Thankful for Family

Ready for takeoff! 

Last week our little family flew to Portland, Oregon to stay with my grandparents in the Dalles and then in a lodge full of wonderful relatives in Corbett for Thanksgiving. Zoë did alright on her first day of flying, though we had a few rough bouts.

Zoë and daddy playing at the airport 

in Dallas during our layover

There are three kinds of babies on airplanes: the perfect, silent and happy baby, the intermittently crying baby, and the screaming-bloody-murder baby. Can you guess which one Zoë is? Yep, that's right. She's a screamer. The flights home went much better, partially because they were in the early morning (vs. afternoon/evening) and partially because she got all her screaming out the night before. Ufta.

Moving on to better things...

Awaiting us in Oregon were several very excited family members who had never met Zoë or had not seen her for 5 months: Lola (my mom), Oma and Opa (my grandparents), Uncles Judah, Kenny and Corby (my brothers), and many Great Aunts, Great Uncles and cousins! Zoë was full of life as always, giggling and wiggling and scooching, and l-o-v-i-n-g all the attention!

Zoë with Lola (Tagalog for "Grandma")

Zoë showing off her new favorite activity,

 "the gallop" to Sumiko, my Grandma's neighbor

 and long time family friend

 Auntie Nancy showing Zoë how to walk

 Being adored by her cousins Rachel and Anna

Checkin' out cousin Wesley's cool game

 while being held by cousin Michaela

Conversing with Uncle Corby and soon-to-be Aunt Mary

Playin' piano with Uncle Kenny

Four generations of the Farner family tree!

Oma and Opa - Zoë's only living Great Grandparents

(and she is currently the only Great Grandchild!)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! 

Zoë tried the sweet potatoes but wasn't too thrilled. 

Oh well. More for mommy.

Chillin' with Uncle Judah (a.k.a "the baby whisperer")

And the day after Thanksgiving is...Christmas! 

We like to hit up all the holidays at once.

 Here Zoë is showing off her Christmas 

colors with Auntie Heidi

My mom looks far too good to be a grandma

Practicing for future piggy-back rides on Uncle Corby

What a good lookin' bunch! 

The Farner Clan

I am so thankful for such a beautiful and loving family, and that we were able to introduce our little bundle of life to them all. I just wish we lived a little (a lot!) closer!

Happy Half-Birthday, Zo-Zo!

Wow! 6 months already? Yes, it's true - some days (and nights!) seemed to drag on forever, but overall time has passed quickly. Zoë has grown and changed; we have grown and changed. The last six months have been the most wonderful and most difficult, most life-giving and most exhausting.

Through it all, Zoë has taught us that we are inadequate in and of ourselves, we love conditionally, we are self-centered and lack self-control, and that I in particular turn into an erupting volcano of not-niceness when sleep-deprived. We need God desperately and are fully dependent on Him, just as this little one is fully dependent on us, and we need His grace every day to help us to be the parents to Zoë that he desires us to be.

Zac and I just began reading Gary Thomas' "Sacred Parenting" last night and wish we had started several months ago. If you are a parent or will be one, you need to check this out! The premise is "how raising children shapes our souls":

"Christian parenting is truly a sacred journey. 

It invites us to purify ourselves, to use the process 

of raising kids to perfect holiness [in ourselves], 

and to do this consistently, every day, 

out of reverence for God."

Enough about us! 
Here's what Zoë has been up to this past month :

-  Rolled over! I can't keep her on her back longer than a second anymore!

- Learned the "inchworm scooch" to move in circles on her tummy

- Passed objects from one hand to the other

- Played with banana and avocado on her tray...and maybe licked some off her fingers. She does love to lick apples, though!

- Had a sinus infection, diarrhea for 2+ weeks 4-5 times a day, then caught a cold

- Learned to play games with mommy, like "Where's Zoë?...There she is!" when putting her clothes on, and a version of hide-n-seek.

- Learned how to take her pacifier out and hold it...but not to put it back in.

- Lost pacifier privileges during the night after a rough couple of weeks of waking up every hour, and now she sleeps M-U-C-H better. Hopefully she will continue to do so!

- Started showing signs of separation anxiety (oh no!)

- Learned to shake her head side to side (as if saying no). This has become her #1 method for escaping medicine and the boogie-syringe. But she also does it just for kicks.

- Giggled, giggled and giggled some more! We love the giggles.

- Became more articulate and varied in her babbling and squealing

- Is very close to being able to sit up all by herself without toppling over

- Is starting to understand patterns and has learned to expect certain events

- Turned pages in board books (well, mostly. She turns it halfway, then tries to stick it in her mouth)

Special thanks to Brooke Ann Hill Photography for the wonderful family pictures!

Talk it Up!

Here is a little taste of Zoë's progression of cooing & babbling from 3 months until now (almost 6 months!). Enjoy!

Rolling-Rolling-Rolling...

Well, not sequentially (though we have heard that is coming soon), but Zoë did discover how to roll from her back to her tummy a few days ago and has kept rollin' ever since! No more of this boring lying-on-her-back business; Zoë is ready to take on the world from a different viewpoint.

Next step: the army crawl...and we got a little taste of that today. Yikes! Mommy better get her running shoes on!