Night terror
Zoë had a night terror. She basically woke up screaming and proceeded to have what looked like a tantrum, screaming, crying, fighting, kicking, all of that. She had a fairly glazed look on her face, and it became apparent she wasn't entirely awake. Eventually, she did seem to wake up and she settled down to watch Shrek for a while.
Hopefully, this won't develop into a pattern...
Shrek
She's got a new favorite movie, and it's Shrek. We have it on DVD. Her favorite part is where (don't read this if you haven't seen the film and don't want one of the visual gags ruined for you) the princess sings to a bluebird and sings a note so high the bird bascially explodes. Zoë finds that utterly hilarious, and she tries to sing along with the princess in the film.
She's also discovered that if you push the buttons on the front of the DVD player (which is new), you can make the movie start over again at the part where the music is. How cool is that?
Peek-a-boo
Zoë was teaching her baby sister how to play peek-a-boo. She had a piece of paper she was waving around, and she put it over the baby's face and said "Wheeeerrre" then pulled it away and said, "There!" (well, more like "dere"). You see, when we play peek-a-boo with Zoë we say "Wheeeeerrre's Zoë? There she is!" The translation of that is apparently "Where... THERE!"
Miranda enjoyed it, at any rate, and so did we.
That's not how it goes!
We went out tonight to get some ice cream and a couple of items from the grocery store, and to run an errand. We did that, except when we pulled up in the driveway, Andrew said, "Uh, we forgot something." Seems we'd totally overlooked the errand we had originally set out to do. So I said, "Let's go do that now." Andrew started up the car and Zoë got absolutely hysterical. She cried nonstop until we got back home (about ten minutes or a little less; it was a quick errand and a short trip). She was absolutely inconsolable. When you pull the car into the driveway, you're supposed to turn the car off and GET OUT. You're not supposed to go again! Poor kid was just beside herself. She didn't fully settle down until we were actually in the house!
Potty
A few days ago, Zoë came over to me and said "stinky butt butt butt". She was correct. This is a good sign, as it means she knows when she's got dirty pants. Then, yesterday, she said, "Poo" and then proceeded to do just that, so she's aware of what's going on now.
I think it won't be too long before she's ready to start learning how to actually use the potty. I don't think she's there quite yet, but soon....
Fists and pics
Zoë's been walking around with her hands in fists for a few days now. I did discover that she had a sore cuticle on one thumb, and I put a bandage on that, but she took it off and I didn't replace it. Today I saw that she still has the sore thumb (it's a mildly injured cuticle) and a small sore on the index finger of the same hand (who knows how she got it). So I put bandages on BOTH sores, and she opened up her hands. I think she was keeping her injured hand in a fist and the other hand was in a fist just because it takes a long time to learn how to do different things with your hands (at least, it took me a while to develop that kind of coordination).
And on an unrelated note, I finally got new pictures online. It's a long story as to why it's taken me so long, but I've had the pictures for ages and just didn't manage to get them uploaded. There are lots of new ones now in the gallery, though, including some of Zoë handiwork/mischief.
Toddlers are weird
For two days, Zoë was going around with her hands balled into fists. On one hand, she kept her thumb tucked inside, as well. Tonight I noticed that she had a little sore on that thumb, a raw cuticle (possibly she bit it, or it was a hangnail and caught on something). I had to wash her hands (which she HATES) and then I put on a bandage, one with The Wiggles on it. From then on, Zoë went around with that thumb sticking up like... well, like a sore thumb. In other areas, she's got a new party trick, and it's singing parts of the Winnie the Pooh song. We sing the verses and leave off the last word, which she fills in. So her part goes like this: Pooh... Pooh... Fuff... Pooh... Pooh... Bear. (The word "fuff" by the way, is Zoë's version of "fluff" as in "chubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff"). She's also mastered the word "ouch," which is kinda cute. She's got a little bit of a nappy rash at the moment and while her Daddy was changing her nappy the toddler kept announcing to him, "Ouch. Ouch. Ouch," very distinctly. I think she was trying to tell him her bottom hurt!
Tantrums
Zoë is well and truly into that most frustrating stage of toddlerhood: TANTRUMS.
Her tantrums involve collapsing on the floor in a flood of sobbing and generally last no more than half an hour, usually a lot less. They can be triggered by just about anything, even sometimes by things we don't even recognize, some sort of internal thing in her little toddler brain. Who knows. A big trigger is being told she can't do something, but most of the time she's fairly good at taking direction that way... She's also much more likely to have a tantrum when she's tired or hungry, but aren't we all? We just ignore it and she eventually stops on her own when she feels better. I know this is a normal stage of development. I know it passes on its own, especially if we handle it well (i.e., we don't overreact to it). But golly, when she's lying on the floor sobbing almost hysterically it's awfully unnerving, y'know?
Counting!
Zoë can count to five! I'm really stunned to hear it, but she can do it, even without prompting. Her grandfather has been teaching her to count for some time now, generally just counting his fingers. Well, she's started doing it. I don't know if she fully understands the concept of numbers, but she certainly can do the counting.
Basically, her language use has completely exploded. It's pretty amazing. Just tonight she said "shoe" spontaneously and when I told her, "You stink," she said, "Poo!" so I guess she's been paying attention. Her vocabulary is expanding constantly, and I'm often surprised by the words she says, words I didn't even think she knew (no, none of them are rude words because generally we don't use strong language around the kids). After she sat on her sister's head (and scared the heck out of me and the poor baby), I was talking to Zoë privately, having a little cuddle. I told her I wasn't angry with her, but that she really scared me and hurt Miranda. I then added, "Don't sit on your sister's head anymore, okay?" and after a little pause Zoë answered, "Go-gay" (okay). I don't know if she understood what she was agreeing to, but it was pretty cute, I have to say. And just for the record, I now put the baby down to play on a mat where I can always see her, for safety's sake, and Zoë has so far been true to her word. She's been very gentle and sweet with Miranda since the Head Sitting Episode.
My favorite toy: Miranda
Zoë's favorite toy lately seems to be her baby sister. Here are some of the games she enjoys:
- Take away any toys the baby has or manages to get
- Poke the baby in the eye so she blinks
- Sit on the baby's head (it's funny when the baby wiggles and screams and fights trying to get the toddler off)
I don't actually think Zoë is being deliberately mean to Miranda. She does seem to like her a lot (Zoë says the baby's name and also says "sister"), and gives cuddles and hugs and kisses. I think it's more that the toddler really doesn't understand that she's being rude (or hurting). In any event, I've moved the baby's play area so that I can always see what she's doing and if anyone is sitting on her...
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