Merry (belated) Christmas!

Well, we had ourselves a merry little Christmas.

Zoe's first gift un-wrapping:


The festivities technically started Saturday morning when we had a bunch of friends over for a British breakfast. It was a really great way to contribute to everyone's happy holidays and to see everyone near and dear. Otherwise, we'd have felt totally lame because although we're pretty well on top of our lives, I think we have skimmed over some of the gestures and niceties that make me feel like I'm a good friend to the great people we know.

Anyhoo, I think a good time was had by all and it really was perfect timing right before Xmas. That, and the festivities and clean-up were all done in time for us to have a nice and mellow evening. Funny how your priorities shift once you've got a kiddo...I mean, to be just as happy when a party

Hanging with 'Uncle' Tim after the brunch:


Sunday was good and quiet - a great rainy day that just beckons slippers and cats and sweet babies. Sunday evening, we had a lovely and impromptu (well, to me it was!) visit from Miren, her parents Javier and Lupe, and Miren's boyfriend, Shameek. We haven't seen Miren and Shameek since this summer just before Miren left for her new job in Texas, so it was really great to see her and for her to see how much Zoe has grown. Lovely, too, to finally meet Miren's parents who came all the way from Spain to pass some weeks traveling along with Miren to Texas, South America, New York and Seattle. It was nice of them to catch their breath and hang with us for a bit!



Monday morning I think someone mentioned it being Christmas to Zoe because once she was up, she was *up*. Great eating, great playing...and no napping. So, we headed to Nana and Pepere's house a little early. We figured we might as well have some extra and willing hands involved in the entertainment of bug if she was going to boycott napping.

Showing off her adorable new duds from 'Auntie' Deb:


Fortunately, Zoe's diaper rash cleared up considerably. I mean, it still looked awful to the casual observer (ask my brother, Chris, and my mom), but to us, it was worlds better than it had been. It had to help that Zoe's tummy seemed a bit more settled, too. She got back to eating with some serious gusto because that's what St. Pierre's do during the holidays!

So my brother, Chris, and sis-in-law, Erin, joined us in the afternoon and a typical St. Pierre Xmas eve - well, as typical as it will be minus Greg, Amy and the boys - ensued. Lots of food, lots of chat, lots of happy hanging. Zoe got her gifts a little early so that Chris & Erin could enjoy the baby in action (they had to leave early Xmas day to get over to Erin's side of the family). Zoe did a fantastic job of unwrapping and actually looking at her gifts. There was plenty of distraction, but Zoe really got into the spirit. Until...she hit a new level of fatigue and over-stimulation. All of a sudden, she let out weird little chortle and a cry. Done. A bit of dinner changed everything. Well, a lot of dinner :) Then, thank goodness, she was finally off to bed for the first time that day - aside from the 10 minutes she got during the last 10 minutes of the drive to Nana and Pepere's.



During her stay, Zoe had a really great time investigating Nana and Pepere's house - tearing into Nana's famed tupperware cabinet (we talked about Nick nearly the whole time :) and even practicing going up and getting brought down the big staircase. She took to those stairs like nothing. Not even stopping to admire all of Nana's lovely Christmas decorations. Don't worry, we got the big girl on video :)

Dusting off some of Nana's fun stuff and rearranging the magazine rack:


Christmas morning, Zoe gave us the gift of sleep, staying in bed until almost 7. Later, she graciously opened the rest (!) of her gifts from Nana and Pepere. So much fun. So much, in fact, that we've decided to save some of the stuff that's a little beyond her age for a little later when she's showing boredom with all of the late and greatest. It was a very generous Christmas, and I loved to check out all of her new stuff myself, but mostly it was fun to see her get into it.



Unfortunately, the visit was ended a bit abruptly when we looked up and noticed a hard, fast, wet snow falling. We had to hit the road to stay ahead of it because the next day was a work day and driving home in icy dark traffic just wasn't an option for us to entertain. Unfortunately again, the weather cut into our Indian dinner plans (it's become a tradition with us) since it didn't blow over until too late when cold temps made the wet roads less than enticing. Thankfully, though, mom packed up some great leftovers from our Xmas eve festivities and we were happily fed without a fuss.

