Notes on the life, times, and development of Miss Zoë Bromage, as recorded by her mother. Also includes minor notes on updates to this website.

Monday, January 29, 2001

Zoë has another new tooth, so now she has six. The other top incisor came in. Four on the top, two on the bottom (for now). She's also started saying "down" and "up" for "get me down from here" (i.e., the high chair) and "pick me up".

:: posted 29.1.01 :: link

We went to the zoo Friday, which was Australia Day, and therefore a holiday. We enjoyed the zoo so much that we became Friends of the Zoo, which basically is an annual pass to the Melbourne Zoo, Healesville Sanctuary, and various other discounts and extras. We figure it'll pay for itself in three visits, and it goes to support the zoo, so that's a pretty good deal.

Zoë isn't all that impressed with most of the animals, but she does enjoy the walk in the parklike settings. Sunday, though, we went out to Healesville Sanctuary and she definitely enjoyed at least one of the animals there. This animal sanctuary keeps the animals in fairly natural settings, with fences and gates that visitors can walk through, but which don't really confine most of the animals (things like lizards and wombats and birds are exceptions, although you can still walk through most of the aviaries). It's not exactly a petting zoo, but sometimes the more curious of the animals will come out of their area to mingle with people and you can touch them. That's what happened to Zoë, when a young kangaroo came over and stuck its nose into her stroller. The roo was probably looking for food, but it was also curious, as far as I could tell. It sniffed the wheels and the footrest and then just stuck in its nose and gave Zoë a few sniffs.

Zoë was delighted. She had a huge grin on her face and she reached out a couple of times and very gently touched the roo's face (the roo didn't mind). It was really amazing (I think Andrew and I were as excited as Zoë)!

I think the Friends of the Zoo was well worth the price of that moment. Even if nothing more wonderful than that happens for the entire year we have the Zoo pass, it'll have paid for itself in that experience.

:: posted 29.1.01 :: link

First, her latest word. Cat. Well, really it's more like "ca" but she says it specifically in reference to the cat and it's very clear what she means. She shouts joyfully, "Ca! Ca!" and then grins and stares at the cat (and touches her fur, if she can reach her, which isn't very often; Missycat knows how to stay out of the reach of excited toddlers).

On other fronts, this is absolutely the most determined child I've ever seen. There's a place in the corner of the office where she wants to go. I don't know why, other than she's not supposed to go there. It's in a place where I can't easily see what she's up to, so I prefer she stay where I can see her (for obvious reasons).

However, Zoë has decided she will go there. No amount of persuasion, discouragement, strongly spoken NOs, or subtle blocking of the area will convince her. She has gotten past my makeshift barriers three times now. She looks at me as she works out how to get past them, smiles at me, and then slowly climbs, wiggles, and squirms until she manages to make it past (unfortunately at the moment we don't have a gate that will work for this purpose).

I'm amused by her determination, frankly. If we can work to help her channel that into positive areas, there will be nothing she won't be able to accomplish if she sets her mind to it. This little girl awes me sometimes. She's just remarkable, and such a joy to watch as she grows.

:: posted 24.1.01 :: link

Zoë will be fourteen months old tomorrow. She's still breastfed anywhere between two and four times a day, mostly in the mornings and before bed. I've been slowly trying to encourage her to eat more solid food on the advice of her pediatrician, and move her away from the breast somewhat. She hasn't been weighed lately, but to look at her I'd say that it's working.

Lately, her "milkrobatics" (i.e., acrobatics while having milk) are getting quite painful and difficult for me to cope with. She switches back and forth between breasts numerous times every time she has a feed, she's starting to test her teeth on me (so far no damage, just my annoyance), and she's just getting fairly unruly at the breast.

Up until now, I haven't felt the need or desire to wean her (I'm willing to put up with her antics and I like the closeness), but I've been monitoring my fertility and it's sporadic, possibly due to the breastfeeding. Since we'd like to try for another baby in the forseeable future, this is a bit of a problem....

After much discussion and thought, we've decided to gently and systematically wean Zoë from the breast. I had hoped she would give it up by herself, but she's not the sort to voluntarily give up her comfortable routines (and who can blame her for that, eh?). I'm already starting to offer her drinks from a cup in place of breastfeeding, and starting next week, Andrew will be working from home, so he'll be able to help distract her from the breast. I don't want to do this abruptly or cruelly in any way, but I feel like it's time to encourage her to move on to other things. Coupled with our desire for another child and the possible effect the breastfeeding is having on my fertility, this seems like a good time to start to gently wean her.

