Lots of new things
Zoë seems to be finally settling into her new home. She's still into stuff a lot, being two years old, but she's much more laid back about it. She's even learning to "put it back" and "give it to me". She doesn't do that consistently, but she does do it now. Yay!
Her speech is still not great. She jabbers a lot with her own sort of made up language. Apparently, her father did the same thing, and was also a late talker (but when he started, it was with three syllable words and in complete sentences!). Her latest has been saying "Hello" to people and when playing with a toy phone. She uses it perfectly in context and it's obvious she knows why she's saying it. She does that with all the words she knows, in fact. I'm pretty much convinced that she can talk and just doesn't want to for reasons of her own. Still, we're seeing a speech therapist in a couple of weeks to see what can be done to encourage her and make sure she doesn't have any really significant problems that can be helped with therapy. And now a story I wanted to post earlier, but by the time I got a few minutes to do it, the server went down and I couldn't. The Sunday before last, we put a particular pink dress on Zoë to go to church, but it turned out the dress had a bit of a stain on it and needed washing. I went and got another dress out of the closet and we proceeded to take the pink one off of her. She was not happy about this. She clearly wanted to wear the pink one, and had a fit over having it removed. Later, she found the pink dress in the laundry hamper and carried it around, showing it to her father and jabbering about it. It was pretty obvious what the sentiment was: I wanted to wear this dress! This was the first time she's shown any sort of preference for clothes, and when she finally got to wear the pink dress this past Sunday, she seemed very pleased with it.
Putting things away
Zoë is learning a new "game". It's the "put it back" game. She's learned that when she puts something back where she found it, she gets praised all up one side and down the other, and that's fun. This also applies to the game of "give that to me". She's starting to willingly hand over objects she's picked up to a parent or grandparent when asked to do so. Yay! Now if we can just convince her to pick up and put away all her toys...
On other fronts, she seems to be taking to the baby very well. While some of the time she's still just plain disinterested, often now she'll come over of her own free will and give the baby a little cuddle. Other than sometimes being a little too rough (as toddlers tend to be), she's doing really well as a big sister. Of course, it helps that whenever one of us sees her being sweet to the baby we tell her how nice that is and what a good sister she is. Zoë absolutely thrives on praise (and doesn't really respond very well to any sort of harsh correction; even raising your voice can make her burst into sobs and then she doesn't learn a thing). She also responds fairly well to a "time out", but she usually cries for the entire two minutes she has to sit on the time out chair (really, it's a soft foot rest that's just right for a toddler to sit on), but she does calm down and stop whatever the offensive behavior was, even though she's usually very worked up by the time she's allowed to get off the chair. In fact, she's so sensitive that she started to cry last night when I raised my voice to the cat! Even though Zoë was being perfectly lovely and quiet and not doing anything to be reprimanded for, the poor little girl started to cry when I raised my voice that way. We had to reassure Zoë that she was fine and that nobody was angry with her, and that sometimes when I raise my voice it's not because of her. I don't know how much she actually understood, of course, but she did settle down again pretty quickly. And the cat stopped climbing around in the bookshelf unit, too, for what it's worth.
New pics, and playing with sisters
Zoë is taking much more of an interest in Miranda lately. She seems fascinated with the baby's hands. She touches Miranda's hand a few times and then her face. Nanna thinks maybe Zoë is playing "round and round the garden" with Miranda (you know the rhyme? round and round the garden, like a teddy bear, one step, two step, and a tickle under there).
There are a few new pictures of Zoë in the photo gallery, and several of the two little girls together in the Miscellaneous category of the photo gallery. Oh, and I forgot to mention this, but Zoë's eczema seems to be clearing up. There are still a few dry, reddish patches, but for the most part it's much improved.
Weighty matters
Zoë was weighed and measured today in a routine checkup. Not surprisingly, she's on the very bottom of the bell curve in height (she's always been short; she probably always will be), and around the 5th percentile for weight.
We're also getting a referral to a speech therapist, since Zoë is lagging behind in speech development (and doing well in everything else). It'll probably take two to three months before we get an appointment, but there's no real rush. I'm not actually worried about it, but if there's something we can do to encourage speech, I think we should probably do it. And on a completely unrelated note, baby sisters have belly buttons, something Zoë discovered today. She was touching Miranda's tummy as I was changing the baby's nappy and finally put one finger in Miranda's belly button (Miranda, being generally easy going, didn't object).
Toddlers and babies
Zoë threw up tonight. No idea why. She didn't say anything at all (not that she ever actually says anything, but that's beside the point). She just walked around with sour-smelling vomit on her pyjamas until someone noticed and saw that she'd been sick. Poor kid. She seemed to feel a lot better afterward, though.
Weird thing last night with her, too. She woke up around 3 a.m. and was absolutely wide awake. She started to do her "siren" noise (a sort of sing-song that cycles like a police siren), of all things. I brought her into bed with us and figured she'd cuddle up and sleep there, but no. I was reading a magazine (experience has shown me that it's unwise to fall asleep with a toddler potentially on the loose!), and she just fiddled and figeted and played until I got tired of her messing around and took her back to her own bed an hour or more later. It's very unlike her. I have no idea why she was awake. In an unrelated note, Zoë's starting to take more of an interest in Miranda. Yesterday, we watched her playing with Miranda, touching her hands and face. Today, she was carrying over small toys and putting them in the bouncer with the baby, in a way that looked very like a toddler wanting to play. It was actually pretty sweet. Miranda didn't take much notice of course (she's only just a month old, so plastic snap-beads just don't excite her), and for the most part, the baby is a placid little soul who doesn't get fussed too easily, and she seems to tolerate Zoë's attentions pretty well. So long as Zoë is gentle and not doing any damage, I try not to interfere in their relationship.
Eczema
Zoë went to the doctor yesterday. Her rash, which has started to spread up her back and to her face and lower legs and upper arms, is eczema. She's got some cream to put on it, and it's already improving, but during the exam the doctor asked if anyone in the family has asthma (paternal grandfather and one uncle), so it seems they're related.
I'm wondering if the anti-fungal/anti-bacterial rinse I've been using in the wash is what triggered the rash, but it could be almost anything. Just to be safe, I'm going to forego the anti-fungal rinse for a while and see. I only started using it because Miranda had oral thrush and I wanted to nip that whole thrush thing in the bud (the stuff can spread through the laundry and it takes several forms and can affect everyone in the family). Well, for now it's getting under control, and from what I understand, it will usually clear up by itself after a while. We'll just have to keep an eye on her and see how it goes, I guess.
New room, rashes, and talking
Zoë has adjusted to her new room pretty well. The first night she didn't want to go to sleep, so we brought her into our bed (our room is right next to hers) and let her fall asleep there, and then moved her to her own bed. Next night she went to sleep without a lot of fuss, although last night she wasn't very cooperative (so she got into bed with us again for a while). She is, however, taking naps in the afternoon without much complaint, which is a relief (naptime is golden around here).
Zoë's also showing a bit more interest in her baby sister. She likes to touch the baby, particularly on her hands and face. Sometimes Zoë gives little snuggles to Miranda, as well. I haven't seen any signs of jealousy at all, nor any signs of aggression (although a two-year-old can be a little rough at times). And on a completely unrelated note, I think Zoë is going to have to go to the doctor. She's got a rash that started out on the top of one thigh and has spread up her back, behind one knee, on her private parts, and a bit on her face. It's a sort of "scaly" rash with little raised bumps. It doesn't appear to bother her at all, doesn't seem to itch or anything, but it's spreading and that's worrisome. So it's off to the doctor for her, I think.
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