A happy fall day

Well, it's been another week since I last posted here, apologies for that. Work has been hectic to say the least (read: hellish), and I just haven't been able to muster the energy or motivation to get back on the computer in the evenings. I think it has something to do with feeling the suction back towards work vs. a battle for balance, but I could be wrong. I guess I'm still reconciling what it means to be a working mom.

Which is why I'm glad that I still have today, and another few Fridays off, left. I have long successfully separated myself from the pull towards work on Fridays. Good for me. That being said, Zoe and I might make a trip over there today, just to show her face, but we'll see. I'm happy right now just hanging at home, catching some naps and enjoying the gray weather with my happy and boisterous baby.

Zoe in the latest fall fashions (thanks for the monkey hat, auntie Becky & uncle Tim!):



Zoe's growing, growing, growing. We think she's revving up to start the commando crawl (when they pull themselves along by the arms, legs dragging behind), but she's also been bending a knee now and again, so who knows what's next. All I know is that if I look away for a minute, she's likely to be in a different spot on her play mat (or off altogether) when I look back. We finally got around to getting a baby gate for the family room, deciding that while eventually it will be fun to let her have the run of the house, for now, and in this house, we'll try to keep her contained to the hub of activity.

That, and we've finally moved her up into the convertible car seat. I guess we could have done that months ago but perhaps that was just us holding on to her tininess? Regardless, she sure looks tiny in her new big seat. It's kind of like she's Charlie from Charlie's Angels sitting with her back to us in there. Thanks to the little mirror Nana let us borrow, we can still take peeks at her, though.

Clothing has been another interesting change. I have a pile of sleepers that I thought she'd be wearing this fall but she's barely fitting in them NOW!!



Thank goodness she can still sport the cute duds that Grandma gave her:



In other growing news, the past couple of weeks have brought a host of new foods to Zoe's menu. Now, in addition to breastfeeding (yep, still at it - just another 4 months to go till we hit the 1-year goal), she's eating bananas and applesauce with whole grain rice cereal in the morning (you should see the pucker face we sometimes get in reaction to the apples!), squash and green beans with cereal for lunch and then chicken (boiled and pureed - yum!) and peas for dinner. We finally got our hands on the 'Super Baby Food' book that we learned about from my sis-in-law, Amy...What a great resource that is!!! It might just become part of my collection of 'must have gifts for new moms' (we still know of a few coming up here on the horizon). So, thanks to that and to Dave's excellent cooking (he does baby cuisine, too!) we'll certainly keep adding new and exciting items to Zoe's meals.

Oh! and we've just started introducing her to the sippy cup! She does pretty well at it with some guidance from us, but if we're not helping to hold the cup with the sippy end to her mouth, it's pretty much just another thing to chew and suck on, without reason. But man, she looks grown up with that thing in her hands! Sob!



Finally, we think she's still working on a new tooth. It's been a while in the making and we still don't see any white yet but that seems about right for as long as it took the first two to pop. This one's on the top left and man, can she bite with it! She's likely going to be learning what 'gentle' means sooner than later....I hope! ;)

Good Friday

Well, it took all week, but we finally seem to be back to normal after our big trip. It took Zoe far less time than it did for Dave and I: her sleep patterns reverted back to greatness sometime around early-mid-week. It could have something to do with the recent house excitement... We found a house online while in NE that we went to see Monday night (quite jet-lagged, by the way). It was nice, but didn't spark our excitement until Tuesday morning when we'd had a chance to sleep on it. So, we went to see it again on Wednesday and wrote an offer yesterday. Unfortunately, we weren't the only ones with that idea. Our offer wasn't accepted. Seems we were beat out by an older couple who have decided to take in a special needs child along with their older daughter who will live with them to help and eventually adopt the child. I guess our great little family with Zoe, in her infinite cuteness and sweetness just couldn't beat that. That's ok. I'm glad it went to good people. It's a great home.

With the offer in place, we were about to kick it into high gear to wrap up all of our lingering to-dos around here, but alas, our weekend is ours again. So, we'll be doing a bit of catch up on the baby proofing, car seat upgrading and errand running that now seems more pressing than the house. Fun.

The upside of today, though, is the walk Zoe and I will be taking at Golden Gardens (along the water near the locks) with our birthing class pal, Danika and her baby Lucy. Haven't seen those gals in a while, so we're looking forward to catching up.

