Zoe Update

It's been awhile since I've done one of these. I no longer count months the way I did during her first year, so I don't have regular reminders to write about Zoe these days. She will be two years old in two months. I can't believe the time has gone by so quickly.


Last month the three of us volunteered at an Austin Marathon water stop. Zoe would randomly shout out, "go!" to the runners and made quite a few people laugh. She was fascinated by the runners drinking the water from cups, then throwing them to the side. She has been mimicking this action at home, unfortunately. The volunteers would crush the thrown cups so they wouldn't blow away if we didn't have time to reach down and pick them up before the next wave of runners. Zoe got a big kick out of going around and stomping on cups.

Also last month the three of us went to Mount Bonnell (Zoe's first time). There was a couple making out and as we walked by. Zoe said, "who's that?" They laughed.


She's talking a lot more these days. She repeats a lot of words, but randomly. For instance, the other day Nate was saying something about being happy, and Zoe kept saying "hop-eee." Her repetitions are close to the word, but sometimes she's tough to understand. Another anecdote: this past Saturday afternoon she and I were watching a movie and sitting next to each other. She pulled my hair and I asked her to stop it. She got a mischievous glint in her eye and kept pulling my hair, repeating, "Stop it. Stop it." She seemed a little evil. Nate thinks this is his genetic influence.

She seems more self-conscious. She doesn't bust out dancing in public the way she used to.

At the playground she always goes for the biggest slide. Whatever the big kids are doing, that's what she wants to do. She has no fear.

Her hair is getting loooong. Her hair used to be really curly but now the length/weight are pulling some of the curls down. And I keep wondering if I should give her bangs to keep the hair out of her face, but I don't think she'd sit still long enough for us to get a presentable haircut.

She has a temper. With the daylight savings time shift, we've had a couple of rough nights. Last night she had a particularly tough time going down. She was in bed for at least an hour and just couldn't fall asleep. At a certain point, she got up and headed toward the bedroom door and opened it. I stayed in bed. She turned and looked at me because she wanted me to come with her. I said, "No, mommy is going to sleep." Then she got really mad and either said "go" or "no" and very clearly gestured for me to get up.

She looooves dogs and cats, but especially cats. When she sees them on our neighborhood walks, she will say "meowww" as we go by. In her books, she points at animals (like lions, bears, frogs, monkeys--oohoohawwawww, etc.) and then makes their equivalent noises. The elephant is particularly funny (she does a trunk motion with her arm). She is scared of chickens if they get too close to her in real life but she likes ducks.

She hates dresses. The last two times I've tried to put a dress on her, she started crying and trying to take them off. I know that at a certain point I refused to wear dresses, but I think I was five or six, not a few months shy of two! I think Zoe is my karma.

Every time we drive by Zilker Park and she sees the playground, she whines. She has started whining more in general. If we ask her if she's hungry, thirsty, ready to go to bed, etc. she says, "yeah," but in this very funny voice that sounds like she's about to cry.


She's tall enough to reach most of the doorknobs in the apartment. We're trying to remember to lock the front door (she can't reach the locks yet) so we don't end up on the news as the parents of a toddler found wandering alone on the street. She's a lot more confident in general. She climbs stairs very well on her own and likes to climb and jump off everything.

Her favorite show is WordWorld. Sometimes she will walk over to the TV and hit it, and yes, whine. That is her signal that she wants to watch an episode. We are heading into the terrible twos, I guess, though so far they are mostly amusing.

Update to the update: I thought of a couple of other things since writing this.

If you help her with something, Zoe will say thank you. Only it sounds like, "tii-tu."

I am working on potty (mouth) training. I still say way too many curse words around Zoe, though I really do try to restrain myself. Today I was changing her pull-ups and she'd had a leak. I said, "crap." She spent the next half hour saying, "Drap. Drap!" Good lesson for me.

