Zoe Louise | Eight Months

Maybe you'll start smiling again in your 9 month photo :)

How are you eight months old already!!?  Time is just flying by way to fast for mommy.

Stats: Not sure. We don't go again until your 9 month well visit.

Likes: Eating. White noise CD. Bath time. Momma Sofie.  Miss Bear and Lambie. You also love your hands. Still anything you can get your hands on. You are still very, very grabby this month. Sleeping on your tummy. Walks in your stroller. You LOVE when people jump at you.  Your pool!

Dislikes:  Getting ready for bed.  Having your nose wiped.  Getting dressed.

Biggest Achievement This Month:  Dropping a bottle and eating more solids.

Biggest Challenge of the Month: Sleeping at day care.  Will this ever change? 

Secret Tricks: Laying you down on your belly with a few pats. Picking you up and standing always seems to solve crankiness. You also love walks in your stroller.

Sleep: You still take your last bottle at 7:30pm and are down by 8pm at the latest. You are then down for the night until about 7am.  Some days you wake up a little earlier at 6:30 am and some days on the weekends you sleep until 7:30 am.  Your naps at daycare are about 40 minutes in length.  At home, you nap much better and they last at least an hour.  You've started to drop your third nap pretty much 100%.  You haven't napped on the drive home from daycare in a while.  On the weekends, we can still sometimes get you to go down depending on how your other 2 naps were.  But they say the third nap goes away at 6-9 months so we are pretty much there.  This will greatly free up our weekend evenings!!

Temperament/Personality:  Your temperament this month is hit or miss.  Some days you are super happy all day.  Then the next you are super crabby all day.  Or you are really happy until it's time to eat, then you get fussy half way through eating and are fine once we hold you.  A "wonder week" is coming up though for you, so I'm guessing that might be part of what's been happening these past few days.  You also have two, new teeth getting ready to pop through (your other bottom tooth and one of your top teeth).  But man can you be a drama queen :)  I saw that with the utmost love!  You now hate being put in your car seat, your booster, the stroller, the bike trailer, etc.  So completely straighten your body, lock yourself in position, and will NOT bend your legs.  I feel like I'm killing you just to get you into the proper position.  You are perfectly fine once you are in, but those few seconds seem like hours trying to get you in.

This totally captures 8 months for Zoe.  She NEVER sits still!!!

Our little drama queen!! :)

Even with your fussy moments, you still crack us up.  You've started to throw your head back when you want to play and be tipped upside down.  You grab onto Miss Bear and Lambie as if your life depends on them (it's so cute to see you show love to them even if they are just stuffed toys). 

Eating:  Down to 4 bottles. You're now taking about 6 oz for each of your bottles.  Depending on how well you do with solids at dinner, I sometimes give you 8 oz. before bed.  Right now your schedule is bottle when wake up, solids at 8am (breakfast), solids at 11 am (lunch), bottle around noon or 1pm, bottle around 4pm, solids at 6ish pm (dinner), bottle before bed.

Fruit is still your go to.  I've started mixing some of your veggies (the green ones) with some fruit which has helped you eat them a little more. 

We started giving you finger foods here and there.  I gave you avocado to start with.  I should have recorded that one.  Your face was beet red and you looked like you were going to spew everything you had previously eaten.  I think it was the texture of having something other than puree in your mouth :)  Since then, you'll take a few bites of watermelon and you'll try to eat your puffs.  You're still trying to master your pincer grasp.  You're getting there though!

Randoms: A mix of 6 and 9 month clothes. Mostly all 9 months. You are in size 3 diapers during the day and size 4 at night. 

I spy Zoe's tongue!! :)

Milestones:  Sitting on your own with no problems.  You can get from sitting to your belly.  You can now crawl as well.  Just one week ago, you could kind of inch forward and now you are full out army crawl.

You can pull yourself up for the most part.  We were just saying how we needed to move your mattress down.  Then I had you in your crib while I was getting your laundry together, and I turned around, and they you were.  Standing!  Stinker :)  We moved your mattress down immediately.

