Issy Cat
Yesterday, we saw some lovely little black puppies in a pet shop window. I showed them to Zoë and said, "Look at the puppies!" She watched them for a bit and then said, "Issy cat! Eeee ooowww," (that translates as "pussy cat, meow"). I laughed and said, "No, they're not cats, honey. They're dogs. Woof, woof!" No. She insisted. They're issy cats. And they say eee owww.
Today, we saw some more puppies in a different store. These weren't black, they were brown. "Look," said Daddy. "Puppies!" Zoë's conclusion, after observing them for a little bit, "Issy cat. Eee owww."
Apparently, all small furry animals are pussy cats!
Zoë's Birthday
We had a pretty low-key celebration for Zoë. We went out to lunch at T.G.I.Friday's, and then went to the Disney Store in the same shopping center and got a copy of Beauty and the Beast on DVD, and a very cool Winnie the Pooh cup that has a built in straw that goes around the outside of the cup.
Uncle Greg brought Zoë one of his infamous "noisy" presents: a pair of cymbals. He's given her rattles, drums, xylophones, a toy car that has a beeping horn, a quacking duck... well, you get the idea. Now, cymbals. He's getting worse, and Andrew told him that. Greg replied that it probably can't get much worse, but if we find anything worse than cymbals to let him know quickly, since it's almost Christmas...
We have some pictures of Zoë from today, as well. They'll be online as soon as I can process them and upload them, so in the next couple of days, probably.
Birthday Cake
Zoë's great-grandfather, who was once a baker, made her a cake for her birthday. He's going to be away all day tomorrow, so we were going to celebrate tonight. The cake had chocolate icing on top and Zoë's name in white icing, along with "3 Years" and a bow. Very pretty.
Andrew took Miranda and went out to get some roasted chicken for dinner and I was in the kitchen doing some dishes. The cake was on the table. Zoë, quick thing that she is, managed to cover the cake with seasoned salt in the time it took me to wash four glasses.
I didn't get a picture of the undamaged cake, unfortunately. We're going to try to salvage at least some of it, but she really did quite a job on it. It's really quite coated with seasoned salt. Yuck.
More Potty Talk
Zoë actually came and asked to use the potty! Well, not with words, but she made it very clear she'd like to sit on the potty for a while, so she is. I let her use the potty in the kitchen area, near my desk, so that she can watch television and she doesn't get too bored waiting for something to happen. She seems happy to do that, and the floor is vinyl, so I can clean up any mess (not that there's been any).
So at the moment she's sitting on the potty very nicely. When she's done, she'll let me know (she always does). She hasn't come close to understanding about wetting yet, but she seems to understand at least part of the process, and she definitely likes wearing Pull-Ups or training pants instead of nappies, so hopefully she's getting the hint. It's hard to tell when she won't talk, and she's pretty stubborn, but I think maybe she's gotten the idea that using a potty is preferable to doing it in her pants (we hope).
Pre-School
Earlier this week, Zoë and Miranda and I went to one of the local pre-schools to check out the three-year-old class and talk to the teachers there. Zoë loved the place. It's got a playground and... and... toys... and... other kids... and... and... it's just all so cool and exciting!
She's signed up for classes starting in January. I'm hoping it'll improve her speech when she figures out that no one there understands her unless she actually talks to them. I'm also hoping it'll make her a little more willing to accept authority. She's pretty willful and very strong-willed. I think if she can see that there's a good reason to do as she's asked/told, she'll be a bit more co-operative. At least, that's the theory...
Speaking of strong will, she's learned how to climb in and out of her cot, which means we'll be putting the cot away and bringing a proper bed in for her. For the last three days or so, she's practiced her bed-climbing skills, often to my frustration. Yesterday morning she woke up and instead of coming to get me, she went on a rampage and wreaked havoc all over (nothing permanently damaging, just a lot of mess and trouble).
Last night we made a point of checking on her and telling her she was a good girl for staying in her bed, and that seemed to help keep her in bed. This morning, she got up but stayed in her room making enough noise that I heard her (I was half awake, anyway).
She's also gotten outside by herself a couple of times. We have to keep all the doors locked now.
Doors
Well, it had to happen. Zoë has figured out how to open closed doors. Today, she managed to get all the way outside! This is good in that it's an important developmental understanding, but we're not too thrilled at the idea of her opening all the doors we keep closed in an effort to contain her housewrecking to one or two areas...
Finger and Toes
Zoë came over to me with a shiny bottle of nail polish she found tucked away in a bag from the chemist (I wondered where it had gotten to, actually). She was very sweet about it, and I offered to paint one of her fingernails, although I didn't use the shiny metallic stuff she'd found, but a solid orange (yes, orange). She loved it. I painted another on another hand, and she loved that, too. Eventually, she got all ten fingers AND all ten toes painted. Now she keeps walking around holding up her hands and looking at her nails, and looking at her feet now and then.
