Family Outing Failure

Since Zoey arrived Jimmy and I have been cooped up in the house quite a bit. Any time we need to go out into the world for food, supplies, or that "sunlight" stuff, one of us will stay at home with Zoey and the other will hurriedly run the errands. It's so much easier this way, since we don't have to pack up the little lady and her suitcase of necessaries or plan our outings around her eating and sleeping schedule. Well the hermit life was dragging on us so we decided to plan a family outing for last weekend. Jimmy wanted to do something outdoors but since it was going to be over 100 degrees again we decided against that. So we kept it simple and decided to go to Savastano's and watch the Cubs game. If you're not familiar, Savastano's is this pizza place that prides itself on being very "Chicago-style", so they play all the Cubs games and serve Old Style beer and deep dish pizza. Jimmy is a HUGE Cubs fan and Zoey needed an excuse to wear her Cubs onesie, so off we went.

Clue #1 that this was a bad plan: Zobot woke up after only a 45 minute nap and was not happy. I pretended like I didn't notice because I really wanted to take her out.

Clue #2 that this was a bad plan: When we walked into the restaurant they were showing football, no Cubs game to be found. Bad sign.

It started off pretty well but, long story short, as soon as our food arrived (of course), Zoey started crying. And not just wimpering a little bit, I mean crying like she meant it. We couldn't get her to calm down so I quickly put her in the car seat and took her outside while Jimmy paid, boxed up my food and chugged the rest of my beer (can't let a good Blue Moon go to waste). We were slightly embarrassed. We might as well have had "NEW PARENT" stamped on our foreheads.

That kind of ruined my Saturday. Luckily I had friends over for game night later on so that made up for it. Next time if Zoey is not fully rested I will not - repeat, will NOT - take her out unless absolutely necessary. When this girl is tired she wants to sleep, period. When she is hungry she wants to eat. Don't mess with her schedule and nobody gets hurt!

Here's hoping the next outing goes better...

Three Months Old!

Wow. It's been three months since Zoey made her grand entrance (or exit, rather). She's smiling, babbling and trying really hard to laugh. She loves it when we hold her up so she can sit and stand up - lying down is simply not tolerated for longer than a couple minutes at a time. She's very close to rolling from her back to her stomach and she holds her head up like a champ. We think she's starting to get teeth too, but that's a post for another day.

As for those parents of hers - Jimmy and I have learned so much these past three months. The new, terrified parents of mid-May have nothing on the seasoned mom and dad of late summer. I wish I could go back and visit myself that first week and give some reassurance - it was so stressful and tiring, I didn't know how I would get through it. There were a few days were I got only an hour of sleep, and now Zoey sleeps about 12 hours at night. I used to be terrified to take Zoey out of the house (what if she cries in public?!), and now I look forward to taking her out on the town. What a difference a few months make!

Long story short, Zoey is the coolest baby ever and Jimmy and I are the luckiest people in the world. We love you, Zobot!

What's Up With Zoey: Week 11

Okay so the title of this post isn't completely accurate - Zoey is actually 12 weeks old today, but I didn't get to blog until now so let's pretend it's last week, shall we? After Zoey went to the doctor for her two month check up, about a week and a half ago, she stopped sleeping through the night. Ohhhh we were so bummed. We started putting her to bed earlier at the suggestion of her pediatrician (Zoey had been getting fussy during her nighttime feeding every night), and once we started doing that her sleeping became more erratic. That lasted about a week and a half and now she's starting to sleep better. From what I understand most babies aren't sleeping this well at this age, so we definitely feel very fortunate to have such a... well, sleepy, baby! Zoey is doing great all around. She's so cute and chubby and I could just stare at her all day long. :)

• Age: "11" weeks [*wink*]
  
• Weight: probably around 11 pounds
  
• Length: 22 1/2 inches
  
• Meals: 4-7 ounces at each feeding, about five to seven times a day.
  
• Bed time: 9:00-10:00pm
  
• Sleep: We had a rough week and a half where she would wake up a couple times a night but now we're back on track!
  
• Milestones: Zoey is reaching for things, supporting herself with her legs when held up, and we got a laugh two days ago! It totally melted my heart.
  
• Sounds: Lots of chatter coming from Zoey, and the aforementioned laugh.

She's perfect. :)

What's Up With Zoey: Week 10

This has been a week that started poorly and ended wonderfully. Zoey's first day at day care was Monday and her last day was Tuesday. Long story short, Aunt Rachel decided she couldn't live without seeing Zo-bot five days a week so she offered to nanny for us full time! You have no idea how relieved we are. I know she probably would have been okay in day care but for now while she's so young it's probably better that she's at home with family. Plus it's super awesome that we don't have to wake her up in the morning to feed her and get her ready. She can wake up when she's ready and Aunt Ray is there to take care of her. Hooray!

