Making the most out of Summer

I feel like so much has happened since the last post and it was only just over a month ago.

In a month Zoe has been to her first parade, on Canada Day. She seemed to enjoy it, but the most impressive part was she stayed awake for all of it.

Thanks to Aunty Wendy for these great pictures.

Zoe went 'camping' for the first time. Camping being parking Gramma and Papa's trailer in front of the cabin at Columbia lake. Not quite roughing it, but a great time nonetheless. She got to play with her cousins which she loves. The little munchkin lights up anytime she sees another little person and has yet too make shy. She's even scared some kids off with her blunt inquisitiveness.


And of course while camping, Zoe had her first time in the lake. She didn't want to go in if Mommy held her, but had lots of fun playing in the water with Gramma.





Zoe has started chasing Jackman around (seriously, he tries to hide but it just doesn't work). And her first word is sounding a lot like it will be Jack, or more accurately 'Dack'. Which is what she says anytime she sees a dog now.

We had fun at a family reunion for Jason's mom's side a few weeks ago. Zoe was able to meet cousins she had never met before. There was a little boy there who is a week younger than Zoe and about ten pounds heavier. Zoe's petiteness did not stop her from taking all of his toys though. I've a feeling I need to talk to Zoe about sharing and personal space soon... not that I expect it to sink in.

Speaking of Zoe's petiteness, we were out shopping the other day, and even though I had Zoe sitting in the front of the shopping cart, she was still referred to as a 'new baby'. They were quite shocked when I said she will be a year old soon.

And on that note... OH MY GOODNESS SHE'S GOING TO BE A YEAR OLD SOON!!!!! How does that happen so fast? She's not a little baby anymore she's practically a toddler. She's not walking yet, but only because crawling is so much faster. She does really well holding on to things though, and keeps pushing the kitchen chairs everywhere and rearranging things.

Of course I'm sure there's more to tell, as she learns new things almost daily right now, but I will leave it there. At the end of the month there will be a big party for her as she celebrates a whole year of being adorable.

Getting' into trouble with her Uncle's. She sure loves anything ice cream. And they sure love feeding it to her.

11 months! That's her 'smile for the camera' face.

First time swinging at Aleigha's Birthday. Loved it!

Peace&Love

Chow

Curious George has nothing on Zoe

Oh boy does this kid have places to be!
This video was taken about two weeks ago:

Once she learned how wonderful crawling can be, there was no stopping her. Though she does still trip over her hands once in awhile, but it doesn't really slow her down.
She's been pulling up onto things for about a month now, and she never really had the problem where she would get stuck. If she can't find a way to sit down gracefully she is totally okay with just letting go.
This video was taken just yesterday (ignore the tv, but friends is always on here):

And a couple days ago she stood by herself for a full 5 seconds. I'm sure I'm just going to turn around one day and she'll be walking. And she's not even ten months yet.

Other than chasing Zoe not a lot going on around here. Doing a little bit of coaching but nothing more than once or twice a week.
Still waiting to get our fence put up. Any day now they will be showing up and putting it together and I will be so excited when it's done. It will even have a real gate that Jackman can't chew through.

Zoe has a bit of a runny nose right now, but it hasn't affected her spirit yet.
Proof of the picture below.

Hope everyone is doing well and that you are enjoying summer.

Peace&Love

Chow

Busy little bee named Zoe

Zoe crawls! She tried walking first, but once she figured out she couldn't do that on her own she gave in and started crawling.
For someone who didn't want to crawl it's amazing how fast she can move now.
She also enjoys pulling herself to standing on anything she can reach. She does try to stand on her own still. She'll get on hands and feet with butt in the air, but she really doesn't have the balance and ends up toppling sideways. Has yet to deter her from trying though. If you hold out your fingers she will gladly grab on and walk around the room with you.

We took Zoe to the zoo the other week. She's still a little young for it, but enjoyed the bears when they got moving about and playing, same with the gorillas. Her favourite by far, was the meerkats. They're such busy little creatures and Zoe just wanted to reach out and grab one.

She is 9 month's old now. And this upcoming weekend, I will be away and it will just be Zoe and Jason spending time together. I wish him luck.

In other news I am still not safe to be in the kitchen. It's not that I can't cook, just that I shouldn't. I managed to splash boiling water onto my shirt while stirring veggies.
Don't worry, Zoe is not in the kitchen while I cook.
My burn isn't too terrible. Hurt a lot at first, but my first aid skills came in handy, and with any luck it shouldn't scar.

And that's all the excitement in this house for now!

Peace&Love

Chow

I swear she's mine

I don't know why people don't believe me.
That's not true, I know exactly why people don't believe me.
I look 15 (16 at best). And then I go and put my hair in braids and don't wear make-up. Hello middle school, here I come. Actually most middle schoolers these days wear make-up and have better hairstyles.
The point I'm trying to make is, ZOE IS MY KID. At least twice in the last month I've had people look right at me and go "Whose kid is this?". And when I say mine, they laugh and say, "No, seriously."
If I keep getting this, I'm going to start screwing with people. It would probably be easier.

Okay, now that I got that off my chest, I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter.
Our Easter consisted of three meals, spread over three days. Got to see lots of family, and Zoe had all of the attention and snuggles. And she had multiple outfits for every occasion of course.

