Here is our big news..... We're remodeling! You thought our news would be about Zoe, didn't you? Sorry to disappoint.
But now that we're spending more time with Zoe in the house, it was starting to feel a bit cramped. Claustrophobic, even. We always knew we were eventually going to update our circa 1982 kitchen with its two-toned cabinets, first generation Corian, and oh-so-stylin' linoleum, but once the contracter-dude got here, I asked, "how hard would it be to take out these walls?"
And so it began...
Before...4 distinct rooms: formal living, dining, family room, and kitchen.
After day 1
Currently... One big room
It's kind of nightmare right now. We live in our bedroom and the basement. We eat out a lot. Zoe has breakfast on the counter before the workers get here, because we have no table. Hopefully, everything will be done by Christmas so we can celebrate the day surrounded by our Christmas presents. Jeff is getting refinished cabinets, I'm getting granite counter tops, and Zoe is getting hardwood floors. Merry Christmas, y'all.
The most amazing thing happened today. I came at Zoe with a diaper, and she actually laid down for it. WOW!!! This from my squirmy, squiggly, "oh, no, not clothes!!" girl.
I promise something else on the blog soon. We have big things going on.....and pictures to prove it!
Today was Veteran's day and that means me and my co-workers get the day off. Whoopeee!! Because it was Tuesday, that means I could take Zoe to story time!
The snacks were a big hit, although when hers were gone, she tried taking everyone else's. (That's my girl!)
Most of the time, she just hung out with me and wasn't really interested in the singing and dancing.
But during the last song, she got into it and took off. I could believe she got that far away from me. (pink sweater, black pants)
A friend e-mailed me some pictures she took of us at our neighborhood Halloween party. Zoe's costume was really just a hat, but she's still awfully cute!! We have the rest of the costume, but she just wasn't feelin' it that day.
Okay...let's face it...I'm not the best blogger anymore. It is what it it is. No more apologies. Its the best I can do right now.
So to catch you up on Zoe stuff, I present..."The Big Zoe Update" ...what I hope will be a lengthy, thorough, reporting on everything Zoe.
Ready?....Let's go!
THE STATS Age: 19 months Time with us: 7 months Height: 32 inches Weight: 26 lbs Teeth: 12 and one more poking through
PERSONALITY Of course, its hard to capture her personality in a paragraph, but if I had to pick one word, I would go with" laid back" Okay, fine, that's 2 words. For the most part, she is a good baby who is content to play somewhere near Mommy. She loves to interact with people. She is not shy around strangers, in fact she crawls up to people in waiting rooms and asks to be picked up. I am the obnoxious Mom who lets her do it because I think everyone must appreciate her cuteness. For the most part, she picks older ladies who seem thrilled.
She is curious. She is focused. She is loving. She loves to cuddle and hug. She can be whiney, and she has a bit of a temper. I was surprised when she started to seem strong willed. When we first came home from China, she was extremely mild. She would just hang out and watch the world go on around her. Since then, she has come into her own. Even though she doesn't have any words, she has no trouble expressing her likes and dislikes.
LIKES Bouncing! She loves to bounce. We have a little trampoline and a bouncy ball, and she laughs out loud every time you bounce her. At night, in bed, she will bounce herself on her knees.
Playing with my hands. She sits on my belly and turns my hands this way and that. She likes to make me clap.
The Wiggles. Man, she can't get enough. At night, she regularly wakes up into this half-awake, half-asleep state. She'll cry forever until you actually wake her up, before putting her back down. We tried everything to snap her out of it, but nothing works better than turning on the Wiggles really loud. When a familiar song comes on, it finally seems to grab her attention, so you can settle her down.
Crinkly paper. From the very beginning, this has been a favorite. This is where the "focused" part comes in. We keep a stack of magazines that she likes to "read". In the car on the way home from day care, I let her play with her daily report. It's made on a nice noisy paper.
Food. My girl loves to eat. Especially fruit. Bananas, grapes, and mandarin oranges are particular favorites. She loves yogurt, green beans, and bread. The only thing I know she doesn't like is spinach. She is getting to where she prefers to feed herself, so we're steering towards finger foods. She wants to take spoons from me and poke them around on her tray, but when she does that (aside from the mess) the eating usually stops.
DISLIKES Cribs...not just her own Getting her face/nose wiped. I know every baby hates this, but Zoe is something special. Getting her hair washed Can't think of anything else. She's pretty agreeable.
Day Care We are very lucky that she took to day care very well. I think the fact that she always arrives during breakfast helps. She is always glad to see me pick her up, too, though. Because she has been delayed walking, she is still officially in the baby room. After talking to the director, they are now transitioning her to the toddler room a little early. She is now going over to hang out with the toddlers for a few hours a day. I think it was a great decision and has really helped with her development. Speaking of...
Mobility She can walk!!! She has been taking steps for over 2 months and I was starting to get really worried because she never took to it. Over the last two weeks she is turning into a full time walker! It's so cute. She's still unsteady, and she looks like she's doing the "cabbage patch" to keep her balance. She crawls if she had to get anywhere fast, but is choosing to walk more and more. She just learned how to get up from the middle of the room the other day. I was sooooo excited!! My little girl is growing up. I suspect the toddler room has a good deal to do with this, but also, she had tube surgery recently which may have helped her balance.
Other developments Zoe is becoming more manually dexterous. Is that how you say it? She is getting that fine motor stuff down. Her index finger is her latest discovery. She pokes everything now. And all small holes must be explored with her index finger. She still picks cheerios up by the handful, but she can pick them up one by one.
Language Like I said, we still have no words. No Mama. No Dada. And that is hard. The audiologist suspects her hearing was spotty or muffled before the tube surgery. If she has only had good consistent hearing for the past month, I can hardly expect much word-wise from her, but she is obviously understanding us more and more. She can sign a few words, but we have been really inconsistent in this department, so the fact that she can do anything is amazing.
And now for the thing you really care about.....PICTURES
Play date with Zoe's friend and future photographer Olivia. Immediately after climbing on the sofa all by herself. You can see she's very proud of herself. Still happy about her new skill.
This is the first time Zoe stood independently for an extended period of time. It was long enough for me to be impressed, think to go get the camera, find the camera, and return in time to snap a few pictures.