Agreed

Sorry Dear, but I agree!

A Good Reminder

-Epicurous

Miss Independent

Well, the sweetest baby ever has started exhibiting signs of (gasp!) toddler defiance.  Charlotte has been playful about shaking her head "no" for months but now saying "no" is her way of becoming little Miss Independent.  We hear "No!" a lot and all of a sudden here I am, back with another Defiant Toddler, party of one.

Cate and I caught Charlotte today in her latest act of defiance.  We had been trying to teach her colors by putting out a bunch of colored balls on the floor and asking her to pick them up by color.  Charlotte was doing really well--she could easily identify red, green, blue, and her favorite, purple.  But then she was over it and refused to continue with us:

Oh well, I think she is still pretty sweet even when she is saying "no."

Good Point

via

18 Months

Charlotte is 18 months!  Here are some shots of her eating snacks on the deck today.

Sweetest child in existence (ok, arguably).

Oranges--a favorite. 

Nom nom nom...

We followed up oranges with a trip to every kid's favorite--the doctor.  Poor girl!  She lucked out today though--no shots.  Charlotte's visit was pretty predictable, although they had to put her on a nebulizer because of some serious wheezing.  And now we've got to get a prescription inhaler :(

Anyway, enough of that, here are her stats:

26.2 pounds :: 77th percentile
33 inches tall :: 86th percentile
19.25 inches around her head :: 96th percentile

And here is a snapshot of Charlotte at 18 months:

Nicknames: Charlotte Angel, Angel Bug, Angel Baby, Tupelo Honey, Swiper, Little Bulldozer

Likes: Minnie Mouse, Hello Kitty, her princess cup, chugging milk in her princess cup, water cups--a water game we play outside, this pink glittery sequined skirt from our dress up bin, Minnie Mouse socks, Minnie Mouse flip flops (noticing a pattern?), dancing--she drops it like it's hot--seriously, anything Cate likes

Dislikes: Major, sitting in shopping carts, when we have to drop off Cate at school, getting her nails clipped, her sneakers--how dare I make her wear them at the playground??!?

Favorite Food: Chips

Favorite Drink: Milk

Fun Facts: Charlotte is a happy, sweet girl and she loves her family.  She says new words every day (yesterday it was "nut").  Charlotte wants to do whatever Cate is doing and hold whatever she can grab of Cate's--that is why we call her Swiper.  In the mornings, when we're all getting dressed, Rhett and I can hear the girls in Cate's room playing.  Most days we hear a shriek (Cate) followed immediately by Charlotte, who is beaming ear to ear, hightailing to her own room with one of Cate's treasures hugged tight to her chest.  We totally let it happen just for the comedy of it all.  Sorry Cate!

Thought of the Day

Sick Baby

There is nothing as sad as a sick baby...

...but there is also nothing as cuddly and sweet.

Get well soon, Angel Bug.

Word Explosion

Did you know children from the same family can be drastically different?  Well, breaking news: it's true.  Cate was a talker since I can't even remember when.  I can picture Rhett with a legal pad, upstairs in our little starter house, writing down all the words she knew at 17 months--it was well over 300.  Cate just loved (and continues to love) to talk.

I kept waiting for Charlotte to get chatty.  She would say a couple of words, but was generally quiet.  I knew she knew what I was saying in her head because she would point to things and respond to commands.  But ask her to say a word?  Silence.  

And you know what?  I realized it was kind of nice having less chatter.  In fact, it was a blessing.  You see, things can get loud around here and sometimes, the less talk, the better.  We loved that Cate could talk a lot, but just as much, we loved that Charlotte was a little more reserved.

And then, as all kids do, Charlotte hit the "word explosion" stage recently and things have been a-rolling.  

"Hold me"

"Minnie" (the mouse)

"Kitty" (for Hello Kitty)

"Apple" (pronounced a-poo)

"Yeah" (pronounced yeeeee-uhhhh)

"Chips" (pronouced chee-uhps--yep, getting ready for Texas)

These are now things we hear all the time.  She also calls for her sister by name (so sweet) and loves to play peek-a-boo shouting "Hi!" and "Bye!"

Charlotte now says around 50 words and I swear, two weeks ago it was 4.

Studying up!

Never change, Charlotte Angel.  You are something special.

The Grass Part

Cate love, love, LOVES the movie Tangled.  She has watched it probably 40 times, excluding the parts we have to skip because they are too scary.  (This includes anything with the henchmen and the mean mother which...honestly?  Having to explain to a curious three-year-old the plot of a Disney movie where a child is kidnapped out of her crib and then grows up thinking her captor is her mother--not easy!  And further, why are there evil mothers or no mothers at all in so many Disney movies?  Ugh!  Sorry, I digress...)

Anyway, Cate loves most of Tangled.  Her favorite scene is something she calls "the grass part."  Rhett and I first noticed her reenacting the grass part out at my mom's one day.  We had friends there but Cate was off rolling and dancing in the grass in the backyard ignoring everyone.  We were all confused about what was happening until Rhett and I finally recognized some of her "moves."  All of a sudden we started chuckling because we could tell she was trying to be Rapunzel.

From then on, whenever Cate sees a grassy field, she wants to take her shoes off and "do the grass part." Today she asked me to take a video her when we were playing at a nearby soccer field.  So, here you go, folks.  I bring you (an abbreviated version of) the grass part...

Baby Fever

If this doesn't give me baby fever, I don't know what will.  Today I got to cuddle a snoozing Charlotte for an hour after she woke up too early from a nap.  It is as close to heaven as I can get right now and I know this stage of being able to hold her when she sleeps is so rare and almost over.

<3 I love that girl!

Springtime

"I thank God for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dreams of sky, and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes."

-E. E. Cummings

Pinterest Fail

It rained here today and during nap time I did what I usually do on rainy days--I combed Pinterest for ideas on how to keep the girls entertained and non-screamy.

The first thing Cate and I tried in the afternoon was good, old-fashioned bubble blowing with water and dish soap.  Everyone has done this at one time or another and Cate thought it was great...

She's not drinking it, I swear.

...for five minutes.  Time to think of something new...

Once Charlotte was up from her nap, I ventured into unchartered territory.  Someone on Pinterest suggested a sensory bin.  Poor Charlotte rarely has any activity that is centered around her and appropriate for her age.  So, I figured I could try the bin with some oats I had on hand plus plastic toys and items from the girls kitchen.

I had visions of Charlotte pulling out little buried plastic treasures with delight with Cate cheering her on in the background.  After putting out a big storage tub top to catch any falling oats, I filled a large ziploc container with everything.  Fun, right?

Well...it was for the girls.  Charlotte was tentative but Cate immediately got in on the action.  Forget looking through oats for plastic things--Cate immediately unearthed some leftover plastic Easter eggs from I'm not sure where and was cheerfully filling them with oats and then hiding them around the house.

Excuse the nakedness--Cate was soaked from her bubble blowing adventures.  And Charlotte is generally opposed to pants.

Happily smushing oats into the flooring and rug.

It was a complete and total mess.  We will have oats in the cracks and crevices of our house until we move in a couple of years.  After ten minutes I shouted mayday and ended the oat spreading.  Thanks, Pinterest.

So then, I asked Cate what she wanted to do.  Her answer?  Go outside and splash in the puddles.

I should have asked her first.  Sometimes we just need to listen to our kids and not rely on the computer for ideas.

Thought of the Day

This reminds me of one of my favorite quotes--"Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."  --Abraham Lincoln

Have a happy day!