Zoe and her sippy cup- the valve is in!

Hello all. I am at home today (I don't work Wednesdays, which is really nice) and am currently putting off going out to mow the lawn (which in our absence has become more like a jungle) so I thought I would update you on another new development. It has been a great few days with Zoe (even though she seems to have picked up a cold and a mild fever today). She has really showed some great progress in the last week or so. The weight gain is amazing, and a huge load off our minds. We had been hoping for her to break that 7 kilogram barrier since November and she just blew it away. Especially significant is that she did it in the month she weaned herself, showing us that she can keep herself hydrated and gain weight when she is off the breast.

The other piece of exciting news is how well Zoe is using her sippy cup. A month ago she could take a couple of ounces, poured into her mouth from the sippy cup with the valve out, thus mitigating the "sippy" factor into more of a "poury" factor. She just wasn't able to generate enough of a suck to get anything. Thus when she stopped nursing we were pretty worried she would be able to get enough. It has been a pretty stressful month of trying not focus on her eating and drinking while all the while being totally focused on her eating and drinking (kind of like trying to ignore the large pink elephant sitting on your dining room table at mealtimes). Anyway, while we were away she seemed to be sucking more on the spout of her sippy, so when we got back we put the valve back into the cup to see how she would do. We had done this before with no success, so were not expecting miracles. Well, Zoe surprised us and has been doing amazing! Just today she has already taken about 10 ounces of Pediasure/milk in two sittings (it's only 10:30 AM). That 's more then her entire daily intake used to be. We started with the cup about 10 months ago (she would never take a bottle) so the fact that she has finally got the strength and coordination to use it (ie in a "sippy"manner) and that she put this all together in just the 2 days we have been back is wonderful. Of course, now my mind is thinking "okay, next step is to have her do it independently" but then I tell myself to slow down a just celebrate one thing at a time!

Well, the lawn isn't going to mow itself, so I should go. If you don't hear from me again I have probably perished in our jungle of a backyard, mauled by a marauding jagular who migrated northwards from the depths of the Amazonian rainforest to stalk through the long grass, tree like weeds and snaking vines of our yard in suburban Scarbourough. Of course, I could also run into our friendly neighbourhood skunk who lives underneath our front step- not a happy proposition either : )