Third Christmas

We had our first Christmas in our own home.. kids went to sleep in their own beds.

Zoe got into Christmas this year, but she was still a child in training. We put our cookies and milk for Santa and a carrot for the reindeer.. When she got up, she went to the table and said, "Oh No! Mom!"... she was very sad, worried.. all of the cookies were gone. I told her that is why we set them out, for Santa to eat. I thought it interesting that was her reaction.. I never pictured it that way.

Nana called us at 7:30.. worried we had forgotten her.. but we were still sleeping.. The kids woke up at 8:30.. we started on presents with Nana and Grandpa watching on video for about an hour. We unwrapped really slowly.. the last present was unwrapped at noon.

Zoe received several wands, a tiara, hair barrets, box of dress up clothes, little pans and rolling pins, apron, fairy dress-up puzzle like thing, and the biggest thing was the Imaginex Princess Swan Castle, Barn, Carriage and lots of figures. She also got a Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty dolls and Tinkerbell. As well as Playdoh, drawing pads, paper. Games: Don't Break the Ice, Cooties, Hi Ho Cherrio.

It was a wonderful day, very easy going, relaxing.

We spent Boxing Day in the same way.. enjoying Croissant breakfast sandwiches, burrito lunch, hot chocolate, home made gingerbread cookies... Playing games with the kids.. watching videos.

visit to Santa

I took the kids to Hillside mall to get their pictures with Santa this morning.. Finn was in such a good mood, playing around on the little fence while waiting in line. Zoe was anxious, in an excited way, happy, wanting to go see Santa now.. but still kind of wary. We waited about 15 minutes.. got our turn.. Zoe gets up there and starts playing shy... she won't talk to Santa, hides behind me.. Then I sit down, trying to get her on my lap, then Santa's.. but all of the sudden, Finn is too close to Santa and starts the big freak out cry... Time to take picture I say, I try to get both kids on my lap, but I can't hold Finn and Zoe.. Zoe wants me.. I finally ask Santa if he is ready to hold a screamer... he does, I hold Zoe, we get a picture of the three of us with Santa. It wasn't at all what I expected.. I thought Zoe would be the screamer ;)
(Picture up soon)

I tooted a ....

Putting Zoe in her car seat.. Bruce said, "wait.. you've poo'd a juice box".. there was one on the seat under her... later today, while at lunch at the club, she just started dancing around saying, "I tooted a juice box".. at dinner tonight, it was "I tooted ketchup" "I tooted ranch".... then she was tooting tickles.. oh it kept going...

My nose feels picky...

While putting Zoë to bed in the hotel in Seattle we had a strange conversation. There were two lamps in our hotel room. One directly above Zoë's bed and another on the far side of the room. In preparation for putting Zoë to bed Amy turned on the far light and turned off lamp shining directly onto Zoë's bed. Then came the following dialogue.

Zoë: Mom, Mom turn the light back on.

Amy: Zoë I turned on the other light and turned off the one that was shining right in your eye. There is still plenty of light in the room.

Zoë: But Mom, I want the light shining right in my nose.

Amy: Zoë why do you need the light shining up your nose.

Zoë: I don't know, but my nose is feeling all picky.

master shopper

We got to Seattle on Monday at 5:30ish.... Zoe was woken up from a 30 minute nap, which is never good.. she needs to wake up slowly, or she is a bear cub woken from hibernation. She was screaming, crying, whining, I was restless and wanted to go shopping. I dragged her out of the hotel room, out of the hotel, and to Nordstrom's Rack.. we went in the door, she saw all the kids clothes, she immediately snapped out of it... "ooohh... the pretty dresses!" In 10 minutes, she picked out 4 dresses and had tried them on right on the spot. Then we went to shoes and she tried on 6 pairs.. then she spent the next 25 minutes finding shoes for me to try on. We didn't get to my clothes, we needed to head back to the hotel.. but I can't wait for her to help me find clothes!

"I'm a friend" & Kitten pictures

Here are some pictures from 12.04.2009 and 12.07.2009 of Zoe and her new kittens:

"Mommy...! You bought kittens for me?"

