Some Sad News in the Blogging World...

http://www.mycharmingkids.net/





I've written about Stellan before. He is the baby who has a really bad heart condition, and was moved to Boston's Childrens Hospital for surgery. He's back in the hospital again. It doesn't look good. They can't give him the REAL surgery he needs because he's too small and his heart is too small (they want him to be about 40lbs).

This was Zoe at the same age Stellan is now...we want to hear that he's tackling his older brothers and sister and running around with them like Zoe does at daycare with the other kids. If you could keep a spot in your heart for this beautiful boy, do it. The family will appreciate it. I know I would if I were in that position.

favorite foods...

Just wait, the list is getting longer!! every day, we find new foods!!

fish sticks
gold fish
chicken nuggets
blueberries (previously, it had just been frozen ones...she's fallen in love with fresh ones now!)
raisins
crackers
cheeeeeese
applesauce
yogurt bites
yogurt
freeze dried strawberries
pretzels
macaroni and cheese
hummus
veggie sticks (they are like potato sticks, but made out of veggies)
ravioli (cheese and spinach, I haven't tried meat filled with her, yet)
waffles
rice cakes
bagels
peas

Zoe likes more foods, but these are some of the good "go to" type foods.. :)

As you can see, Zoe's tastebuds are growing. She's discovered that some things are good dipped in ketchup, likes mustard but is a little leery of trying it as a condiment (she licked it off of something I gave her, and then proceeded to dip her fingers in it!)

She's figuring out how to use a spoon, but has been more successful with a fork (she's figuring out how to pierce things well). AND, Zoe's pretty much stopped trying to use her bowl as a frisbee (food still in it).

She has learned that more than the small piece of food that we cut up can fit in her mouth. We have to watch her to make sure she doesn't over stuff her mouth. She hasn't choked, thankfully, but she'll just open up her mouth and let it drop if she has too much (Ewww!!).

Zoe is also not throwing nearly as much OFF the tray. She's learning that when she decides that she wants to do that, she loses all her "toys", AKA food...

I'll have to do another post at another time describing how Zoe "shares" with Peanut and how she's starting to exert some independence.

Maybe I'll even add one with pictures of Zoe's favorite books. We recently took some more of her board books from upstairs down, and, well, she still sticks to the same few.

New Words...

for the weekend.

Zoe looked at a picture of her Grandma C, and asked "whaddat?" like she does for EVERYTHING. Noah said "that's Grandma" and she repeats "grandma". She did this 2 more times. WOO!!

She knows monkey (sounds much more like "gokey"). She says book, and was saying "wa-wa" today when she was pointing to her sippy full of water.

What a smarty-pants!

Hanging with Daddy...and other things.

I'm so good, I don't need hands!

One fork may be cool...

but 2 are even better!

Ah well, fingers are the BEST!!

Hanging with Daddy later...



(pssst..this is my favorite!)

Checking out Zoe's "new" bookshelf...

Our little Fashionista...

Isn't this how you wear a headband??
Don't you wish you could push a stroller dressed like this???
Why CAN'T I go out like this, Momma?? (She's wearing a diaper, socks, and fake crocs...she insists on wearing these most often...she comes to us with them, hands them to us, and then puts out her foot)
This is day 2 of wearing crocs around the house...

Ah, yes. Our fashion plate. I think these are to stockpile for the boyfriends. What do you think???

Where would YOU put a book....

on the edge of the sink?

in the middle of the floor??

On the radiator??

YES, the RADIATOR!! (and yes, Zoe did that all by herself. Does that remind you of someone, Grandma B??)

Hmmm...maybe I'd like to read THIS one??

We spent a LOT of time reading with little Miss Z this weekend. She wanted us to read her Halloween books, her "Mirror Me" book, her books about colors, shapes, animals, you NAME it.

Zoe is starting to anticipate the pages of her favorites ("Mimi's Toes")....it's totally cute.

And, Grandpa C, you thought that "Goodnight Moon" didn't have much of a plot? Reading a book about shapes is just RIVETING, I tell you. Especially the 25028409th time! :) It's worth it, when you hear her squeal in delight!

Kissy, kissy...

Yesterday, Zoe gave Noah his first open-mouthed toddler style kiss...Today, she gave me one. So sweet!

Vocab and Other Stuff...

truck
duckie
boo (as in peek-a-boo)
tickle tickle
buh-bie (birdie)
cookie
cracker
cheeeeeeese (said just like that, too!)
fruit
nigh-nigh
here you go
thank you

I'm sure there are more. :) We have one smart cookie!!

Zoe has a new favorite book, Baby Einstein's "Mirror Me". It's a board book with a character from BE on one side, and the same image, but with a mirror for the face, on the opposite page. Zoe LOVES this book....we must read it to her about a dozen times a day, no joke. When we get to the page with the frog, it says, "Look at Frog stick out his long, pink tongue." and Zoe will stick it out and immediately look at me to see if I'm doing it. She has gotten so good, she'll look at me before I even read! Then we turn the page to the cow, "Baby MacDonald puffs her cheeks full of air," and Zoe looks at me with her eyes half shut as I puff my cheeks and blow in her face. Today, she started making puffing sounds too. hehe, too cute. We're working on peek-a-boo with baby Violet (who's a mouse). She'll now say "boo" when we get to that page.

Zoe's other favorite book is another Baby Einstein book, "Mimi's Toes" which is actually a bathtub book. IT's about Mimi (a monkey, of course) who gets a bath from her momma and then gets tucked in at night. WE have to paraphrase because Zoe flips the pages too darn fast, but she still likes it. :) Anyway, I'll get to the part where Momma tickles her toes, and I will tickle the page. It only took 2 days and 240284029348208 readings of the book for Zoe to do it too...and she says "tickle tickle". She knows where HER toes are, because she bent down and tried to tickle her OWN feet today. She thought it was funny to tickle her Daddy's toes too, tonight.

