One of Zoe’s favorite activities is to walk a couple of blocks over to my favorite grocery store New Seasons (it’s a green grocer, focusing on local, natural and organic, much like Whole Foods but better). We often go several times a week, even if it’s just to grab coffee and a pastry. Zoe loves walking around, sitting in the dining area, and chatting it up with the employees. Today we walked over, and on the way, I took a photo of her slowly strolling down the sidewalk. It reminded me of the way my maternal grandfather would walk back in Taiwan.

Sorry, no photo today.  I’ve been slacking a bit with the camera.  I’m trying to remember to carry it around with me more frequently…

Anyway…I wanted to share Zoe’s progress in her speaking.  She is forming more sentences now (her favorite being, “I did it!”), and I rarely see her use any of her sign language.  I still need to translate for other people when she talks (e.g., “booby” can either be birdie, Bruce Lee, or booby), but she definitely is not shy when she needs to say something (today, she said to me, “Mama, move!”)

About a week ago we noticed that this developing skill of hers is spilling into her subconscious.  As I indicated by the subject of this post, she occasionally talks in her sleep.  I haven’t been able to make out exactly what she’s saying (it’s all through the pacifier), but I’m hoping that once I figure it out, I’ll have some insight as to what her dreams are about.  Aren’t people always wondering what babies dream about?

Last week Zoe and I went to a friend’s house for a group playdate. It was chaos with 6 not-quite-two-year-olds running around, and eventually they found the baby grand sitting in the living room. Of course, what toddler can resist the lure of piano keys to bang on? And Zoe was no exception, finding the gap on the bench and insisting I sit her there. Luckily I had my iPhone ready, and even more fortuitous, I captured a decent photo. Perhaps we have the next girl-band?

Zoe has yet to master the concept of “you” vs “me”. We point to her picture and say “That’s you!” so naturally when she sees a picture of herself she says, “You!”

Similarly, she recognizes herself in mirrors and has fun with her reflection. I took this shot this afternoon at the Columbia store downtown while we waited for Mike to try some stuff on. I was fortunate to get it since now she has a tendency to run over when she sees a camera to get a look behind the lens, but that’s another post…

This post is for my cousin Eileen, who is apparently going through Zoe withdrawal. I would have included this photo in my December post if I had known it existed. I’m guessing Mike took it with my iPhone when we were at my uncle and aunt’s house in Chicago, and I only saw it last week. I think it’s a great picture, even if Zoe is more interested in the pomelo than looking at the camera.

These days Zoe is all about imitating us. It can be anything we’re doing or saying. Lately, we’ve been finding her in one particular pose when she’s at a table looking at something. We’re still trying to figure out who she learned it from.

Warning: The following post may be too much information for some of you out there.  Please read at your own discretion.

At 19 months, I am perfectly aware that Zoe is a bit young for potty training, but like all anxious mothers, I have had the potty chair on hand in our bathroom for many months.  When we first got it, Zoe played with it like it was just any other chair, and occasionally I had her sit on it after baths before putting the diaper on just to “introduce” her to the concept.  But for the past couple of months she had no interest in it whatsoever.  That is, until this evening.  After hers and Riley’s baths (yes, I bathed them at the same time), as I was drying off the dog, she promptly pointed to her diaper area and said “poo.”  Oh!  So I pulled out the potty chair, and she walked over and sat down.  A couple moments later, she stood up and there wasn’t poo, but pee instead.  Ok, so she got the word wrong, but hey, I still had to praise her for such an accomplishment.  And so I did!  Like any mom of a small toddler, I clapped and cheered like I was at a rock concert wanting an encore performance.  Zoe beamed, but I’m not sure she fully comprehended why.  And so I know it just may be another many months before such an event occurs again.

People have asked us what words Zoe can say. The list grows everyday, but last week I compiled a list of the ones I could think of off the top of my head. Today was especially cool when Mike walked into the house and Zoe strung two words together: “Papa home.”