Z: "Mommy, What's that box?"

M: "Its something I need to give to a friend."

Z: "I'm a friend."

It was a cookie box.. maple leaf cookies, I had been planning to give the neighbor...

With that statement and the fact it was at the table during dinner, I couldn't resist giving her one.

Daddy and Finneas and Zoe were playing in the bedroom, playing dress up princess.

Zoe handed Daddy a princess shirt,
Daddy: "Zoe I don't think it will fit me"
Z: "It is for Finneas"
Finneas was fighting the shirt...
D: "I don't think this is going to work"
Z: "yeah Finneas is not a fan of dressing up like a princess"
Z: "here, I'll get the skirt"

(Zoe wanted to dress him anyway ;)

Dr. Jekle and Mr. Hyde

I'm surprised by Zoe's (and any 3 year old's) ability to switch from angel to devil in a split second. For example.. this morning I was giving Finn a broken gram cracker from the remainder of one sack, Zoe wanted one.. I tried to give her the one that I was giving Finn, and she said, "No, its broken"... and took over in a crying fit, slamming the door.. not giving me anytime to offer her the unbroken ones. She came back minutes later, I was still analyzing what happened, and she was acting like it never happened.

fear of new people, new places

Zoe is really afraid of new people and new places.. I didn't have a name for it until I went to one of the parent information sessions at the preschool.. but this is one of Zoe's 9 traits that make her who she is. It really became obvious when Gran (Bruce's Grandmother) came to stay with us. Zoe is often telling me that she is afraid of her, "I'm scared" "She scares me" "No I don't want to go home, Grandma is here".

But she's now been here a week and we are on our way to "a beautiful relationship".. via chocolate ;) Gran gives her one treat a day. Its working. Light night they played that stacking hand game...

We also had a 2.5 week hiatus from preschool.. and I spent the first day back at the school.. today I took her and it worked better.. I had to stay for the story time, but once she was off to go play with Emily, she was able to say goodbye without the "no, don't go".

diaper update

well... it didn't stay totally diaper/accident free.. but it was progress.. I'm still for letting her do it on her own (with the proper coaching).

diaper free day!

Zoe on her own initiative has been removing her diaper.. last night this was a problem, as her diaper was the dirty kind.. Dad got the brunt of it...

this morning however, I didn't know, she said "I need a diaper".. I was busy, half confused, and then 1 minute later she said, "Mommy I pee'd"

She had taken off her diaper... After we cleaned up, she found a pair of panties a few minutes later, put them on... she's warn them all day, and while I was taking the cat to the vet (Anna is with her), she went pee-pee on the potty...! on her own initiative.

yeah! It is true... they will work it out on their own. (Nanny-Nanny-Boo-Boo to your nay sayers.. and you know who you are ;)

afraid of fire

Zoe hate the fire in the fireplace.. we've had two over the last week (a new thing) and she does not want to be involved.. it scares her.

major do it myself girl

Zoe is striking for independence. She will not allow you to interfere in anything she does without pitching a fit.. and they are strong, lengthy fits. We are working to ask before doing anything... cutting food, picking out clothes,.. anything involving change. It is amazing how strong her will is.

"I just washed my hands, they were sticky, but I did something.."

Z: "I just washed my hands, they were sticky, but I did something."
Mom: "Oh, Zoe? What did you do."
Z: "The window. I painted it. I made a terrible mess. We should clean it up."

There was a yogurty frozen Popsicle that she got bored with.. and found another purpose for.. however, she did put in a good effort into cleaning, got a cloth from me, wiped, put it in the sink as instructed.

I found it funny.

let me do it or I'll hit or pitch a fit

self explanitory from the title.. I'll elaborate more later.

Zoe the marriage counsellor

One night this week, Bruce and I were arguing, heated debate, Zoe hated it.. Its hard to write up just what she said, but it involved: "Mom, are you freaking out?... stop it." "Don't talk to Amy that way... Bruce stop it. You have to be nice..."

yes, she used our first names... and was very stern, but diplomatic.

