mama & zoey

da da...finally

For some time, now, when Zoey tries to say, "da da" it comes out in one long, high-pitched, "daaaaaaa." One night Dave and I, both, tried to convince her to say "da da".

She finally did it!

She's not very consistent when it comes to saying, "da da" or "ma ma" but we know she's capable.

Later that night, when I was about to lay her down in bed I asked her to say, "ma ma"...and she did!

Happy 4th of July!

These are some pics from the morning of the Fourth of July. Mylee and Zoey are sweet friends. They were showing off their Fourth of July outfits and pigtails. It was a very humid day, hence the fog on my lens. At kamp, the Fourth of July is huge. We have a parade, a leadership reunion picnic and fireworks. Zoey was in her first parade and really had no idea what was going on, but she had a blast. We hope you and your families had a wonderful time celebrating our country's birthday.

new pics posted on flickr

always entertaining

A little clip to show off Zoey's talents. She whistles...just like Papa.

blowing kisses

We taught Zoey how to blow kisses last night. Actually, she's been putting her hand up to her mouth for a while but last night we taught her to "blow" the kiss. Notice her hair-do? She was ready for bed and I had taken her ponytail out. She has crazy hair!

18 months old...sigh

Our little Zoey is 18 months old today. She has been jabbering all the time, lately. She has so much to say about everything. There is always a running commentary at mealtime, bathtime and playtime. She has also learned to combine several of her signs. She will now sign, "more...milk...please." She also tries to say the words as she signs them, but usually she can only make out the first or last consonants. This week, Katie taught Zoey how to sigh. It's just about the cutest thing, so we ask her to sigh all the time...as you can see from this video clip. Zoey has also been working on eating with a fork. She has finally figured out how to hold the fork so she can stab her food. She successfully uses her fork to bring food to her mouth about 50% of the time. I am so proud of her because she doesn't get frustrated when working on her fork skills. If she can't do it, she makes the sign for help and hands me the fork to load it for her. Then I pass the fork back to her and she feeds herself. It's a great system.

new pics posted on flickr

water baby

We've been trying to take Zoey to the pool more often. Lately, the weather has been pretty chilly in the evenings and mornings so the pool water is still rather cool. We don't stay in very long because Zoey's little chin starts quivering...it's pretty cute. When we first get in the pool she is very clingy and gives lots of hugs...which, of course, we hate. But after a few minutes she starts to relax a bit and have some fun. She likes to bounce and kick her legs and she even tries to blow bubbles. We dunk her once or twice just so she gets used to having water on her face. She doesn't love it but tolerates it well. Maybe by the end of the summer, she'll want to go down the water slide. Yeah, right. new pics posted on flickr