Yesterday, Zoe turned 10 months old! Amazing how fast these months go by. She has come a long way from the 3 month old that wouldn't sleep at night, had reflux issues that caused her to vomit all the time, etc...

On her 10 month birthday, Zoe hit a new milestone. I'll paste an email I got from Kia that describes her new "skill":

Okay, so it's been an hour since I tried to put her down for her 2nd nap! Of course, the reason for that is b/c she did a big unexpected poopie. Then, I peek in on her and she is sitting up in her crib (she did it on her own!). Then I hear a yell that is distinctive, so I just know she is standing up in her crib, and low and behold she is standing up facing her changing table just babbling and looking so pleased with herself.!

I just ran in to check on her again, it is clear that she has tried to stand up in her crib again, but it has gone awry. She was sitting up with one leg entirely sticking out between the crib rails, with a look on her face that said, "what do I do now "? I laughed my ass off. She dove into the corner of her crib (she had to fold herself in half since her leg was stuck) to try to hide from me. Oh my God, Corey, it is hilarious.

Twice now she has come down from the standing position. The first time she stood up, she plunked down straight onto her bottom, bouncing up and down. The second time she stood up, she plunked down on her bottom again, but titled sideways and hit her head a little. I sat her upright, and she looked to me as to whether or not to cry, so I quickly erased the worried look from my face. A long delay and then she cried, but really I think it was b/c she was frustrated by falling down, or b/c she wanted to get back up and couldn't.

She thinks it is terrific! She stands up looking out her bedroom door, yelling triumphantly at no one in particular. Right now I am in the office and she is pulling books off of the bookshelf, loving it.

She won't take her afternoon nap now b/c her crib has now become a jungle gym. I hope this is not a sample of naps and bedtime to come.

10 months old today and already everything has changed. Can you believe our wonderful girl? Wait until you see--you are going to laugh your ass off. This of course, does not help things b/c it only encourages her. Little silly girl.

So, out little girl is growing up... Here is her 10 month pictures:

Here are a few new milestones and fun things Zoe has accomplished:

She is now waving "Hello" and "Goodbye". If she sees a care (any car) leaving our neighborhood, she will wave "Goodbye" to it.

She is beginning to crawl now! Her crawl is more of a soldiers crawl than a baby crawl, but soon she will be doing a full crawl... if she doesn't start walking first.

She is back to sleeping through the night (after a brief period of waking up @ 4:15 or so). She now sleeps from about 7pm until about 5:30am.

Yesterday, Kia taught her where "mommies nose is" and "where mommies lips are". Zoe can point out each.

The other day, I taught her what a light is, and now she has to point out every light that she sees.

We had to lower her crib because she is getting tall and we don't want her to attempt to crawl over the edge. A big milestone!

We've introduced some new foods to her:
Cheerios - she loves them! She will eat as many as we give her.
Banana - she loves banana too. We break off small chunks and give them to her.
Avocado - Kia has been experimenting w/ feeding her avocado. I think she likes em.
Steak - just kidding.

In general, she is just an incredible kid. We could not be happier. She has her 1st playdate coming up tomorrow. We'll see how it goes....

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.