Last night, Bruce and I were not fighting, but talking about work ( we get heated in that way too...) and Zoe asked me if I was freaking out... this is the phrase that Dad uses when he means, "don't do that, it will make Mom mad".

games we play

Zoe is very active and since turning three, her imaginative play is always a source of wonder for me.

my favorites:

Teacher Zoe: requires chopstick, shoes, bedroom mirrors... parents as students sitting in a particular way, as dictated by Teacher Zoe. typically, we are asked to repeat actions such as "take a bow", smile, etc. We play this game most nights after dinner, before getting ready for bed.

Hand Puppets: Zoe now respond very well to being told to do things by puppets. She also want toys to interact with one another, especially puppets.

Librarian: she checks out books.. stamping them with a few toys.

"Old paint": from Backyardigans... traditional horse on knees... Zoe riding... this game is very trying with all hardwood floors. May be time to get the horse on a stick!

(A lot of this should also be credited to Anna for enabling her in these scenarios.. library, seller, etc.)

flash back: This is my brother

I was remembering seeing Zoe in the play zone at the Seattle airport on our last flight.. Finn was standing at the ladybug, and a 3-4 year old boy was sitting on it.. Zoe got very defensive: "This is my brother. You have to be careful. He is just a baby."

Dear Santa...

A rough draft for Zoe's Christmas wish list:

Cinderella with Horse

My little pony... especially Rainbow Dash and Whisteria or Minty (She has Pinkie Pie and a grey one and a purple one)

The little, little my little ponies

Dresses.. especially dress up

Other dress up things (like Dr, or fireman, or some such thing)

Wands, wands, wands,... especially ones with glitter in them

Princess castle (this one directly from her this morning)

(such as Playmobile)

LeapFrog Fridge Phonics Magnetic Alphabet Set

Cash register like Fisher-Price Fun 2 Imagine Cash Register

Book: Winnie the Witch like this

LeapFrog Leapster Learning Game: Backyardigans

barbie clothes (dresses, dresses, dresses)


but please keep in mind if you are thinking of gifting, we will have to mail these things directly to our house.. we can't take them on the plane.. they are charging $40/bag.

more soon...

whirlwind tour to SLC and Denver

We just returned from a whirlwind tour of SLC and Denver.. 8 days.. felt like more at times ...

Zoe really enjoyed playing with her cousins, with the toys at Nana's and Grandpa's and with the girls (12, 10, 8) and Nathan (almost 3) at the Cowan's.

First we got in the cab to take the float plane from Victoria Inner Harbor to Lake Union...

on the way, about 5 blocks from our house, someone plowed into our taxi.. I was in the back seat with both kids... good thing it was Victoria, where people don't go very fast.. it wasn't a big deal... but scared me all the same. But after asking for a new cab, dragging our bags out of the

seat (the trunk was smashed shut), we made it to the airplane.. we had a phone call saying they had to cancel the flight the day before, but we got off, no problem. Zoe's only comment about the flight the next day was that "I was kind of scared; it took my voice away".. but she was a trooper. Finn slept the whole flight.

Then we met up with everyone: Ashursts and Gooches at Jeff's. I had a cold, was tired, overwhelmed.. it was a tough night. Zoe woke up with Night Terrors.. she hadn't had them in a while. It turns out (I think) that the painting in the room (abstract skiier on a mountain) scared her.. I covered it and all was well.

We enjoyed out time with the Gooches: Brooke and Zoe played together constantly.. fought a bit, Brooke tried to boss Zoe a little, but Zoe didn't take to that well.. but mostly they were together at all times. Zoe didn't take well to Barton.. and it took 2 days for him to get a hug.

Brooke joined us for a trip to the Utah Football Tailgate party. The girls had such a good time playing on "the bus" and on a nearby pirate ship.

Next at Nana's and Grandpa's Zoe was greeted with a toys such as a playdoh burger set.. Within a day she had mixed all the colors.

