put on a big smile

when it comes to entertainment, there's nothing better than a cute babe.

these days

We are long overdue to post! The past two weeks have flown by, feeling particularly busy with the start of the school year for Jenn, which gave Zuzu some opportunities to tag along at work with her momma after being picked up from Margarita's house during the week and on weekend days. It's amazing how quickly "mommy guilt" sets in when our schedule goes through a hectic phase -- I just feel so sad to be away from her. Ty was his fabulously flexible self and had lots of one-on-one time with Zuzu when I couldn't be home. A three day weekened is coming up soon and Ty decided not to go on the annual guys' mountain trip this year in favor of family-of-three time. What a devoted daddy -- I love him!

Zuzu is doing well and amazing us every day. She's exploring her excersaucer (thanks, C&M!) and seems to like the cat, dog, cow, duck, and lion sound buttons. At first when she heard the noises they made, she looked a little shocked -- but now she will smile with intrigue if I say a long "mmmmmooooooooooooooooo!" to imitate the cow. She's also standing on our laps as often as she can and seems to enjoy the workout this gives her little legs. Zuzu is falling into a predictible schedule, so for her sake we're doing our best to keep mealtime, naptime, bath time, bed time, etc. the same each day to develop solid routines for her. It's amazing how quickly she lets us know if we get a bit off schedule!

Right now we're in the process of drying out after getting water in our lower level. The contents from our downstairs now resides in our garage and living room, the carpet and padding went to the landfill, and a big stinky mess has taken over our family room and guest bedroom. In addition to an initial headache, all this eventually leads to a house project that grows exponentially. Zuzu was awfully patient while we dealt with a contractor, the Servicemaster guys, carpet ripping and furniture moving this morning. Thankfully she's not crawling yet because our house is far from child-friendly at the moment!

This pic was taken a few days ago. Seems Zuzu's left fingers are the favored chewing items these days.

delayed reaction

Click to Play

We crack up every time we see Zuzu's delayed reaction on this video.  Enjoy.

miss easygoing

Zuzu’s morning began with snuggling in mom and dad’s bed and eating (usual routine), then laying in her crib listening to classical music (also her usual routine), and then hearing one of her parents wildly shrieking after an incident involving an unsuspecting naked person, the shower, a towel, and a very, VERY large spider. She had little reaction to the ruckus and went merrily about her business of smiling at her mobile while her mom “dealt” with the eight-legged squatter.

Later, Zuzu ran errands with her dad while I spent some time at work. I pictured Ty trying to juggle Zuzu in the carrier and a cart full of groceries to bag as not a simple task, but once again Ty proved me wrong! I’m not sure if the two of them worked out a little deal a while back, but every time Ty is on baby duty Zuzu winds up sleeping. Ty seems to have the magic touch with her!

Tomorrow is a pretty big day: Zuzu has her four month appointment (more shots), plus participation in a psychology research study (don’t worry, no electrodes are involved). This ought to lead to some good stories – stay tuned!

more vacation pics!

we had such a great time in maine with zuzu and have the pictures to prove it.
see some of them here.

the swimming incident

We decided to take video of Zuzu’s first dip into Beech Hill Pond on our trip to Maine – you know, so we could look back on it later and remember our trip. Gosh, I’m so glad Ty wore his water shoes for extra traction.

Click To Play

p.s. ty was such a good sport about it that he gave me the thumbs up to put it on the blog. out of respect for him i promise to not ever mention it again (um, at least publicly). for the record, he said there was a big rock.

shhhhhhh.......

Up until now, we've prided ourselves on the fact that Zuzu cries very little (of course, this must be genetic). Usually any problem involving tears can be rectified by a diaper change, a warm bath, or the old standby -- a good feeding from mom. So why Zuzu has been frantically crying the past two nights is a mystery. Around 7:30 each night she's started with a whimper and by 8 p.m. she's been at a full roar (and not just an "I'm upset" cry but more like "I'm in serious pain AND I'm starving AND I'm grumpy AND if you try one more thing to calm me down I will explode"). The past two nights have ended with us laying in bed with her around 9 p.m., one of us rubbing her back, and each of us softly and rhythmically saying "shhhhhhhhhhh...." in each ear. (I must admit the "shhhhh..." thing is so effective that Ty and I have put ourselves to sleep in the process. Thus, we've done zero loads of vacation laundry and our suitcases still are in the middle of the living room.)

Here's a pic of her (happy!) perched on a little Adirondack chair under the pines along the shore in Maine.

p.s. um, no thanks -- we don't need any unsolicited advice about calming a crying babe.

p.s.s. but she's cute even when she cries.

back from maine

We're back! On Monday night we returned from 12 wonderful days in Maine, Zuzu's first real vacation. (We missed blogging, by the way, and are glad to get back into regular posting). Zuzu was a total trooper on the flights (we even changed diapers on our laps on the plane without any catastrophes!) and ate and slept like a champ throughout the entire trip.

Our days were filled with family, getting our toes in the sand, swimming, boating, attending a fish funeral (thanks to the little cousins), having s'mores, seeing the ocean, and lots and lots of play time. It was a wonderful and peaceful trip and Jenn was especially thrilled to introduce Zuzu to a Maine vacation like she had each summer growing up.

There are many stories from our trip to share later but for now we'll include a classic downeast vacation picture - a lobster dinner on the coast with a babe on our laps. Yes, we had a wicked good time.