ZJ's 2nd birthday party

We had a small gathering at the house to celebrate ZJ's birthday.  She opened gifts and then we had cake.

Here she is opening her child sized Moby wrap so she can wear her own babies, gifted by C & N.  She's also wearing the baltic amber necklace NJ and I gave her.  We also gave her a wooden, stacking block train.


Her brother helped her open the gift from him.  It was the crayons we made from melting down old ones.  This gift went with the art easel our neighbors/friends gave her.


She also received a book from M & K, clothes from S & M and felt toy bins from grandparents (along with $ from several others).


Next was cake!  I made a pumpkin chocolate chip bundt with chocolate ganache.  I'd never made either component before and the ganache came out a bit too thick but everyone seemed to enjoy it and the cake.  We also had fruit and extra ganache for dipping.


She got a little uncomfortable when everyone sang happy birthday to her.

But was intrigued by her first cake experience.

After some coaxing I got her to blow on the candles.

She was definitely a fan of her first ever piece of cake! The word "cake" is now a permanent addition to her vocabulary.

10.6.13

ZJ's 2 year pictures

ZJ was all about making strange faces and doing odd things during her photo shoot.  These were the best.

ZJ is 2 years old!

10.6.2013

ZJ is now 33.5 inches (42nd percentile) and just over 23 pounds (9th percentile).  Her top 2 second year molars are both coming in.  She is saying lots of new things and is putting more 2 word phrases together.  She used to call herself by the shortened form of her name but suddenly started saying her name was "Z-naw-naw" or occasionally "Z-naw-naw-naw."  She uses "thanks," "welcome" and "sorry" properly.  Her favorite word is "no" which she often yells in response to any question or request.  She likes to say "oww" even if things don't hurt but could have.  She also likes to say "tadah!" when she builds things.  She says a few words that really don't sound correct such as "gah-me-ah" (pajamas), "baa-baa-bee-bee" (strawberry) and "sam-E-uhls" (sandals).  I told her she was awesome when she used the toilet one day and it stuck with her so she calls herself "awefome" now.  Her brother taught her the phrase "bad guy" and she often declares she is one and likes to identify them in books.  She used to alert everyone to her (or others) farts by just saying "fart" but started copying my response to her so she now says "oh my!"  This was humorous enough on its own but a few days ago she heard a stranger in the bathroom and yelled out "oh my!" in reference to the stranger farting.

ZJ has always loved to dance to music but now likes to sing.  She started with "rain, rain, go away," likes "wheels on the bus" and Old McDonald and also loves "YMCA" due to her brother's obsession with it.  She has no interest in television except to watch the beginning and ending of Thomas and Friends when IJ gets to see it.  She calls Thomas "Tommy" and identifies him in stores and elsewhere by screaming "Tommy!"  She likes to count to 10 with us and when she sees numbers on something she recognizes them as numbers and says "2-1-2-1."  She learned to answer what her age and her brother's age were in preparation for her birthday.  She finally started building with the Duplo but will only build towers with one size/shape of block.  She learned to close and open doors with the knob and shortly after that started locking them too.  She is also getting off the ground a bit when she jumps now.  She constantly requests both hugs and kisses now from NJ and I.

ZJ will go days with peeing only in the toilet and then other days will wet several diapers.  I think several sicknesses set us back this month.  She continues to occasionally poop on the toilet so I think she'll get more comfortable with that soon.

ZJ still occasionally skips a nap but will typically sleep 30 minutes to an hour.  I'm still walking her in the stroller to get her to sleep each night and she usually falls asleep around 7:30pm.  She wakes around 6:30/7 am.  She is still a breastfeeding addict and wakes throughout the night to nurse (still sleeping next to me) and nurses several times during the day.

ZJ had a pretty mild cold a few weeks ago.  She then got a stomach thing that didn't seem to bother her too much but affected her bowels.  Then, the day before her birthday she started saying her right ear hurt and she wouldn't go to sleep.  The cold symptoms came the next day.  It appears she has a virus/ear infection.

Here's ZJ's 2nd year at a glance.  See last year's here.

September 2013 Pics

ZJ loves smoothies and is the master of the smoothie mustache.






IJ started soccer!  He has weekly practices.




I thought there were no new places to climb in the house but ZJ has found new ways.


I moved the tadpoles to a new, larger home and they must have needed it because they began maturing at a rapid rate, getting back legs and then front legs.  Here they are ravenously eating their frozen, boiled lettuce chunk.


The sukkah at IJ's school.


IJ finally got to ride the train at Hermann Park.






Toads!!! 










We've had lots of hummingbirds hovering and feeding at our flowers the last few weeks.  This one actually sat in our tree and let me get pretty close.


My new baby...a fiddle leaf fig tree.

ZJ is 23 months old!

9.6.13

ZJ is saying more two word phrases like “wake up” and “tell me” but only says them after hearing us say them rather than initiating it herself.  She continues to mimic my speech and started saying “ok” quite a bit making me realizes I say it after every task completion.  She has several words that don’t really sound like the word she intends but she says them consistently, like “ba ba bee” for strawberry.  Her brother has learned her language and will speak to her using her own terminology.  We’ve been counting to 10 with her and she’s getting more comfortable with the numbers, anticipating what comes next and recognizes the number one when written.  She started demanding hugs this month by saying “hug” and reaching out.  It’s adorable.  She has mastered drinking from an open cup by herself.

ZJ is doing well with peeing on the toilet.  She uses the toilet all day long and rarely wets a diaper at home.  She will also potty away from home on any toilet but just this past week started using our travel potty which makes things easier.  She asks to pee every time she is at IJ’s school and really seems to enjoy going to the bathroom away from home.  Pooping is another story.  She poops in her diaper or underwear while holding her butt.  Luckily she does this so we know what she’s doing.  She has pooped on the toilet now a few times but is still resistant.  When she does wear underwear, which she calls “undies” she’ll announce “done” and remove them (or other clothes), preferring to be naked.

ZJ has not skipped her nap in a while.  I’m trying to make sure she’s active each morning which definitely helps her fall asleep.  We don’t get home from picking IJ up from school till around 1 pm.  I get her to sleep as soon as possible and she always sleeps 30-40 minutes and then wakes up screaming and crying, each time.  I usually keep her up, so she falls asleep easier at night, but if I lay down with her she’ll fall right back to sleep, waking as soon as I get up.  I get her to sleep in the stroller around 7:30/8 pm.

ZJ had one cold this month that she got from her brother.  Her second lower molar came in and she stopped chewing her fingers.

August 2013 Pics

We FINALLY chose a dining room chandelier.










My mothers day gift finally bloomed.




Big brother helps put his sister's shoes on.


IJ is doing a kindergarten work book a little each day.






IJ and I made new crayons from old ones.  He is giving them to ZJ for her birthday.




We are raising tadpoles.








Giving her baby mama milk.