21 months

This picture seriously melts my heart!

Would you just look at Zooey?! Look at those "big girl legs" and how she's getting leaner and taller and starting to really look like a little girl...less of a baby. Wow! She is so much fun right now. She is very curious and loves to explore. She loves to play outside and has even started to venture away from her toys to look at trees, hummingbirds and Daddy's garden. She is absolutely obsessed with her belly button. She plays with it ALL the time, especially as a comfort, like when she's unsure of a situation; I can see her on the video monitor playing with it as she goes to sleep. Zooey's a very affectionate little girl, giving kisses all the time. She also loves to give snuggles, and I am still blessed enough to get to treasure those snuggles where she lays her head down on my shoulder before bedtime. She had swim lessons this month, a mom/tot class, which she absolutely loved. The only thing she wasn't too sure about was being dunked underwater, but I can't say that I blame her. I am excited to take her swimming more when my gym's pool opens (they have a kid pool). Zooey also really loves the animals. I know I've said that in the past, but she's really starting to enjoy petting them gently and giving them kisses. She likes to give Tiny, the dog, his toy and watch him run around with it. She's gotten a little bit more into TV, and her favorite seems to be Blue's Clues. She loves to color and play with playdough. She's very affectionate with family and loves to have them come over. When I tell her Grandma or RaRa (Sarah) are coming over, she runs to the front door laughing and waits a little bit, thinking they're coming through the door any minute. One of my favorite times of day are when we go wake Daddy up after breakfast. Her excitement over seeing him and giving him kisses just warms my heart to the core!

Challenges this month include pretty bad separation anxiety - sometimes when it's clear I'm not going anywhere, she still cries and clings to me until she's absolutely sure. She's in a hitting/kicking phase, which we're trying to tame with consistent time outs. I've heard it's usually a short phase...let's hope! She usually hits when she's tired or frustrated, and I notice she does it a lot when I'm about to put her down, then she cries. I think she's frustrated and sad because she knows I'm leaving her. One kind of funny thing is that she'll hit and immediately kiss us to apologize. We're working on telling her it's still not ok, but it's pretty clear from the kisses that she already knows that!

Overall she is just a joy. When I put her to bed each night, lately, I am struck yet again with how fast time goes, with how I'll never get that day back. I try very hard to cherish each day and make the most of every moment. I take tons of pictures and even more mental ones. Being a mom is such a gift. A question on my Bible study asked me when I had felt God's blessing, even when I didn't deserve it. I constantly think about how Zooey is such a huge blessing from God, and also a huge responsibility. I hope I glorify Him in my parenting her. I hope I can "box up" a little of this sheer joy in this blog as I journal about our sweet family.