The Terrific Twos!

Zoe turned 2 on Sunday! Originally we were just going to have a quiet evening with my parents and a ladybug cake, but a few days before her birthday we found out that the Biggs family would be in town so we decided to pull out all the stops. We had 8 children ages 6 and under in our house with 9 adults, 2 cakes, balloons, and presents galore. It was great and I was surprisingly very relaxed considering the short amount of notice I had for throwing the whole thing together. I owe major thanks to our guests who helped out in so many ways - taking pictures with our camera, dishing out ice cream, feeding Zoe cake and ice cream so I could have some of my own, and cleaning up after said herd of children. I had the greatest time and I think Zoe enjoyed herself as well. Her favorite presents by far are all the little plastic bugs, animals, and dinosaurs she received. The hotwheels are a close second, though. Have I mentioned that Zoe is a girl? She is definitely an odd one. But we love her anyway!

Warning - The following is gratuitous Zoe fluff and meant for 1) documenting our child's development and 2) the enjoyment of family and very close friends. You have been warned.

Whoever came up with the term "Terrible Twos" never met Zoe. Every day I just can't get over how much fun she is. I'd say the terrible part of her toddlerhood was between the ages of 15 and 22 months. Here is a glimpse of Zoe at 2 years:

Vocabulary: She says EVERYTHING! She talks all day long - narrating her actions and those around her. She mimics our tones and will repeat what we say when she is across the room completely entranced by something else. I can't attempt to document the vast vocabulary she has completely mastered. She speaks in complete sentences almost exclusively, using "ni ni ni" to fill in the gaps between the subject, verb, or object, as she sees fit.

Concepts: Again, she understands nearly everything we throw at her and applies her knowledge to new situations without being prompted or guided. It is amazing to see the wheels in her head constantly turning.

Humor: Zoe has an insane sense of humor. She cracks herself up on a regular basis and she generally has mom and dad in stitches as well. Her latest joke is replacing the first sound of words (especially in her books) with an "h" sound. If the word already starts with an h, she replaces it with an "n" sound - I kid you not, she came up with this by herself. Another recent joke is to replace all the characters in her books with "Orange Tigger" and then cackle when we correct her. Something about the word "women" is also pretty hilarious to her and she will just say it and laugh whenever the mood strikes her.

Favorites: Zoe is a pretty well-rounded kid when it comes to toys and interests. She likes Dora (though she won't watch any show or movie for more than 5 minutes), having her toenails painted, and having "pretty hair." But she also loves cars, bugs, animals, dinosaurs, rocks, sticks, and water. She hasn't shown any preferences for colors yet, though she can correctly identify all primary and secondary colors, plus some tints and tones - white, black, pink, grey, brown, etc. She loves to count and gets to seven in her own way: "one, three, two, five, six, seven." She loves running in circles but will also attempt to run in a square, triangle, or oval - the result is pretty much the same.

Personality: She is as independent as the day is long and will play on her own for quite a long time, especially after a meal. She has to identify everything around her in at least one of four ways - ownership, color, temperature, and shape (some examples include "Tre's blue car, brown square cereal, hot yellow butter). She has to give her toys kisses - "pisses" - before putting them away. She is becoming a bit of a neat freak and has me wash her hands frequently during meals. She has also decided that washing works great for bonks too and will plead with us to wash whatever injured body part she might have.

I really just can't overstate how much we love this little girl. She is getting more fun every single day. She brings so much joy into my life it just doesn't seem real. Now, on with those terrific twos!