A Fury of Firsts, Fun, & Festivities!

Wow! It has been ages since I have given a true "blog update" on life in the Commeret household. A lot has happened since Zoe has been 3 months old, and now our little girl is already 6 months!

Life has been busy (what's new?) and I haven't made blogging a priority. I hope to some day soon make it a goal to blog once a week so I can keep up with all things new and exciting instead of wanting to fit it all into one lengthy blog, like this one (I apologize in advance)! :)

Chuck is almost two months into his fifth year of teaching now. He is loving it. It's been great that he can use a lot of the same material again! He recently finished coaching middle school cross-country and just began coaching 7th grade boys basketball. On top of all that, Chuck began teaching for Michigan State in the first three courses of their Masters program. After being a TA (teacher's assistant) for three different instructors this year, he will begin instructing on his own this spring. Having a second (or is it third or fourth?) job has made for a busy start to Chuck's year, but it has been so fun to see how much he loves and is so good at anything to do with Educational Technology.

Although my new full-time job has been to stay home with Zoe (which I am loving!), I was hired by Northwestern University in their Center for Talent Development to teach in their Gifted LearningLinks program. I am currently teaching an online enrichment course for third through fifth graders. It is called, "It's More Than Just a Map!" The course, which I had to create from scratch (challenging, but fun!), studies the relationship between biomes and cultures across the globe. I have six students in my class - three live in the U.S., two in South Korea, and one in Nigeria. I enjoy this experience immensely, love being able to stay in teaching, and look forward to future courses and opportunities that await me through this exciting program.

I'll try to keep it as brief as possible, but if you know me well, I'm not usually very successful at being brief...so here goes nothing!

3 Months

 3 months

(hard to believe this was already 3 months ago!)

Zoe's finally starting to "play" with her toys. It's fun to see her excitement for new things!

Alli often mistakes my "Zoe attention" for "Alli attention." This was one of those moments...appears as though Alli thought she was going to be getting something from me. Sorry, Alli. You're no longer my top priority. But you are pretty cute. :)

Amanda's Baby Shower - Paul, Roslynn, Zoe, and Austin were the life of the party!

4 Generations!

 Zoe was having so much fun playing, she fell right asleep. It was hilariously cute.

4 Months

Around 4 months, Zoe started rolling right onto her side to sleep as soon as we'd put her down. From about 2 1/2 to 6 months old, Zoe's sleep patterns both at night and during the day have been unpredictable. Despite the occasional day or two where Zoe would sleep through the night, she would typically wake up anywhere from 1 to who knows how many times during the night for either her pacifier, a quick meal to get her back to sleep, or just to say hi and play (won't it be nice when she understands that 3 AM is not the time for playing?) :) As for naps, Zoe's typical day would consist of 3 or 4 thirty to forty-five minute cat naps. Anything short from pleasant or ideal. And I wonder why it's been so hard to get anything done?! :)

Zoe has never really liked her swing, so this is one of the rare occasions where she actually was quite content in it.

Contagious giggles!

1st ride in the jogging stroller - she loved it and fell asleep!

Rolling over for the 1st time! READY...

...SET...

...GO!...

..."Look at me, Mom, I can roll over!" :)

1st bites of rice ceral (kudos to Chuck's photo expertise here!)

Not so sure about this stuff...

Zoe loves when her Daddy gets home from work!

Zoe sometimes plays well in her Bumbo, but she usually tries to get out. :)

It only took a few days for Zoe to really get the hang of eating rice cereal. She loves it! She even tried to steal the spoon out of our hand to feed herself. Oh, our little independent (stubborn?) daughter...I wonder where she gets that from? :)

Sometimes eating food tires Zoe out so much, she falls right asleep (almost mid-bite!) This has happened on a number occasions already, and it never stops being funny to us.

Bath time with Daddy is the BEST!

Prunes!

After cereal was well underway, Zoe got started with prunes and has now worked her way through all of the "first" fruits and veggies over the past two months. She is quite the little eater and LOVES food!

Toes are about as tasty as food these days! :)

5 Months

This was the first "month" where taking pictures by the dog was a slight challenge...