AND, in other news, Zoe has finally figured out the zig-zag part of the busy box. WOOHOO! It's been the bane of Noah and my's existence lately. She loves to watch the wooden pieces fall down, but couldn't figure out how to put them back up. Today, she DID IT many many times!!! You have no idea how much better this is. She would get downright pissed off if we didn't move it fast enough for her. NOW, she can do it herself! YAY!

A GREAT Day!!!

This was one of the best days Zoe's had in a LONG time. She got her MMR and Varicella vaccine, got sick with a cold, had a reaction to the vaccines, and just has taken a LONG time to feel 100%. Poor thing...

Anyway, we've also had to deal with Zoe deciding, for some reason, that eating at daycare was just NOT something she wanted. In fact, she would scream, cry, whimper, and just fight with Laura who was just trying to get her in her high chair and eat or drink milk!! It was really upsetting to hear, upon picking up Zoe, that she hadn't eaten or had anything to drink for the entire day. We'd get home and she'd run to the high chair or the fridge (one day, she kept running between the two until I finally got her food and drink!) because she was starving!

WELL...Starting this week, Zoe ate a LITTLE bit on Monday, a snack and some of her lunch on Tuesday, a snack on Wednesday, and today, TODAY, she ate EVERYTHING...she had morning snack, she had afternoon snack, she had her milk, and she had her lunch, including a cupcake for someone's birthday (the cupcake even had CHOCOLATE frosting...will be interesting to see if she's finally figured out the goodness of chocolate!). WOOHOOOO!!

I picked her up and she was in a GREAT mood. She didn't fight me putting her jacket on (she always fights me on this at daycare!), and she just waited while I talked to Laura about her day. We get home, and she goes to PLAY, not going for food. When it was time for dinner, she ate her ENTIRE meal. She had 2 fish sticks (normally, eats 1+), a whole cheese stick, and a half cup of peas....she scarfed those down! Oh, and a few bites of yogurt for dessert, but she mostly wanted to play with that! WOO!!

I wonder if we're hitting a growth spurt...

\m/ Our Little Rocker \m/

hehe...what a goof!
Another picture, Daddy??
Seriously, Daddy...I have had enough.

Can you see what Zoe's shirt says? Noah went to a Nine Inch Nails concert and brought her back her first rocker shirt. Very cute, indeed.

Happy Birthday, Victoria!

Ohh...what IS this thing??
I'm gonna play some golf (Grandpa B, aren't you proud of me??)
Momma, I'd like one of these, peeeeese! (Look at Z modeling the sweater Great-Grandma Rose knit her...it fits like a charm now!)
Oh, this sidewalk chalk is SOOO heavy!
Watching the pinata from afar...
Ah, another stroller. I don't know which one I like better...Hmm.

Zoe would like to wish her friend Victoria a HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY! If I get permission, I'll post a picture of Victoria and her mother (my friend Kathryn) blowing out candles!

Here are some nice pictures of Zoe playing and playing and playing and playing outside.

Check this out....

Zoe was at a little girl's birthday party today (well, I was there, too) and was running around for the better part of three hours today. Seriously, it was crazy how much she was moving. I have pictures I'll post shortly after that.

She gets in the car and promptly passes out before we're 2 miles away. She sleeps the 40 minutes it takes to get home, and I put her in her crib to finish her nap, and she sleeps for 2 more hours. She got up at about 4:30, and was NOT happy...took her awhile to calm down and 'wake up'. (btw, this is a much later than normal nap for her)

At 8:15, Zoe is still awake. Why is this strange? She is normally asleep by 7pm, 7:30 the latest. I just got done asking Noah when he thought she'd be ready for bed when I see her rub her eyes. I point it out to Noah and he says "I'm not really convinced she's ready," as well as saying that it could be a weird night since today was kinda weird, schedule wise for Zoe. He gets done saying that and Zoe says "nigh nigh" and "shhhhh" (while bringing her finger to her lips). We were a little shocked and looked at each other. Then Noah asked if she was ready for night-night. She looks at him. Ask her if she's ready for sleep, and she gets up, grabs one of her books, and heads to the bottom of the stairs, pointing up. So, I moved the gate and she started crawling up the stairs. Normally she'll go up VERY easily, but this time, she stopped halfway, and wanted me to pick her up.

She was so tired. Zoe didn't fight going to bed at ALL. Actually, Zoe was kinda singing on her changing table when we were putting her down!

My little girl is growing up!! She's just told us she was ready for bed and that she wanted to go to bed. *sniff* Another first.

Wheel...of...FORTUNE!!!!!

Here is Z with Wheel of Fortune. It's a little long, so forgive me. But it's still pretty darn cute. :)


This is a better one...from a week ago. What a goober!!

Reading to Daddy...

It's better THIS way, Daddy...

Very serious, this Snuggle Puppy book is...Noah is reading to Zoe, well, singing to her the part in Snuggle Puppy that you need to sing.

Um, Momma, we're READING.


Dat's better, Daddy...
Now in THIS book, here's a FISHIE. (this book is "Peek A Zoo")
Whaddat, Dadda?
Ooohhhhh....a lion. :)
Bumpy Green...Yay!

You didn't know reading board books could be so interesting, huh??

Where's Zoe's tongue??

There it is!! If she hadn't been holding onto that box of Teddy Grahams, she'd be holding onto her tongue! :)



THis is actually a favorite picture of mine of this group....she looks like she has SUCH long hair!

This was yesterday...

So, what's the verdict?? Think she wanted to go outside??