Smiles and Giggles

Zoë is still working on lots of firsts.  This week has included: first rice cereal, first trip to the Scottish Highland Games in Enumclaw, first footprint in cement, first dahlia...etc.

The Scottish Highland Games in Enumclaw with Baba and Dedo

She is incredibly funny with touching and grabbing for EVERYTHING now.  And of course, EVERYTHING goes immediately into her mouth.  I'm finding I have to be more careful about how clean things are now...

This blue four is an excellent year.

Before she figured out that she should STAND in the jumper
...just lounging.

Finally figured it out.

Zoë and a dahlia grown in our yard.

After dinner selfie.

Mommy hack #42...Bumbo in front of the play mat (while supervised, of course).

I got her second giggle this evening and caught some of it on video, so we know she can actually giggle, though I had to work hard to get her to do it.  She continues to be a very smiley, good natured girl.  We are noticing she's developing a little bit of stranger anxiety when we pass her off to someone she doesn't know.  It's an interesting phenomenon because she hasn't had ANY problems saying hello to new people in the past.  Hopefully this phase will be over fast.

At her six month appointment her pediatrician said, "sure, go ahead and try some cereal"...but based on our experiments so far, she's not quite ready.  Her tongue thrust reflex is definitely not gone as everything that goes INTO her mouth comes out immediately after.  We'll keep trying every four or five days or so, but we're not going to push her.  After all, she's really only FOUR months (adjusted) on this coming Thursday.

We are working on sitting up, which she does really well with just a little bit of support.  She continues to astound us with how strong her legs are and how much she enjoys standing up.

Strong legs!

Grandma came over last week and helped us with our footprint in cement craft project.  It's a good thing she did, too, because it was definitely a two person job!

Six Months!

Happy half birthday to our sweet little girl!

Zoë can now:

-grab onto toys
-sit up in her Bumbo chair
-lift her head and chest completely off the ground while she's on her tummy
-follow objects all the way across her line of vision
-bury her head coyly in mom or dad's shoulder when she's smiling at someone new
-stand on her two feet while being held (barely) by the elbows/hands
-hold her hands over her ears when she eats

She weighs 12.5 pounds!

It is quite amazing to know that sixth months ago we had no idea what we would be in for with this little girl.  How many challenges she would have to face medically, how big or developed she would even be by this milestone.  We have been VERY lucky with how strong Zoë is and how few medical interventions she has needed.  The NICU seems like a world away and I've already let it fade into my distant memory how challenging it was to go back and forth to the hospital just to SEE her every day.  What a blessing!

Official Zoo Members

We went to the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium last Friday on Chris' day off for Zoë's first zoo trip.  It was lots of fun and she seemed to enjoy the parts she was awake for.  Thank goodness for patient child-less friends (Drew and Michelle) who waited while we fed her, waited while we parked the stroller, waited while we put the stroller in the elevator, etc.  Since it was economical to do so, we are now official members of the zoo for the next year.  :)

Baba and Zoë

Go Cougs!!!

Dedo and Zoë take a nap

Ladybird is jealous of the Grandma and Zoë time.

The "Easiest. Baby. Ever." picture

Selfie in the backyard

I'll actually have to stop knocking Point Defiance, now, and stop comparing it to Woodland Park because it's a pretty good little zoo (my allegiance is still to King County, however).  Zoë seemed to like the aquarium best, probably the colors and all of the movement was what got her hooked.  It'll be fun to go often to see how much more interested she is in the animals.












Zoë has had a rough couple of nights the last two out of four.  She has been inconsolably crying (one during our weekly BBQ) which is so out of character for her.  We know it's a pretty common thing for this to be a deal in the evening hours, but it's just so hard since she's never been like this before.  I think God is punishing me for sending Angela a text Saturday night that said, "Easiest. Baby. Ever." and then BAM!  Crying for several hours.  Of course.

Zoë's future husband Max.

She'll be six months old on Sunday, that's CRAZY!  We'll update everyone on her new tricks then.  :)

Napping in her crib

Chloe is visiting while my parents are away...
having one more dog is like having five more.

Zoë is pretty much the coolest baby ever.  :)  She is on a pretty regular schedule...and when I say regular schedule, I mean she goes to bed between 8-10 every night depending on when her last feeding was and wakes up between 4-7am and then feeds every 3-4 hours during the day with a regular eat, playtime, and nap cycle.  I know this probably doesn't seem very regular, especially to people who don't have kids, but it IS and has made life so much easier!  She's still doing a lot of smiling and making tons of noises, but no official laugh yet.  She is not quite grabbing for toys on her own, but is definitely interested in them and gives her full attention to a rattle shaken in front of her.  She'll now hold them, too, if you put them close enough to her hands to latch onto.  One of her favorite things is a new stuffed teddy bear that was a gift to her.

Every baby needs a pair of Osh Kosh overalls!

We went and saw a new pediatrician last week who I LOVED and he was good to remind me to stop worrying about how much she should be eating and just feed her when she needs it. "She's only going to be this small for so long, Emily, you need to stop worrying about the numbers and enjoy it.  She's gaining weight just fine."  Huh, I feel like I've heard that before, but it's nice to hear again and again.  He said based on his observation of her neck control and the way she was sitting on my lap, she's probably gained a month (towards her actual age) developmentally.  Wow!  That's a big deal!



Good things are happening!

Good morning!
She's also such a happy camper when she wakes up.
Oh, and she turns herself around 180 degrees and shoves
herself in the corner, too.

Zoë now takes one or two naps in her crib during the day!  I think I've mentioned the awesome ninja roll I have developed to leave her undisturbed and sleeping on my bed when she falls asleep during the day.  Now, I can place her in her crib, close the door, and maybe get 45 minutes to an hour of stuff done.  Sometimes she needs an extra pat or two, but within about 5 minutes she's sleeping peacefully.  It's amazing!  I keep seeing these posts from moms of babies who are younger wondering when their baby will sleep in their crib during the day and I remember thinking a while back "this will NEVER happen with Zoë, will it?!" and finally it does.  Hurray!

Coug hat is still a bit big...

Zoë went in the pool for the first time on Monday, thanks to the generosity of Auntie Kari (and her parents) in having us over.  Zoë liked it, but seemed weirded out at first when we got in.  She swam in one of her Fuzzi Buns without a liner in it and it worked out just fine.  I lathered her in sunscreen (generally not something I would have liked to do, but no swim gear fits her yet and I figured sunscreen once and a while will be just fine during the summer- it's better than getting a sunburn!), she wore her floppy hat, and we both felt better being in the cool water on a ninety degree day.

Big girl!

She also sat in her Bumbo chair for the first time this week.  I think it's funny, and I have to remind myself, that sometimes she doesn't like or won't do something and if I just try again three days later it sometimes works!  She sits great in the chair now and I put a toy on her lap and she's happy for a while while I make lunch or fold some laundry.

Baby's first Red Robin trip.

Our little fire cracker.

Happy Fourth of July!

Yesterday, we went to the Des Moines fireworks show.  Zoë was almost asleep when the show started and then she was mesmerized the entire time.  She even went to sleep just fine after and slept until 7:30 this morning.  What a good girl.  We booked a long weekend in Sunriver in August (yay!) and other than that we're basically just doing our thing this summer.  Our own little backyard pool arrives today from Amazon (yay for Amazon Prime!), so we should have fun splashing around in that, too.  What a fun first summer with our little girl!

Being a baby is exhausting!