The first night we had a dinner with everyone.. it got kind of loud, I don't think Gramma appreciated it much. At one point Zoe was in a fit and threw a barbie near the feet of Gramma. Gramma (who is mostly blind), saw the motion and sort of yelled "That's enough at Zoe" with a mean old scowl. I took Zoe downstairs to give Gramma a moment of peace. But when we came back up, Zoe, from across the room, chucked something else her direction... this time on purpose, but didn't hit her. Zoe told me "Gramma scared me.. she looked mean"

The next day we went to the Dinosaur park.. some of which scared Zoe... but she had a grand time in her very frilly, very sparkly, dress which left us all covered in blue glitter.

Next we went to Denver and had a good time with our friends there. It was hard to balance sleep and other schedules since they were on a different (late) schedule.. but the joy Zoe had with the kids, the trampoline, the playset.. it was a good visit. We also had a chance to go to the Children's Museum to let the kids run a bit.

I do however remember at some point Zoe saying, "My nose hurts".. we all had colds, dry noses.. bleeding.. but Zoe was talking about the bead she put up her nose... I kind of freaked out.. asked for tweezers.. but was able to push it out by rubbing the side of her nose once I calmed down.

The flights back was all good but we were glad to be home.

preschool... no jacket

Last week I had my first duty parent day. I was very proud of Zoe, she didn't mind my being there... or really, we didn't interact much.. she just went about her day. I cherish her independence (remind me that I do when she is 16!).

At preschool, her and Frances came to head a bit though.. Frances didn't want her on the playground without a jacket. When I was on duty, she sent her in because she wouldn't wear one.

Yesterday I picked her up and she never got outside because they didn't have one.

But here is what her teacher wrote to me:

"Hello Amy,

Zoe has been in my mind this afternoon and I need to run some things past you. I do not want to get into a power struggle with Zoe as it will affect our relationhip in the classroom which I feel is doing well just now. And I'm not one of those people who needs to have total compliance. If something is not working then I have to look at other options. So my thoughts are that I need to back off a bit and give her a bit more space aroound the coat decision. I have been thinking about my other children who will want to go out without coats as it tends to be a snowball effect once one goes out without a jacket. However I can get round that by saying that Zoe's mom says she can go without as long as she is not cold. I'm making an assumption that she is one of those "hot bodied" little people. Presumably Zoe will put on something warm if the temperature is low, she won't let herself shiver - am I correct?? Perhaps you could send two things - a sweater/cardigan and a jacket so it gives her some choice. You have probably tried all that already!! I can try asking her to put something on so she doesn't have bare arms - that sometimes works. And if all else fails I will ask her to take her jacket out with her so she can put it on if she does get cold. In any event, I don't want Zoe to miss outside playtime nor do I want us to have a negative struggle every day, so if it is alright with you I will relax with the coat issue and rely on her own judgement. I won't let her freeze or get soaked though.

Let me know if you have any ideas or insights.

I'm really enjoying Zoe in the classroom, she has a spark to her that shows an active imagination, and I want to keep that spark and strength of character alive.

See you on Thursday

Frances "

and my reply:

"oh Frances! Thank you so much.. I'm glad you got to me first before I

wrote up what I was going to write ;) It was much along the same
lines, but I was afraid that it would come off as telling you what to
do. I wasn't sure how flexible you'd be, but I know now that kids do
come first for you and I really appreciate your taking the long view
of this. Zoe is such a strong headed individual who does not conform
and I wouldn't want her too. I too cherish her independence and
really she isn't unreasonable.

I give her lots of choices of jackets in the morning.. and give them
all special names, commenting on how they match or this is a princess
thing, etc. But she won't bite.


Thinking on it, she is a hot blooded thing and will wear a jacket if
she gets cold, but she is the type that needs to be out, get cooled
down, and then will put one on if she really needs one. I tried to
send her fully dressed (sometimes even that is trickery and means
promises that she can put on her short sleeve mermaid dress as soon as
she gets back).

I was really sad for Zoe yesterday and I really appreciate your being
sensitive to it too. She missed playing with Emily outside and was
kind of heart broken. I'd do almost anything to make sure that
doesn't happen again (I was thinking I'd just have to come to school
for outside time every day).

