Yesterday, Zoe turned 9 months old. Here is a picture of her on her 9 month birthday:



Yesterday, we took her to her 9 month checkup. Dr. Swanson said she is in perfect health. At the doctor, Zoe weighed 19.5 pounds and was 27 inches tall.

Last weekend, we took her to the Tucson Botanical Gardens where they had a butterfly exhibit. Zoe loved it.... OK, she was indifferent, but we had a good time.


Some recent milestones of hers are:

Zoe can new walk!!! With some help. See her walk HERE

She can stand on her own for about 5 seconds before she topples over (into our arms of course)

Zoe will wave hello and goodbye. It's a very subtle wave, but a wave none the less.

Zoe now has 4 teeth coming in. The 4 bottom front teeth, still none on top.

Other things of note:
Zoe will drop things repeatedly so that we will pick them up and she can drop them again.

She is eating some more solid foods (like puffs)

When she is hungry and Kia comes in the room, Zoe let's out a loud squeal of excitement, because she knows she's about to get some "booba juice".

So... a few developments since last week...

First, Zoe now "gives kisses". It's the cutest thing ever. While holding her, we can say to her "give dada a kiss" or "give mama a kiss" and she will lean forward and give us a kiss.

Second, we've changed the date on Zoes 1st words. We thought she said "dada" to me... but later that day, she called Lucky "dada" too. HOWEVER, on Saturday morning, the 10th of February, she got up at about 5am and was messing around in her crib. I got up to go get her, and as I got up, she CLEARLY said "mama, dada". It was amazing! She was calling for us both!!! As soon as Kia heard that she sprung up (from practically dead sleep) and we both went in to get her.

Zoe Talks!!! we think.

Yesterday (the 6th of February) Kia was upstairs feeding Zoe when she swears she heard Zoe say Dada. Which is what we've been teaching her to call me.

She brought Zoe downstairs to see if she'd say it again. After some coaxing by us, she clearly said it again!

So, we tried to get her to say it while we recorded her, but of course she wouldn't perform for the video.

There is still some doubt, as Zoe has been saying "da" for a long time, so it could just be a coincidence... we'll see.

Zoes milestones:
Zoe can now hold herself up on a ledge and stand and look around
She is doing a LOT more talking these days
She is eating baby food now (as opposed to just breast milk... aka: booba juice)

She can't quite crawl yet, but is getting the hang of being on her hands and knees. Last night, I dreamt she could walk. It was crazy.

She rubs her eyes when she is tired.

Yesterday, I got her laughing by tickling her hips in her crib.

She is starting to point at things that she finds interesting or that she wants.

Yesterday, we were talking to our new neighbors Lynette and Tim at the Lemonade stand Trinity and JT set up. Tim asked if he could hold Zoe for a while. Zoe went to him willingly, but after abut 45 seconds, she began to display the dreaded bottom lip so Mom took her back and all was good.

Kia has taken Zoe to the gym a few times. She drops her off at the child care center and she does incredibly well. No fussing or crying for Mommy. So Kia can actually get a good workout in!

One of our favorite games is to play on the stairs. She'll sit up until I say "come to daddy!" and she'll lunge forward into my arms. It is the sweetest thing.

She is beginning to recognize and play with Lucky more now. She likes to play with (tug on) his ears.

Oh yea!!! Some of the best news is she is sleeping through the night (most of the time). We put her to bed at around 6pm, and she sleeps until about 5am (that's the only drawback). Kia and I trade off on who gets to (has to) get her in the mornings.

Right now, she is sitting beside me @ 9:05am being a sweetheart. She is playing with my "special" Starbucks coffee cup.

She woke up last night at around 4:30am so after Mom took a shot at quieting her, I brought her downstairs w/ me. She kept saying "dadn", I'd repeat it back to her and she'd say it again. It was very sweet. Sometimes, she'd switch it up and add a syllable or two, or she'd just say "Da".

And finally... about 2 weeks ago her 1st tooth came out! Her front left tooth appeared!!! Followed a few days later by her front right tooth. Sooooo cute. I can't even describe.

Kia and I love her sooo much and are very lucky to have her.

Today is the superbowl (i think 41). Indy is playing Chicago. The year I was born, Dallas won the superbowl. Does that make me a bandwaggon fan??? I digress.

I just tried to get a picture of her teeth. It didn't quite work out. It looks like i'm mugging her.


Anyhow, my mom sent a picture of me when I was 8 months old (coincidentaly ((or not)) Zoe is 8 months old.

Here are pics of us both @ 8 months: Hard to believe, but Zoe is cuter!

Hi! Sorry for the delay in posting...

Our girl is developing in leaps and bounds these days. She is 5.5 months old!

She is as sweet as can be and we love her to death.

She has developed a new "sound". It's seems like a cross between a moan, laugh and cry. She seems to use it indiscriminately.

She is starting to master the art of "sitting up". She can almost do it on her own. She tends to fall backwards though. I imagine she'll get it down soon.

Last night, I was giving her a bath. She was being soooo sweet and just making cooing sounds, etc.... Then she got this weird look on her face, and then I felt something coming from her "nether regions". Yes, she pooped on me in the tub. : (

Needless to say, I screamed to Kia for help.

She is starting to flirt and/or become shy in the presence of others. Very cute.

She is also beginning to sleep throught the night, which is great friggin news. Although last night she awoke at 3am after peeing her bed. Kia couldn't get her back to sleep, so she called me in to take over. I used the old faithful "guest bathroom w/ fan on and lights out" routine. She was asleep 2 minutes after I got her in there. It's like a baby sleep microwave.

Finally, the big news of the day.... Kia just called me from home to announce that Zoe did her first unassisted "roll over"!!!! She has been rolling to her side for a while now, but couldn't quite get over her arm that is in the way. It looks like she's mastered it, and Kia got it on tape.

I guess that's all for now. We have our Costa Rica trip coming up soon.... We'll see how Zoe does.

Zoe Laughs!

Yesterday, September 4th 2006, Zoe laughed for the 1st time ever. She has ocassionally smiled, but never a full out laugh.

After Kia gave her a bath, I was drying her off, and putting baby lotion on her, I normally play with her a bit during this process. Well last night, I decided to rock her back and forth, and as soon as I started doing it, she started laughing. Feeling bad, because Kia was not around to see it (she was still in the tub), I stopped what I was doing. Kia heard her though. It was the sweetest thing i've ever seen.

I am creating this blog to track my daughter Zoes milestones, moments, etc...

This will be a sort of "Diary" for Zoe. It is mainly for my own (and my wife Kia's) use, but if you stumble across it, feel free to read.

Thanks.