more on communication

on the way back from dinner, Zoe said "mama" "dada" and then I got her saying "Anna" (her nanny's name)... then later we worked on "bubbles", "grandpa", which let to "papa", "grandma", "Nana".. she's almost got them all.

She's also learned "cuckoo" (the name Anna gave one of the Fisher Price Little people animals she got for her birthday).

I think she will be well on her way to talking anything we say soon.

Speaking of which, on Sunday we started a new game.. I lie down, on my tummy, she jumps up and down on my spine, until I"m sea-sick, and occasionally falls off to one side, saying "oh dear".. did I mention she can play this game for at least 30 minutes.
Goes to prove, don't start anything with her that you'll get sick of or from...

another segway... we both have another cold.. It had been bugging my throat for weeks.. with SIGGRAPH, it finally stuck, and I passed it to her.. lots of sinus pain.. ick! she is now asleep in her old car seat.. I'm hoping the elevation will get her some better sleep.

tutu

Zoe hair is growing.. she has there curls in back.. her hair does that flip thing that people pay a lot for.. I'm sure it isn't the kind of curl that will last as soon as it gets length.. it is still blonde.. possibly a bit darker than when she was born, but still blonde

She is starting to communicate quite a bit.. she does equal parts of sign and words now.. (still quite few).. her favorite sign (and thing in the world) is for baby.. (act as though you are rocking a baby).. it is so very cute. She has a baby doll she borrowed from her cousin Brooke, that she now carries everywhere.. I'm thinking I need to find a backup doll.. I found the same doll online at Kmart..
And Amazon, and Sears also seem to carry them.

Also, her auntie Mikah gave her a book "I wear my tutu everywhere".. she loves, loves, loves that book.. I say three times, because she makes me read it front to back three times in a row, and would do more if I could manage it. She can now say "tutu".. so cute.. I might need to buy one ;)

words, sounds, signs, playing,

Zoe is pretty fast at developing her communication skills..

She now says very clearly:
mama, daddy, good-girl, go-go, uh-oh, hi, dip, oh-dear, tutu, (ba)nana, taste

She knows the sounds for:
sheep, cow, monkey, dog, cat (sort of), lion (more of just a open mouth roar, than a sound)

She knows the signs for:
baby (her newest one..), more, done, where, taste, eat, up, sleep, quiet, one-minute

We just returned from the indoor kid-drop-in at the rec center with Panos and Tiffany; it was fun. Zoe played by her self mostly, running around, only once stole a toy, once had her baby (who she will now carry everywhere with her) stolen from her. For the first time in a long time (the only other time I could think of was Christmas travel) I put Zoe to nap in my arms.. I miss it.. it is so precious.

first sushi bite (on same day as tongue bite)

Zoe's day started with a fall off a toy and her biting her tongue.. poor thing.. I think it hurt her all day. It has kind of a bloody spot in 3 places. At 4pm the Nanny called, Zoe was in consolable, I told her to call me if it ever happened.. this was the first time (since Sept). I talked to Zoe on the phone.. apparently it did the trick.. (although I did come home). Since then she's been kind of whiny, unhappy. I have a head-cold.. maybe she does too.

So to make us feel better, we had sushi delivered (a first) and Zoe had her first two parts of a salmon roll.. she seemed to like eating the rice off the seaweed paper. Then we got to the Edamame (soy beans)... I used to shell them for her.. but she didn't like that.. so I just kind of popped the shell open, and she'd fish them out.. she had at least 10 in her mouth at a time.. she liked it, a lot, ate more than a dozen pods.

babies

Okay, when it is not about being naked, its all about the dolls.. I call them babies, but have tried to break myself of the habit. Zoe is in love with "Cherry baby" the doll that she borrowed from Brooke.. in fact tonight I was putting her to bed and she started looking around for her... wasn't happy with the Cabbage patch baby, or Zoe Muppet.

Before she requested Cherry, she was feeding the Cabbage patch baby her apples.. I've seen her feed them binkies, with pretend spoons, etc. She can be so girly ;), makes a Mama smile.

its all about being naked

With Zoe, its all about being naked, from the time she wakes, in the afternoon, at night. Anna said she made it until about 3:30, then she couldn't fight it any more. Really, I don't care, she is so very happy, I mean really, really happy, giddy even when she is naked.. she just loves, loves, loves it. In the morning, she strips off her pajamas (bottoms all by herself, the top requires some help). Then she rubs her body with glee, and prances around. Eventually, she tries to put some clothes on.. both pants and shirts go on the feet.. with pants, she is able about 50% of the time to get one foot in each leg.

molars!

