July

July has come and gone, and we have but a month and a half until little Tennyson joins our family. I'm savoring the time I have with Zooey as an only child, but looking forward to seeing her with her baby brother. She is a very loving little girl, always curling up for snuggles and giving me and Ryan hugs and kisses. She also loves her cousin so much; I have a feeling she's going to be just as loving and affectionate with Tennyson.

Zooey loves:
- Swimming! Although her swim lessons this summer started out kind of rough, she has really adapted and loves to be in the water. She also loves to show off for her teachers and is constantly touting the things she did "all by myself!"
- Singing - from BSF songs to songs from her favorite TV shows, she is constantly singing little songs. What's really cool is that her language is improving so much every day that we can often understand what she's trying to sing - and many times she's right on-key. :)
- Babies - she continues to love babies, especially her cousin Gideon. She also loves to give my belly kisses and "zerberts" and talk to baby Tennyson. She also pretends that there's a baby Tennyson in her tummy.
- Puzzles, which she's becoming really great at, often doing them independently
- Books on CD in the car
- VBS was this month, and she had a blast!
- She continues to love Peter Pan and enjoys making up imaginary games and stories involving him.

Cute things she said:
- Singing "Good Morning God" she sings "Morning time I am child Show me way"
- "Mommy, you so pretty. Me love you so much!"

Zooey's making HUGE improvements at speech therapy! Her therapist has been amazed at the amount of language explosion she's had over the last two months. I definitely think that private therapy twice a week this summer has been very beneficial, and if we can afford it, I'd like to keep sending her to private once a week when school/Child Find starts back up. She's also begun to play with noise levels and do a lot of self-talk when playing, all of which are good signs with her language improvement. Her SLP noticed that Zooey seems to have some sensory issues. I talked with her former BSF teacher who happens to be an OT, and she said she thinks Zooey would be a great candidate for OT. She was SUPER kind to meet with me and give me a basic sensory diet to work with until we can get Zooey in for a full evaluation and begin therapy. So far the things I've been trying have been improving her focus and attention, as well as giving her input where she really seems to be seeking it.

I have to be honest, all the speech and sensory things have been hard for me. It's hard as a parent to have a kiddo who society kind of deems "not average." It's been hard to see her struggle with her language, and it's hard to know now that some of the "quirks" I thought she had are something more (like how she trips or runs into people/things, getting so wound up when she's tired or overstimulated). I've spent a lot of time "on my knees" (more so in my heart, because being pregnant and on my literal knees is a bit too much right now :) ) about all this, and God continually shows me that He's in control. He gave me and Ryan sweet Zooey the way she is, and He has big plans for her. He has been in every.single.detail and has consistently given us Christian therapists to work with Zooey and who pray for Zooey and even give me encouragement. Even though I've been surprised, defensive, confused and overwhelmed, I am so thankful that my Lord is none of those things. He is in control, not surprised but Sovereign, and He sees Zooey's future. These little bumps in the road are not things that define her, despite any label society may try to put on her to define her. I need to remember that. She is my amazing, independent, special, jubilant, compassionate, sensitive little girl whom I treasure so much! I can't wait to see what God's going to do with her.

singing at the last day of VBS

nursing her baby :)

my snuggly girl

She HAD to have goggles!

first dentist appointment - she did awesome!