Happy Birthday Zöe Dott!!!

Our sweet little monkey-girl turns two today! It's hard to believe, and seems like both a long and and short amount of time simultaneously depending on my angle of thought.

It's been a long two years with a feisty, strong-willed, independent girl who is crafty (as in the wiley sense) and gets into everything. In a house much bigger than our last one, and with two older children to care for as well, there appears to be plenty of little minutes for Zöe to find troble. She pushes chairs and step stools, piles pillow and books, to get to anything she wants anywhere in the house. Nothing is out of her reach. Yesterday I had to call Poison Control (just writing that makes me shudder) because I thought she has ingested half a bottle of Triaminic Cough and Cold. In the reinactment she showed me that she poured in down the toilet, but that delicious grape flavor was on her breath so I just couldn't be sure. Turns out she was fine and I'm now convinced that the toilet was, in fact, where it was dumped. A lesson learned. Last week she poured an entire cup of water on the cat becuase she wanted to give her a bath. In the middle of the night she stretched and reached the light switch from her crib and turned on the bright, bright overhead ceiling light, never making a peep. Apparently this light was lovely to her because she then fell asleep with it blaring from above. While coloring, she became an expert in the skill of Body Art. In mere minutes arms, legs, feet, hands were covered in marker (at least it wasn't Sharpie) bold and brilliant. The boys were never like this. At all. In fact, if you can believe this, they learned to push the chair around in order to get what they want in the kitchen from her. When things are quiet is when the imp is on the loose.

And it's been a short, short two years with my baby girl. She mezmerizes me with her excitement, passion, zest for life. She's sassy, in a good way, spirited. She holds my face in her chubby baby-hands and says, so giddy she can barely contain herself, "Look mama, come see the meow outside...now!" She runs down the street (away from me as fast as she can...) with her head thrown back, hair blowing in the wind, laughing hard. She splases in puddles until they no longer contain water. She cleans, organizes things, uses her little broom to help me in the kitchen, pretends to feed everyone and brush their hair (the boys love that one). She charms people everywhere we go with her happy smile and bouncing blond curly hair. She charms us all.

In all ways, now that I think of it, these years have flown by. The Imp and the Charmer move together in a delicate dance to make Zöe our girl. She wouldn't be Zöe any other way. Happy Birthday little Dott, we love you!!!