Zoe vs. Thanksgiving

Okay, this is going to be short and sweet. Just like Zoe. Sort of. Anyway, she's short.

First, let's break it down.

Thanks + giving.

Zoe understands "thank you." She has for a while, but whether she says it or not depends on a number of factors: how tired, how hungry, how desperate for juice, etc. And about half the time she whines, whispers, or cries it. So it's a work in progress.

On good days we get please and thank you at once. Of course, if it's vegetables, we get "No, thank you." When it's her ticket out of eating Brussels sprouts, she's suddenly Miss Manners. 

As for "giving," this is a foreign concept. I'm talking about giving for the sake of giving, not handing me a book she wants me to read to her. I think it's because to Zoe giving sounds suspiciously like sharing, and let's just say she's not on board with sharing and leave it at that. 

Now let's put them together. Everybody yell: Happy Thanksgiving! Zoe loves to yell things, whether she understands them or not.

Zoe's first Thanksgiving, she cried. The whole time. To be fair, she was only three months old and I think she was overwhelmed by the people, plus she couldn't eat the food. I can't really fault her. I've attended my share of social gatherings where I didn't know anyone and it was hovering by the cheese platter with exaggerated interest (okay, not that exaggerated) that got me through.

For Zoe's second Thanksgiving, a picture we took says it all. In the photograph one side of her head retains its pigtail; the other side of her head is pure crazy. A bipolar hairdo for a bipolar Thanksgiving.

The following year, when she was two years old, she had other children to play/not share with. She ate mashed potatoes and corn but mostly smashed them into her chair.

Film still from Dora: Detras de la Musica,
where Dora tells all about the real
monkey on her back.

This year is the first she seems more aware of Thanksgiving as a holiday. They've done projects in school, she's taken note of the decorations in our apartment, she's watched the Dora Thanksgiving episode wherein Dora sings a song with the lyrics: "Gracias! Muchas, muchas gracias. Gracias. It's Thanksgiving Day!" (Did you know Dora was American? I didn't. And what state has both a rain forest and bilingual talking monkeys partial to footwear?)

This year I also told her a bit about the meal we would eat and how it's good to be thankful for what we have. After, she ran around in circles for a good ten minutes singing "Thank you, Mommy! Thank you, Mommy!" over and over, one of Zoe's frequent flights of mania where it's hard to distinguish good sign from harbinger of doom.

Craig and Chief Whatmeworry didn't care what anyone said.
They just knew they'd be BFFs forever.

Turkey day is tomorrow so I'll leave you with one prediction I'm pretty sure will come true: I will be thankful when it's over.

Zoe: 23; Universe: 0