Make it a turkey sandwich

So spoon-fed Zoe is all but a thing of the past. We're down to just yogurt and her morning fruit-tahini mash...that's about all she'll let us shovel in. Aside from that, Zo's on to new and exciting things like dad's homemade chicken sausage fingers and turkey sandwiches. OK, not sandwiches, per se, but the makings of, sure. A girl after my own heart :)

Not too much new this week. Life is busy and for the most part, routine. Spring seems near, which is good because I'm ready for more daylight. The crocuses are coming up!

And Zoe's sprouted another tooth - just about. Finally, the fourth of the mean top four has finally arrived. Just in time to make way for her bottom lateral incisors which seem to be moving closer to the surface. Good thing - she'll need 'em for all that chewing she's determined to do!

Yesterday, Dave, Zoe and I paid a visit to the Shoreline Children's Center for a tour of their preschool facilities. What a neat place. We were impressed with their curriculum approach (Reggio Emilia), as well as with the variety of teaching styles. It seems to offer a great mix of structure and freedom, creative play and guided exploration. And, it's super-flexible, allowing you to build your child's schedule according to your (working parent) needs. The community and Shoreline School District have invested lots of time and money into making it a desirable and approachable program and the fact that it's open to the public and extends assistance to families in need means that Zoe would be exposed to certain diversity among her peers. Sign me up.


Crashing after a hard day at school
Zoe had a great time pointing to all the exciting artwork hanging from the walls and ceilings, and watching the bigger kiddos doing their preschool thing. Hopefully this first exposure to school has implanted some good memories from which she can ground her education. Learning = happy times :)

Now, we know it's *very* early in the game to be considering preschools for Zoe, but being just up the road from Seattle and not being terribly familiar with the whole preschool landscape, we figured early is better than late. Especially since I've caught wind of wait lists for many choice programs in the area.

So, now we can keep our eyes open to other options but also rest and relax knowing there's a great, flexible and affordable program just down the road from our house. Phew. There have been two parenting topics that have managed to overwhelm me since becoming pregnant with Zoe: diapers (disposables - which ones are least terrible? vs. cloth - which ones cause the least headache and are environmentally sound-ish anyways?) and preschool. Needless to say, I'm much relieved about preschool.

In the very least, we've discovered a neat community resource - the school has lots of activities for families, lots of great park-like playgrounds free for public use, and lots of other young families around. Those kinds of connections are great to have.

Tuesday, Zoe reminded me about a few of her latest developments that I've neglected to tell you about. For starters, she said 'milk'. Well not MILK, but she said 'Mihl' when I asked her if she wanted milk. Awesome. She's done this now and again over the past few weeks but paired with her also very clearly demonstrating the eat sign, I'm impressed! She's mastering the whole idea of 'beverage' too, using a modification of the sign for water to acknowledge thirst.

She's also getting pretty good at asking for what she wants, like looking up to where her Johnny Jump-up is hanging and bouncing on her bum to suggest she'd like to bounce. Cuteness. And her manual dexterity is improving, as well. She's got a fierce fast pitch at the toy box, hurling one cup after another (one at a time, mind you) over her shoulder only to turn around and do it again. And she's been practicing more complex activities like placing things in and out and sharing toys with us. Oh, and the other day when I was working out on my mini-tramp in the utility room, she reached over the baby gate for me and we started the first of many high-fives. Now I can't do my thing without her standing there cheering me on.

And a final recent demonstration of Zoe's understanding more and more of the world around her came when we were looking at her animal picture book together. I make a habit of making the appropriate animal noise and naming the animal on each page; when I said 'meow' and 'kitty' and then pointed to Buddha sleeping on her cushion on the couch and the kitty picture above it, Zoe immediately went marching over full of giggles, stood up and burst into chatter at poor, startled Buddha.

Checkin' out Zebra dude
















Lucy keeping out of the fray
















Self portrait, with mom

















Playing hide-and-go-seek with daddy































Find 'im bug?
















Now, if we move this bit here, this thing will go up and down...

What do you feed a one year old?

...whatever she'll eat. Well, almost.

