Pumpkin time...

We are getting ready for the Halloween Holiday. Today we went Galey's Farm, saw some farm animals.. took a hay ride to the pumpkin patch. She played for a long time in a pen that housed 4 goats and an enormous sheep. The sheep didn't like Zoe much and felt cornered (well, he was) and so it butted Zoe in the chest.. I know, but it was gentle, she fell back easily onto a foot of hay.. she cried (not physically hurt, but the other kind of hurt).

Then we did that hayride.. I think she will love it much more in years to come.. she's still kind of young. (Also, the pumpkins were so picked over.. next year we go sooner).

dressing up the mirror baby

One of Zoe's favorite activities is dressing up and looking at that mirror baby. She has a few headbands, a belt or two (a sequin number and another cloth one) that she likes to parade around in.. she's a girly girl.

missing mama

The Nanny (Anna) reported that Zoe was looking through a photo album, saw a picture of Mama, and pointed at the front door, and then cried... She said it had happend before, but this time Anna tried many, many things and couldn't distract Zoe.. she almost called me, but Zoe finally got over it.

signing

Zoe is finally getting the baby sign-thing.. she can do "eat", "more", and "all done".. so I think we will start doing more. She seems to have stopped talking, and now just screams or points (luckily, mostly points). Its kind of odd.. she used to have half-dozen to a dozen words, but she doesn't use them anymore.. but then again, she has become much better at pointing and communicating what she wants.

Favorite things..

Things that make Zoe smile:
Splashes in the tub (and I don't mean just a little splash)
The tickle tent (A tent that she goes into and we tickle her)
Blackberries
Dumping water on her head in the tub
Standing on top of something
Playing dress up in the mirror (she uses headbands, scarfs...)
Fishes (the eat-able cheese cracker kind)
Getting squishes (she crawls behind me and I squish her)
Sitting on Mama like a horsey
Daddy holding her upside down

Things that make Mama smile:
Zoe laughing as she nurses
When I see her after returning from work
Okay, anything involving Zoe...

Things that occupy Zoe's time:
Stacking (cups, boxes, ...)
Emptying out Mama's purse, and putting everything back
Actually filing and emptying any container with anything
Reading books

Zoe's favorite books:
The small tiny book Auntie Rachel gave her (Sing a song of six-pence)
The Big Red Barn
The Freight Train
There is a wocket in my pocket
Mr Brown can moo
Pajama Time
Hey! Wake Up!

Zoe's vampire blood...

Zoe hit her mouth with the wood puzzle last night.. and bled for ever.. it turns out she hit the inside of her top lip, probably with her bottom teeth.. and every time she would stop bleeding, she'd just end up rubbing her mouth again... We tried ice, pressure, etc... she finally was so wiped by the event she fell asleep (after I had changed us all into black, put on black sheets and towels for bedding, and after her second bath). I won't talk about pulling out the clotted blood clumps.. She bled for about 2 hours (on again, off again).. oh so scary. She also has two scrapes on her chin too.
But she is all herself today..
I'll scribe more adventures of Zoe tomorrow, she's ready to play now.

here is picture dated the same day... Zoe on the phone (my phone)..

Feeding Bunnies

Zoe feed the bunnies almost every day.. this also means she is eating fresh blackberries from the bushes too.

Here are few picts from the 17th and 12th of this month.

first cold

Zoe has her first cold (yes, at 13months), and as a result, she cried harder than I've ever heard her... she was unconsolable after waking up about 10pm last night. We finally held her down and got some tylenol in her (I had the same cold 4 days ago.. and with it some very awful headaches, typically in the evening, so I felt for her). It took some time, lots of cuddling, and patience, but she finally settled down. She woke up one more time that took another 15 minutes to settle her, and a few bouts of crying in her sleep. Now she just looks a bit sick (swollen eyes, nose draining) and tired (me too!).

Daddy = Everyone Not Mama; Mama is nameless

After thinking on it, I've discovered that Zoe never calls me mama, or mommy, or anything (well, except that special scream she has when someone not mama has her)... further, she knows who Daddy is (sees picture, points at the real thing) and calls him Daddy... well, and sometimes calls Anna (her nanny) Daddy too..

So, Daddy = Everyone Not Mama; Mama is nameless

ahh.. she's learning...

A few notes about Zoe now.. it is strange how much of them surprise, yet don't surprise me if I think about it. She is learning to communicate, and pretty much throughly understands us.. like "come over here and I'll take off your jacket" or "shoes first before you go outside".. and she understands you and reacts the way you'd think. At first you're surprised because she does react as expected, then you're like, well, she should, she is a little human afterall.

She now reacts to hearing airplanes and looks up for them (and usually spots them).. if the weather ever works out, perhaps we will go watch the float planes take off and land (I saw a posting on it on the UVic parents list).

I bought her some of those wood puzzles by "Melissa and Doug".. one with sounds, one that is just really pretty.

We had a first (and Zoe's real first) Canadian Thanksgiving.. at Jim and Debra's, a friend of Bruce's from swimming.. they were fabulous, we had a great time. Zoe loved playing with their Fisher Price Ferry set (from their kids.. 30 yrs old).. I need to find a few more of those old sets for her.. they are fabulous toys.

Zoe's favoriate books are "I love you as much" and "Freight Train" (the last of which surprises me).. We read about 10 books before bed every night, so I bought a few more and we'll see how they go.

Well.. she's awake.. gotta get her before she jumps out of bed.