Happy Thirty-Five Week Birthday, my little princess ...

I'm two days late - but I did snap just a couple shots on saturday, between all the craziness of running errands, going to a birthday party, and then hanging out with a friend! and, while I'm here, I keep forgetting to put this into writing: I am no longer a cow! ha ha, I'm still overweight - I'm referring to pumping this time, though. the friday we were out of town was the last time I used my good old buddy, "the pump". I had missed a couple days, so I just sort of quit. I can't say I have zero guilt over it, call me selfish - but I was just feeling so "done". Zoey still has two bottles a days of mama milk, from our freezer stash. she's on soy formula and seems to be doing fine with it!

Happy Eight Month Birthday, my little princess ...

yesterday was Zoey's eight month birthday ... it seems very strange that she is eight months old! partially because it seems like just a couple weeks ago that we were driving to the hospital, visiting the NICU, traveling to L.A., and bringing her home and partially because she still seems like a little baby! don't get me wrong, she's growing and progressing very nicely (even if, perhaps, "slowly") but she's still pretty small! she can still fit in size 2 diapers, though we've moved her to size 3. she still fits a lot of her 3-6month clothes - especially pants ... she has moved into some of her 6/6-9/6-12month shirts and one piece outfits (her 3-6month pajamas were getting tight, so she's moved up in those too)! she has the smallest feet of any of my babies - I think she still fits a size 1 shoe (I think my others were at least a size 3 by this age). she's getting lots of hair - I can't wait till it's enough to put in little piggy tails. for some reason, since returning home from our trip, she has become quite whiny ... I believe it's just that she wants attention, because most of the time holding her or playing with makes the whining go away - like magic! she does fight sleep these days too ... possibly because she's getting overtired as she doesn't sleep much in the day (I've been trying to put her in her bed - finally - for nap times ... so far it's unsuccessful, she just works up into a cry). if we go in the car, she'll usually fall asleep - other than that it's difficult as ever to get her to fall asleep ... and then there's the issue of keeping her asleep with other loud children (I probably should transfer her to her bed, huh?!). also since returning home, I began offering her baby cereal ... and have now added a bit of applesauce - last night was the first time I felt she actually swallowed a good majority of what I fed her (she sort of rolls it around on her tongue and eventually just drools it out, usually) ... so maybe she's getting the idea?! anyhow, she's still a happy little girl - if not just a bit spoiled - and you really can't look at her without smiling yourself!

Happy Thirty-Four Week Birthday, my little princess ...

a little update: on friday Zoey was 16lbs 14oz on the cardiologist's scale (which, you may remember, she always ways a bit more as they don't have me undress her, etc.) and about 25inches long! Last night I added some applesauce to her baby cereal and I think she did indeed swallow some for sure this time ... not real enthusiastic about it, but she's ok with it too! she's been a crank this week - I have no idea why, but keep wondering if maybe she'll actually get a tooth? I know I haven't been too good with keeping up the blog - perhaps I'll do another "catch up" soon???

Happy Thirty-Three Week Birthday, my little princess ...

so, yes - I'm like five days late with this ... but I have a good excuse, sort of: Zoey and I were out of town on Saturday, her weekly birthday! That's right - my Oregon bestie just had to see me and so she flew me up there! We surprised my parents - that was awesome! We had early morning flights - we flew up on wednesday and back home on sunday. Zoey was an A+++++ traveler - seriously, she was amazing! She was also excellent for the stay - we did things I've never done, like go to the mall and out and about ALL DAY - she was totally down with all of it (she went to the movies too, hopefully none of the swear words soaked in too far). It was a wonderful time, but went so fast. Here's a few pics of her on her actual thirty-three week birthday ... my friend had an open house and lots of friends and family were finally able to see Zoey, including my grandma - that meant a LOT to me! Of course, some important people aren't pictured here - but these were the best of what my dad and I got on his camera. (hopefully no one minds me sharing these pics, usually I ask permission first but I just wanted to get them up before it's time for her next weekly birthday post)

a few thirty-three week notes:
just before our trip Zoey starting making consonant sounds, she can be quite vocal and QUITE loud! yesterday I gave her rice cereal for the first time, she doesn't quite know what to do with it and I'm not sure she really enjoys the taste - but I think she may have actually swallowed a teeny bit of it today! she continues to do physical therapy and currently we're having all sorts of in-home appointments to evaluate her and see if tri-counties regional center will cover some therapies, etc. She's been a bit of a crank at times this week, so I'm wondering if she's possibly getting a tooth or if it's her congestion (all the kids have had mild to severe "colds"). She's still an amazing baby and is so fun and easy to take care of!

Happy Thirty-Two Week Birthday, my little princess ...