The dinner time battle has taken us down. Dave and I just can't do it anymore. Can't warm up the lovingly homemade chicken, broccoli and squash puree just to see it being spit out like Play Dough through the fun factory (yes, that slow and deliberate). So, over the past week or so, at dinner time, Zoe's had little more than mashed sweet potatoes and baby yogurt and....Cheerios. Sometimes some cheese but lots of the time, no.

A few pix of the crime scene:
















And, a 'food fight' in action!





So, tonight I figured we should just serve her what we're having, more or less. I keep hearing from other moms and dads who have done this but could never get my brain around it because Zoe was so specific about texture. But now that she won't even eat the textures she used to love, we've got little to lose. So, Dave browned up some ground turkey and onions, threw in some cheddar cheese, bits of tortillas, olives and tomatoes and Zoe fed herself her first tacos! A little apprehensive at first, she did eventually make a meal of it. And a mess :)

A happier crime scene:






Otherwise, life's been great. Can't complain. Except I caught a cold while in stupid Spokane for the OSPI conference last week. (I HATE Spokane. HATE HATE HATE it. Yes, my presentation went great. But I still hate Spokane.) I'm feeling much better, if not a little under water (got that foggy-eared feeling). I think Zo got it first, then Dave...at least I hope it's moving in that direction and not vice versa.

Anyways, we had a good weekend. Saturday we went out for Chinese at our favorite new place (Chiang's Gourmet @ 80th & Lake City - yum!) with pals Tim, Becky and Anastasia while Zoe was at the Waddell's to hang with her pal, Lucy. Seems the girls got along pretty well, but are perhaps still a little young to actually play together. Soon though, I'm sure!

Of course this week we went into daycare to pick up Zoe from day care and found her preying on the Cheerios of a younger baby who was trapped in the exersaucer! No bullying, Zo, play fair!! ;)

Sunday Dave made two chowders in honor of the competitors in the Super Bowl: a New England (for the Pats) and a Manhattan (for the Giants). So, we had a little soiree with Jack & Anastasia and pal Paul and his daughter, Elle.

Zoe got into the football spirit (note hand resting over distended tummy ;)


And Dave worked out his baby-soothing skills with Elle:



A few more cute shots from the last week or so:






















Gotta make music while you boogy!


Playin'

Finally, a treat to all of you out there wondering where we've been lately: videos!

Zoe explaining to dad how the Busy Zoo (Busy Zo?) works:



And digging out the blocks mom buried in her book box:

We call her 'Bonky'?

Well, we don't, but we should :)


Reflecting upon the trials of tumbling

A couple of bonks on the head (one small bruise, a couple of small scrapes), a nick on the nose and a scratch under her eye (note to self: gotta get those nails...) and our girl, in her endless desire to explore, seems to have taken on a tom-boyish persona lately. Poor kid must be destined to take after her mom and her dad. Aside from wrapping her and the house and daycare in bubble wrap (yeah, like that wouldn't get us hauled in), what do you do? I guess it's all par for the course.

On the bright side, however, one could argue that all these war wounds are evidence of Zoe's working really hard to get grown up already. After all that wondering we did about when she'd finally get mobile, I'm now wondering how much longer we have until she's tearing around the house on her own two feet! The past week has seen lots of practicing of 'no hands' standing. Eek! And despite my previous comments, she's actually pretty good at it! The crouching and bending down to pick things up combined with reaching up to get at things are really quite routine. It's amazing to watch and realize that only a year ago she was this sweet and tiny lump in our arms nearly 24-7. I miss those days!!!! But these are fun, too ;)


Sporting some cute hand-me-down duds


Cornering poor Buddha


What? me? torturing Buddha? nah!


Goofy floor fun with mom


With a girl on the go, we get those snuggles when and where we can...


Making sure mom doesn't miss any spots

I can't recall if we mentioned this already, but she's sprouted both her left and right top front laterals...and nothing in between. Yet. I swear I can see the white shadow peaking through at least one of those two middle fronts, but I've been clamoring about teething for what, the past 6 months? so I know I have no credibility. Anyhoo, we're pining nonetheless since more teeth might encourage more eating that involves actual chewing. Our girl, like her mom, is apparently a texture freak. Aside from her Os (which she craves like crack) and her banana and cheese pieces (which she'll eat about 75% of the time), there's little we've introduced that she'll gum and swallow. And there are unnamed little cousins and play pals out there asking for full meals off their parents' plates so we know this is not an unreasonable idea! Oh well, I guess bug will be eating lots of yogurt and soup in college...

