And Here is Zoe's 19 Month Picture (on the exact day):


Zoe's milestones:

• When we put Zoe in the car, she now climbs into her own car seat. Although when she gets there, she just stands in it backwards, she won't actually sit down.
  
• Just last week, she started pointing to herself and saying "I'm Zoe".
  
• She knows and can say colors (Red, , Purple, Yellow,Blue, Green, and Orange.)
  
• She will say "Thank You" on her own. She says "Thank you momma, thank you dadda" when we give her things.
  
• She can count to TEN! Repeating after us of course. But she will say some numbers on her own.
  
• She took her 1st picture with Santa. I need to scan it and I'll add it later on. But she did great and didn't cry (probably because we were in the picture too).
  
• And here's the biggie, she pooped in her potty for the first time!!! She had recently been giving us a warning before she went. She'd get a strained look on her face and say "Poo Poo". But we failed to pick up on her sign (I know, I know, "How'd you miss that sign? We're busy and stressed!). Then one day while I was at work, Kia realized that Zoe was actually saying "I gotta poop!" So Kia ran her upstairs to her potty and sat her down and she went!
  She has done it a few times since then. Very exciting. One day, Zoe will want to kill us when she reads and sees this.

-





What's going on in the world right now:

• The Presidential caucuses are about to begin. Democrats: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards. Republicans: Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney and McCain.
  
• Housing market is down 6%. Ughhhh...

OK, here is Zoes 18 month picture... This is an estimate, probably not the exact day, but close enough. Sorry Zoe, it was a busy month.

Here are a few new milestones for Zoe:

She is doing really well in school. Whereas before, she would say "Bye Bye Zoe" when leaving class to say Good Bye to her teachers and classmates, she is now beginning to say their names... i.e. "Bye bye Sarah"

When we are driving in the car and approaching home, she will say "ha ha home?"

She is beginning to put together 3 word phrases.

She can say "Corey" and "Kia". Ver cute.

Kia found her ticklish spot and when she tickles Zoe, she goes bonkers and starts trying to distract Kia by saying "High five???" to get Kia to stop tickling.

She loves to pet Lucky and give him kisses.

She is in the middle of some serious "sleep training". Kia is training her to sleep throught the night according to a book that a friend told us about. She says it worked wonders for her, so we (Kia) are giving it a try. Prior to last night, she slept through the night for 3 nights in a row. Last night, she woke up at 4:30am. But we feel we (Kia) are making progress.

Since Zoe is already a Princess, her Halloween costume was easy...






We trick or treated at a few houses and then Zoe ran out of steam. It was fun though... It was a minor miracle that she kept her costume on the whole time.

Remember Lucky????

Zoe is 17 months old!!!
***Yes, that's a G-Unit jacket



Zoe has started pre-school. She goes 3 days a week and has adjusted really well. She still cries a little when we drop her off, but she recovers really quickly.

As you can see from her picture, she is growing up really fast.

***Bonus Picture:

Zoe's 16 month picture

Zoe is beginning to form 2 word phrases. Her first was "Buh bye Shoes". She'll also say "Buy bye Zoe". Oh yea, she can say her own name.

Yesterday we went to Jacks 2nd Birthday party. They had a mini moon bounce. Zoe got in and did some bouncing. She had a blast and kept wanting to go back in.


Zoe is also making a lot of new friends. Her best friends are:
Peyton
,







Hailey









Dylan.










And Jack (picture not available yet)

She loves to play w/ bubbles. We take her outside and blow bubbles and she'll chase the bubbles around saying... "bubble.."

She gets a kick out of seeing airplanes flying across the sky. If she as much as hears an airplane, she'll stop what she's doing and say "Airplane" and look up into the sky to find it. When she finds it, she gets a huge smile on her face.


She likes to "pounce" on things like pillows and Mommy and Daddy and as she lands she'll laugh and say "boom!"

She loves belly buttons. For no reason, she'll pull her shirt up and point out her belly button. Then she has to pull Mommys shirt up to see her bellow button, and if I'm around, she'll pull my shirt up to see mine.

