Zoie flew past her 1st birthday, and is running full speed into toddlerhood. She started walking 2 weeks before she turned one, and got the hang of it pretty quickly. She loves to run, squat, spin, stomp, step backwards, bounce, and dance (sway side to side). She loves to climb, belly-flop onto her bed (especially the dog's bed), and shake things. She also LOVES water and splashing!
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| Towel snuggles from her Great Grandma! |
This point in her babyhood/toddlerhood is so interesting, because observing Zoie is like looking into a mirror. She mimics everything we do! It makes us so aware of what we do (and what we shouldn't be doing). It's amazing how quickly she can learn a new "trick" we teach her.
Language
Each day I discover new words she understands. You never really know unless you ask her, right? "Zoie, point to the tiger!" And she does. WHAT? When did she start understanding that the picture of a tiger is called a tiger? I wonder how many repetitions of a word to object she needs before she remembers. Sometimes I feel like I don't spend enough time actively teaching her stuff, and then I sit back and realize how much she picks up!
We've been doing sign language with Zoie for a few months now, and just recently she has really shown interest in communicating her needs and interests with the signs we've taught her.
- "Fan" - she loves ceiling fans, so we taught her to point up and swirl her hand around in a circle. She'll point out the fans in a restaurant or shop when we're out and about, or she'll answer when we ask where the fan is.
- "Milk" - she signs the standard ASL opening/closing of her fist. She just started signing "milk" while she is nursing sometimes, or right before she latches on.
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| She's saying "woof"! |
- "Potty" - the ASL sign is putting your thumb between your index and middle finger and shaking your fist back and forth, but Zoie pinches her thumb next to her index (like holding a piece of paper) and shakes her fist back and forth. Babies always invent their own versions of sign language! Today, she looked at me and clearly signed "potty" right after nursing, so I took her into the bathroom and she went #2! WIN!
- "Dog" - okay, this isn't sign language, but Zoie says "woof woof!" and "dog!" when she sees a dog, a photo/drawing of a dog, or hears a dog barking! It's so cute.
- "All Done" - this was Zoie's first sign she learned. She signs by flipping her hands palm-up and palm-down several times (standard ASL). She initiates it on her own sometimes when she's done with her meal, or done with a particular food I'm trying to get her to eat. She mostly signs when I ask her, "all done?" but it's hard to tell if she's just making the sign in reply, or if she's actually done.
- "Up" - Zoie says "up!" and throws her hands up. Sometimes she does it when she wants to be picked up, other times it's just for fun repeating us.
- "Sit on your bottom", "spin", "bounce", "clap", "roll the ball", "kick the ball", "high five", and "wave hi/bye" are all actions that she does when you ask her.
Nursing
Nursing is still going strong! She's so busy during the day, so she really only nurses before/after naps, and maybe 1 or 2 more times during the day. We just started another attempt at night-weaning though, so lately she's been nursing a little more during the day.
We gave up on night weaning a few months ago - we spent over a week staying up for hours in the middle of the night trying to sooth her back to sleep without nursing. NOT FUN! We finally gave up and gave in. Maybe she just wasn't ready?
Recently though, Zoie reached the point of wanting to nurse every 2 hours at night! Not okay anymore... This mama needs SLEEP! We're a few days into night weaning round 2, and it's going a lot better this time. It seems that she is beginning to understand that if she waits until her regular wakeup time at 7am, I'll bring her into my cozy bed and she can feast as much as she wants!
Sleep
Zoie has switched herself from two naps to one, which has been convenient for getting out of the house and doing things! It's usually a long nap, anywhere from 1.5 to 3 hours.
Her nighttime sleep is a work-in-progress, as I mentioned the night weaning project. She goes to bed around 8pm, and wakes up around 7/7:30am (still with some waking up in the middle of the night).
Since we're night-weaning, we've been trying everything else to sooth her back to sleep. Holding her and walking, rocking, bouncing, snuggling in the rocking chair, humming, shushing... you get the idea. Once she is night-weaned, step #2 will be keeping Zoie on her bed while rubbing her back or just being with her while she learns to fall back asleep herself.
Eating
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| "Get this food AWAY!" |
It's fun giving Zoie all different foods to try. It's surprising what she likes, and what she doesn't like. A delicious cheesy quiche? GET IT AWAY! Raw tomato? YUM NOMNOMNOM! Sweet juicy peach? THROW IT ON THE GROUND! ... It's a bit of a trying process, but it's fun.
Zoie mainly eats food that we eat - we skipped purees entirely. I have a few special toddler snacks for her, like freeze-dried fruits and bite-sized yogurt snacks and peanut butter crackers. I'm always on the lookout for nutritious ready-to-go food, and I keep homemade turkey meatballs and mini egg & cheese omelets in the freezer for quick meals.
Sometimes she scarfs food, other times she hardly eats even though I think she's hungry. At least she still nurses, so I'm at ease with her nutritional intake. She also likes cow's milk! She'll drink about half a cup in the morning, and half a cup in the evening.
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| Relaxing for a moment with her milk and monkey. |
Each day is new and interesting with a baby-becoming-a-toddler. Such an incredible experience to watch a person develop! Step by step, you watch this little person discover the world and test her abilities. She learns that she has control over herself, and can communicate her wants and needs. What an amazing realization for a kid! We all take self-expression for granted - but man, what a gift!
Cheers,
Martha
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