Bug's down for a nap now, but here are some pix from our morning play time:



As you can see, Zoe's finally taken to looking at her books as opposed to just munching on them :) Oh, and she seems to be working on a new set of upper front teeth. Some of the fuss and ify tummy have returned...

New England Tour 2007

We're back! And what a whirlwind! Dave and Zoe quickly learned about the kind of stamina it takes to brave a tour of New England, St. Pierre style. Here's a rough blow-by-blow:

8/31/07
The day started early, with a 4:30 pick-up for the airport. Zoe started out a bit groggy (along with Dave and I), but did a beautiful job of mastering sleep on an airplane. Thanks to the boppy pillow we managed to bring along, Zoe nursed on take off and proceeded to sleep for the first hour or so of the 3.5 hour flight. Can't complain there! Thanks too, to the moby wrap, we made it through the airport like a pack of mules.



I guess all the wonder and excitement of travel tuckered our little one out, since she again nursed through take-off and then slept through the *entire* flight from Cincinnati to NH!!! Thanks, bug!

In Manchester, we were greeted by Aunt Pauline and Uncle Skip (Griffin), Aleta Rousseau, her daughter, Mandy and Mandy's three girls. We felt famous! Well, Zoe did ;)

That evening, we stayed with the Griffins at their beautiful home at the beach in Seabrook. I think it's safe to say that Aunt Pauline and Uncle Skip were soon smitten with Zoe. She did an amazing job of maintaining her usual sunny disposition and a great job of letting us all sleep most of the night (who can blame her for a 4:30 wake-up call when she goes down immediately after?)

9/1/07
Saturday morning was greeted with a cool, but beautiful day - and a great low-tide that Dave, Uncle Skip and I made good of with a brisk walk along the beach while Aunt Pauline kept watch over our napping Zoe. It was a bit like a walk down memory lane since I'd spent many a summer day with Uncle Skip on that same beach as a kid. It was great to have Dave there with me, even if he did roll his eyes at a bit of my reminiscing and sea glass searching :)

Later that day, Aunt Pauline's birthday, we were joined by my Aunt Helen and Uncle George (Pratte), Aunt Irene and Uncle Paul (Bouchard) and (may as well be Aunt) Aleta and (Uncle) Ken Rousseau. Zoe had a blast meeting all of them and conducted herself like a little lady at the grown-up party.



9/2/07
We departed Sunday morning for Maine after Zoe's ever-reliable big morning nap. She was apparently still a bit fatigued from the previous day's activities since she napped over half the 3+ hour trip to my brother, Greg's house in Hampden. There, she met for the first time her Auntie Amy and cousins Nicholas and Timothy. What a blast!!! It was so great for us to finally meet Tim (he was born 2 months after bug) and see what a sweet, beautiful little guy he is and to see how his big brother, Nick is blossoming into a bright and precocious little boy. The kids all really enjoyed each other and we relished in their curious coos and touches.



Development note: Later that evening, Zoe partook of her first serving of peas - and she liked them! So fun.



9/3/07
Monday morning started nice and slow. Despite Zoe's sleeping through the night (from 7pm to 7am!) we enjoyed laying low with lots of PJs time. It was great to see the kids happy and relaxed and enjoying each other. I know Nana and Pepere St. Pierre were aching to be flies on the wall, so here's some more kiddo shots:



Needless to say, Zoe took quite well to this whole 'cousin' thing. She and Tim certainly seemed chummy. It had to be fun to have a baby so close in age to play with. And, she spent *lots* of time eying and listening to Nick - it's no wonder since he's such a fun and animated fellow.



Monday afternoon, Greg, Dave, Zoe and I took a stroll around the hood since Zoe wasn't quite up for napping, nor anything else. The relatively down time was a good thing. Later, we headed to Amy's folks' house for a nice dinner at their lovely home and met Amy's sister's baby boy, Soren. So many kiddos!

9/4/07
Tuesday, we decided to take advantage of the lovely weather and make an excursion to see the Maine environs. First, we headed up to the top of Mount Desert Island for a brisk and windy walk above the beautiful Maine coast. With the little ones bundled up and fleeces upon us, we took turns guiding a very excited and boisterous Nicholas along the windy path...twice! Twice wasn't quite a charm since Nick took a bit of a spill, but since he saw that the path took more of a beating than his knee cap, he recovered like a real trooper.



