Zoe is now a big sister... she is very wary of her brother, keeps her distance, but likes to make faces at him; Today she found a burp cloth and covered him up while I was nursing.. "to keep him warm".
Zoe's fits have gotten stronger and more often. In particular, her night time routine is severely under adjustment. She's napped most days since we brought Finn home, and that has caused no end of trouble for trying to put her to bed. On most nights, a nap day would mean I spent a long time putting her to bed.. with Finn almost always interupting my putting her to bed, this has been awful. Last night, I had her almost asleep in our bed (I was probably more asleep than her) and Bruce bought a hungry Finn in... Zoe had a real breakdown.. she wanted me next to her. Bruce tried to help and I finally told him it would never work, Zoe would not allow him to help. So Zoe cried on the floor, the whole time I fed Finn. I finally put her in bed (not done with Finn yet) and she continued to cry.. she finally crawled up in the rocking chair with me, while I finished feeding Finn. Then I got them both down.. at this point I should have made myself a strong drink.. but I just said good night to Bruce (it was 11pm) and went to bed, asking him to move Zoe back to her room, figuring she'd sleep better without the baby interruptions throughout the night. However, at about 3am, just in time for Finn to wake up, Zoe came into our room, and I put her next to me, Finn woke.. Zoe again spent the whole time screaming "I want Mommy." She finally fell asleep, I sang to her and fed Finn.
Rough night.
Today was better.. even though Anna was off today.. and it was just the family. We went to breakfast (Finn's first at Pluto's) and then to the Dr.; Zoe was mostly good. The office has really good toys, including this shape sorter with over 15 shapes.. she is really good at this task. The rest of the time was with us. It worked out well.. even the 1.5 hours I was alone for the first time with both.
She is infinitely naughty though... yogurt spit out and rubbed around the front room; throwing avocados... putting her finger in raw meet and licking said finger.
Other small changes in Zoe include:
refusal to wear diapers.. luckily I found some Princess Pull-ups and those have helped
refusal to take a bath.. two nights she took a shower...One night she said the water was "too wavy"; last night she heard the baby cry and instantly got out. She hasn't had a long bath since Finn came home.
So now the Zoe rules are:
Declare war on all naps
Leave the room when she is throwing a tantrum
Zoe has unlimited access to Mom, even if she is sleeping, Anna is here, whatever
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
What did you say?
Daddy: "Mommy's going to have our baby today"
Zoe: "WHAT? What did you say, Dadda?"
Zoe: "WHAT? What did you say, Dadda?"
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
so polite
I do want to add that Zoe can be very polite and quite grown up... Her dad was telling me about this stickers that the doctor gave Zoe when Bruce went in for a prescription refill. Zoe added, "That was very nice of her." She has said the same thing of things I do for her or for her dad.. its nice to be appreciated ;)
ah the fits
Zoe is still very good at throwing fits.. I keep reminding myself that I need to remember that she did that before the baby showed up... I can only imagine how they will be when there is competition for attention. She physically throws herself at the ground, up and then down, again and again. I've started walking out of the room, because my presence seems to lengthen the fit; One can also notice when they move from genuine rage to just prolonging the event (faking it).
chest cold
Our poor Zoe has a chest cold.. for the first two days, it only seemed to bother her when she was sleeping and she would wake up crying. For the next (last) two days, she has been on Tylenol around the clock... it makes a big difference. Before I gave it to her, she was just easy to set off, throwing herself around, crying inconsolably, she might just not understand the pain, because she won't tell me about it. But I see her holding her head. But when she has the Tylenol, she does seem her nearly regular chipper self.
I can't help but be mad at the mom who took her sick 4 year old to the park... she was coughing all over everything (into her hands and running around the equipment). It also seems like a bad time to have a cold in the house with a new baby coming home. Scares me so.
I can't help but be mad at the mom who took her sick 4 year old to the park... she was coughing all over everything (into her hands and running around the equipment). It also seems like a bad time to have a cold in the house with a new baby coming home. Scares me so.
Friday, February 13, 2009
on a stage
Sometimes I feel like Zoe is on a stage, performing, and I'm just watching her. She has started singing non-stop for long periods of time.. sometimes the songs are recognizable, but mostly they are just her going, and going, and going.
She does a similar thing with books now too.. its as if she is reading it to you, or sometimes we take turns.. her version is always better.
We are still trying to find the balance between nap and no-nap.. It is much easier on us at night if there is no nap, but about 6pm it gets hard on her.. when she's upbeat, she'll really up, but if something happens, she crashes hard. Last night she a little diaper rash that hurt when I changed her diaper and she ended up crying herself to sleep in about 10 minutes.. it was sad.
I think she is excited about having a baby "brother and sister".. because Dora has twin siblings, Zoe thinks she will. It will be interesting to see how all of this balances out.
Zoe has become quite independent in her playing.. this morning she was so cute, she found this puppy stuffed animal, cuddled up with it in her "house" on her "chair" and was talking about feeding it dinner. She took the puppy into the dining room and it stayed with her while she ate her breakfast.
One of the interesting things I've also noticed about Zoe is that she is not tied to any one object (okay, except her TV/DVD shows).. but not to a doll or stuffed animal.. they all come and go, no favorites.
She does a similar thing with books now too.. its as if she is reading it to you, or sometimes we take turns.. her version is always better.