Teeth!  Your first tooth popped through quite a while ago (bottom).  It's not all the way up, but it's deifnintely above the surface.  It looks like your other bottom tooth might make it's appearance soon and your top gums are getting whitish as well.  So far (knock on wood), you aren't too cranky, and it hasn't affected your sleep.

Aaron is out of town for work so no comparison shots.  I really need to put those photos in a program I know how to use rather than photoshop....

Father's Day

I am so terrible at posting anything on time these days.  The excuses are endless, so I'll spare you...Anyways...

We had such a great Father's Day weekend.  Aaron had traveled to Vegas at the beginning of the week and then I went to Chicago at the end of the week so we were all ready for some R&R and time together.  Saturday I ran errands, cleaned and tried to get most of my weekend chores out of the way earlier in the day.  At night, we had friends over for a BBQ (although the weather didn't cooperate and we ate inside).

Sunday, Aaron got to pick what we did.  He played with Zoe while I ran and got his last present.  Then we got Zoe ready to play in her pool.  She LOVED it.  She probably would have stayed in it all day if we would have let her.  And a baby in a cute, little, pink bathing suit?  Cutest.thing.ever.  We threw in a few of her bath toys and she was happy as can be.  We were all having so much fun, we didn't even realize Wally had escaped and was almost to Woodward Ave.  Ugh.  We quickly wrangled him and continued our poolside fun. 

Aaron and I lounged in the back and ate lunch and read while Zoe napped.  Once she finally woke up, we all walked up to the park so she could play on the swings for a bit.  She thought they were so so, but daddy pushing her and jumping at her?  HILARIOUS! :)  Will her giggles ever stop melting my heart?  I doubt it.  We made a quick stop to 7 Eleven on our way home and then it was time to get dinner ready and start the nightly routine. 

As usual, the weekend went way too fast, but it was so nice to have such a relaxing time.  Zoe did so many projects for daddy!  She made him a card, footprints at her old daycare, and a footprint hanging thingy at her new daycare.  Then we did this which I found on Pinterest a long time ago and wanted to make sure I did when we had kids.  I thought it would be neat to update the pictures every year as she gets older. 

Five Years!

I can't believe it's already been FIVE years!  They went by so fast. And to think of all that's happened since. We bought a house, got a dog, had a horrible miscarriage, and now have the cutest and best little baby ever. 

Aaron came home from work early and surprised me with these! My parents are coming tomorrow and are going to watch Zoe so we can have a date night. Here's to another amazing five years :)

Why do I worry?

I have no idea why I worry about this little girl.  She adapts pretty well to any situation we put her in.  I called her new daycare today and Miss Penny just loves her already :)  The stinker only took a 30 minute nap so far, but that's nothing new when she's not at home.  She has even given a few suggestions on helping us introduce more solids and cutting down one bottle which are very welcome considering she's been doing this far longer than me!

(Belated) Six Month Photoshoot

We decided to take advantage of the long, warm weekend and FINALLY take Zoe's 6 month photos.  I pinned a ton of different poses I wanted to try on Pinterest.  And the great thing about us taking them ourselves is that we could do whatever we wanted, and we weren't on the time clock.  

I will say though...it is HARD work and so worth the money to pay a professional, in my opinion :)  Aaron is a Photoshop master so he's been in charge of the editing.  It's time consuming, but thankfully Aaron has been really good about doing a few photos a night so we can finish up.

And a BIG thank you to Nana for the great pictures she took of the three of us.  They turned out great!!! :)

And the perfect end to our photo shoot :)  This was randomly written on the side of the building so we just
had to take a picture next to it.  And as you can see, Zoe's pretty proud of her name being there.

Moving Daycares

I NEVER thought we'd be moving so soon.  I was dead set on finding a place and sticking with it.  Because what baby wants all that change so often?  Scratch that, this mommy can't handle change :)  I like things to stay the same.  I always have.  I get nervous and anxious about trying a new dish at our favorite restaurants.  Make my little human have to get used to a whole new set of ladies taking care of her?  No thank you.

But alas, here we are just 1.5 months into this going back to work journey and we are already moving.  I feel so pathetic not even being able to say TWO.  But like my boss said, I need to go with my gut.  And my gut tells me this is best.

