14 months

Well, Zooey's 14th month of life has come and gone, and as always I am amazed at how fast time flies and how much she changes in just a single month. We got to visit Ryan's family up in CO for five days, and while we were there we watched some video of Zooey when she was 7 weeks, 7 months and some that was taken throughout the week. She has grown so much! Sometimes when I look at her newborn pictures it's hard to believe that she's the same baby. Zooey is a very smart girl. She understands "no" and will usually stop doing what it is when we tell her not to. We put up our Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving, and from the first moment she looked at it and we told her "no touch" she hasn't tried to touch it one single time. She looks at it in awe and wonder, but she knows the rules. :) Every morning I sit with Zooey in her room while she has her milk & our "snuggle time," then I ask her if she wants to read her Bible. She looks at it and starts smiling and bouncing with excitement. I personally believe that children are much smarter than we give them credit for sometimes, & I believe that Jesus shows Himself to these little ones. When I tell Zooey "Jesus loves you, Zooey," I usually get smiles and giggles in reply. It's so amazing and a huge privilege to be able to teach my sweet girl about Jesus and His love for her. I did a quick Starbucks run today and was telling Zooey the Christmas story as we drove; I was overcome by emotion that He entrusted me to raise her up in Him and that He cares SO incredibly much for her that He thought of her before she was even conceived...that He put on skin to live and die for her so that she can live eternally. I pray that God will use her mightily for His purpose.

Zooey loves:

-Banana

-Exploring new places (gym, church nursery); at the gym they call her "Miss Independent" and say she leaves a little trail of destruction in her conquest of the room. :)

-To feed herself table foods

-To snuggle before naps (I love this, too!)

Zooey dislikes:

-She still doesn't like naps or getting changed/dressed

Zooey now:

-has taken a couple steps on her own but still needs to work up her confidence level to walk :)

-signs "more"

-stands independently for longer periods of time

-Her hair's getting so long and pretty!