Zoe bear

Zoe's birth was more anticipated than Prince William himself! She came into the world without much fuss - from the perspective of someone who wasn't there during the 24 hours of labour! I remember being down the weekend before her birth - hoping that she would make an appearance before i headed back to Toronto. As it turns out, she decided against being born on St Jean Baptiste, the infamous Quebecois national holiday, and chose to wait a day and came into the world on Monday, June 25, 2007. She was small and delicate - her Nana's words. Her parents said she took to a sleep and eating routine pretty quickly - but I think that first month or so was an adjustment to the new parents. They both looked a little haggard with the sudden sleep deprivation, but we were all impressed with how quickly they became a family. Erin is a natural born Mother - so patient and loving. And Grahame was a confident and proud Daddy out of the gate - he fell in love with little Zoe - as we all did. How lucky to be born absolutely adored by a legion of people...and she had done nothing to impress us yet (as she would in later years). Nana and Grampie, Grandma and Grampa, Auntie Sharon, Brenda, Sandra and Laurie - all lined up to gaze in wonder at her beautiful little face! She didn't cry very much - unless there was a good reason to. In her first few months, we all scrambled to get a chance to snuggle her. When you would give Zoe her bottle, she would pull on your ear as she drank. As she came into her toddler years, she had an immediate love of books. Helped by the fact that Grandma worked at the Library, and that her Mom would read to her all the time, she was insatiable when it came to reading and story telling. She was the happiest of little girls - always laughing and smiling. She rarely played shy - and was happy to be passed around from person to person. What was quickly evident was that Zoe was smarter than your average 6 month old. And as she got older, what really stood out was her ability to remember anything at anytime. How many 1 1/2 year olds upon seeing their Aunt would follow up a hug with "Where's Fred?". We also quickly learned that she would pick up on thing you say and repeat them. One of my personal favorites - her consistent use of the phrase "OH...MY...God" or "I don't care". She was a snuggle bunny from the start - and she especially loved to snuggle wiggle with her Mom. At her first birthday party, she despised her balloons. She loved her clothes from a young age - would always be excited about getting clothes as a gift. and she soon loved dressing herself. As per her Mom, she insisted on dressing herself in her Halloween costume and red rubber boots for a trip to the grocery store. Her love of books and stories combined with her incredible memory made for some interesting story times. She began to know the stories so well, she would recite along with you - and react to things that were about to happen on the next page. For one book, her Grandpa had used a scary voice that she didn't like, so when she came to the page on which he used the voice, she would flip the page over yelling NO NO NO. She became infamous at a young age - just over a year and a half. She made her first YOUTUBE video with a message out to her Auntie Sandra and Sharon. In it, she said "I wuv you" with some coaxing from her Dad, and then did a ripping version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. At the age of 2 and a bit, she loved playing chase with her Dad. They would rip around their basement in St Lazare. Whenever she fell, her Dad would tell her "walk it off, walk it off". Since she loved repeating things, she would also say that when she fell. However, with her little lisp, it came out sounding more like "f*** off, f*** off". She was a great big sister from the start - absolutely loving Jasmine and treating her like she was her own little baby. Her tendency to copy things you say created a pretty hilarious moment. Through her actions as a youngster, Jazzie earned the nickname "trouble" from her parents. One morning Zoe spotted Jasmine crawling out of her crib and into her parents room, and she yelled out "hey trouble - get back here". She had her first official haircut on September 25, 2009. She woke up the next morning and announced "I got my brains cut!" and then immediately corrected herself and said "I got my haircut cut". Zoe has almost always had a need to understand what people are doing and saying around her. this often led to interrupting people mid conversation. Her parents taught her to say excuse me - and so you would, and still do, often hear her say "Excuse me Auntie Sandra/Nana/Mommy, what are you telling stories about?". She loved, and still loves, anything and everything Princess! She and I would spend many a Sunday morning watching Beauty and the Beast - and she could soon recite many of the songs and certainly knew that story off by heart! She loves dressing up, loves ready and loves having people make up stories that involve her and her sister. It would take some imagination every time I put her to bed - I just knew i had to have my "a" story game on. When she was 2'ish - I hugged her and said "I missed you so much". For the next year, overtime she hugged me, she would repeat those words. Let's not forget that every Dorcas member had a different word to describe just how much they loved her - and she knew them all. Grampie loves her BIG BIG, Sharon loves her HUGE...and i'm sorry i can't remember the rest. ask Zoe. She has always been all sweetness. Once when i was leaving, she made a sad face. I said "but you are goig to Grandma's house". She immediately got excited and said "and i get to see Auntie Laure - and i miss her" and without skipping a beat, grabbed my arm and said "i'll miss you too". Adorable! The nighttime rituals of these adorable ones left their parents a little harried at times. Erin would come up to check on her crying little ones and announce that she was going back downstairs and would not come up again - so to go sleep. Once night, Zoe lay in bed listening to Jasmine cry. Evidentally, she had had enough and cried out "Mommy is not coming up here anymore. Go to sleep". On another occasion, Zoe was crying for her Mom, which started Jasmine crying as well. This didn't impress Zoe who yelled out "NO Jasmine - it's MY turn to cry!!". In April of 2010, she took on the task of helping her Mother teach Jasmine new words. She would encourage her throughout "Jasmine - say Apple. Very good!"  Zoe is above all sweet and kind.  She is thoughtful, very articulate, extremely intelligent and lovable!  I just love her to bits!