The Garden of Sweet Pea

Chasing bubbles, playin' in snow.

2009-12-27T09:30:00.001-05:00

BEEware!

2009-10-27T14:47:00.001-04:00

DSC06368, originally uploaded by Papa JeffG.

Halloween gets a dress rehearsal 'round here.

Icing makes getting older easier.

2009-10-14T19:18:00.000-04:00

Same day, different year.

2009-10-13T16:55:00.001-04:00

Ready for Paparazzi.

2009-09-29T10:48:00.001-04:00

DSC06227, originally uploaded by Papa JeffG.

Yankees Fan.

2009-09-20T12:41:00.001-04:00

DSC06197, originally uploaded by Papa JeffG.

Mueseums, Provincetown, and some Beaches.

2009-09-16T17:17:00.000-04:00

Neigh! (and: Pudding!)

2009-08-12T14:54:00.001-04:00

Summer Time Fun.

2009-08-07T11:25:00.000-04:00

Cake and the Great Outdoors.

2009-06-28T07:59:00.000-04:00

Pudding!

2009-06-12T21:27:00.001-04:00

The Beach is Serious Business.

2009-05-25T12:42:00.001-04:00

Yes, she's grown.

2009-05-14T19:24:00.000-04:00

We still like her just fine.

Because February Needs Zoey Pictures, Too.

2009-02-24T12:48:00.012-05:00

Somebody should complain to the manager about the lack of updates here.

Oh.

Sorry about that.

This post marks our first attempt to present an edited-down slide-show of Zoey pictures (There was overwhelming demand in our poll; 6-1 for cutting down). So please let us know if you like it, would like us to go back to the old way, or just plain don't understand the lack of rutabaga in our Zoey shots. WE LOVE COMMENTS!

If you just cannot get enough Zoey Wren in your life, click below (on the "See More of Zoey Wren") to see the full set of 340 pics, warts and all. I think we'll stick with this format, at least until I get more than two complaints about how "difficult it is to find the clicking thing to see the other pictures..."
Here's the whole set, enjoy!

Favorites.

2009-01-15T09:45:00.002-05:00

Enjoy this ~~little~~ somewhat large selection of our favorite Zoey shots from the last 15 months, and don't forget to vote in our poll over on the right.

Doggies, Haircuts, Snow, Oh My!

2009-01-05T14:56:00.007-05:00

Apologies to anyone coming here on dial-up, this is a biggie update.

Zoey Wren had an awesome last two weeks. She made her third trip down to Davidson, NC, where she and Gracie (the golden retriever) promptly fell into giggle fests, she got her first haircut, she played with her Dad in the snow, she fell in love with a complete band set from Grandma and Grandpa, and she colored with crayons for the first time. The fact that I've been off the last two weeks has only made it all that much more fun for me (and Z and El, too, I hope).

When we got down to Davidson, Zoey fell in love instantly with Gracie. A peal of laughter erupted from our little one's mouth, and she didn't stop giggling for 6 days. She also liked getting her face right in Gracie's tail and following her around the house. Strange behavior.

Less strange was Zoey's love for Grandpa's piano. She would run the length of the house, stand on her tip toes, and hit the highest key. Just once. And just that key. Then she'd run away giggling. She also got treated to quite a few concerts from Grandpa, featuring mainly The Itsy Bitsy Spider.

Her haircut was a lot of fun, too. Zoey has this lock of hair that she was born with, and has continued to grow quite quickly. Right into her eyes. Action was required. So we zipped off to a great kiddie cutter in NC, and Miss ZW had her first "day at the spa" (they seriously offered us a manicure for her - don't they know there's a recession on?). She was happy as a clam through the whole thing, which may have been a result of the bubble machine, goofy mirror, and two sets of cameras clicking furiously away. Either way, she got some long bangs and now can see the world around her.

After we got back to NJ, we were treated with a nice bit of snow on New Year's day. A quick bundle up landed me and Z on the front lawn, tasting snowflakes. I promised the little one a cup of hot cocoa as soon as she can handle it. Snowy day play time just isn't complete without hot chocolate, and I feel derelict in my parental duties. Of course, burning my 14 month old's mouth by funneling hot cocoa down her would probably be a criminal act, so I'm glad we held off. Maybe next year. =)

Last week Grandma Margie and Grandpa Steve came down and brought Zoey a holiday haul of toys and books. Far and away Zoey's favorite was a band-in-a-box set. Grandma, Grandpa, Zoey, Mom and Dad all had a silly good time playing maracas, clackers, cymbals, tambourines and other percussion instruments whose name I don't know. She's been handing me the tambourine ever since, trying to get me to do some kind of Mamas and the Papas impersonation. The girl loves her music.

