Zoe turns two

Zoe's birthday photos

As some of you know, Zoe just turned 2- a very big event around here. She was sick for the week before her actual birthday, so we had a small family party on the 21st (Zoe's grandad was here and got to get in on the cake!) and then a slightly larger friend party on the next Sunday.

This video is a slideshow of pictures- one per month since Zoe was born. At her one year birthday I printed out pictures by month for ages 0 -12 and stuck them on the living room wall as decorations for her party, and I continued doing it this year. As long as our wall space holds out, I plan on making this a major part of the birthday decorations- it is really nice to look back over the months/years and see where Zoe was and where she is now. So for those of you who cannot come into our living room and see the actual pictures here they are. Months 0 to 24 of Zoe Alexander Ross.

The song, by the way, is "Only you" by Joshua Radin. When Zoe was born and admitted to hospital for 3 weeks it was the only CD we had with us so we listened to it A LOT in those first three weeks. Zoe got rocked to sleep many times to these songs- good thing it was a good CD we happened to have in the car and we weren't listening to Milli Vanilli or Boney M or something like that (not that we actually would listen to Milli Vanilli or Boney M but . . . )

My rules for picking the pictures is to limit myself to one per month, it has to only have Zoe in it (mostly anyway) and as much as possible it should highlight what is going on in Zoe's life at that time. This can be a challenge, as we take a lot of pictures! But I think I did alright- that is one of the great things about doing it- it really makes me appreciate who Zoe is and what she has done.

The first picture is Zoe about 30 hours old, already extubated and with my thumb holding her hand. The next one (maybe 12 days or so?) shows just how tiny she is- my hands wrap around her chest. Then she gets home on the NG tube and then into one of her preemie outfits people gave us, looking pissed and greasy (she had cradle cap so we were told to rub olive oil on her scalp. Olive oil- good for Italian food, good for babies- who knew?) She wouldn't fit her newborn clothes for several months yet.

In August 07 we went to Scotland and England- here is Zoe contemplating Carlyse cathedral (which her Scottish ancestors sacked and partially destroyed way back when- sorry about that!). In September she started smiling- before that she had not done so and we didn't know if she ever would. She used to always stick out her tongue to smile. The two October pictures in he slideshow how she developed in terms of grabbing stuff and using her hands. In 07 it was all hand over hand, guiding her; in 08 she was all about grabbing it herself. This picture actually documents one of the first times Zoe attempted self feeding (hence the pumpkin goop on her face) It wasn't an attempt with anything particularly edible, of course, but that came later on. Incidentally, I think both pictures were taken at our friend Amanda's house in Pittsburgh.

In November we met our new 1p36 friends (including Jacoby, whose back you see) in Jacksonville for the 1p36 conference. Zoe's facial expression here is very similar to a lot of the photos to come. December we had lots of snow, which lasted a long time that year (see March). Then there were new toys for Christmas #1 and Birthday #1. In April Zoe got her glasses, and her tracking and hand eye coordination really began to improve. It was hard for Genevieve and I when she initially got her glasses - it meant admitting she was pretty profoundly visually impaired at such a young age. Although she looks adorable in her glasses, it still is sometimes painful to realize what they really mean- I'm sure the 1p families out there can understand. Now she has had them so long and they help so much she just doesn't look like herself without them on.

More solemn glasses looks, and the shirt that started out as a long dress many months before- she has many of these. Smiling, and our crazy girl who likes sleeping with the blanket over her head. This blanket was given to her in the NICU- it is a project Linus blanket and she used it every night since she was about 10 months old or so. Project Linus is a bunch of knitters ( I imagine them all as old grannies but there may be some younger ones too) that knit blankets and donate them to hospitals for infants to have a comfort item. In the course of our careers, Genevieve and I have given away hundreds of these, but now find ourselves on the receiving end. For the life of us we can't recall who gave this blanket to us- we just remember it showing up in the NICU.

Zoe's vibrating toy and her crazy hair. Bathing in the kitchen sink (still fits!) Another hospital admission and NG tube- this is Zoe on the the last day (I think) of a short stay. Another skirt/shirt. Second Christmas- Zoe was so much more into her gifts and toys. Here she is tasting her Aunt Muriel's/ Uncle Walter's/ Cousins Elaine and Zoe's kangaroo family. January self feeding (whip cream) and February's pony walker (her first attempt- she did amazingly well and far exceeded anybody's expectations. A great step we are still exploring as a family.)

Hope you enjoyed the slideshow, and the accompanying commentary. Happy Birthday, Zoe.

Love Daddy