Zoe vs. ladybug

Castle Rock with ZZN

Yes it is possible to ruin a chocolate tour

Max, Zoe, and I took a tour of Charles Chocolates last weekend. We had to make reservations in advance and our first time and day was booked up. Needless to say this just added to the anticipation and excitement. Even Zoe seemed interested, although the main reason for bringing her was to see if we could get samples for her and then eat them ourselves as she has not been given chocolates yet for fear of food allergies. We all trundled into the car and arrived early. We were directed to wait in the "chocolate bar" a glorified hallway with a plexiglass window looking out into the nearly deserted chocolate making facilities. There were only 6 other people on the "tour" which seemed strange as the tour was so hard to book. The countergirl came over, plopped down a few boxes, and gave what was probably the saddest, learned by rote spiel I have ever heard. I will recount the speech as I remember it (no promises of veracity or accuracy). ""Charles" wanted to make chocolates to impress his girlfriend, he made the chocolates, suckers like you will pay $2 a chocolate, Charles is now rich and happy. Here is a sample, look through the plexiglass window, goodbye." That was the "tour" - looking through the plexiglass window at a guy in a white lab coat and hair net wandering through with some chunks of chocolate (bought from Guittard incidentally which you can get in the supermarket around here). "Lame" is a woefully insufficient word to describe this tour. After a 15 minute presentation and a couple of samples, I decided that-
a) Charles Chocolates sucks
b) Charles Chocolates is an over priced and over-rated chocolate shop
c) Charles Chocolates will no longer be visited by me unless it is to scarf down a few free samples and then leave without actually buying anything

I still can't believe it- a chocolate tour that sucked. One really has to work at making a CHOCOLATE tour suck.

Zoe works her abs

Zoe is getting more and more mobile. She wriggles and pre-crawls and rolls with ease and abandon. And she now SITS UP. We had heard stories from the daycare workers about Zoe's new found ability, but had not actually witnessed it for ourselves. Last week she was crying in her crib after being put down and we went in to do the usual sniff test. Instead of a sullied Zoe we found a little Zoe sitting up looking rather confused. We quickly learned that she can sit up very well, but returning to a lying position has not been mastered yet. After manually returning her to her tummy, she quickly dozed off.

Zoe- Dangerous when wet

We played softball last weekend. While we were ridiculously out of practice (it's been 8 years since either one of us picked up a bat), we were actually not bad. I might even go so far as to call Max a ringer. I will note that Max hit a HOME RUN to right field (right field was about 50 ft. shorter than left and center, but it takes SKILL to pull the ball that much for a righty- or at least a late swing). Zoe was quite excited by the game, attention, cheering, and big bottle of formula. Max and I took turns jiggling her on our laps to keep her amused. I was up and prepared to hand her off when I felt a little warm. Looking down I realized she had managed to not only wet herself, but me as well. Oh well, I still got a double!

Our next excursion with the imp was a friend's wedding (mid-week, 5pm). After rushing there from work, we were all set- multiple aliquots of formula, baby food, copious amounts of diapers, extra change of clothes. We did our trade off of baby handling and Zoe took it all quite well. She was one of the youngest there, and with the majority of the women around grandma age, she received even more attention than usual. Maybe it's the excitement, but she managed to repeat her feat of wetting herself and a parent at the same time (this time Max). The more formal occasion necessitated strategically placed diaper bag and untucked shirt for awhile, but Max weathered it well.

Zoe goes running

I have decided to do a triathalon in the fall. It's only sprint distance, so I should be able to complete it with minimal training (3.2 mi. run, 11 mi. bike, and 400 m swim). In order to get in shape (to avoid drowning or an unseemly collapse during the final run), I have been jogging with Cristine. We went with Noelle last week and managed to run over 5 mi. While that doesn't sound overly impressive it is if one considers the fact that Zoe came along. I put her in the jogging stroller and off we went to the marina. She actually stayed awake almost the whole time (probably because it was a little chilly and I forgot her socks), but not a peep (well, a few yelps of Zoe high spiritedness, but no crying).

We went for another run today up at Inspiration Point. I had a certain amount of trepidation since if Zoe doesn't like something she let's one know by loud angry cries and higher and higher pitched shrieks, which she has demonstrated that she can keep up for over an hour. I did stack the deck in my favor by stuffing her with food, changing her right before leaving, and actually remembering her socks and fuzzy sweater. She was warm, well fed, and dry so a good start. Within about 15 minutes the imp was out. We managed to cover a little over 5 miles, perfectly timed to imp's waking up. We arrived back at the parking lot, little imp opened her eyes, looked around startled, started the pre-crying face scrunch, and then - bottle in the mouth. Her eyes rolled back slightly, and all thought of crying was gone. I must say, I am getting good at organizing my life around baby whims. A year ago I would not have been so impressed with this, but now, it's really quite the feat. Post-baby life one reevaluates accomplishment and my accomplishments are based on going for a run with a sleeping baby who is not screaming and/or covered in poop. At least Zoe is the cutest baby in the world.

Buying a house

Max and I have finally decided to buy a house. While the papers constantly recap the mortgage crisis and the precipitous descent of housing prices, the East Bay, particularly the areas we want to live in, have not seen much of any drop. Maybe 10% from their high point a year or two ago, but not enough to actually make living around here affordable. While the thought of a $500,000 mortgage is daunting, we decided that we don't want the imp to grow up in our current neighborhood and behind concertina wire. While the Macaroni Warehouse provides a little haven in an otherwise crime ridden and depressed neighborhood, there are no parks, few trees, and nowhere to walk, especially in the evenings. We found a fixer upper (i.e. needs new roof, new heating, new electrical, new decking, foundation work, new plumbing, insulation, new driveway...) for less than $600,000 in a good neighborhood, made an offer, and actually had the offer accepted! I suspect it was the "big guns" i.e. photos of baby Zoe in our cover letter that did it (or perhaps that the offer we made was 15K over asking...).

It is a lovely little house and a place where Zoe can grow up surrounded by trees, a little garden, and a village center within walking distance of the house. We are looking forward to after dinner walks together. The imp loves being outside so much, we wanted to give her a place where we felt safe going outdoors after 6pm at night.

I am trying to stay calm (or as calm as I am capable which is not very calm). I am so scared being tied to a house like this. Everyone I have talked to seems to have gone through the same feelings of terror though, so that is somewhat comforting (although most of them are about 50-60 years old and have already paid off their houses).

Everything is set-the mortgage, negotiations with the seller done, inspections complete, etc etc. Within a month we will no longer be residents of the Macaroni Factory. I am already feeling nostalgic!

Here's Zoe, upset about leaving the Macaroni Warehouse.