Speaking of potty training, she's getting there. She's been using the potty since early December. She uses it several times a day. Sometimes she tells you she wants to go; other times I just guess, put her on the potty, and I'm right (or wrong). I tried the whole put panties on instead of pull-ups for a weekend. The thought being that once she knows she's wet, she'll get uncomfortable and make the whole mind-potty connection. But what kept happening was that she'd pee or poop on the floor because she didn't want to stop playing to go to the potty. Being wet/dirty did not bother her in the slightest, which led me to think she isn't ready for that next step. And since she's not even two, that is fine with me. Plus, poop on the floor? Drap.

For Zoe

Before you were born, I thought I wanted a boy. I grew up with a lot of male relatives and I was convinced a boy would be easier. I was shocked when the sonogram revealed a girl, and it took me awhile to get used to the idea. I now think you're so perfect, I consider myself an idiot for ever having any doubts about how utterly amazing I would find you.


This is the hair-do that inspired us to name you Zoe. When they brought you to us in the hospital, you had a mohawk. Even though your hair was a superficial thing, it somehow seems like a good early indicator of your personality.

You are incredibly, ridiculously friendly. I call you a baby stalker because when we are in restaurant or other public place, you will zero in on someone and stare at them until they talk to you. When we were at the caucus in March, you did this to the woman sitting next to us and when she finally succumbed, you tried to crawl into her lap. Later while we stood in line, you did the same thing to a woman behind us, staring and staring till she finally paid attention to you.


This was when you fit on a pillow. Now you are a big girl, 90th percentile in height the doctor says. You typically wear clothes about six months ahead of your current age.

Other things are changing. You're entering a clingy phase (separation anxiety right on schedule, according to Baby Center). You cry when I leave the room; you want to be held, oh no, wait, you want to go on the floor, oh no, you really actually want me to hold you, oh wait ... I'm sure that moving to a new town and daycare are great for this (I'm sorry!) but I do think you'll like growing up in Austin.

You have gotten the hang of the walking thing. But now you're so excited about walking that you try to run and sometimes fall.

You have had a bloody nose and a bloody lip from falls on my watch. Your father has been luckier, no blood.



You really like to eat. Always have. When you were breastfeeding, you would sigh and grunt and smack. Now all of your teachers say, "She's a good eater." I haven't found anything you don't like yet (except cow's milk). Although when you are done with something, you'll throw it off your high chair with perfect dismissiveness.

You still smack your food when you really like what you're eating.

You mostly behave very well in restaurants, unless it is close to nap or bedtime.

You hadn't had sweets until your birthday and now you looooove cake and cupcakes (though you sleep like crap afterward).

You make "jokes," like putting food in my mouth and then laughing when you look for it and it's gone. I guess you got that liking to eat from somewhere ...

You have started hugging people by grabbing onto their legs.

You love to snuggy.

You've only been around for a year, a fact I find hard to believe. It seems strange, for example, that you weren't with us when we got married. I guess you were, in a way ...

I had my tarot cards read a couple of months ago. I was told that you are going to be very creative, an exceptional person, and that I need to prepare myself for that fact that you will know more than I do (what parent doesn't want to hear how fabulous their child will be?). "Don't get in her way," I was advised. "She'll know what she needs to do. Just be there, behind her, in case she falls from time to time."



I've had good practice, watching you learn to walk and fall and even get a little bloody at times. So I'll try to not get in the way of the person you are going to be, mohawked, friendly, foodie, funny, perfect.

Movin' On Up

Yesterday, we got the letter from daycare. Zoe is moving from the infant to the toddler room in a little over a week. She will rejoin some of her buddies who were older and moved ahead of her, and she is making the transition with another little girl in the infant class, so that should help make things easier.

The letter made me a little sad. Of course I know moving is inevitable and a good thing, but it's also another sign she's growing up. (If only she slept through the night--that would be a sign I'd be more than happy to welcome!)

