There is nothing more fun than sitting in the grass and having a family picnic. Here Zoe gets to play a little with Uncle Dan.

Jon Q

Zoe got to spend a sunny day in Napa yesterday. Zoe with her Mom, Dad, Safta, Uncle Dan, and Jenny all got to hang out in wine country. She loved the Gamay Rouge, but loved shopping more. Check out the sun hat she bought!

Jon Q

Zoe loves the mornings. She is always so happy after her morning breakfast and before her morning nap. Today she got to spend time with Safta, which always makes her happy. At this point she recognizes her and smiles every time they are together. Check out the picture below!

Jon Q

Zoe has reached an age where she seems to change every few days. We haven’t posted in several days (‘busy week!), and I’ve noticed new things about her in just that short time-period. The biggest development is that she’s adopted a new squeal – which she now uses all the time (and for no apparent reason). She has also seemed extra happy lately, although that could be due to the fact that Zoe’s Safta is visiting!

Zoe wasn’t feeling well last weekend, and she passed her little bug on to me this week – but thankfully both of us felt better by the time Q’s mom arrived. She’s been spending lots of time with Zoe, and today the three of us enjoyed the gorgeous weather by shopping and wandering around… A true girl’s day! Tomorrow, six of us are heading to Napa for a little day-trip. Zoe is a big wine fan (an off-dry Riesling is one of her faves), so I know she’s super excited about our plans.

-M

This past weekend, the New York Times ran an article discussing the rise in infant mortality rates in Mississippi and a few other poor, Southern states. It described women who go their entire pregnancies without getting prenatal care, and it told a heart-breaking story of a 4-month-old with breathing problems who died after receiving subpar care. The article was amazingly sad, and what was described was so very different than my experience. Towards the end of my pregnancy, because of my blood disorder, I was getting weekly ultrasounds and going in for twice-weekly appointments with my OB – and yet there are thousands of pregnant women (and babies) who receive no care at all! This makes me feel both incredibly blessed and incredibly guilty – and I can’t get over the fact that nothing is being done to address the health care disparities in this country.

A few years ago, I wrote an article for work on our health care system: how messed up it is, and how universal health care could fix many of its problems. I’m hoping the health care issue plays a big role in the 08 presidential election; it’s about time we fix this thing!

-M

As Michelle mentioned yesterday, Zoe is now 5 months old. She also mentioned that we were excited to see her head up while on her tummy. Well, I thought I would post a picture of her playing with her toys. First comes her head up while playing with toys, then comes crawling! You’ll be the first to know if she does make the move…

Jon Q

Zoe is five months today and I’ve got to say that this is a thrilling and fun age! Zoe spends most of her awake time smiling, squealing or opening her mouth VERY wide – as if she’d like to swallow everyone and everything that crosses her path. She puts almost everything in her mouth (or tries to), and her interest in toys (and playing around with her parents) continues to grow. She is pretty equal-opportunity when it comes to her toys, but she does seem particularly fond of a cube-shaped Lamaze toy that rattles, crunches and does other fun things; she also really likes this interactive book that lights up and sings nursery rhymes to her. (The latter is a favorite of her mom’s, too.)

As mentioned above, Zoe loves to laugh – and she’s been doing a lot of it in the last month or so. Two things that get her going every time: tickling her in the tummy and oinking (yes, like a pig) at her. We found out about the oinking last weekend; Zoe’s Aunt Sandy and I were laughing so hard that we wound up crying after a particularly funny laughing session with her.  

In terms of physical developments, Zoe has gotten quite good at holding her head up when on her stomach, and she can now sit unassisted for short periods of time. She’s also able to roll both ways: stomach-to-back and back-to-stomach. She continues to show an interest in standing up – although she’s been able to bear weight on her legs since she was just a few weeks old.

Zoe is still a good little sleeper – going to bed around 8 PM and waking up at 6:30 or 7 AM. (We adopted a stricter bedtime and nap schedule around the Week 17 mark, and Zoe took to it right away.) She usually lets us know when she’s ready to go to sleep by rubbing her eyes and sucking her thumb, and she often puts herself right to sleep when she hits the mattress. (Check out the picture below; doesn’t she look content in her bed?) Once in her crib and even when sleeping, she’s constantly squirming around: doing 180s and flipping between her stomach and back. (Elena, her babysitter, said she’s never seen a baby so young move around so much in the crib.) She continues to take three daytime naps, with the longest starting at 1 PM, and to eat four times a day. She hasn’t started on solids, yet, but Q is anxious for that big step.

We haven’t been to the doctor in a month, but a quick step on the scale tells us that Zoe is between 15 and 16 pounds. Where did our little 7-pounder go??

