Doggies and Chandeliers

Zoey definitely loves her grandpas here in NC, but I think she'd rebel if we took away her new best friends - Gracie (the golden retriever in the pics above) and the light above the kitchen table. She can't get enough of either.

I can't say Zoey has "adjusted" to being down in NC, because she never was "unadjusted"; she just kept on doing her Zoey thing the whole time through. She's been a smiling, giggling, squirmy little bundle. The only difference for Z, and somewhat big news, is that she's graduated out of newborn size diapers. Bring on the size 1s!

Ellyn, Zoey and I would like to wish hearty congratulations to our friends Brian and Deb on the birth of their second daughter, Willow Eva, just yesterday. Zoey's going to have a great posse to run with, as soon as she, uh, can run. =)

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Zoey on the road...

Zoey Wren made her first big road trip, and came through it with flying colors. We left NJ yesterday at 6am, and pulled into Davidson, NC around 7:30. Z was AWESOME (and so was El, whose mommy skills and instincts never cease to amaze me!).

Zoey fed about every two hours (in the backseat while we parked at some truly colorful rest stops and gas stations, and one grouchy McDonald's where they turned me away at 10:31am from getting my Egg McMuffin. Bastards!) She was super mellow about us changing her in the car, too, and was happy and smiley when not sleeping.

As seems to be the case with most things, she quickly returned to "Normal" today after 13 hours in the car, and has been eating, sleeping and pooping with her normal happy, zen-like grace. Mom and dad still need a good nap. =)

The photos above are of Z in her new hat. People with anger management issues should be forced to look at those pictures; how can help but giggle?

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Mobiles are good.

Zoey got a new mobile today and it was love at first sight. Twirly things set to music are manna for babies.

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2 month check up

A quick post, for now. Zoey had her two-month check up on Thursday, and now weighs a whopping 8 lbs 15 oz. She's grown to 22" long (she insists on telling people 22 AND A HALF), and her head expanded an Barry Bonds-esque 1" since last month. Who's giving my daughter steroids?

Zoey also got her first set of shots. What a lucky set of parents we are - three shots, 5 seconds of crying, and then a look from Zoey that said "What, that's it?" She slept away the rest of Thursday, eating only sporadically, and had to be held for her to sleep that night, but by Friday she was back to her normal, active self, with nary a side-effect. We've really yet to find anything that throws this girl off, although she did freak out a bit when I tried to read her Brown Bear, Brown Bear. Bears and giraffes. Who woulda thunk it? We're not too worried about the ole Brown Bear though, last month she hated her swing, now we cannot get her out of it. But really, Z is awesome. When something bothers her, she lets us know directly, and then she's done with it. Shots not so nice? Cry for five seconds then go back to a detailed study of mommy's face. Nine week olds don't have many "character traits," but this is one we really appreciate, and it makes meeting her needs so much easier.

Enjoy the slide show below above. I created it using a different service (Flickr for those who wish to know), and it lets you have a bit more control over how fast the pictures come and go, plus I like the quality of the photos better. Let me know how it looks on your machine, as everyone's computer is a bit different. Update Some more on the slide show: by placing your mouse over the show, controls will appear that let you chose the speed at which the pictures display. In addition, at the end of the show (or if you pause it) you can click on an individual picture to view from the group shown on the bottom. Hope that helps...

Have a great weekend, everyone!

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Feeling groovey.

It's hard to remember a time when Zoey wasn't a smiling, cooing, arm flailing little person. Ellyn and I are constantly talking to Z, and using a small vocabulary of sign language, and she's responding with lots of grins and even more eye contact. The girl loves to hear us talk (good thing with me as her dad, right?). We know she doesn't really understand us, but the interaction makes it feel like we're conversing with our daughter. A definite highlight of the day.

Now that she's a bit older, Zoey is taking to her swing and bouncer more and more. E and I are trying to get a daily routine in place for her where she plays on different mats and swings and stuff throughout the day, with naps and feedings marking the time in between. We've also been giving her some "alone time" each day, so she can sort out all those important baby thoughts. All in all, it's an approach that works for Z; except when it doesn't. Then we just shrug, mumble "eh, she's only 7 weeks old," and try something else.

All in all, life is good with our mellow little girl. She's sleeping longer during the night, and she's settling into two hour and three hour feeding patterns during the day, depending on the day. All that feeding is paying off, as El and I just yesterday asked each other if we thought she was getting noticeably heavier. I can still take her in arm-wrestling, though.

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IT'S OFFICIAL!

So after a long and wonderful three years, it is with great pleasure that I say, "He's done". Today, I watched as Jeff stood with fifty-four fellow Rutgers alumni as they all took the solemn oath to become a member of the New Jersey Bar. It was awesome.

Zoey seems to be past her cold, finally. She's sleeping very well at night (fingers crossed!), and eating like she's going through a growth spurt. Which, depending upon the book you read and believe, she is. She still looks pretty tiny to us. Since she's currently going through a "cuddle-me-23-hours-a-day" phase, tiny is good - neither Jeff nor I are fit enough to be toting a 10 lbs. baby around. 8 is definitely enough. Oh boy, someone sign us up for the gym!

Enjoy the photos below, and we'll try and have another video up in the coming days.

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Happy baby.

Our home was bitten by the sniffles-bug, but we all seem to be on the mend. Zoey is sleeping better, and she's eating like a champion. She's also becoming more and more emotive, sharing frequent smiles and the occasional pouty-face.

I hope everyone had a belly-busting Thanksgiving.