I also have to buy some shoes for Zoe now. The toddlers go on buggy rides a couple of times a day, and that includes going outside if the weather permits. Zoe has a couple of pairs of shoes, but since I can't even keep socks on the child I haven't really pushed shoes yet. I guess that, too, will change.

I guess the infant room teachers will miss her, because they told Nate yesterday and me today that we need to give Zoe some siblings.

The Grandma Update

Not sure anyone else is interested in reading about Zoe's developmental milestones, but here they are:

The girl is mobile. She's been working on crawling for a while, and this past week she slept like utter crap, waking up frequently. When I'd go into her room, I'd find her on her tummy and pissed about it. I think she was "practicing" in her sleep. For the past couple of days, she's started really scooting across the room. Sometimes she's on her knees; other times she's doing the army arm-crawl.

She's also become very interested in faces. We were in bed together for a nap, and she very gently "petted" my eyebrows, then my eyelashes, sort of trying to figure out what they were. She's also interested in eyes, ears, noses, lips, glasses. Most of the time she's very gentle; occasionally, you wind up with a noseful of baby fingers.

She continues to develop a sense of humor, laughing at jokes and funny noises.

She knows her name and the dog's. When we call Walker, she turns to look at him.

She is still babbling "mama" and what sounds like "mom," but I'm not sure she associates that with me yet. "Baba" is also a favorite.

She looooooves vegetables, more than fruit, and cheerios and veggie puffs. So far meat kind of seems to freak her out (maybe it's the texture?) unless we're having Mexican and then she chows down on the chicken or whatever. She love to eat, like both of her parents.

She almost always giggles after she sneezes. Sneezes are fun, apparently.

She's very ticklish.

She doesn't like bibs and often tears off her socks.

She sometimes laughs in her sleep, which makes me wonder what she's dreaming. Whatever it is, it's cracking her up.

Update: Over the weekend, she started pulling herself up to a stand on the furniture.

Also, I forgot to say that she still constantly has her feet crossed. This makes crawling difficult at times.

Like Father, Like Daughter

This morning, Zoe said "mama" for the first time. She hasn't put the word together with me yet, but I hope that isn't too far behind. And I liked the outfit her dad put on her, so I had to document it. I think of these as Zoe's "Picasso pants."



(I have a book of photographs by David Douglas Duncan. He took a series of unposed pictures of Picasso while he was working and there are several where Picasso is wearing a pair of crazy striped pants. A ton of other photos from the book are online, but sadly I couldn't find a good one of the pants. This is the only one I found and you get just a glimpse of the stripes.)

Zoe's personity is revealing itself so much more these days. Here's a video from last night in which she giggles at my lame noises.She's so easily amused!

When I do the daycare drop off/pick up, I've noticed that a lot of people say hi to Zoe. Teachers in other classrooms, other kids, people I've never met before. Today as I was talking to Zoe's main teacher (her daycare pairs each infant with a specific teacher to promote bonding), another woman leaned in and said, "Hi, Zoe!" as so often happens. Zoe's response, as is typical, was to smile and giggle. Her teacher said, "Zoe's very popular. Everyone comes in to say hi to her." She also said that Zoe is curious about everyone and will stare and stare at anyone who walks in. I find her meeting all these people impressive, considering she doesn't talk or walk yet! Then I was talking with the daycare director about something before we left and she also said, "Zoe is very social. She engages with all of us."

This cracks me up because she's just like her father. All the daycare ladies love Nate, as do all the women who work in his building. Nate is about to volunteer to be the block captain of our neighborhood watch, which means he will have to talk with and organize all the people on our block. I'm sensing a trend here ...

I find it amusing that my husband and daughter are so outgoing when I'm so ... not. I guess they're going to make me get out into the world and socialize, even if it doesn't come to me naturally.

