Top 10 Zoie-isms at 3 months old

Quirky tidbits about our wee one...

1. She's ticklish - if you tickle her belly, Zoie will grin, squirm, and pull her knees up towards her chest. She's close to giggling!

2. She knows her mama - lately, Zoie refuses to let anyone else soothe her if she's feeling slightly fussy. It's wonderful to be her source of comfort and I'm glad she's well-attached, but I hope she opens up a bit towards others!

3. She's happy hanging out in her bouncy seat... as long as she can see me! - If I leave the room for more than a minute, Zoie starts yelling. Not crying, but yelling. It's actually pretty funny :-)

4. She loves to coo while nursing - once she's satisfied most of her hunger, Zoie will just start smiling at me and cooing softly, and continue nursing a bit. It's the cutest thing, I love our little milk chats!

5. She can be LOUD - Zoie loves to screech and yell when she gets excited, just like a toddler testing out her voice! Sometimes I'll hear a new sound, and not even realize it came from Zoie right away.

6. She likes to be held up on your shoulder - instead of being cradled in your arms (unless she is particularly relaxed or tired). This girl wants to be carried high to see the world!

7. She is a morning baby! - this is her happiest, most playful time of day. Once Zoie shakes off the groggy fussy just-waking-up feeling, she has tons of energy and smiles. (And as a solo-mama, this is the best time to take a shower! She'll hang out in her crib and happily chat to the sunshine dancing on the curtains for 10 minutes.)

8. She appreciates a good swaddle - as soon as her arms are pinned down and wrapped in a blanket, she'll relax instantly. As a newborn, she insisted on having her arms up by her head while she slept, so we obliged with a funky modified swaddle. These days, she's happy with her arms pinned to her sides (finally using those easy-Velcro-swaddle-blankets).

9. She wiggles in her sleep - sometimes she turns 90 degrees and wedges herself against the sides of the crib. And pretty regularly, her diaper will shimmy down her butt! Finally, after one too many pee-leaks in her crib, I've been switching to a disposable insert with a cloth diaper cover that hugs her tush. No leaks yet!

10. She loves to be carried around - her nickname is: she-who-must-be-held. This child can't get enough! She loves to be in arms. Sleeping, eating, playing, looking around - she LOVES to be held. Luckily, having several different baby carriers makes this a lot easier as a solo-mama.

I can't wait to discover more quirky things about our little girl, she's growing up so quickly! What a treat to watch her change and develop every day. Soon, her daddy will be here to join in the fun! We can't wait!

Cheers,

Martha

Zoie's second trip - Arizona!

Our baby girl turned 3 months old today!

We've just returned from another exciting trip - this time to Phoenix and Flagstaff. My in-laws took me and Zoie to spend a week visiting James' grandma, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends! Our little girl is becoming quite the traveler. She loved meeting her extended family and friends, and got along really well with so much hustle and bustle.

Zoie with her Nana and Grandnana!

The 2-hour time change was a little rough to manage, since Zoie would get really tired around 6:30pm local time instead of 8:30pm in Kansas. Going out to dinner with big groups of family was really fun, but Zoie only had a short period of happy time where she enjoyed being held and played with by her new friends. Once she starts to get fussy, she really just wants to be held close by mama and rocked to sleep.

 How nice it was to enjoy some beautiful warm dry weather! Kansas gets so humid in the summer, so Phoenix was a welcome change. We drove up to Flagstaff for 3 nights, which was pretty chilly (almost 7,000 feet elevation!). Zoie got to try out her fleecy pajamas, warm sleep sack, and enjoyed wearing her pumpkin hat! Babies are so adorable when they're all cozy and bundled up.

Snug and warm on mama's lap

 
Our big girl is developing so much! Her smiles, her coos, her laughs - it's so much fun to spend time talking to her. Zoie loooves to have a conversation, and she's quite the chatterbox. Sometimes she gets so excited, she's just bursting to tell you her story! Her legs will kick, her arms will flail, and her whole body wiggles. I love being able to make her smile and give a little chuckle, it's the best feeling. I can't wait for full giggles to develop!

Baby smiles are the best!

In the last few weeks, Zoie has really begun to explore her hands. She constantly holds her hands together, playing with her fingers and marveling at her own movement. Laying on her activity mat, Zoie gets intensely focused and excited about her dangling toys. She moves her hands towards them, but isn't directly grasping them yet - though she is very close! She'll hold onto a toy if we help get her fingers around it.

Papa playing with his granddaughter!

Zoie had a checkup with her pediatrician two weeks ago, and she weighed in at 10lb. She's grown quite a bit from 6lb 4oz at birth, but she's still petite. In fact, she wasn't even on the chart yet for height... she was only 20.5 inches! Little shorty baby in the zero percentile. However, her noggin measured in the 50th percentile. Yay for big brains!

We've had so many fun changes in the past few weeks! Zoie is sleeping up to 6-7 hours straight (not every night, but it's happening more often!), she's holding her head up even higher during tummy time, and she's sooo interactive with talking and making funny faces. She's such a joy to play with! She loves to lay on her back and kick, she loves to stand if you help her balance, and she loves to be carried up on your shoulder to watch the world around her. She loves windows, bright lights, fans (even if they're not moving), TV screens (though we're trying to avoid her viewing the TV until she's at least 2), and shirts with interesting patterns (i.e. several of Nana's shirts!).

It's nice to be home in Kansas again - reunited with our puppy Brownie and sleeping in our own beds! We'll soon be gearing up for another trip to Seattle (and from there to Maui with my parents!) in November. It's been so good to stay busy traveling and visiting family, otherwise missing James would become too much to bear. It's only been two months since he left, but it feels like much longer. Zoie can't wait for her daddy to get back, she loves his deep voice and loves to snuggle on his chest. Just a few more months to go!

Ahhh back in Kansas. There's no place like home.

 Cheers,

Martha