Build A Bear

Zoe and her cousin, Zach went to Build A Bear for the first time the Saturday before her first birthday. Zoe made a bear and dressed her in a pink Dodger get-up. Zach made a bear too and his giggles. We also had lunch at the mall and it was too cute to see Zoe and Zach interact. They have started to really notice one another and Zach was so cute because he tried to feed Zoe.

Bubbles!

Zoe gave out bubbles in her birthday party goody bags and we had leftovers for her to use. She loves them! She says, "OOOOOOOOoooooooo", whenever she sees them. I showed her that she could pop them too and she loves that. She looks at me in total surprise every time she pops one on her own. It's amazing how such little things amuse such small people.

Zoe's SECOND Easter

Holy cow! We can't even believe that Zoe just celebrated her SECOND Easter! Zoe's first Easter was spent in the hospital because she was just one day old! It is unbelievable how much happens in the first year of a little one's life. The Easter bunny visited us for a second year in a row and Zoe got a stuffed bunny, little chick hoodie bath towel, new shoes, a few books, and a pair of bunny slippers. We had an egg hunt in the front yard with our neighbors, then went to church. Zoe loved the eggs because she learned how to open them and they had Cheerios in them. She would open one and look so surprised that they had goodies in them. Jasmine had a good time too. She really liked her Elmo Easter basket.

Funny Faces

Zoe's New Patio Furniture

After we got home from church Zoe napped...then we went over to Grandma and Grandpa's house to celebrate Easter and her birthday again. She got MORE toys and now it looks like a mini Toys R Us in our house. In between going places, Zoe was able to play with a few of her new toys. She loves walking around her new picnic table (that is big enough for ALL the cousins :) ), her new rock band toy, and Noah's Arc toy. We are going to try and switch out toys every now and then to keep her interest.

Zoe's First Birthday Party

We had Zoe's first birthday party at Peppertree Park last Saturday. Her grandmas and grandpas, aunt and uncle, cousin, and friends were there to help celebrate. Thanks for coming! She looked super cute in her pink dress with a cupcake on it. The food turned out to be a success after waiting until the last minute (Mommy's fault). And many thought the cake was delicious! Unfortunately Zoe was still recooperating from a nasty flu/cold and ear infection, so she was fussy most of the time. I don't think that it helped any that it was extremely windy.

THE CAKE...everyone always looks forward to that first cake moment. Zoe wanted nothing to do with the cake at all! Mommy had to help her a little. She just screamed. I wasn't taking pics the whole time, so someone that was will have to send me the pics of her screaming. I will post more cake pics when I get them.

Zoe received her first present for her birthday on St. Patrick's Day and loved reading the card. And we opened all her party presents at home after a much needed nap. All the presents overwhelmed her, so she got a little cranky. She got so many neat toys (and of course cute clothes too) and loved reading all the cards too!

Easter Prep and Funny Faces

The whole month of March wasn't the best for us because we struggled to stay healthy, so the end of March we were are finally feeling better. Zoe had a really good time dying eggs with Grandma and Daddy. She didn't really know what to do. I think if we would have given her some time to discover the dye would have ended up EVERYWHERE or she would have tried to drink it :). Most of her eggs were pink...and we found these really fantastic egg tongs for young ones. We are definitely saving them for next year!

Zoe has been making such great facial expressions lately (including the fussy face :) ), so I tried to capture some on camera. Enjoy!!!

More March Catch-up!

Zoe and her friend Jasmine played on St. Patrick's Day in their matching outfits. They looked too cute! Zoe and Jasmine are starting to interact more and it's fun to see them growing up together.

Two days later, March 19th, Zoe took her first steps by herself! She has been running while holding onto someones fingers, but now she can take a few steps on her own. Her walking toy is one of her favorites because she is able to walk all around on her own. The only trouble is turning the darn thing! :) She took it upon herself to walk around it and push it backwards when she runs into a wall. I guess it is her way of problem solving.

Too Long Since an Update!!!

Looking out into the backyard...

Well...I have been wanting to blog for sooooooooo long now, but our laptop has "severely clogged arteries", as our neighbor has described to us. Bummer! Our desktop is in the other room, so it's harder to supervise Zoe. At after she goes down, I am just about wiped out myself. And we have all been sick in the last month, so it's been no fun. Okay, okay, okay, enough with the excuses... :)

Zoe has been pulling herself up for a couple of months now and loves to run while holding our hands. She picks up on so much these days! She even watches us put on her shoes and she tries to do it on her own. It is too cute! Water bottles are her favorite toy now. It is amazing how entertained she is by them and how long they can entertain her for.

Making faces with her is so fun! She now has a "funny face" that is priceless! She scrunches her little nose and breathes heavy out of her nose. For the longest time Zoe loved her army scoot, but realized that she could go more places if she crawled on her knees. She definitely has a mind of her own and knows what she wants. She loves finding places to get stuck in and then of course Mommy or Daddy have to go to her rescue.

Funny Face

Eating has become very unpredictable with Zoe. She doesn't want to eat baby food much anymore because she wants whatever Mommy and Daddy are eating. Black beans, rice, and cheese are her favorites. She still doesn't like to eat table food veggies, fruit or meat, so we have to sneak bites of jarred food inbetween table food bites.

MMMMMmmmmmm black beans!

Reading is at the top of the favorites list too. She loves to turn the pages in books as I read and she will pick up books on her own to read them. Papa and Yia Yia got her a princess book that has music buttons on it and she loves to dance to the music. She is learning to enjoy music and shakes her little tush with the best of them!