…ME! Who woulda thought that my quick check of the website before hitting the sack would be so fruitful? Since site rules prevent me from winning, we’ll just have to double up the prize for 30k! Have a happy Super Bowl Sunday everyone.
Jon Q
As mentioned in the recent update, Zoe loves reading books on her own; we often find her in the “book corner” of her bedroom, flipping through pages and chattering away. One of her current favorites is “I’m a Big Sister,” and I caught on video one of her recent readings. If you listen carefully you can make out some familiar words: “baby,” “cry,” “milk,” “stroller,” “sleeping” and “the end.”
-M
I haven’t posted much (anything, actually) about the new baby – and I realize this is in sharp contrast to the early days of our blog, when I posted about “Sesame” at least once or twice a day. It also recently occurred to me that I haven’t opened one book on pregnancy or paid much attention to the weekly e-mail updates I receive about the baby’s development this time around. There are even times when I actually forget I’m pregnant – which I don’t think ever happened with Zoe.
It’s not that I’m not excited about the pregnancy or the baby – it’s just that things feel very different this time around. Unlike the first time, I don’t have the time (energy) to read lots of baby books or think much about what’s happening: I’m too busy juggling work, parenthood and playtime. And the truth is that since I don’t know this baby yet, my primary focus remains on Zoe.
In the beginning, when I did take the time to think about the pregnancy, it was usually to feel bad about Zoe – like I was cheating her out of something by having another baby. I felt guilty that I was often tired and grumpy and sometimes not in the mood to play with her, and guilty that she’ll no longer have our undivided attention when the new baby arrives. (I also couldn’t fathom how I could possibly love a new baby as much as I love Zoe – but that’s something for a different post.) Though I was fairly sure these feelings were normal, and likely experienced by most second- or third-time moms, they were hard to shake…
These days, I tell myself that Zoe probably doesn’t mind when I’m low-energy – since that means she gets to watch more of Imagination Movers, her favorite TV show. And when I do take a few minutes to actually think about the baby, I focus on the good stuff: how excited Zoe will be to meet her and what a good big sister Zoe will likely be. It will be a great adventure to expand our little family, I think.
-M
Recently we went to our favorite diner, the Manor, to grab some yummy tuna melts. Mommy snapped some shots of Zoe feeding Daddy that we thought we’d share.
Jon Q
Eating at the Manor
Today was a big day as we found out that Zoe is getting a sister! The doctor said that everything looked great and that Poppy was most definitely female. We’re all very excited that we’ll be adding another little girl to our family and love that we can put all that pink of Zoe’s to good use!
Jon Q
Our little Poppy
“Bye, Mommy,” Zoe just said to me as she headed out to Elena’s with Q. “I’ll miss you.” My heart just about melted… What a way to start the morning!
-M
Just 6 months ago we were writing a 20,000 hit post and now we are approaching 25,000 hits! In honor of this feat, we are going to give another prize to our 25,000th visitor. If you come to the Zoe site and see the 25,000 marker at the bottom of the page, you win! Just send us a screen shot of the moment so we can post it and you will receive a surprise. Thanks for making Zoe’s site such a hit!
Jon Q
When Zoe turned two, I decided to write less frequent monthly updates. But Zoe has changed so much since her birthday that I just had to prepare another one.
If we thought Zoe talked a lot before, we had no idea what we were in for! Zoe is constantly chattering and often comes up to us and tells what sound like long stories (though we’re not always sure what she’s saying). She still uses baby sentences like “No want this” or “No like that,” of course, but she also talks in real, full sentences. (I posted a few of the funnier ones below.) She has her favorite phrases, like “You’re funny!”, “What are you doing?”, and “What’s that?” (which she started to ask non-stop just a few days ago), and after we answer her questions, she usually says, “Oh, okay!” and carries on.
She is still pretty independent, often demanding that she do certain things on her own. When I try to feed her, for example, she’ll usually grab the spoon or folk out of my hand and say, “I do that!” or “I want to do myself.” And she recently started taking books out of our hand and saying, “I read that.” (She usually proceeds to flip through the pages and point out what she sees.) If she does something challenging, like climb on top of something or get to a hard-to-reach object, she’ll often say, “Got it!” triumphantly.
Along the same, independent line, she’s usually pretty good at entertaining herself and playing on her own. As I’m typing this, for example, she’s in her room, going through her books and “reading” them to Panda.
Speaking of Panda, Zoe has a whole posse of stuffed friends: she’s still most fond of Panda, but she also enjoys her baby, Baby Dog, Big Dog, and Baa Baa Black Sheep. She often carries one of them around with her, and we wake up most mornings to her either talking (loudly), singing or reading to them in bed.
As for other developments: she likes to count, and can usually get to eleven or twelve on her own. She also finally got her colors down: while she used to call everything pink (or, for a time, yellow and purple) she can point out the right color about 90 percent of the time. She knows the lyrics to a surprisingly large number of songs, and she has really started to remember people. (She frequently asks when she’s going to see Zander and Miles at the playground, and she often asks about her far-away relatives, including Coco!)