Giving her new toys a spin at home:


Today Zoe made some other exciting new strides. We have white shadows peeking out of her upper gums!!! Yahoo! So what if my Xmas wish is a day or so late? Reprieve!

She's also eating like a tank; she devoured her morning feed and breakfast and then cried for a big lunch, too! Down went a bunch of milk, a whole yogurt and a whole finger banana (the cute little ones). And, Zoe finally proved that she can use her excellent pincer skills for more than just shoveling crack (er, Cheerios) into her little mouth. She fed nearly the entire banana to herself! I guess I should also admit, though, that her achievement had a bit to do with my figuring out that she needed the pieces to be a little bigger. She's such a little gagger when the bits are too big that I've always chopped up the pieces nice and small. But when little fingers grab smushy things, they get smushed. So we figured it out together. Sorry to have been holding you back, bug!

Dave was a bit skeptical about lunch ruining her dinner (this has happened before), but not tonight! She ate everything in sight and then proceeded to feed herself to sleep at bedtime. She crashed so hard and fast that we didn't even have any time to read "Goodnight Moon" together! Good thing I've got it memorized ;)

Some recent shots of her chicken-driven activities :)

All I want for Christmas...

is a healthy, toothy, baby. Sigh.

Dreaded germs strike again. Last Wednesday, Zoe and I had a fabulous day at home together. She napped, she ate, she played, she laughed, I worked. Perfect. Wednesday night, not so good. Lots and lots of coughing kept waking her up. Some coughs were like barks. Thursday morning she was very icky and groggy - we both were - since she'd had a very wakeful coughing night, so we both stayed home again. Thursday was a bit less great. She was so restless; still eating well, but not so happy and not getting good naps. That evening her cough was horrible and constantly barking and high-pitched. I knew what it was and by Friday, we knew that we had to bring her in...again.

Good thing. Turns out it wasn't only croup, it was another ear infection (same ear). So they treated her for the croup in the office with an oral steroid and gave us an Rx for an even stronger antibiotic than last time. Another antibiotic. So much for trying to avoid the meds, but what do you do? She really was so far removed from herself that to let her rough it out seemed cruel. We didn't even discuss it really. There's actually a little piece of me that thinks that she's just never quite kicked the first real bug she caught in September.

So that, mixed with the glacially slow descent of her top front teeth, makes for a tired household. Oh, thus the posting drought :)

Life picked up for a bit this weekend, though. Dave stayed home to hang with Zoe while I hit the town with our friend, Becky, to make good of the holiday sales and take care of the end of the Xmas shopping list. I fared well, as did Zo and dad, for the most part. She wanted to be held quite a bit and slept a ton; she's still our generally great sleeper, but this was impressive: a four hour nap. This apparently did the trick to perk her up for our dinner with Becky and her husband, Tim, at our favorite Chinese restaurant. Zoe had a blast and chatted us up, plus she was all hands and arms - making good practice for her mom and dad. I guess it had been a while since we'd been out to eat with her...we could barely keep up and keep all of the interesting food and tableware out of her reach!

We thought we'd kind of rounded the corner, but as this week has worn on, she's developed a hideously evil diaper rash. Those antibiotics are tough on the gutt and tough on the bum, too. Poor baby. It's nearly brought me to tears to change her lately. Seriously. And yesterday, upon picking her up from daycare, we learned that Zoe earned herself a bath because she'd had a major diarrhea blow-out and had thrown up. I nearly crumbled right there. She seemed in great spirits and wasn't fussy or tired, but that her tummy was so upset was awful to hear. And to hear that the daycare had to deal with such a mess. They were great, though, very concerned with her and had obviously taken good care of her given her condition. It was a huge step for us though I think, to really feel what it is to let others care for your child and to trust them to do what's best. Had they called us, we may have come running when it had happened and then have been able to do nothing to change the situation. Mind you, kisses and hugs and snuggles were abundant when we got home, and I felt terrible about her day. But I can't go forward from here beating myself up for not being with her in every moment - good and bad. We do our best with the way it is and trust that in the end it will be the sum total of our love that Zoe knows and not the missing pieces.

I have only a couple of pix to post tonight. My sincere apologies - there just haven't been too many occasions lately that I wanted to capture on 'film'. I've been too absorbed in the joy when it's upon us because man, we need it!