And now, a quick house keeping item. I've been thinking about how we share photos on this blog, and wanted to get some feedback. You'll notice a poll over on the right side of the page. The options are pretty straight-forward: 1)keep things as they are, or 2) have us do some editing on which photos we share. We have some pretty big updates on here (today's, for example), and to be honest, quite a few of these pictures are either redundant, not so great, or both. So, what would you, our audience prefer? Editing requires a bit more time and effort, but not so much that it's really difficult to do. But if people like seeing everything we've got (with the exception of shots that make me look fatter, which I remove anyway), I'm content with continuing as is. The poll is open through February, so let us know.

I hope every had a merry/happy/joyful/{fill in the blank} Christmas/Hannukah/Kwanza/{fill in the blank} and a Happy New Year!

Zoey's First Haircut.

Zoey in Davidson.

Zoey in the Snow.

Random Shots of Zoey at Home.

Mini Update Part II

2009-01-05T09:05:00.001-05:00

Here's the promised second set of photos from two weeks ago.

Mini-update.

2008-12-17T16:38:00.004-05:00

There were supposed to be more photos, really, there were. In fact there are more photos, and no, the dog didn't eat them (we don't have a dog), they are just sitting on out desktop waiting to be uploaded to the grand Tube Network for your viewing pleasure. So we all just have to muddle through with this "mini-update." It helps to realize we're all in this together.

Zoey Wren is doing awesome. The girl is damn funny. She really has no concept of relative size, so we often find her lugging around, dragging, or otherwise wrestling with object much larger/heavier than her. Pair of mama's boots? No big thing to our little SweetPea, pick 'em up and tote them around! Jumbo laundry basket twice as tall as you are? Forgetaboutit! New toy! Quite hilarious. We usually help her out with her self-appointed manual labor. After we're done laughing.

I'll try and get those other pictures up soon, they're awesome.

Onomatopoeia

2008-12-01T10:20:00.002-05:00

So my lifelong (okay, 13 month-long) dream of having Zoey's first word be onomatopoeia has long since been dashed. Dada, mama, this, that, bottle (well, "baba") and a few others have sealed onomatopoeia's fate to not be Z's first utterance. But the girl is quickly picking up some signs that coupled with her verbal-vocab are making life a lot easier for El and I. "More," "want," "milk," and "nice" are entering the Zoey lexicon. Virtually overnight she is adding these essentials to her vocabulary. I'm gonna have to watch my sailor's mouth.

Thanksgiving was an exhausting hoot for us. We were at my cousin's in Westchester, and they have a very nice sunken family room with small steps into and out of it. Zoey spent five hours doing laps up around and down. Mom and Dad were never far behind, helping the little Sweet Pea with the "down" part (up the stairs is a solo act for little Zoey Wren). I think Ellyn and I are the only two people in America to have lost weight at Thanksgiving.

I hope everyone had a happy and safe Turkey Day.

Pizza Skeletons

2008-11-17T08:16:00.002-05:00

Apologies for the month-long gap in updates.

The photo set has a lot of firsts for Zoey in it: her first Halloween skeleton costume, her first bites of pizza, and her first time voting (she picked a winner!).

It's impossible to put a month of Zoey's life into a few paragraphs (which is why you should update more than once a month, dummy!), but here are some brief highlights. Motor skills: Zoey is loving getting into her bumbo seat all by herfelf. She often ends up backwards in it, and isn't all that good at getting out of it, but she LOVES getting into that chair. Her walking/running has unlocked a new super-power - Going In Circles. If El or I are sitting on the floor, Zoey will do laps around us until we get too tired. It's mainly right-turns at the moment, in case you were wondering.

On the verbal front, little Miss Z. Wren's language is exploding. She's said such sundry things as "bread," "giraffe," "toes," and "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people." (my favorite Amendment, dontcha know). She's also following directions. Sorta. The other night I asked zoey if she wanted to sit in my lap to read a book, and she waddled right over, plopped herself down, and let me read to her for an entire 38 seconds. Good stuff.

It's turned frigid up here, so I suspect the next several batches of photos will include lots of Zoey-Under-45-feet-of-bunting shots. So you all have that too look forward to.

Walkin' and Coughin'

2008-10-11T20:38:00.002-04:00

The little Sweet Pea got sick at exactly the wrong time - right when she was goin to have her 1st birthday party. Shazblat! She's had a fever and cough for the last few days, and the doctor said it would probably last another week. So we had to put off the festivities. That didn't stop Zoey Wren from showing off her awesome powers of twirling, though.

