The one where time flies...

There has been so much happening these days and just no time to really get it all written down!

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.

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.

With that quick update, let's see what BoJu is up to in there!

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.

The one with the THREE AND A HALF year update...

I know, right?  Three-and-a-freakin-half.  Where does the time go?

She may be getting older but she is still the kind, sweet, hilarious little person she has always been.  She finally hit 30lbs recently (even up to 31lbs sometimes!) and wears 3T bottoms and has moved into 4T tops.  She wears a size 7 shoe (just like Mommy!).  She can put on her own coat and can zip it up as long as someone helps her get started.  She is really getting more and more independent every day.

She loves to paint and draw lately.  She can write her first name and can write out other words if we help her spell them.  She loves drawing rainbows and people and, occasionally, submarines.  She still loves to play pretend but her play situations have gone beyond simply imitating daily life and she creates more complex scenarios and characters.  Her favourite, thus far, is playing "neighbour" wherein I am the neighbour, she is my neighbour, we live in different houses (sometimes it's the snow bank in the back yard, sometimes it's the dining room, sometimes it's her bedroom, etc.) and the entire thing revolves around us saying things like "Oh hi neighbour, my name is Mommy, would you like to come visit my house and stay for supper?" ad nauseum.  She's really good at staying in character, to the point where I ask her to please call me Mommy in the grocery store so people don't think I am some weirdo with the neighbour's kid.

Playing in her "snow bedroom"

She created all these buildings for her characters (left to right) Mommy, Daddy, Charlotte, and Cole's (?) house, the fancy neighbours house, the hospital, the police station, and Grandma and Grandpa's house in the middle.

She still attends the same daycare and has recently moved from the toddler room to the preschool room.  She LOVES it.  She is always so excited to tell me about the things she has done that day and who she played with.  Her teachers are great and there are always really neat things going on.  She has a few friends that she plays with consistently and has been to a few birthday parties already.

She's had a few more illnesses and incidents this year than ever before in her life.  She was very sick with a virus in October and was sick almost the whole month.  She fell in June and needed to get stitches just above her lip.  And in March, she experienced her first febrile seizure and I experienced my first 911 call and ambulance ride.  She is one brave and resilient little girl, though, and she is no worse for the wear at all.  

She still speaks like she is about three years older than she is.  Her vocabulary and pronunciation are outstanding.  She has recently started loving puzzles and can easily put together a 12-15 piece puzzle by herself.  When she has the patience, she will also put together some 20 piece puzzles by herself.  She still loves reading and we think she is starting to read words herself, but it's hard to tell because she has a stubborn side and will not cooperate if she doesn't want to.  ;)  She has moved on from simpler stories and really enjoys longer picture books like The Berenstain Bears, Franklin, Robert Munsch books, Clifford, etc.  We have relented a bit and let her watch some television.  She really likes Thomas, Sid The Science Kid, and The Wiggles.  We have watched a few movies together (The Little Mermaid, yay!!), and we are hoping to bring her to see the new Disney "Bears" movie for her very first movie theatre experience.

Here are a few of 3.5 year old Charlotte favourites!

Book:  She has a few go-tos that she likes: Mud Puddle, Going On A Bear Hunt, The Highway Rat, and Mouse Soup are a few current ones that we read a lot.

Activity:  Playing with her cars.  She brings out her car mat, sets it up, sets out all her cars in their specific "houses" on the mat, and then they interact with each other like people.  It's really interesting and it's usually the very first thing she does after breakfast.

Food:  If you ask her, she will tell you that broccoli chicken is her absolute favourite.

Toy:  Charlotte Bunny is still her baby.  She also loves her cars, specifically her "black Pontiac".

Colour:  Still purple, but with pink and red thrown in occasionally.

Word/Phrase:  "Are you serious?  Are you kidding me?"  haha

I love this sweet girl more and more every day.  Every age gets better and better!

The one with the random mid-June update ;)

Cool dudette!

Update time!  Yippee!

My sweet little Charlotte is now closer to three years old than two years old.  Eek!  Where does the time go?  She is already talking about her birthday party and has asked me probably 5 times today if it was fall yet... (granted, it was freezing out so that may have had something to do with it  ;))

Every day, she continues to amaze me.  She is about 27 lbs now and I think around 34 inches tall.  Still teeny and I think she always will be.  She wears mostly 2T stuff and mostly size 6 shoes.  She has all her teeth and had her third hair cut about a month ago.  She is fully toilet trained (except wears training pants at nighttime) and can do the whole routine all by herself.  She can put on her own jacket.  She can go up and down stairs with ease.  She can climb up into her booster seat at the dinner table.  She uses her forks and spoons very well.  She can do a somersault.  She just keeps getting bigger and more independent!  *sniffles!*

At the mall after her third hair cut

The hairdresser gave her a little braid.  She was so proud of her "purple braid"!

