Thursday, August 22, 2013

8 (9) Month Check-Up

We took our August pictures at the splash pad yesterday. Zoe is such a little water baby!

Z had her 9 month check-up a little early. For whatever reason the doctor's office got confused last time we were there, and booked us at 8 1/2 months, rather than 9 months. The visit went well. Zoe has recently developed a fear of unknown males, and has started crying when they talk to her. But she decided she liked the doctor today, and since there were no shots, it made for an easy visit! She loves seeing new people, and spent most of the wait in the waiting room waving to everyone and smiling. She's such a little extrovert. Here are her stats for this time around:
Weight: 17 pounds (36th %)
Height: 27 1/2 inches (57%)
Head Circumference: 17 3/4 inches (86%)

She is following along the low, medium, and high curves perfectly, so she's still a skinny baby, with average height, and a big head!


Monday, August 12, 2013

The REAL Birth Story...

Your Birth Story…

Before you were born, I had a dream.

The doctor came in,

And said you were taken from me.


It all seemed so real,

And the pain so overwhelming

I didn’t think I’d ever heal.

I awoke crying.


Within my soul was an internal struggle.

What if it was a sign?

What if you were in trouble?


I just couldn’t leave it up to chance.

So despite my best intentions,

I took my silent stance.


I called the doctor

The very next day,

And made the appointment

That would determine your birthday.


I told only family of your planned arrival.

Fibbing to friends,

I felt the secret was vital.


I labored all night and into the next day.

I accepted the drugs

That kept the pain at bay.


After hours of pushing,

It became clear

That you just were not budging.

A C-Section was my greatest fear.


Your first scream made me heart sigh.

Born healthy at 7:42 pm,

7 pounds, 7 ounces, 21 and a half inches high.


Looking back now, I have no regrets

This is how it was supposed to be

A perfect day I’ll never forget






































Wednesday, August 7, 2013

8 Months

You hear it all the time..."they grow up so fast," but never is it more true than when it's your very own. Long gone are the days of the tiny, sleeping infant whose head wobbled when she looked up. There are no more night time feedings and snuggles, nor the uncertainty that comes with a brand new little person (unexplainable screaming in the middle of Target anyone??). We have long since established feeding and napping schedules, and worked out how to read her signals for hunger, sleep, and boredom. She smiles, laughs, plays on her own, can sit up and pull up on things. She is growing and learning faster than I ever thought possible. It makes me at once very proud, nostalgic, and a little sad it's moving so quickly.

Zoe is becoming very independent. I can tell she has a lot of my...shall we say...attitude?? (see picture). She is determined, and often does not want help to do things. For example, she is now pulling up on things, and often grabs my hands to walk her. Then, she will just let go because she is convinced she can do it all by herself (at which point she collapses to the floor). She is an absolute chatter box, so she definitely lets us know how she is feeling about things. (She seems to have no volume control, and squeals of delight and frustration are loud and clear) It is so fun to watch as she develops her personality, but I must say that I was hoping for a smidgen more of her father's patience!

As far as Andrew and I, we have been working on some projects here and there with the house. I'm hoping to get started on the kitchen soon. I have been filling in for swim lessons for the Y over the summer, but am hoping I can find something from home soon!

Here is what Z has been up to this month:

Favorite Thing to Do: She loves to take peoples hands to help her walk!
Favorite Food: She still LOVES squash. She also really likes peaches!
New This Month: On July 17th (Andrew's birthday), Zoe officially crawled on her hands-and-knees
for the first time (she had mostly only rocked back and forth before that point). Then, some 11 days later, on July 28th, Zoe pulled up on a piece of furniture for the first time. Here we are at the 8 month mark, and the girl now pulls up on EVERYTHING! Her now favorite thing to do is grab your hands so that she can walk around! It is definitely keeping me on my toes...
Growth: Still wearing 6 month clothes, but she feels heavier!
Sleep: Sleeping through the night!Speaking: We are working on "hi" and "bye" with her (Sometimes she waves her arm). She is very loud, and gibber jabbers a lot!
Movement: She is busy little person. She moves around everywhere, and crawls really fast!
Behavior: She is such a little ham...she wants everyone's attention, and just loves when people talk to her.