She'd definitely turning into a real little girl. She likes to have her hair combed, she loves to put powder on after a bath, and she likes the nice-smelling conditioner I put in her hair. Now nail polish... I suppose lip gloss is next...
More potty talk
If I notice the signs that Zoë needs to do a poo and ask her if she wants to use the potty, she's very cooperative. She still doesn't tell me when she needs to go, but we're making progress...
Big sister to the rescue
I was in the kitchen starting to prepare dinner. Miranda was in her bouncer in the loungeroom (which is within eyeshot of the kitchen if you're standing in the right place), and Zoë was playing near Miranda.
Miranda managed to fall out of the bouncer and I heard the thump as she fell. Since I had raw chicken on my hands, I quickly went to wash my hands so I could go rescue the baby, who was crying (although I knew she wasn't hurt, just scared). Before I could get my hands rinsed, Zoë had come zooming into the kitchen with a very concerned look on her face. She announced, "Zoë!" and practically dragged me to where Miranda was crying.
This brings me to two conclusions. First, Zoë really does love her baby sister and is concerned that she's safe and happy (which we already knew). The other is that Zoë is also convinced that "Zoë" is the word that means "Something fell/was spilled." Isn't it funny how a toddler's mind works? (For what it's worth, I'm still working on getting her to say, "Uh oh!" instead of her own name.)
Zoë!
The poor kid seems to have decided that when anyone drops or spills something, the thing you should utter (in a distressed voice) is, "Zoë! Zoë!" You can guess why...
I'm trying to persuade her to say, "Uh-oh!" instead. No one should automatically cry out their own name whenever something breaks...
Swinging Girl
After dinner tonight, we went out for a visit to the park to take advantage of the pleasant spring evening. Zoë had her first real ride on a swing, and she loved it. I got her saying, "Weeeee!" and she even figured out how to lean forward and backward to increase the swinging.
When it was time to go (which I knew because I started getting mosquito bites as the sun went down), we went to the car and Zoë made it very clear she didn't want to go. She made all kinds of protesting noises, and then went and sat in the pram so her dad couldn't put it in the car. He took her out and walked around to the car to let her in, and she tried to shut the car door. Then the whole way home, she complained and cried and made it extremely clear that she did NOT want to go home.
Thankfully, she did settle down once we actually got inside the house. I guess even the very persistent toddler knows when it's a lost cause.
No! Not a nap!
I put Zoë down for a little nap earlier and she sobbed like I was torturing her. The funny thing is that she got in the cot, adjusted the pillow, lay down, pulled up the cover, and snuggled in, all while sobbing like it was the end of the world. I'm starting to think she has to protest just for the sheer sake of it, even when she actually WANTS the nap! She did fall asleep really quickly, by the way. Once I'd shut the door, she stopped crying and went right to sleep.
Nappies
Zoë has decided that she would much rather wear Pull-Ups than nappies (although at bedtime she's okay). She hasn't figured out anything regarding the urine control yet (I don't really expect her to immediately), but she's getting better with the other. Tonight she even said to her dad, "Poo potty" when she was done, and the other day when she was having her nappy changed she said, "did a poo". So this is good. She's aware, and willing to cooperate. How long this will take I don't know. We're not in any particular rush, though. There's no point rushing Zoë in ANYthing. She does what she does when SHE wants to do it, and not before.
Wee!
I put Zoë on the potty today because I thought she might need to do a poo. She didn't do a poo, but she ended up doing a wee. The look on her face was pretty hilarious, I must say. I was so pleased I praised her lavishly and rewarded her with an M&M for being such a good girl.
So right now, instead of wearing a nappy, she's wearing a Pull-Up (disposable training pants). I don't know if it'll do much good or not, but we'll see. She does seem to like wearing it.
Zoë get down
Zoë has lately been climbing up on the high chair to get things down from on top of the microwave, since there are several kinds of "goodies" up there (not all of which she's allowed to have). Totally aside from her getting into the goodies, it's fairly dangerous for her to climb up the way she does, since she frequently gets on the back of the chair in a precarious position. Naturally when we see her getting up there we say, "Zoë, get down!"
Earlier today, Zoë was climbing up onto the chair and her Dad noticed she was talking the whole time, saying to herself in a low, growly voice, "Zoë get down, Zoë get down, Zoë get down..."
The only thing we can figure is that she was hoping that if she said it herself, maybe we wouldn't.
More potty talk
Zoë did a poo in the potty today. I caught her just as she was showing signs of starting and put her in there. She's quite happy to sit on the potty and play with whatever's nearby (magazines, mostly) and do her business. She seems totally disinterested in the whole process. Doesn't care if we praise her, doesn't seem to think using the potty is any big deal at all. If we can just persuade her to tell us when she needs to go, we'll be doing well. She did tell me when she was finished, more or less. She said, "NO!" when I wanted her to sit back down on the potty (and she was done, too).
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