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 big reveal

We had our appointment at 3D Miracles this morning and we now know for sure what Baby Beans is...

*drumroll*

Yep, little BB is a little boy!

The ultrasound this morning was great.  He was still all curled up and had his hands up by his face most of the time.  The nurse said he's probably going to be a snuggler (which is great because Charlotte was definitely not a snuggly baby - she was born wanting to get down and walk!).  We did get a few cute pictures of him, though.  It's really neat to see the difference between the ultrasounds - this time, I'm almost 22 weeks and he definitely looks less Skeletor-like than Charlotte's ultrasound at 20 weeks.  Amazing the difference two weeks makes!

Opening his mouth

Yup, he is a boy.

Hand up by his face, of course  :)

He just looks so snug and comfy in there.  It was funny to watch the nurse jiggle my belly to try to move his hands away from his face and I could watch him kinda bouncing around on the monitor.  It really reminded me of Look Who's Talking (remember that movie?) and I just imagined him thinking "woah, what is going on here?!" in Bruce Willis' voice.

Now, of course, since we gave Charlotte a silly in-utero nickname, this little guy isn't going to get away without one!  So, we've decided from here on in, our BB will be nicknamed "BoJu".  Why, you ask?

Boyd Junior, haha.
We love you little BoJu!  We can't wait to meet you  :)

The one with the 20 week ultrasound...

This pregnancy is flying by!  I hit the halfway mark on Tuesday and we had our 20 week ultrasound on Thursday morning.  Unlike the ultrasound with Charlotte, Boyd was allowed to be in the room right from the beginning so he was able to see everything.  That was really nice  :)

I hadn't heard good things about getting ultrasounds done at the hospital we are using, so I was a little nervous about what the experience would be like.  We had an amazing sonographer who did not stop talking and describing exactly what she was seeing and measuring.  It was so wonderful.  I was thrilled to get to see our little Baby Beans in there.  I have not been feeling as much movement as I had with Charlotte, so I was a little concerned.  However, this time around, I have an anterior placenta - which basically just means the placenta attached itself to the front of the uterus rather than the back, so Baby Beans has about a three centimetre thick cushion in addition to all my skin and belly fat to kick through  ;)  The movements I do feel are more stretching and wriggling type of movements; not the big thumping kicks and punches Charlotte threw.  But, we got to see little BB in there, squirming around, opening his/her mouth, spreading his/her fingers open, waving hi to us ... and my absolute favourite was the shot the sonographer got of his/her little legs crossed at the ankles, as if BB was just chillin' in the hood.  Loved. It.

As you have noticed, I am using he/she rather than telling exactly what sex BB is.  Boyd and I were convinced we knew after the ultrasound was complete, but the report we got at my doctor's appointment a few hours later was the complete opposite.  So, we are not 100% sure what to think.  We are going with what the ultrasound report stated, but we are not announcing it publicly yet because we want to make sure.  I have an appointment on Friday, the 15th, at 3D Miracles to find out for sure.  I am also excited to go so Charlotte can come too.  She was not allowed at the hospital appointment and I know she would get a big kick out of seeing her baby brother or sister on the screen.  As well, it will be really nice to have a picture of the baby like we did with Charlotte.

With that, I will leave with the baby update for this time around...











Baby Beans is the size of a banana!  Our ultrasound tech said he/she weighs about 12oz so right on track.  BB's tastebuds are now working and he/she is swallowing amniotic fluid, getting the digestive system up and running.  His/her sensory development exploded last week and we're hoping he/she can hear us through all those layers of placenta and Mommy chub  ;)

The one with the second little Chapman orange

That's right, Chapman Baby #2 will be arriving in December!

We found out just before Easter!  Yeehaw!  I am 15 weeks today and the baby is due December 23.  I am hoping for about a week late, though, as it's no fun having a birthday so close to Christmas (I can say that, as a December 19 baby myself).

So far, the pregnancy has been a bit different than the first time around.  I started feeling sick immediately around 3 weeks and I'm just now starting to feel a bit better.  Nausea was 24/7 this time around and eating sometimes made it better, but not always.  I've had a lot of aversions instead of cravings - baby doesn't like ham or tea, how very sad!! - but I have been able to eat more than I did the first time around because I found that eating made the nausea go away most times.  I was absolutely miserably exhausted for the first couple of months.  Being pregnant and taking care of an older child is way more difficult than being pregnant and able to come home and nap whenever you want and eat whenever you want and basically do nothing if that's what you want to do.  It was a rough couple of months, but that fog is starting to lift and I'm definitely getting my energy back.

