Take-the-Peanut-to-Work Day!

On Monday, Zoë went to work with Daddy! Mommy was seeing a client, so she dropped Zoë off at the union office where Daddy works!

Zoë signed up her first union member...

...with a little help from Daddy.

Everyone wanted to hold the little peanut!

Amy! Janella! Lynn-Marie!



Don't worry! Fergus got a nice scratch from Amy, too.


Zoë got a little upset, so Lynn sang some Aretha Franklin songs for her:

"R-E-S-P-E-C-T!"

Then Zoë went to her first union meeting. It was very exciting. Teresa took some pictures:

That's Ian between Amy and Jon & Zoë. Ian finished the pumpkin pie, remember? We don't always look like this at meetings.

Matt took notes. Brenda is laughing at something.


Janella facilitated!

That's Teresa in the foreground and Chris over on the right.

Amy knitted!

(Did you know that Jack's mom is a big knitter?)

Rose hung out at the office for a bit when she got back. Here she is with Zoë and Stephen, our star computer guy:


Later that night, Daddy made Mommy a salad:

Don't Let the Baby Fall on her Head

On Friday night, the whole family went to some friends' house for dinner!

Zoë got all bundled up!


Here are our hosts, Avi, Tresa, Ma'ayan, and Elya!

Rosie and Jon went to grad school with Tresa (when she was Dr. Beth's GSI, remember?); Tresa is a visiting professor at the university. She and Avi live in Israel, where Avi is an activist for democratic education! Ma'ayan is three; she is a very good teeth-brusher and likes the book about Katie the Snowplow. Elya is four and three quarters; she has a unicorn whose name is Sparkle and who is Queen of the Unicorns.

They do not always wear clown makeup!


They made Zoë some really nice cards when she was born:




We had a really great time.


One of us took a nap on the floor!


On Saturday, we got some snow:


Mr. Greg came to shovel the driveway-- and who came with him?!

Honeybear!

Can you find Fergus in this picture?

Zoë spent the day doing different things.




Everyone is still trying to get used to Daddy being back at work. Here he is with Janella at the office:


At the end of the day, Zoë and Fergus like to spend time with Daddy!


...well, most of the time!


Well, that's all for this edition of "Hello Zoë!"

P.S. Did we mention that Zoë fell on her head on Sunday and we took her to the hospital? We didn't? She's fine. Don't worry. She's perfectly fine. Nothing to worry about. That shoe cushioned the bump anyway. And look, she's fine:


Everything ok now?

Dr. Beth's Report

Zoë went for her 8-week check-up on Tuesday morning!

Dr. Beth said "Zoë's doing great!"

We asked some silly questions, and Dr. Beth said "Zoë's doing great!"

Look how big she's getting!

"Honey, I'm Home!"

On Sunday, we all stayed in bed for a bit and read the New York Times.

(Ok, ok, you’re right; Fergus and Zoë didn’t read the New York Times, though they are both very bright for their ages.)

Daddy and Zoë had some nice playtime; Zoë is now interested in the shiny camera.


See that cute little sheep in the corner? That’s Sheepy Weepy!

Sheepy’s real name is Sheepius Weepius, but his friends mostly call him "Sheepy." His motto is "Feelings are important!"

In the evening, "Hello Zoë" commentator Alyssa P came over for dinner. The big event was finally getting Zoë to like being in the baby sling:


Just in time, too! We were worried we’d get kicked out of the "attachment parenting" club. Zoë had a nice snooze:


Here are some other pictures of Zoë sleeping:




She is almost too big for her "Moses basket"!

Monday was Daddy’s first day back at work. Everyone was a little sad:


Here’s Daddy coming home from work on Monday night:


The day wasn’t as bad as we thought it would be...but Daddy and Zoë sure were happy to see each other when he got home:

...and while we're on the subject

...and while we're on the subject of nasty toxic things for babies, here is a quick book review.

A relative (we won't say which) unwittingly (we have to assume) sent along a book called On Becoming Babywise by Gary Ezzo, M.A. and Robert Bucknam, M.D.


Now, we're open-minded folks, so even though the phrase "infant management plan" on the back cover made us a little wary, we figured we'd give it a look.

OK, so people have different ideas about how to raise babies, and it became clear that we weren't going to agree with these authors; the book starts out with a misrepresentation of and attack on "attachment parenting."

