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.]

I was "that mom"... in the toy store.. with a screaming kid

Today, I was "that mom" in the toy store with a screaming kid, "I want the princess castle"... "no, it is $70, you can not have it" .. "but I want the princess castle now", "no, you have a dragon castle and a play house"... on for 30 minutes, through the whole store, her hanging on my leg...finally strapped into the stroller.... to payless shoes (my real reason for going to the mall was to buy shoes for school for her)..
It was the precious places swan landing castle:
http://www.fisher-price.com/pages/v6/default/preciousplaces/landing.asp

she's definitely older

As a milestone, yesterday as I was drying my hair, Zoe asked me to dry hers... a big surprise! That has certainly never happened before.

Additionally, last weekend we took turns going to the hairdresser, and Bruce took Zoe with her. Since them, she has wanted to get her hair cut. There is a new place, Lizzy Lee and me (www.lizzyleeandme.com), just down the hill from us.. I took her in there, hoping to get in, but we have to wait until next week. She was quite upset that she couldn't get an appointment.

Happy 3rd Birthday! part two

Birthday Party Invite.. It was a pirates and princess theme.













I gave Zoe a choice of dresses this morning, and she picked the cupcake dress.. it is lovely.. a bit too big, but she wore it all day. (thanks Rachel!!)

Today we had a party with a few neighbors and friends. Kids included: Harrison (age 4), Liam (age 2), Rosemary (age 2.75), and later Panos (age 3).


I spent all day yesterday trying to prep cake and cupcakes, including mini-cup cakes, but the biggest feat was the cake. It didn't start well.. I didn't want to use the dark hair half doll (no legs) that comes with the cake, so I bought a blonde barbie. But it was too tall, by a lot, to fit the doll mix.. I had to make two more 8" rounds and stack it.. then I didn't have enough fondant (almost hard marshmallow icing that you can roll and cut).. so I had to make it up... but I think it worked out okay.

The party was fun, but I should have organized the arrival of the kids and the adults a little better. Everyone came at once, leaving our adult friends to just kind of watch the craziness as I tried to send the kids on a mission to hunt gold and silver (chocolate kisses) in the backyard.
In trying to get the kids organized to do my planned activities, Zoe rebelled, she was a bit overwhelmed by everyone and just wanted to hide in her room. It became quite difficult to get her out and keep the kids busy. I think next time I will also hire a babysitter.. I had planned too.. but never got my act together.

After getting them all outside, they all loved it, they played in the yard with our tunnels and we had filled the swimming pool with balls and I threw in some match box cars for them to dive for.

About 3:30, the kids seemed ready for cake. Bruce and I lit the candles and got the porch only to find Zoe was back in the yard... the candles had almost burned out by the time she got there:





A picture is of Zoe eating one of the sleeves.

















Play time in Zoe's room: Panos, Harrison, Rosemary and Zoe.











Finn however, did not like the loud party scene. Dad took him outside to play in the ball pit, and boy did he love it!



















The night ended with Zoe and Panos having races across the backyard (thanks to George/Panos' dad).. boy did they have fun. I tried to shorten Zoe's straps on her dress, she was crawling through tunnels,.. that is a feat in a long dress!

Happy 3rd Birthday! part one

Zoe had a fabulous birthday. She's been opening presents for a while.. started 2 days ago opening presents from Nana and Grandpa. We did a video conference, so they watched while she opened it.. I think it left a good taste in her mouth for video conferencing.. every morning since she has mentioned wanting to call them and talk to them. Nana and Grandpa gave her a jewelry box loaded up with jewels, as well as a dress that came with a magic wand. I'm sure she did not put the wand down for 48 hours.




















Next we received a tinkerbell dress from Auntie Rachel.. Zoe spent the whole day in it, I was surprised she gave it up for pajamas. Here is the pictures of her trying it on (with Wings!) [I forgot to mention that Auntie Rachel sewed! these outfits herself! Amazing!]




























































Auntie Rachel also sent us the cupcake dress.. but I couldn't get Zoe out of her tinkerbell one to try it on. In these pictures she is saying, "Oh, Look! I love it!" followed by "I look like BoPeep!"

















Zoe also gave up her waist band, and put it on Finneas head, say "Oh, look! A prince!"

presents...

Zoe's b-day presents are coming in.. she opened Nana and Grandpa's gifts of a jewelry box (plum full!), princess wand, and Ariel dress. I'll post pictures of her video chatting while opening.. she was quite the darling!

Zoë-ism

Quote from yesterday as told by Anna:
"I went to the pyramids yesterday, all by myself with my mother"