Helper Girl
Zoë has learned that she can be a helper. She always wants to assist with whatever we're doing. Most of the time she's helpful or at least not a hinderence. Her latest "must do" is carrying up a bag when we go shopping, and she even knows where in the kitchen to put it down when we come in.
I just wish she wouldn't be quite so helpful with her attempts to clean the toilet...
Christmas
Well, Christmas with a restless, busy pre-schooler was interesting to say the least. She discovered that opening presents is really fun, and therefore wanted to open every present, regardless as to whose it was. She spent Christmas day wavering between temper tantrums and being very sweet (depending, I think, on how bored she was at any given moment, but I think she was also out of sorts because her routine was so completely disrupted).
She was much happier for Boxing Day (that's the 26th, for those of you who don't live in a Commonwealth nation and don't know what Boxing Day is), and when we went out to have pizza with Auntie Lori and her boys, Zoë was quite lovely the whole time. She got up a few times, but didn't run around or have temper tantrums or anything else. I think this is partly because she got plenty of sleep, partly because she was happy to eat pizza, and partly because her routine was far more normal with no strange people turning up, no packages to open, no eating a meal in an unusual room of the house (we has Christmas lunch and dinner in the formal dining room area, rather than the casual kitchen area where we normally eat).
Christmas Party
We went to the Bromage Christmas Party on Saturday. Andrew's father is the eldest of four children, and this is a little get-together for them and their families, and few other assorted relatives in the bargain, so there are aunties and uncles, great-aunties and at least one great-uncle, and a bunch of cousins, some of whom are reasonably close in age to Zoë (the youngest is eighteen months older than she is).
Zoë was certainly the life of the party, and she was mostly a terror all day. It was very hot, which didn't help, and I think she didn't sleep well, so she was... well, not irritable, but she was very inclined to do everything she shouldn't and to pitch a fit when she was told not to do something.
She floated around the whole time, going from room to room, taking sips of people's drinks (mostly pinching the kids' soft drinks), rearranging displayed photographs, trying to pull decorations off the tree, trying to open or take other people's presents. Pretty much the behavior you'd expect from a strong-willed three-year-old who was irritable and overwhelmed with excitement.
She fell asleep in the car on the way home, and then had a bigger nap in her bed, and after that she seemed content to sit quietly and watch a movie.
I do have pictures, but I haven't got them online yet. (Oh, and I just wanted to say, "Hi, Sharon!" to Zoë grown-up-cousin who I hear reads this little journal regularly, "Wait 'til you see the pictures of her with your sunglasses on!").
Things Potty Related
I realized today that it's been several days since Zoë did a poo in her pants. She's doing quite well using the potty. She doesn't say she needs to go because she's still speech delayed and she doesn't say much in any event, but she does indicate that she's about to go with her body language and vocal sounds.
She's still fairly clueless about wetting her pants, but she is starting to show that she's aware when she's wet, so that's a good step. She'll get it in time. I'm confident that she'll catch on. Once she figures out how a routine works or what's expected, she's quite good at doing it, especially if she's praised for it (and when she uses the potty, she's certainly praised).
First Haircut
Zoë got her first haircut today. It was just a little trim to neaten up the ends a bit, so she won't be Miss Haystack Hair all the time. She was amazingly good while getting her hair cut!
She got up on the booster seat and was fascinated by her reflection in the big mirror, and she watched the whole time. We couldn't get her to take her eyes off the mirror the whole time.
When the hairstylist sprayed Zoë's hair with water, Zoë grinned hugely, because I always spray her hair with conditioner after a bath or shower (she enjoys that). She sat nice and still and didn't complain at all, and wasn't at all phased by the blow dryer (I dry her hair regularly).
All in all, she seemed to enjoy the experience and I did get pictures (since I know you were wondering).
Fun at Church
We went last night to the service to see the ordination of Jenny Gordon and Bruce Wood. Jenny was doing some of her "apprentice" preaching at our local church, and also Andrew had done some music transposition for her, so we knew her, but more to the point, Bruce is Andrew's cousin's husband (sort of a first cousin once removed in law, or something). We wanted to go to show our support for him in his ministry, so off we went.
The church where the service was held had a good children's corner, so that was good. Zoë was... entertaining, to say the least. There were a couple of teenaged girls who arrived late and were sitting on the floor near the children's corner, and they were very amused to watch her antics. She went over to them a couple of times and tried to take one of the girls' phone, and she sat down between them a couple of times. Mostly, she spent her time building a very tall tower out of jumbo Legos, which Andrew was surreptitiously "rebuilding" when she'd turn her back to get another block. Her tower was certainly doomed to fall, but Andrew kept replacing blocks to make it more stable. It was pretty funny, and the girls and I were giggling quietly as we watched them.
She also took time out to crawl on her hands and knees along the pews when everyone stood up for blessings or hymns or whatever, she sang along with the hymns, she clapped her hands when people applauded, she crawled under a pew to try to grab a shoe a lady had taken off, and she threw all the blocks out of the velvet-lined box (to keep them from clattering during a service) so she could sit in the box (this caused a great deal of muffled laughter from the teenagers and myself, I might add).
Oh, and she had communion, although she didn't dip her bread in the chalice of wine (okay, okay, it was grape juice).
All in all, I'd say she had a pretty good time, and she was a lot more entertaining than most of the long service, I think...
Naps and potties
We got Zoë an insert for the big potty, which makes it so she can sit comfortably there like a big girl. The training is a bit hit or miss, though. If we catch her at the right time, she's happy to use the potty and likes the praise for having used the potty, but she doesn't seem inclined to tell anyone when she needs to go. I suspect she's not entirely sure herself, yet.
She's also almost totally clueless about doing a wee. She doesn't seem consious of it happening, which makes it hard for her to tell us when she needs to go. One good thing is she does notice now when she's wet (and sometimes takes off her nappy or her pants by herself), and that's a good sign.
In other matters, when I put her down for a nap today she didn't fight me at all and went right to sleep. I'm not sure why, other than she really was tired, but sometimes she fights me even if she is tired. I'd like to think she's just starting to become cooperative, but I think it's more likely that she was just sleepy and lying down in a nice bed in a darkened room was pleasant enough that she didn't feel like fighting.
|