Where did my cautious slow moving Zoe go? She's only been walking for 4 months but she's quickly learned how to be a toddler tornado! I now understand what my Mom meant when she said watching me run around the house when I was little made her tired. Watching Zoe run from here to there playing and making a mess is exhausting! She really is into everything!
This picture was taken on a day after we planted some grass seed. We were trying to set the sprinkler up so that it got the entire yard wet but not the neighbors. Zoe was too curious about the sprinkler and got very wet. This picture was right after she got sprayed in the face!
But she had a great time and was mad when we made her come in!
She's learning new words almost every day. Our drive home from daycare is the time when I really get to learn what new word she picked up that day. Last week it was "Puppy" and on Thursday it was "Plane". I've been trying to teach her to say "Help" so she can tell us when she wants us to help. When she says it however it sounds identical to "Up" so it can be a confusing communication between us. She's also found a recent love of ALL things Elmo. When she's out and about, her little eagle eye will spot Elmo as quick as can be. Watching Sesame Street is a real treat with her; especially the opening which shows Elmo "MELMO!" walking by and the Big Bird "IG BIWD". Anyone that's watched Sesame Street in the past 5 years has seen the new Elmo's World section of the show. As soon as the hears the "La la la la Elmo's World" song, she bee-lines to stand in front of the TV and shout "Melmo!" over and over.
She played in her little pool one warm day and tried to convince Bella to join her in the water.
She never did get quite brave enough to sit in the cold water but she had tons of fun splashing and stomping in the water!
She's also very much into imitating what she sees. She feeds her baby doll, gives it milk from her sippy cup and likes to make her Ballerina Zoe doll dance around. I pulled out the umbrella stroller and she enjoyed several hours of pushing it around with her Zoe doll inside.
The most frustrating things of this age (19 months) is dealing with her sudden temper tantrums and her answer of "Nuh uh" for everything. She also loves closing every single door in our house. She hasn't figured out yet how to open them so a few times we'll realize it's very quiet. We have to do a room by room sweep looking for her because she shut herself in a room.
The list of what she can say: Elmo, Big Bird, Mama, Dada, Papa, GiGi, Pop-Pop, Puppy, Dog, Kitty, Bella, Nuh uh, No, Up, Down, Hi, Bye Bye, Love you, Please, cheese, Thank you, Yucky, Yummy, Hungry, & Zoe. She can also spell her name, "Z O E" and she knows letters on a page are different from numbers. She calls all letters A.
If you haven't noticed it before, I added a new widget to the blog. Zoe is on twitter and there's usually a weekly update with a picture. If you aren't on twitter, just check out her latest postings by looking at the widget!
Finally our big news (and the reason for the absence of new posts on this blog), Zoe is going to be a big sister! We are so happy and are looking forward to seeing Zoe grow and share her life with a little brother or sister! This baby is due in late November or early December. I'm 12 weeks along now and feeling much better. Now that the morning sickness and some of the exhaustion has passed, I hope to get back into the swing of updating Zoe's blog!
Full information about Zoe becoming a big sister will be posted in the coming weeks.
For information about baby sister Penny, follow the link below.
Penelope Jayne
But the goose was taller than she was!
And the gorilla was as big as Daddy!
She enjoyed the Monkeys...
And the fish, snakes and turtles...
What is Zoe looking at here?
She said, "My Turkey!"
(* See the cracks in the glass? We just left the big cat area that had lions, jaguars and mountain lions. It was slightly more reassuring to see the cracks in the turkey/deer/crane area than the big cat area!)
But her favorite part of the zoo was the bird area. "Tweet Tweet!"
It was very hot at the gardens but we still had a great time!
I think I've mentioned before how much Zoe loves Elmo! She's beginning to recognize all the Sesame Street characters now and shouts out their names when she sees them. I was finally able to get a video of her watching the opening of Sesame Street. She was enjoying some juice in the big girl cup but stopped drinking long enough to shout out!
Zoe was "helping" to clean by pulling everything out of a box and found the 0-6 month halloween costume she wore when she was a baby. I added the tutu and Bee Ballerina was dancing around the house! (You can also see our new painted living room in the background. Warm brown is so much better than glaring yellow)
Aunt Sharon and GiGi came to visit last weekend. Zoe loves having them visit! When they leave she wonders around the house looking for them saying, "Gi Gi? Aron?"
We also experienced one of the biggest milestones (for Mommy at least!) last weekend. The first haircut!! Zoe's bangs were getting too long and were always in her eyes. We took her to SnipIts as a treat and it went great!
They gave her a sucker to keep her hands occupied and she did so good! Here's the before of her long hair.
And the "After" picture of my big girl!
After Play-Do we moved on to artwork. She's getting really skilled with holding a crayon.
The product of her crayon skills:
She still enjoys standing inside the fridge. I guess the cool air feels good.
We got a toddler swing recently. She loves it!
When we push her higher and faster she SQUEALS with delight and sticks out her tongue.
Bella and Zoe are constant playmates. Once Zoe learns how to run, they'll really have some fun!
Grannie and Zoe smiles
Pop Pop and Zoe laughing
This is the look she gives anyone who gets in her way.
Playing with a train at Grandma Mary's house
One Saturday recently Zoe was bored so I dressed her up in this outfit and she had the best time! She loved wearing the tights and playing with a purse (that's the blurry thing in the picture)
We took her to park yesterday since the weather was so nice. She loves to swing!
If you look closely, you might see the drool that kept falling out of her mouth while she was swinging.
Zoe dressed up and ready for the cold. Hat, scarf and gloves.
Zoe and her 2nd cousin Baylie. I can't wait until they actually play and interact with each other!
Zoe loves to go "Hup" on my shoulders.