Enjoy her waddlings and I'll try and get some photos up in the next day or so.

2008-10-05T19:31:00.003-04:00

The above video is about 10 days old. The hesitant "dadadas" are now "mamamamas" and "nanananas" along with "dadadada" and "gagagaga." She also said "pass the Grey Poupon" once. Totally true.

Oh, below you can see some of what Zoey sees. The video is from an episode of "Jack's Big Music Show," a daily favorite, and a staple of my Saturday morning Daddy-daughter-date-day. These guys are awesome. Enjoy!

Where'd my baby go?

2008-09-18T08:16:00.002-04:00

So I got home last night, and managed to see Z awake for the first time in days. I was greeted with a boisterous DaDa! Oh man does that make a long day just fall away. El had the little one in her first pair of shoes walking around the mall. Yup. Our 11 month old is an official New Jersey Mall Rat.

El's been taking tons of pictures for me (all of the above are her handy-work), and in going through them late last night I realized that our little girl isn't a baby anymore. She's always seemed like more of a little person than a baby, she's had that look in her eye that says "don't bet against me understanding exactly what's going on here." But seeing her walking, seeing her comprehend with more and more precision what we say to her, it's apparant that our tiny girl has outgrown the baby label. It's pretty exciting stuff.

Enjoy the pics, and look forward to some video this weekend (I promise!)

Walkin' and Talkin'

2008-09-15T19:05:00.002-04:00

The little one has decided that enough is enough with this silent puddle of cuteness stuff, and has moved to a new, more interactive, babbling and walking bundle of cuteness phase. 10 steps followed by a lovely "bah-bah-bah-dah-dah-dah-bah-ma-bah-bah" are now par for the course.

Zoey is also now a prolific pointer, wanting everything in her world labeled. Her language is realling exploding, and she's recognizing words like "water" "eat" "play" and "come here."

"Go to sleep" is not, sadly, in her vocabulary of comprehension yet.

Sorry if the updates are a bit sporadic, I'm in the midst of another 14-21 day run of work, and El swears the computer will eat her if she tries to update the blog. =)

In the Duck, Out of the Duck

2008-09-01T20:08:00.004-04:00

Sorry for the lack if updates, I've been at work for 14 straight days so updating has been difficult. Enjoy these pics, and I promise we'll get more up sooner rather than later.

I hope everyone had a happy and safe Labor Day.

Magical mystical monkies!

2008-08-16T12:25:00.004-04:00

As you can see from the photos above, Zoey Wren LOVES eating (well, maybe she loves the mess more than eating, but the food still goes in, so: VICTORY!), and testing out her new-found powers of altitude-enhancing-verticality ("standing" to those of you without verbosity majoria syndrome). Not so obvious from the photos, the little sweet Pea also loves to mewl. It's really the only word I can think of to describe her verbal screeches, screams, sings and rasps. The little girl like to take a deep breath, brace herself against something sturdy, and let her little pipes go! It's very cute, if a bit startling when it's otherwise quiet.

Z is taking a greater interest in lots of toys that we thought she had long lost interest in. One toy in particular, which is not old but new, is Maggie the Monkey. Last weekend Z and I had a little Daddy-daughter alone time, and off to the store we went. Well, sitting on a shelf was this brown fuzzy monkey, and Zoey nearly jumped out of the shopping cart to grab it. Since this was the first time I'd ever seen my daughter go after something like that in a store, and since the aforementioned monkey cost less than the change found in our couch cushions, magnanimous Daddy said, "Let's make that monkey ours!" It's been baby-monkey love ever since.

Of course, she'd still prefer a laundry basket, a remote control, and a laptop. Who needs the toy store? Although, El did buy her a "kiddie laptop" this week, and the little one loves it! It's pretty neat, with lots of buttons and lights and sounds, and as El pointed out to me, it has "educational flair." Hey, what's life without a little educational flair?

I'll get some more video posted soon, but hopefully the photos will tide you Zoey-groupies over for a little while :-)

More of Zoey on the go.

2008-07-30T14:41:00.001-04:00

Zoey Swims and Zoey Moves

2008-07-28T20:22:00.002-04:00

Zoey took her first dip in the pool this weekend at Aunt Amy and Uncle Keith's engagement bbq. Let's just say she prefers a Caribbean-esque 85 degrees. Really, though, she did quite well for her first foray in the H2O, especially considering she had a large audience shouting "turn this way Zoey!" Little girl's a trooper!

