The Zoe Chronicles - 20 months old

Dear Zoe,

Well, we now call you "trouble with a little tiny tee". This is because you AREN'T trouble at all. Your idea of trouble is to eat dog food. And only 3 times. You've grabbed a couple of pieces, tried them, then ran to me to give them to me. So, you don't even hide it. We have these two huge potted plants with rocks on the top and you'll grab a couple of the rocks, then run to me to give them to me. That's it. That's the extent of your trouble. If you play in a drawer, you'll put the stuff back (where it goes too!). You won't dive into your toy baskets to see how far the stuff will spread, you'll intently grab what you want to play with, and then play with it. In honour of your cousin, Tadhg, we also call you Zoe Danger Jacobsen. Because, again, you AREN'T dangerous. You're very cautious with everything you do, and very safe.

You're into mimicing, and it makes you look like a little adult. You will grab a napkin after dinner and wipe your face and hands. You'll sneeze and look for a flannel blanket to blow/rub your nose. You love putting your own shoes on (and can do it with ease now!) and you love trying on everyone else's shoes. Especially my heels.

You're also into pretending. Pretending to be Pasha is hilarious. You'll crawl under the table panting like she would. And, Pasha sneezed once, so now when ever you pretend to be a dog, you'll pretend sneeze. You'll pretend to eat, and this is especially funny when you pretend to eat at the dinner table with your real food in front of you! You'll grab the imaginary food from your hand, put in in your mouth and then chew away. And, you like to pretend to drive too. You love sitting in the front seat of (any) the car and push all the buttons and say vroooooom.

You don't have the most words yet, but you have a sign or a sound for everything.
"Giraffe" is licking your lips
"Penguin" is rocking back and forth while clicking your tongue
"Dog" is panting
"Drink" is smacking your lips
"Car" is vroooooooom
"More" is putting fingers together (like, GIVE ME MORE DUDE)
"All done" is jazz hands (and you made that up yourself)
"Feed me" is you'll stick your finger on your tongue
You'll pinch your nose for "skunk"
And, you can do a cow, elephant, pig, and you always kiss a kitty picture if you see one.

You love drawing with crayons on paper, the sidewalk chalk, or the bathtime crayons. You have a lot of control, so I know you'll be artistic like your daddy. You even wrote "Zoe" one time. No kidding.

You're still a great sleeper and eater, I don't know if I'll ever have to mention it again because with you, it's just a given. You have a 2 hour nap each afternoon, and then sleep from 7pm until 7am. No dramas.

We love you little lady,
Big hugs,
Mommy and Daddy
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Happy Easter

Hey, not too much to report here... so you may want to watch tv whilst you read this post, it could be boring.

Just wanted to say Happy Easter and hope everyone has a nice long weekend. We don't have too too much going on -- and since it's a 4 day long weekend, should feel like a great break. We'll be heading down to Mandurah (an hour south of us) to Lynn and Jer's for a great Easter meal, and since we'll be leaving Pasha behind, I think there will be a good chance that the ham and bird make it to the table. Last year we were at their place for Easter and were horrified at how many times Pasha would sneakily slyly and quietly jump up and start eating the meat from the counter. I'm glad we've been invited back.

This pregnancy seems to be much harder on me than the first. I had a million symptoms with Zoe, but they all seemed mild, so was easy to manage. But, this time, early in my pregnancy (I'm 5 months now, but started falling apart at 4 months) I started having the heartburn, some insomnia, a leg/pelvic pain that makes it painful to walk, and tired tired tired. My energy has definitely improved, but I am still going to bed at 7pm a couple times a week.

But, the baby is kicking and wriggling, but just a little bit. Maxwell the 2nd is a very mellow baby!! Zoe was a S.Q.U.I.R.M. and would kick like she had ten legs all day, from 7am to 9pm. Luckily she must have been STTN (sleeping through the night) even in my womb, because she would never keep me awake at night. Even when we go for our ultrasound scans, Maxwell the 2nd is just chillaxing and I think I even saw him reading a newspaper. I could be wrong, I'm not a sonographer. Although Zoe is the best baby ever, she's still a squirmy thing. Even when she's having a bottle at night, she's not still and calm and just enjoying the quiet time. Nope, she's a wriggling and dancing. So, I'm hoping that our little boy will be able to appreciate some chill time and cuddle time! I would love a cuddly baby. I have heard that boys are more cuddly than girls, so that's something to look forward to! My friend Nadia's baby boy, Giacomo, is the SMILIEST HAPPIEST baby that can enjoy a good relaxing. Fingers crossed that I've got a wee Giacomo brewing in the belly. I keep hearing from 2nd time moms (like my sister, my mom, some friends, etc) that I need to LOOK OUT. That I'm IN FOR IT with baby number 2. My mom said that I was Trouble, but frankly, I don't believe her. My baby brother was the troublemaker. How could she forget???

Have a great weekend everyone, and happy Chocolate Season! (as Kari, my sister-in-law calls it)

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