Month 24 Must-Haves

Ok, ok, so I'm waaayy behind on things. #bigsurprise I feel like, since the move, I just can't get into a rhythm. Our dining room is full of half unpacked boxes, I'm getting all soft and squishy from lack of exercise (although that is on it's way to changing!), and it's just so much more fun drawing Olaf in chalk on the back patio than anything that would be considered productive. Zoey is adding words to her repertoire daily ("shoe", "boon" (balloon), and "ucket" (bucket) all popped out in the last couple of days), and we've taken the front off the crib (giving that whole show a little more time before I post the details). So in the mean time (and while I eat a scoop of ice cream - did I mention I was squishy?), here are a few of our must-haves from the last few months...

1. Zoey loves puzzles, so we knew she'd go crazy for this alphabet puzzle.  Lately, she pulls it out every day, "names" the letters and puts each one back in place. I'd love to brag about how my two-year-old knows all 26 of her letters, but I'd be a big fat liar. Unless calling each one "I" or "B" counts. 

2. We've been giving Zoey these GoGoSqueez applesauces since way back. Easy to throw in the bag as an emergency snack, or add to a lunch. We love them!

3. So what if Little People today look nothing like the choking hazards we played with as kids? Same fun + less dangerous = an essential must-have! Plus, this little house makes the sound of a toilet flush. Win! 

4. Who doesn't love sidewalk chalk? 

5. This Radio Flyer Tricycle is a classic and Z loves hers. At our old house, she rode it in circles around the pool. Now we don't have enough paved space out back for her to ride, and we don't have a sidewalk on our side of the street, so she rolls around inside at top speed, where there's plenty of space. And the little trunk on the back is perfect for carrying remotes, spatulas, rocks, and all the other random little items a toddler picks up.

6. You guys know we love books around here, so it's always difficult to pick for the must-haves.  This time was pretty easy--picked the two books we read the most often...for the last four months! Extra Yarn might just be my most favorite picture book, ever! I can't put my finger on it's greatness...the illustrations are sweet (it's a Caldecott Honor book), and the story is fun to read out loud. Plus it has magical powers: it calms a fuss session down every time without fail. Angelina Ballerina is a great book for any little dancer. And it has such a great message: if you work hard, you're dreams will come true!

Reading Extra Yarn on one of our many looonnng trips to Virginia. 

A couple of posts ago, I mentioned Zoey's rock box, and some of you asked about it. It's just a plastic lidded bin from the dollar store that I filled with a (cleaned & rinsed) bag of pea gravel. Sand boxes are so messy, so I liked this solution much better. Z has a ball filling buckets, cups and her little dump truck with the rocks, and I love that sand isn't tracked in through the house.

I'm sure I could add a bunch more to the must-haves for the last six months. The iPad, the Frozen soundtrack, Olaf anything, the Magna Doodle, bracelets, things that can be worn as bracelets, tutus, books, rocks, measuring cups, and big sticks that can used to whack dandelion puffs. Such random, random things! 

The First Haircut That Almost Wasn't

About a month ago, when we were in Florida for my brother's wedding, we decided it would be a good time to get the kid her first haircut. We wanted our regular stylist to do it, since we know her so well (I've gone to her for ten years and even drove an hour and a half to see her when we lived in SoFlo) and trusted her to be sweet with Zoey. She's a mom. She gets it. And since the Hubs and I were also getting haircuts (for one last time before we had to find someone new in VB), it was perfect.

Except that it didn't go perfectly. My color went on first, so I was in full martian mode with a head full of foils. Damon was dealing with a work situation. And Zoey was terrified of mommy and wanting daddy, who was on the phone outside. We had the makings of a total shit-show, and it was heading in that direction very quickly. Thankfully, we were there first thing in the morning, and the nice woman waiting to have her hair done was totally understanding. To say that Zoey wasn't totally onboard with the idea of getting her haircut, even though she had no idea what was really going to happen, was an understatement. We were moments away from bagging the whole thing.