As you can see above, mobility is not a problem for the little Sweet Pea, although us old folks are popping a few extra motrin from all the bending and chasing.

Blast From the (Clapping) Past

2008-07-28T10:10:00.002-04:00

Ok, so google video stinks, and YouTube rocks. If this is general public knowledge, then I apologize for not being "with it." Anyway, the video above is from a month ago, but for a lot of you out there on the inter-tubes, you haven't seen Zoey's clapping routine, so I hope you enjoy it.

We have lots of video that we haven't been able to post, so expect lots of new (old) stuff over the coming days.

Gourmand!

2008-07-27T14:01:00.002-04:00

Our little Sweet Pea is mastering the fine culinary skills. Now, maybe she's not quite ready for chop-sticks, and I'm not sure f she can keep a soufflé from collapsing, but c'mon...9 months and shoveling food into her own mouth with a spoon? Pretty awesome, no?

Enjoy the video (courtesy of YouTube since Google Video is for crap), and we'll get some pictures up soon of Zoey playing with a whole slew of other babies at Amy and Kieth's engagement bbq.

Why We Crawl

2008-07-25T09:33:00.003-04:00

Unlike Eugene Jarecki's disturbing look at the American military-industrial complex, Why We Fight, Zoey Wren has a much more benign, and adorable, reason for Why She Crawls: Mommy!

Big Summer Update

2008-07-19T12:44:00.002-04:00

Lots and lots of news from the last month. Zoey had her second plane trip, this time to Florida to visit her great-grandparents. She handled the flights with her usual calm (the frat party traveling home with us could have used some of Zoey's poise!) She's standing like a champ, cruising along with a happy grin. She's also got her two bottom teeth in, and boy are they sharp!

Zoey had her 9 month check up, and now weighs a whopping 16 lbs, 1 oz, and is 27 inches long. She's eating everything we put in front of her - yogurt, cheerios, cheese, turkey burgers, vegetable stew. The biggest problem we have is that her food tastes so good I find myself eating it (Sorry about that missing box of cookies Sweet Pea!)

She still is an awful sleeper. Sigh.

Well, enjoy the massive photo update, and stay cool in this brutal heat.

Corral that gal!

2008-06-23T07:14:00.002-04:00

Zoey is now a full-fledged crawler. It's not the most graceful crawl, but it sure gets her where she thinks she wants to go. And then back to where she really wanted to be. And then over to the other spot. And on. And on. The energizer bunny has nothing on this girl.

Given our daughter's new found locomotive ken, we did what any reasonable parents would do and bought a kiddie ~~cage~~ gated play area. Zoey loves it. She especially loves using the bars to pull herself up into a standing position. She is very strong, and doesn't mind plopping on her backside a few dozen times in her pursuit of bipedal brilliance.

All of this motor activity means sleep, once again, as it's always been with this little sweet pea of ours, is in extraordinarily short supply. El and I have been functioning on four or five hours a night for the last week or so. Not fun. Zoey still starts each day smiling and giggling and rolling and happy. Mom and dad? Not so much. Ugh. I'm probably the only parent in existence yearning for her to become a teenager just so she'll start sleeping 15 hours a day. Oh well. She's an awesome little girl in every other regard, so we'll just have to figure out a way to get her to close her peepers for more than an hour at a time.

Enjoy the pictures and these first days of summer.

First we play, then we sleep!

2008-06-14T17:51:00.001-04:00

Not much rest for us last night, but today was The Day of Many Naps. WooHoo!

Everyone have a great weekend!

Teeth and Sleep.

2008-06-12T07:03:00.002-04:00

Zoey Wren has cut her first tooth! And would you believe it, she's not bothered by it much at all. The little pearly white is poking through on the bottom front, and the little Sweet Pea is just rolling and smiling along.

Zoey also slept the entire night last night in her crib and pack and play. Let's hope this is the beginning of a trend and not a one night tease.

In other developments, Z is pulling herself up in her crib to stand up and run her tin cup across the bars demanding bread and water. She's also becoming an expert at playing "catch" - well, more like "roll" most of the time, but she does fling her ball across the floor to El or I, and "catches" it when we bounce or roll it back her way. I think she enjoys it, but I know we love it.

We also got another giggle out of her last night. It involved a lot of raspberry's from daddy (Louie Armstrong's chops couldn't have done a better job!), but by golly, Zoey was giving off little peals of giggles. Best sound in the universe.

Enjoy the photos.