I am not worried about her having a jacket if she won't wear it and I
appreciate your willingness to work with us on it. She will put one
on if she gets cold, but probably not before.

thank you so much,

Amy"

halloween

Halloween day was jam packed with fun.. we were finishing up on house project (floors) with the guys (our odd job guys Levon and Leaf).... I came down to find Zoe had found a red marker:

it was in her hair.. in her ear... ugh! luckily most of it came off... all off after a bath.

Then we had a surprise for Zoe.. Bruce and I dressed up in our Incredibles costumes and called her back to our room. She was shocked.. shy.. hugged the wall... afraid of us in our costumes.. took a little warming up and we finally got her in her costume.

Then we went to Emily's house. The kids were so hyper.. running around... dinner was challenging but she did manage to eat some mac and cheese. Then we finally got out the door.. we made it two houses and Zoe asked if we could go home.

But she did make it down the long block, up houses with lots of stairs... to a house that had 200 lit pumpkins.. fun. ... although I think this scared Finn.. and he was tired.. he cried, I took him out and tried to console him. Then back up the hill and she was done. She at treats most of the way up the hill... chips, smarties... etc. So far the candy has remained hidden for 24 hours and she has not asked for it... maybe we'll keep it that way ;) (cruel?)... no I'll pull out pieces ever now and then.

reindeer or rain deer

"Look mom, a reindeer"... I think to myself.. yes, it is raining, and that is a deer ... black tailed mule deer.. a spike.. we have also regular visits from 3 point and 4 point bucks.

overheard yesterday

Francis (her preschool teacher) was warning the kids not to eat the pumpkin seeds at the art table.. said "I know most of you are probably eating roasted ones at home..." and you hear "I am"... from several kids... Zoe pipes up real load "I am not!"

(yeah, our pumpkins are sitting on the front porch... untouched...)

tutu and pony playdoh set

Thank you Auntie Rebecca for the My Little Pony Playdoh set and Auntie Carrie for the tutu! (and you can see our temporary bed in the front room and closet mirrors at the "foot" of the bed.)

Play date with Emily

Zoe had a playdate with Emily on Friday.. Emily is her best friend.. from preschool.. they really cherish one another and had such a fabulous time playing together. We started with dressing up as princesses, made wands, they played a little in her room; fought over the stroller (a toy Emily knows how to use and a toy Zoe almost never plays with (unless she is the one sitting in it)); played playdoh, had lunch, ate popsicles... while winding down, they both curled up in the rocking chair and had such a good laugh (and played tug over a yo-yo). They played solidly from 12 to 4... by 6pm Zoe was curled up in a sleeping bag, sleeping soundly by 6:30.. no interest in dinner.. at 10pm she woke up... missing her bink... and she was having trouble breathing.., breathing mostly through her mouth, which doesn't work well with a bink.

she has a cold.. we are hoping it is not the flu (H1N1 scares me, as the media wishes it to be)... she spent today watching movies and hanging out.. we tried to keep her calm and rested.. she napped right after we got back from breakfast, asleep by 11am... weird for Zoe. She had the typical up and downs.. didn't really eat until dinner time which she did well, then pronounced she didn't feel well and kind of mosey'd around while we finished up. I hope with enough tylenol she gets good sleep and kicks her cold out.

beautiful boobies and fancy jewels....

Zoe: "And she has beautiful boobies and fancy jewels."

(on the picture of Little Mermaid on her dress)

pumkin hunt

After a solid 24 hours of rain, the weather finally cooperated and we went to Galey's Farm for our annual pumpkin hunt. We parked with a view of the road to the pumpkins and Zoe would not wait until the hayride, she wanted to walk there right away. She was wearing a brown corduroy dress with tights and her Backyardigans shoes.. luckily she didn't mind jumping OVER the puddles. I have some great pictures of her in the pumpkin patch.. coming soon.



Once we found a few pumpkins (small one for dad, Huge one for mom, good size one for Zoe), we hopped on the tractor pulled hayride. Then we went to the petting zoo. Zoe had a good time hugging the goats, and then went over to the slides... but she was a bit temperamental about going down, they'd be blocked by kids, or her, or dirty, nothing seemed to go her way. I think it is due to lack of solid sleep... we are all sleeping in the front room, while the hardwood flooring is going in... Zoe's bed is in the dinning room, but Finn's teething cries are waking her up.