Zoe is just now getting molars.. so now she has two on the bottom, 3 on the top (yes, that 2nd tooth on the left is still not up), but I caught sight of the molars on the top coming in.. a sharp point on the left, and a circle of ridges on the right.. so cute and small.

one of my new favorite pictures

bath and bubbles

naked...always!

Seen here chasing her kitty mischief; on the side on the floor is the doll she took from Brooke's house, the one she now caries around all the time.






















Wearing a dress that Auntie Rachel gave her for Christmas:























Ever since we returned from the holidays in Utah, Zoe has become obsessed with being naked.. I have some great pictures I'll put of the faces (I'm sure you upset you don't get the sound effects too) as she pulls at her shirt, shoes, she will not rest until she is completely naked. What else can we do, we let her run around naked. And yes, that means no diaper and the results are as you would guess.. Hardwood floors are a blessing. So, when she does this, I've been trying to sit her on the potty and work on signs for having to go. Tonight at some point we guessed, and her dad took her in, sat her down, she got bored, went into the shower, and pee'd ;)


This is how the "getting naked part" starts. As of this weekend, she's been naked at least twice a day.


Get. This. Off.




Time to look into potty training.. is 16 months too young?

perhaps we should take Barton's advice and only let her pee outside. ;)

nap.. 3 hours!

I swear, we went to lunch at UVic with Dad, feed the bunnies and then came home, no later than 2:15.. Zoe fell asleep on the way home.. it is just past 5pm and she is just now waking up!

missing Barton...

last night, at 10pm when Zoe wouldn't go to bed, she was sitting in her wagon (which is not exactly meant for a girl to sit in, but to hold blocks).. and she grabbed her photo album, and was laughing and having a good time... I went over there, and she was looking at pictures of Barton. I could say things like "where's Barton" "where's Brooke" and she could identify the pictures (her album has like 5 pictures of Barton).

"ne" and lotion

After our trip to the desert of Utah, I had to convince Zoe to let me put lotion on her face.. it was getting quite chapped. Now she asks for some.. I accomplished this by letting her put lotion on me, or her babies, or herself.. she uses one pointed finger.. it is really cute.

Last night I asked her to put bubbles on her "knee" and she thought "ne".. she put them on her nose ;) Oh the things we teach our kids...

boo! and all is well

after 24 hours of pain I do not ever want to repeat, my clogged duct went away... (I know you were dying to know).

I recorded video with my new camera of Zoe saying "boo".. I'll try to put it up later tonight.

scowl

I don't think I've mentioned Zoe's Scowl... it is pictured here, but doesn't' do the expression justice... in this recored instance, I asked her to scowl and she did! (12.14.07)

16months!

Zoe is 16 months old today... she played "boo" around a corner with me yesterday.. it was so cute.. we usually play this chase thing around our bed, but the around the door frame thing was new. (She actually says "boo"... so cute!).

I ended up going to the doctor this morning.. I either have a swollen gland or infection in the breast.. on the side Zoe doesn't like in the first place.. it hurts so bad.. I may have to start weening her.. oh, I'm not sure she's going to like that.

ne ne

Before we left for Thanksgiving and heading back to see the family, I taught Zoe "ne ne" also know to some people as "eskimo kisses".. touching noses. It works pretty well, instead of her giving kisses, she does "ne ne"s

(I just wanted to write this down even though it is out of the timeline)

When we left my families' party in Utah, everyone got "ne ne"s.

should be talking soon...

Zoe is getting more and more chatty.. she likes to sing.. one of her favorites is "Old Mac Donald".. the "E I E I O" part.. she says "I O".. it is very sweet.. I still need to capture it.
She's also parroted back: "crackers", something that sounds like "good girl", "go go", "burp" and I am working on "love you" ;)

trip home

Well... the trip home went really well.. our flights were delayed about 40 minutes, which would have allowed Zoe lots of time to play in the Seattle Airport at the kid climbing place.. but she was almost too tired to enjoy it.. she sat in her stroller for 10 minutes eating a cookie before she finally got up and ran around. She slept completely through the SLC-SEA flight and then fell asleep 20 minutes before the flight in my arms and slept completely through the 30 minute flight (one of the bumpiest, freakiest flights) to Victoria (it was extra scary when the flight attendant screwed-up and said "turn off your approved powered devices, we'll be landing soon".. we hadn't even crossed the Straits of San Juan yet...it was so bumpy, and the flight attendants were told to strap in.