She gave her 1st hug. Kia was babysitting Hailey and Hailey hugged her. Kia caught the magic moment on film:




__________________________________

Zoe's 15 month picture!

Zoe is now 15+ months old. I have her 15 month picture, I just haven't transferred it from the camera yet. In the meantime, here are a few cute pics.




She is really coordinated. She loves to throw tennis balls for Lucky.
She loves to kick balls around the house and is very good with her feet.

Zoe is 14 months old!!!


We went and saw Grandma in Arlington, VA for the 4th of July.





Zoe had her 1st trip to the Smithsonian and The Museum of Natural History. She wasn't impressed.


We saw a Chinese dragon show. Zoe loved it!
In fact, she loved it so much, she cried when we had to leave. :(











She is an expert walker now... She can even do a bit of running. She has now moved on to mastering walking backwards.

She loves to stand and turn in circles.

One of her favorite things is to get up on the couch and play. She will just walk back and forth on the couch, falling down, laughing and getting back up.

Zoe's 13 Month Picture!!!!

Well... we wound up going to the ER last night. The pediatric advice line suggested that since she hadn't had "wet diapers" all day, she may be dehydrated and we should take her to the ER.

So we did, we took her to Tucson Medical Center. Fortunately, they have a child emergency services center, so we didn't have to wait 5 hours amongst the dredges of society... (did I say that outloud?). Jokes....

At any rate, we were emitted pretty quickly, about 4 nurses took Zoes vital signs before informing us that she has a cold/stuffy nose. We tried to maintain our dignity and at least get them to "suction" her nose, but they didn't even do that! We tucked our tails between our legs and headed home.

This is what we use to suck snot out of Zoes nose... this and our fingers. This device gets the "material" onto Zoes upper lip (if we're lucky), our fingers finish the job. (i'll spare you the snot):













**Current events update:
Paris Hilton got sent BACK to jail to finish her sentence a day after her release. Justice served!!??!!

The Spurs swept the Cavs in 4 games. A snoozefest. Labron was NOT Kinglike.

Some dude, knowing he had TB, decided now is a good time to take a friggin world tour.

Zoe loves to say "Hat". Any time she sees a hat, or sees someone wearing a hat, she'll say "Ha" and sign "hat". The other day, she saw me wearing my Dallas Cowboys baseball hat. I took my hat off and set it aside. All of a sudden, she wouldn't let me take my hat off. She was following me around to make sure I was wearing my hat. If I put it down, she would grab it, and bring it to me to be sure I put it back on.

Friday, June 15th, Zoe got sick for the 1st time. She caught a cold and had a fever of about 101.4. The worst part is she is all congested and her nose is stuffed up. She has trouble eating, drinking, nursing and sleeping. She is handling it all very well.

Here is Zoe catching a cold:

Zoe can Walk!

It is so incredible to see her walk after all this time. She literally just started walking on her own today. It started with Kia this afternoon, and by the time I got home from work, she was in rare form. She was so excited to be able to walk, she was just walking all over the place and giggling and laughing. She'd fall down, and Kia and I would cringe, but she'd just get back up and walk some more.

Here she is walking on her own for the 1st time:



Of course, as any parent knows, this is a double edge sword, cuz now that she is fully mobile, we have to be even more attentive of her activity. We now have to run out and buy gates to block her in, and keep her off of the stairs. Whose idea was it to get a 2 story home??? (I think Kias)

Other milestones:
She is saying more words....
1st words were Mama and Dada, at around 6 months
2nd word was Dog (although she drops the G)
3rd word was Hat (she drops the T)
4th word was "Ball" (she drops the L's)

I know... I know... "If she is dropping the end of the word, how do you know she is saying what you think she is saying??? She's just saying Ba, Da, and Ha"
-Well, in addition to saying the words, she signs them too.

In addition to the actual words she is saying, she is just always talking and running her mouth about something. And if she gets hurt or upset, she'll unload on the nearest person or object. For example if she falls and hits herself on the banister, she'll point at and talk trash to the banister. So cute...

Last week we got her a new Car Seat. We still have her facing the rear but that will have to end soon cuz she's getting so big.

