Z-Cakes: 9 Months

We used to say Zee-zee was "the mix", but this month she has transitioned to being "in the mix." She's responding to her siblings with big smiles, gasps of delight and bobbing up and down. She loves to get a response from them too. Her first "look at me moment" as the baby of the family happened around the dinner table. She figured out how to blow raspberries, and when the three bigs exploded with laughter she continued to oblige with the biggest grin and twinkle in her eyes between her sweet raspberries. 

Zina continues to be in a holding pattern as far as gross motor movement goes. She's still sitting up strong but going nowhere fast! We've enforced tummy time more regularly much to her dismay, but by the end of the month she was pushing her upper body up and rolling much more. 

Our girl loves table food especially chicken and has a great fine motor pincher for eating all the puffs. She also bounces up and down whenever music plays. Her whole being lights up when Daddy plays and sings at the piano. 

She has officially said Da-da but continues to "say" Ma-Ma by a general disgruntled whine, cry when I pass her off to someone else and reaching out for me. Zina's wide, open-mouthed kisses on the cheek are also reserved for Mommy alone! 

Zina still has no teeth, but her hair is coming in, and her bald spot is gone. Her sleep training has officially begun because we're all going crazy without it, but she's still the Queen of the twenty minute nap! Bless her heart, she just doesn't want to miss out!

Z-Cakes: 8 Months

These little photo shoots are becoming more and more challenging...

We had the flu in our house this month, Mommy included, so it all seems fuzzy. The best part of the month was the Chiefs Super Bowl win. Zina was super pumped!!!

So pumped that she continued to wake up three to four times a night :) For the most part she was in a holding pattern: no crawling, no teeth, no sleep, but she did start her own little wiggle we call the ziggle. 

Daddy continues to put her to nap best with his human swaddle pinkie hold while walking our downstairs circle. She just can't stand for mommy to do it. Her nap average is 26 minutes. Never more, often less. She just wants to make sure we're not deprived...

Z-cakes: 5 months

The Rilla's Here! Our latest little jingle comes from Daddy's nickname for Z and the latest NFL commercial. You'd have to know her and be here to get it, but it pretty much sums up life with Zina this month...

It's amazing to me how this little girl who was just sleeping and eating all day is now showing interest in her world. Playing, observing, following us with her big blue eyes.

Zina's favorite toy is her blue octopus. She also enjoys spinning the toggles on her bouncy seat. She does not tolerate the swing for long and still prefers to do very little tummy time. The bumbo seat is working great for her which is great because she has shown some interest in food. Daddy put a carrot in her mouth at dinner, and she made the funniest panting noise when he took it away. She did the same with a cucumber so we decided to start some pureed veggies and fruits. She is our best five month old eater to date!

Daddy is the best at getting Zee to sleep. One day I tried in vain, but she fell straight to sleep while Dan held her at dinner.
The most I have seen her laugh is when I imitate her voice. Zina is not one to flatter with her smile. It's safe to say this Big Mama Boss Lady has mastered her game face:

Z-Cakes: 4 Months

 What a month we've had with baby Zina! To sum it up, Zee-Zee has not had many zzzz's...and neither has mommy or daddy! But she sure is a cute and pretty sweet...

...except when she's not...

The best line of the month, "Zina, you need to get a longer fuse, girl!" -Daddy

Also overheard while I was attempting to cook dinner after pacing the girl and feeding her a million times...

"It's okay, Zina, I know it's hard, but you're not the only one in the family. You're not the only one who has to eat." -Moriah while bouncing her in the bouncy seat (She did get her to go to sleep. I guess the pep talk helped).

When she is happy, we love to make her laugh. Tickling under her neck and on her chest usually gets a good one. She also loves Daddy's silly little jingles, "Bad Z, Bad Z whatcha' gonna' do?, Whatcha' gonna' do when they come for you..."

At four months, Zina has finally accepted tummy time and has even rolled over once or twice. That silly arm still gets in the way most of the time!
Her favorite thing is Mommy. Sometimes she will scream her head off when others are holding her and calm down the second she's given back to me! Her least favorite thing (besides sleep) seems to be the car. She will not give it up until she's out of that car seat!

Z-Cakes: 3 Months

Zina is 3 months old, and as her Daddy tells her every day she's "the cutest one I saw"....

At this point it seems that Zina's baby blues are here to stay, and we're pretty excited to have another blue eyed girl in our lot. That makes our family tied with three browns and three blues. 

Zina is obsessed with her hands. Many cross-eyed stares this month as she takes them in with wonder. She also likes to have them in her mouth. A fair amount of drool makes us think she might be teething too. We love the way God made this girl: chubby legs, double chin, cheeeks, stork bites, a bit of brown, and in some lights, auburn hair coming in...

Zee-Zee absolutely despises tummy time but has great head support when being held. She's not a snuggler and always wants to be facing out, looking around at the big wide world. For the most part she's only happy during the day when she's being held or fed, but the play gym has given us a little independent time too. She even grabbed the plastic ring on it and gets mad when her hand gets stuck or she lets go and can't get it back. 

Until the last week of the month Zina was still sleeping through the night which made up for the grumpy, little sleep during the day. Recently she has decided that 3 a.m. is a good time for a meal though! 

Finally, I can't end this post without mentioning her sweet voice. She has discovered it, and it's so fun watching her listen to herself! Her big blue eyes look around like "who dat?" while she does her little croaky coos. It's the best.