In other Zoe news, we had a great, long weekend. Zoe even took Friday off to hang with Nana and Pepere St. Pierre at home. She heard they were coming up and had to oblige ;) Sounds like they had a great time. Apparently Zoe played her socks off - so much so that she passed out in Nana's lap before even hitting the crib for her afternoon nap. Which leads me to ask: why do babies do these special things for people who AREN'T their parents? Hmm?

Saturday and Sunday were pretty mellow - so mellow I don't quite recall what we did! But Monday was lovely - bright and sunny - and COLD! and a great time to see the Alonzos 4 for a nice visit. Uncle Brian, Auntie Tammy, and cousins Hannah and Cameron stopped by on their way home from a trip to Bellingham to offer a happy belated b-day to bug.







Zoe had fun with her cousins - giving Cameron the ins and outs of her 'busy zoo' and hanging with Hannah in the big chair. I can't believe how much those kids have grown - it was only yesterday that we were visiting them at Zoe's age! Crazy. But I guess the sweet side of that bitter was recognizing Zoe's fascination with her older, neato cousins. I had some myself and can attest to the fact that eventually, you do catch up and get to join the big kids club.

Happy Birthday, Zoe

The big 0-1. Wow. Seriously? Alrighty then!

With a bit of help from lots of family, Zoe rang in her big one on Saturday.

Nana and Pepere St. Pierre, Grandpa Gary and Kathy, Uncle Chris and Auntie Erin, Uncle Greg and cousin Keith all joined us for some nibbles, pizza and lady bug cupcakes:



Auntie Tammy and the rest of the Alonzos Four stayed home to nurse a flu bug - we missed 'em, but appreciated their keeping that gift to themselves ;)

Zoe, the ultra-sweet gal that she is, graciously took a huge nap right up to a minute before her guests all arrived. Good thing, because our girl knows how to work the party scene!


Schmoozing with Grandpa Gary


Showing Kathy the ropes


Hanging with Nana


Reveling in the glow of the paparazzi

And, she had most of her good lunch so that she could have her cake and eat it too. Yep, we gave in and gave her her first surge of sugar. She liked, didn't love it and was back to normal energy levels relatively soon, so we figure not too much damage was done It was well worth the fun.


Bring it on!


Making her wish


A bit of skepticism...


followed by an appreciation of the good stuff ;)

After a bunch of unwrapping, Zoe took the playtime by storm.







Honing carpentry skills with Dad




And, Cousin Keith's Johnny-Cash-singing-chicken-chef left a lasting impression.





A huge thanks to everyone who was able to attend and a heartfelt 'we missed you' for those who were kept away by illness or distance. All in all, Zoe had a fantastic day. She was a terrific hostess and great fun to be around. She seemed to know that it was her special day and made good of it.


Since her b-day, bug has enjoyed some fun milestones like turning the car seat around! Ok, she enjoys that, but maybe it's me who's more excited about that one. It's great to be able to look over my shoulder and catch a glimpse of her or make a funny face to make her squeal with laughter. Driving is now a bit more fun.

And today, Zoe had her one-year-old check-up. Aside from a bit of a thrush-related diaper rash (argh) and bit of tummy trouble, she's been doing and did do great. The doc confirmed that she is, in fact, tall. She's a full 30" (75%-ile) and certainly didn't get that from my side of the family! She is average in weight at just over 21 lbs (55%-ile) and big in the head (just like dad!) at 85%-ile there. And....drum roll please....we have tooth!!!! We saw some true emergence of a new tooth! (Top right lateral incisor) Yah freakin' hoo! Man! The other top three teases remain white shadows, but now that we've seen that one has broken through, hope is renewed that this bit of teething, too, shall pass.

Thrush Crush

So I guess I owe bug an apology.

It wasn't her teething (nope, those still haven't appeared) that has been causing me so much pain...it would be the thrush that we contracted. Yep. Ouch. Culprit seems to be the mega antibiotics she was on over the holidays. That hideous diaper rash she had? Likely early signs of thrush, too.

