A lot has changed with Zoe since our last update: she’s now a big sister, she’s about to head off to (sniff, sniff) preschool, and she’s (basically) potty-trained. I don’t think I can accurately call her a baby any longer!
As for specifics: Zoe is almost always chattering. (The exception: when she’s tired or when she first enters a new environment.) She loves to comment on what people are doing (e.g. “Mommy’s in the shower,” “Daddy’s sleeping”), and she likes telling long, elaborate, usually fictional stories to me, Q or one of her stuffed animals. She also likes giving directives; it’s safe to say that she’s hit a bit of a bossy stage! Most of her sentences end with an “okay” – as in, “Come with me and Panda to play in the other room, okay?!” (And, believe me, she’s hoping it’s okay.)
Her vocabulary is expanding; she can ask questions and comment on things in full, often complex sentences; and she’s getting easier to understand. She does, though, still pronounce a few words in a baby-ish way (which I love): hospital is “hossible,” computer is “com-poo-ter,” yellow is “lellow,” and backpack sounds like “bah-pat.” She also has a habit of adding an s to words that don’t need one – like “cereals,” “feets,” “tapes,” and “peoples.”
Much of her time these days is spent playing make-believe games: she likes to cook and feed us; take us on train, airplane or boat rides; and shop in the “shopping store” in Avery’s room. She recently started talking about various make-believe friends, she often talks about pretend alligators and snakes in the house (at least, I hope they’re pretend), and the Imagination Movers – characters on her favorite TV show – have come by for visits. Other favorite things to do: draw little cards that she calls “birthday parties” and play hide-and-seek. (She doesn’t yet understand the concept of hiding, though – she usually puts herself in a “hiding” spot right in front us and then calls out “Okay, find me!”) She also loves to make up funny songs and generally act silly; her new thing is to announce, “I’m joking.”
She has a really good memory and is always telling stories about things that recently happened. (Q jokes, though, that she thinks anything in the past was done “yesterday.”) One day I stumbled and fell into this little hole on the sidewalk outside of Elena’s; two or three weeks later, she saw the hole and commented on how I had fallen in it. She also remembered when I was pregnant; when climbing on my stomach not long ago she looked down and commented, “Baby Sister’s not there anymore!”
Speaking of her sister – and as mentioned many times here before – Zoe loves having a sibling. She was excited about the baby for months prior to her birth; she used to put little stuffed animals under her shirt and say she was having a baby too! She’s been very helpful since Avery arrived: she likes helping change her and fetching little things for us. (One day last month she saw Avery had spit up and – without even being asked – ran to get a burpcloth for me.) She’s always interested in what Avery is doing – “Is she awake?” and “What’s that noise?” are questions she asked constantly the first few weeks. When Avery is upset, Zoe likes to comfort her – by saying “Shhh” or singing (usually Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star) to her. She’s always coming up to the baby and offering kisses, and she’s particularly fond of Avery’s feet.
Other developmental things: she’s 99% potty-trained, she can get dressed (mostly) on her own, she knows how to spell her name, and she has known her shapes and colors for several months now.
Zoe has a very sweet, affectionate side. She gives lots of hugs and kisses to the three of us, and she’s often saying to one of us (whether we’ve said it first or not), “I love you, too!” And when she thinks I’m upset about something, she often tries to make me feel better. Just the other day, during one of my low moments, she came up to me with a hug and said, “It’s okay, Mommy.”
On the flip-side, Zoe (whose moods can literally change in seconds) still has that terrible-two temperament – and after a tantrum, she’ll often tell us, “I’m grumpy.” One day I heard her throw around toys in her room; when I went in to ask her what was going on (and to reprimand her), she said to me, “I’m frustrated.” I didn’t even know she knew that word, but it was so cute to hear her say it. But not so cute: a few weeks ago, she yelled out to Q, “Don’t talk to me!” and then ran to her room and slammed the door. And the other night she told me (though I know she didn’t mean it), “I don’t like you, Mommy.” Sometimes it’s like having a little teenager around!
Like other kids her age, Zoe wants to do certain tasks on her own and she’ll sometimes say in annoyance when we try to help, “No, I’m a big girl!” On a related note, she recently told me and Q (during a conversation about what Avery would be like when she was bigger), “I’m already grown up!” Oh… don’t rush it, Zoe!
-M