We are still trying to find the balance between nap and no-nap.. It is much easier on us at night if there is no nap, but about 6pm it gets hard on her.. when she's upbeat, she'll really up, but if something happens, she crashes hard. Last night she a little diaper rash that hurt when I changed her diaper and she ended up crying herself to sleep in about 10 minutes.. it was sad.
I think she is excited about having a baby "brother and sister".. because Dora has twin siblings, Zoe thinks she will. It will be interesting to see how all of this balances out.
Zoe has become quite independent in her playing.. this morning she was so cute, she found this puppy stuffed animal, cuddled up with it in her "house" on her "chair" and was talking about feeding it dinner. She took the puppy into the dining room and it stayed with her while she ate her breakfast.
One of the interesting things I've also noticed about Zoe is that she is not tied to any one object (okay, except her TV/DVD shows).. but not to a doll or stuffed animal.. they all come and go, no favorites.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
shopping for baby
Zoe is starting to talk more about the baby.. mostly about shopping for the baby.. giving the baby a binky.. things like that.
Zoe's current routine
Because I'm very pregnant, and awfully sleepy, Bruce and I have worked out the following Zoe routine:
Zoe wakes up somewhere between 6:30am to 8:30am.. average is just after 7am. Bruce takes her downstairs and she watches her shows (Dora, Diego, Curious George, Magic School Bus) for an hour while Bruce exercises and showers. Then about the time he is hopping in the shower, I crawl out of bed.. get the little dressed and make Zoe and I breakfast (egg fried well, on top of cut up Canadian Bacon on top of toasted English muffin with Salmon Cream Cheese spread).. we eat together over a glass of milk, sometimes sparkling water, sometimes tea (chai!).
Then we usually play a bit until Anna shows up.
When I get home, we play for a bit, then I make dinner.... typically she plays or colors/"paints" pictures at the dining room table.. although yesterday she was being very naughty.. throwing markers, her leapfrog, general terrorizing. I'm guessing it was because I was on the phone and cooking.
When she doesn't nap (now the standard), she will get the exponential energy release right after dinner, and we often turn on her music class CD and let her (and us) dance around.. then Daddy gives her bath at 6:45 or 7, then in bed by 7:30, get her into PJs/diaper, I read her 2-3 books, give her a glass of milk, a binky. She likes to sleep snugged up on her pink pillow, with a comforter between her and the wall and a body pillow on the other side. She also likes to snuggle her lamb-blanket (head of a stuffed animal, with a blanket body). Then we shut the light off and I sing a song of her choice.. typically "Noah" and if necessary "Silent Night".. that latter of which generally puts her to sleep.
Then she typically sleeps through at least until 3am.. especially if she has access to her binkys and milk. At some point, she'll either wake up freaked out crying, or just quietly come into our bed (about 50%).
On weekends, her dad has been taking her swimming. I rarely go with them.. opting to nap or nest.
When I'm with her for lunch, she usually eats soup or a "cheese sandwich".. two slices of cheese on a tortilla, folded in half and nuked for 30seconds. Then I cut it into strips (about 8-10).
At night, sometimes she asks for "hot milk" which is nuked for 30seconds as well.
Zoe wakes up somewhere between 6:30am to 8:30am.. average is just after 7am. Bruce takes her downstairs and she watches her shows (Dora, Diego, Curious George, Magic School Bus) for an hour while Bruce exercises and showers. Then about the time he is hopping in the shower, I crawl out of bed.. get the little dressed and make Zoe and I breakfast (egg fried well, on top of cut up Canadian Bacon on top of toasted English muffin with Salmon Cream Cheese spread).. we eat together over a glass of milk, sometimes sparkling water, sometimes tea (chai!).
Then we usually play a bit until Anna shows up.
When I get home, we play for a bit, then I make dinner.... typically she plays or colors/"paints" pictures at the dining room table.. although yesterday she was being very naughty.. throwing markers, her leapfrog, general terrorizing. I'm guessing it was because I was on the phone and cooking.
When she doesn't nap (now the standard), she will get the exponential energy release right after dinner, and we often turn on her music class CD and let her (and us) dance around.. then Daddy gives her bath at 6:45 or 7, then in bed by 7:30, get her into PJs/diaper, I read her 2-3 books, give her a glass of milk, a binky. She likes to sleep snugged up on her pink pillow, with a comforter between her and the wall and a body pillow on the other side. She also likes to snuggle her lamb-blanket (head of a stuffed animal, with a blanket body). Then we shut the light off and I sing a song of her choice.. typically "Noah" and if necessary "Silent Night".. that latter of which generally puts her to sleep.
Then she typically sleeps through at least until 3am.. especially if she has access to her binkys and milk. At some point, she'll either wake up freaked out crying, or just quietly come into our bed (about 50%).
On weekends, her dad has been taking her swimming. I rarely go with them.. opting to nap or nest.
When I'm with her for lunch, she usually eats soup or a "cheese sandwich".. two slices of cheese on a tortilla, folded in half and nuked for 30seconds. Then I cut it into strips (about 8-10).
At night, sometimes she asks for "hot milk" which is nuked for 30seconds as well.
Zoe the singer
Zoe is a cute little singer and now will put words to almost any tune.. Last night in her bath, she sang to the tune of "Nick-Nack Patty-Wack Give a Dog a Bone". This morning we were making up words to "Have you seen the muffin man".
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