Grandparents Visit

Zoe's grandparents came for a visit. After a few hours, Zoe was her usual loving cuddly self. I think she has an initial angry/fearful/crying reaction to facial hair and so would howl at the initial approach of her grandfather. This, of course, leveled off very quickly once she realized she had another potential "carrier".



Zoe does not have much sympathy for her parents or anyone else. She loves Baby Bjorn and demands to be carried in it everywhere. I actually got blisters on my stomach after a particularly long hike with the Baby Bjorn. With multiple grandparents visiting though, things are much easier.




The imp knows what she wants and how to get it. Her smile is so irresistible, how can she be denied?

Off the Charts

Baby Zoe had a doctor's appointment a few days ago. Dad and Sue accompanied us so Zoe had a full entourage, as is her due as Queen of the Babies. I thought Zoe was due for another round of vaccinations, but she only had to get a lead test. A lead test, unfortunately, involves extreme maternal trauma. I was told to wrap my arms around the imp, extend her little pudgy baby arm, and hold on tight. The nurse was amazing and actually managed to find a vein first try even through all the baby fat. Little Zoe had two vials of baby blood drawn, staring at me and howling the whole time. Results came in the next day, no lead poisoning for baby Zoe!


One of the best parts of the doctor's visit is to see where the imp falls on the growth curves. We already know she is an exceptional baby and we suspect that she is trying to conquer at least one of the growth criteria- weight, length, and head circumference. Since she is not a wiry little baby and thus not a precocious crawler, she excels in her own way! I am pleased to report that Zoe is 86% in weight (slimming down a bit, although not what one would call "svelte"), 90% in height, and...OFF THE CHARTS in head circumference. The growth charts are plotted in 5% increments and little Zoe was an "x" far above the 95% percentile curve. She may look a little like a bobble head, but I am sure she is packing brains in there!

Zoe at the Farmer's Market

When we are in town on the weekends we try and hit the Framer's market. Fresh, organic, and overpriced ($4.50 for three tomatoes), the Farmer's Market not only has fruits and vegetables, but also ice cream, pretzels, and Himalayan food. We bought a few onions, nectarines, and a melon and showed Zoe off to the fruit vendors and other shoppers. Zoe enjoys any activity that puts her in contact with people. Fruit sellers offer her snacks (whih she is not allowed to take since she has 2 teeth and 2 teeth are not quite suffiecent to chew much other than baby mash), she gets smiling gushing attention and gasps of "what a cute baby, oh she's so beautiful," and she gets a long walk in the Baby Bjorn. Basically the perfect day for Baby Zoe.





We also managed to take a look at a house in the Berkeley Hills. Normally anything up there would be out of our price range, but "an extreme fixer-upper" at 600K intrigued us. Max drove up to the house, hidden away at the top of a narrow dead-end street. Yellow Caution tape adorned a rickety railing leading up to the house. We peered into the windows, Max occasionally gasping (and not with delight). A fortuitous "open house" allowed us a quick tour of the property. There was no single straightline in the house-every wall, every doorway, every floor tilted and buckled. Max stood in the corner of the living room, remarking at the lovely high ceilings and the fact that he was two feet lower over in the west corner than he was in the east corner. The small dark kitchen smelled of gas (no open flames in there for us!) and the second bedroom (aka Zoe's room) was actually in the far corner of the unfinished basement (although it did have its own bathroom, though whether the toilet and sink were functional was something we did not investigate). We did tell each other that "it had potential" which it did if one had an extra 200-300K to fix the most immediate problems (i.e. the house's imminent slide down a gully to the north west, the 90K of termite and dry rot, and the roof with its undulations and waves, poorly disguising it's secrets of water damage and habitat for weird nesting vermin). By the end of the ride back, Max had started referring to it as the haunted house. It's feel of tragedy and abandonment made me long for the more cheerful homes we had seen by Monterrey Market. One look at the little imp and we decided to forget any nascent dreams of renovation and find something actually liveable. I couldn't put my lovely baby in that horrible basement bedroom, anyway that was reserved for "a crazy relative" as Max put it.

Zoe gets movin'

While not exactly crawling yet, Zoe manages to cover a fair amount of distance. She usually does this when my back is turned so I am still trying to figure out all the mechanics. As far as I can tell she scrunches herself up into a little ball, rocks back and forth, heaves herself over, and repeats. She also manages to propel herself forward on her stomach by pushing with her legs. She has not co-ordinated this with lifting her head up, so her head acts as an anchor point and slides along the ground along with the rest of her body. Here are some pics of Zoe looking cute. While not illustrative of this particular post, I know most of my audience does not actually read what I write, but just looks at the pictures.






The only trouble with this method of movement is when she encounters an obstacle, such as the end of her crib. We try to start her off at the bottom to give her some room to move around, but this is never enough. I awoke a few night ago to "bonk, bonk, bonk, whimper, bonk, whimper, whimper." I stumbled bleary eyed downstairs (it was 4am) to observe little ZOe scrunched up in a ball rocking back and forth and rhythmically hitting her head against the end of the crib. I grabbed her feet and dragged her to the far end, put a blanket over her, and went back to sleep. By the time I got up that morning she had managed to wedge herself into the corner of the crib with her head pressed against the slats. Poor Little Bear had two parallel indentations on the top of her head the whole morning. The were still in evidence when I dropped her off at daycare. I explained Zoe's new trick after inquiries from her teacher as to what had happened to her head. If only she had more hair her strange head bonking proclivities would go unremarked...