We love the building Zoe is in now.  But she can't stay.  They close for the summer (teachers' kids) and she'd move to the twelve month building and we just don't get that "warm fuzzy feeling" there.  And it may sound stupid, but I want that.  These women see my baby more than I get to (which is so sad in itself), so I want to make sure it counts.  I felt terrible telling her teachers.  They keep saying how much they'll miss Zoe next week and in the fall.  I cried today when I went to pick her up and said goodbye.  I was done for as soon as Miss Linda gave me a hug and wished us luck.  But like her lead teacher said, while they'll miss Zoe "I appreciate that as a mother, you are doing what's best for Zoe."  I just hope this is what's best.

We are moving to a place where we already know one family with a little girl Zoe's age.  And I actually babysat for a little girl whose family took 2 of their 3 kids there and only pulled them out because they moved further away.

I hope this is our "forever" home.  Or at least where we stay for a long time.  A place where Zoe can make friends and love on her teachers.  Because who couldn't love these cute, chubby cheeks???

Let's just hope that some of her daddy's go with the flow attitude rubs off on her.  Because I don't think Aaron could deal with 2 of me in his life :)

Randoms

We went to the zoo again!  Beeba came to visit for the weekend before heading out for vacation, and we decided to take a drive over to see the baby warthogs.  They were so cute!

That same weekend was the annual, Eastern Market Flower Sale on Sunday.  I don't know how much money we actually save by going, but it's such a fun tradition we started a few years ago.  Every year seams to have it's own new memory.  Like the year it was cold and rainy and miserable and my mom was outfitted in her bright, yellow Momentum coat :)  Or last year where I was pregnant with Zoe and it was one of the first days I really felt like I was showing somewhat.

Zoe Louise | Seven Months

We are now closer to one year than we are to newborn.  I love, love this phase!  You are so much fun Zoe.  But I have to admit, I do sometimes miss our newborn snuggles.

Stats:  Not sure.  We don't go again until your 9 month well visit.

Likes: Eating. White noise CD. Bath time.  Momma Sofie. Mr. Hungry Caterpillar.  You also love your hands and feet.  Still anything you can get your hands on.  You are still very, very grabby this month.  Sleeping on your tummy.  Walks in your stroller.  You LOVE when people jump at you.  Wally is also funny.  Lamby...he makes diaper changes a little easier :)

Dislikes:  Being overtired. Although, you are getting better on the days/nights we have to push your naps/bedtime back a little.  We still try very hard to keep to your schedule since it always seems to affect you waking up at odd hours, but sometimes it can't be helped.  Getting ready for bed after your bath. You love the bath itself. But you'd think we were torturing you when getting you in your PJs.

Biggest Achievement This Month:  Talking.  You do not stop talking!  And I love every second of it.  The louder the better in my opinion.

Biggest Challenge of the Month:  Sleeping at day care.  And your poor, poor cold you now have and have had for 2 weeks :(  Mommy feels so bad for you!  Part of me wonders if it's allergies.  It's getting a little better but you still have days where your nose is super runny.

Secret Tricks:  Laying you down on your belly with a few pats.  Picking you up and standing always seems to solve crankiness.  You also love walks in your stroller.

Sleep: You still take your last bottle at 7:30pm and are down by 8pm at the latest. You are then down for the night until about 7am. Although, there have been a few days where your wake up is closer to 6 am.  I'm wondering if you are getting ready to drop that third nap.  Although, you are obviously tired at 4 or 5 so I hate to cut it out completely.  I just think you'll be exhausted and won't be able to make it until bedtime.  You take 3 naps during the day when at home, but not so much at daycare. Two long ones that are around 2 hours or a little more and then a short catnap from about 5-6pm.  There have been a few times this month that you haven't napped during your third nap slot and you've really done ok.  I'm taking your lead on this one.  Some days you seem to need it and some not.

Temperament/Personality:  Girlfriend, we can't get you to stop talking now!  I was so worried about your communication (or lack thereof), and then one day it was just like a light was switched.  It still amazes how FAST things change with babies.  And you are SO happy this month.  You are rarely fussy and are all smiles and giggles.

Watch out though.  You do have your diva moments.