Zoe advising dad on some fixes for mom's 'puter :)

She's on a roll

We've got a live one on our hands!

In addition to working on a fierce set of upper teeth, our little one has been on a big development kick lately, enhancing skills that she's been toying with for a while and trying new ones altogether.

Pull-ups on the kitchen stools have turned into pulling up to a stand almost wherever she is. Commando creeping has made way for some speedy hand- and knee-powered crawling. And she's no longer happily surprised by routine events but rather is now starting to anticipate more and more. For instance, our bedtime routine is nearly step-by-step each night, down to what I say as I finish her favorite book, Goodnight moon. When bear goes over my shoulder, I get a smile because it means I'm coming in for a snuggle. And when I approach the night light and say 'Good night moon' (because it is a moon), she smiles and holds close in anticipation of the light going off. The predictability is far from old, but rather an exciting way for us to sharpen learned knowledge and build up to reliably special moments. It's not that she hasn't previously exhibited reactions to routine behaviors - quite the contrary - but it's more that she's now picking up on the more subtle cues about what is about to happen more often, throughout the day. She's always been aware, but now she's more aware of what's next.

She anticipates the praise she normally gets after knocking over a tower of cups, or after turning off her bedroom light. When the baby tylenol comes out, she opens her mouth, seeming to know it's going to help (which it has a lot in the past week). She raises her foot when socks and shoes come out, knowing what we do with them. And, she gets *pissed* when the car comes to a stop ie, at a light or when one of us jumps out to run a quick errand but she isn't taken out of her seat (no, never leaving her unattended).

With all of this new cause and effect fun comes a bit of testing. We've done a bit of baby proofing and have a pretty well-designated baby zone, but it's not entirely free of hazards. I mean, what can you do about an unfasten-able floor heating vent? So, we get to say 'NO' whenever she touches it...again, and again, and again. In exchange, we typically get a terribly cute finger on the vent and side glance with a smile until successfully hide our smile and hit just the right tone and she's thrown into a fit of tears. Short-lived though they may be, they are still heartbreaking! I *hate* saying no! Sigh.

On a lighter note, here are some snapshots from some of her latest adventures:

Super Saturday

It certainly was. I mean, when you actually hear yourself say out loud "what a great day that was" you really have to stop and appreciate it.

I guess it actually started Friday evening when I took Zoe to the Dr's office for a follow up on her ear infection. Not only was the ear all clear, but the Dr. confirmed that Zoe is, in fact, in the middle of teething. In a big way. All four front uppers are coming in at once! (My efficient girl!) So, the fuss, the drool, the wishy-washy eating and sleeping have some root cause ;) Thank goodness. The Dr. also felt the urge to express what a bright little baby we have. As if we didn't already know! ;) but it's always SO nice to hear it from someone who 1) isn't prone to compliments and 2) doesn't have to say it in the first place.

So, Zoe and I went home in a great mood - really, she was too - almost as if she felt the 'fluff' from the good news at the Dr's! And she woke in an equally great mood Saturday morning. Isn't that nice? I mean, it just really sets the tone for the whole morning when your little one rises happy. Not that we don't have happy mornings when she gets up crying, but when she's so excited to see you and can't stop telling you about all her fascinating dreams and her toes and about that thing above her head that holds the wipes, the cheer is just contagious. So, a bit later, after her morning nap, Dave and I packed bug up in some cute winter wear and went off in search of our Xmas tree. The first and cheaper lot was a no-go, but Zoe could tell we were up to something interesting:


And the plot only seemed to thicken when we got to the second lot and located a great noble:


She was a bit tired when we got home, though and looked a little road worn, but oh so cute with her little 'hat head':


We tried her for a nap while we scrambled to get the tree up, but she knew that whatever was going on was *way* too good to miss out on. So, part way through the ornaments, Zoe came out to help me:



Oh? and did I mention that we got our first snow literally as we got the tree in the house? Big snow. HUGE flakes. All to greet the season, I guess.

You know, I always thought it was really corny when I'd hear people say how children and their smiles at all the joy and wonder are the heart of the holiday season and I'm not exactly saying that...yet. But I will say that Dave and Zoe and I had a great day together yesterday doing these traditional things as a family. It was the best time I've had trimming a tree in a very long time...