Evil. Antibiotics are EVIL I tell you.

So, while I've been in tremendous pain (really, I liken feeding/pumping lately to what giving birth through your nipples must feel like, but as I went the pop-top route, I couldn't say for sure), Zoe's remained relatively unaffected since her rash cleared up. Zoe's pediatrician confirmed she has it too, but only in a couple of tiny spots on each corner of the inside of her lips. After a few days of topical meds, they seem to have cleared up for her already - simple as that.

Diagnosis for me wasn't quite so simple. I won't go blow-by-blow - I've gathered that some of my posts can be a little depressing ;) - but I will say that it took literally ALL day last Friday to 1) get it diagnosed and 2) to get my hands on the #$%& medicine to help me. Thanks to an apparently lactationally-clueless Nurse Practitioner in my Dr's office. Her helpful input, to quote: "well it's not mastitis"...which of course was no where near my mind because I was pretty certain it was THRUSH!!! Anyhoo. Despite supposedly being called in at 10am the Rx wasn't in the pharmacy's records at 7pm (my doc's office blames the pharmacy, but my verdict is still out on that). So. I kind of lost it. At that point, after a long day of very frustrating Dr.'s appointments, hour-long bus rides, presentations and an all-day staff retreat, I was exhausted and in a ton of pain. A million desperate calls to various after-hours services later, and I finally got in touch with some good karma. The relief was almost immediate, thankfully.

Unfortunately, I'll be taking my meds for three weeks, healing is slow-going, and this makes weaning both urgent and troublesome. Seems that flare-ups are more likely when you pump/nurse AND when you get engorged. Kind of like being in a rock (my boobs!) and a hard place...

Today was a turn in the right direction I think, though. I've stopped pumping all together (Say it with me: YAHOOOOOO!!!!) and Zoe took one great big feed first thing in the morning (OUCH!) and then her cup for the rest of the day up until bedtime when she took another pretty good feed. This bodes well for the 12 hour interval I was aiming for. Next phase will be getting it down to morning feedings only which should be fairly easy given that Zoe skips 9 out of 10 bedtime feeds lately. And the morning feeds can go on for however long Zoe and I feel the need.

I did end up putting a call in to the UW's lactation consultants line to get some advice about lingering thrush-related ailments vs. weaning. EXCELLENT service by the way, to any of you Seattle-area moms who might be reading this. Tip o' the day: cold, crushed green cabbage leaves in your bra help to slow down milk production AND act as a cold compress to thrush-aching boobs! Just so happens that we have green cabbage in the fridge so I've tried it out - so far, so good! And who says there's no dignity in motherhood?!?

Ok, enough about me and my boobs (again - but hey, when you're in pain, there's reason to get obsessive!). Zoe is doing great lately. I think she's getting smarter by the day. Today, I think she learned the sign for 'cheese'. She didn't exactly imitate it, but she certainly knew what it meant after I showed her the sign and a piece of cheese! I'm so glad! Actually communicating with Zoe is so much more fun than just guessing/fussing. I'd been feeling like we'd kind of dropped the ball on signing for a while - it's hard to remember to do it among all the other things you're busy doing with a baby let alone when you've got one or both hands full of baby or baby stuff! My latest tactic has been to introduce the words I find myself saying to her over and over. So far, pretty good.

She's also a busy busy little girl. Everything is worth investigation. And she really never misses a beat. Until she's tired. Case in point:



Too funny!! Dave and I were dying trying to keep our laughter quiet! These pix were from Monday morning (I hear you, bug, Monday's are tough!). She was so tired that Dave managed to undress, re-diaper and dress her while she snoozed. He tried to gently rouse her to no avail, so he finally laid her down on the floor. It wasn't until we turned on the light and took a bunch of pictures that she finally snapped to!



Zoe continues to play beautifully on her own, too. She loves interaction with us and with the other babies in daycare, for sure, but she does such a great job of entertaining herself for impressively long stints. Our girl knows how to play!




Ok, bad examples of playing alone because those are two activities in which she DOESN'T play alone. We promise :)