Eating: Still at 5 feedings. You're now taking about 6 oz for each of your bottles.  We also ended nursing this month.  I just couldn't keep up anymore and you were starting to be super fussy/hungry still, so I decided it was best to just be done.

You love almost all solid food at this point.  Fruit is by far your favorite (like mother like daughter...that may have something to do with the fact that is all ate all day every day while pregnant :) ).  If there is something you don't really care for at home, you'll for sure eat it at daycare so I just send it with you there.  It must be the other kids eating that gets you so excited.  I'm trying my best to get you to a breakfast/lunch/dinner schedule with the solids and it's been going well the past week. 

Randoms: A mix of 6 and 9 month clothes. Mostly all 9 months.  You are in size 3 diapers during the day and size 3 at night. 

Milestones:  Sitting on your own for quite a while as long as you are on a flat surface.  You also started to rock while playing on your belly...I am NOT ready for you to crawl!  So you can just stop that little trick right now :)  You can do a complete 360 though while on your belly and scoot backwards so you can pretty much get to anything anyhow.  But boy do you get pissed when something is out of reach. 

As I mentioned above, you love to talk. And you have no concept of indoor voices :)  I find it absolutely adorable and don't care that I sometimes get woken up early to your jabbers.  Daddy gets a little embarrassed when we're out to eat (he's worried about ruining others dinner), but I figure who cares as long as you aren't crying :)

Outings:  Zoo!

Comparison shots!

Going Back to Work

We now have a whole new "normal" to figure out now that I'm back to work.  I felt like I was JUST getting the hang of being home all day.  I was finally in a really happy place.  Zoe was finally in a happy place (thank you end of colic!).  We had a good schedule going and the weather was finally turning warmer.

Enter the end of my six month leave.  Suddenly, I now have to get myself ready in the morning plus feed a tiny human.  How it takes me so long to get out the door, I have no idea.  I only have to give her a bottle, and Aaron takes care of the rest.  But some days her sheets are gross and I have to change them, or she pooped through her PJs and I have to soak them, or she is just so darn stinkin' cute I have no desire to leave her (which is pretty much every day) so I dawdle a little longer.

Her naps at day care are hit or miss.  One day she might nap 4 MINUTES (I still find it hilarious that they record this...at least I know they are serious about their license :) ) and then maybe another half hour nap.  But other days she'll nap for an hour and half plus a forty-five minute nap. 

And I can't stop worrying about her all day.  I stare at the clock just waiting for 4:45 to hit so I can shut down and get to my car as fast as my heals will take me and then curse at the traffic for taking me 45 minutes to get to my little goose.  She's the highlight of my day and I hate that during the week, I only get a good 1.5-2 hours at most with her before it's bedtime.  And lately, she naps on the way home and in her car seat until 6:30 which cuts down our time together even more.

Then enter all of my other tasks around the house that I cannot seem to fit in.  Like cleaning.  I went TWO whole weeks without cleaning my house.  So not like me.  But I just didn't have time (I scrubbed yesterday for the record).  And laundry, and grocery shopping, and miscellaneous errands, and doing yard work, and cooking a meal that's not a sandwich or salad. 

My mom promised that it's just this stage of life.  She had the same hurdles to get over when we were little.  And she said I just have to get in the mindset that my house may not be clean, uncluttered yes, clean no.  And other things may need to fall through the cracks.  But I won't be able to get back those baby giggles or tub splashes that I missed because I was so obsessed with the to-do list I never seem to be able to finish.

I know we'll figure this all out eventually.  And as much as I miss her during the day, I know Zoe loves school and she's meeting new friends and learning to adapt to new situations.  And I get a little me time with adult conversation.  

And I rarely have to change a poopy diaper (thank you Zoe for always taking care of business during the day ;) ).  At least there is a small upside!

Getting to spend time together OUTSIDE after work is the
highlight of my day.  LOVE those thigh rolls :)

First Mother's Day

Technically, I had a half celebration last year when my mom took me shopping for maternity clothes and my dad bought me a rose from church :)  But this was the first year with out little goose really here.

