Zoe, Zoester, Зоенька, куколка, сердитый мишка, solstrålen – this is all Zoe Eriksson. Zoe is a little girl with a very mysterious grown-up expression in her eyes. Whereas Max is ‘what you see is what you get’, Zoe always has a secret card up her sleeve. She was frowning a lot when she was born. She was born second, and it took her longer than usual for a second twin (1,5 hours after Max). It was as if she did not want to get out! But her frowning did not last, and she soon turned into a social butterfly, a very sunny smiling girl, who greets strangers with a warm smile and waves in her princess-like manner.
Zoe is very determined, she knows what she needs. She is also very loving and gentle. She loves hugging and ‘purring’, be it her parents or her soft toys. Zoe has a low voice. Ever she was little, her cry was rather peculiar. She never whined, but rather shouted or let out low husky cries.
I was always grateful to Zoe for being so patient and allowing me to deal with whatever Max was whining about… again. Very rarely would Zoe lose her patience and demand my attention NOW.
Zoe is very independent and gets used to new faces and places fast. In childcare facilities, she just takes off to explore new toys and meet new children. She would approach the kids and wave “Hi!” to them. Zoe is a tough girl, and she does not start crying straight away when pushed by other kids.
Zoe seemed to be aware of Max from birth. She would always try to get closer to snuggle with him. She would be looking at him and studying him endlessly. She was trying to hug him long before he was ready to hug her.
New achievements and newly-acquired skills make Zoe very happy, and she claps her hands. Zoe picks up new songs and rhymes easily, she enjoys storytelling times at children’s places, like library or children’s museums. She is usually faster than Max at learning what to do during a song/rhyme, be it clapping, stamping her feet, lifting her arms, touching her ears, etc. Zoe watches developmental videos very intently with a serious look on her face. She would also listen to her Mommy’s singing attentively, never taking her eyes off of her, especially when she was 6-8 months old. Later on she would lose interest in watching sooner than before.