Zoe at 18 months
So much has happened since Zoe’s 12 month post - she’s walking, climbing and flew on her first flight. She loves peek-a-boo. Her favorite time to play is when her hands are covered in food/paint/sand/dirt. She fully commits to the game, covering her face and ensuring a bath. I love how happy it makes her when someone responds with, “Where’s Zoe?”
Zoe has a fiery personality that has only become more intense as she has gotten older. I’m not sure if “fiery” is the right word, but she has one of those personalities where you are afraid to make direct eye contact. Max was probably like that too and we are just suffering from selective memories, but I seriously doubt that. At 18 months Zoe is the boss and she has created a culture of fear.
Sleeping
I’ve re-written this section several times as Zoe cycled between great and terrible sleeper. With our recent move, sleep has been rough and we are struggling to adjust. Zoe started waking up 2-3 times a night, which she hasn’t done since she was a few months old. We are strong believers in Ferber’s cry it out method, but he skipped the chapter where the crying baby wakes up the big brother and the chapter where the crying baby disturbs the angry yoga-instructing neighbor.
Zoe has never been a cuddler. As much as we have tried, she has never fallen asleep on our chest or in our arms. But recently she has started laying on Aaron while watching a show. I’m not proud, but I’ve tried sabotaging their moment in an effort to get her to lay on my lap. When that happens, she arches her back, yells, and finds her way back to Aaron. The girl loves her dad.
Eating
Our least favorite trick she does is chewing and spitting out her food. It happens when:
- … eating foods she loves (except ice cream).
- … eating food she hates.
- … someone makes eye contact with her.
- … she wants a drink. (Instead of swallowing like a normal human, she clears everything out of her mouth before taking a sip.)
- … it’s been 5 minutes and she is tired of chewing.
At some point, I posted on facebook about the habit and was relieved to find out she isn’t the only one doing it (thank you for sharing that your kid is gross too!). There is something about knowing there is at least one other kid doing the same gross thing as your kid that makes you feel a lot better. So for now we are just keeping our fingers crossed that she out grows it soon. And if not, we are going to need a bigger bib.
Doing
Zoe loves loves to play. In the last few months she has started really interacting with Max. Most of the time he loves it, because what 4 year old doesn’t love to be chased, clapped for, and followed around. Other times, Zoe crawls onto his lap while he is watching a show, comes up behind him and grabs his hair or plops down on his face when he is sleeping. One day after school, Max asked if instead of going to the park we could go home so he and Zoe could run around in circles together. I love watching them play together. Please tell me they will be like this forever.
One of my favorite things is watching Max step into his big brother role. He loves to get things for Zoe and teach her how to do new things. At school, Max and Zoe almost always find each on the playground. Max tells us they “chit chat at the fence”. I almost died the first time he said “chit chat”!
We probably shouldn’t admit this, but Zoe LOVES tv, like seriously loves tv. Before she goes to bed we will ask if she wants to watch a show, to which she responds, “YEAAAAAAA”! Then she runs to the couch and plops down to relax. If there is any delay in turning the tv on, she immediately yells. Right now her favorite shows are Mother Goose Club (episode 2 only) and Baby Bum (so terrible, but she loves it).
Milestones
- Climbs on everything
- So chatty!
- First dentist appointment - has 16 teeth
- Walking - started walking around 13.5 months
Zoe 18 month stats
Max at 18 months here.
- Weight: 21 lbs 4 oz
- Height: 31.25″
- Head circumference: 18.5″