We spent the weekend at my parents since I had a training in GR and it was my sister-in-law's 30th birthday party.  For Mother's Day, we had brunch at my in-law's.  Zoe and daddy made me a perfect handmade card (Zoe even did a nice crayon drawing on the inside), a hand print keepsake, and got me a bead for my bracelet.  And Aaron even went grocery shopping for me when we got home...this was big!

Poor Zoe has definitely been working on building her immune system in the short few weeks she's been at day care.  She had a little stomach bug earlier this month and become and runny, snotty mess Mother's Day weekend.  Needless to say, I was up until 5am holding her upright Saturday that weekend night so that she could get some sleep and be able to breathe.  It's crazy how fast you forget the newborn days of sleep deprivation.  We've been living in a nice bubble with a baby who sleeps through the night for a LONG time now (I'm hoping I'm not jinxing myself...).

Mother's Day weekend was a good reminder that this really is hard work, but so worth it to see her smiles all day on Sunday. 

I hope everyone had a very, Happy Mother's Day.  Ours was perfect!

Zoe Louise | Six Months

Six months....a half a year!  I can't even wrap my head around how old you are getting so fast.  You are so big and doing so many new things.  I hardly even have to prop you up at all for these pictures. You are pretty much sitting on your own (although you still have spills so mommy and daddy make sure to be right by you).  And our last month together :(  

Stats:  26 inches long (50th percentile), head is 17.25 inches (90th percentile), and weight is 17 lb 2.5 oz. (68th percentile).  You're creeping up there on weight girlie!  But I'm good with it...your little thigh rolls are too cute for words :)  

Likes:  Eating.  White noise CD.  Bath time.  Your mobile.  Momma Sofie.  Mr. Hungry Caterpillar.  Daddy's crazy songs.  You also love your hands and feet.  Anything you can get your hands on basically - my hair, my glasses, sweatshirt strings, etc.  You are very, very grabby this month.  No jewelry for mommy right now.  Sleeping on your tummy...who knew I'd be saying that after the first few days we had when you learned how to roll!

Ok people, this looks like my bottle.  Why isn't anything coming out??

You LOVE when people jump at you.  Our little neighbor Liam started doing it this week and you thought it was hilarious.  I tried it out myself the other day, and sure enough you giggled forever.  Wally is also suddenly funny too.  You giggle every time he licks you.

Dislikes:  Being burped during/after your bottle.  Being overtired.  Getting ready for bed after your bath.  You love the bath itself.  But you'd think we were torturing you when getting you in your PJs.

Biggest Achievement This Month:  Rolling from back to belly.  And making it 13 hours in the car on vacation!!

All tuckered out on the way home from SC.

Biggest Challenge of the Month:  The 45 minute nap intruder is still in full force :(  Sleeping more at daycare.  Sleeping in a hotel (I guess this one doesn't really matter since we don't go on vacation all that often).

Secret Tricks:  I now put you to sleep on your belly and rub your back for a little bit and you usually fall right to sleep.  If only you were allowed to go to sleep right on your belly at daycare.  It might solve a lot of problems.

Sleep:  You still take your last bottle at 7:30pm and are down by 8pm at the latest.  You are then down for the night until about 7am.  You take 3 naps during the day when at home, but not so much at daycare.  Two long ones that are around 2 hours or a little more and then a short catnap from about 5-6pm.  

Temperament/Personality:  You now purse your lips like you are contemplating something very deep and profound.  I wish we could capture it on the camera because you look so cute doing it.  You still babble away mostly to your toys although sometimes I can get you to talk to us :)  

Eating:  Still at 5 feedings.  You're now taking about 6 oz for each of your bottles.  I now nurse you in the morning and before bed.  So far that's easiest so we'll keep doing it as long as it's working.

We got the ok today from Dr. Butry to introduce real food!  Yay!  She said we need to work on getting you to eat a breakfast, lunch and dinner.  I'm so excited to see your reactions to food that actually tastes good rather than the bland rice cereal.  And now, I think I might mix in something tasty with your rice cereal.

Mmm...sweet potatoes!  First real food.

