Zoe Is Two

Zoe is two years old.  We celebrated her birthday yesterday with the standard birthday breakfast in our house - pancakes with whipped cream and sprinkles - and of course the first round of "Happy Birthday" singing.  

After breakfast we packed up and headed to the pool to celebrate the birthday of a friend's daughter - but Zoe was pretty sure the festivities were all for her.  She was most impressed by the lollipop she got and the fact that jb did a cannonball off the high dive.  Seriously.  Both Zoe and Leo stood by the side of the pool chanting "Go Daddy!  Go Daddy!" 

Post-swimming, the birthday girl requested french fries for dinner, so we stopped by Outback Steakhouse for a giant plate of cheese fries and a brownie sundae - complete with more singing and candle wishing.

I did attempt a birthday interview, but it was not very successful.  

Some tidbits about Zoe as a two year old:

• She says the P sound in place of F. So Phone is Pone.  Aunt Fanny is Aunt Panny.  Face is Pace.
• She's eased up on her harsh "No!"s in favor of "No thank you!"  I often hear "No thank you, Lelo!"
• She no longer says her name is "Dodo" (oh, I already miss that!), now she says "Da-ee." This is indistinguishable from how she says Daddy, so it can be challenging to decipher who she is talking about.  Occasionally she will say her name is "Batman."
• Her latest fashion statement is pairing daddy socks with dresses or shorts.
• Several new fears have cropped up: balloons, bath toys, doctors, the dentist, hearing someone walking down the hallway.  For a kid that is so fearless - these came as a weird and intense curveball.
• She eats mostly fruits and veggies.  She doesn't care for bread, potatoes (except for french fries) or even pasta.  Meat is hit and miss.  Cheese and beans are usually a hit - but the first things to disappear off her plate are the fruits/veggies.
• Bumps and bruises.  With Leo I still know every mark on his body - mostly because he comes rushing to me with every little discomfort.  Zoe is more of a "Wait, why is there blood on your shirt?!?!" kind of kid.  She doesn't let stumbles or even skinned knees slow her down.  And just a Leo likes any little cut or scrape to be wrapped with about 10,000 layers of gauze, Zoe has no patience for bandaids.
• "My body, My choice!" This is perhaps the single most often used phrase in our house right now.  I think it stemmed from a talk we were having about consent and kissing people goodbye/goodnight.  I must have said something along the lines of, "Just like we chanted when we marched on Washington: My body, my choice!" and apparently that really stuck with both kids.  I've been able to reason a bit with Leo about how, while it may be a catchy slogan, it's not a joke - and it only applies to bodies.  (There was some "My Batman, my choice!" abuse happening.)  Zoe on the other hand....any time she doesn't want to do something: take a bath, get a clean diaper, eat lunch, go to sleep - it's a rallying cry of "My body, my choice!!"  So, yeah.  
• Swinging - after several month of HATING and being TERRIFIED of baby swings, Zoe has really come to love swinging on big kid swings.  Either seated or on her belly, she will sway back and forth - but don't offer to push her.  No way.  
• Her favorite thing is to "ride bikes to clark park" - or rather sit on her push trike while I steer her to the park.  
• Reading.  She's officially a book lover and now I have "read books! read books!" in surround sound.   

Eating a tomato like an apple

Riding bikes

Swinging

Daddy socks