...

...

:)

Zoe ADORES her exersaucer!

Here is one of those moments where Zoe is trying to get out of the Bumbo and onto the floor...she hasn't succeeded yet, but I don't think that will keep her from trying!

For about the first month or so that Zoe would inevitably flip to her tummy, she didn't last very long before she'd get upset. Shortly after she turned 5 months though, she started enjoying it much more (though this picture wouldn't show it!). She even prefers to sleep on her tummy now. Thankfully she doesn't get as mad as she first did when she wakes up and finds herself on her belly. :)

In addition to sleeping on her tummy, this is one of Zoe's other favorite ways to fall asleep...holding onto her feet.

Happy 28th birthday, Chuck!

Hitting the highchair and tabletops has become a favorite..."I want more food!" perhaps?

Check out those eyelashes!

We've just recently started experimenting with a sippy cup. She's not very good at it, but it's still fun to try and get the hang of.

Our little monkey!

This was the hardest I'd laughed in a while...while sitting in my lap as I was drinking a cup of coffee, Zoe saw two other pacis sitting on the table in front of her. Mind you, she already had one in her mouth. Nevertheless, Zoe grabs both pacis and attempts to get all three of them into her mouth! Too funny...too bad no one was there to witness it with me. A picture just doesn't quite do it justice. :)

Hanging out with Ava - the girls are about 5 months apart

 I see many more Mommy-Daughter playdates in our future...

 

A little visit with Grandma Casanova to

"Gene the Pumpkin Man" in Kalamazoo...

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Janna's Baby Shower - it was so cute to see Dani and Zoe playing together!

Grandma DeJong & "her little pumpkin"

We can't wait to meet baby Schemper!

Zoe just LOVES Alli. They are becoming good buddies...Alli just isn't quite sure what to think of it though...

Sucking on a piece of bread...yum! :)

Zoe and her dad crack each other up...

6 Months

"Oh my! I'm 6 months old!"

The day Zoe turned 6 months (10.20.10), we went with Chuck for a night to South Bend before the CEA Convention started. It was a great little get-away!

We went with the Wittes and Verkaiks to the Potawatomi Zoo in South Bend while Chuck and all the others were at the convention. It was windy and cold!

The lions were a favorite -- the two were literally roaring at each other! It was amazing! (And we were quite thankful there was a great fence separating us from them. :)

Brrrr!

Zoe and Kate (is that you?) by the flamingoes.

We haven't been on too many dates since Zoe has been born. Besides going out for our 5th anniversary when Zoe was about 6 weeks old (Grandma Casanova babysat), our first "real" date was before Chuck started the school year (Zoe was about 4 months old). We went out for dinner, mini-golfing, and Captain Sundae while Grandpa and Grandpa DeJong babysat. Zoe is quite unpredictable with other people. She's definitely a momma's girl. She did well for G & G on our first date and not so well for Uncle Eric and Aunt Sherry on this second one. Here we are on the carousel at Al and Marc's wedding. Shortly after we finished dinner, Eric called us to leave the wedding because Zoe was crying incessantly and wouldn't take a bottle. Oh Zoe, would you please get over your stranger anxiety soon so that your mom and dad can enjoy going on dates together? :)

Chuck was pretty thrilled with the horse he got to ride on the carousel. :)

The high school girls (minus Hilary and the bride herself, Al!)...Cara is due very soon with her first baby!

 Zoe decided to be her cranky self for the photographer at JCPenney's for her 6-month photos. So, I decided to take a few of my own to capture Zoe in one of her more playful and enjoyable moments. :)

Zoe and Alli have actually started to interact with each other. So fun! I have a feeling that their toys may become interchangeable. Zoe decided this one is hers, and we don't think Alli was too thrilled about it.

Well, there ya have it! The last 3 months in a nutshell...a very BIG nutshell. :)

We adore our little Zoe more and more every day.

She is such a beautiful, fun-loving, happy girl who blesses us more than we could ever have imagined.

We love you, Zoe! It is so fun to watch you grow!