Happy ONE HUNDRED Week Birthday, my little princess ...

totally forgot to get a photo "just" for her weekly birthday,

so I cropped down one of our traditional Christmas 

eve "all four kiddos" pics to just show Zoey!

I've decided to end the weekly birthday posts here!

100 weeks old!

what a milestone and how far Zoey has come!

I still can't believe that my little baby is nearly two years

old ... and that she is walking!!!

it's pretty amazing, if you ask me!

she is still behind, overall, but I think that

the progress she has made and all that she does

on her own, "naturally" (just later than average) is really

awesome!

my plan from here on out is to do monthly posts ... so we can still

see her grow and change, but at a more appropriate rate!

the weekly birthday thing began, just by chance, when she was

still in the NICU ... frankly, because each week was

just that much of a milestone to me!

but, now that she's older the physical change will become

less and less obvious - especially on a weekly basis - 

so I feel that monthly will be best ... and some day

she'll still have this amazing book (or volumes, lol) showing

all her progress through photos!!!

Happy Twenty-Three Month Birthday, my little princess ...

twenty-three months old, can you believe she's nearing two ... I can't!!!

some changes are on there way for this little blog too, I 

hope anyone/everyone who has kept up with it has enjoyed

the weekly birthdays!!!

Happy Ninety-Nine Week Birthday, my little princess ...

Zoey wasn't too sure of the big guy!

I managed to get two pics of her on his lap - but she

wouldn't look at me (oh -lol- I just noticed that Santa is pointing at me)

and managed to squirm her way off his knee, so the third

was being held by sissy and I caught her mid blink/turning her head!

oh well - it's still a fun memory of our "breakfast with Santa"!

Happy Ninety-Eight Week Birthday, my little princess ...

 she's giving me a hug!

 looks pretty hilarious - but actually it's the sweetest thing!

Annicka has taught Zoey to do this little pose -

and say "aaaaawwww" at the same time!

although, usually Annicka makes the "aaawwww" sound,

for Zoey it's usually just an open mouth - lol!

still - it's one of the cutest things ever!

 she knows just what cups, sippy cups, straw cups are for ...

and if she finds one, she's all into it - but give her her

own and she'll fight you for her bottle - little stinker!

 here she's putting the cup back where she found it!

(and freaking me out - leaning over the couch like that)

 love the silly "duck" faces!!!  

the boys did this same silly face, too!

 snuggling up to sissy's rear-end ... YIKES!  (lol)

and here she was giving us a laugh, pulling sissy's

shirt up and then proceeding to smack her!!!

Happy Ninety-Seven Week Birthday, my little princess ...

threw a bunch of "new" toys into Zoey's play area the other day!

I came across them while on a mad hunt for a table cloth,

they were toys that Liam (and some even Jericho)

used to play with!  she loves the star stacking toy!!!

Happy Ninety-Six Week Birthday, my little princess ...

ok, so we're a day late ...

here's a few pics of Zoey after our photo shoot

with Nana & Grandaddy and our Christmas card

photo shoot!  she was pictured out, I s'pose -

just wanted to play with leaves and crawl away from me!!

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

ha ha ha, shirtless baby!!!  just playing and having a fun time - typical saturday for Zoey!

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

I just love these cute jammies!

big news too, Zoey has gone from being able

to climb up onto the pink chair (and other lower things)

to being able to climb up on the couch!

big girl!!!

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

she was ignoring me ...like, she seriously would not turn around for a pic!!!

so, I moved a little and she turned a little and made this face!

a little later she enjoyed one of her favorite games: hide behind the pillow!

she's so clever and so cute!!!

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

Happy Ninety-One Week Birthday, my little princess ...

I really love this set of photos of Zoey!  I adore her pigtails - even though they're all falling out and messy, she's reminding me of the little orphans on Annie - lol!  I caught so many expressions this day - she is so funny!  I can't get over how long her hair is getting ... however, she's started to pull it out from time to time - boo on that!  no matter, she's our precious little princess and we love her to bits!

Happy Ninety Week Birthday, my little princess ...

Happy Eighty-Nine Week Birthday, my little princess ...

gettin close to sleepy time, saturday night ...

and excited for her bottle sunday morning!

Happy Eighty-Eight Week Birthday, my little princess ...

(photos Sept. 29 ... I didn't manage to take any today)

Happy Eighty-Seven Week Birthday, my little princess ...

Happy Twenty Month Birthday, my little princess ...

yesterday I finally after knowing for months decided to work with Zoey on drinking from a straw! I have to say, once again - the girl amazes me!  it was as if she knew exactly what to do - as far as the sucking part (yes, this seems "typical" I would say.  my other kids instinctively knew that as well - after going from bottle, to sippy cup, to straw - but I was told that it would take a lot of work and she wouldn't get it right away) ... the keeping it in her mouth and swallowing was a little trickier, but she did swallow some of her formula!  now I need to not be lazy be sure that we do this at least one time a day ... and I think if I did it before each bottle, it wouldn't take long and she'd be bottle free!  I could be wrong, but if I get my butt in gear put in the effort I think in a month or two we could be saying bye-bye to the bottles!

per suggestion by the occupational therapist, I used a honey bear with a straw put in it (sans honey and washed well, of course) ... this way you can squeeze the liquid up, to help them get the idea!  the way you're supposed to do it is to wait until the child puckers around the straw, that way they start to understand what they have to do to get the liquid up ... I only squeezed the liquid up twice, because it was nearly immediately apparent that she knew what to do and how to do it!  my amazing little princess!

Happy Eighty-Six Week Birthday, my little princess ...

as you can see, saturday was a very special day!

how perfect that Zoey did this not only

when the camera was ready, but also on a saturday -

making a perfect weekly birthday photo spread for the blog!

that's right, our little princess now stands up completely on her own.

on her own!

as in, she can be in the middle of the room with no furniture

or anything or anyone to assist and she can just stand up!

my hubby was telling me how I'd missed seeing her do this,

she had done it twice and I distinctly remember giving

him the "really???" look.  for some reason I wasn't convinced

and didn't get how I didn't notice the previous night, I 

had thought she had used furniture to get up and then let go!

and yes, after all my high pitch excitement and

smiles from ear to ear (and her finally plopping down from a quite

decent amount of time standing) I scooped her up, hugged

her in close, and cried.  they were very happy tears.

way to go Zoey!

we're so very proud of you and know

that this is the beginning of so much for you!

love you, little princess

Happy Eighty-Five Week Birthday, my little princess

having some munchies!!!

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