The Seattle Story: Life as we know it

...is getting back to normal but changing fast.

Although we're still working hard to employ repeatable patterns and routines (ie, getting the three of us out the door together in one piece in the mornings) and still adjusting to the space (where IS the best place for the box of tissues in the kitchen??), I'd say we pretty darned well reached normal, days ago.

The house is great. Huge, but great. I was so worried that I'd be pining for our old house and not enjoying this new one. Well, now that I bring it up, I do miss it. Sniff. But not when I have to pee at night! Master bathrooms ROCK!! But I'm really coming to see us in the place for the long haul.

Zoe seems to be adjusting more or less, as well. She LOVE LOVE LOVES the new staircase! We're constantly getting invited to join her there :) She refuses to go down backwards so we've taught her how to go down on her bum: Scootch, scootch, sit! Scootch, scootch, sit! She's an ace at going 'upupup', being sure to grab the railing along the way for support. Only problem is that she's prone to standing up half-way up or down and changing directions. Hmm.

The walking is truly blossoming, as well. She no longer only walks when point B is 5 steps from point A. Now, she'll go as far as she can see as long as her feet will carry her. She hasn't yet, though, taken a spill and gotten back up on her feet, but I'm sure that will happen soon. When it does, I think I'll officially call her a walker! Until then, while crawling is still a go-to fall-back for her, I'll preserve the excitement.

Now, I don't mean to sound impatient. Except that I am. I'm literally falling apart because I still carry her so much of the time (when crawling isn't appropriate). I've landed myself in PT with a compressed radial nerve in my left arm!! Sigh. Otherwise, I'm fine with Zoe's mobility development. She's so darned cute doing whatever she's doing to get around, that I'm cool with it. And, carrying her is a great way for me to sneak in extra snuggles and kisses which I know will be harder to get once she achieves her foot-found freedom.

We've also experienced a bit of a language explosion in the past few weeks. She's a GREAT little parrot. (Note to self: watch my tongue!) I swear she'll repeat even two-word phrases phonetically well. She usually doesn't have much of a clue as to what she's saying, but she's saying it. She's also experimenting with more complex sound pairings. This week it's been 'gobbledy gook' typed sounds. SO funny. Dave and I have enjoyed that tremendously!! But, she's been sneaking in lots of real words, too. The ones I can recall:

puppy
quack (duck or any bird for that matter)
nkie (blankie)
ball
mail (she actually nails this one perfectly!!)
meat (eat)
Pepere (said 'Pep-ay' - as in my Dad)
buh (bread)
ligh (light)
bay-er (bear)
bee bee (beep beep - as in pushing her cart around the kitchen)
ha-o (hello)
oc-car (Oscar)
b-bye (bye bye)
mmmf (dog - seriously. I think she just doesn't know how to say 'arf arf'??)
buh (book - that's my girl!!)

And from the archive, lest she not get credit for them:
mama
dada
chee (cheese)
ki-y (kitty)

And, of course there's 'No', complete with head-shaking. However, we've realized that she's using that one as her default answer whether she means no or not! For instance, on Sunday she made the sign for 'eat', so I asked her if she was hungry. She said 'No.' So I said OK, and walked away from her highchair. She was pissed! Ooops - talk about double-speak!

Oh, almost forgot! She's really funny at the dinner table now, too. Dave and I use cloth napkins (thanks, Lani!) and Zoe loves them...to wipe her own face. Sometimes she actually gets it a little clean! Sweet.

Some pix from the last week or so. I promise I'll try to get back into my blogging routine (sorry Lani!!). I didn't realize that I've kind of missed it too ;)

Home sweet home...