Santa Baby. . .

This has been the best Christmas I have had in a long time--I mean they are always fun and I enjoy being with family, but there is just something about seeing it through Zoey's eyes that adds new magic to it all. There are things about this season that will stay with me forever. Like watching Zoey figure out what to do with a present. Or sitting through Christmas Eve service singing and celebrating the meaning of Christmas while watching my mom fold the bulletin into a fortune teller to entertain Zoey. Or watching Zoey try to figure out the fine art of crawling--she is almost there.

Here is a recap of our holiday so far:

On my last day of work before vacation--Zoey and Tyler came to school to have lunch with me. It was so much fun having them there and everyone enjoyed seeing her.

Zoey was happy and smiling for over 2 hours! She is amazing.

Some of my students wanted to read to Zoey--she loved it!

I just thought this picture was so sweet.

On Thursday evening, we had the family over for our official Livingston Christmas--since Tyler, Zoey and I were traveling up to Grand Forks for Christmas Eve. It was so nice to just be all together.

Zoey and Nanna show one of Zoey's new skirts to the camera.

Tammy and Eric--how cute!

We got to Grand Forks on Friday. On Saturday, Grandpa decided that we couldn't let a Christmas go by without having Zoey visit Santa. So we went to the mall where Zoey tried to catch the eye of everyone who passed by.

Zoey and I are ready to go to Christmas Eve service with the family.

Zoey

Rob, Nicole, and their dog Misty.

Zoey with Nicole and her new cousin.

After church we all returned home to open up gifts. Zoey was ready to give unwrapping presents another go.

Zoey with a board book from my Godmother Pam.

One of my favorite moments this Christmas was finishing and giving Zoey the blanket I made for her. I started it when I found out I was pregnant with her and it has obviously taken awhile to complete. She has latched on to and has enjoyed playing with it in her crib.

On our last night in GF, we all went out to eat. Grandma and Zoey played with the coasters.

The Diagnosis. . .

Zoey woke up this morning with goop in her eyes and the same stuffy nose she has had forever. Talking to Grandma Nyhlen on the phone this morning, I mentioned the stuffy nose and she said to be on the look out for an ear infection. The goopy eyes never got better throughout the day, so we didn't waste anytime calling Nurse Nanna. She thought it sounded like pink eye. We then called the nurses line and they sent us to Urgent Care. I took Zoey to the Urgent Care Express--a new clinic very near our house. It was so slick--at least tonight there was no waiting and the staff was very helpful. It turns out, Zoey did have pink eye (nice job, Nanna!) AND an ear infection (nicely done, Grandma!) in both ears. Then the doctor sent the prescription to a machine in the waiting room. I put my credit card in and Zoey's prescriptions came out. It was so easy!

It was too bad that Zoey has been under the weather all weekend. She spent the morning with Nanna and Grandpa yesterday, while Tyler and I finished up some holiday shopping, but we had hoped to get her out to see Santa (just for a cute picture) and also to stop by our friends the Roesch's to welcome their newest bundle of joy, Henry, to the world. Of course, I am not about to bring a sick baby to see a newborn--we will have to set that meeting up some other time.

Well anyway. . .Zoey is home now, fed and playing. She will be ready for bed soon. Tyler and I are both very excited about our upsoming break from work, and we are all excited to spend Christmas with our family.

We'll post again soon!
Have a Good night!

I like Pears and love to eat in my alien saucer contraption. Let's see... which of these things do I push, turn, crank, chew, bang, grab, roll or ...

 

Let me sing you a song. . .

Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday to you!
Happy birrrrrrrthday, Grandma Nyyyyyhlen!
Happy birthday. . .to. . .you!

Zoey says "59" is OK Grandpa!

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GRANDPA!!!

Happy Birthday, Grandpa Livingston! Hope you are staying warm, like me!

Here she is all bundled up and ready to go to daycare.--pretty happy for 6:45am if you ask me.

Zoey has been playing around with her sippy cup. It is more a toy than anything at the moment--but it is so funny to watch her drink water when she eats at her high chair. She lets it all go in her mouth and then it all dribbles out again.