Zoey had her two month appointment yesterday, and this is when the immunizations begin. Jimmy and I are okay with giving vaccines, however we aren't sure we like the amount of vaccines they give at once so we decided to do an alternate schedule. So instead of the normal five to six shots she would have gotten on the usual schedule, yesterday Zoey got only one shot and one oral vaccine. Since we're doing fewer shots at each visit this of course means that we will have to go to the pediatrician twice as much, but the peace of mind is worth the inconvenience. Zoey was also weighed and measured (see below) and checked out in general by the doctor, who said Zoey looks great! She and the nurse were surprised at how long and how well she is sleeping. I guess Zoey's doing really well for a baby her age. She's quite advanced, I knew it.

• Age: 10 weeks
• Weight: 10 pounds 14 ounces, 35th percentile (she's almost doubled her birth weight!)
  
• Length: 22 1/2 inches, 31st percentile
  
• Meals: 4-6 ounces at each feeding, about six to eight times a day.
  
• Bed time: 9:00-10:00pm. The pediatrician recommended we put her to bed earlier than we had been since we reported some eating struggles before bed which could be a result of Zoey being overtired.
  
• Sleep: Zoey is still sleeping through the night, about 8-10 hours straight. Woohoo!
  
• Milestones: Nothing new this week but she is smiling more often.
  
• Sounds: Hear for yourself...
  

Day Care: Day One

This morning was not fun. I just had a bad feeling about leaving Zoey with someone I barely know all day. I teared up a few times but was able to hold it together pretty well once I got to work. Of course I kept thinking about her all day long. Needless to say this was not my most productive day on the job. I stopped in to check on her on my lunch break and she was doing just fine. She doesn't understand that she's away from mom and dad all day, all she cares about is eating when she's hungry and sleeping when she's tired. As long as her needs are met then I'm not sure she really cares yet who is watching after her. That makes the transition easier for her but I'm still a wreck! I know each day will get easier, but wow, I really missed her.

What's Up With Zoey: Week 9

We're nine weeks into life with Zoey and I've already forgotten what she was like just a few weeks ago. It seems like she's changing so fast now and I want to remember all the little things she's doing week to week. I thought I would try to do a weekly update with highlights of her activities and changes, kind of like I did to track my pregnancy. The topics may change as we go along but it will generally look something like this:

• Age: 9 weeks
• Weight: Not sure. Zoey has a doctor appointment next week so we will have an official number then. Let's just say she looks normal baby size now.
• Length: I'll measure her in the morning...
  
• Meals: 4-6 ounces at each feeding, about six to eight times a day.
  
• Bed time: 10:00pm
• Sleep: Great! She just started sleeping through the night this week. Mama is way stoked. She also takes about three naps a day.
  
• Clothing size: Some newborn outfits and mostly 0-3 month outfits.
• Favorite toys/activities: We do tummy time twice a day, and she always holds her head up really well and kicks around a lot. Zoey really likes her play gym and bats and kicks at all the dangling items - rattles, stuffed toys, and other noisy things. The bouncer is the favorite right now - it vibrates, plays music and has interesting lights and things to look at - lots of fun for a little one. Another "activity" she likes is to lay on her changing table and stare at the painting on the wall next to it. She really gets a kick out of it, I have no idea why, but it's so cute to watch her kick around and talk to the bird in the painting.
  
• Milestones: Zoey can roll from stomach to back now! She is also starting to smile with some regularity. I have only seen one smile, and today she smiled a lot at Rachel while I was at work (boo). She always seems so serious so I can't wait to see her little face light up more often! She can also grasp toys with her little hands.
  
• Sounds: She chats at us pretty regularly. It's the cutest thing you'll ever hear in your whole life, honest to god.

I started back at work last Thursday, and it's going much better than I thought it would. It's good for me to get out of the house regularly and have things to work on and interact with other adults (I love talking to Zoey but unfortunately she doesn't talk back yet). But I hate that I only have a few hours with Zoey each night, and she's been napping for part of that time lately so that makes our time together even shorter. Having to work makes me really appreciate the time that we do have together.

Zoey starts daycare on Monday. Not looking forward to it. I've been giving her pep talks every day, telling her she has to be brave when she goes to day care and to not cry too much. Maybe I'm giving myself a little pep talk at the same time, because I know this will be harder on me than it will be on her. Luckily she will only be in day care on Mondays and Tuesdays and Rachel will be watching her the rest of the week, but that first half of the week is going to kill me. I'm sure I'll get used to it eventually but it's going to be rough for a while. *sad face*

Ask and ye shall receive!

Zoey slept ALL NIGHT last night! Holy cow! She went to bed at 10:00 and woke up at 6:45. I woke up so confused when it was 6:00 and I had yet to be disturbed by baby cries. My little girl is a champ! It's been so much easier to put her to bed lately too. Day by day it all gets a little easier. I love it. That's what helps me keep my sanity. I keep reminding myself that these many time consuming daily activities we have to do - eight to nine bottle feedings a day, pumping four times a day, hand washing bottles every night, the endless attempts at burping a nearly un-burpable baby, and the diapers (oh, the diapers!) - are all temporary. Eventually she will feed herself and will not require bottles, I will give up pumping, the gas will hopefully let up and then potty training will be just around the corner. Some of these milestones are a long way off but I tell myself what I have to in order to maintain my sanity. And this sleeping through the night thing sure is helping my cause!

Keep it up, Zoemeister!