Sleepwise, she is doing really well. She is sleeping through the night again (after about a week of her waking up every night). She goes to sleep at about 7pm and has been waking up lately at around 4:45am.

I know there are things I'm leaving out, but I need to go to sleep now. I'll add more at a later date.

Here are a few "current events""

• Paris Hilton went to jail. (and was released 4 days later, today in fact)
  
• The San Antonio Spurs are playing the Cleveland Cavs in the NBA Finals (SA is up 1-0)
  
• The Democratic front runners for 08 are Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards. Republicans have Mit Romney and Rudy Giuliani

We went back to the Bay Area to celebrate Zoes 1st birthday! It was fun for all.

Here is Zoes 1 Year Picture!!!

Zoe has 1 more tooth coming in... it's the top right tooth.

Here are a few other pics of Zoe being silly....

[ RSVP for Zoes 1st Birthday Party Here! ]


[ View The Guestbook ]

Party is Saturday, May 19th 2007

Zoes 11 month picture:

Here is a video of Zoe doing some signing... Not perfect, but she's on the right track:

Forgot to mention... Zoe got her 1st pair of shoes. Here are a few pics...

Man... where do I begin... It's been almost a month since my last post, and Zoe is a completely different baby than a month ago.

She is almost 11 months old! I'll post her 11 month picture on April 22nd (3 days from now)

The past month has been crazy. Zoe had her baptism on Easter Sunday (April 8th). Mom and Steve came to Tucson to attend. Zoe loves Grandma and had a great time with her. In fact Grandma is the only person so far that we've been able to leave Zoe with and not have her cry for us. The ceremony was held outdoors and it was a beautiful day. She did a great job, she didn't cry at all when the minister took her to perform the baptism. She just kind of looked at the minister as if to say... "who are you?" During the baptism, Kia cried (only a little). Here is a picture of the baptism... unfortunately, we didn't get many good pics:


Some other things Zoe has done this month...
She is able to walk about 3 to 5 steps. If she has her balance, she can get to 5, otherwise, she gets about 2 or 3 before collapsing in our arms and giggling.

She is eating more and more solid foods: Cheerios, Chicken, Asparagus (that's right, you read correctly), bread (her favorite), and she actually ate some baby food green beans the other day. Normally, when confronted with green beans or peas, she will take 1 bite and gag, and then lose trust in whomever is doing the feeding. But she tore through an entire container of green beans!

She is starting to crawl on all fours, although she still prefers the army crawl.

She is learning some actual sign language. Today she gave us the sign for "finished" when she was done with her dinner. She is also using "more" to indicate she wants more food. It's funny, she'll do a bunch of other things with her hands that look like signs, but aren't. As if she has her own secret baby sign language.

She is still around 21.5 pounds. And still has the same bottom 4 teeth, in fact they're big enough to warrant brushing, so we've been brushing her teeth. She is great at it too! She opens her mouth and let's us brush away with no fighting or whining.

She is doing more and more baby talk... Like having full on baby conversations with her toys. She loves talking to this toy clown puppet:


We taught her to shake her head. If we shake our head and say "side to side" she'll do it and it's the cutest thing. It's very subtle.

If we're having a conversation between the two of us and laugh, she will hear us laughing and laugh along with us.

Grandma taught her to blow kisses. It's very cute... Grandma blows a kiss and holds her palm out, and Zoe will lean in and kiss her palm.

She's conquered climbing our staircase. It's hard work, but she is a determined climber:


When we take her for walks around the lake she'll be in her stroller just yapping away, pointing and yelling at dogs that pass by...

She's invited to 1st birthday party in May

She took her 1st plane ride alone w/ mom for Ginas BabyShower

She Notices and points out individual objects in books and turns pages

She loves to leaf through Kias gossip magazines. She'll look at the pictures and then turn the page, or just rip the page out.

Sometimes if she tumbles or falls down or bumps her head she'll give out this incredibly cute, fake cry that just can't be ignored. This picture is NOT the cute fake cry, but a cry of a different sort:


Well... i'm sure there are many things i'm forgetting, but I think this is enough for now.

We'll be going to California for her 1st birthday! Can't wait.

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!