I think she has mastered "da-da" and "hi"

Well I think we can finally count at least one of them as a real word. Zoey has been saying "da-da" for a while now, but she I don't think that she was really associating it with Joe. But within about the past week or so, she has been saying it every time she sees him, she will wave goodbye to him and say "da-da", or sometimes when he is outside, she will crawl up to the front door, start banging on it and yelling "da-da" to him. It's pretty cute. So, I guess that it's official and "da-da" is before "ma-ma". But then she will also kind of babble it to herself all day long when Joe is no where in sight, so that makes me second guess it a little bit. I don't know when it really "counts" as a true first word??? But, she has also started saying "hi" in the correct context, so I guess maybe we should say that is really her first word? It's really cute, she loves to wave and say "hi" to the dog and cats. She gets so excited when she sees them and will wave and just keep repeating "hi, hi, hi". SO adorable! She loves the animals so much. She's still working on saying "kitty", but doesn't quite have it yet - it's mostly just "kuh, kuh" or "ki, ki", but you can tell she is trying.

11 months old!

I can't believe Zoey is 11 months old today. One month from today, we are going to have a one year old! That's crazy! Getting this girl to sit still for a pic is pretty impossible now - she is constantly on the go! But here's a pic for today, playing with her baby doll. She loves that baby so much, it's so cute. And here is another picture - snuggling with mommy. She loves to crawl up on my lap now, it is the sweetest thing. I think I fall more in love with her every day! Being a mom is the best! :)

More on my brillant baby :)

Well, I know that all of the things that she is doing now is probably just normal developmental stuff for her age, but I've never been through this before, so I think it is so amazing to watch her and be able to see how she is learning so much all the time. Even though she can't talk back yet, I can tell that she can understand the things that I say to her and I just think that's so great. I can ask her "where is the kitty, or doggy?" and she will turn her head and look right at them. She absolutely loves kitties and will smile and point at all the kitties in her books and say "kuh, kuh, kuh".
Also, she can will follow simple directions that I give her, like if she picks something up that she isn't supposed to have (she is an expert at finding every little speck of dirt, or paper, or anything on the floor) and I tell her "Give it to mommy", she will crawl over and give it to me. Or if I tell her to bring me a book, she will go pick one out, and then climb up on my lap for me to read it to her. It's so sweet! So, I know that this stuff is probably not anything out of the ordinary for a baby her age, but to me - she's brillant! :)

Recent pics

Here are some recent pics of Zoey from the past month or so:

Day at the zoo

First trip to the beach

Still too cold for swimming, but we had a good time!

Memorial Day

Snuggling with Aunt Shannon

Hanging out with the "big girls"She LOVED the parade. Testing out the racing seats in Daddy's Car (someday she will be big enough to actually go for a ride!)


Snuggling with her baby - awww!!