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!