:: posted 23.1.01 :: link

My little toddler is a busy, busy girl. I've had to extract her from under my desk at least five times in the last hour, because there's something interesting there and she absolutely won't take no for an answer. This room is full of toys (literally; they're all over the floor!), but she'd rather get under my desk to play with whatever it is under there that she finds so terribly fascinating. *sigh*

I think I may have managed to persuade her that she's better off playing elsewhere in the room, and that "under the desk" isn't actually the best place for toddler girls to play...

:: posted 23.1.01 :: link

Catfood is very tasty. I just thought I should pass on Zoë's recommendation. It's IAMS dry, so next time you're looking for some good Toddler Chow, consider picking up a bag from the pet store. Maybe your little kid will like it as much as mine apparently does (and she pitched a huge fit when I tried to get it out of her mouth, I can tell you!).

:: posted 18.1.01 :: link

We've almost done away with the playpen/cot. It's still up and I use it if I need to leave the room or otherwise need to put her in a safe, contained space for a while, and she also has naps it in sometimes (often falling asleep elsewhere, such as the high chair or on a parent's lap, and then being placed in it later). However, my little toddler is now roaming around the office, playing with the abundance of toys (which are all over the floor) while I work. She's standing and cruising around more, she's got more room to play, she gets more exercise, and it's not all that different from the cot. The only dangers are that she'll get hold of a book and rip it (this is the library, the office, the computer room, etc.) or get too near the electrical outlet, but the only one she can get near has a safety switch on it and something plugged into it (which she can't turn on or unplug).

Also, I have to admit it's very nice to be typing away and feel a little hand grab my ankle and turn to see Zoë standing up by my chair, having come over for a visit and a cuddle.

:: posted 18.1.01 :: link

Zoë has a new tooth. It's the second incisor on the top right. The second one on the top left is very close, as well. These came in with a lot less fuss than the previous teeth (which kept the poor kid up all night, and us with her).

She also has a new phrase which she loves to repeat. It's "tickle tickle tickle". Well, really, it's more like "ticka ticka ticka," but she clearly and obviously means she wants to be tickled. She enjoys a tickle more than any kid I've ever seen! We're always very careful to tickle in moderation, so she doesn't get overwhelmed or breathless or anything unpleasant, and it seems to work. She'll hold her foot up when she's in a chair and say, "ticka ticka ticka" and keep saying it when we stop, or she'll take our hands and tell us to tickle her and when we stop, she pulls our hands back to do some more. It's terribly cute, but then, everything she does is terribly cute.

She's almost walking, but not quite. She can stand by herself, but doesn't seem to have any interest in it. She'll walk if we hold her hands and walk with her, but her balance isn't good enough to do it alone, yet, and she tends to drop to all fours and crawl pretty quickly. She can move very quickly on all fours, but not on her feet, so naturally she'd rather be on all fours!

:: posted 16.1.01 :: link

It's been an interesting couple of weeks. On the day after Christmas, I tripped on a curb and fractured my arm, and as a result, our entire family routine has been altered. Andrew took leave and is working from home and taking care of us, and Zoë wasn't happy about this at first. She was used to Mama being the one who did everything for her, gave her her food, held her pretty much on demand, etc. Suddenly, Daddy was the one changing all the nappies and making all the meals and doing most of the picking up (although I could still hold her with my good arm and so on, and I did as much as I could). She's not inflexible, but she is very like me in that she doesn't really like unprecedented changes in her comfortable and happy routines.

After a few days, though, Zoë seemed to start to adjust to having Daddy be a more active caretaker. It seems that my broken arm and necessary change in our family life (at least temporarily) has broken the extreme dependence she has had on me since birth. She's much more independent now and seems much happier to play by herself (although she still wants to be near one or both of us much of the time, which is fair enough). She sometimes even specifically asks for (or demands) Daddy rather than me. She and I are still close, of course, and we still cuddle and play and so on, but the extreme dependence on me seems to be broken. This is a good thing.

It never ceases to amaze me how storm clouds have silver linings.

:: posted 8.1.01 :: link

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