NEWSFLASH!

Zee crawls!

Five?!

Hey! Look who it is! In soft focus and ready to start the day!

Zora hit five months on the sixth, which, I realize, is a week ago. We haven't been good about keeping up with this blog, which is kind of how these things go, I gather.

Anyway, Zora is in fine fettle. She's getting long, is still lean, and has a winning personality. She's won over the folks at the corner store and is generally a hit nearly everywhere else we go. Actually, we only pretty much go to the corner store, but I'm very confident other people would like her, too.

She's very funny.



We took a trip out to an amazing old house built on a rock in Jamestown Harbor in May. There was lots going on, and you'd think, seeing as I had a camera with me, that I'd document it, but the true highlight (for me) was seeing Z strapped into her futuristic flotation device. She was puzzled by it, but put up with it for the trip back and forth.

She looks so small there, but she really is growing. And she's very strong. Her doctor says she's "motorically advanced," which R and I really like. We thought she was blowing smoke, but that's actually a word. And Zora is motorically advanced! Really! She's just about sitting up by herself, and goes up on her hands and toes. Her crawler is busted, so she just rocks back and forth and scoots backwards, but I'm predicting a leap this week.

Here she is balancing while we visited her Uncle Josh and Aunt Stew.

She's only just begun tasting adult food. The criteria are texture (easily gummed) and overall parental laziness in keeping her away from it. She's pretty dogged. Anyway, tonight R gave her some avocado bits. Wondrous!



It got a mixed review. She followed it up with a napkin and the tantalizingly cool air of a Popsicle held just out of reach.



Lastly, we've really been enjoying the fine weather. We had a field day a few weekends ago in the park near us (I broke a piece of the croquet set, Z drooled all over a mallet handle), and have taken some good walks. Here we are in south county about to enjoy some Rhode Island mosquitoes.

The other big June event (so far) has been an actual baby encounter. All of a sudden Z seems to notice other babies, even if they're her in the mirror. Last week we had a walk in the park with a baby slightly older and in possession of a harder edge. Her name? Violet von Doom. Yes. And she quickly initiated Z into big-baby world. Bonus: she showed her how many "five" really is.


Some earlier photos, before the great insult:

Happier, simpler times...
Violet isn't really THAT much larger than Zora. She's a little closer to the camera. She is much more focused, though. Unfortunately for Z, that focus isn't on the other baby next to her.

This kind of snub (and the hand-to-face above) can only lead to years of enmity and rancor, but it's so damn funny now. We're going to do a complete series of baby fights before they know what's up.


BONUS VIDEO: ZORA DRIFTS IN TIME-LAPSE!