So I had one of those very vivid dreams last night. I am guessing it orginated because I can't believe how fast Zoey is growing. (People warn you, but you just don't get it until you watch her grow.) So, in my dream Zoey, who was still 6 months old, was in her high chair and I looked over at her as she said, "May I be excused mother, I want to eat my salad later." In my dream I was shocked because, well first off--babies don't eat salad and second who was going to believe me that those were her first words. I woke up soon after. . . I was relieved to find Zoey growling in her crib this morning.

6 Months Old!

Well, Zoey has had a great first 6 months of life. She is happy, healthy, and so much fun to be with. She had her doctor's appointment yesterday. Here are her stats:
Height: 2'2.5" (80%)
Weight: 17 lbs. 2 oz. (75%)
Head Circumference: 44 cm (94%)
As Dr. Norquist went through all the milestones to check and see how Zoey is doing, she growled and growled. We are very used to that at home. When he asked whether she babbles at all, he stopped mid-question and said, "Well, she growls a lot. I'm going to put that in her chart." So it is official, she can growl with the best of them. She ended the appointment with 4 shots. (Not the way I wanted to end it--but, once again, she was a trooper.)

She is eating and enjoying sweet potatotes, bananas, oatmeal, and rice cereal. I think green beans will be next.

Deck the Halls--it is time for the holidays!

Zoey helped decorate the house today for the holiday season. We put up our tree and set out some of our decorations. As we were enjoying some play time on the floor this evening, I happened to look at Zoey's big grin and--I bet you can guess what I noticed--two NEW teeth. That makes 6 folks. Someone tell her to stop growing, please.

After helping to deck the halls, Zoey went to play at Chloe's house for a while. It is a lot of fun to watch babies play together.

Thanksgiving Part 2

Zoey's first taste of sweet potatoes was not met with much enthusiasum, but she did eat them.

Zoey needed a nap after her big Thanksgiving feast.

Zoey played with Auntie Tammy quite a bit during the day--but was too tuckered out to play the hilarious game of Balderdash with the family that evening.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!
A year ago today Tyler and I were sitting at the Thanksgiving table with his family and Tammy said, "Can you believe it? Next year at this time we'll have a 6 month old baby at Thanksgiving." That was the moment that Tyler and I realized that we were really having a baby. Now it has been that year and we are so thankful to have her and can't wait to bring her to her first thanksgiving meal, where she will be trying some sweet potatoes for the first time.

Zoey is feeling better. On Tuesday night, we weren't sure what was going on with her. Tyler called me at school (I had to work late because of parent-teacher conferences) and said that Zoey wouldn't stop screaming. So I came home as soon as I could and sure enough, she just wasn't herself. It sounded like she was in pain. So we decided to have Tyler take her to Urgent Care to get her check out. Diagnosis: crying baby. What we did get was peace of mind, though. We were sure then it wasn't an ear infection. Zoey went to daycare the next day and had a nice normal day--good naps, good eating, and her very first craft. She came home and we had a nice normal evening. She slept through the night again, which hadn't been happening for the last 4-5 nights. And now she is napping. All is right with the world--of course until she learns a new trick. We have resigned ourselves to remember that nothing will ever really be normal again.

We are going over to Grandma and Grandpa Livingston's home today to celebrate Thanksgiving. Tomorrow Zoey and I are hoping to start decorating the house for Christmas. I think she will really enjoy the lights on the tree. Then on Saturday we drive up to Brooten, MN to celebrate Thanksgiving again with my family. Lots of Turkey!

Gobble Gobble!
Love,
Judy, Tyler, and Zoey

Isn't this cute?

Zoey is beginning to sit without support. (I swear she isn't leaning on my leg at all.)

Of course, after about 30 seconds of sitting by herself, she starts the decline to the floor.

Playing Hookie!

Zoey and I are at home today, getting things done. She had a temp yesterday of 102.5 degrees so we couldn't take her to daycare today. She is in good spirits today and had avoided nap time until just about a half-hour ago. Hopefully, she will make up for it during this afternoon nap.
No fever yet today, though, just a little bit of a cough. I hope that she will be feeling better soon. I feel so helpless when I know that I have done everything I can and she is still not feeling well.

Zoey's first cold. . .

