She started signing!

Well, I think that some people probably thought that I am crazy for doing sign language with Zoey (even my husband kind of rolled his eyes about it), but I think it will be really great for Zoey to be able to communicate with us before she is able to talk and tell us what she wants/needs, etc.
So, I started introducing some signs with her when she was around 7 months old. Nothing too elaborate, but I have been using the signs for "nurse, more, all done, and kitty" mostly. I could tell that was definitely picking up on what the sign for nurse meant, but it seemed like she was never going to actually do it. But a few days ago, she just crawled over to the couch where I was sitting, pulled herself up, and did it. So, I nursed her right away so that she would get the association, and she definitely gets it now. She has been signing it all the time these past few days, and she gets so happy and proud of herself. It's adorable. So now when I go get her from her crib in the morning, she will stand up and immediately sign to me that she wants to nurse. I just think that's so amazing that she is able to communicate with me. Maybe I am a little dorky, but I get so excited to see how much she is learning every day! It's like you can see the little wheels in her head turning and she's taking it all in.

Lots to share

Well, I haven't been too good at keeping up with the blog lately, and I feel like SO much is happening. Here are some of Zoey's newest accomplishments:


*She is getting really good with her little "baby steps". It is the cutest thing ever because she will get really excited about it, and basically try to run to me. She takes about 4 or 5 steps and then plops down, or puts her arms out and lunges into my lap - it's absolutely adorable!


*She has started clapping when she's excited, and if you say "YAY", a lot of times she will start to clap - she totally "gets" that "yay" and "clapping" go together - what a smart girl!


*She has started to give kisses when you ask her. If I say "Zoey, give mommy a kiss", she will (usually) bring her face really close to mine and sometimes she even will purse her lips a little bit. Then again other times, she will completely lick my face. I think that she has learned her kissing techniques from the dog! She will also kiss her toys if I tell her "give the baby a kiss", she will give her little doll a kiss - SO cute!


*And finally, she is really trying to talk! I don't know if it quite counts as her first word, but she is really working on saying "kitty". Forget "ma-ma" and "da-da", she loves those cats! She has said both "mama" and "dada" already, but she doesn't use them in the right context so I know that she doesn't quite associate them with us yet. But, everytime she sees one of the cats, she seems to make the same sounds. It's not quite "kitty" yet, but she will say "kuh, kuh, kuh" and occasionally "ki ki", or "ti ti".

First steps!

I can't believe it - I'm in shock!!! She has been walking holding on to the furniture for a while now, but still seemed pretty unsteady, so I thought it would still be a while. Well, I guess not! These past few days I noticed that every once in a while when she let go of the furniture, she would sometimes would stand up for a few minutes before plopping down. So, I knew that she was starting to get better balance, but I still really didn't think she would take steps on her own yet. But today after her bath, we were hanging out in her room, letting her have some "naked time" before getting in her jammies. She was standing up holding onto my hands, and when I let go she kept right on standing. So I backed up a little bit, and held out my hands to her, bribing her with her little Ernie bath toy - lol. And completely unexpectedly she took about 3 or 4 steps, grabbed Ernie, and then plopped down into my lap. I clapped for her and gave her a big kiss, and she giggled and it was a great moment! :) I figured maybe it was just a fluke, but when I tried it again, she did the same thing - only about two steps, but still, they were steps all by herself! My baby is growing up! So we continued to practice some more and she was so happy and excited, she would take a step or two and then plop down into my arms and smile and laugh. It was so sweet! What a great night - this was definitely one of the best mom moments so far.

Ten months old!

Oh my gosh - ten months!?! How did my little baby girl get to be ten months old?

Well, Zoey is definitely on the move now, so there is no way to get her to sit still for a pic, but here is a pic from today for her "official" ten-month-old pic.

It's with her lion that we bought her for Easter and she can hold onto it and pull herself up, and then walk behind it - such a big girl! She is "cruising" all over the place now. It's exhausting because there is no more just putting her down somewhere and leaving her. She is into everything so I have to constantly be right next to her. I feel like I spend my whole day chasing after her! She has even started to stand up for a few seconds without holding onto anything. So I have a feeling that she will be walking soon - yikes!

Other than that, nothing major too to report. I think that she has finally outgrown the falling asleep sitting up thing. Most days she goes down for a nap or bedtime without too much of a fight but we still have bad days here and there.

I think that's about it. I'll try to update more often, but it's hard because I'm not on the computer as much anymore - a baby on the go keeps you busy! :)

First mother's day

Well, my first Mother's Day was really great. I told Joe that the only thing that I wanted was to sleep in, and have him get up with Zoey and then bring me breakfast in bed (I requested Tim Hortons :). I was doubtful if it would really happen though since he is not a morning person, so for him to get up at 6:00 am after working a 6-day week would be quite the accomplishment. But, it all worked out. :) Things didn't go too smoothly at first - I had to wake him up since I heard Zoey first on the monitor, then when he tried to give her a bottle, she was refusing to take it and getting all upset. Just very recently, Zoey has started to have a little bit of separation anxiety and doesn't want anyone except for me when she first wakes up, or when she is getting overtired. So, she was starting to get really upset and Joe said she was turning her head and looking all over for me, so he wanted to bring her into the bedroom just so that she could see me and know I was there. So, I just ended up nursing her rather than having her take the bottle. It was just easier. But, then Joe took her and gave her breakfast and entertained her for the next few hours so that I could go back to sleep. I stayed in bed until about 9:30 and it was heaven! I probably haven't slept in like that since before she was born, so it was great! And by the time I was up, it was just about time for Zoey to go down for her morning nap, so I nursed her, red her story, and laid her down and then went back to bed to eat my Tim Horton's and laze around and watch TV. It was a very relaxing, laid back morning and exactly what I wanted! Later in the day Joe's mom came to see us, and then after that I went with my mom to visit my Grandma. Overall, it was a very wonderful, relaxing mother's day!