Time for another update – since we’ve seen even more changes since my last one in Jan.

Zoe continues to talk – a lot – and she’s getting easier to understand. She uses new words, including new Spanish ones, on a weekly basis, and she recently started using different verb tenses (e.g. “I running” and “You found it”). She likes to repeat things that we say, like “OMG,” which I occasionally say when I’m excited about something, and “good job,” which she says to us when she thinks we deserve praise. As mentioned before, she’ll occasionally blurt out things we’ve been saying to her for months – like the other day, when she looked up at me and said, “I Baby Boopersteins.” (This is a silly little nickname I have for her, and she looked so triumphant when she identified herself in that way.)

Zoe has never used a lot of “baby talk,” but she does have a handful of baby-words that make me smile. As example: a spoon is a “poon,” a sandwich is a “pamwich,” and excuse me comes out as “coo me.” Q thinks we should encourage her to use the correct words – he’s right, I suppose, but I just love hearing her pronounce them in this (adorable) way!

In terms of favorite activities, Zoe likes to read, color, paint, play with Play-Doh and stickers, eat (and feed others) make-believe food, and play “tent” (i.e. get under the covers in our bed) with her dad. She still loves palling around with her posse of stuffed animals: Big Dog and Panda are her most faithful companions, and she is often hugging, feeding or changing them – or putting them to sleep. (“Shhh,” she’ll say to us. “Big Doggie is sleeping.”) I also often catch Zoe cradling them with an “I love you” or “I miss you.” And she likes to get the ice-pack for Big Dog when he has bumped his head or has a “boo-boo” on his leg.

She still loves singing; for a long time a typical Zoe-concert would include (in this order) the ABC Song; Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star; and Happy Birthday. Recently though, she’s become fond of Bingo (which we often change to Mango, in honor of one of her friend’s little dogs) – and she often wanders through the house singing the “N-G-O” part. Another favorite song is Old McDonald Had a Farm, which she calls “Uncle Donald.”

As for big developments, there have been two recent ones. First, we moved her out of her crib in mid-Feb., and she slept in her “big girl” bed for the first time in mid-March. Perhaps not coincidentally, she started having some sleep issues (not wanting to go to bed at her normal bedtime, getting out of bed in the middle of the night), which we recently discussed here – and which we hope are on their way to being resolved! Another nighttime change: for the past few weeks, she has lost her interest in 99 Bottles of Beer, the bedtime song I’ve sang to her for months and months. These days the pre-bed must-have is a “Princess and Panda” story from her dad.

The other big development involves potty-training, which we’ve slowly started to do since the last update. Though still in diapers, she has graduated to pull-ups, and she seems to enjoy using the “big girl” toilet. (“I going!” she’ll say to us in excitement.) In the past week or so, she’s gotten good at telling us when she needs to go, versus us reminding her about going, so we might not be far away from a diaper-free household! (Well, at least until June.)

We’ve talked about it before, but Zoe’s “terrible twos” have been in full-swing lately. Though she is perfectly fine some (most, really) days, she’ll be completely grumpy, sassy and uncooperative on others. Lucky for us, Zoe usually knows when she’s misbehaving and, after a quick talk, will deliver a “sorry, Mommy/Daddy” and a hug. And it’s hard to stay angry when she wraps her little arms around you!

-M

This entry was posted on Monday, March 23rd, 2009 at 3:31 pm and is filed under 32.Two Years, 4 Months. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.