I got in line for the train, and Zoe seemed to really enjoy the ride. Then she went back to the goats, and spent more than 30 minutes there...

It was a lovely day, the colors of fall are here, and when the sun shines, it is all golden and rosy... perfect day with the family.

first date ;)

While we were in the midst of installing all this fun hardwood flooring, Zoe's friend (Emily)'s mom called and invited us for High Tea at the Bleathering Place.. unfortunately I couldn't go, but Zoe did.. and sounds like she had fun.. although Erica (Emily's Mom) did say she had to take them out for a jump time after they ended up with Devonshire Cream on their hands and were clapping them together.

I made some remark.. "Oh I forgot..." right after Zoe left and Bruce said I was just nervous because Zoe went on her first date ;)

habits of the parents

Zoe has adopted two habits of her parents twitching (her dad) and picking (her mom).. she scratched her face with her very long fingernails and spent a week picking at it and simultaneously twitching her binky when she got nervous.. creating two other sores.. I think we've finally got past it by finally triming her nails and putting a clear band-aid on it for a week.

pictures from Sept 25th

"I wear my leotard and I don't care..."

I gave Zoe a pink leotard this weekend, and some tights (which she hasn't wore since she was a baby)... but now that she is fascinated with dresses....

Zoe started chanting, "I wear my leotard and I don't care"... her adaption of the story "I wear my tutu everywhere"
as well as "I wear my tights and I don't care, I wear them everywhere".

In this video, she is also singing "I lea"... which is what she calls dancing in her leotard.

dressing school

Every morning when we get Zoe ready for school, she says, "and I want to wear a dress".. today she corrected herself and wanted to wear her leotard.

She wore it with black tights, refused to add a long sleeve shirt, or jacket, or skirt.

Apparently she had lots of fun painting.. will see the images when they are dry next class.

preschool

Preschool is going really well for Zoe. Tuesday I had to wake her up 15 minutes before we had to be out the door (another night of tossing and turning in our bed and not sleeping from 3-5am).. I thought it would be hard to get her going.. but I said, "Zoe do you want to go to school?" and she jumped up.. I had clothes, but she insisted on a dress.. I put her in a purple shirt and her cupcake dress (thanks Rachel!).. boy did she get a lot of comments on the dress.
After the first story time, she was off to play and I kissed her good bye and went home.. no problem (for her ;)
When I came back, she was outside playing and I heard the teacher say to two little boys, "the dinosaurs here are very nice, be sure to play nice".. Zoe from behind says, "Look. Look. Look me in the eyes. Listen. Mommy will be very mad. They are not listening".. she was channeling her Dad. (and yes, the boy completely ignored her)

The other preschool fun thing is when I prep her for going to school by talking about the plan, she says:
"And I will go find the wand and share it with the girl. That is nice. That boy playing mean with the teapot, that was naughty. I will be nice and share."

I think she gets it ;)

popsiclesZ

Both kids enjoying popsicles... (when Finn saw that Zoe had one, he demanded one too,.. the problem is that it quickly gets too cold for him and it ends in tears... but a bath comes to the rescue.. (see Jack-Jack photos).)

hardwood puzzle

Zoe was playing with some of the future floor (hardwood) pieces when Dad got home, so he showed her how they go together.. she is an expert now.. can't wait until they get to work on installing! ;)

I want to ride a horse now!

We went to the hardwood flooring auction this weekend at the Saanich Fairgrounds, and they were holding equestrian contests... We tried to interest Zoe in watching, but she only chanted, "but I want to ride a horse now!"... Dad would respond: "and we want you to ride a horse..." [REPEAT N>10 times]

sparkle!

"Oooh, Mommy, you have a sparkle too!"

I can't remember if I posted this already.. Zoe calls freckles, "sparkles".

