The Chain Gang

It's September! Wow. Things are really getting down to the wire baby-wise around here. That's why I've been absent from the blogosphere. With weekly doctor appointments in Orem, crossing off a few more staycation to-do's, and starting in on some MAJOR sewing projects, we are meeting ourselves coming and going.

To commemorate the last month of pregnancy, and to get Zoe even more excited for Owen's arrival (you know, because she doesn't already talk about him ALL the time) Zoe and I made a count-down chain. I cut all the paper the night before so she helped me decorate a few rings, watched as I stapled them all together, then nearly tore the thing to shreds playing with it before throwing a tantrum when I finally took away "Baby Owen's Circles" and insisted they were only to look at from now on. Phew! Why don't I do crafts with this kid more often?

During a nap, I made a "Welcome Home" sign which morphed into a scrapbook page. All I have to do is slap on a couple pictures. That means I've already done more work for Owen's scrapbook than for Zoe's and almost as much as our wedding book. I'm a scrapper slacker. Oh well.

A Sticky Situation

On Monday I was preparing to have our neighbors over for a good ole Family Home Evening. We had just finished dinner and I had left some of it out while I flitted around the house making myself look decent (or at least attempting to). Suddenly I had the strange feeling that Zoe was being really quiet. Not that she's abnormally loud, but something just seemed odd about the silence. Call it a mother's intuition, if you will. I dropped what I was doing and looked around for her. What I found, in the kitchen, was this:

I guess she wasn't quite finished with her peanut butter. The most amazing thing was that she managed to dip her fingers into the jar without knocking it over, or onto the floor, or, even better, getting ANY on her outfit. That is a miracle in and of itself! We got her all cleaned off before she could spread her sticky mess to the rest of the house and got on with our evening.

Want to know what's not sticky? My kitchen floor. Over the last few days it has been unreasonably slippery. James and I have both nearly fallen as we've crossed the room. So weird. Not that this has anything to do with what I've just posted about, but I just thought I would let you all know that for some unknown reason I have a slippery kitchen floor.

Also in an unrelated matter - Happy Birthday Mom! When are you coming out here again? It has been a little too long since October. We love you!

Sewing Group

I went to sewing group at our chapel this morning but it turns out the only stitching that would get done was on Zoe's head. Just as we were leaving I heard her fall down and start crying. I thought she ran into or fell into the window in the foyer and wasn't too disturbed (or in a hurry to help her). When I finally got there she had blood all down her face. I guess she hit her head on the metal casing around the window and had a pretty gnarly laceration. It just wouldn't stop bleeding and I could tell it was fairly deep. I ran her home, grabbed Tigger, the pacifier, our insurance card, and the camera (of course) and headed to the ER.



Three hours and 2 stitches later we are home and safe. The doctor kept us waiting so long that all of the nurses and technicians were apologizing to us for how long we had to wait. If an ER nurse is apologizing, you know it is above the normal waiting time. Zoe was fine and kept quiet and busy until the actual stitching process had to occur. The doctor didn't want to sedate her so he numbed up the area and then the nurses wrapped her up in a blanket so we could hold her down. This she did not like so much. If you didn't know, Zoe is a screamer. She has a really high-pitched, loud scream. The doctor was actually complaining to everyone about it. I was so mad I nearly slapped him. Here we are waiting for hours with a toddler who has behaved herself magnificently the whole time (despite having a head wound that would not stop bleeding and being past her lunch and nap time) and yet, when we pin her down and ram a threaded needle through her skin, she screams and HE has the nerve to complain. Naturally I held my composure and he did compliment me for that (am I the only mom who doesn't cry when their kid gets shots, stitches, etc?). I think he was going to use regular stitches, but he didn't want to have to repeat the screaming process to take them out in a week so he put in the kind that dissolve.

Two Tiny Stitches

What an ordeal. James was supposed to be coming home early to help me out - I am just a little too stressed out, Zoe won't take a nap, and Garth is here as icing on the cake - but he just called and his car won't start. And I still have our laundry (some of it bloody) and dinner calling my name. Can I get a do-over for today?

I do have to add, that at the hospital I ran into a guy I knew in high school and hadn't seen for years. He works there and is pre-med at BYU. Small world. Maybe we should have to rush Zoe to the hospital more often!

Zoe at 18 Months

Well, Zoe is 18 months old, as of last Sunday. So why is the nursery countdown still, well, counting down? Because Sunday happened to be Stake Conference as well. Grrr. This whole nursery debacle has been so frustrating. I found out a couple weeks ago that a boy only 3 days older than Zoe has been going to nursery for about a month with no complaints from the leaders. I refer you to this rant, I mean post, to see why that is maddening to me.

I waited to post until today because Zoe had her 18-month check up and I wanted to let all the grandmas know how she is faring. She is awesome! Small, but awesome. Her head is now in the 13th percentile, which is higher than ever. She is 31.5 inches tall and weighs in just under 21 pounds. I'm guessing that last number would be better if we could EVER get her to eat dinner. She flat out refuses even her favorite foods at dinner time and freaks out when we put her in the high chair. And if by some miracle she does eat a particular food for dinner she won't eat it twice in a row (i.e. leftovers). We are pretty much at our wit's end with her. So much wasted time and food. But she seems happy (other than when we are trying to feed her) and she has tons of energy and sleeps through the night, so we are more annoyed than worried.

As far as physical and verbal skills go, Zoe is right up to par. Here is a sampling of her "every day" vocabulary (words she says without being prompted):

• Mommy, It's Mommy
• Dada, Dada's here
• Hi
• Tigger
• Ball
• Baby
• Bear
• Doggy Woof Woof
• Moo
• Eat
• Nose, Eyes, Ears, Mouth, Tummy (and identify all)
• Cereal, Crackers, Fish, Cheese, Milk, Water, Toast, Chicken (the only foods she eats are foods she can say)
• Snow, Snowing
• Outside
• Shoes
• More, Please, All Done (and their signs)
• Up
• Toys, Book
• Soft (as in , Zoe, be SOFT)
• Jump (she yells "DUHM DUHM" while she jumps)
  

She also repeats a lot of what we say (everything from "bath time" to "shiny" to"fluoride") so I will refrain from listing all that. She loves to dance, twirl, twist, and especially jump. A couple weeks ago she finally figured out how to get both feet off of the ground at the same time! Before that she just stomped around in a circle. She loves to watch her Baby Einsteins so I can get ready for the day. She loves to go outside, as long as we don't make her walk in the snow. She is so independent and strong willed (that becomes a problem sometimes) but generally mild-tempered and well-behaved. It usually takes us by surprise if she is in a bad mood (apart from the whole dinner time issue). Everyday seems to be more fun than the previous and she learns so much it just amazes me. I just can't believe she is the same little "bean" we brought home a year and a half ago. I know she misses you all and we can't wait to visit as much family as we can this year!

Where are the baby's shoes?

You ask a toddler a question, be prepared (with a camera) for the answer:


I thought Zoe might just point to the little booties that her babies have stitched on their feet, but instead she decided to put the babies in my shoes. After half an hour of playing with the dolls and my shoes I had to tear her away for bath and bedtime. Otherwise she might still be doing this.