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 ...