Since I haven’t posted in a few days, I thought I’d share some random thoughts/observations.

1- For two nights now, Zoe has slept 5-6 hours per stretch. This has been fabulous for me (and Q), of course, and it makes me wonder: can we be that far off from a 8-hour night??

2- Zoe’s eyelashes and eyebrows, once so pale they were almost white, are getting darker (which is something I noticed the other day). I wonder what this means for the future color of her hair?? On a related note, her doctor recently commented that she thinks Zoe’s eyes will stay blue. I’m not sure what she is basing this opinion on, but I’m super anxious to see if she is right!

3- Zoe’s next doctor’s appointment is Tuesday, and I can’t wait to see what she weighs. She’s getting to be a very big girl – she’s got to be way over 10 lbs by this point.

4- As Q just posted, we got great news about Zoe’s platelets on Friday. I’m happy about the news, but I’m SO SICK of platelets. I really hope Zoe’s done with all the blood draws at this point. (Her mom is another story, but I’m used to that!)

5- Most importantly, I’m happy to report that Zoe smiled at me for the first time yesterday! She has been smiling at her dad for awhile now, and I was starting to get a little down about it (does she like her dad better than me, I couldn’t help but wonder) – but, then, she rewarded me with a nice, toothless grin. I hope there is more where that came from!!

-M

 

We see her every day, so we know how big Zoe is getting.  But when I look at her picture, I realize just how small she really is.  Check her out on a King sized bed…

Jon Q

Well, yesterday I got the pleasure of escorting Zoe to UCSF for another blood draw.  She was very good and ran around the hospital with me trying to find someone to register us (that is a whole other story). When we finally got to the place to get her blood taken, the same lady as last time was there.  She said Zoe was very good, and the whole ordeal only took about 5 minutes from when we were called to when we got to leave.  The even better news is that Zoe’s platelets were up to 402K!  That is the highest they have been since we have gotten them checked, and we are crossing our fingers that this was the last test!  The little one has had more blood drawn in 5 weeks than her daddy has his entire life!

Here she is on her way back from the hospital… 

Jon Q

My best friend growing up was my cousin Aimee; about a jillion of my childhood memories have her in them, and we were in one other’s weddings. I’m sure you can imagine how thrilled we were when we discovered last spring that we were both pregnant – and expecting wtihin weeks of one another! As it turned out, Aimee had Baby Tanner just five days after I had Zoe. Tanner and Zoe haven’t met yet, but I’m confident they will be close friends. And there might even be some family resemblance – what do you think??

-M

When I was pregnant, Q and I took several baby preparation classes. They were fairly helpful – especially for me, who had little experience with children – and I was pretty intent on using all the information once Zoe arrived. In fact, one day during my maternity leave (geek alert!) I actually typed up all my notes – with the intention of referring to them when the baby was here. The truth is that I haven’t referred to those notes once, and I have found the whole taking-care-of-baby thing pretty instinct-based. People warned me this would happen, and they were correct: you just sort of learn as you go along. It quickly becomes clear what is “normal” and what is not (it becomes unnecessary, for example, to count dirty diapers or track the amount of sleep your baby gets), and you quickly learn your baby’s likes and dislikes. I suppose parenthood is this way for a reason – after all, I doubt baby preparation classes were available hundreds or thousands of years ago – but I’m still amazed (and pleased) by how it’s all played out for us.

-M

OK, check out the cute videos of Zoe sneezing and trying to talk – look under “Links to Video” on the right-hand side.  I’ll start to add more short videos there in the future, so check back for more…

Jon

For ease of use, we thought we would also put them here:

Zoe Sneezing:

Zoe Trying to Talk:

As previously posted, Zoe, mom, and dad went to Napa over the Christmas weekend.  Below is a photo of Zoe at her first winery, Viansa.  We wanted to makes sure she had an appreciation for wine at an early age.  As our doctor said, she can never start learning early enough (although I don’t think she meant wines…)

Jon Q

While on vacaction, Zoe decided to hop on the phone.  She had a nice conversation with her Safta Irith.  I am not quite sure what they were talking about…must be a girl thing…

Q

 

Oh, one other thing…Zoe was dressed up like a little bear today.  Thought you might like to check her out:

This is a big weekend for Zoe, who is about to go on her first get-away! Because we can’t be in Madison this weekend, Q and I decided to do something fun and go to Napa. We got a little cottage there, and the three of us are heading out later this morning. Should be an adventure…

I’m personally quite excited, but I will still miss celebrating the holiday with my parents and sister (Aunt Sandy). Merry Christmas, you guys!!

