Zoe is 21 Months Old

Dear Zoe,
You are 21 months old, and it’s been awhile since I wrote one of these. It’s getting more difficult, because you have changed so much, and at the same time, you’re the same little girl you’ve always been. Your personality hasn’t changed at all, it’s just gotten larger as you learn how to do more and express yourself more clearly.

If I had to summarize you in one word, it would be “busy.” You are a tiny ball of energy, always running, always playing. You are constantly interested in what everyone around you is doing, and the only times I ever see you get upset is when we won’t involve you in whatever we’re doing (like stirring something hot on the stove).

You are extremely playful, and you love to make us laugh by playing peek-a-boo or making silly faces. You love to shout words that you are just learning, including your favorite made-up word, “Baboo,” usually enunciated as “Bah-BOOOOOOOO!”

You giggle and chortle and love to run. We taught you to say “Go Go GO!” when you run, and I frequently see you sprinting from the living room to the dining room, pushing a toy shopping cart or baby stroller. You constantly request to “jump,” which means we’re supposed to pick you up and throw you in the air, and you would love nothing more than to do that hundreds of times in a row. Your Momma and I usually have to stop after three. Sorry about that.

You love talking on the phone, and when your Momma is one the phone with me or your Grandma, you usually demand to participate. She’ll hold the phone up to your ear, and your face lights up as you listen to the person talk to you (though you rarely say anything back, other than to shout their name). When the call is over, your Momma asks you to say bye-bye, and lately you’ve taken to giving the phone a big kiss.

Whenever you see the laptop, you want to look at pictures. You will happily spend up to a half-hour looking a flickr slideshow of your friends and family. Lately, you always request “Dee-Doo,” which is how you say David, though you’re also fond of Milo, Urn, and me. You’re a little obsessed with boys, which annoys your Momma. She tries to change things up on you a bit, but you’re pretty firm in your requests for Uncle Dee-Doo.

You understand the concept of ownership. You know that Sean has a towel in the bathroom, and which shoes belong to who, and whose coats are whose. You’re starting to identify colors, especially pink. Your Big Pink Coat, the pink bulbs on the christmas lights outside, and a lot of your clothes. You’re working on blue and green right now, but you frequently get them mixed up, or get distracted by something pink. You can identify a startling range of animals, thanks to your picture books, and you know some animal sound effects. It’s adorable to hear you identify a picture as a “Monkey! Ooh Ah Ah.”

Because you’re so cute, people are always talking to you, and you generally love to talk to them, though you’ve started getting a little shy around guys lately. They’ll try to talk to you, and you’ll give a big smile and bury your face in Momma’s shoulder, and then peek out every couple seconds. You also love to wave bye-bye to people. Women usually get a hearty “Bye-Bye Ladies!” Guys usually don’t get a wave until they turn away, and then you’ll wave to their back.

In the mornings, you like to wake up with me around 7am (though lately you’ve been sleeping in until 8 or so). While I shower, you putter around the bathroom, reading books and imitating me while I shave — you love pretending to put shaving cream on your cheeks. Then you like to help me get dressed. You love to talk about the buttons on my shirts, and you get very excited when I put on my socks and shoes. Then it’s out to the living room where you climb up on the couch so you can wave bye-bye and blow kisses to me from the front window as I go catch my bus.

Right now, your days are filled with visiting friends and running errands with your mom, but all that is going to change soon. We got you enrolled in a local childcare co-op, so for three days a week, you’ll be spending half your day with a group of other toddlers. You’ve visited several times already, and you loved it. Already you’ve fallen in love with the idea of washing your hands, and we’re very excited to see what sort of other things you’ll learn from your new social group.

Your best friend is still Maia, and you’ve even become closer with her mom, who you now call “Snow-Momma.” It’s fun to watch you and Maia interact more when you hang out. You still mostly do your own things, but more and more you’ll imitate each other and play little games together.

When I get home from work, I love opening the door to see you standing there already, shouting “Papa!” I usually get home just in time to sit down and eat dinner with you and Momma. You’ve usually already eaten, or have at least been snacking, but you always sit down at the table with us. You’re still not the best eater, but you’ve been getting better with your fork lately (and because I say “Good Job!” when you pick something up, you’ve got in the habit of saying “Job!” every time you use the fork). When you decide that you’re done, you’ll throw up your hands and say “All Done!” and that’s my cue to take your tray and get you out of your booster seat, because if I don’t do it quickly enough, you’ll start throwing food on the floor to get my attention.

After dinner, it’s time to start your bedtime routine, which you love. I take you into your room and change you into a nighttime diaper, and then you choose which pajamas you want to wear. You’ve got several animal prints, including kitties, birdies, and monkeys, and each night you make a big show of choosing between them. Recently, I made the mistake one night of mentioning that you could wear your mouse PJs. I have no idea what I was thinking. You don’t own any mouse PJs, but you seized on the idea immediately, and haven’t let it go. Even though it’s been a few weeks, you still request “Mousies!” every night.

After PJs, we sit down and read a couple books together. I absolutely love this part of our routine. I remember my dad reading to me when I was a kid, and I can’t wait until you’re a little older and I can start reading you books like Winnie the Pooh and the Wizard of Oz. Right now, you’re still mostly about the picture books, but you have a couple books that you absolutely love, and the funniest one is called “Daddy Kisses.” It shows various animals kissing their babies — Daddy giraffe kisses his baby on the neck, daddy squirrel kisses his baby on the paw, etc. — and you’ve memorized who kisses who and where, and as we get to each page, you point to the appropriate body part. “Ear! Neck! Eye!” On the last page, with the human daddy, I give you a big kiss on the cheek, and you ask for more.

Once books are done, your Momma comes in to nurse you to sleep. We’ll turn on some music (Dido or Garden State lately) and I give you both a kiss and then walk out of the room. I love being a big part of your nightly routine, and it’s always sad when I don’t get home in time to participate.
I love you, baby girl!