Later, we headed into Bar Harbor for a lovely pick-nick in the park where Tim and Zoe chilled in the shade and Nick took Greg on a tour of the grounds.



9/5/07
Wednesday, we were a bit subdued. It seems that lots of kid fun and fresh air, followed by late nights chatting around the kitchen island (and 'the bottle') makes for slow shaking and moving. Heck, ain't that what vacations are for? After more pajama fun, we rallied for a jaunt into Bangor for a spin around the playground. (We caught a glimpse of Stephen King's beautiful and un-creepy home along the way - who could miss spying on ME's most famous resident?) The playground was fun. Despite her persistently runny and stuffy nose, Zoe rocked the swing set and even braved the kiddie slide with me. Nicholas tore it up like a playtime pro and Tim hanged loose with Amy.



9/6/07
Early Thursday morning we departed Greg & Amy's for Aunt Rita and Uncle Norm's in Goffstown, NH. The 3.5 hour drive wasn't exactly Zoe's idea of fun, but she did manage to nap a bit and arrive in good spirits. Which was a good thing because it would have been a shame for her to miss out on the party! It was a St. Pierre reunion! In addition to Aunt Rita and Uncle Norm, we had a great visit with my cousin Melissa and her two kids Mackenzie and Cooper; with my cousin Jeff and his three kids, Katie, Rachel and Zachary; my Aunt Jan and Uncle Ray and their two girls, Jill and Kara; my great-uncle Leo and my grandfather, Henry. Wow! It was so good to catch up, though briefly, with everyone. While I've been back to NH every fall for the past three years, I hadn't really had the chance to see everyone in one fell swoop like that and I must say that it was great. The family sure has grown, but in some ways, it's still very much the same.



9/7/07
Friday morning we headed over to Pepere Henry's house on Reed Street in Manchester so that we could get in some nice face time. This trip was the first time that Pepere met Dave and having Zoe along was an added bonus to the visit. Pepere's a bit lonely without Memere, but is doing really well - still sharp as a whip. I think he was happy that we made the special visit to him at his house - I hope that the memories made are good ones and will last him until we can make it back again.



For lunch, we headed over to the Rousseau's house for my Manchester-must-have: Nadeau's subs. Yum. It was a festive gathering with Ken and Aleta, their daughter Mandy and Mandy's three girls, Meredith Roy (my 'god-sister') and her two boys, my cousin Karen and her daughter, Meghan and my Uncle George and Aunt Helen at the table. Lots of fun for us and for Zoe who reveled in the attentions of Mandy's girls.



It was a too-fast visit though, since we barely had time to chat and eat before we hit the road for Seabrook and the Griffins'. This visit was the longest I've made in years, but given all the new developments in our lives and in the lives of everyone back home, there sadly isn't enough time to truly catch up with everyone. I guess I'll just have to trust that the bonds in place will last the time and distance between the time we're together.

Later that evening, back in Seabrook, we enjoyed a feast of good old New England steamers and lobster! The perennial Griffin favorite was a real treat for us North Westerners, as was the chance to catch up with my cousin Kim and her family.



Zoe, though, finally revealed that she is, in fact, a baby and had a rough go of it until she finally gave it up and took a nap. After that and some dinner, she sprang back into action - even showing the ropes to Uncle Skip the art of rolling on the floor:


9/8/07
All good things must come to an end...

We packed it up mid-morning and headed out from Manchester on a flight to Atlanta. Ick. Yes, I know, Manchester to Atlanta to Seattle doesn't seem the way to go, but despite the extra hour and a half of travel, all went pretty darned well for us St. Alonzos. Zoe again nursed on take-off and slept during the whole first flight. However, either the timing of the second, longer flight didn't quite jive with her nap schedule or she had actually hit her limit because napping was a bit harder to come by. It took a bit more to keep her occupied.



That being said, when we did get them, naps were all the more sweet:



In the end, I'm immensely proud of this little family's ability to travel long distances to see many new/old faces and keep it all together. I think we really enjoyed ourselves and were enjoyed by our hosts which makes it all worth it and all seem possible to do again. Thanks to everyone who extended their time, their homes and their loanables to us - it made for an easier enjoyment of the beautiful and memorable vacation. We love you all!