Zoe has been a bit of a rink rat lately. Followed me to a competition in Lethbridge to cheer on all the competitors. And not even a week later, came with me to a test day as moral support for the skaters. Nothing makes you feel as good as a Zoe snuggle. Competition went over pretty well, a good number of the skaters brought home medals, and a personal best for lots of the athletes.

I'm in the middle of short break before spring season starts, and it has been quite nice. I've even had days where I don't have to leave the house, and I've thoroughly enjoyed them. 

Jason did a happy dance the other day. Zoe's babbles are now including "dada's", and she looked right at him and said just that. I'm not convinced she knows what it means... but she does enjoy the reaction she gets out of him when it happens.

The wee one is getting close to being mobile. She assumes the position to scoot, but then lunges forward and falls, getting stuck on her stomach. She'll get her arms moving from there to try and pull herself forward, but her legs stay stuck in the air. 

She cut her first tooth just over a week ago. And I'm sure there is another one on the way shortly, because the amount of drool is insane. You'd swear I sat her in a puddle some days, but it's one she creates herself.

That's about all the news I have for now.

Peace&Love

Chow

All day every day, wash the laundry

Zoe is over 6 months old! Time is still flying by.
She now sits by herself, and quite enjoys feeding herself crackers.
She is also a lot messier. A lot. Crumbs every where, and sticky everything. Jackman tries to help with crumbs but even he can't find them all.

Om-nom-nom

The good news is, she has my independent streak. The bad news is, I'm not allowed to hand her the food she drops, she wants to pick it up herself. Life gets really frustrating when you are six months old and can't find the food you dropped because you're sitting on it.

Skating is almost over for the winter season, so yay, break time for me. Get to spend a lot more time at home having Zoe snuggles, which I am looking forward to. Though I'm sure Zoe will miss spending Wednesday's out at the farm with Grandma, Papa, and Uncle Austin.

Having some play time together.

Jason has finished round two of schooling for his electrician apprenticeship, and did very well. Quite proud of him, and he is happy to be back at work.

Grandma Cindy went to the store for dog food the other day, and left with a whole new wardrobe for Zoe. Starting to think she needs to be supervised when she goes out shopping.

But then again Zoe does look pretty rockin' in her new hat and sunglasses. Thanks Grandma!

Only the cool babies can pull off this look.

Peace&Love

Chow

The Daily Happenings

Foster dog (Hunter) got adopted.
Which is great, because now my ears aren't assaulted every time I walk in the house.
A great dog, but not for us.

Grandma kisses

Zoe had a great day shopping with Grandma and Papa today. I'm totally jealous of the lucky duck.
Wish I could have gone shopping. She came home with a brand new outfit, and sadly, nothing for mommy.

Documented Proof that Papa has held Zoe. 

Well she is over 5 months old now, growing just the right amount, and learning lots everyday.

She has survived her first cold, though Grandma was extremely concerned. But the Little Bean is pretty tough.

Other than that not much has changed recently. Jason is still in school for the next little bit, and doing quite well. I'm still playing for a living, with some pretty adorable kids. Though I did have one kid talk to me in car noises for an entire session the other day. The weirder part was I understood what he was asking. Maybe I should start hanging out with adults more...

Nope, I'm good.

When something truly exciting happens I'll write a longer post, but for now I'll keep it short and sweet. 

And oh ya, more Zoe pictures.

Ready to run errands with Mom. Must be excited about Starbucks to.

Very focused on her 'tea time' exersaucer. Learnin' lots!

Peace&Love

Chow

Coffee is a food group right?

Well the good news is that Zoe is still sleeping through the night most nights.
Except for last night.
It seems that every time I need to be up early the next morning, Zoe decides she needs a midnight (or 4 am) snack.
And here I was all excited that Zoe went down at like 10 pm and I got to go to bed early. Of course I then couldn't fall asleep until midnight. And then woke up at 2 to go pee anyway.
Never, ever, get excited to go to bed and fall asleep, because it won't happen.
And I'm going to blame my lack of sleep for me getting dates confused to. I totally thought Zoe's 4 month shots were today, and I've thought that all week. I even listened to the recording when they called to remind me that her shots were coming up.
Turns out her shots were supposed to be tomorrow. Thankfully I got lucky and someone had cancelled so we got them done anyway. I guess it's better to be a day early than a day late.
And I'm so glad the shots are all done for another two months. I know she needs them, and that in reality, it doesn't hurt her for that long, but I'm still not happy about holding her still while someone pokes her with sharp needles.
But she is a very brave little pumpkin, and calmed down pretty fast, and was totally fine after a little snack. Now she is enjoying a lovely afternoon nap. The lucky duck.

Telling Mom something very important.

Totally passed out while playing. It's hard work.

In other news, the dogs are getting along pretty well for the most part. Jackman is turning into a little bit of dick though. He enjoys taking Hunter's (our foster dog's) bones and toys and hiding them on him. Jackman doesn't even eat the bones, just makes sure Hunter can't get them, and then gets mad if Hunter tries to get them back. Jackman gets put in time out a lot.

Jason is back in school for another little bit, and I'm back on the ice, doing all of the coaching. So life is good!

Peace&Love

Chow