Zoey Update

Our little Zoey Beast is 8 months old! I know I say this every time, but WHERE has the time gone?!? An update:

- She crawls like a pro, pulls up on everything, and is cruising around furniture like it's her job. Everyone assures us that walking is right around the corner for her, and I'm so excited to see her take her first steps!

- Zoey eats just about everything. In fact, I can't think of any food other than my homemade egg noodles (what?!) that she has refused. She looooved Thanksgiving dinner--she feasted on turkey, peas, corn, mashed potatoes, Chinese pork, bread, sweet potatoes, and honeydew melon. Other favorites include eggs (boiled or scrambled), toast, guacamole, oranges, apple pancakes, and cajun-spiced chicken. She still eats baby food and yogurt at daycare and on occasion at home, but she much prefers non-pureed real food! Our favorite restaurant to go to these days is Ruby Tuesday, since they have an awesome salad bar with lots of yummy stuff that Z can eat.

- Speaking of Thanksgiving, we celebrated Zoey's first Thanksgiving this past Thursday. For the first time in several years, we didn't host. We joined Aaron's former advisors at their house, along with some fellow grad students. We were in charge of the turkey and the dinner rolls, and I even made a semi-healthy sweet potato pie to keep at home (ssshhh, don't tell!), so Zoey and I wouldn't have to share...haha. We enjoyed a lovely meal, and then after dinner, instead of everyone scattering down to the basement to play pool and video games, we all sat on the carpet and let Zoey entertain us for awhile!

- The only "bad" news we have to report is that Zoey has really regressed in her sleep habits. She's gone from sleeping straight through the night, 11-12 hours, to waking anywhere from 2-4 times a night. I don't know if she's going through a growth/development spurt, or has just gotten into a bad pattern, but ugh! It's so hard to go back to frequent night wakings when you're used to getting an uninterrupted night's sleep!

- Zoey has really increased her babbling lately, and she will "communicate" with you by talking back and trying to imitate sounds if you engage her directly. We're still waiting for the first "mama" or "dada", though.

- Finally, we are really looking forward to the month of December. Unfortunately, Aaron will be gone to San Francisco all of the first week, but Grandma (my mom) is coming to visit instead! I'm sure Zoey and Grandma will enjoy the one-on-one time while I'm at work. Also, later in the month, Zoey will get to spend another evening with Tiff, a good friend of ours who likes to babysit her, while Aaron and I attend the Aerospace holiday banquet. And, for Christmas, Aaron's parents, plus his sister and her fiance, will join us in Grand Forks, and we're really looking forward to celebrating with them and hopefully finding Hannah's wedding dress while they're here!