But, with the help of our awesome stylist, the Frozen soundtrack on my iPhone, and more than one lollipop, the actual haircut itself went off without a hitch.

We followed up the big event with a trip to Target with Grammy JJ.  Zoey was so good, she definitely earned a little chocolate milk and girl talk! Is it just me, or does she look like Madeline's twin?

Our Easter Weekend

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend! The weather here was amazing...and much cooler than we're used to!

plaid shirt | orange sweater 

The day before was filled with bunny pancakes and Easter egg dying with shaving cream.  The eggs turned out amazing - way better than any eggs I've ever dyed in the past! And, Zoey and I may or may not have been rocking hot-pinkish hands on Easter morning - even after washing our hands with toothpaste and baking soda (which mostly worked and left our hands impossibly soft!).

lolla sippy cup

This was our first big holiday in VB, and our first without any other family around. I gotta say, it was kind of wonderful! (Sorry mom!) We were able to do things on our own schedule, so it was a lazy pj kind of morning. Zoey had two Easter baskets, one from us the Easter Bunny, and one that my mom sent. Lots of Sesame Street and Frozen whatnots, some new art supplies and books, and maybe a taste or two of candy.  But it was the singing Olaf the was the biggest hit - she's been carrying him around ever since!  

pjs | singing olaf | olaf book

We missed the neighborhood egg hunt a couple of Saturdays ago (and desperately wished we were able to beam ourselves to the park in our old neighborhood for the egg hunt there), so we had our own little hunt in the backyard. Zoey was such a cutie, lugging around her big basket and hunting for eggs in our overgrown yard. (A new mower is next on our must-haves list, but the tufts of grass made perfect hiding places.)  

easter basket | tunic (gap-sold out -similar here) | leggings | Chucks

After brunch, cupcakes, and a little Sophia the First, we headed to the beach. Growing up in Florida, more than one Easter was spent with our toes in the warm sand, and although it was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky, it was maybe 54 degrees and win-dy at our local beach. I had visions of Z running off her cupcake and Peep sugar rush and playing in the sand, but the poor thing was so cold, she just wanted to be held the whole time. So we went for a walk before heading home. Z, of course, zonked out in the car, so the Hubs and I took the opportunity to explore and went for a drive through the farmland south of our neighborhood. It's crazy that less than a mile from our house and the hustle and bustle of our end of town, there are fields of strawberries and soybeans and who knows what else! Not to mention the Navy airstrip! 

hoodie

Hope you all had a great Easter/Passover! We're still unpacking and getting settled (does it ever end?!), but it was so wonderful to take a couple of days to have fun as a family. 

25 Month Update

Our little ladybug has turned two. Yipes! Ok, ok, technically Z is 25 (and a half) months old. I had this post mostly written back at the end of January, to have it ready for posting by Zoey's big day back in mid-February. But with all the back-and-forths, the packing, schlepping, and unpacking...and then we all got sick, and laying on the sofa catching up with the Housewives just sounded so much better, soooo... I've updated a few things to reflect the extra month or so.

So here are the last of the monthly photos. We're thinking of doing photos every three months for Z's third year, but we're not sure how we'll be doing them. It's fun to see how she grows and changes each month.

 And our favorite outtakes from the last few months. Distracted by a good book, a good cry, and a good snack!

Stats: 25 lbs & 33 inches -- 25th percentile for each -- our little squirt!(as of Feb 16th)

Clothes: A mix of 18-24 month and 2T.  Size 5 shoes (although we think her latest growth spurt was only in her feet - they seem so big lately!). She's big into tutus and I've learned that they pretty much go with everything!