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Last Week's Happenings

Last week Zoey had her one month checkup. She grew an inch and weighed 7 pounds 9 ounces. Along with her checkup came her very first cold. She had the sniffles and a wet cough. This was not fun. She's feeling better now, but now daddy seems to have caught the cold.

So to all, eat up some turkey, enjoy your family and friends, and have a good one!

P.S. Jeff passed the New York bar.

P.P.S. Congratulations to Adam & Jessie on their engagement.

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Dance baby, dance.

I'm too tired to write anything more than to let everyone know Zoey, El and I are doing fine, and the little Sweet Pea's personality is shinning through more and more.

Enjoy the photos and video, and everyone have a great weekend!

Update 11-11-07, 6:45pm: I just found out I've passed the NJ bar exam.

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Ooh, I have hands.

Still short of one month old, Zoey keeps on amazing us each day. She's alert for longer stretches of the day (and at more appropriate times!), and is discovering the wonder of cause and effect. Now let's be real, cause and effect for Zoey is not quite "The Roman empire fell because..." It's more along the lines of: "Ooh, I swing this arm thing and that ring thing I hit makes an interesting noise. Again! Again!"

It's the best theater we've ever seen.

Speaking of cause and effect, one not so charming manifestation is the "Change my diaper, watch me poop on the changing table cover" phenomena. I'll spare you the details of the routine, but we just used some Babie R Us gift cards to up our changing-table-cover total to 6. We have a washer and drier. The covers are washable and dry-able. Trust me, we need 6.

Sleep is still an unreliable commodity. Some nights are good, some nights are grueling. But boy are we fans of daylight savings time. Zoey's alert time has now shifted from 7-midnight to 6-11. We're backing that up a bit each day, too, so hopefully the little Sweet Pea will be going to bed at better hour in the next few weeks. We're even getting a stretch between feedings of three to four hours once a night a couple of times a week. Zoey's a bit early along to be affording us that luxury, so we're very thankful.

Another luxury we're starting to receive are Zoey's first, early, smiles. They pop up randomly, but they're definitely responsive to us. She's also sticking her tongue out at us quite a bit. I find myself sticking mine out quite a bit, too. I'll need to watch that in public.

On a different note, El, Zoey and I want to wish a huge and heartfelt congratulations to my sister Amy and her fiance Keith. They got engaged yesterday, and the three of us are super excited.

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Zoey's first three weeks.

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Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone!

Zoey's had a great first Halloween, although much to my regret, no trick or treating this year. Next year I can get fat(ter) off my daughter's candy haul; this year, we contented ourselves with watching Zoey enjoy another Baby Einstein video - World Animals. Z loves monkeys, elephants, lions and fish, but for some reason the girl hates giraffes. Must be the freakishly long necks. It was amazing to watch her react with coos and squeals to the video - she's not really supposed to be this "interactive" yet.

Zoey and I also had a very extended conversation today. I did most of the talking. Well, all of the talking. And it was all in a gibberish that I don't quite understand (I hope I didn't promise her someone else's homeland in baby-ese). But who cares, my daughter held eye contact with me, and broke out some what-are-you-talking-about-dad smiles. Who needs Charleston Chews after that?

Enjoy the pictures and videos below. Happy Halloween!

Update 11-3-07Zorry about the dead videos below, Google Video is being stupid. Go You Tube! I'll have the second one back up as soon as YT finishes processing it.

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Globetrotter.

We got a call from our landlord on Sunday telling us that he had a couple who wanted our apartment, but only if we could be out by today. We had planned to trek up to the Clair on Wednesday to clear out, but with the opportunity to save half a month's rent, we figured Monday would work just as well.

Two things. One, Zoey had a rough night Sunday night, needing to be held to sleep. So she slept great. Mom and dad, not so much. Two, if you ever find yourself moving out of a third floor walk up, and possess decent homeowner's insurance, just burn the damn place down. Boy did those stairs suck.

But we're all out, and Zoey was great during our ordeal. The girl LOVES the car, and slept like a champ on the ride up and back to Marlboro. She also was a trooper as El and I spent the day gathering up all the crap we swore we already gathered up. Too much crap. Zoey was quite content watching the action from one of our floor cushions, eating when she got hungry, giving a coo when she needed some attention, and doing all of the other baby things babies do (think: the end result of eating).

Since the weather was a bit chilly, we bundled Zoey up. The only problem is, this girl HATES hats. She hates socks, pants, and the Red Sox, as well, but hating hats was the problem du jour. Our cleaver parent solution? A hooded sweatshirt. As you can see from the picture above, though, Zoey is tiny, and her sweatshirts are big; hence the Rocky Balboa, "I'm coming down to the ring" look of our daughter. She didn't mind a bit, being the chill babe that she is.

We all slept well last night, although El and I may both need back-e-otomies after a gazillion flights of stairs.

Anyone know of a good ranch style house on the market? Preferably one with an elevator.

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Sleepless in Marlboro

So needless to say: SLEEP DEPRIVATION has set in....
Even though Z sleeps through the night, with the occasional wake up for feedings, poopie diapers, or other fun surprises, she is letting us snooze from 1:30 am to about 9 ish. Sometimes she opts not to sleep and then the fun really begins.

Zoey is adjusting to her pack -n- play (we are easing her into the whole thing). We added a fun new mirror to her crib, which she just loves. Daddy spent about 40 minutes video taping her looking at herself in the mirror. She is just too much (& too cute). Enjoy the videos.

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