Splish Splash

Now that Zoe can sit up by herself it's a lot easier to give her a bath - or let her splash around. I bought a set of foam letters & numbers that are bath toys. They stick to the tub & tiles when they're wet. The "8" apparently tastes the best. It's just the right shape for her little hands to grab onto. I can't decide if we should take baby swim lessons. It's kind of scary to put a baby in a pool [and it's kind of scary to put me in a swimsuit]. Maybe next year when she's walking it will be easier.

In yoga, it's downward-facing dog

Asleep - Awake

Wall Art

I've been painting Zoe's bedroom walls for many, many months. I started the wall on the right when I was pregnant, and now it's mostly hidden by furniture. I started the wall behind her crib in January and have repainted it several times. I finally found a design that I think looks right. Zoe really loves to be outside and feel the breeze and look at the trees, so I wanted her room to have a nature feel. This wall is going to have a night-time theme, so I'll add a moon and I think a happy owl on the tree branch. The mountain needs some work, too. The other wall has a big, swirly tree with an orange kitty sleeping in it. There's a big white dog in a flower patch behind the changing table. The other walls are windows & closet, so when I'm done with this, the room will be finished! Well, until Zoe grows up and doesn't like it.

Cutie

Swingin

Today I worked on painting the wall behind Zoe's crib. She hasn't spent a lot of time in her swing, really since February probably. When she was brand new she slept in it and was swinging almost anytime that we were not holding her. But then when she started to want to sit up a little she cried whenever we put her in it. I guess she likes to swing again. As long as she has a toy to hold or chew on she's pretty satisfied. Pete and I were laughing at how she twirled her feet around so I made this little video.

flower girl

We spent some time on the porch in the sunshine. Zoe is sitting up really well now, although it still helps to have something, like flowers, to hold on to. Uncle Dougie sent this little dress from Denver.

sleeping on the job

Sometimes Zoe will be jumping like crazy so I'll do the dishes or some laundry for a few minutes. Then I'll notice that it's totally quiet in the living room. It was hard to get the toys out of her little fingers so I could pull her out of the jumparoo and move her to the crib.

Today is a Big Nap Day. After much jumping and rolling around she ate some cereal & peas for lunch and then settled down for a long nap. I know there are lots of things I could get done but it's hard to start something knowing that she could wake up at any second. I'll just wait until Pete gets home to take a shower and change my clothes.

I found some baby swim classes at the YMCA. The Y is much fancier than I remember it. Still cheaper than a gym membership, plus there are a million more things to do, like kayaking and rock-climbing groups. Pete & I want to play raquetball while Zoe hangs out in the nursery [free childcare!] We'll see how it goes. I think it will be good for Zoe to play with other babies.

Can't get enough of this thing!

Ready to go

Ready to crawl?

Zoe is very close to crawling. She has spent the past couple of days getting up on her knees and rocking back and forth. She also started jabbering again - she's been pretty quiet for a few weeks, working on a new "nah" sound.

My little herb garden is doing very well. I've never seen a sage plant get so big. I have rosemary, basil, oregano, sage, mint, peppermint, lavendar, lettuce and dahlias.

To see some more garden photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/zoezah/Garden/photo#s5223351958247166514

On Sunday we went to Edmonds and walked along the boardwalk that runs along the waterfront. There's a ferry that leaves from Edmonds, an Amtrak station and a nice little beach with a couple of seafood restaurants so there are always plenty of people hanging out there. The weather was beautiful and gave us a great view of Mt. Baker [the big white mountain behind the ferry].

Here are some more photos from our waterfront walk:http://picasaweb.google.com/zoezah/WaterfrontEdmonds/photo#s5223351052157916274

I went to a local farmer's market near the UW campus. The fruits & veggies were really colorful and perfect. I bought a few things for dinner and a $5 bunch of flowers. It was a special Berry Spectacular weekend. I don't know if you've ever had Tayberriers. The look like blackberriers but are the color of raspberries. They taste like wine, maybe a sangioviese. Here are some more market photos:

http://picasaweb.google.com/zoezah/MarketUW/photo#s5223352811328503458

4th Photos

To see a few more photos from the 4th, you can look at this web album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/zoezah/4thOfJuly/photo#s5221482533140976274

Here's a video of Pete acting his shoe size.

Baby Bumbo

I was shopping for highchairs on craigslist and noticed that all of the ads said that the chairs were "barely used". It made me think that maybe we don't need one. Especially since our dining room is the couch/tv. The Baby Bumbo is the answer! There are several brands of these little chairs, but this one is the squishiest. You can take it anywhere and the little tray is removable. Very cool! We got some sippy cups, too but haven't tried them yet.

Hello

I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend. Even though Pete was on-call, he didn't get any service calls so we were able to relax and enjoy some time together. We had friends over on Friday night for some grilled steaks & a game of Bocce Ball. Pete didn't want to buy any fireworks, but he didn't have a problem taking them from a 10-year old. [I'll post some photos later]. It seemed that every house in our neighborhood had a big, fiery show until about 2am. I forgot what a warzone the suburbs can be. My friend, Constance, came over for breakfast on Saturday morning. We had a big table of food and ate until we could eat no more [because there wasn't anything left]. Sunday was our official day off. We were pretty much all in our pajamas all day. I cleaned the house and read my book. Pete watched the Harry Potter movie marathon on tv. He was mad that there were so many commercials, which is funny because of course we have all 5 of the movies on dvd.
Zoe was off of her normal routine for a few days after she got her shots, which always happens. Today she seems to be settled back in to: breakfast, play, nap, lunch, play, nap, snack, play, nap, dinner, play, sleepytime. It makes it easier to plan my day of : zoe, zoe, shower, zoe, zoe, lunch, zoe, zoe, internet, zoe, zoe, dinner.
The sun is out today, so maybe we'll take a walk and look at the trees.

Happy 4th of July!

The color of this outfit is called "flamingo", so you know it's from Aunt Tammy. More baby capri pants! Pete is on-call today, so we won't be going out for a crazy Independence Day Bonanza. There are two local fireworks shows tonight, maybe we'll see some of them from our yard. We did have a nice, waffle breakfast and have exciting plans to go to Babies R Us to get a Baby Bumbo. It's a little squishy chair that Zoe can sit in while we feed her.

Pie is for kids!

This bib was a gift from Uncle Dougie. I think it's going to fit for many years to come. It says "Peas are for rabbits. Pie is for kids!"

little peanut gets immunized

We went to the pediatrician Thursday for a 6 month check-up. There was some confusion when she was weighed because the first time the nurse thought that she had lost a pound. After some crazy chart-checking and concerned "bad mommy" looks thrown my way, the nurse realized that Zoe had her feet outside of the scale and was kind of holding herself up. She has, in fact, gained weight just fine and is now 16 pounds + 11 ounces.

Zoe had to get her shots, 4 in her little legs and one orally. I think she's all immunized now until she's a toddler. And they took some blood from her toe to test her iron content. Poor baby!

push ups

Zoe has been working on her push-ups! This was a really good one.