How...Why is it already December?!?! Someone recently told me that the year seems to go faster and faster, and I feel like that is true. Anyway, it has been a minute so I wanted to drop in and say hi. I always forget how writing/journaling is therapeutic for me until I actually get to do it. Why is it that once the girls start sleeping, all I want is to shut my brain down for the rest of the night? Everyone is snoozing away at the moment, but I am enjoying a peaceful moment with my laptop while sniffling away from catching a cold.
Zaylee has just entered her 11th month of life, and today is her birthday month. I feel like as a parent, this fleeting time brings conflicting emotions - you are joyous to see your baby growing, and yet you are sad that the baby days are coming to an end. We have loved watching baby Zaylee thrive and blossom into this sweet, determined, friendly, easy-going person. As a second-time mom, this stage was incredibly precious - I tried hard to soak up every moment I can get, and yet I wonder if I have soaked up enough. Needless to say, I have cherished this stage of her life and will continue to smother her with kisses.
Also, I have entirely given up on taking decent monthly milestone pictures. I don't know how I took it with Zoe (maybe she liked photos more?), but this gal has zero interest in posing, so this is what you will get. She now has some very strong likes and dislikes; it's fun to watch her preferences.
Likes: eating, sleeping, playing with her sister, eating dog kibbles (why?!), flipping water bowls, grabbing dog tails (sorry, Lilly and Stark), climbing on everything, walking with her pusher-walker, crawling, swinging at the park, and taking bath with her sister.
Dislikes: watching others eat when she doesn't have her food, when her food runs out, changing clothes, being strapped in, and any type of hair accessories including hats.
She already picked up on several words, such as "hi", "bye", "dada", "mama", "amah" (grandma in Mandarin), "wahwah" ("unnie" which is big sister in Korean), and "doaa" (dog). She does peekaboo, pointing at things she likes or wants us to take her to, and claps when she's happy.
Our Thanksgiving gathering was small but wonderful. My mother-in-law flew in on the day of, which Zoe was over the moon about. Also, thankfully, stranger danger didn't strike for Zaylee so she and amah was able to bond almost instantly. I made most of the Thanksgiving dinner, which I was proud of. Ok, ham was courtesy from Costco, and Z smoked it for me because meat-cooking is not my specialty. The next day, we decorated our house for Christmas. I would say it is Zoe's first time genuinely getting excited about decorating, so it was fun to watch her take the lead on decorating the tree. She had a lot of other decorating opinions as well, but us grown-ups may or may not have vetoed some of them.
These last 7 days or so have been peaceful and very ordinary which is great. Mother-in-law and I have been taking turns making dinner, hanging out with the girls, and etc. We take a walk over to a neighborhood park whenever we can. My mother-in-law is truly amazing when it comes to engaging with the girls, so I cannot be more thankful.
A lot of exciting things are stored this month, though. Zoe and I have an upcoming road trip together soon (more on that later), one of our best friends from Chicago is visiting us in a couple of weeks, and my family will be joining us for Christmas and New Year's. And, of course, we can't forget about Zaylee turning 1 year old on the 29th! I am planning on a small gathering for her birthday celebration so my mind is getting busy brainstorming.
There is so much I want to catch up on writing from past events, but for not this will have to do since Zoe will be waking us up at 7am as usual.
Signing off at 1:25am CT,
Wonj
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