Now we're home, and trying to settle back into our routine.. Zoe and Anna spent the day together after being apart for 3 weeks.. I think they missed each other.. but the smile I got when I got home.. extra, extra cute, very large.. very happy.

Advice from a 7 year old

Another Barton Story: Barton (7 yrs old) told me that he new how to potty train Zoe.. not in the 4 years it took him, not 3, not 2, but 1 year.. "only let her go outside".

Christmas with the Ashursts

After Bruce took Rachelle back to Springville, we headed to Layton.. but didn't get there until noon, and not before Zoe took a spill down the stairs at Jeff's. I was right there.. missed her by 1 arm's length.. saw her slip around the banister,and roll down the steps.. so scary. I cried for an hour. Zoe got a bruise on her head and another on her thigh.. but seemed okay overall. Once we got to Mom and Dad's, due to the fall, a short nap, and Zoe's sickness, she became extremely Mommy-needy... I could not leave the room.. if I wasn't in her line of sight, she freaked.. this started the minute we came in door at my mom's and got progressively worse. In fact, she is still that way. Naps are all off, shortened.. she wants to be near and cuddled all the time.
Anyway, back to the past.. Christmas was great.. Zoe got completely spoiled. Carrie (and Scott) gave her a princess dress up kit with lots of shoes, and a doll with a cute purse that holds an octopus. Rebecca (and Hang) gave her a Cheer Bear (Carebear) and ?. Tice (and Mikah and Taylor) gave her a horse-in-the-box (like a jack in the box) and a toy hammer that makes sounds of shattering glass. Nana and Grandpa gave her lot of clothes (including her x-mas dress), a super cute Advent Calendar (in progress), toy tools, a Seaseme Street Toy CD player and book. Nana gave her a teapot set (the teapot sings the song you'd expect) and Grandpa gave her a toy front end loader. The teapot is one of her favorite toys, she likes to press the button and then have me help her through the actions of the song. She is getting used to the front end loader (truck).. she likes to sit on it, but it tips her over.

Zoe and Barton (patients Zero), gave everyone their icky flu.. aunts, moms, dads, grandparents, great grandma.. we all had it.. luckily after Christmas. Mine was an all night fever the day after christmas and extreme tiredness (I napped when she did), and then GI trouble two days later. Bruce was more severely out (napping and GI for 2 days).. it kind of seemed to affect all the Ashursts one way, and all the Gooches another.. kind of weird.

sick and Christmas Eve with the Gooches

Upon returning from Vegas, Zoe and Barton both got the stomach flu. Zoe woke about 2am on Christmas eve, throwing up. She threw up over 5 more times.. it was difficult to keep her hydrated.. it was scary. The strange thing is, she'd throw up, no warning, and then she'd be fine.. on a bit lower power, but she'd play and be fine. Even Barton seemed more under the weather than her. We spent Christmas Eve with the Gooches.. it was nice, but with two sick kids, it was different. Zoe opened a few presents, and then didn't seem interested anymore.. I think it was because she was tired. Then we noticed that it was snowing, with no sign of stopping.. we were supposed to head to my parent's house, but we needed to wait for them to clear the roads, and it would be best to travel with the sun up. Plus, car rides with a sick kid.. not fun.
From her Aunt and Uncle gave her a Fisher Price Nursery CD player, a drum and maracas set, one of those wire things with beads, and a really cute hat.

Of course, plenty of time was still spent tackling her favorite cousin:

Gooches and Vegas..

