Zoe's New Skill!!!!!

Zoe Sucking Her Fingers

After two and a half years of attempting to teach Zoe how to suck, Zoe suddenly started sucking her fingers last week! This is a very exciting milestone for 1P36 kids. First, it shows that her mouth muscles are getting stronger. And second, it means that she will start sucking her fingers instead of biting them. Zoe has been pretty good about the biting but does occasionally bite so hard that her fingers bleed and she has a sore. She does seem to be aware of how hard she can bite before hurting herself. She was very happy to discover this new sucking skill- she gave her finger a few big sucks and then smiled and signed, "More, mommy." I kept laughing and saying, "You are doing that, not mommy!" Funny enough, she seems to prefer sucking the same finger I used to suck as a kid.

Other New Skills

Zoe continues to amaze us with her development. She is now able to better control where she is going in her walker. She can aim through doorways and 90% of the time is dead on. If she hits a wall, she is now able to get herself unstuck. Zoe can also move herself on thin carpets. She surprised us by taking off in our room this past weekend.

Gavin just called me at work to report that while he was setting up lunch, Zoe thought it was a good idea to zoom over to the table and pull the bowl of yogurt down onto herself, her walker, and the floor. Apparently she thought this was hilarious! I can't believe Gavin didn't take pictures- we are so proud of the messes she can make now. It seems like not too long ago when Zoe couldn't even bat at things with her hands. Now she is such a menace and gets into everything!

Zoe also began splashing in the bath in the last few weeks. She purposely splashes with her hands and kicks her feet to "swim." She loves floating in the life vest we bought for her. We even let her take it in the bath so she can get used to it.

Upper GI Results

We did not get the formal results of Zoe's upper GI yet, but the doctor who did the test mentioned that Zoe definitely has reflux (no surprise to us), but the test did not show any aspiration. We were very glad to hear this news. It still does not give us an answer as to why she gets these lung infections and why she is still running a fever (I think we are on week six now). But we recognize that there are not always answers. Zoe's pediatrician is going to see how severe the reflux is and then decide if she will start on a medication. The reflux does not seem to bother Zoe, but I guess we have to be sure it is not damaging her esophagus or lungs.

Only Ten More Days Until Our Big Trip!

We are busy packing and getting the house ready for our big trip. I added up how many miles/km we will be driving total and it looks like we will travel at least 2000mi/3200km.

Our itinerary: We head to Indianapolis next Thursday. Then to St Louis to visit family the following Monday. We will be there for a week before heading to Kentucky to explore Mammoth Caves National Park. Then to Pittsburgh for a work conference where I am presenting. In all, we will be gone 18 days. We really look forward to the time we get to spend together as a family. It will be busy but as long as Zoe stays healthy, I think it will be a really fun trip.