Holy Heat Wave Batman!

2008-06-09T08:43:00.003-04:00

Well, techmology (spelled with an "m" on purpose in order to maintain the blog's cuteness factor) just cannot compete with mother nature. We've had to keep our desktop rig turned off the last two days because of the brutal heat. The machine gives off way too much heat, and it's also making this not-so-comforting whirring noise. So, no photos or videos as previously promised. Hopefully the heat will break so I can get some photos quickly uploaded (the video takes about an hour to format and upload, so that probably won't happen for a few days - sorry!)

On the Zoey Wren front, life is good for our little Sweet Pea. The little girl can't stop moving, rolling, plopping, sitting and squirming through the day. Our daughter is a very funny baby. She's taken to presing her face up againt the mesh sides of her pack and play, as well as tapping away on El and me with her pudgy little hands. The girl's got good rythem (DEFINITELY from her mother!).

As far as the great sleeping-in-the-crib effort. Well, let's just say we love Zoey very much and leave it at that. =)

Stay cool during the blast furnance days this week, and I'll try and regale y'all with cute pictures of our georgeous daughter soon.

Rolling, giggling and a love of carpet.

2008-06-06T12:41:00.002-04:00

More photos to come later today (or more likely tomorrow), but enjoy the short set above.

Zoey is doing awesome. She is almost crawling; it's more of a roll-wiggle-sit-plop, but it gets her where she wants to go. We are also trying to get her to sleep in her crib. No offense to Master Yoda, but this is definitely a "try" situation - Zoey does, and does not sleep in there at carious times of the night. It's tiring for El (I sleep the guilty sleep of the 5am commuter), but Z seems to be asking nice progress, going a little longer each night. She just may make it through the entire night in time not to piss off her college room-mate.

More to follow, but enjoy what we've got up now! Everyone have a great weekend.

Hey, it's an update!

2008-05-17T13:27:00.001-04:00

Sorry for the long gap, we'll try not to let that happen again. Enjoy the photos!

Philly Easter.

2008-03-30T20:55:00.003-04:00

Zoey traveled to Philly for the second time, sleeping over at Auntie Amy and Uncle K's. Little one likes slumber parties.

Quick Pics.

2008-03-29T10:24:00.002-04:00

I wanted to throw up some sets we've taken over the last couple of weeks.

Zoey in her Davidson Wildcats shirt will be up shortly =)

Baseball's newest fan.

2008-03-15T17:41:00.004-04:00

After two weeks of getting the the tv schedule wrong, daddy and Zoey finally got to watch their first Yankees' game. Z was asleep by the 2nd inning, daddy by the fifth. But as you can see above, we were both representing the Captain in our sporty #2 t-shirts.

Zoey also started a new fruit this weekend: apples. Add apples to rice and bananas on the list of yummies that Z loves. Z loves to eat, and is actually getting a little less messy about it. El really works with her on it during the week, getting Z's tongue in the right position and making the whole thing fun. My technique is a bit more crude: I just act as silly as I can and let Z chomp away (but also use the techniques El recommends; it's nice to have a speech therapist for a wife).

Zoey's hearing and processing really kicked in this week. She now seems to understand that voices are more than just another noise, that they are communication. She will make immediate eye contact with people who are speaking, and really responds to hearing her name by turning her head. She's also very close to being able to sit by herself (again, check out the photos above). She wobbles over after a few seconds or so, and leans pretty far forward, but hey, "baby steps" for a baby, right? She'll figure it out soon enough.

update 3-16-06 Because who can get enough Zoey pics?

Bananas, Tallyho!

2008-03-09T19:59:00.004-04:00

A new weekend brings Zoey a new food: bananas. Our daughter must be part monkey, because before the first spoonful was even near her mouth, her kisser was opened wide, and she had her head leaning forward in anticipation. Zoey loves bananas.

The solids thing is going well, in general. We'll see how bananas work out for another 4 or 5 days, and then add in applesauce. At that point, we'll start mixing the fruit with the rice cereal, and then look out Dunkin Donuts, here Z comes!

We've also been putting Zoey in her rainforest jumparoo, and the little girl is going nuts for it. She start jumping back and forth, spinning around, trying to grab every toy at once. It's enthralling to watch this little creature discover her world, one plastic elephant and swirly crocodile at a time.

Rolling and scootching (spelling on "scootching?") are also current favorites, and El and I are constantly rescuing Z in her crib after she rolls over and forgets to bring her left arm along with her. Nobody likes having a hand stuck underneath them.

Have a great week everyone!.