We headed up to the Gooches, where Zoe's cousins were very anxious to see her (they called us on the way up, looking for a time of our arrival). Zoe and Barton got on as usual, and Zoe and Brooke finally got into their own groove by the end of the trip.
On Friday (the 20th), we headed to Las Vegas.. 4 adults, 3 kids in one rented SUV. I was a bit more than freaked out about it.. 6 hours in the car with Zoe.. wow.. not a vacation.. but it worked out much better than I expected. She slept about 3 hours (wow!) and then watched movies and played in her car seat with Brooke.. she lasted until we got off the freeway in Vegas, and I had to sing songs until we made it to the hotel.
Quotes: I was singing "little bunny foo foo".. Brooke thinks the song is "little bunny tofu" (hehehe)
One the way, Barton said when Zoe finally woke up: "Zoe is much cuter when she is a awake. Her eyes are blue like the sun."


When we got to Caesar's, Zoe was so happy to be out of the car, she was kissing the floor.. actually I think it was because the floor was so shiny she was kissing herself.

When we finally got into the first room at Caesar's palace, Zoe was exploring and I one point I realize she is in the bathroom, the toilet room, you know the kind with only a toilet and a bidet.. and she has climbed up and is sitting in the bidet.. wow.. I jerked her out fast, she was scared.. not the kind of place you want your kid.. but at least it was the clean bathroom (the other one wasn't, we got a new room).

Vegas was fun, we spent a lot of time at F.A.O Swartz (ultimate toy shop). I bought Zoe an Madame Alexander doll (I had one when I was her age), some bath toys, and a Raggedy Andy to go with Raggedy Ann. Below is a picture of Zoe and Barton on the famous large keyboard at FAO Swartz.


The rest of the trip was nice.. and crazy, hard to keep a toddler having fun when most of the stuff was geared to kids much older. Everyone (especially Bruce, Barton and Brooke, enjoyed the midway, and they earned a bunch of stuffed animal prizes




The trip home was sort of the same, but with a 1 hour crying jag at the end. (From Nephi to Sandy).. lots of "little bunny tofu".

home for the holidays: Layton first

We had a good flight to SLC on the 14th. Zoe slept most of the SEA-SLC leg. We arrived at Nan and Grandpas and she had a great time.
We tried to relax after a very stressful departure from Victoria ans stayed with Nana and grandpa (Amy's parents) for 5 days. The days were all about the same.. sleep til Zoe woke up, showered, dressed, breakfast, and then play Zoe out til her nap which typically aws the result of a very cold stroller ride around the 'ol neighborhood.. then my very anxious vamily would finaly be freed to plan a trip shopping or some such thing. As a mom, I plan days around Zoe's naps.. it seems to befuddle everyone else as to why this is necessary and I've decided to stop trying to explain.
By the end of the time at Mom's before we met up with the Gooches, Cisco (Nana's dalmation) was off limits to Zoe.. he nipped her on the arm.. little harm, but scared the heck out of all of us. It still surprised me, but Zoe still every time she saw him (from across the room, as we were moving him downstairs or back of the house).. she just wanted to cuddle up. Zoe did get to play with Marti (Shitzu) and after a while he started to stick around for the pets and occasional ball throw.

bath time with bubbles!

Bubbles baths are Zoe's favorite. Right before we left (as Zoe was over her cold and I was head over toes deep in mine), Bruce gave me a break and gave Zoe a bath.. Suddenly he yells, "get the camera".. (ugh!) I did and Zoe saw me and started her "mommy is not here scream, and I come in and there is more bubbles than water. Zoe has a foot tall column of bubble on her head. I included one picture, but she wasn't very happy when I showed up because she realized I was missing, so its not the best.
Ever since then Zoe likes to "paint" her face with bubbles. She also (around mid Dec.) started alying out on her tymmy in the water and occassionally blows in the water; more often than not though she just drinks the water (bubbles and all).

Ziploc bags

Before we left, Zoe figured out how to open Ziploc bags.. the first time it was in our bedroom; Zoe found a bag of Vanilla wafers (emergency rations). She opened the bag and dumped them into a tin box (from Pixar renderman teapot wind-up toy). Then dumped the tin full of cookies back into the bag... [repeat]. Mischief was very curious about all of this and was rewarded with a wafer of his own.

December came and went...

December has come and gone and I've posted very little.. Actually the first time I wrote the first part of this, I wrote it on paper, after writing on tinier pieces of paper for weeks. The holidays have kept me from sitting down to write... but I'm going to record what I remember for Dec... they will be the entries that follow.

The picture is from a sledding trip with cousins and Bruce lawyer-business buddy.