Spreekt u Engels?: Zoe is One!!!

This past year has been one of the busiest and most wonderful years of my life. There are no words that can adequately describe how Zoe has changed our lives for the better. Just like each of her siblings before her, she is a perfect addition to our family and we can't imagine life without her. She brings so much light and joy to our family...and she is one!

Some new developments this month include clapping, dancing, some cruising, taking steps while holding our hands, making a brrrrrrrrrr sound while pushing cars around, starting to climb, and more babbling. I have also noticed that she has started trying to use items around house as they are meant to be used. For example, she tries to comb her hair when she's holding a comb, or holds a phone to her ear, or rubs the floor when she's holding a towel or rag, or pushes cars around on the floor, or tries to put food on a spoon or shoes on her feet.

You will be hard pressed to get Zoe away from me if I am in the room. She will pretty easily go to daddy, but if I am around, she still usually wants to be with me. However, it is very sweet to see how much she loves her daddy. She loves to snuggle with him, be silly with him, and she definitely has him wrapped around her tiny little fingers. I said last month that she has become more independent and that continues to be the case. She now explores all over the loft on her own and we often find her in our closet...it seems to be her favorite place to explore on her own at the moment.

We have weaned down to nursing twice a day and eating three meals with us during the day. She also usually has a little snack in the afternoon. She still loves to eat! She's trying more and more food all the time and she is getting closer to being able to just eat what we're eating for meals. And she is still a food thief. She will take food right out of your hands and shove it in her mouth if she is close enough. Zoe still only has one little tooth on the bottom, but she has been extremely fussy, so we think more are on the way.

Zoe loves to play. Whether she's on the floor playing alone, with her brothers or us, or with a big group of kids, she loves to play. She can sit on the floor and entertain herself, but she also like to interact with people...to show people what she's doing or to play with them (peek-a-boo for example). She loves to smile and laugh and be silly. She also loves her brothers. She laughs at them all the time which is very sweet. We love to watch them interact with each other. She's recently started sticking out her tongue all the time. I have a theory that she is doing this because of the teeth coming in.

At one year, Zoe weighs 18 lbs (8.2 kg, 20%) and is 29 inches (74 cm, 36%) long. She's still babbling a lot, but still not really any new discernible words other than mama and dada. She still has a temper and reacts very strongly to things. We have been working more on sign language, but she has only just recently started to sort of use them. Otherwise, she yells when she wants things or is unhappy. Zoe goes by many different names in our house. All of us, including the boys, call her something different all the time. The most commonly used names other than Zoe are Zobug, Zo, Bug, Bug-a-rug, Buggy, and Bugsy. She now responds to all those names!

Zoe is still sleeping great. The only real change is that she seems to be transitioning to one nap per day with an occasional cat nap to supplement. She prefers to be left alone when she's tired rather than being held, although she can sometimes become pretty snuggly when she's sleepy. She still loves her fuzzy pink blanket and likes to rub it very lightly on her lips when she is tired. She also sucks on her tongue when she's tired.

Although she isn't walking yet, Zoe did take a few independent steps the other day. Cole was out of town for work, so we decided to FaceTime with him before bed. When Zoe heard his voice, she turned to the phone, threw her hands up, squealed, and took two steps toward the phone before falling down. It was very sweet to see her excitement for Cole and I know it made him feel good. Other than those few steps, she doesn't seem to have much interest in walking. She's pretty steady on her feet and can stand up without assistance, but she's happy to just scoot from place to place.