Zoe still has her little quirks. She loves looking in people’s mouths and saying, “I see that!” for example. And she loves talking about whether certain foods are hot and cold – she’s constantly asking us about the temperature before we take a bite of something.
Though Zoe has her fair shares of (usually short-lived) tantrums, she definitely has a sweet side. When I was having a bad morning and wound up crying recently, she came up to me with a look of concern and planted several kisses on my face. (Now, whenever she hears me sniff, she’ll look at me and say, “No cry, Mommy.”) And she likes to give us praise for things. One night, after we showed her how to drink from a cup using two hands, she saw that Q was using both of his and said, “Good job, Daddy! Two hands!” Very sweet…
-M
Zoe may be a California girl – and accustomed to the mild Bay Area climate – but she has shown a fondness for attire better suited to the snow and cold. In the past few weeks, her mittens have emerged as a favorite thing to play with (she’s always grabbing them in the morning and insisting that I help put them on, despite the fact that her hands are perfectly warm), and she’s also a big fan of warm winter hats. She threw on one such hat last night, and I had to snap a picture.
-M
Zoe has reached the age where she’s constantly saying funny and entertaining things. I don’t always post about them, but I thought it would be fun to include a round-up of recent comments that have made me and Q smile, laugh and/or look at one another and ask, “did she really just say that?”
Me, after pointing out dogs’ tails in one of her books: “Where’s your tail, Zoe?”
Z: “No have tail!”
Me, handing Zoe her reheated milk: “Here you go.”
Z, after taking a sip: “Much better, Mommy.”
Me: “Do you want to do a puzzle, Zoe?”
Z: “No. I’m busy.”
Me, about to start my nightly ritual of singing “99 Bottles of Beer” to her: “Good night, Zoe.”
Z to the doll lying in bed next to her: “You lay here, Baby. Mommy’s going to sing ‘beer’ to us.”
Me, after arriving home from Elena’s with her: “There’s your panda, Zoe.”
Z, grabbing and hugging her stuffed panda: “Panda! I missed you!”
Me: “I like you.”
Z, smiling: “Thank you.”
-M
In a post below, Q’s mom commented how grown up Zoe looks. (“Where is Baby Zoe?” she asked.) I know how she feels! I often come across pictures of Zoe where I can’t help but think how old she looks; below is one such photo. Talk about looking like a (sniff, sniff) little girl!
-M
Early this morning, before Zoe headed to Elena’s and Q and I began our work days, the three of us snuggled together to watch the inauguration. (At times like this, the three-hour time difference between us and Washington really comes in handy.) I know she’s too young to remember it, but I thought it was important that Zoe at least get a glimpse of this historic day.
The fact that Zoe won’t remember a time in which every U.S. president looked exactly the same is remarkable to me. Though it still pains me that we haven’t had a woman in the White House (I was, after all, a Hillary supporter), I’m hopeful that this will also change during Zoe’s lifetime. And I love that now when Zoe and every other kid in the country is told, “Anyone can grow up to become president,” there’s actual proof!
-M
Given the cold spell that most of the country is experiencing, and the fact that Jan. usually means rain here, our recent, summer-like weather feels a bit surreal. Unusual or not, we wanted to take full advantage of the warm temperatures – and we decided to head down south on Sun. for a little weekend get away. Our first top was the historic Billy Jones Wildcat Railrod in Los Gatos, where Zoe rode a real steam engine, enjoyed a Merry-Go-Round ride, and stole her dad’s ice cream cone. Next stop: Santa Cruz, where Zoe visited the Museum of Natural History and hit the beach on Sun. afternoon, and swam and relaxed on Mon. morning. Zoe took a three(!)-hour nap while Q and I enjoyed the sights of Route 1 on the way home yesterday; it’s safe to say she had a fun, but exhausting, trip!
-M
Riding the horsies with Daddy:
“I love choo choo rides:”
“Mmmm…. Ice-cream.”
Riding the whale:
Enjoying the beach:
Posing with Daddy:
“This vacation thing is so tiring!”
Nine days ago, as mentioned below, a big group of us went to Golden Gate Fields to celebrate Q’s birthday. In honor of his day, we were able to meet and get our photo taken with the winning jockey from one of the races. We just got the “official” photo of the celebration in the mail, and I wanted to share!
-M
Zoe and I received three visits to the Little Learners at the San Francisco Zoo for our Hanukah present. It is a program for kids 1.5 to 4 years old that allows them to learn about animals. Our first visit was today and it was Peacock Day! We had a ton of fun and can’t wait for our next two visits. Thanks Mommy…
Jon Q
Making our own peacocks:
Learning about peacock eggs:
Getting to touch snakes:
Zoe’s two favorite zoo activities; watching penguins and eating fish:
Can’t leave the zoo without checking out Daddy and baby giraffe:
