Z reflections

Short story, long.

We have been fortunate that Zarina is an easy baby/toddler. She lays down for naps and bedtime without trouble. Even when we disrupt her schedule she handles it well overall. But more and more she is giving a louder voice to her own opinions. She has loved clothes for a few months now. She's getting better at putting on pants and shorts on,, but still needs help to pull them up usually; she can put a pair of her shoes on and off, usually on the correct feet. She loves to change clothes, whether it's getting dressed or putting on her PJ's, she doesn't care. Bath time has always been easy, we just need to work on not drinking the bath water.

Today I pulled out clothes for her, but she decided she didn't like them. She wouldn't let me unzip her PJ's, so I took her over to her dresser and let her pick out new pants. She chose a pair of shorts and pink sweatpants. She than hurried (she doesn't run much, just walks a little faster) around the house holding her new "bottom" choices. After a few minutes she let me know that I needed to go back to her room and open the drawer with her shirts. She then selected a different top. Then she decided she was ready to get dressed. I had no trouble taking off the jammies, she was happy to oblige. My original clothing options were still on the changing table, so I tried to put the first shirt on her, but she wouldn't let me, so she's wearing the long sleeve shirt she selected. (You have to love winter babies, she's bothered by 3/4 length sleeves and trys to pull them down.) She did let me put the original pants on her. I wasn't allowed to fold and put away the unused clothing, she had to do that; the clothes weren't folded, but were tossed in the drawer.

Zarina used to eat whatever we gave her. She now only eats certain meats and hardly any vegetables. She loves couscous, so when we have it we try to mix the other foods in with it so she will hopefully eat something else on accident. Acceptable meats are breakfast sausage, bacon, chicken fingers, fish sticks, and hotdogs.

(BTW - Falls Brand Beef hotdogs are great! They come in a double pack, so 20 beef or 16 chicken/pork. The price recently went up here so the cost is about $6.70 and $5.60 respectively. I used to just go for the cheap Bar-S, but now I don't think I can go back. I don't know if you can find them in LV, but they should be available in UT. They come out of Twin Falls, ID. Seriously, if you eat hot dogs on a semi-regular basis, they are worth looking for. I love them, and so does Z, they are so juicy and tasty.)

Z is trying to talk more, which makes it kind of ironic that she is finally doing the "more" sign I also convinced her to say "drink" this evening. She's pretty good at grunting, whining and pointing to let you know what she wants. She loves to wear a barrette in her hair, it's useful because she needs her first haircut. Today, and a few other times, she has woken up from her nap and rather then being happy and chatting with her toys she cries. Today she kept saying, "Oh, no. Oh, no." Not to be confused with another favorite phrase, "I know." I went in and she was upset that her barrette, that she likely pulled out of her hair, was on the ground and she couldn't reach it. I keep trying to get her to repeat words. This evening it paid off, with Brien of course, not me. He was about to change her diaper and asked if she wanted to go outside, she replied, "No. I stinky." I can only hope she'll start using her language skills with me since we're home together all day long.