-M

 

Check out some shots of Zoe playing this weekend. She is all smiles…and doesn’t Mommy look good!

Jon Q

When I went to check on Zoe during her morning nap yesterday morning, I was startled to see two big blue eyes looking my way. Zoe had flipped over on to her stomach and propped herself up with her arms – and was now just looking around, waiting for someone to come get her. I wasn’t surprised that she was awake or that she was on her stomach (she’s shown a preference for sleeping on her tummy for the past few weeks now), but I had never seen her in that position – holding her head up so high – in her crib before. I excitedly called Q to come look, and I couldn’t help but think of what a big girl she’s becoming.

Later in the day, Zoe again reminded me that she’s getting older by sitting up – unassisted – for one of the first times. (Luckily we snapped a good few good pics before she toppled over.)

Although a part of me still gets sad when I think of how big (and old) Zoe is getting, it’s hard not to feel excited (okay, thrilled) when Zoe does new things like this. It may sound funny to be so proud of someone for merely sitting up, but I blame it on being a mom!

-M

Zoe is a girl of many faces. Tough to say if the cute look or the cool look from today is better…you decide.

Jon Q

Zoe is just a bundle of talk these days. Here she is expressing her joy over her fun swing!

Jon Q

As mentioned below, Q dropped off Zoe at daycare today – so Elena got the chance to see him and Zoe together. She reported to me this afternoon that Zoe’s a nice mix of me and Q: she can see both of us in her. She has Q’s mouth and smile, she said – and my eyes. (She didn’t mention Zoe’s pretty, long eyelashes, but those are clearly from her dad!!) It’s always fun to hear who people think Zoe looks like; I see her so often (and have such a skewed perspective, I guess) that I have no clue. I just hope that she winds up with Q’s curls and that her eyes don’t change. (Although, really, who am I kidding. I’ll adore her no matter what her hair and eyes wind up looking like!)

-M

Today, Daddy got to take care of Zoe in the morning since Mommy had to leave really early for work. Zoe got up around 7am (she was actually talking in her crib since around 6:45am) and she seemed very happy. After a quick change, we went right for a nutritious breakfast of steak and eggs (well, it was actually a bottle, but steak and eggs sounded better). Then we watched Zoe’s favorite show, the Little Einsteins. Today’s episode was how the Little Einsteins started. She really liked the red rocket. After the show ended, she changed into one of her favorite laying-around outfits, her pink froggy. Then it was time for Daddy to get ready. Zoe hung out in her bouncy chair while Daddy washed up and got ready for work. After some play time, she was ready to take off for day care. She looked a little tired when I put her in her car seat to go over to Elena’s and she fell asleep in the car (about a 7 minute drive). Elena was happy to see her and was impressed that her Daddy dropped her off. All in all it was very successful and I am sure Mommy will now give Daddy plenty more chances to be on his own…

Jon Q

It’s been a few days since I’ve posted anything – mainly because things have been sort of nutty here. Work has been particularly busy, and Zoe and I have been spending lots of time with my sister (while trying to recover from the shock of seeing her at all!).

As Q mentioned below, Sandy’s visit was a complete surprise to me. When she last visited in Jan., we talked about her coming back out in April – but she seemed somewhat wishy-washy when I mentioned it several weeks ago. Airline tickets were expensive, it might not be the best time to leave work, etc. etc. I was disappointed, but I finally just accepted the fact that we likely wouldn’t see her until this summer. So, naturally I was totally-utterly-completely shocked when she walked into our bedroom on Fri. night. She and Q (as well as my parents) did SUCH a good job at hiding her little trip from me, and the surprise made her visit that much sweeter!

Also sweet: seeing Sandy play with Zoe (who just adores her). Zoe and Sandy are two of my favorite people ever, so having them together just thrills me. Being so far away from family is difficult at times (I hate that Zoe can’t hang out with loved ones any old day), but it also makes the time we all spend together that much more memorable! So… thanks, Sandy, for coming. ZoZo misses you already!

-M

Well, both Mommy and Zoe got a big surprise on Friday night when Aunt Sandy came walking in the door. Daddy was supposed to have been off selling tickets, but instead picked up Aunt Sandy from the airport at 11pm at night. Needless to say Mommy was QUITE surprised on Friday night when Daddy came home with no ticket sales and Aunt Sandy in tow (Michelle had absolutely NO clue she was coming, which made the surprise even better!) The next morning Zoe got the treat of being woken by Aunt Sandy. Below is a morning picture of the two of them. I am sure many more pictures will follow as Sandy is staying until Wednesday afternoon.

Jon Q