Zoe the kitten

Zoe's new thing is to be a kitten.. she wants water in a bowl, and she will lick it (no pictures yet). She did this at our friends house Friday night for a party.. they were happy to accommodate her.

She also does this with her daddy, he is the daddy cat, she curls up in his loving arms.. very cute.

Please and Gentleman...

"Please and Gentleman... Welcome to the Incredibles Show! The Show must go on. Please sit down"

The scene: Our Driveway. I had just drawn with chalk 4 Incredibles as directed (first ElastaGirl, then Dash, then Violet, then Mr. Incredible) and a robot for them to fight.

*Note: she thinks the phrase is "Please and Gentleman" not "Ladies and Gentleman"

Another phrase often heard: "That is disappointing..."

Jack-Jack

"Let's rename Finneas Jack-Jack"

As we were giving Finn a bath in the sink tonight... oddly enough I was just playing with his hair, making a mohawk (perhaps you haven't watched Incredibles as many times as I have: Jack-Jack's mom was giving the baby a bath in the sink in one of the opening scenes)

First day of Preschool!

Zoe had her first day of preschool today.. I'm not sure who was more excited (her or me)... we walked in and she was saying things like, "I'm going to school because that is my job" and "This is the path to school".. first in the door, we changed her into her indoor shoes. Put her snack bag in its cubby, and then went to wash her hands... On the way we passed an easel with paint and paper.. "I want to paint"... "no, first we have to wash our hands and then go to circle time"..
"NO! I want to paint".. but she finally consented. In circle time she returned to her "I want to paint" rant, but finally the train whistle blew (very quietly) and circle time started.. most kids were sitting in the laps of parents.. not Zoe, she was standing front and center of the teacher (Frances).. she was asked to sit down and she did. A puppet came out and greeted everyone, and then once the kids said hi to the puppet (shake hands or nose), the kids were free to go play (free play).. Zoe was the second one, and we went on our way. First to paint, then to water table, then to "play in the kitchen".. a little house area. This is where things took a turn for the worse.. Everyone was just playing around each other.. a little boy came into the house, and tried to take the contents of Zoe's pot away.. it went from Zoe's metal tea pot to his, she grabbed it back, he shut the lit on her hand.. one finger peaking out the side got pinched. Zoe cries, falls to the ground folding in half.... screaming.. I finally took her outside to cool off (it was kind of warm in the school)... she calmed, but I tried to get her back in and the scream could be heard by everyone for blocks.. Frances came out and tried to listen and reassure her. I convinced her that she had yet to play with the playdoh, she was over her pain and went in.. phew! I just kept saying, oh, let this not be like Music class.. can't have the first day go badly... but it was okay. Last few minutes of free play at playdoh, then circle time with a story.. Zoe was front and center again with two other girls, and class ended. We had a good morning and I think she will really look forward to school.

Hail to princess Zoe!

I took Zoe out to check out her dad (who was gathering rocks for the new cement pad in his man fort), and the whole way out there she chanted: "Hail to princess Zoe! Hail to princess Zoe!".. it was so very cute!!! in her sing song voice. (Did I mention she was in her tinkerbell dress...)

day with Harrison

Zoe has a friend down the street who she quite likes to go be with, but I worry that they are somewhat destructive with one another.. they played in the water.. not taking turns at the sprayer, sort of battling constantly.. he pushed her down, nearly off a 1 foot wall, and pushed her another time.. both times resulting in scrapes on the knees. Admittedly the whole time they spend together is not in strife, but they are much more physical than any of her other friends. Part of it is that he is a year older, part of it is that he is a boy, and most of it is that he plays with his 6 and 8 year old neighbors. Not my pick for friends for her, but it is nice to have some place near where she can run around and have some interaction.

first salon hair appointment

Last Wednesday, Zoe went for the long awaited first salon hair appointment.. she was very excited. She sat very quietly.. that kind of shy quiet that she gets when she holds very still and only whispers.. it was very cute. Everything went smoothly.. she watched Backyardigans (how did they know?).. and even let them dry her hair. She got a spray of glitter (I called pixie dust) and a yellow heart lollipop. [I have pictures and a short movie to post some day soon.]