Favorite Foods: Zoey hasn't been the greatest eater lately. Typical, from what I hear. But when she does eat these days, its usually waffles, fruit of any kind (especially blueberries and raspberries), cinnamon Life cereal, black beans and rice, cucumber slices, yogurt, GoGo Squeeze applesauce pouches, and anything that can be dipped in pizza sauce, bbq sauce, peanut butter, hummus, or ranch dressing. Apparently apple slices are delicious when dipped in all of those things.
Smoothies are still a favorite, or were until our blender kicked the bucket, and the chocolate and vanilla milk boxes from Starbucks are probably her favorite "treat" lately. She'd drink them all day every day if I let her. And they've become essential at keeping the kid relaxed (read:tantrum-free) during our Target trips. Starbucks for the win!
These days, she also prefers eating out of measuring cups and mini cake pans, often while standing at the kitchen counter on the step-stool. Hey. Whatever gets the food in the belly.

Words: Zoey hasn't started legit talking yet. She's super chatty, and can usually get her point across with other cues, but her bank of words is still pretty small. There are lots of phone "conversations" on her play phone and long speeches to us that include hand gestures and animated facial expressions. well-timed giggles, and polite pauses. She's definitely got the rhythm of language, it's just that she's speaking Minion and not English. We do lots of singing and reading, so I feel like it's any time now. 

The words we hear the most are: choo-choo --"doo-doo" (which she uses for trains, planes, and helicopters, all of which we used to hear a lot of every day back in SoFlo), yuck!, Scout - "cow", Olaf --"oh-ah", more -- "mmooooaaahhhh", got it! -- "gah id", where are you? -- "ahr oo?".

**Update** A couple of days ago, Zoey finally called me "mommy"!!! For the longest time, she called me nothing, then she threw in a "daddy" here and there. For a few days recently, she called me "Mo" (which I actually loved - so cute!), but she busted out a perfectly executed "mommy", and then repeated it about 50 times. It. was. awesome.  

Favorite Activities: At our old house, Z lived for squirrel watching in the yard. She also loved playing peek-a-boo around the porch posts and watching bubbles float on the surface of the pool. We can't do that stuff at our new house, but the old favorites that she still does are playing in the rock box, exploring the yard, puzzles, coloring & painting, sidewalk chalking, dancing, reading, and playing in the bath/water table/puddles/sink. Helping with meal prep is a newer favorite, but mostly she prefers to raid the cabinets and mix her own invisible concoctions with a spatula and whisk.

Least Favorite Activities: eating dinner, sleeping through the night in her own bed (the last few months have been a nightmare when it comes to sleep) and diaper changes.

Favorite Things: Zoey is crazy for stuffed animals and hasn't really gotten into baby dolls. She has her crew of favorites, but the number one animal in her menagerie is Kiki the meerkat. She goes everywhere with Zoey, which usually requires a lot of explaining.  (My dad is a docent at the Brevard Zoo, where they have meerkats, and although Z has never seen them, she fell in love with Kiki when Grandpa gave it to her.) "What a cute...raccoon?" "Your daughter's mouse? is so well loved." Nope. It's a meerkat, although we're pretty sure she thinks Kiki is a squirrel.

Signature Moves: Saying a very sweet "bye-bye" before closing the door in your face. It's actually hilarious! Zoey also has the most amazing fake laugh and uses it with perfect comedic timing. And let's not forget her epic dance moves! She's also got singing along to the Frozen soundtrack (along with some other favorites from the radio) down pat. 

Momma of the Year Moment: While standing six inches away, Z took a literal header off of her step-stool and face-planted on the the kitchen floor. The sound of her sweet head nailing the tile still haunts me. The kid is tough, though. After we both stopped crying and calmed down, she got right back up on the stool and continued playing with the measuring cups.

Milestones: The first of the two year molars has come in and we've lost the highchair. (Both happened a few months ago.) She also got her first haircut when we were home for the wedding (more on that later). Oh, and she moved away from her first home...kind of a big deal...for all of us. (I may have stood in her empty room at the old house and sobbed like a baby. I was a mess.)

As any momma of a two year old will tell you, having said two year old is the best...and the worst. We experience a lot of, what we call, communication frustration, which almost always leads to a tantrum. Understandably. But two is also clever and creative and hilarious and sweet. And irrational. And exhausting. But the goods are sooo good, you almost forget about the screaming fit in the middle of the grocery store because she wanted all the balloons. Almost.