It was bound to happen. . .between all the colds being passed around at daycare and me watching kids wipe their noses on their sleeves at school and then try to hug me. . .both Zoey and I have come down with a cold. We could tell that it was coming for a few days now. On Thursday night she woke up a few times during the night coughing. On Friday night, Tyler and I went to the wedding of Jennifer Grimm and Aaron Hilden (Congratulations to the Hildens!) and Zoey played with Grandma Livingston, Auntie Tammy, and Eric for the evening. (Thank you!) On Saturday morning, I had a sore throat, stuffy nose, and a headache. I'll admit that the headache was probably from the wine the night before--but the rest of it was all cold :-) Zoey also woke up with a stuffy nose and a cough. Her temperature has been hovering right around 100.4 degrees--but she has been playing, sleeping and eating well all day. She and I took our afternoon nap on the couch watching Finding Nemo--the movie I always put in when I am not feeling well. It was very nice. Nothing like a good cuddle to make us both feel better. Tyler has been great all day--taking care of his girls and even staying home from his poker game to be with us. Isn't he the greatest?

Hope everyone else is happy and healthy!

Today Zoey and I took a Girl's Road Trip to Rochester to visit some good friends. On the way down Zoey napped and I sang along to my i-Pod. We arrived at the Derr's house a little after 11am. Zoey slept the whole way--good thing. She didn't nap again until we drove home! She was happy all afternoon. Aiden and Zoey became quick friends and they entertained each other all afternoon. Zoey laughed at Aiden quite a bit. (Kiera was a little sick and tired--so we let her get her rest. I hope she is feeling better!) When we left the Derr's house we stopped by the Ostman's home to welcome into the world their newest bundle of joy, James--who is 6 days old. He was just a peanut--all of about 5 lbs. Congratulations Carrie and Mark!

Then we came home to an empty house and went on with our routine, that is, until Daddy called and said that David and Jen were coming home with him to watch movies! How did Zoey get so lucky to see everybody in one day? It is almost 9 o'clock and Zoey is still going strong. She is really enjoying all the attention. Hope everyone is having a great weekend! We sure are.

When Zoey returned from Rochester she was a happy girl--all rested and ready for company this evening. She was in for a surprise.

Here is Zoey with her Godmother Lisa and her son Aiden.

Godfather David and Jen came over to watch movies!

Zoey stayed up until the wee hours of the night (Well, that is 9pm in a baby's world) visiting and showing off for David and Jen.

Zoey likes to dance

What a fun age this is turning out to be. Tonight as I played with Zoey on the floor, I started repeating the "Da-Da-Da" sounds over and over again, selfishly trying to get her to say "Dada" before she says "Mama."

Zoey was already in a highly energetic mood, boggying on the floor, rolling over (both ways now...have we mentioned she can complete a 360 degree roll?), and testing the range of her happy screams. As I made my 'da-da' sounds, she started shaking her head back and forth. As I looked at her whole body, she was shifting her bottom back and forth opposite her head. Each time I said, "da-da-da" she'd shake herself back and forth with a big 4 toothed grin (did we mention her top two teeth are sprouting? Gesh, she's starting to outpace the blog!).

She was dancing. She danced as I sang 'da-da-da' for quite a while this evening.

Sigh...

Our little bean keeps spouting. . .

So, Zoey continues to grow and find something new each day. She has discovered that her feet and the socks upon them are fun to play with. We have also seen two new teeth popping out. (For those of you keeping track--that makes 4 teeth so far--two on bottom and two on top.)
Zoey spent some time at Grandma and Grandpa Livingston's house yesterday, while we went out to the movies. She was very happy and showed off all her new skills.



Zoey is learning how to charm her way out of nap time.

Hey! I'm not tired. . .really!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Happy Halloween! Try this link for my favorite halloween carol! http://www.night.net/tucker/sg-boo.html-ssi

Zoey is 5 months old today and as a tribute to her mom's first Halloween costume (and her mom's refusal to spend money on a costume, when we were not trick-or-treating) Zoey and I made her costume last night. She was able to wear her costume at daycare today. I am sure that all the kids were super cute! Hope everyone had a safe and happy halloween.

Hello!?! Is anyone still there?

How do I get out of this thing?

Zoey was even more happy to have the costume off.

Honk, Honk

 

Zoey likes books and noses...