Zoë Calamity: The last word in little girls.

The UPS man just stopped by, and he took a while as he had 3 packages to drop off and hadn’t really planned ahead. Zoe wandered over to the door and watched him, and when he finished she looked right at him and said, clear as day, “Thank you!”. He looked at her, surprised, and said “you’re welcome”. I asked her if she could tell him “bye” and she did. What a smartie pants!

Of course, now she’s closed herself in the front closet, but at least she’s smart enough to knock to let me know she wants to get out.

For the last week or so, we’ve been working on Zoe’s tendency to scream at me when she wants my attention. We’ve been practicing saying “mama” and things have been going quite well. (This has also included me singing “You say mama, and I say Zoe, and you say Mama, mama I need help” to the tune of the Diego theme very very loudly to combat the screaming. )

This morning, I woke up to hear a little voice calling “mama” from her room (instead of the fussing I usually hear), and when I went in and sat by her crib, she smiled at me and said “boo!”. I almost died.

She’s talking more, and can say cheese, please, keys (she’s big on words that end in ese), apple, fish, dog, cup, cold, water (although she doesn’t say it often). She also tries really really hard to say banana and Angelina (as in Angelina Ballerina), with hilarious results as she contorts her tongue around.

She’s developing into a fantastic and highly amusing dancer, swinging her arms while she twists her booty all around and grins. It’s great stuff.

She’s also discovered that she can stand on one of her bins and reach the kitchen light, so that turns on and off pretty constantly throughout the day.

Her favorite song is “A pirate says Arr” from the Backyardigans soundtrack, she’s thrilled whenever I turn it on for her, and she highly enjoys the other Backyardigans songs as well. Great to dance to.

I think that’s it for now, I’m sure there’s more cuteness to come shortly.

Zoe has chosen to eschew clothes today, choosing instead to run around in a diaper. I don’t really have a problem with that, as long as she doesn’t take the diaper off, but it is kind of cold today. She apparently realized this, because a couple minutes ago she came out of her room, dragging her big monkey blanket for me to wrap around her. She’s no dummy!
And, apparently she’s also taken up studying, as she just ran full speed past me carrying the book “How to write your name in Kanji”. Maybe she has a Japanese pen pal?

Zoe is busy pushing a metal garbage can around the apartment, using it as a stability ensuring device. She hasn’t yet fallen on her head. The garbage can contains a toy truck and 2 crackers, that I probably won’t let her eat, but that if she did, would most likely be fine because I SCRUBBED that garbage can while she was taking a nap, and I don’t think metal holds germs when drowned in burning hot water and soap, but who knows?

She also has a new tooth (upper left) which finally poked through, and ended the stream of whiny-ness that went on for days and days.

And now she’s trying to reach her daddy’s mouse, and who knows what havok she’s got planned for his computer, so I better go.

While Zoe isn’t quite talking yet, she’s sure making her wishes known. Yesterday while we were at the swimming pool, she pushed herself to standing on my stomach, and put her hands up in the air. After trying everything else, I did the only thing that was left- throw her in the air and let her land in the water. And she LOVED it. Apparently it was exactly what she’d wanted. She had me do it over and over again, and she closed her eyes and held her breath each time. While we’re swimming she’ll just thrust off in the direction she wants to go, and I have to go along or I’ll lose my grip and let go. Sometime soon I’m going to try it and see what she does.

Also yesterday- and today- she started pointing at her umbrella stroller and whining. So I set it up and put her in it. Yesterday she sat in it for 45 minutes drinking from her sippy cup, and then started whining again, so I took her out. But she didn’t want to be out, she wanted to be in, with me pushing. So we went for a walk, and she was in heaven. Today when she started trying to climb in the stroller I just put her in it and we went for a walk right away. Someone’s learning something here, but I’m not sure who it is or what’s being learned.

She’ll also find her bottle or sippy cup (or today a regular cup) and hold it up if she wants a drink, and she’ll just go rummage in the cupboard for crackers if she wants some. Not too subtle, this one.

This morning while Zoe and I were playing in her room I picked up her little sheep and said, “What does a sheep say?”. She looked me straight in the eye and said “BAA”. I was shocked. Shocked I tell you. We’ve been talking about sheep and cows and what they say, and she’ll sometimes say “mmmmmu” very quietly when you ask her about cowspeak, but the Baaing is new. She hasn’t done it again, but I tell you, that girl has surprises in her brain just waiting to come out!

Zoe’s been progressing at a stunning rate, doing things almost daily that just shock and amaze us. Last night she walked (Yes, WALKED!) 4 steps from the table to B’s computer chair, and then did it again, and again. Two or so days ago, she was listening to a toy her grandma got her and sang along to the end of the song, saying “hello, goodbye” pretty clearly. Today we went swimming, and she started paddling her arms (she already kicks her feet) and really wanted me to just let go so she could go. I wasn’t quite ready to do that, but she sure was! This morning I said (not figuring anything would come of it) “Why don’t you put your spoons in your backpack?”. A few seconds later she brought the backpack over to me, with about 4 plastic spoons in it. She just blows me away. Right now she’s protesting taking a nap, and is very sad that I won’t come get her. I’ll probably give in in just about a second, I’m kind of a sucker that way.

Zoe is currently eating oatmeal with her fingers and the wrong ends of two different spoons. She’s also trying raisins for the first time, and I believe she is both entranced and horrified by them. She’s wearing a blue shirt with sparkly kitties and puppies on it, that she picked out herself at the store. This morning she shocked her daddy by sitting at the edge of the bed and carefully putting one leg over the side and onto the floor and then the other until she was standing. And now she’s kicking up a fuss because she’s sitting at the table and I’m over here.

Well, she rolled. Oct. 30 was the eventful day, and she not only rolled from her back to her tummy, but then later in the day got so frustrated on her tummy that she pushed down and flipped herself onto her back. She hasn’t done it again since then, but we’re confident she’ll be unstoppable in no time, especially since she scrabbles like a mad woman to try to move forward when she’s on her tummy. Soon nothing and no one will be safe!

Zoë ate quasi real food for the first time today, and wow did she enjoy it. It took her a couple tiny spoonfuls to figure out that she couldn’t just let it all collect in her mouth, that she actually had to swallow, but once she did she was pulling the spoon to her mouth. It really was extremely funny. As a result of that eating added to the bottle she drank afterward, she was too full to suck on her bottle to fall asleep as she has been, so with a little encouragement from me, she actually fell asleep sucking her thumb! Hooray! We’ll see if that full little belly helps her to sleep longer.

She had her immunizations a couple days ago, and man, can that little girl scream. She actually made the other mother who was in the room (with her 10 year old son) cry. But she lived to scream another day, and seems to be doing just fine. They took all of her measurements at the appointment, and she’s in the 75th percentile for weight, 75th for head circumference, and 90th for height. So she’s healthy, and awfully cute.

Speaking of cute, one of Zoë’s aunties made the observation that Zoë looks like her Auntie Hayden, and I have to agree!