Zadles and her big Sis

Zadie
Zadie will be 1 year old in a couple of weeks (31Jan). She is really blossoming and showing us her little personality, which is quite strong at times. She really just wants to be a big girl like Zola. She wants to do everything, eat everything, see everything that Zola does (and her parents when it comes to food). She is quite strong willed when it comes to expressing what she wants. This morning she wanted Zola's hot chocolate and wouldn't be content unless she had her own cup (empty) and own spoon. She gets so frustrated pushing the fire truck around the house that we have to limit her fire truck exposure lest she explodes one of these days. Once she figures out the concept of steering I think she will be OK.

Zadie loves to turn the TV on and off, climb the step stool, fake chew gum (one of my favorites), feed herself with a fork or spoon even if most of it lands on her shirt, eat raisins, get fed any food by her sister in the car, read books, see dogs or cats or birds (if she sees one on TV and she can't have the animal she will get so upset and try to grab said animal on TV), brush her teeth (she even opens up and says Ahhhh), blows whistle, blows recorder to make music, play her new glockenspiel, climb on the couch, jump on the bed, be chased around the house, tickled, well something new everyday!

An example of determination. Zadie is jealous that her mama and sister get to use the computer. She wants a turn too! I let her have some computer time, just herself typing away on the keys. When Zola came over to taunt her (by just pressing one little key in the corner) Zadie grabs Zola's arm and forcefully pushed it away. You cold see her little mind working and saying "Hey, it is MY turn to use the computer, go away!"

Her newest nickname from her parents is Zadles (rhymes with ladles). I am not quite sure the origin of this but it is quite catchy. Try it out. Zadles.

Zadie has eight teeth now. The teeth are finally all coming in instead of just being pokey stubs. The teeth look big to me, but are super cute! She is still nursing and thankfully hasn't decided to chew on me like she does everything else. She sure likes to pinch my skin while she is nursing though, this I could do without. It is quite painful, even with short nails. Her little fingers are super strong and she gets just enough skin in between those little fingers to elicit real pain in her mama. Hopefully she will grow out of pinching or nursing someday soon.

Zola
We have been watching Pixar's WALL-E movie for awhile now. For those of you haven't seen it, it involves robots. Zola plays robots all the time. The robots are flying around, being transported by crane (play pliers), among many other activities. She calls WALL-E the old fashioned timey robot. In WALL-E there are many clips from the movie musical Hello Dolly. We have since downloaded the soundtrack to Hello Dolly and the Hello Dolly movie (Barbra Streisand should thank Pixar for reviving this old musical). We all sing the Hello Dolly music and Zola has got some favorite songs that she will sing. The movie is set in the late 1800's and there is a part where they put on their "Sunday Clothes". The other day she was playing dress up and said she was putting on her Sunday Clothes - she wore this pretty purple dress the whole day.

Zola has started a drop off art class at Old Town every Wednesday. It is only a 45 minute class, but that is 45 minutes that we are free from the tumultuous bonds that we share. The class is made up of 6 kids, 3 of which she already knows. I think she had a good time, although the teacher did say she asked for me three or four times and she gave me the sad lip when she was done with the class. I gave her a big hug in return. I think she did pretty good considering it was her first class without her mama. She has 15 more and I am sure they will just get easier (I hope). This is in preparation for her going to preschool next fall. I think it is a good start.

In a family decision we've decided that Zola is done with naps. She was a great napper, that was the problem. She would sleep for 2-3 hours in the afternoon and then not go to bed until 10 or 10:30. This worked out for awhile. We had some good times in the evening after Zadie would go to bed (at 6:30pm). Unfortunately, her mama sometimes wants to go to bed at 9pm. So we got rid of the nap and she is back going to bed (and actually falling asleep) at 8pm. She has been sleeping 8pm-8am (sometimes waking even later). Things get a little hairy around 5pm when she hits a wall of tired but we are making our way through.

Zola is also starting to enjoy her little sister more. She is actually genuinely nice to her at times. She shares her snacks in the car and makes Zadie laugh hysterically at times I wish I could capture it for you all. Believe you me, there are still times where the two of them want to kill each other, but this is normal too. I am just happy that sometimes, they seem to like each other and want to be in each other's company.

Me: Zola don't taunt your sister. Don't taunt her with _____.
Zola: What does taunt-her mean?
Me: It's taunt.