building words

Zoe has learned that letters build words - thanks again, television! She has been watching Word World. It's a show on PBS that is entirely about putting letters together to form words. The things in World World are drawn using letters, so instead of just an animated duck, it is the letters D U C K stuck together. The barn is the letters B A R N. Anyway. Zoe loves it. And it has taught her, in a way that I could not, that the letters of the alphabet that she has known for a year now, can "build words". She is very excited that "C A T builds cat". And she has known that Z O E spells Zoe, but I think it means something to her now. She arranged all of her magnet letters by color, but then she told me that she had built words. So now she is newly interested in her books and hearing me read the words. When she reads the letters on signs I tell her what words the letters are building. Fun!

A year ago Dad sent Zoe the DVDs for School House Rock. I never watched this show, but I certainly know what it is. Zoe picked it out from her dvd collection "how about this one, mom?" a few weeks ago and it has become a daily favorite. Now she is saying that things can be "really difficult". And yesterday she was playing with this plastic thing and told Pete that she "made a new invention". And she sings a song about electricity.

blue bird

I asked Zoe what she was doing and she said that she was a bird, and these were her feathers.

clothes on

Zoe put pants & a shirt on all by herself for the first time ever! She is very good at taking her clothes off, but has never wanted to put them on. Sure, they were on backwards, but it didn't really matter. Hooray!

preschool!

Zoe is going to start preschool on Monday March 7th!

what's happening

I will be attending Orientation with the Northshore School District to be an office/secretarial substitute on March 9th. Hopefully some people get sick and/or go on maternity leave and I will get to work for them! Ha! I am going to be available full-time and be on call for whenever they need me. We looked at the preschool yesterday and it looks super fun. Zoe fit right on with the other 3 year olds. She sat in the little chairs and did a puzzle. A little girl stood next to her and the teacher told me that she was named Zoe. I told our Zoe "her name is Zoe, also!" and she looked at her and said "Hi Zoe-Also."
I hope that Zoe can start on March 7th. We are going to turn in our paperwork today. It's $800 for full-time preschool. We've got March covered and then I have to work enough to pay for it/make it worth it after that. Luckily there aren't any registration fees and you can [kind of] start/stop the program as needed. We could also just do a Tues/Thurs morning program for Zoe's benefit if I don't work enough to warrant the full-time care. I think it's going to be good for all of us.

cupcake party

I made these chocolate-chip cupcakes for us to munch on. They are gluten-free/allergen-free and would be vegan except for the chocolate chips [which are organic, and quite good]. I didn't put any frosting on them because the tops of the cupcakes got kind of crispy and were really delicious like this. I think I was putting the dishes away or something and Zoe got her straws and "decorated" the cupcakes for us so that we could have a party. And then she played with her "robot" cherry chomper.

two new paintings

These are two paintings that Zoe made recently. She got a cup of water from the bathroom and worked on them until the paper was totally covered. She likes purple right now.

We haven't done too much lately. The weather is cold again and it's even trying to snow this week. Zoe has been sick so we haven't been to the ymca for several days. Last Thursday we took her to the ER at Children's Hospital at 3am because she was crying and coughing and breathing heavy like there was something caught in her throat. She was actually fine and saying "I feel better, mom" on the way to the hospital but was coughing again when we got there. The in-take nurse diagnosed her immediately with croup and admitted her to the ER. They gave her oral steroids [like the kind kids with asthma take] and some tylenol. Croup is very common in the winter and very scary sounding. If it's treated early everything is okay. It can develop into pneumonia and cause a kid's throat to swell shut. yikes! She still has a cough and a runny nose, but usually her colds last 7 to 10 days so we still have a few days to go.
Luckily my babysitter is on mid-winter break from school this week so she is coming for a few hours this afternoon. I have to go get my fingerprints taken & turn in a bunch of paperwork with the school district where I would like to be an office substitute - and  try to turn in the paperwork for Zoe to start preschool. Oh, hooray! I just got an email that there are 2 spots for 3-year olds at the preschool!

butterfly-painter

This is what Zoe wanted to wear this morning. She really likes my pink shoes. She calls them tap shoes. There is an UmiZoomi episode where a little girl wears a butterfly costume in a school play and she does a little song & dance. I know Zoe would like to take dance lessons, and there are plenty of places for her to do it. I'm going to wait until she starts preschool [next month?] and then try to find some lessons that fit into our new schedule. I'll post the picture that she painted. She got a cup of water from the bathroom sink and thinned her paint out. I really like it!

dance show

LeapFrog

A few weeks ago Zoe spilled apple juice on her "screen" and since then it has been short-circuiting batteries and one of her favorite games "Letters on the Loose!" was ruined. So grandpa sent her this pretty, new Pink & Purple LeapFrog Leapster 2. Zoe has barely put it down since it came in the mail. She plays games that match shapes and practice counting and doing basic math. She can use the pen, but it's attached on the right side and she is still so clearly left-handed that it can be frustrating for her to hold it. Get used to it Zoe! We'll have to shop at the Left-orium. [Look - it's a real place!] Pete wants to know why she can't do the games where she has to write numbers and letters - and I explained to him that she is still 3 and most humans do not have the motor skills to write numbers and letters at this age. Just because she told him that her pajamas are "not stylish" does not mean that she is all grown up.

zebra

Zoe asked me to take pictures of her zebra from every angle. She is wearing her butterfly costume over her pajamas.

pretty girl

so this is just after a bath - she DID put clothes on eventually - and she let me comb and style her silky hair into these crazy pigtails! It only works when her hair is wet. And then when it dries they kind of fall out into "regular" pigtails that have a little twist to them. In the top picture she is posing for the camera and saying "cheese". hello, Hollywood.

Heart Cookies

Aunt Michelle sent an adorable "real" baking set for Zoe for Christmas/Birthday. It has a kid-sized rolling pin & spatula & spoon & cookie cutters, etc. We made these gluten-free, vegan cookies. They are not sugar-free, so are still quite delicious. Zoe loves them. And I love that they are made with brown rice. I even like the toasty color.

Monday's Masterpieces

tea party

Locks Box

Dad made this awesome box that is 16 small boxes that each open with a different key. I finally got the boxes numbered and then I made a "map" for Zoe and labeled each of the keys with a different picture. I showed her how to match up the keys with the numbers and find the correct lock to open. I put some of her Littlest Pet Shop Toys inside each of the boxes. Fun! I can change the map symbols & key tags easily and make them more complicated as she learns to read, etc.