Charlotte turned 3 a month ago. It is hard to keep up with the blog when life gets so busy but yes, I'm just posting about her 3rd birthday now. Sorry, Char.
5qw1åœΩCharlotte's 3-year checkup told us she is 36.5 inches tall which is the 37th percentile and she is 30 pounds which is the 43rd percentile. She is definitely changing in looks and really growing up. I have a picture from last summer on my computer screen and her cheeks are definitely losing that baby look. :(
Or maybe not?
The timing for blogging about this is actually perfect because we just had Charlotte's parent teacher conference. In true Charlotte fashion, we happened to see parents of Charlotte's classmates in the hallway and they said, "Oh you're Charlotte's parents?? Our daughter talks about Charlotte all the time. She says Charlotte is her favorite." Charlotte is one popular gal! All her friends are big fans of her. Her teacher really enjoys her too. She said she's doing great in school. She said she didn't know the color yellow (which we know to be false) and she didn't know the difference between rectangle and triangle (which is also suspect because we're pretty sure she knows that too) but other than that, she is doing great!
Don't tell HER what to do!
Charlotte is so very funny. She has stories for days. She is very patriotic. She knows the pledge of allegiance and is learning the national anthem.
I can't wait to give her this quiz below and see what she ends up telling us...
1. What is your favorite color? My color is..... PINK.
2. What is your favorite toy? Ummmmm... my Judy Hopps.
3. What is your favorite fruit? Applesauce ("Good job, Charlotte," said Tommy.)
4. What is your favorite tv show? Mickey
5. What is your fave movie? Zootopia
6. What is your favorite thing to wear? Pretty dresses
7. What is your favorite animal? Tiger
8. What is your favorite song? Umm... Zootopia
9. What is your favorite book? Cinderella (Not sure what book that is?)
10. Who is your best friend? Lakynn
11. What is your favorite snack? Veggie Straws
12. What is your favorite drink? Ummm Dora. (Her Dora cup) But what do you like to drink? Orange juice!!
13. What is your favorite breakfast? Chicago Cereal (a Nature Valley cereal we had once in Chicago which is now known as that)
14. What is your favorite lunch? Chicken nuggets
15. What is your favorite dinner? Chicken nuggets
16. What is your favorite game? Old McDonald Had a Farm
17. What is your favorite thing to play outside? A pink bicycle!
18. What is your favorite holiday? UUUUMMMM Christmas.
19. What do you sleep with at night? Um zootopia and judy hopps and baby aurora and violet and baby cheetah and baby Dori.
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? Um... a butterfly. A Writer Books! A teacher! (We were giving too many examples)
Happy 3 Years, Miss Charlotte! You are one adorable, smart, hilarious, incredibly likable, sassy, super fun little lady. We are so lucky to be a part of your life!
The poor second child. I completely missed her 2.5 year post by two months!! AAHH!! The worst! Sooooo here goes Charlotte's two and half year post...
Charlotte, you are 30 months old as of March 21st! Your doctor's appointment recorded your stats, although incorrectly. Your length was instead measured as a height at 34.8 inches. This puts you in the 30th percentile for length. If they would have had you actually lay down, I think your percentile would be a little more accurate. You don't go from the 70th percentile to the 30th in 6 months. But oh well. It is nice to know what rides you will soon be able to ride! You weigh 29 pounds which is the 53rd percentile. You are strong and prove it to us all the time by picking up something we had no idea you could lift. You are hilarious. You also prove this all the time with your facial expressions, comments, the way you say things and play. You are a joy to be around. You still constantly get comments on how beautiful your eyes are from strangers. You love princesses, dinosaurs, blankets to lay over your babies so they can nap, cooking in your kitchen, soccer, bike riding, listening to music in the car and SINGING, books, your best friend Lakynn, counting things, your brother, and basically everything your brother likes. You are incredibly sweet. You use the phrase I love you frequently and at the best moments.
Look at that face! So tough!
I believe this picture is your third viewing of the movie Zootopia. Boy, does you love Officer Judy Hops!
