The Hunt Is Over / Crunchies & Ice Ice Baby

Here it is about a month since the last post, and, appropriately, we can give you a house-hunting update: we've found a home in Plano! This property is not too far from the one we placed an offer on in March--it's located south of Park between the Tollway and Preston for those with some knowledge of the east side of the Metroplex. Commute-wise, which is my (Mike's) big thing, it's good--probably about a half-hour to and from work, maybe less on good days. The interior of the home was completely remodeled by the seller, whom my dad happens to know through business. Consequently, the seller has been very good to deal with, and negotiations have gone as well as or better than expected. We're currently in the option period, so I suppose things could still go south, but I'm very confident that this will be the next Gavin house. Lisa claims to be more excited merely about ending the hunt for a house, but she also says she hopes the home will grow on her more (it was difficult to let go of the previous property we made an offer on--it was primo, too). We're set to move in over Memorial Day weekend. So, if you're an avid reader of this blog, hopefully we can have you over before 2010 comes to a close.

What's going on in Zoe's world? Well, it seems like she's finally kicked her cold that had been with her for over a month. Either a cold or allergies--her nose had been very runny, and she'd been congested. But she seems to be over that now. She's just about a week removed, however, from her second ear infection (right ear this time). We're still doing medicine for it, but we haven't seen any ear-tugging or excessive whining pretty much since she started the medicine mid-last week.

On the positive side, Zoe is an eater! She loves her baby food and "crunchies," as her mama calls them--the yogurt puffs and cereal bites and cheese puffs. In fact, today she happily munched on some Cheezits! She's beginning to drink from sippy cups, as well. Yesterday she was happy with formula but didn't care for water, but today she's even drinking water. Previously she'd just chewed on her sippy cup (and everything else in sight). Zoe's also getting better at feeding the crunchies to herself using her hands. Though she still doesn't hold her bottle on her own, it's nice to be able to throw some crunchies on her highchair tray and walk around doing other stuff without having to attend to her every moment at feeding times.

Zoe is very good at sitting on her own now, but she still isn't interested in crawling. Several of us now suspect she may go directly to walking. She very much enjoys standing on a lap, and we recently got a play table down from the attic for her that she can lean against and practice standing on her own, prior to taking those first steps.

She's also babbling a ton (and with consonants!) these days, which continues to make me smile. Also, she smiles whenever she sees me come in the door at night--I already know that her running into my arms when I come is going to be one of the best times of day someday soon.

Lisa and I went to Puerto Vallarta 4/9-4/13 with Mel, Derek, Katie, Neil, Allison, and Blake--as a 30th (32nd, 40th) birthday celebration for the whole group. We had a great time. Highlights included sunscreen doing its job for the most part (save my scalp, protected only by my thinning hair), massages at the Grand Velas (where Lisa and I have vacationed before), ziplining and repelling through the forest (only Mike, not pregnant Lisa), and a no-doubt embarassing karaoke performance of "Ice Ice Baby" on the night of Melissa's birthday. Thanks to all the grandparents who helped babysit while we were away!