Two

We have a two year old! Charlotte had her second birthday in Toronto, at Granny and Grandpa's house. We spent a little over a week there at the end of July. It was very relaxing for James and me and a lot of fun for Charlotte - she got tons of attention, and had a backyard and paddling pool to enjoy. We caught up with some extended "family" and friends and enjoyed the down time.

We've enjoyed a lot of outdoor time this summer, and Charlotte's become much more agile. She's really into climbing - at the park she'd far rather climb the stairs up to the top of the slide than go down it. We've also continued to swim regularly. In June and July when I was working long hours finishing my dissertation James and Charlotte frequently went swimming on their own together. Charlotte loves the pool and it's been known to cure a bad mood...

She continues to talk up a storm. Her latest words are "frustrated" and "excited" (I'm trying to help her name her emotions!). It's kind of endearing to hear her exclaim "I'm frustrated!" as she flings a toy. She's also enjoying playing imaginatively with her toys, talking to them and describing what she's doing with them.

As September begins, I can't help but think back to last September when she started daycare. She couldn't walk, could say a handful of words, and had a tough adjustment to the new routine. This fall, we're so thankful that she's settled in well and thriving. Whether it's a function of the socialization she's had at daycare, or simply part of her maturing process, she's become much more comfortable around a variety of people. When we were in Toronto in July, and in Calgary last week for my cousin's wedding, we spent a lot of time with big groups of family and friends (a change from our quiet day-to-day lives in Edmonton) and Charlotte did great with all of it. She soaked up the attention from grandparents, aunts, and uncles, and adjusted easily to new environments. It's fun to see her growing up.

Looking intent.

Cheese!

She's put miles on this thing...

Love this place

Make-belief

Photo update

This is just a quick photo update to let you in on some of what Charlotte's been up to recently:

Charlotte was baptized in May.

Our families came from east and west (and south) for the baptism, and we had a lovely long weekend together.

Cuddles with Daddy on a Saturday morning.

Charlotte informed me that she was "working".

Doing the puzzle all by herself.

sleepers + thumb + B-I-N-G-O = good times

Exploring our "garden".

Pretty serious about her first Happy Meal.

Chatterbox

Last weekend was the first really warm weather we've enjoyed this year - t-shirt weather - and it felt great. We went back to the park I used to go to almost every day with Charlotte last summer, and it was such a contrast to see how much she's developed in the intervening months. Last summer she wasn't walking, and I spent a lot of time "walking" her around clutching my fingers. Now she can roam around on her own, climb the stairs on the play structure by herself (holding on to the railings), and play in the sand without eating any!

The biggest change in Charlotte since I last blogged is her speech. Our neighbours tell me they hear her chattering away when they walk down the hall past our door (although she clams up when we see them face to face). She talks in short sentences and articulates most of her words really well. There's the odd exception: she has a book called "Opposites", and every time she talks about it I'm sure she's saying "applesauce". But mostly she makes herself understood well. She's even started telling me about her day at daycare, or things she's done with James when I'm not around, although I'm not always sure if it's true or not!

One of my favourite things is when Charlotte plays make-belief. It's just basic stuff at this stage, but still entertaining. She talks to her stuffed animals, or her milk cup, often mimicking things we say to her. For instance, she'll drop her bear - my old bear Vincent is her favourite - and say, "Oh no! Bincent fall down! You okay, Bincent? Poor Bincent."

Charlotte is almost 21 months, and at this point is a pretty loving, sweet kid who thinks James and I are the best... I'm sure that will change! But for now we're enjoying it. We picked up take-out across the street from us tonight, and while Charlotte and I were waiting for the order, James went into the grocery store next door for some milk. Charlotte was looking out the window, and when she saw James coming back across the parking lot she got really excited and yelled, "Daddy!" so loud that the group of customers waiting to be seated all laughed. As James put it the other day, practically speaking parenting is a net loss, but emotionally speaking, it's a net gain.

Charlotte loves Thomas the Train (and the red train, James, too - "That's Daddy's name!")

Rain boots - especially fun in puddles, but not bad inside either.

Trying on hats.

James playing along.

At the park with Grandma.

Papa is hilarious!

Freedom - sort of.

Yum.

Is it too late to wish you a happy 2012?

We're already over a month into the new year and I'm long overdue for a post. My excuse is that January was not the best month for us health-wise - nothing crazy, just a (second round of) run-of-the-mill stomach bug for Charlotte (which I somewhat successfully warded off, and James a little less so) and then colds all around. Last weekend we emerged from under our shells and hosted dinner with some friends. This weekend we basked in balmy above zero weather and did some fun activities with Charlotte that we haven't had a chance to do in awhile, like swimming (and photographed and posted ads for a bunch of our furniture on kijiji since we're doing some redecorating. We've learned that people are crazy about Ikea Expedit furniture. Tangentially, some of the stuff people do here is amazing: http://www.ikeahackers.net/ ).

Charlotte is generally delightful these days, in my opinion! She had her 18 month vaccination last week and is holding steady in the 90th percentile for height and weight. The past couple of days she's been eating and sleeping even more than usual, so we're thinking it's a bit of a growth spurt. She talks all the time, including three or four word phrases. She has memories/stories that she repeats frequently. These include a time last month when we were getting home past Charlotte's nap time and she had fallen asleep in the car, and I accidentally set off the car alarm and woke her up (poor kid!). The story usually gets told something like this: "tar, beep, youd (loud). All benner" (because we assured her it was all better, ie. not beeping any more. Is this going to come up in a shrink's office later in life?).

Charlotte's started singing sometimes, usually her take on an old family lullaby, "Bye low" - it's pretty funny though, since she often belts it out to herself in her crib after waking up in the morning or from a nap. Although her singing does not necessarily bode well for her musicality at this stage, she has correctly identified piano music on the radio several times which I think is kind of neat. One of my favourite things that she does right now is pretend to read a book. Her pretend reading always sounds like this: "yo yo yo yo yo". And then she will usually look over at us and smile, knowing she's being funny. She hasn't figured out colours yet (or she's colour-blind, we're the teensiest bit concerned since she's got so much else figured out...) and when we ask her what colour something is she'll almost always say "blue" or "geen". When we tell her what the actual colour is she'll often then continue to call it "geen" and laugh. She's becoming much more decisive and expressive about what she wants. In particular, when she wants us to join her and play she'll often point to a spot on the floor beside her and say, "sit here!"

We haven't been very good about taking photos lately, but I'll post the best of what we have.