such as maternity leave, paid sick days and support for breast-feeding… Notably, it says the U.S. is one of only five countries out of 173 in the survey that does not guarantee some form of paid maternity leave; the others are Lesotho, Liberia, Swaziland and Papua New Guinea.” The article goes on to say that the Labor Department is considering scaling back the Family and Medical Leave Act, which gives workers up to a total of 12 weeks of unpaid leave a year. How depressing!

Q and I are lucky in that we live in California – the only state that provides paid family leave. (And our employers have been great to us, also.) But what about people who live elsewhere? Or who can’t afford to take unpaid time off to be with their child? Even before I became a mom, I recognized the importance of family-friendly workplaces – and I can’t believe the U.S. isn’t stepping up and enacting new, better policies!

(Okay, I’m done with my political rant now.) 

-M

Dan and Jenny were our first official babysitters last night! Michelle and I got a chance to go to a movie and grab some food without worrying about Zoe for a few hours (of course, Michelle made me call them like 100 times, but we won’t count that). As it turned out, she slept almost the whole time. Right after we left, she gave Dan a good crying fit, but 20 minutes later she was fast asleep and didn’t wake up until we got back 2 and half hours later! So, a big thanks from us parents. Hopefully, she’ll be this good for future babysitting events!

Jon Q