memorial day weekend

olan mills-ish?

HI!

pretty

i see the ocean and i love it!

ruffle booty

fistfuls of sand

yum

butts

sometimes things just have to work out a certain way. our way is the beach. zoey loves the beach, as much maybe more, than eric and i do. the water must have been 40 degrees, it made out feet numb, but zoey didn't even wince when we put her feet in. and she would have stayed in until her feet were frozen, in fact i bet she would have crawled in then wondered why she felt like crap a second later. i can't wait to bring her to the ocean when it's warm enough to swim.

i'm also a little worried about her sand consumption. my mom's adventurous and relaxed spirit has definitely become part of me. surprisingly, i was much more at ease letting zoey crawl around in her pants on the wet sand, and eat some of it as well, then eric was. of course, eric is logical and though she might throw up if she ate too much sand. i suppose that's possible. so i stopped her at two handfuls. so i'm thinking i might have to take the pack and play to the beach if i want to get any sort of relaxation.

we also discussed whether putting a rock (bigger than a chokable size) bad for infant's teeth. i'm thinking it is bad, eric tested it out himself and thinks it won't break any teeth. what do you all think?

growing

scary meshface

hayay

the panicked crying started right after this picture

daddy makes me laugh

chubster

let my people gooooooooooooooo....

zoey is now happily cruising around the living room, or wherever, like a drunken monkey. she plays with everything, then nothing. she wants everything we have, like the laptop, which she smacks with fat flat hand and gaping open mouth proclaiming, "hah, hah, hah!"

the other day she was doing that looking at me, so i did it back, and we got progressively louder at each other, and i knew it was wrong, but it was so much fun. i just wanted to see if i could get her to yell, i mean communicate, with me. she did, it was cool. i won't do it again though because it's already hard taking her into the library. the older folks don't think the screetching munch is as cute as i do.

she sits and looks at her board books, with her chubby double chin, so cute. what else is cute, and will become aggravating in later year perhaps, is that she knows when she has something shouldn't, like the tv remote, and when she sees me or daddy coming, she turns tail and crawls (still on two hands, a knee, and a foot, like a crab) SO fast away with her loot. it's hilarious.

her top left middle tooth is almost through, i can see it, and now know it's been the culprit of the month long runny nose, and more night wakings...sleeping is going...better and worse, and better...but i'm feeling rather positive about it right now. ask me right after trying every possible way my currently feeble brain can think of to put zo to bed, and i might tell you, through tears of an adult temper tantrum, that she WILL NEVER EVER EVER EVER SLEEP AGAIN!!! and i will partially believe it.

but i digress.

so, she's almost 11 months, i can't believe it, and i think of how big she is every time i pick her up, or i guess look at her too. the back of her head still fits nicely in my palm when i hold her asleep on my shoulder though, and that's comforting.

Zoey Eats Ice - An Almost Silent Film

May 20, 2008

mamaday

HEY!

holding on tight

light

foot

hoola

uh

happy

new camper bunk

pepe

smirking uncle roger

she did this face all day - didn't like feeling of post nasal drip

hi g-ma!

dimp

cockadoodledoo!

mothers day was lovely, with lots of flowers, and great weather. zoey had the open-mouthed face of shock all day because she didn't like the way her boogies felt in her throat/nose area. at least that's what i think because she kept gagging and holding her mouth open and rolling her tongue. weird. her hair is very fluffy still as you can see.

birday

yesterday was my birthday, a great birthday! zoey slept from 7-11 waking up only once and eric and i got to lie down and watch a crazy episode of lost online. flowers filled the house, and eric brought home vegan store cupcakes that were so chocolaty rich i thought i was going to zing into orbit after eating one. delicious. oh, zoey ALSO slept for 4 hours in a row last night! AWESOME! i knew it would get better, people kept telling me, and i'm glad it seems to be starting. in fact, today she went to sleep for a nap and slept straight for 1 whole hour without waking up 15-20 minutes in like she has been for 2 naps a day for the last two weeks! happy happy day for me!

huh

huh?

grass & lions

yes, finally some grass time

stoic
tired
hick baby

nice cank's !

this looks good, think i'll eat it...

not good NOT GOOD!

