Yup. She's going to have a good immune system.

Evidence of their mutual make-out sessions. I say mutual because, as you will see below, Haven crawls right up to Zoe - mere millimeters from Zoe's snoot - and does exactly what you see in the picture below. Let's just call it asking for a kiss.

Kiss, please?

Zoe love.

How, tell me how, is Zoe supposed to say No to this?

Update on the dress

I think the winner is dress C - the pink and white frilly poufy one. This happens to be Aaron's favorite dress, too. My favorite is B (blue top, white skirt) but I think I'm going to go with C - how many occasions are there to dress up in frilly poufy dresses?

Dress D ended up being a keeper, too. :) Haven wore it for a bridal shower this past weekend and was pretty adorable in her summer dress. It was on sale! Why not?

Bananas for bananas

Welcome to mealtime with Haven!

This is a meal of mushed banana,
as well as a little high chair tray for extra flavor.

I think she is quite pleased with the bananas plus tray.

Okay, maybe she is really pleased!
Isn't that the cutest smile ever?

Olivia, this photo is for you.
It's not a good photo at all (Aaron would be appalled),
but she is rather reluctant to let me capture her teeth on film.

Does this dress make me look cute?

Aaron's sister is getting married next month and Haven needs something to wear for the wedding. I'm in the wedding as a bridesmaid and my dress is a chocolate color. Aaron will be wearing nice brown pants (or maybe his linen pants?) and probably a white shirt. Haven is not in the wedding, so there's not the need to be super fancy - just a little cuter than normal.

So. Here are the options. Please let me know your favorite(s)!

A) White and tan eyelet dress

B) Blue silky top and white tiered eyelet (I think) skirt

C) Little pink dress with red flowers - has the most pouf, is the most dressy/frilly

D) Bouquets of red flowers dress

To get you up to speed

1. Haven now has TWO teeth. They are sharp.
2. Haven is, I think, a beaver in that she chews everything. Everything. I think she fears that if she doesn't, her teeth will get really large and she will look funny and not be able to build log cabins with her teeth.
3. This chewing thing is not unlike having a puppy again, except that, with the puppy, it was all about protecting our stuff from harm (shoes, furniture, etc) and with the baby it is less about protecting our stuff (though a little bit of that) and more about protecting the baby from outlets and large, heavy, unsecured objects.
4. Haven sits up on her own really well. My parents were visiting the early part of April and, at that time, I remember that if we sat Haven up she quickly toppled over. But now we can plop her down anywhere and she stays upright for the most part (until she gets bored with her toy and decides it is time to army crawl).
   
5. Haven is THIS CLOSE to crawling and, in the meantime, has figured out how to get ANYWHERE she wants. Sheer will power gets her to the dog, sends her under the desk to the computer cords, propels her down the hall to the dog's toy bucket, draws her to the bedroom mirror where she can make out with herself (so much better than making out with the dog).
6. Haven wants nothing to do with laying still on her back to have her diaper changed.
7. Haven still has glorious thighs that I think we all wish were edible.
   

A new day

This is my first week home full-time with Haven. No maternity leave, no part-time - just pure unemployed, semi-retired, SAHM (stay at home mom). This is has been the best first-week-on-a-(new)-job that I've ever had, though our orientation has involved some activities I haven't encountered in other work: yesterday was spilling the dog's water dish all over ourselves (we HAVE GOT to baby proof the apartment) and today was refusing to cooperate with the diaper change and peeing all over ourselves while I gave in to the squirming and let her twist diaper-less while I got the new diaper ready. That's the third time this week, actually, that we've peed on ourselves during a diaper change. And it's not my diapering technique - it's little Miss Curiosity.

The decision to be home with Haven has been a long time coming and wasn't the easiest decision to make (remember this?). My job provided me with a wonderful community of coworkers and friends and that made it difficult to know whether or not it was time for me to stay or to move on. The very depressing news about the economy didn't really help me in my search for clarity, either (who leaves their job when there is double-digit unemployment in California?), but I also couldn't deny that if and when I stopped to listen, I knew the answer to my question.

And so. Here I am. Running interference between a 9-month-old and electrical sockets (we HAVE GOT to babyproof), running interference between said 9-month-old and our big hairy dog and their little makeout sessions (completely and totally MUTUAL makeout sessions), going for walks, doing dishes, trying to predict just how long this nap is going to be and will it afford me time to eat, switch the laundry, take the dog out to the bathroom, AND a nap, checking Facebook, running to the mall to shop for little dresses for little girls for big weddings, showering one out of every two days, pureeing squash and green beans (cauliflower and yams tomorrow), blogging, making to-do lists, and discovering Haven's tickle spots and listening to her giggle. The giggling is the best part.

It's a little different not having a paying job at an office with cubicles - I feel a little naked - and I have concerns that this new vocation pared with my tendency toward being a homebody will be a bit isolating. Nonetheless, she giggles and so far hasn't asked me about strategic planning, so I think we are good.

Extravagant

This month in Book Club we discussed the book Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. It was a bit of a slow read at first but I loved it by the end and think I may very well re-read it to soak up a little bit more of its richness. On page 238 there is this tremendous paragraph, a paragraph of love, extravagant love, of the lengths to which we will go for love and forgiveness, the lengths and depths we don't have but will extend beyond for our child. I love the notion of how extravagant this is. From Gilead:

And old Boughton, if he could stand up out of his chair, out of his decrepitude and crankiness and sorrow and limitation, would abandon all those handsome children of his, mild and confident as they are, and follow after that one son whom he has never known, whom he has favored as one does a wound, and he would protect him as a father cannot, defend him with a strength he does not have, sustain him with a bounty beyond any resource he could never dream of having. If Boughton could be himself, he would utterly pardon every transgression, past, present, and to come, whether or not it was a transgression in fact or his to pardon. He would be that extravagant. That is a thing I would love to see.

Unintentional Hiatus

My apologies, oh faithful blog readers! It seems I took an unintentional hiatus from all things web - my blog, facebook, email - and am playing a little bit of catch up.

So, I'm back. More blogging to come very very soon!

This is little Miss Haven at the beach on a very lovely warm spring day!