But the book goes on to outline a "system" of getting your baby on a rigid feeding and sleeping clock instead of responding to his or her needs. In fact, as we read on, it really seemed to us that the authors had a kind of scorn for anyone who might want to actually respond to a child; doing so would "spoil" the infant and turn him or her into a self-centered hedonistic adult. Hmmm. Every once in a while, the book would come out with something really weird -- like linking attachment parenting to third-world poverty and ignorance:

It is common for children in third-world countries to sleep in the same bed with their parents. In most cases, this is done for pragmatic reasons: there is only one bed and often only one room. Poverty forces the sleeping arrangement not the pursuit of psychological health for the child.

There is a place and time for backpacks, snuggles, and slings, such as when mom, dad, and their baby are out shopping, hiking, or taking a walk. But it is not a good substitute for the crib. In some third-world nations, mothers carry their babies in an infant sling as they move through the day. We have visited these nations and talked with these mothers. Their actions are not based on a need to to create an attachment with their child nor spurred on by Freud's writing.

OK, so the authors were crazy racist idiots; we had a good laugh.

But our natural curiousity led us to a little internet searching. The back of the book tells you that "Gary Ezzo, M.A., serves as the executive director of Growing Families International." It's some kind of Christian organization. Now we don't have anything against Christians (even Ghandhi said "If it weren't for Christians, I'd be a Christian") -- but a few more searches revealed that GFI is pretty much a baby- and mother-hating cult. The best overview is an article in Salon: "Getting Wise to 'Babywise.'" Here's the rundown:

Although "Babywise I" and "II" contain little in the way of credible supporting scientific research, the religious versions of GFI's child-care guides use the Bible in order to explain Ezzo's rigid recommendations. Additionally, some of the health-care providers (many of whom are not even pediatricians) who have been willing to offer their public support for "Babywise" attribute at least part of their acclaim for the program to their own spiritual beliefs and the books' religious underpinnings. Ezzo writes that "in Biblical times, a new mother did not lounge around in a bathrobe for weeks on end attempting to establish a bond with her child," and he uses the Christian crucifixion as justification for letting infants cry it out, writing: "Praise God that the Father did not intervene when His Son cried out on the cross." Ezzo explains his support for allowing babies to cry for long stretches by noting that "God is not sitting on His throne waiting to jump at our every cry, trying to prove he loves us."

...so, anyway, if you're in the market for parenting books, you can leave this one alone.

A Big Adventure

Wednesday was a big adventure.

First, there was some cuddling time after the alarm went off...


...and you were worried that Fergus was feeling left out!


Everyone got dressed for winter...


...and then we were off to Zoë's first day of school!

It was an infant massage class!


Zoë really liked it. We got to meet lots of other babies and mommies! (Daddy was the only daddy.) Here's Zoë having a good time:


Then we stopped at the co-op for lunch. Zoë needed lunch too, but one of the bathrooms was broken--so we went down to the basement office to nurse.

We got to see the water filtration system for the water we buy!


...and here is a helpful guide for keeping tomatoes:

Too cold makes you angry; too hot makes you sad! (If you are a tomato.)

Then we drove to our friends Ceci and Brian's house so Fergus could play with his pals. Ceci (that's Italian, pronounced "CHAY-chee") and Brian live out in the country:

Isn't it pretty?

Here are Fergus's pals:

Argus!

Argus is a champion athlete. In this picture his is barking because no one is throwing his piece of tree bark for him to fetch.

Kaya!

Fergus baby-sat for Kaya when she was just a puppy. Now she is all grown up.

Winnie!

Winnie is a sweetheart. She likes to stay by the house when the other dogs play.

Fergus had the best time!



He loves to run without a leash!


We took Zoë out to the pond:


It's peaceful there:


We saw some animal tracks in the snow:

Can you tell who made them?

How about these?


Fergus didn't want to leave, even after we all got in the car:

...but after a little while he jumped in and we were off to out next destination.

Our next destination was a place called "Babies 'R' Us." We wanted to find a little swing or bouncer for Zoë.

"Babies 'R' Us" is an awful place:

Everything there is made in China and covered in poisonous chemicals. Everything is pink for girls and blue for boys. They have gross almost-child-porn hanging in the nursing room:


We all felt like this:


Here is one nice picture of Zoë and Mommy in the nursing room:


Anyway, we got a few things and ran away. We didn't get a swing or a bouncer.

Okay, so Jon and Rosie and Zoë are all crabby from being in "Babies 'R' Us," and we're on our way home--and we hit a rush hour traffic jam. Then Zoë needs a new nappy -- and then another! We're out of diapers and changes of clothes!

We all got a little cross.

Once we got home, though, everyone was in a better mood:


Then we got tired and went to bed!