Randoms: All 6 month clothes, but I'm having to pack some of those away.  The ones that still fit JUST fit you so we'll need to get those 9 month clothes washed soon.  You are in size 2 diapers during the day and size 3 at night since you were leaking through your smaller ones.  We moved up to size 3 at day care as well since you were blowing out so many diapers.

Milestones:  Rolling from back to tummy.  You are starting to be able to tripod and even sit on your own sometimes.  And you can hold yourself up standing for a very short amount of time if I prop you up next to your pouf on you nursery floor.  Even though you prefer to sleep on your tummy, you still hate tummy time when you are awake so you haven't had much opportunity to crawl.

Look at me mommy!  I can sit on my own :)

Outings:  Vacation to South Carolina!  That's a post of it's own :)  We also went to Greenfield Village with Matt and his two little girls.  It was such a nice day and so nice to catch up with Matt and get outside.  You had your first trip on a carousel and a train.  You were happy when mommy held you on the carousel but didn't really like riding the horsey on your own.

We also celebrated Great Grandpa Menke's 90th birthday!  So many people came out to celebrate his special day :)

Favorite Baby Gear:  The stroller was a lifesaver on vacation.  It was the ONLY place you'd nap.  You also love the exersaucer if you can't see me.  This helps me to get a few things done in another room.  Once you see me though, you cry and hold your arms out for me to pick you up.

Comparison shots!

Love you Goose!  Let's make sure to live up our night and weekends together now that mommy has to go back to work :)

Vacation

I have really never taken long road trips.  My family always flew - probably because my parents had no desire to deal with three kids in the car for long periods of time :)  Aaron is the opposite.  Growing up with 5 other brothers and sisters, flying was obviously super expensive and super tricky.  So they drove everywhere.

We stopped at a bar and all had a refreshing beverage on a hot day

Since I was still on maternity leave and Aaron has vacation saved, we thought it was the perfect opportunity to get away for a week.  Aaron came up with South Carolina, and after looking at the weather forecast, I was on board.  Airline tickets were ridiculous and since I'm currently not getting paid, we decided to drive.

Out on a walk

The drive down seemed to take forever.  Zoe had a rough time in her carseat (two diaper blowouts just on the way there) and just wanted to be out.  I don't blame her - how boring to stare at the back of the seat for hours on end.  But we were in that, "Woohoo, we're going on vacation, we're so excited!" mode.  Crying?  We could tune it out because we were SO.EXCITED.  We stopped halfway to give the girl a breather and spent the night in Tennessee.  

Driving the safari car at the aquarium after she finally woke up

The drive on the second day was gorgeous.  We both agreed we'd have to go back another time just to vacation in the Smokey Mountains.  And only 6-7 hours in the car?  Totally doable. 

Then finally....palm trees!  That's when I know I'm on vacation :)  And 80 degrees.  Since we left MI in the 40s, it was heaven.  

Walk on the pier

We walked around quite a bit (we had to enjoy the weather!), we drove to a plantation/garden, we went to the ocean, and to the aquarium.  Zoe LOVED the beach.  Absolutely loved it.  The water itself?  Not so much....she screamed when Aaron put her toes in.  And being the awesome parents we are, we decided we had to capture her reaction on film so we recreated it an hour later and caught it on video.  We are so mean...I can't wait for her to go camping this summer though in Traverse City.  She'll be old enough to sit on her own and I think she'll love playing in the sand. 

Loving the beach

Her naps and sleeping on vacation?  HORRIBLE.  She refused to nap in her pack n play.  We literally had to go on a walk for every single nap.  Which means they were short naps and probably not the best quality since she was being jostled around.  And she slept terrible at night (so not like her).  I never knew if she was hungry (growth spurt?) or just needed to cry a little before falling back to sleep.  But we were in a hotel and I didn't want to wake all of our neighbors up so most of the time I just caved and fed her.  Then her wake up calls were usually 6:30.  Then they creeped up to 5:30 and the final day?  5 am.  The only upside was that we got on the rode extremely early and were able to make it home in one day rather than two.  

Finally!

It was so much fun though to see her reactions to everything.  The sand was fascinating.  She slept for most of the aquarium but was completely enthralled by the fish tank once she woke up.  It's funny how the small things are so exciting to her which makes them that much more fun for us :)