That's Odd....

Zoe is an odd kid. Maybe I should call her "unique" or "independent" or "quirky" or something slightly more PC or whatever, but the truth is she's just odd. There's no getting around it. How do I express in words how truly odd she is? I don't know, but I'll try. And maybe I'll throw in some pictures too.

Zoe LOVES to play by herself. Sometimes she tells me (or James) to go in the other room if we try and play with her. Seriously.

About one minute ago she came upstairs, went in the bathroom, grabbed our squirt bottle and said (mostly to herself), "Squirt bottle's going to go play with those jingle bells." Then she headed back downstairs. She is meticulous in using the words the, those, that, and these in front of her objects. "Let's go watch that robot movie," "Want the swimmings." Please don't ask what a swimming is. I don't think there is any way to explain.

She is absolutely OBSESSED with the movie Wall-e. It is the only full-length film she will watch. We attempted Kung-fu Panda a few days ago and she wouldn't even come downstairs. When she did, she stayed in the kitchen until we turned it off. We watch Wall-e every day while Owen takes his am nap. The rest of the day she runs around the house shouting "Wall-e," "Evah," and mumbling things about the Axiom, spaceships, and robots.

Zoe is still enthralled by her large collection of plastic bugs, snakes, frogs, and dinosaurs. She will pick out a couple of favorites every few days and they become inseparable. She calls them her "friends" and carries them around everywhere. If I ask her or tell her anything she echoes it to her toys - "Do you want a sandwich Zoe?" "Do you want a sandwich snake?" It's incredibly endearing yet absolutely annoying to me as she never actually answers my questions. Is it healthy for a 2 and a half year old girl to sleep with praying mantises? I guess we'll find out.

Zoe has absolutely NO social skills. Her first reaction to other people is to be slightly scared and then to ignore them completely. One day I picked her up from nursery and the teachers were so excited because she actually spoke. Meanwhile at home she talks non-stop. To herself or her toys, mostly, but nonstop nonetheless.

Zoe shows no interest in potty training. She could walk around in a poopy diaper all day and not care. Recently I've been trying to encourage her and while she is intrigued by the concept of underwear, she flips out if I try and get her to sit on the toilet. Almost as much as she continues to flip out over the vacuum.

The list goes on. She loves to jump and sing. She has several Dr. Seuss books memorized. She wouldn't drink juice to save her life. Every day she comes up with new ways to be weird. But every day I find new reasons to love her.