You also are kind of enthused about being able to wear Tommy's old jammies.
You love wearing dresses and skirts but you hardly have any at all. This summer is going to be dress-tastic I have a feeling.
Hey, is that Officer Hops?? ;-)
You love food but truly I think your favorite foods are soup and salad. We can't eat either of those things without you coming over to sneak a few bites. I suppose in this picture you had more than a few bites. :)
Look at those eyes. Seriously. This picture doesn't do them justice.
Your smile isn't too bad either. Look at that joy!
You and Tommy have so much fun together. You have your moments where you don't get along but most all the time you are best friends. It is so much fun to sit back and watch happen.
Like this moment for example. :-)
Happy 30 months Charlotte! We are so happy you are a part of our family. Thank you for being you.
I really don't like how fast time is slipping away from me. Charlotte is turning into a little girl more and more every day. I love it and I hate it at the same time.
For example, these pigtails really make her seem so old.
But then she's my baby again. This picture was taken long enough ago that she doesn't even want bottles anymore! Aaahh!!
Look at this picture with a headband. Growing up so fast!!
Then she's back to being a baby who sticks both her hands completely into her ketchup and wants me to eat it or something. I love this. But I don't like cleaning it up. :-)
She's so big and so little all at the same time.
I haven't taken many of this baby profile shots. I need more! She won't always have those beautiful baby cheeks.
She's such a little lady crossing her legs while brushing her teeth on the counter.
Such a gymnast! Splits? Are you kidding me?
She picked out this necklace and these shoes and made me help her put them on.
She could walk in them! It was amazing. What is she, a teenager??
She still throws fits like a toddler. (Don't judge us. She was screaming in Macy's so we put a frisbee on her head. What would you do???)
Oh wait, teenager again. Makin' calls on her cell phone!
Baby time. Santa beard!
She loves Dada's hat and her pacifier.
She loves to pick out her own clothes and be like big brother.
She loves selfies!
She really loves ketchup.
And RUNNING!!!
Her latest doctor's appointment determined her height to be 32 inches long in the 50th percentile but our doctor thought that was wrong. She threw a fit and kicked the paper underneath her right before they took the measurement. It's definitely not the most scientific thing. Anyway, her weight is almost 25 pounds in the 75th percentile and her head circumference is around 19 inches in the 85th percentile. One of these days, I will measure her again to see if our doctor was right.
Our dear Charlotte, we love you so. You are a surprise every day. Your daycare teachers tell us stories all the time about you. You are too smart for your own good. You have figured out how to make the bigger kids give you toys. Biting, or even just the threat of biting, has make you queen in charge even though you are one of the youngest in the class. We haven't gotten a bite report in a long time but somehow you are still in charge. You also know which teachers will let you climb on the tables and which will not. You know lots of animals and the sounds they make. You know several colors. You know ALL your body parts except for chin I think. You know lots of words but your favorites are NO and YAAYYYYYYY!!! You know the words down, all done, bye bye, night night, peeaasss (please), dada, mama, dy dy (diaper), peepee/poop/butt (the important stuff), eyes, nose, wawa (water), chicken, baby, puppy... I'm sure there are so many more. She wouldn't talk and I figured it was just normal second child stuff. But as a parent, you can't help but wonder. My brother sent me this article which is a mom writing about her situation which was similar to Tommy and Charlotte. http://thelittlestories.com/this-stuff-works/
I realized I needed to find something that might motivate Charlotte to talk. What would be Charlotte's greatest motivation??? Food, of course. I would make her say whatever food she wanted to eat. That night she said chicken ("chigan") and rice ("icy" Hey, works for me!). Two weeks later, with the right motivation she knew like 30 words! Awesome!
So anyway, Charlotte, you are growing way too fast and are so much fun. You laugh randomly and often which makes me so happy. You are a little joy and we're so happy to have you in our lives. Happy 18 months!
Tommy is four!! Hooray!! So glad to be done with the Tortuous 3's! You still have your moments but it's so nice to have you back after a rough 6 months. You are extremely funny. You love to make up words like Chinkah Binkah and call us names like Stinky Butt. Yikes. You are ALL BOY and it's really pretty fun!
