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.