Baby sign language is so fun!

Zoey started signing for nurse about a month ago, and since then it's like she can't get enough and is picking things up left and right. So now, her "vocabulary" is up to 10 words. In addition to nurse, she knows baby, book, kitty, doggy, eat, drink, more, fish, and shoes. It's so awesome that she is able to start communicating with us even though she isn't able to talk yet. And she gets so excited and proud every time she spots something that she can "talk" about. This morning we went to the Target and when we went down the pet supplies aisle, she was so excited to see all the dogs and cats on the packages that she just kept pointing and doing her signs for "doggy" and "kitty". It's really amazing to see how much she is noticing and taking in even though she isn't able to verbalize it.
For all you moms out there, I would highly suggest it. I think that my family all thought that I was wacko at first, and even Joe would sometimes roll his eyes when I would do signs with her. But now that she has started doing it back, everyone is so excited about it and loves that she can "talk" to us somewhat.

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!!

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!