Three

On July 25th we celebrated three years of Charlotte. Charlotte's birthday fell on a Thursday this year and it turned into something of a birthday week: my parents and sister Amy were up for a visit the weekend before Charlotte's birthday (to help celebrate my birthday), and James' Mom flew in from Toronto the night before Charlotte's big day and stayed through the weekend. I didn't plan much in the way of a party: Charlotte's still fairly shy and I knew a big party wouldn't be her thing and, to be honest, with a two-month-old taking up a lot of my attention I didn't have much creative energy to put into it. We had a nice birthday lunch and fun afternoon playing with two little friends. Granny's visit made the occasion really special. The chocolate cupcakes I made for the celebration were also a big hit with Charlotte.

A happy birthday = waking up to a visit from Granny.

A rare family shot, taken on Charlotte's birthday.

Charlotte has reached a number of milestones in recent weeks. With all the outdoor play this summer, as well as her physical development, her coordination and agility have improved a lot. She can climb almost all the different play structures at the various parks in our neighbourhood independently, she can use a "big girl" swing (although still opts for the "baby swing" more often than not), and now enjoys climbing up slides even more than going down. She's also learned to ride a tricycle in the past week - something I didn't realize was a learned skill until she first got the trike a couple of months ago. Charlotte is also (huge sigh of relief) potty-trained. We haven't had battles with her over food and sleep, for the most part, but potty-training was a struggle. It wasn't that she couldn't get it, it was that she didn't want to - which was extremely frustrating! Using the washroom is still far from her favourite thing to do, but she is and accidents are becoming more and more infrequent. Charlotte can also dress and undress herself, apart from needing some help with buttons and zippers.
 
Reading books together is one of Charlotte's favourite activities. Some of the ones getting the most airtime these days are Madeline, The Paper Bag Princess, and the original Curious George books - some of James' and my early favourites from childhood. Charlotte's level of comprehension is improving a lot, evidenced by her questions - we're in the "Why?" stage. We've just recently started watching movies together, and Charlotte's developed a bit of an obsession with the Finding Nemo and Cars movies. I got a popcorn maker from Charlotte and George for Mother's Day and it's been fun to have the occasional movie night. All in all, Charlotte is seeming more like a preschooler than a toddler. Incidentally, she'll be starting preschool in a little over a month.

"Cheese!"

Next week George will be three months old. He had his first set of immunizations last week and is officially off the charts as far as weight, exceeding the 97th percentile! Our not-so-little guy is already pushing 17 pounds. He is doing great all around. Any problems with digestion are all but gone. He's sleeping well at night and is also a better napper than Charlotte was. George smiles a lot and has been starting to laugh in the past couple of weeks. Tickles and "hide-and-go-seek" are the easiest ways to elicit laughter from him. Once he's been fed he's usually contented and demands little from us until he's getting close to his next nap or bedtime. George is fascinated by his hands, and is getting better at manoevring his hand into his mouth to suck on. He's a sweet little guy and Charlotte has warmed up to him and begun initiating interactions with him, showing him toys or books to try and entertain him and keep him happy.
 

We head to Kelowna on Sunday for a week of holidays with my family. We're looking forward to some relaxation, family time, free babysitting, and hopefully sun.