Zoe: Month 19
Hoo doggie. Someone (see above) in our house has decided that bedtime is unnecessary. We've tried going earlier and later with the timing and both result in the same big screaming fit. Right now Mark is sitting in the chair in her room while Zoe sobs hysterically at the gate. Last night I fell asleep to her crying in bed next to me. Getting her to sleep is easily taking 45 minutes to an hour (or more) *every night* no matter what. On the plus side, once she does get to sleep she's pretty much sleeping straight through until 6am and then sometimes will go back to sleep after a spot of milkies.
I knit these pants for her and good thing I finished them finally because they just fit right now. Which means they may be a bit small next week. *rolls eyes* That's what I get for taking 3-4 months to finish them. (Oooh, I think I hear Mark which means she's finally asleep). I think I should probably sew clothing for her next time instead, as it should be a faster project to finish.
We've had a number of travel firsts this past few months. First trip to Disneyland (staying at the Grand Californian Hotel onsite no less), first plane ride, first camping trip.
Disneyland would have been more awesome had we not been there during a heat wave that had temps soaring into the triple digits and us nearly spending more time in our hotel room and the pool than in the parks. One of the pools at the hotel had a little water slide that Zoe absolutely adored. She would have spent the whole trip there if we would have let her. We rode the carousels in both Disneyland and California Adventure, Pirates (of course!), the Haunted Mansion, the Storybook Land Canal Boats, the Monorail, the Nemo Submarine Voyage, the Mark Twain Steamboat, and the Sun Wheel. Using the fantastic rider switch feature, Mark & I were able to go on Space Mountain (twice!), the Matterhorn, Star Tours, Big Thunder Mountain, and California Screamin' without having to wait forever. We'll be heading back in December and will have to hit Small World (it was closed for refurb) and Dumbo (lines were too long).
We made it to the family reunion in Wichita this year, despite United Airlines best efforts to keep us from doing so. *sigh* Zoe was a trooper on the wacky trip out that had us at the San Jose airport at 9am on Saturday morning, through security, on the plane, off the plane, waiting around for an hour, on the shuttle to SFO, through security again, on the plane, waiting for takeoff, arriving in Denver late, off the plane, on the next plane to get us to Wichita and finally arriving 3.5hours late at 10:30pm having had no breaks and no real meals. We picked up our rental car, hit the IHOP, checked into our room and finally got to bed between midnight and 1am local time. The reunion was great. My dad had also decided to go this year and 3 of his (4) siblings were present with their families. Plus all the rest of Grandma's side of the family. It was something like 100 people! The next day we went to Hutchinson, KS to visit the Cosmosphere so Mark could inspect every speck of (space!) dust. :) We spent the evening at Grandma's and then were back at the airport bright and early the next morning to fly home. Thankfully, the trip home was uneventful.
We had 3 weeks to recover from that before heading off on our next adventure -- camping at Portola State Park with Mark's family and a bunch of their friends. This was an annual trip when Mark was a kid and last year it was restarted by his sis & another of the gals in the group. We drove up for the day but didn't camp last year. This time we rented a van and camped. Zoe was filthy head to toe and loving it and spent much of her time running around the campground with her cousins. I admit that even as a non-camper, I had a good time and was already taking mental notes for next year before we'd even started packing up our stuff.
With all that travel under our belts, we decided it was time to stay home for a bit. For the 4th of July the street around the corner from our house has a potluck block party and this year they even got a bounce house for the kids. Zoe was hesitant at first but ended up loving it and even going up the big laddery bit to get to the slide (which was the height of the bounce house!!). Thankfully the bigger kids were pretty patient since it took her a while to get up to the top. We headed out before the fireworks started but not before Zoe managed to coat herself in bubble soap and sidewalk chalk. Ah the joys of a toddler!
Number of teeth: 12.75, as the 4 canines are in various stages
Weight: 23.5lbs
Length: 31.5inches
Clothing size: 18-24 months
Mobility: Perpetual. Climbs with no fear. Nearly swims.
Speech: Comes & goes. Lots of emphatic babbling. Some even in English. Has dropped using some signs (like "all done") but is picking up others (like "please"). No means both no and yes and, sadly, "MINE!" has made its grand entrance.
Travel since last update: Tons! Maker Faire the first weekend in May, (Great-great)Aunt Mary's funeral in Hanford, Disneyland during the May heat wave, Wichita, KS for the family reunion the first Sunday in June, and camping at Portola State Park. May well be in the Bay Area for a week about a week from now.
Foods: Berries and whatever Mama's eating are her favorites.
