Today Zoe is fourteen weeks old. Fourteen weeks. It does not even seem feasible that much time has passed since her birth. Fourteen of the best weeks of my life.
We were sitting in Starbucks today, I was reading and Zoe was snoozing. I looked up from my book and Zoe was gazing at me, into my eyes. When we made eye contact she burst into laughter and glee. First I teared up, then I started to think about how much she has changed. She never would have smiled at me a couple of months ago, let alone make eye contact.
She now has a favorite stuffed animal. It is this soft, little stuffed monkey (of course it’s a monkey!) If you have seen the recent photo postings, you’ve seen her holding on to it. She pets it and snuggles it and tries to eat it. A month ago, I couldn’t even imagine a day when she would really play with a toy.
Yesterday she made a big connection. I was cleaning her up for bed and wrung the washcloth out over her feet. As soon as the warm water hit her toes, she immediately looked down to her feet. We played this game for several minutes before I realized how big this was. She was feeling something on her body and her developing brain was able to make the connection between feeling the sensation and looking at it. It was so remarkable to me. I can’t wait to play that game again tonight.
She also will bat at toys that hang above her. Both in her car seat and on her play mat, she will intentionally hit the toys. We know she likes to see the toys move and hear them make noise because she’ll do it over and over again. My daughter knows how to have fun now!
Zoe also loves mirrors now. We have always shown her herself in mirrors, but now she tries to interact with her image. There is a mirror on her play mat that she loves to look at. In fact, right now it is all smudged with her fingerprints. She tries to touch her nose, cheeks, and lips.
Most notable she loves now. Zak and I don’t really know what we’re doing, other than trying to be the best parents we can. We have loved her with all our hearts from day one. I know that Zoe has always appreciated us, but I know believe that she sincerely loves us. She gets a look in her eyes when she sees us, and her body instantly relaxes when we hold her. She trusts us to take good care of her and because of that I know she loves us. She may not recognize it as love now, maybe not even soon. In fact, I doubt she will truly understand the depth of her love for us until she has children of her own. I think that is when I first realized the extent of the love I have for my parents.
Fourteen weeks have passed. I can’t even begin to imagine what the next fourteen weeks will contain, but I do know they will be ideal because I have a Zoe who loves me.