Solid.

2008-03-01T20:40:00.002-05:00

Zoey Wren has entered the world of spoons and bowls.

A couple of tablespoons of organic rice cereal mixed with some water were little Sweet Pea's first foray into fine cuisine. She loved it. Dribbles, drools and rasps sent a bit of the soupy concoction sliding down her oh-so-posh bib (do they make one in my size for the next time at at the Red Lobster?). But quantity swallowed was not the important thing today, rather, we were thrilled with Zoey's enthusiasm for the approaching spoon, and her instant swallowing skills. With a dad like me, who could doubt this girl would be a born eater?

For now Z will have a one-hit wonder menu: rice cereal. But over the coming weeks we'll be adding fruits, and then veggies, and eventually meats and other fun stuff. All that is for the future. For today, El and I are just sitting in wonder at another momentous first that our little sweet Pea has tackled with aplomb.

Oh, hello.

2008-02-24T19:37:00.004-05:00

So it's been awhile, huh? We'll try not to let such a large gap in updates happen again.

It'd be impossible to cover the last month and a half in one post, so let me just bring everyone up to date on where Zoey is now. She's doing AWESOME. Her hands are hers to control now. Z's able to spot an object, grab for it, hold it, and manipulate it. She can roll from front to back, and back to front (almost - she gets stuck about 3/4 of the way through the roll, but it still counts!), sit with her head steady, "talk" with people (in coos, gurgles, and rasps), and of course, smile and laugh all day long.

She's still tiny (10 lbs, 10 oz at her 4 month check up last week), but she's got a huge personality, so we mainly forget about her petite frame until we notice she's still wearing mostly 0-3 clothes.

Enjoy the slide shows above (they are from mid January through yesterday, from top to bottom), and please accept our apologies for the tardiness of the updates!

Gimme gimme gimme.

2008-01-19T16:42:00.000-05:00

Zoey has discovered the joy of grabbing things. Plastic rings, blankets, daddy's shirt, mommy's necklace, her little monkey toy. Sometimes, however, she seems to have forgotten that she's holding the object, and so Miss Monkey Toy finds herself suffering a wild, long ride. Whatever, we laugh, and I don't think the monkey is one for revenge.

Zoey has almost outgrown her 0-3 size clothes, so El and I are experiencing that first heartbreak of all new parents: saying goodbye to Z's first clothes. We've waived goodbye to pink reindeer and purple owls and a couple of others. But, as is the case with all things in life, as we say goodbye to some stuff, we say hello to others. Green frogs and blue bears are making their first appearances, and El and I will learn to adjust to these new friends. As for Zoey? She's just happy to have the leg room. Pure pragmatist, our little daughter.

We've been taking Zoey out to eat these last two weeks, and the girl may just have a career as a culinary critic (she can ask her great-grandmother for advice). She's been out for cafe-food, diner fare, sushi, and a smattering of other cuisine. Zoey is mellow as always, eagerly looking around but never really fussing. We've made sure to go places early where there won't be much of a crowd, and the staff inevitably falls in love with the little one. Maybe I should start taking her to the bar to try and score a free bourbon? Hmm.

Rock and Roll

2008-01-09T20:11:00.001-05:00

Zoey Wren is officially mobile and agile...she had her first roll! From front to back, with squeals and giggles to accompany the topsy-turvy joy of her first flip. She's repeated this exciting new talent more than once, and we even caught one on video (to be posted in a few days).

I started work this past Friday, and it's been quite an adjustment, for me and El more so than Z. Friday was the first time I'd been away from Z for longer than a couple of hours, and needless to say, I miss her more than a little when I'm away. Don't get me wrong, a paycheck is nice, but after spending 24 hours a day for three months with my little cutie, being away for 12 or so hours is tough. Thank goodness for camera phones! El's dealing with flying solo during the day, and having to handle the night feedings on her own, too. We'll survive just like every other couple who isn't named Rockerfeller or Trump, but if the updates to the Garden are a little less frequent, please bear with us.

Zoey's doing awesome, cooing and chirping with more force and determination each day. She's sitting in her Bumbo (the blue chair with the pommel in the pictures above), and grabbing our hands and fingers with her own. She's also discovered the primal joy of kicking things: her swing toys, the sides of her pack-and-play, her daddy's belly...you know, whatever is at hand (or foot, more accurately). Little Sweet Pea is really sprouting.

Thanks for your patience with the tardy updates. I hope everyone had and has a great New Year!

Doggies and Chandeliers

2007-12-23T13:52:00.000-05:00

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. =)

Zoey on the road...