-M

Zoe is one month old today, and it’s time for a quick update on how she’s changed these past four weeks. She’s grown more than two pounds and one inch (her face is much rounder than it was when she was first born), and she graduated out of “newborn” diapers last weekend. She continues to eat about every three hours (hence the healthy weight gain), occasionally going four or five hours in the night – when we’re lucky! In terms of physical milestones, she can now hold up her head on her own, and she recently started grabbing for and holding her pacifier. (She also loves grabbing on to her mom’s necklace!) Personality-wise, she’s still pretty mellow – but she cries and “talks” a lot more than she did just a few weeks ago. When she needs to be soothed, bouncing on the bed, singing or telling funny stories seems to do the trick… I haven’t seen a full-fledged smile, yet (Q thinks he has), but she certainly has had some happy faces!

To mark the occasion, I’m posting below 12 previously unposted pictures from the last four weeks. (The last two were taken a few nights ago.) These are some of my faves…which one is your favorite?

-M

 

 

It’s Zoe’s four-week birthday, and she spent it (like most of her other days) with family. Here are a few pics of Zoe with Uncle Dan and his girlfriend Jenny, who came over last night for Hanukkah. I also like the one of the three of us!

-M

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how our lives have changed since having Zoe. For me, one of the biggest adjustments has been coping with the unpredictability of things. Although Zoe remains a fairly mellow baby, she certainly does have her “moments” – we just never know when they’ll occur. Sometimes she goes right to sleep after eating, while other times she won’t stop howling and refuses to fall asleep. Sometimes she seems to enjoy riding in the car, while other times she practically screams bloody murder when I put her in her carseat. Sometimes she is soothed by her pacifier and (amazingly) my off-key singing, while other times it takes a lot more than that to comfort her. I could go on and on (and I’m sure all the parents out there have their own list for their kids) but the point is that she continues to mystify me (in a good way, of course). Maybe it will be like that for awhile…

-M

Last night was the annual Kuvata holiday party (Kuvata is the company I work for) and not only was Zoe invited, she actually went. This was her first party, and she was excellent. Not only did she make it through the poker dart gift-giving tournament (we won some great prizes), she actually slept the whole time. She went nearly 5-and-a-half hours between feedings and didn’t make a peep at the party. (Must have been all the eggnog we gave her…just kidding!) She was content to sit in front of the fire that was airing via DVD on the TV and listen to the soft music coming from the speaker behind her. We’ll have to get our hands on that DVD for when she needs another long nap!

Jon Q

Q has been known to sing the Sesame Street rubber ducky song (“Rubber ducky, you’re the one/ You make bathtime lots of fun”) to me in Hebrew. I’ve always been a big fan of that song – and now Q has someone else to sing it to! Zoe doesn’t mind bathtime as much as I thought she would; check out a few pics from her most recent experience. (Note that it’s Q bathing Zoe. I’m still somewhat intimidated by the whole bath thing!)

-M

This is the first year I won’t be in Madison for the holidays (it just didn’t seem feasible to travel this year), and I’ve been feeling a little blue about it. I was thinking about my situation last night, when I got an e-mail from a good friend who is also facing a tough holiday season. (This is her first Christmas without her father, who passed away this summer.) She commented that she’s been focused on counting her blessings these days – and I realized I should take a cue from her. Instead of focusing on what I’ll be *missing* this year, I’ve decided what I should do is focus on what I’ve *gained* and what I’m blessed with – namely, a sweet little baby. Another friend, as well as my mom, suggested I consider Zoe the ultimate present – and that also comforted me.

I might not make it to Madison this year, but Q and I do have a lot to be thankful for. And there is always next December to look forward to!

-M