Zoe wants sushi

After strategic hints and subtle suggestions (i.e., we're hungry, take us out to dinner), we convinced Gail and Kenji to go out for sushi. Since I have stopped breast feeding and no longer have to worry about poisoning my daughter with mercury, I am free to poison myself with mercury and indulge in hamachi, toro, and teka maki. As usual, Kenji did the ordering and there were no worries about under ordering. The only concerns were about who would eat the last two pieces of hamachi when the second round of sushi arrived (I was designated for this task....)
Zoe was quite interested in the sushi and is biding her time until a few more teeth come in so that she too can partake of the sushi feast!


We did give the imp some tofu which she enjoyed. We can't go out to dinner and leave the little bear out of all the fun!

Zoe at the Exhibition

Gail had an exhibit of her ceramics at Fort Mason and we all got decked out to go. The show was great and Gail's section of the exhibit space was packed.


As usual Zoe was quite a draw and got even more attention than she could deal with. The smiles gave way to giggles gave way to wails after about 45 minutes. She did get offers to be a model though and one of Gail's friends has decided to paint the imp. Since she is quite the ham already, a portrait might be to her liking.

Zoe wore one of her little dresses and even Max and I cleaned up a bit for the opening.

I arrived late and spied by husband strapped into the Baby Bjorn with the imp happily ensconced in her carrier. I am glad Max is unaware of what a "babe (the adult kind) magnet" a cute guy with no wedding ring and a baby strapped to his chest can be!

Bear River

I have become obsessed with Bear River. Probably because it is one of the few hikes accessible from the cabin without driving and a route easy enough that even I cannot get lost. After my usually "trip into town" (town consists of a small grocery and an infrequently open cafe/deli/giftshop) I am up for a hike.

Saturday, three of my friends Christine, Christina, and Terry, joined us for the day. I had prefaced my invitation with an explicit description of the cabin and the amenities provided (shovel and toilet paper) and still the girls had volunteered for a day trip. (I used to describe the cabin as "rustic", but after talking to one of my colleagues at work who told me of his upcoming trip to a rustic cabin (no TV!) I make sure to explain-no running water, no bathroom, no outhouse, no electricity - and no TV). I guess the pioneer days are long gone.

After a brief tour of the cabin and stream we decided everyone was up for a hike and Bear River was suggested. I had perhaps lauded the virtues of Bear River with its deep swimming hole and relative obscurity and privacy. With five of us going, there were plenty of volunteers to help carry the imp, an added bonus for any hike.


While Bear River doesn't normally see much action, this weekend we witnessed the arrival of a single SUV carrying at least ten highschool boys and girls. Bear River has a poorly maintained dirt access road, washed out in some places with a rather precipitous drop on one side. We asked the girls how they all fit in one SUV and apparently a number of them were hanging on the outside during the trip down, the girls in fear for their lives. I mentioned hiking was an option, but they seemed shocked at the suggestion.

The imp enjoyed being held at all times and tolerated getting her feet and hands wet. The water was a little too cold for babies, but after the initial numbing pain rather nice for the adults.

Inspired by the teenage boys and their multiple jumps and head first dives into the river, Christine and I decided to have a go and jump off a twenty foot overhang into the water. After debating the merits of our plan, examining the jump from multiple angles, and reconsidering whether or not this was a good idea, Christine jumped off.


Seeing her survive with no broken bones or paralysis, I followed suit. There was actually enough time for me to think to myself as I was falling "Was this really such a good idea?"





After the hike back up, we were ready for some grass-fed beef burgers, salads, and a few beers back at the cabin. Even Zoe enjoyed a well earned beer at the end of the day.

Adventure Baby

We are grooming Zoe for adventure and trying to instill a love of the outdoors. Secretly, we both worry that this may backfire and really we are grooming her for a life of bookreading and table tennis. The cabin at Alta has been our launching point for our weekends of late. After some much needed cleaning and reorganizing (primarily done by the parents as both Max and I lack the willpower and drive to actually scrub down the plywood floor and sweep up the mouse droppings), the cabin is getting quite homey.

We are still trying to find the magic recipe to make it homey enough for Zoe to actually sleep, however. The train noise at night seems to frighten her and the temperature swings from above 80 during the day to below 50 at night do not help. In the end I bring her into bed with me and snuggle up to her. Sweet and nice in theory except for the fact that Zoe snorts, wiggles, flails, and occasionally poops in her sleep.

Our most recent excursion was a trip up to Alta for the Fourth of July. Dutch Flat holds an annual parade and we decided to bring the imp.


While excited by the constant stream of people and various automotive contraptions, Zoe was less than impressed with the noise associated with any Fourth of July parade. The bagpipes in particular elicited squeaks and whines of unhappiness and disapproval. Zoe and I took a little walk until the bagpipe player (mercifully there was only one) had moved on.