Richmond Beach

Living even closer to Richmond Beach now, Dave, Zoe and I opted for a quick jaunt down to the water today.



Shamefully, this was Zoe's first real exposure to the beach. The few times we'd explored together before she was strapped to me in the front carrier. So, given the fact that she could walk around and experience things for herself today, this was more fun for us all.

Keeping a cool stride...with a death grip on Daddy's finger


Braving the walk with mom; tongue is proving helpful


Rockhound! (her idea to stack them on her lap - very orderly and composed, I think!)


Vying for the water


Sand surfing? no, just getting up from a tumble w/out putting her hands in the sand :)


Beach walk with mom.



Playing with beach rocks

New fun for Zoe

For months, Dave and I have been saying how great it will be to arrive at daycare and find Zoe to be one of the kiddos out playing in the grass and toys. It's not that she doesn't get a chance to do her thing there, it's that since she's been such a crawler, she's best kept out of the fray by hanging on the swing set with Pete and the wee ones. Yesterday our wishes were answered! She was down on the grass (actually down, having just tumbled) mixing it up and she - sob! - walked to us when she saw us!! And Pete said that she'd been there the whole time, covering the entire play yard! Go bug!

And, with her newfound foot freedom comes some much-needed confidence for Zoe, too. Seems that having walking and the rocking chair under her belt, she's up for riding her rodeo zebra (it bounces and 'spins' when you sit or push down on it). Up until today, she'd fuss if you put her on that thing, preferring instead to stand alongside it to make it bounce. But today, I stuck her on it. After a bit of fuss she got herself off...then turned around and climbed right back on, bouncing and chattering on that thing for a good half hour before taking a break. Go bug!

House: warmed

A big thanks to all of you who made your way to casa de St. Alonzo this Sunday for our housewarming. We know it was a big event weekend and it was nice to be a part of yours.


Dave, Max and Zo


Lucy on the go

As you can see, Zoe opted to take the role of hallway monitor and oversee the action.



She has done this before, but perhaps not quite so noticeably. It's really pretty funny to see her so reserved with all the kid-clamor going on and then to relax and ham it up once she could take center stage.



I'm a little suspicious that she might be taking after her mom as the kid who prefers to hang with the adults!

It's official!

We have a walker!!

I am happy to report that yesterday evening, Dave and I noticed this distinct difference in Zoe's mobility: she walks, tumbles and GETS BACK UP ON HER FEET!

I credit this to her new-found zeal for carrying things along with her wherever she goes. Have you ever tried crawling while lugging along a book? It does not look easy.

So, off she goes!



But I might have to mention to her that it's easier to walk when you're not reading :)

Rocking chair

So I'll start with the fun stuff: Zoe and I had a great day home together. Great, always. But today gets an extra gold star because today Zoe learned how to seat herself into her rocking chair!

Scootch, scootch, sit!


And to think, just a day or so ago, she'd have thrown a fit to be sitting there...kinda like this:



But I swear, once she got it (and a nap) she was all over the up-and-down fun, grabbing a book or a friend to make the seat even cozier.

And, she started saying 'down' today. Now why is that so exciting? Because I'm hoping she'll start *saying* the word rather than just trying to *do* it all the time! (like when I'm holding her)

Less fun news is the fact that Zoe is getting over another ear infection. The short story: croup-cough leading to mega fevers, leading to infections in both ears then mega antibiotics. All that, and a new tooth-to-boot. But I feel it bears mentioning that we really tried to ride this one out. We really didn't want to go to the Dr. and face more antibiotics, but when we couldn't crack the high fever on day 3, we gave up trying. The heat may have had a bit to do with it.

Hot stuff


Looking ready for the beach but feeling ready for bed


Snnnnzzzzxxxxxxxxx


House of Blues

(that's what the shirt says!)

The upside of things was that she was feeling good enough to have a great time with her pal, Lucy while Lucy's folks went out for some grown-up time.

Pizza party


Other fun tid-bits: sweet kisses by request (yum!) in exchange for a round of "Itsy Bitsy Spider". She's even got daddy singing on demand!

