Frankly Friday [v. 5]

I couldn't resist. I wanted to do both today. Especially because I have the happiest Frankly Friday ever; at least, for myself I do. So I'll begin with my link up for Frankly Friday. Amy at Taking Steps Home hosts this link up and if you don't already know her, you should! She's sweet, genuine, and just an all around great blogger to get to know. That said...

For this, I have to say that my daughter is the cutest! The video that follows will prove such :) (I'm not biased at all.) And frankly, I'm pretty sure I'm one blessed mom! I'll take all the bad and good days with her. The one thing I hate is that I don't have an updated video. Here's what I mean: Zoë has been all over learning animal sounds. When I took this video, she had clearly learned duck (I'm honestly not sure where she gathered that one as it hasn't been a frequent sound correlation I've shown her and it isn't in the book we've been reading), cow, dog, and cat. The latter three have been frequently practiced because of a really cute book we're borrowing from the library: Hello, Day! by Anita Lobel. She now will do elephant with a ridiculously cute arm trunk (this was learned between her Little People Zoo Talkers Zoo - which I LOVE, by the way- and me showing her :) and has added rabbit, too. (The book says "The rabbit says 'Pr Pr Pr.'" Cute, huh?) Anyway, without further adieu, here's the video:

Life isn't always easy being a mom. Any mom can tell you this. Actually, any good nanny can tell you this. If you've worked with kids consistently, there are plenty of times you want to join them in their pity party. (Or is that just me?) There are many times you can find yourself wanting to succumb to feelings of anger, frustration, self-doubt, incompetence, you name it and throw in the towel. And yet, when you don't, when you choose to look at the many, many blessings that come from all the hard work, you remember how worth it is. You remember that the gift of having a tiny human blessing far outweighs any bad days you may see. And that is one reminder that keeps me going at the end of the days I want to throw in that towel hard.

Wordless Wednsesday v. 8 [vblog style]

Well, that is if a vblog can be called that. We're not completely out of the woods with all our illnesses over here (I was diagnosed with a double ear infection/ruptured ear drums and Zoë got pink eye), but I thought this was too cute not to share and fits "wordless" (it's a video...what else can I say.) Wednesday. Enjoy!

(Yes, it's long. But I just love watching her and observing her little differences from the way another baby might do it.)

Lil' Scootin' Booty

So today I give you proof that I no longer can leave Zoë in one spot. Though I haven't been able to because she rolls, she's now much faster and more dedicated in where she is going.

If she sees a book she wants she's headed that way.

Found an electrical wire? Yep. She's gonna try to get it (though I have attempted to hide/cover any wire she might get to).

I've even found her with pieces of carpet fuzz in her mouth. Our carpet was put in just before we moved in so it's hard to get all of these. Anyway, I thought it was cute how she was scooting over to her bookshelf and thought I would share it with you.

Also notice, her tummy doesn't keep her pants up. They start sagging because of how they're pulled when she scoots.

The Cutest Little Laugher

Oh how my sweet pea makes me laugh! Her personality is unfolding more and more and laughter just happens to occur quite a bit. Melts. my. heart! Makes me laugh too. Just thought I would share.

Sorry she's off in the corner. It was in hopes I would be able to capture her laughing...and I DID!

A Day of "Firsts"

Oh this is too good to wait. I'm sure I will be retyping everything I'm about to in bullet form for Zoë's 5 month post, but it just can't wait.

We had three "firsts" today.

One of them was a true first: she actually jumped in the johnny jump up! It was histerical because for whatever reason she was comfortable leaning toward her left side. This left her right foot kicking thin air and barely meeting the ground, if at all. I have a video, but I don't have time for two and I have to post the second :)

Another "first" was I went into her room to get her up from her nap to find her like this:

She rolled over! BTW, notice the awesome red marks on the right of her forehead and right cheek :) Good nap!

She has rolled over before, though only once in her crib. So this really isn't a first, but considering the times of her accomplishing this have been so few and far between, it was quite exciting to go in and find her like this. Though a bittersweet as it means she is growing :/

Ahhh, but the final first: MELT. MY. HEART! This wasn't a true first either, as daddy was the first to elicit a laugh from her, BUT it is the very first time I've ever gotten a response to peek-a-boo AND she giggled. LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE!!

I must note, my blasted point and shoot has a terrible buzz it adds to the entire experience. Grrr! At least I still caught her cute giggle on camera :)

My Little Talker

Zoë is talking more and more daily. Such a sweet girl! I have to say I am so unbelievably bummed I didn't capture her face better. I know I will have more moments to capture her, but she was being so cute in this moment and I wanted to have her face captured :/ I was in a rush to get the camera going though and so putting it on the tripod completely slipped my mind. Oh well. If you enjoy just listening to babies talk, then you will still enjoy it :) (just ignore the weird way I talk to my baby girl)

Talking to My Duck Friend

So we're borrowing my sister's play gym, which has a few small stuffed animals hanging from it. Zoë, for whatever reason, is most enamored with the duck. If she's gonna pipe up a convo, it will be with the duck.  Thought I'd share one of the glimpses of happy moments we get around these parts. They're what I focus on when I feel like I'm going under. Definitely cherished!

Before you watch it, know she takes her time and this is at the tail end of it...I kind of missed the more babbly part of her session :/ And she does get fussy at the end :)