I tried to spell out how she says some of the words in parentheses.

Animals

• Doggie
• Hippo
• Birdie (booby, as in the blue-footed kind)
• Duck
• Monkey (mah-mey)
• Fish

• Mama
• Papa (baba)
• Baby
• Girl (guh)
• Boy
• Elmo
• Eddie
• Eileen (Ei-lee)
• Heather (Hea-der)
• Bruce Lee (thanks to Mike)

As usual, the holiday season has kept us busy and has left me little time to post anything. With 2009 coming to a close, I thought I’d take the time to summarize the month of December in one post.

The start of the usual holiday chaos came at Thanksgiving. Wai-puo (Grandma Wang) came in from Beijing for a week and helped us host our first “formal” dinner in the “new” house. Our friends Chuck and Harriet, along with their mom, and Jack, Cara, and Ben joined us for turkey gorging. Everyone seemed to have a fun time, especially Zoe, who has really become a social creature in the last couple of months.

Shortly after Thanksgiving, we noticed that Zoe suddenly exploded with her vocabulary. She has always. Someone asked us how many words she can say, and I just guessed with about 20. But when we started listing them out, we realized it was a lot more than 20. She still construct sentences with babbles, but she can really say certain words clearly. We’ve also noticed that she will immediately repeat a word after we say it, so I guess now we really have to watch what we’re saying around her!

In the middle of the month, we took a trip to Illinois. We first drove down to Champaign for an early Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa Stout. Although the weather was a bit on the chilly side, it was great to see everyone, including Aunt Heather who drove over from Lafayette with the dogs, Dera and Belle. Zoe loved having the big dogs around, and she even tried to help with carrying Belle, a 70 lb greyhound, after watching her aunt carry Dera, a much lighter dog, out to the car. Zoe surprised us all when we went to church to hear Grandma Ann speak about her trip to Malawi, and Zoe sat quietly through the service. We also helped set up Skype at the house so hopefully we’ll get to “see” them more in the future!

We then drove up to Chicago to see my aunt and uncle, grandma, and cousins Eileen and Cecilia. Zoe hadn’t seen Eileen since she was 8 months old, but she immediately grew attached to Eileen. Even after the trip, when we were back at home in Portland, Zoe constantly asked for Eileen. Unfortunately, we won’t see her again until May.

Christmas was celebrated in Portland with Grandma Pauline and Aunt Heather, who both came to town to be with us. Santa was very good to Zoe this year, and she had absolutely no difficulties with the concept of opening presents. She even opened some early when I wasn’t looking and helped the rest of us open ours. Thank you to everyone who were generous enough to include Zoe on their Christmas list! She may be too young to fully appreciate gesture, but we certainly do!

Zoe’s friend Iris and their parents Teresa and Dave came for Christmas dinner. They behaved as usual with their fighting for each other’s snacks, but they surprised us all when the two girls started to hug and kiss each other. It was a sweet moment caught on camera, even up to the point where Zoe got a bit overzealous and knocked Iris onto the hard wood floor.

It’s a been a fun-filled December, and I’m looking forward to a relaxing start of the new year. But I must admit a small part of me is sad to have the whirlwind come to an end. The holidays have always been an opportunity to be with family, but this year, with Zoe a little older and a little more aware, I’ve really come to cherish these moments. I feel incredibly lucky to be loved by such a wonderful family.

Cooking with Zoe is always a challenge. Some days she entertains herself in the kitchen while I prepare dinner, but there are days where she just wants to be held all the time. Recently I’ve realized that she wants to be picked up so she can have a better vantage point, so I decided to try something. I put a chair up against the counter next to me, placed her standing on the chair, and gave her a mixing bowl, spoon, and spatula to play with. I thought this would satisfy her, but once I started cooking, she insisted on having some of the ingredients to work with, too. Not knowing what exactly she was going to do, I gave her a bit of flour and her water bottle. The result was priceless, and I was fortunate enough to capture it on video.