Two years old

Zoë is two!

(And now that she can more than talk for herself, I suppose it's time to stop putting words in her mouth . . .)

The Salt Flats, which we stopped at on a road trip to CA, were more watery and less salty.

A huge highlight of the last couple months for Zoë was going to the farm at Thanksgiving Point. I bought her this "cool hat" while she was there, which was beyond thrilling for her.

She has an eclectic style.

It doesn't get any better than this.

I should probably do a whole separate Easter post, but I'm not going to--instead just note that the following pictures are from Easter.

My mom made a bunny cake that Z was crazy about.

Coloring with Oma is so fun. Josh has memories of coloring in just this position with his mom when he was little too.

And look at the cute Easter basket she made Zoë!

I never did get a shot of her Easter outfit, but here's the basic idea. I bought the dress about eight years ago before I was even married. The bonnet is thanks to Danielle (it still fits this year!). The jacket is because Easter weekend was cold!

It's hard to tell because of the curls, but her hair really is getting longer.

A sweet hug between cousins.

(End of Easter.)

As the weather's been warmer and we've ventured into the realm of yard work, Zoë's distaste for dirtiness has manifested itself. So the first big Saturday of weeding, etc. I made a special point of putting her in "garden clothes" that were supposed to get dirty and having fun smearing dirt on each other's faces. She thought it was pretty funny and will hopefully loosen up a bit by the end of the summer.

One of this girl's favorite things to do is to feed the kitty (and puppies). Sometimes she looks a little too longingly at the cat food, however. I really hope I never find her eating it.

Not one to relish being "nakie," she can on occasion be convinced to take off her clothes at peril of getting them dirty.

Who knew rings could be so fun?

I know--this looks straight out of one of those horribly cheesy little-kids-dressed-up-like-aging adults posters, but she really does like wearing Josh's hats once in a while.

So excited about oranges that she plopped herself down on the porch, peeled an entire one, and ate it all in one sitting. Oh glorious weather that allows for activities such as this!

I had to include this because Z is always picking the smallest things up and handing them to me. She has a real eye for detail and likes things to be in their place. (Plus, check out those cute legs.)

Still loves to dress herself. For some reason her crazy outfits always seem to involve that vest . . .

A horrible, blurry picture, but it cracked me up that she was feeding old Easter basket grass to her horse.

Favorite activity of the past few weeks: playing in and around a suitcase we had borrowed. This play always involved dolly, a pillow, and a blanket. And lots of fake sleeping.

One Saturday while I was preparing a talk for church, MaryJane (Oma) took Zoë to Thanksgiving Point, where she got to plant seeds (in a cup and in the necklace she's holding) and watch some sheep's wool be spun into a bracelet that was tied around her wrist with beads. Needless to say, she had a total blast. But the thing that got me is that when she came back with her treasures in this nerdy little sweatshirt smelling sweaty and hot, she seemed so old! It was like she had just returned from summer camp or something.

Sunglasses can help one ease into the morning.

Her insistence on wearing "short pants" results in some crazy walking outfits.

At Pier 39 in San Francisco. She was in a pensive mood.

Zoë is a hilarious delight these days. We just sit around and laugh with/at her most of the time. The sentences she puts together, the conversations of ours she enters, just astound me. Her "oppaditty's" (oopsy daisy), mo-gain (more again), "Mommy, look at me!", "I love you sooo much," "No thank-you", "Excuse me", and phone conversations consisting of "um, yeah . . . no, um, yeah! hmmm, yeah, okay" crack me up / melt my heart.

I also have to say she is one bossy little girl. The second we get home, she commands "Mommy, bow out! Earrings off! Watch off! Shoes off!" in preparation for her nap [for the record, I don't wear bows--it's what she calls elastics, except when they're on her and then they're "piggy bows"]. When we finish our food, she directs us to get more (she doesn't like eating alone). And her most-oft used phrase of late? "Right now."

She also loves to sing. Her favorite songs include Old McDonald, Baa baa black sheep, ABCs, Jesus wants me for a sunbeam, Big Yellow Taxi, Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree, and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. She'll just belt out an entire song while she's playing in the kitchen and I'm cooking dinner or while sitting in her carseat.

She loves books and will often recite them while I read them to her.

She also likes saying "hi" to the new baby by lifting up my shirt and giving my belly kisses. Sometimes she shows Baby how to sign "milk."

She is extremely obsessed with "chapped lips" (chapstick). She usually has one or two tubes in her hand that she applies every few minutes (okay, she comes by this addiction honestly).

Though she's also perfected the art of the foot stomping tantrum, she's generally a very polite and loving little girl. When trying to step around one of Oma's dogs, she'll say "'Scuse me, Keeno! Sorry, Keeno."

We sure love her!