Here is our little Zoe Ann.
I am terrified to think she is almost three years old. How did my smiling little elf-girl-baby turn into this clever-eyed, chatting, bouncing little girl?! Sometimes I have to mutter to myself and remember that I don't have a preschooler, a toddler, and a baby anymore. I have two preschoolers and an almost-toddler now!
Yesterday, she informed me that her arms are really long so she can reach things. I admired them as well. We walked up to the house in silence and then she looked up at me and stretched her arms wide. "Mom, my arms is AWESOME!"
Zoe's happy spirit is a ray of sunshine in our family. Even when she's grouchy, she's making the world a cuter place. Even when she's sad, she's beautiful.
She's an emphatically independent little woman right now. Everything, everything, she can "do it myself." Don't you dare wipe her bum or turn on the water for her or put on her pants. She will screech in protest "DYSELF!" Except eating, she really likes to be fed like a baby. But hey, who wouldn't love to sing and wiggle and giggle at the table while having someone else do the bother of shoving food into your mouth?
The one exception to her independence is her adoration for big "Yed." She follows and imitates everything her big brother does. She eats what he eats, she plays with what he plays, she even insists that her goodnight song before bed must be "Monster Trucks and Race Cars." Because if it's good enough for big brother, by golly, it must be the best for her.
She dotes on her baby brother as much now as she did when he was born. Zane's two-thirds her size now, so holding him isn't quite as fun as it was back in the day, but she's still constantly fawning over him, bestowing kisses and caresses with wild abandon as long as he will allow. See that glow of maternal love? "Dat's MAH Zany!" "Dat Zany, he love me, Mom. Mmm-hmm."
People often comment on how little Zoe speaks. What she lacks in verbage she makes up for in singing, dancing, laughing, and communicating with her expressive brown eyes. She tends to confuse or drop her initial consonants, resulting in darling phrases like "I wan a dookie!" and "I need a 'wink!" Other favorites: "It's snug-o time!" and "Winko Winko Wid-o 'Dar!" (Notice each phrase ends in an exclamation point. That is accurate.) For a long time, when you asked her what her name was, she would reply, laughing, "Aw, Mom, I Zozy!"
Zoe is our little songbird. I often go looking for her and find her sitting in her room, playing with her legos and singing a lilting little tune to herself. She knows dozens of Primary songs. But like her big brother, she is absolutely not a public performer and so you will never know it. But at home she'll always put on a cheerful little show for us.
Here she is singing a silly prayer song, ready for dinner to begin.
One of my favorite recent developments is she has finally started responding to the phrase, "I love you." I took a trip to California just for the weekend earlier this year, and when I returned, she told me for the first time ever, "I love you too, Mom!" I think my heart exploded with joy. I love you, too, my Zozy!