studying

the day i took these pictures, i found out going for a three mile walk before bedtime, with a stop for an hour halfway through to check out the mini donkey, goats, cows, chickens, rabbits and kids eating ice cream at the farm, was NOT a quiet calming down type of sleep inducing activity.

speaking of, after two "naps" of 20 minutes today, and then waking up twice between 7pm and 8pm, the munch slept for an hour! it's a miracle! or a lack of boogers, oh and a dose of tylenol. those two top teeth are kicking through still.

i keep forgetting to mention that zoey has a going to sleep while being rocked in our arms habit of grabbing our nose, sometimes delicately, and shoving her thumb up our nostril. hard! it's hurt us a few times. we now both try to turn our head so she grabs and plays with our ear instead. sometimes she goes after the nose with such force, i tell her to RELAX! in a loud whisper. sheesh. she only does it when her eyes are closed and usually before dosing off finally. weirdo.

i know

tails at 10 months

the loot

dandy

nice fat hand

papas

soon to motor herself

and so i came around the corner and found this. remember that picture EVERYONE forwarded you in your email of the cat and dog hugging each other on the couch, and looking quite guilty? this was sort of like that. snacks with daddy.

andrea, me, and delightful wooden spoons courtesy of grandma

reading dandylion in the shadow of mommy's crazy hair

i know i'm tired when:

ONE
i call eric to find out what day it is, BECAUSE i can't decide if it's tuesday or wednesday, which i thought was amusing, and so thought i might just be consciously spacing out and if i think really hard i can remember if it's tuesday or wednesday. then, eric tells me it's thursday.

TWO
i hold zoey out over the saftey gate to swing her to daddy sitting on the couch feet away, because climbing over that gate one more time is just too much to bear, and so that zoey doesn't fall short of daddy's confused arms reaching out, i crash through the gate onto my hands and knees on the living room floor. (so glad we have a new plush rug!)

THREE
i can't tell if i'm tired or not.

-so i looked out the kitchen window this evening as eric was down trying to put the munch to sleep, i saw two little girls playing on their new deck across the street and almost cried for joy when i realized that zoey would be that old someday and sleeping in her own bed! hopefully. not that i don't love a cuddle, but i'm really sick of this sleeping for 15 minutes during the day, and waking every hour or two during the night. i know it will get better, but sometimes i forget. i also know it could be much worse, at least we're all healthy. at least eric is awesome and always there for us! at least i'm so lucky to have zoey and on and on.

-the munch can now successfully cruise (walk holding onto things) along objects like the couch. she is not yet able to reach the back of the cushions though, which is where i keep my book "the no-cry sleep solution", the tv remotes, and other things that happen to land in the living room.
she can also crawl, sort of...by going on her two hands, left knee and right foot, which tends to pitch her forward when it gets too zealous.

-she eats a lot of things, like dried apples, avocado if the mood is right, and rice cakes. she does not care for us feeding her oatmeal laced babyfood, especially the green kind (although she does okay with peas and rice mixture).

-i'm almost certain her right top front tooth is about to come through as today started a fever, runny nose, and miserable time. i hope that it pops out soon so she can feel better and stop chewing on the clear plastic piping we've wrapped the sharp edges side tables in.

-i'm really lucky that zoey is good in the car. she gets a bit fussy when i put her in her carseat, but can be easily distracted. when she gets bored of looking out the window or tired, i turn on the trusty cd betty, allyn, isaiah, and romeo gave her for christmas with toons on it like, "movin' right along" from the muppets and that old hit "boogie shoes" (title?). she particularly likes "don't fence me in." sung by david byrne, as do i. in fact, i was singing/humming/whistling it while getting a cart in the supermarket parking lot when an older gentleman asked me what i was singing, and said, "i thought so. you know during wwII they would play hits on the radio for weeks at a time and that was a popular one." they would play the same song for weeks. talk about getting in your head. it's in my head a lot. it's funny though. zoey like special songs like that one and cookie monster singing "c is for cookie" a month or so ago and would smile when they came on. now, if i have the radio on and she starts fussing, i turn on that cd and no matter what song is on she gets a big smile. THANKS b, a, i, and r! it's become the favorite.