And look! Dad got the baby locks up!

Life as we know it

...is getting back to normal but changing fast.

Although we're still working hard to employ repeatable patterns and routines (ie, getting the three of us out the door together in one piece in the mornings) and still adjusting to the space (where IS the best place for the box of tissues in the kitchen??), I'd say we pretty darned well reached normal, days ago.

The house is great. Huge, but great. I was so worried that I'd be pining for our old house and not enjoying this new one. Well, now that I bring it up, I do miss it. Sniff. But not when I have to pee at night! Master bathrooms ROCK!! But I'm really coming to see us in the place for the long haul.

Zoe seems to be adjusting more or less, as well. She LOVE LOVE LOVES the new staircase! We're constantly getting invited to join her there :) She refuses to go down backwards so we've taught her how to go down on her bum: Scootch, scootch, sit! Scootch, scootch, sit! She's an ace at going 'upupup', being sure to grab the railing along the way for support. Only problem is that she's prone to standing up half-way up or down and changing directions. Hmm.

The walking is truly blossoming, as well. She no longer only walks when point B is 5 steps from point A. Now, she'll go as far as she can see as long as her feet will carry her. She hasn't yet, though, taken a spill and gotten back up on her feet, but I'm sure that will happen soon. When it does, I think I'll officially call her a walker! Until then, while crawling is still a go-to fall-back for her, I'll preserve the excitement.

Now, I don't mean to sound impatient. Except that I am. I'm literally falling apart because I still carry her so much of the time (when crawling isn't appropriate). I've landed myself in PT with a compressed radial nerve in my left arm!! Sigh. Otherwise, I'm fine with Zoe's mobility development. She's so darned cute doing whatever she's doing to get around, that I'm cool with it. And, carrying her is a great way for me to sneak in extra snuggles and kisses which I know will be harder to get once she achieves her foot-found freedom.

We've also experienced a bit of a language explosion in the past few weeks. She's a GREAT little parrot. (Note to self: watch my tongue!) I swear she'll repeat even two-word phrases phonetically well. She usually doesn't have much of a clue as to what she's saying, but she's saying it. She's also experimenting with more complex sound pairings. This week it's been 'gobbledy gook' typed sounds. SO funny. Dave and I have enjoyed that tremendously!! But, she's been sneaking in lots of real words, too. The ones I can recall:

puppy
quack (duck or any bird for that matter)
nkie (blankie)
ball
mail (she actually nails this one perfectly!!)
meat (eat)
Pepere (said 'Pep-ay' - as in my Dad)
buh (bread)
ligh (light)
bay-er (bear)
bee bee (beep beep - as in pushing her cart around the kitchen)
ha-o (hello)
oc-car (Oscar)
b-bye (bye bye)
mmmf (dog - seriously. I think she just doesn't know how to say 'arf arf'??)
buh (book - that's my girl!!)

And from the archive, lest she not get credit for them:
mama
dada
chee (cheese)
ki-y (kitty)

And, of course there's 'No', complete with head-shaking. However, we've realized that she's using that one as her default answer whether she means no or not! For instance, on Sunday she made the sign for 'eat', so I asked her if she was hungry. She said 'No.' So I said OK, and walked away from her highchair. She was pissed! Ooops - talk about double-speak!

Oh, almost forgot! She's really funny at the dinner table now, too. Dave and I use cloth napkins (thanks, Lani!) and Zoe loves them...to wipe her own face. Sometimes she actually gets it a little clean! Sweet.

Some pix from the last week or so. I promise I'll try to get back into my blogging routine (sorry Lani!!). I didn't realize that I've kind of missed it too ;)

Home sweet home...


Tearing it up at Nana & Pepere's while mom and dad do the big move


Loving bear


Hanging with Nana while mom & dad unpack


Rockin' her new play room


Done with the playroom already ... on to more interesting things like cat toys :s


Sporting her girlie duds from Grandma at Nana's house on Mother's Day


Strutting her stuff


Showin' some baby leg ;)


Snuggling with Pepere


Playing peek-a-boo with Mom


Giving Dad the day's news