2007-12-20T18:34:00.001-05:00

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?

Mobiles are good.

2007-12-17T18:15:00.000-05:00

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

2 month check up

2007-12-16T11:53:00.000-05:00

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!

Feeling groovey.

2007-12-06T19:40:00.000-05:00

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.

IT'S OFFICIAL!

2007-12-02T18:22:00.000-05:00

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.

Happy baby.

2007-11-24T13:09:00.000-05:00

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.

Last Week's Happenings

2007-11-22T17:29:00.000-05:00

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.

Dance baby, dance.

2007-11-10T17:09:00.000-05:00

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.

Ooh, I have hands.

2007-11-07T17:27:00.000-05:00

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.

Zoey's first three weeks.

2007-11-03T22:06:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-31T18:06:00.000-04:00

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.

Globetrotter.

2007-10-30T21:25:00.001-04:00

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.

Sleepless in Marlboro

2007-10-28T15:01:00.000-04:00

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.

Adventures in Parenting

2007-10-26T11:20:00.000-04:00

Zoey had a great night. She got her cry on around 10pm, worked it all out by 11, and slept soundly through the night except for the couple of times we woke her to feed her. What a great kid! It probably helped that we wore her out yesterday with her first round trip car ride. We're still moving the last of our junk (i.e my clothes; hence the same red t-shirt in all the pictures I'm in!), so we went up to Montclair yesterday morning, spent a few hours cleaning out stuff, and Zoey was just awesome. She loves the car like most babies, and slept through most of the time we were in the apartment.

Last night we set up a play mat with all sorts of ocean related stuff, and Z loved it. This morning, it was a vibrating bouncer, and she loved that, as well. Heck, this kid loves the sponge baths we've given her. She is enjoying each new experience we throw at her.

One thing Zoey is enjoying that daddy isn't so much is her new found use of her hands. Now don't get me wrong, I still have every intention of her stepping on the mound of Yankee Stadium some day, so her discovery of her hands is a pleasant step in that direction, but she seems to have settled on grasping and pulling daddy's chest hair as the best use for said hands. Ouch! I may have to wear t-shirts until she finds a better use for those little grasping fingers.

Anyway, Zoey and El and I are all doing great. We seem to finding a bit of a routine, even if it's leaving us pretty exhausted. We've manged to go out once a day to run some errands or pick up food, and that's been a great mental relief for us and for Zoey. Enjoy the video we took this morning of Z in her bouncer, and the slew of pictures below, including Zoey in her crib.

Quick post.

2007-10-23T21:43:00.000-04:00

(Read this post as if it went up last night around 9pm - Google Video took its sweet time processing the video...grrrr technology)

El and I are exhausted (more on why tomorrow; just know everyone is fine and happy), but I wanted to throw this video up before we hit the hay. Zoey's personality is really starting to shine through as she's awake for longer and longer stretches of the day.

Zoey and I watched a Baby Einstein DVD today (Baby Neptune if you must know specifics), and she loved it. El and I read her books, played silly name-that-body-part games, and stretched the limit of how much fun inventing gobbledy-gook baby talk can be. Suffice it to say, Zoey loves the alphabet recited in a deep frog-like rumble.

Enjoy the video, and I'll post our tales of the inept first-time parent tomorrow.

What's one week of diapers look like?

2007-10-22T20:28:00.000-04:00

Look what Daddy caught!

We had Zoey's second visit to the doctor today for a weight in. She's put on 6 1/2 ounces since last Wednesday, and the docs are very happy. Basically this means she and El are making a fantastic adjustment to breast-feeding. Happy baby, happy mommy, very happy daddy.

We've also discovered that Zoey has a Jekyll & Hyde personality. She loves to be held, by everyone, all the time. But on the days she is held by lots of people for long lengths, she refuses to sleep unless it's on my chest or El's chest. Zoey's happy. Mom and Dad are zombie's (sans the brain eating - we're polite zombies).

So yesterday we held her when she needed comforting, but otherwise had her sleeping in her 1,567,982,345 different beds. Result? She slept in her bassinet for a good chunk of the night, and El and I got a few decent chunks of sleep, too.

Zoey's also an active sleeper. She likes to move, shake, rattle and punch while sleeping. She also mewls and coos a good bit. This is all perfectly normal, but El and I are big softies, so we're lucky if we can make it 3 minutes before one of picks her up to hold her. If you look closely in the pictures you can see Zoey's little pinkie - that's the finger I'm wrapped around. Sigh. I may as well just put the keys to the car in her crib now; saying no to this girl is going to be a tough task for Dad to pull off.