Z-Cakes: 2 Months

We've never had a baby like Zina before: double chin, chubby legs and cheeks, a legit tummy and sleeping through the night at two months. I think we'll keep her...

She's still putting on her tough girl act for most of the day, but we have had a few smiles and coo-conversations throughout the month. Zina is not a snuggle baby. She constantly lifts her head up while being held and wants to face out. 

Her first conversation was a sweet moment for the whole family. Daddy had her on our bed, and all of the kids were gathered around in jammies. She was smiling and cooing away as Daddy told her "I gonna roll you in da butta', put on the cinnamon suga', and then gobble you up. 

Her favorite places are her bouncy seat, right next to mommy, and lying on the bed watching the fan whir above. Her big brother loves to hover, and she tolerates him at best. She is one loved little lady with more kisses in one day than you could count. Her two big sisters keep her fashionably dressed and help bounce her and bring her whatever mommy says she needs.
This month Zina was a good girl in the carrier for an afternoon of blueberry picking and slept in her stroller for our entire county fair outing. What a good girl!

New nicknames and jingles include: Squirt, jelly fish-she stings!, Z-Z in the sky with diamonds.

Z-Cakes: One Month

We have a theory about our Mad Lady Z. One month ago when the stork was ready to drop her off, she fought hard to stay away from us so he bit her extra hard. She's still mad about it and keeps trying to phone home without any success. We keep telling her she's here to stay, but she's not so convinced. :)
This is mostly her Daddy's humor to explain her mask of "angel kisses" or "stork bites", the fact that he thinks she looks a little like an alien (a very cute alien) at times, her mad disposition that is most of the time when she's awake and not eating, and her propensity to lift her little index fingers like E.T.

Zina Kate was born our smallest baby but might be the fastest growing. The doctor was very impressed with her nearly one pound weight gain at her first appointment and commented more than once about her beautiful color. She's killing us with her big baby bows and denim bloomers, and thanks to our sweet church family, she's definitely the best dressed Bailey these days. 

We're extremely thankful that our girl has decided to fuss during the day. Her first two nights at home were your typical up all nighters, but since then, she sleeps best at night for two to four hours at a time. When she wakes up she eats for a good while but goes back to sleep without a fuss. We try really hard to remember how well she does at night when she's putting up a fight during the day.

All of her siblings have shown their love for her in their own way. Ephraim loves to be right up in her face whenever I'm feeding her. He kisses her forehead continually and loves to give her a good burp! Felicity plays her song, "Zina", multiple times a day,  is a pro at the bouncy seat bounce and is really good at talking to her. Moriah is in awe of her and will pet her soft skin and comment on how tiny and creamy she is. It's so sweet.

Last of all,  she just wouldn't be a Bailey kid if she didn't have a million nicknames and jingles of her own. So far we have Z-cakes, the Mad Lady, Z-Z, "Tell me somethin' good Z", "Dream a little dream of Z", "Hey Z-Cakes, I got my Z-cakes" and "Watcha talk about Z, watcha' talk about Z?"

Zina Kate, we're really glad God decided to give us you, and we hope you'll come to like us too. :)

The Little Prince: One Year

Ephraim Daniel you have been such a sweet presence in our family during this first year of your little life. There is a calmness that comes with that oh so serious piece of your personality. It has been such a gift and pure grace in a year of so many changes. In twelve months you've lived in four homes and traveled more miles than many go in a lifetime. You have been easy going and steady through it all. 

I am amazed by your persistence and determination and wonder how what is now a full focus army crawl toward a gadget, wire, cabinet, vent, bowl of water, etc. will look as God grows you in days to come. You haven't quite caught on to the word "no" and have to be removed physically over and over from the places you go that are off limits. This same spirit allows for some intense ring stacking and block building. Once you put your mind to something, you are a force to be reckoned with...

So many gifts to hold on to from this year...swimming on your tummy in the tub, your little newborn cry that sounded more like a goose than a man cub, your Dracula phase when all you had were the top two vampire teeth, how you relish the sister and daddy chorus of "nigh-night HONEY" each night before bed, your first word was Ma-Ma and block (blah) was a close second, your awkward bald ring around the back of your head stage, pulling up all of the vents over and over, your raspy early voice that eventually led to a big Bubba Roar!, army crawling like a boss and learning to crawl super fast on knees and hands at 11 months, rocking to music and standing at the piano whenever daddy plays, that sniffing crinkly nose smile that actually shows your top teeth, standing at the window to see the wide world outside or play peek-a-boo with the curtains, eating so much all day everyday, imitating my humming sound affects at one year old, making your sisters crack up laughing on a road trip at 8 months old, your giggle when I realize it's a fake cry and do my best imitation of you, and that stank face when you are upset...so many other things I wish I would have written down, but I'm grateful to have treasured them up in my heart. God has filled it so full with serious love for you our serious boy.

Once Upon a Time...

January 4, 2017

2 weeks old

1 month and still a bit shell shocked...

2 months

3 months and SO serious...

4 months

5 months and it's hard to keep a straight face with dino toes...

6 months strong...

7 months with so much to ponder...

8 months...finally caught a smile!

9 months

10 months

11 months

12 months

A whole lot of love...

...ONE handsome, sweet Little Prince...