Our sweet Charlotte turned 4 on Tuesday. Can you believe that? Our little lemon, our sweet little Ladybird is now four years old. I can't believe it.
We spent the day together on Tuesday and had a great time. I made her a special birthday breakfast, we went to The Play Box (an indoor playground), and out for lunch at Boston Pizza. She had a great birthday party the Saturday before - a dinosaur party! Roar!!
Four year old Charlotte amazes me every day. She is incredibly sweet, kind, and caring. I can't even explain her compassion and kindness. She makes my heart swell. She is so bright and will be starting school next fall. We are hoping to put her into French because she is pretty well ready for school now and we don't want her to be bored. She can perform basic math concepts in her head (i.e. "Mommy, when Baby BoJu is 1, I'll be 5. And when he's 2, I'll be 6."), we think she might be able to read but has a bit of a stubborn streak, and she's printing, loves to spell, and play rhyming games.
She is fully into 4T clothing now and wears a size 8 shoe. She is still in the 30lb range, sometimes hitting 31 or 32 depending on what she's wearing and what she's eaten ;) She's getting more independent every day. She still has some trouble getting certain articles of clothing off and starting her zippers, but she's just turned 4 so that's understandable!
She started ballet in September and she is doing great! We got to watch her class last week and she made me so proud. She was focused and paid attention when she was supposed to and had lots of fun running around and dancing during the free time. She can do first, second, third, fourth, and fifth position with her feet and knows how to pirouette. She's awesome.
Here are a few of 4 year old Charlotte's favourites!
Book: For her birthday, she got The Snail and The Whale and we have read it every single night at bedtime since her birthday party. She loves it!
Activity: She still loves playing with her cars and her wooden blocks. That hasn't changed at all! She also enjoys playing with her baby dolls, Charlotte Bunny (of course), and creating imaginary friends that visit us for a short period of time - so far, there have been three children whose names I can't remember, Charlotte Turkey, Isabella the tiger, and Charlotte the Dinosaur. She cracks me up.
Food: Broccoli chicken and "crunchy" (raw) carrots.
Toy: Charlotte Bunny will always be number one. But she's also really loving her doll that she got for her birthday (she named her Lilah) and her Ana and Elsa dolls.
Colour: Purple, pink, and red.
So, that's the Charlotte news. And how about Baby BoJu?
I will be 31 weeks on Tuesday (what?!). Things are going very well. Everything is perfect at my check-ups, according to my doctor. I had my glucose test at the end of September. I do not remember the drink being so disgusting - I remember drinking it when I was pregnant with Charlotte and thinking it just tasted like orange pop. This time, it was GROSS. I had a hard time choking it down. Thankfully, my sugars are great and I don't have the baby diabetes. I'm measuring perfectly, my blood pressure is great, my blood work came back perfect (even my iron levels!! So weird.), and at my 26 week appointment, I had only gained 14lbs. I didn't ask this time around. I have my next appointment on Wednesday.
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| 25 weeks, 2 days. Getting belly pictures this time around is hard! |
The pregnancy is going well in that regard, but I'm another story. I am pretty much in constant pain. Everything hurts all the time. I can't sleep. I get really sore and stiff if I stay in one position for too long, but moving around hurts too so it's kind of a catch 22. Do I get up and walk around, hobbling in pain, or do I stay put for a while? I get really weak - not tired, just weak - so I was convinced that my iron or my blood pressure must have been low, but nope. My doctor just told me that's the way it goes in the third trimester with a four year old. Work has also been really busy so there's just no rest, it seems. I'm really looking forward to being on maternity leave for a couple of weeks before BoJu arrives.
He is moving around but not as much as Charlotte did. He tends to really like quiet times - he is especially wiggly when I am tucking Charlotte into bed each night. Tonight, he was moving around like crazy so Charlotte spent a good 10 minutes or more just giggling and talking to him. She is very excited to be a big sister and I can already see how much she loves him. She came home from daycare the other day with two pictures of snowmen that she drew for him. Tonight, she told him that he has a "really nice family out here, your grandparents, me your big sister, Mommy, and Daddy that are all excited for you to come out". Bless her heart.
BoJu is about the size of a pineapple now and is definitely running out of room! Kicks and bumps have become rolls and pointy elbow jabs. All five of his senses are working now and he's going through some major brain development. He is starting to plump up and get that adorable chubby baby look.