Enjoy the photos from today, and buy some stock in Duracell - at the rate we're taking pictures we're going to go through an 8 pack of batteries a week!

Did someone say pictures?

2007-10-21T19:49:00.001-04:00

Heavy Metal

2007-10-21T11:15:00.000-04:00

As new parents we find ourselves in strange territory. Was that a hungry cry or a "I dropped a load in my pants" cry? Do we wake her to feed her or do we let her sleep and catch some extra z's ourselves? Does the outfit she pooped in need to come off, or did the diaper hold? Is that her "pick-me-up" face or her "I'm trying to poop face?" Yes, a lot of this involves poop.

So with all these new things we're trying to figure out, it sure doesn't help that the major American toy manufacturers have decided to poison my child. Do a Google search for Lead, toys, recall and 3,918 stories pop up. Very comforting.

What's a parent to do? Well, we could whittle all of Zoey's toys by hand from organic, sterilized hickory. Somehow, the numerous college and graduate degrees Ellyn and I have didn't include whittling. Since whittling is out, these parents have decided to keep our child as safe as possible by rewarding retailers who actually care about their customers. Check out EBeanstalk.com and read what they're doing to ensure that their customers remain healthy. We love EBeanstalk for their creative and engaging toys. But we adore them for doing everything they can to keep our Sweet Pea safe.

You'd think in the year 2007 we wouldn't be left wondering what poisons are in our children's toys.

Technical Difficulties

2007-10-20T19:43:00.000-04:00

We're having some intermittent internet problems, so posts may be a bit spotty for the next few days.

Zoey, Mom and Dad are all doing great. I'll try and post more video and photos at the first opportunity.

The Magic Poop

2007-10-18T15:47:00.001-04:00

Zoey has been an awesome baby. She's very mellow, let's us know what she wants, and is quick to settle after we give it to her.

The only issue we've been having is that during her feedings in the early morning (1am until about 9 or 10 am), she's been very fussy. She wouldn't sleep much after feeding, and feeding itself took a bit of coaxing. The pediatrician said it is quite normal for babies to have some adjustment early on as Mom's milk comes in. We're finding a routine for her that works, but being the chill baby that she is, Zoey helped herself (and us) this morning by taking her first poop in about a day and a half. Oh boy did that help her sleeping! Her feedings have been a lot smoother as well.

For a five day old baby Zoey has made a fast adjustment to this living thing. She's lifting and holding her head up, has distinctive cries that we recognize (more or less, depending on how much sleep we've had), and has charmed every nurse she's met. She loves being held, has become content to sleep just about anywhere, and doesn't let noises bother her in the least. A very chill baby.

Below is a video taken just a few minutes ago of Zoey enjoying her first ride on her swing-a-ma-jig. Happy baby? Yup.

And since the first Hiccup video was such a hit, here's a sequel. Zoey is definitely one cute hiccup-er.

And here are some more photos for your viewing pleasure.

Homecoming

2007-10-16T12:20:00.000-04:00

Zoey came home to our Montclair apartment yesterday.

We made it through our first night alone after Grandpas Jon and Lewis hung out with us all day (and provided some very helpful lunch/diaper errand help). Zoey's a party animal. Loves the night life. Loves to boogey.

Around 2 am daddy had to perform a twenty minute lullaby rendition of Bob Marley's "Buffalo Soldier," to quiet down a fidgety Zoey. But for a two day old, she made it through her first night with flying colors. The biggest difficulty (if you want to call it that) is that she has been held so much, she just doesn't want to sleep anywhere but on someone's chest. We're going to try and change that. Zoey may have other ideas, though.

We're off to Marlboro and El's parent's this afternoon. Our internet access may be a bit spotty for the next fews days, but I plan to put up a whole bunch of photos and video once we're back cruising the information super-highway.

Thanks for all the well-wishes!

Zoey Wren Guttman

2007-10-13T20:36:00.001-04:00

Please meet our daughter.

Zoey was born at 2:20 this afternoon. Right after she was born, the nurses cleaned her up, and put her into my dumbstruck arms. She's had my number ever since.

Ellyn and Zoey are both doing great. El is getting some rest, and sweet pea is getting to know the nurses on the floor. They all think she's a really cool baby. (really)

So do we.

Zoey's already had her first feeding, her first mega-poop (nurse's words, not mine), her first cry, her first burp, her first deep gaze, and one other first...

Hiccups!

Oh, and she discovered her tongue and made friends with it.