Charlotte started daycare at the beginning of April due to some confusing no job/new job circumstances that ended up with our regular sitter finding new employment.  We were very VERY sad about the change, but Kelsey is still in our lives, and Charlotte is really enjoying her time with other children.  I am so happy she was able to spend the first two and a half years of her life at home and now she is at the age where she craves social interaction.  She is loving daycare and tells me all about her days, who her friends are, who she played with, which children spit, which children talk at naptime, and so on and so forth haha.  I love hearing her sing new songs and talk about her friends.  My heart melts when I pick her up and she hugs her friends goodbye.  Love love love.  Unfortunately, starting daycare also meant her first ear infection.  Boo!!  But we made it two and a half years with no antibiotics ever, so that's pretty good!

Last month, Charlotte went on a trip to Calgary with her Gram for 5 whole days!  She went to visit Auntie Rochelle, Uncle Paul, and her cousins Isla and Lucas.  She had a wonderful time and still asks if we are "going to go to Calgary today".  She really enjoyed the plane rides and even got to visit the flight deck on her way home.  Apparently, she walked into the flight deck, looked around, and said "I think this is an airbus" (it was).  Cracked the pilots right up!  :)

She is still as funny as ever and as sweet as ever.  She certainly has the two year old attitude down pat, but her sweet, kind, loving nature still shines through.  She loves to spend her time rocking her dolls and her bunnies.  She has one bunny that she got for Easter who she named Charlotte Bunny and Charlotte Bunny is HER baby.  She rocks Charlotte Bunny and pats her back.  She feeds her and hugs her.  It is all very sweet. This morning, when I told her we were staying home from work/daycare because I didn't feel good, she told me "It's okay, Mommy.  I will hug you all better."  One day, she told me "Maggie (our cat) can't play with the toys because she has no hands.  I'm going to go to the store and buy her some hands so she can have a turn."  She is a darling.  I truly hope she never loses that kindness and compassion.

Mommy and Charlotte ice cream date

Here are a few of 2.5 year old Charlotte's favourites:

Book: Alligator Baby by Robert Munsch is a big favourite right now.  We have read it every day for the last 3 weeks since we bought it.

Activity:  Pretend play - she loves acting out life's little moments with her dolls and stuffed animals.  She is always feeding them or putting them to bed and copying pretty much everything I say to her during those routines.  Makes me feel pretty good when I see her hugging her bunny saying "goodnight, sweetie, sweet dreams, I love you".  She also loves playing with her Crazy Coupe outside - filling it with dandelion gas and going to Superstore for groceries  ;)  Her imagination is amazing and she comes up with some really fun ideas every day.

Food:  I don't know if she really has a favourite.  She eats peaches n' cream oatmeal every day for breakfast at her request.  She really likes apple slices and peanut butter as a dip for snack.  She is still a great eater and enjoys a wide variety of foods.

Toy:  Charlotte Bunny (although I don't know if I count her as a toy but rather an entity in her own right) or her doll that has snap on clothes that she has named Susan.

Colour:  Purple (mine too, and I'm pretty sure that's why it's her favourite  ;))

Word:  Why?  Why?  Why why why?  WHY?  ;)

My little ladybird

Even though she is really starting to exert her independence and test boundaries, she just makes every single day a little brighter.  Her smile lights up the room.  Her laugh is infectious.  She is soft and snuggly.  She is brave and strong.  She makes funny jokes.  She is smart.  She is social.  She shows empathy.  She is kind.  I just love seeing what new things each day brings!

The one where Charlotte says funny things

Ah, my most favourite of ages ... the age of "kids say hilarious things".
A few Charlotte-isms to brighten your day!

  

Me:  "Okay Charlotte, when you're all done supper we'll go down and get you in the tub"
Charlotte: "One hour?"
Me: "One hour?  No..."
Charlotte:  "Two hours?  FIVE hours?"
Me:  "Five hours?!  No way, that's too long to be in the tub."
Charlotte:  "Three minutes?"
Me:  "Yes, that sounds like a much better idea"

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Charlotte:  *covering herself with her blanket*  "Where's Charlotte?!"
Me:  *playing along*  "Where's Charlotte?"
Charlotte:  *still covered by the blanket*  "Under."
Me:  "You're under the blanket?"
Charlotte:  "Yeah."

(kinda defeats the purpose, kiddo!)

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We are at a parade and a man with neck tattoos and full sleeves walks by.  Charlotte stares and you can almost smell the burning as she's trying so hard to process what she sees.  Finally, she blurts out:
"Painted!!  Man neck, painted!  Man arms, painted!"

I tell her yes, sort of, that the man has tattoos.  She breathes a huge sigh of relief and repeats "tattoos" as if she solved the world's greatest mystery.