You adore your sister although it doesn't keep you from fighting with her.
You still love your bike!
You finally got over the potty training hump. You are happy to do it instead of fighting us for a year and a half. It took some figuring out but you conquered the task one day out of the blue and never looked back. Oh, potty training stubborn boys. It's the best. (Sarcasm intended :-)
You've really gotten into Superheroes these days and are enjoying all the dress up clothes I got you for your third birthday. Yay! One day, he was BatSuperThorHulk. Impressive.
You are so incredibly smart, Tommy T. I love seeing you enjoy your friendships at school. You love to pretend to be shy with new people at first and then completely chew their ear off after two minutes. You are developing an incredible sense of humor and can make us laugh every day. You are really good at negotiating and often end up not having to meet your bedtime or nap time because you can talk your way out of it somehow. You surprise me every day. I can't wait to see how you grow and change in the coming years.
1. What is your favorite color? Red and Yellow and Pink and Green
2. What is your favorite toy? Wolverine
3. What is your favorite fruit? Grapes
4. What is your favorite tv show? Avengers
5. What is your fave movie? Sleeping Beauty
6. What is your favorite thing to wear? Ninja Turtle Jammies
7. What is your favorite animal? Tiger cuz it starts with T
8. What is your favorite song? Avengers song (song from the cartoon)
9. What is your favorite book? The Avengers book
10. Who is your best friend? Kylie
11. What is your favorite snack? Wolverine's gonna pick. Rainbow cupcakes!!!
12. What is your favorite drink? Wolverine? Water!!!
13. What is your favorite breakfast? LUCKY CHARMS
14. What is your favorite lunch? Carrots, Grapes, Almond Butter and Jelly Sandwiches and Dino Nuggets
15. What is your favorite dinner? I just like chicken faces. NO! Don't press the buttons! My favorite dinner is my favorite dessert, chocolate chip cookies.
16. What is your favorite game? The games at Chuck E Cheese.
17. What is your favorite thing to play outside? Shovel snow.
18. What is your favorite holiday? Pajama Day!!!
19. What do you sleep with at night? My Thor's Hammer
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? Wolverine.
Well this is a tough one. Only one more month until the big 1st birthday. I can't believe it's nearly here.
So Charlotte is eleven months old. We have a serious look this month. It's been a rough week for the whole family. Andrew was traveling. Kids weren't sleeping well. Tantrums, meltdowns, cough/sore throat/runny noses, pure and utter exhaustion. But Charlotte was still a doll babe, always smiling and happy even at 2 in the morning! She just didn't feel like sleeping at that time of night for two hours!
She certainly is a lot of fun. She doesn't sit still for a second. All the pictures above were taken within about 30 seconds. This is her birthday present. We got it a bit early because she loves to climb on it. That's not the only thing she likes to climb on. She also likes to take Tommy's wooden chair, push it over to the island, climb up on top of it, and grab things off the counter. It is absolutely terrifying. She's at least a foot off the floor standing on a super unsteady chair. It takes her 2 seconds to do that too. She's unstoppable!
She's also quite goofy. Look at that face. She loves to stand in the tub. What a stinker!
She will eat pretty much anything you set in front of her. Anything except asparagus. She hid the asparagus at the bottom of the pic if you look closely. Then smiled adorably when she got caught. :-) Tommy wouldn't eat it either though. He called it "Despair-a-gus."
She has six teeth now that help her eat yummy food like Chick-fil-a.
She is starting to take steps. She fell at school though (bumped her head) and has been quite hesitant lately to take any steps. :( Hopefully she'll get up and at 'em again soon!
Boy, does this girl love to eat!
Did any of it end up in her mouth?
Let's see, what did we not cover? Oh yeah, she is starting to imitate!
This is Charlotte imitating Grandpa. She will pick up on something you are doing and then she will keep imitating you over and over. It's, of course, absolutely adorable.
Happy Eleven Months, Charlotte! Next month is the big one!
