7.75 months

The chicken is 7.5 months. Pretty incredible, eh? I've been reading this blog to try to compare two of my best friends (Due July 30 and August 3 or 4) to my pregnancy since they are so close to my due date.

So before I start here are a few things you should know:

1. We call Z chicken. It doesn't make sense - but the beauty of it is, it doesn't have to.

2. We started calling her chicken before her hair grew into its super fuzz stage which does, in fact, make her actually sort of look like a chicken (see pic at bottom of this post).

3. I am going to try to make back-posts about her development. This should just be our family blog probably. Nursing school robs me of time to blog but that is LAME because Reid once called me the HSL historian and I'd like to be our family's also.

Activities:

Zoe can crawl! One of the sweetest things about her being able to crawl is that it reveals even MORE about her personality. For example, if you throw toys around the room she will crawl to the one -she- wants to play with. No longer is she constrained by one of us giving her something to play with - now she gets to choose! One of her favorite things is to chew on books. She frequently crawls straight to her bookcase, takes stuff out and then starts chewing on them. A couple weeks ago I she was playing with someone and she looked at me, stopped what she was doing and crawled to my feet and pulled on my skirt. (enter - melting)

She can also pull up all the way to standing. This started last week when I found her on her knees in her crib one day. A couple days later I came in and she was standing all the way up. Since learning how to do it she now pulls up on lots of things - you if you are on the floor with her, her toys, furniture, etc.

Zoe LOVES to feed herself. I almost think she prefers it to us feeding her with a spoon. She most frequently feeds herself with her left hand. If you spill even a little, no matter what it is, she will try to pick it up with her hands and put it in her mouth. She loves to pick up O's, pieces of orange, zucchini, baked apple or pear, beans, or toasted bread to eat. There have been whole dinners that I just cut up into pieces and let her feed herself instead of mash them. She still however, doesn't like bananas - unless they are mixed in with something.

Words:

I still think Zoe uses "hi" correctly. When she sees you, usually after not seeing you (whoever "you" are), her face lights up and she opens her mouth up and breathes "hhhhuuu."

She just, as in maybe in the past 3 days, started using "mama" while crying. She was crying at night, too early to be fed and after Matt changed her and put her back in her crib her crying started to sound like "mum-mah..." I asked Matt, "does it sound like she is saying Mama?" Matt said he was hoping I wouldn't notice. She has done it a couple more times since then. I'm not sure when babies are supposed to start associated names with a person - but, it sure sounds a lot like she is calling for me - especially since she has been saying Mama for about a month now and only just started adding it to crying.

She finally started saying "dada" - about 2 or 3 weeks after "mama." She uses it for almost everything. First thing in the morning (Z wakes up between 6 and 7 every morning and I get her and nurse her in bed w/us and sometimes we can all fall back to sleep, on good days) when she is done sleeping and she wants to wake up she starts playing. She does this by grabbing the comforter and patting it saying "dada." The cutest thing is that she whispers it, real quietly "dada." She uses that word when you give her a new toy or something to play with also. She does the same thing, almost as like a "in-awe" sort of reaction. She holds it with both hands, focuses all her attention on it and then whispers "dada." Yesterday morning we were still in bed while Matt was getting ready for work. Matt walked right next to the bed to get his phone and Zoe, clear as day, looked at him with her giant "that is my daddy" smile and said "dada." We were both surprised at how deliberate and clear she was when she said it.

She has recently starting agreeing with herself, a LOT. She will be sitting up and start nodding her head up and down and say something that sounds like, "ok!" Almost like how stereotypical cheerleaders express themselves before they start a cheer.

Habits:

The girl sucks her fingers almost on cue with a need. Sleepy, wet, got hurt - all evoke finger sucking. She sucks the first two fingers on her right hand, always. She used to suck all of them! She would put all 10 in there if she could work it - she often had 8, but now it is just the two fingers - and always her right hand.

Z loves to be outside. It is a great distraction and it usually makes her really, really happy.

She has started acting insane on the changing table. She twists and turns and makes it impossible to dress or change her. She also, almost without fail, isn't satisfied until she has kicked the wipe container off the table.

Zoe goes to bed between 6 and 6:30 and sleeps (usually uninterrupted) until anywhere between 1-3 when she nurses and goes right back to bed. Then she is up around 6-7 and will sometimes fall asleep with me in bed until about 7:30. She takes two naps. One at 9am and one at 1pm.

Zoe loves to scream. Happily, I mean. She will go on and on and on just screaming.

When you hold her - Zoe wants to put her fingers in your mouth.

Friends:

Zoe is, to say the least, a momma's girl. If I am around, she usually wants -me-. Sad for Matt :( I'm looking forward to a more dynamic father-daughter relationship, in which she appreciates all his hard work more.

She LOVES Asher. She was entertained by him for quite a long time after church.

She has successfully, besides Matt, reached for Meagan, Amira and Debbie while I was holding her. I think she almost, without fail, always reaches for Meagan. Maybe she is anxious to by hugging Claire? :)

She also completely loves her glo-worm and Chuckles the stuffed dog. She continues to happily squeal at any animal creature.