The Crabby Cure

First things first: this might be my favorite picture of Z ever. But secondly, I would like to report that the Moby Wrap is the most miraculous piece of overpriced, organic, stretchy material. After a long day of 5 min cycles of wailing and general tetchiness, I stuffed her into the carseat and took her to the park, where this nice woman from the Durham Mother's listserv met me to sell me the wrap. I had considered not buying the thing, but boy howdy, that was probably the best $$ I've spent in recent years. I spent the rest of the day working and seeing that beautiful face in the picture. I've tried it in a few venues so far. At Whole Foods...she was irristable to old women. At the Christmas tree farm, she was warm, but then her nose turned red. I'll have to work on that.

Not a new Zoë Post

If you have a second, check out Cytunes.org and buy some music for a great cause.

First Date--the Movie

Been a long time

I should have a lot to say, but the little monkey-bean is squawking like something that squawks and I'm been trying to trouble-shoot for the past couple of hours. Perhaps it is in reaction to Mommy's consumption of vile Burger King after visiting the carnival freak show that was the Durham Walmart. This weekend we were visited by one of my oldest and dearest friends, Susan and her husband, Ken. God love them for driving all the way to NC from CT with a five month old--Finn William, who is a delight. Zoe and her betrothed didn't really interface until we finally gave them some mat time on Sunday night, and they didn't disappoint us.

First neck control, then mirth!

Ignore mom's lame-o observations. I need to learn how to edit in an appropriate soundtrack so no one has to listen to any of my commentary.

Zoë's First Vacay

So my little bundle of snot and I took a little vacation this weekend. We went to the mountains with Tracy, Amy, Ingrid, Betsy, and Karen. We stayed here:



Thank you Bucky Fuller, for creating this insanely wonderful house. The acoustic's strange, the art was fabulously strange, the hot tub great, but the stairs, leading up to them...slippery.

Z wore this wonderful outfit, of which I am particularly proud of putting together:



Later, she projectile vomited on every piece of it. How delightfully thorough of her.

So, things went well, the gaggle of Aunties were wonderful to Z and me, letting me sleep in and go in the hot tub...of doom. The second night we were there I slipped in mmy bare feet on the wooden stairs and broke my pinky toe on my left foot. Thankfully, Ingrid remembered how to drive stick and drove us back to Durham. Seriously, did I really need to make life with a newborn more difficult? Apparently I needed the challenge. The Aunties were good enough to pick up even more of my slack as I sat in a chair directing them. Sigh.

Another positive was that we did a short hike at Grayson Highlands where there are wild ponies:



So the weekend was a success...mostly...the toe thing, not so much.

Baby! Now with added neck control!

I'm publishing this without saying anything interesting right now, but will edit later :) We three have been sick and I feel even less pithy than usually.

Smallest Obamamamama Voter

So, we three voted early today in Durham. We waited in a long line (hooray!)--many votes of all colors and ages. Also, I noticed there were many disabled and blind folks, so clearly get out the vote efforts are working. The best part, in my mind, was that every time a new voter turned in their ballot, the poll workers would let out a whoop and a cheer and we would all join in. Go Obama, I say. I am really hoping that Obama's lead will be tamper-proof this election.

The Obama Hopefermercial

It is possible to be both sleepy and inspired.

Great Granddaddy and Great Granddaughter

Pooting Larva

Bath time perfected?

Our first bath event was a disaster-triumph. The process went appalling bad from the start -- baby didn't appreciate the less than ideal temperature, and let us know it, and parents kept letting Zoe slip (literally) out of the best positions in which to wash her -- but now we have it down ... we hope. Zoe is now taking to bath time as if she were rockin' out in utero. She's alert but calm and she graciously lets us treat her like a little rag doll as we clumsily try to bathe her. Here's a pic of her post ablution.

Sleeping Beauty

And one minute later, she let out a giant poot.

Hello and Goodbye

 

Cy Rawls and Tracy were the first to come visit Zoe the morning after she was born. Little does she know now that it would be a brief, one-time honor. R.I.P. Cy Rawls.

The Sling Miracle

So, today has been kind of nuts. She is eating like crazy, I'm eating like crazy, and she seems to be getting bigger...the bad news is that she wakes up every 3 hours like clockwork and it takes forever to feed her...and when she's done, she gets hungry again in half an hour. Isn't that only supposed to happen with Chinese food?

So, after much fretting in the vibrating chair, I put her in a sling and she has been happy and making tiny, cute, non-hunger-related sounds for the past 2 hours. Sweeeeeet relief. Is it wrong to go to the bathroom wearing your baby, cause I totally did.

Graduation Day

Not much to say today, other than the fact that Zoe has now graduated from preemie to newborn-sized clothing. Guess all this feeding and pumping and waking up every 2.5 hours is doing what it is supposed to do. No more tiny rubber chicken baby!

Because She's Cute

Zoe just happened to be alert during the day (rather than between 1:30 am and 4:30 am like she was last night, but I don't hold a grudge) so I thought I would take a little video.

Zoe Hastings: Live

So things are going well. We are managing to keep the small human well-fed and in one piece. We spend a lot of time gazing upon our creation, rating each face as cuter than the last. I guess that's how it goes. Not much else to say right now, we feed her, she sleeps, we rest and try to get stuff done around the house. She's been out in the world a couple of times to run errands, but otherwise, we've been enjoying being in the house with her. The dogs, however, aren't all that excited about her. And Seymour is just pissed.

Unlike her parents, Zoe arrives early...

Hi folks,

Just a quick note to say that Zoe is here. She is TINY, but healthy and an utterly delightful in every way. More to come...

On Sunday I was honored to be invited to a baby shower in my (our honor). Carrie, Debra, and Gwen threw a wonderful party. Cupcakes and tiny sandwiches are wonderful things. Debra came up with the wonderful idea of having guests make onesies for our impending arrival. Guests at first balked at the phrase "craft project" (I guess they expected hot glue and sequins) but really got into the working on the little things and the finished products were FANTASTIC!Also, I received a lot of great stuff, books, sheets, sleep sacks, toys...etc. Thanks to everyone who came. I'm so grateful to have so many caring and fun people in my life!

33 Weeks and Counting

...and bigger...and chinnier. sigh.

Making the nursery comfy

Last week, we made our first trip to a diaper aisle. What an odd feeling! Still, we're feeling a little more prepared now that we have most of the essentials.

Today the nursery room rug arrived, and we are really pleased! The room is really taking shape now, and it feels like someone could actually live in there. Julie just returned from shopping for the little one with Brandee. Later, future dad and mom spread out the loot on the new rug for a fashion show.

32ish Weeks (last Tuesday)

Getting seriously large.

Foster shows us how it's done

Nursery takes shape.

Evan, Todd, and Foster came over to help us with the nursery. Thus, baby-stuff mountain becomes a real room. Any design suggestions are welcome! It's not done-done, it's ready...just...in...case.

Obligatory Belly Shot Two

Lovely 30 week photo with visible panty line. Klassy.

The obligatory belly shot

Here we are, as of Friday, July 18. 29 weeks and counting....

Beginning Blogging

Just testing out the templates with a picture of the furry children.