In honor of the closing of the Winter Olympics, I thought it would be appropriate to post a recent video of Zoe. Since I can’t stay up late to watch the complete primetime coverage, I missed Evan Lysacek’s winning free skate. Since NBC re-aired it the next day, I caught it as I sat down to watch the afternoon coverage. Zoe was with me, and knowing how much she enjoys watching figure skating (much to her father’s dismay), I had the camera ready. I warn you, the video is about a minute long, so it will take awhile to load. But it’s so worth it! Halfway through, when you see her hold her pant leg, what you can’t see on the TV screen is Evan doing a spin. You’ll get it when you see the video. I don’t want to ruin the experience!

Mike loves boba/bubble tea, and so does Zoe. These two were fighting over it after a filling sushi dinner last week.

After we spent Wednesday morning at the Children’s Museum, Zoe told me she didn’t want to go home. Sensing the inevitable, she stalled by plopping herself down on the sidewalk and insistedly ate her lunch. I, of course, took a photo, waited until
she finished her lunch, and then picked her up and plopped her in her carseat. she nearly fell asleep in the 5 minutes it takes to get home.

Last Friday Zoe’s class had a pajama party, and in celebration of Valentine’s Day, the kiddos exchanged Valentines. As parents, we were asked to help them make the cards. With enough scratch paper from previous projects, I opted not to buy them, so Mike and I spent an evening cutting them out (I made a “prototype” and then used it as a template to trace out the others) while Zoe contributed personalized drawings on each one.

Valentine close-up

All set in her PJs!

January 24, 2010. Yes, that was the day the Brett Favre and the Vikings didn’t get to go to the Superbowl, but it was also the day that Zoe ate meat. It certainly wasn’t the first time she ate meat, but it was most definitely the first time she ate meat like a rock star. Mike cooked up some yummy chicken w/garlic and Gruyere sausages from Costco, and it was good thing he had a bunch of them. Zoe devoured well over 1, maybe close to 2 sausages! We were both stunned. Since then, she’s had a few repeat performances (though she does peel off the casing), and she’s also consumed some bacon. Still not a beef eater (I am resisting some sort of pun there), but she seems well on her way to becoming the meatlover her father is.

Last weekend we decided to walk through one of Portland’s neighborhoods. Along our walk we spotted a statue of a bear cub. Zoe saw it, exclaimed “Bear!”, and ran over to admire it. She was so fascinated by it that we stood there a good 10 minutes. Thankfully, I had the camera with me.

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…