Being busy

What a wonderful time we had this week. We went swimming for the first time at the baby pool. Zoe looked adorable in her one-piece suit and loved walking and floating in the water (but unfortunately I did not take any photos). It was great, because even though she loves her bath time, she was being fussy when I had to wash her hair and water went on her face, so I made sure to walk under the water showers at the pool playground. I think it helped a lot, she is not complaining as much when I rinse her hair.
We had a play date at our friends house and Zoe was crawling over anyone (babies and adults). Well, this baby is not shy people. We went to happy hour at Mizu with daddy and Zoe ate edamame and tofu. I love how she can just eat pretty much whatever we eat now.
Also, yesterday she spent the day with daddy while I went to get my hair done. What a treat!
We can't wait to be really nice outside so we can be busy bees this Summer.
Have a happy weekend!

Beautified blocks DIY

Zoe's toys are a blend of wood blocks or stackables, Teddy's and homemade plush animals, and some plastic cups and shapes. She doesn't have any battery required, music playing, or light flashing toys. It wasn't a conscious decision at first, but we've grown to the idea of more natural toys. I know these toys can't improve my baby's ability to read, write, sing, or become a genius, but it does improve her imagination and creativity and I am happy with that. Plus, I don't have an annoying song playing on the background all the time.
I bought a bag of these wooden blocks at a second hand children store for $7 with about 30-40 blocks. I love how simple they are, but I also love to add some pattern and color for when we build little towns (or I build it just to be destroyed and chewed on by Zoe).
All you need is some wooden blocks, washi tape and scissors. I got my washi tape on Etsy (they are usually $2 or $3 a roll). Tape it and enjoy! :) Easy and pretty!

Zoe - 10 months

Time is flying by and lil' Zoe is 10 months old already. She is so much fun - I think I write this on every post, but oh well, it's true. She just started crawling last week and now it's exploring everything she can put her hands on, that includes pulling every single magazine out of the neatly stacked pile, or pulling the TP roll to rip it apart. She is loving to share her toys and food with mommy and daddy. She's waving bye-bye and she also gives mommy a kiss when asked - her kiss is a wide open mouth touching my cheeks. She loves to climb over mommy and to grab daddy's hair or face. She has tried a lot of new foods including beets, asparagus, and pineapple and is also eating lots of finger foods such as Cheerios, bread, and fruits and veggies. I have been noticing that she started to understand a lot more of what we say (with wanting mom, dad, more, feed, and so on). She is also learning how to play with her toys, trying to stack or squeeze them. It's been amazing to see her developing. This girl, she is my wild.

Oh boy, here we go...

Zo started crawling this week. She is still trying to figure it out, so she will crawl a little then sit, then crawl a little then sit again. She loves her new mobility though. Yesterday we were playing at our friends' house and she was overly excited crawling from one toy to another, pulling herself up on the toy box and on her little friend Al, licking every toy she could manage to get a hold on, laughing and screaming of excitement while her mild friend just sits and observes her. Zoe is also doing a lot of sharing, she will pick something and hand it to us - like a million times. Except yesterday when she was having fun picking toys from Al's hands. Oh boy! Do i see a "future troublemaker alert"? I do try to make her understand that the other kid was playing with that toy, but I think at this stage there isn't a lot to do yet. As Al's mom said "it's better to let them work it out themselves". So, here we go, to a whole new stage of parenting.