I am starting to show already and I've felt the baby move a couple of times already (just tiny little thumps and flutters).  I'm looking forward to getting some maternity clothes so I can feel comfy again!

Our ultrasound is scheduled for August 7 and I'd like to set up an appointment for a 3D ultrasound again.  We can find out what the sex of the baby is at the hospital but Charlotte is not allowed in the room for the ultrasound and I really want her to be there when we find out if she will have a little brother or a little sister.  I haven't set up that appointment yet but I will!

For now, I will leave you all with a baby update!



Baby Beans (as he/she is affectionately known as) is about 11cm long and is rolling around, hiccuping, and testing out his/her joints.  Limbs akimbo!  BB is about the size of an orange and getting bigger every day.  :)

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 with the two year update!

Oh, faithful readers (are there any of you?) ... I apologize.  I'd like to say I haven't forgotten about this blog, but truth be told, I kind of have.  I suppose "forgot" isn't quite the word.  Life just gets in the way and I don't feel the need to update as often.

That being said, the little lemon that began this blog has turned two! 
That's right, the big two years old.

What can I say about two year old Charlotte?

Let's start with the physical.  She had her two year appointment on Monday (Oct 15) and is a "whopping" 25.4lbs and 33.5 inches tall!  Still my little pixie and I adore her.  She has all her teeth except her bottom two two-year molars.  Her hair is getting longer - it's almost time for a second hair cut - and still has curly bits.  Humid days are my favourite because her hair goes curl-crazy.  Her eyes are brown and she's wearing a size 5 shoe (possibly moving up soon).  She loves to dance and has been attempting to jump/hop.  She can go up and down stairs and can climb up and down easily on furniture.  We are working on potty training/learning and she's making some progress.  She is aware of her functions and will sometimes tell us if she needs to go but it's not always consistent and sometimes when she tells us she needs to go, nothing happens.  It'll all come in time, though, and we both agree that it will NOT happen until she's ready so why push it?

Charlotte continues to amaze me every single day.  At two years old, she currently knows the entire alphabet, what sounds all the letters make, how to spell "mom" and "dad', recognizes/reads the words "mommy", "daddy", and "Charlotte", knows all her shapes and colours, remembers the words to favourite songs, speaks in full sentences (averages about 6-8 words at a time), identifies countries on the globe, identifies planets, recognizes tunes and can identify them, and picks up new information SO quickly it's frightening.  Her current favourite game is "spelling" (she gives us a word and we spell it for her).  My favourite part about all of this?  We taught her NONE of it.  Exposed her to it?  Absolutely.  But she's the one who wants to play spelling, she's the one who wants to "do letters", she's the one who asks to play shapes.  You should have seen the look of sheer joy when she opened her birthday present from us and it was the Leapfrog Word Builder jet thing that goes on the fridge.  Crazy kid ... she just retains information like I've never seen.

She is still as sweet and empathetic as always.  She loves to hug all her dolls and animals.  She thinks the washer and dryer are friends.  She pushes two objects together and declares them "family".  She is very easy-going and loving.  She loves other children and really likes spending time with her cousins.  She has started to exhibit some typical two year old behaviour (whining and tantrums) but so far we're just ignoring the behaviour and acknowledging the positives.  No point in getting into power struggles.  She is extremely funny and KNOWS it.  She's always got a good joke for us  :)
 

We moved her into a toddler bed the weekend of her birthday party (Thanksgiving weekend) and she is doing fantastic!  She fell out once and got out once when she was down for a nap but wasn't tired.  Otherwise, she stays in the entire night (and nap time) and only gets out when one of us goes into her room to get her.  She loves her "big girl bed" and loves "crawlin' in and crawlin' out".  I'm kind of sad there's no more crib in our house but I'm so proud of my big girl. 


A few Charlotte favourites:

• activity: watching the washer and dryer (we recently moved and now have front-loaders - excellent toddler entertainment!) and pushing her doll stroller around
• song: Bruno Mars' "Marry You" (she knows almost all the words and we watch this video about a million times a day)
• food: I think her current favourites are spaghetti and cauliflower (separately).  She is still not a picky eater and generally eats whatever we put in front of her.
• book: she always wants to read from her book of Bible stories that Auntie Rochelle, Uncle Paul, Lucas, and Isla got her last year for her baptism
• toy: currently, I'd say her doll stroller, her kitchen, or her letter magnets

And that's our girl in a nutshell!  Not a baby anymore ... I can't even believe it.
Hopefully I will update again before she turns three  ;)