Zoe Update

The Z-thang is now six months old and recently had her well visit/check up with the pediatrician. She is in something like the 40th percentile for weight (15 pounds) and the 95th for length. So, so far she’s long and kinda skinny with a nice baby Buddha belly. Of course, all the parents I’ve talked to say the growth charts are a bunch of baloney and don’t indicate anything, except maybe I should take her to the store when I buy clothing for her. I bought a bunch of 6-12 month onesies and pants online. The pants are the perfect length right now, which makes me suspect she'll outgrow them sooner than 12 months.

She’s sitting up on her own for extended periods and reaching out pretty far for things (like toys that are just out of her reaaaaaach). Her balance is a lot better, but she does occasionally tump over, so we usually set her up with a boppy or someone sitting behind her.

She’s started eating cereal (into the world of solid foods) and strongly prefers oatmeal to rice.

She’s giggling a lot these days, which is damned cute.

She’s also a drooling mess, which means we drop her off at daycare in one outfit and bib and she comes home in a different set. I can see four teeth at the top and four on the bottom through her gums, but nothing has actually poked out yet. I suspect that with all this increased drooling at least one is sure to make an appearance soon.

She is absolutely fascinated by tags right now. If she’s playing with a stuffed toy, she turns it over to find the tag and pulls at it endlessly. She’s also into eyeglasses and will try to pull them off your face.

She’s been grabbing at my face in general. Nose and lips have been popular for a while. This week she added pulling my hair and ear (ouch), but it’s pretty funny.

Her babbling and creaky singing continue.

Her eyes were blue when she was born, a much darker blue than her father's. At around three months, there was a ring of brown around the pupil, and we assumed they would eventually become completely brown. That hasn’t happened. Either they haven’t finished changing or she has hazel eyes. Sometimes her eyes look blue, brown, or green. In a way, this is the perfect combination. She has both of her parents’ eyes.

Zoe update

Some of the funny things Zoe does:

Purses her lips into an "o" when she is hungry. She looks like she's about to whistle but it's the "give me food, woman!" signal.

Crosses her feet while she is nursing. Also, makes a fist with her thumbs inside her other fingers at the same time.

Likes being held. All. The. Time. She wakes up when you put her down. Although she will sleep in her swing and the doctor says she will outgrow this holding thing, possibly around six weeks, possibly later.

She used to wake me up every morning around 4 a.m. while I was pregnant. This has turned out to be one of her feeding times and also, coincidentally, one of the times of day when she is most alert. She usually has a late afternoon alert time, too, when we try to play and get in some "tummy time." (Parents will know what I'm talking about.)

She is still mellow. In three weeks, we've had what I would consider two bad nights. One when she was waking up every hour (instead of her normal two-three) and wanting to eat. I think she was going through a growth spurt. And one night of fussiness when she couldn't seem to sleep. All the other nights have been pretty decent. She wakes up two-three times, usually, eats, poos, and then goes back to sleep. She doesn't cry all that much. We've also had a couple of nights when she's slept four-five hours. Woo to the hoo!

While she's feeding, she grunts and makes all sorts of squealing noises. That, combined with her bullfrog belly and her being a good eater (putting on eleven ounces more than her birth weight at her two-week check up), have led to me calling her Miss Piggy. I'll stop eventually so she doesn't have body issues later that she blames me for during therapy.

She could lift her head at one week (I've been told this is unusual for newborns) and now holds up her head for extended periods of time. Also, she could turn on her side at a week, which she did at her two-day check up. The pediatrician said she is "unusually strong." What do I know? I ain't ever birthed no baby before. Now she is starting to grip things, like my shirt or my arm. She also appear to be focusing on objects like mobiles and reaching out for toys.

Not much time


Things are going pretty well. Mom went home a week ago and Nate returned to work this week. I've started revising my novel (again!!!!) so between baby and trying to get a few things done, I doubt I'll have much time for posting. So, a picture.

Zoe, with grandma and cousins. Also, Nate has some more pictures on his Flickr.