Zoe - 21 Month Update

Well, this started as an 18 month update, but once again life just got in the way. I suppose it is actually a good introduction to this update, as life with a toddler is pretty intense!

Zoe is now 21 months old, and is a force to be reckoned with. She is developing her own tastes and preferences and learning how to verbalize them - often! Although just to keep us on our toes these tastes can change at a moments notice, depending on her mood or the wind direction that day.

I haven't actually had Zoe weighed in about 10 months, so I have no clue, I can only assume she weighs about 200lbs based on the sheer amount of food she consumes - there is no filling this child. She will wake up in the morning and immediately ask for a banana, its almost her first word upon opening her eyes. From there it is a near constant request for food interspersed with the odd bit of playing or napping. Thankfully the food she asks for is mostly healthy things like apples, raisins, yoghurt, rice cakes etc... She is an absolute fruit fiend and will walk over hot coals for some melon (I imagine, we don't actually have any hot coals)

Aside from the food, she is also a big fan of Duplo - moistly just tipping it out of the box and sprinkling it around the living room. She is getting the hang of building things but she mostly loves waiting for you to tidy it up, then tipping it back out again. She loved colouring too, colouring books, paper, the walls; she isn't picky.

Zoe is now a very confident walker/runner and prefers to do so completely independently. Hand holding is not cool, reigns are for suckers. She will only get into the buggy in exchange for biscuits and you can forget about slings (sobs).

Sleeping, thankfully Zoe is part sloth so is still a bloody amazing sleeper. I know, you probably hate me right now if you are a parent of a non-sleeping child but I can assure you there is no magic potion or method here, she just came this way. She moved into her big girl bed about 3 weeks ago and I was concerned she would become a nightmare to get to bed, but she loves it even more than her cot! She goes to bed at 7pm now, and wakes around 6am. She rarely wakes in the night, and if she does its just for a quick cuddle.

She is still having 1-2 naps a day, although it is more often just the one nap in the morning. This can be anywhere from 1-2 hours, she is less likely to sleep when out and about now though, so I have to factor this in to plans.

Her vocabulary is growing daily, and she is a little parrot who will repeat every damn word you say, so we have to be very careful not to let any naughty words slip out. We spend a lot of time spelling things out these days. Over the past week or so she has started stringing words together into little sentences and she loves to sing along to music. I was worried for a while that her speech was a little bit behind her friends of a similar age, but she is definitely catching up now. She is very curious and you can tell she is listening and taking everything in.

All in all, I couldn't be any prouder of my little firecracker. She surprises me every day and is an absolute hoot to hang out with and while I miss those baby days of watching what I like on TV and drinking coffee with other Mums while our immobile babies stay right where you left them... I am loving this stage as I am starting to get a glimpse of the person she is becoming.