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.

Swamped...

...with work that is. So instead of a post, you'll have to make do with this photo of Charlotte that I took a couple of weeks ago at a nearby bakery (one of my favourite places in Edmonton).

Charlotte and Molly out for tea

Favourite things

I thought a fun way to give you a snapshot of Charlotte would be to fill you in on what some of her favourite things are these days:

At the top of the list would have to be HATS. She loves them: wearing them, cuddling with them, pointing them out in books and on people on the street. Most days when I drop her off at daycare she keeps her hat on until after I've left. She usually spends the first few minutes of the day on Rosa's lap (her favourite worker) sucking her thumb and rubbing her hat with the other hand. And when I pick her up in the afternoon, she gives me a smile but I often don't even get a hug before she's heading straight for her cubby to retrieve her hat. I don't think I've had to buy Charlotte one hat yet - she's gotten some really lovely ones as gifts in a nice range of sizes - so if you're one of our hat-giving friends, you should know that they are loved!

Her BED: Charlotte loves her bed (I take complete credit, justified or not: like mother like daughter). She's a good little sleeper, and when she wakes up in the morning or after a nap she's usually happy to chill out in her bed for awhile. Sometimes she even gets upset when we take her out of her bed. She'll lie there sucking her thumb, playing with a stuffed animal, or cudding with her covers.

WALKING and DOING STAIRS: Charlotte is walking quite comfortably now. She stills falls down regularly, but gets herself back up right away (bum first, by pushing up with her hands and feet on the floor). She seems more independent now that she's walking, and it's also entertaining for her to walk around. She drawn to stairs like a magnet, and loves going up and down. Above all, she loves BEING CHASED, especially by Daddy. When she hears James coming in the door, she immediately starts running away while going "YAHHH!" (her impression of the roaring noise James makes when he chases her).

BOOKS with moveable parts: Charlotte has a couple of books with parts that move or sections of the page that pull up and down. These are her favourites, but they're definitely the worse for wear. One page that's supposed to feature wagging fox tails is completely destroyed, but she'll still turn to that page, point to the torn part and say "wa wa wa" (wag wag wag).

SALMON and RAISIN BRAN (not in combo): Charlotte's a decent eater, but she loves salmon/rainbow trout most of all. She can really put it away. Raisin bran is her breakfast of choice. The last time I tried to do oatmeal for breakfast she was having none of it. She turned down a spoonful with a firm "no", pointed to the kitchen and said "wee" (raisins)?  One of several indications we now have a toddler on our hands, not a baby: she knows what she wants! Other favourite foods include sweet potato fries, peas, corn, pineapple, bananas, and Aeroroot biscuits.

CARS or any vehicle with wheels, really: Charlotte calls them "tar", makes a "broom" sound for them, and points out the "wyl". She'll imitate the sound of a car horn or truck backing up when she hears it. Often on our way home from daycare we'll pass a bike locked up in a bike rack and she'll want to stop and inspect it.

Old favourites that Charlotte still loves include her stuffed animals, especially her rabbit, and taking baths.

Our little flapper

Charlotte is starting to "daw"...

...but we still have to keep a close eye on her.

Goofing off in the suitcase before we went to Calgary for the weekend.

Just the right size.

Buzz-cut Baby

So I promised to let you know how things went while I was away in Ottawa and James and Charlotte were on their own for a couple of days...

I had a fabulous trip: beautiful wedding, happy couple, catching up with family, encouraging lunch discussing dissertation stuff with my supervisor, and 20+ degree weather. It really couldn't have been better.

With my cousin Katherine at her wedding

James and Charlotte had a great time too. Including the part where James cut Charlotte's hair... I'm not kidding. I came back to a buzz-cut baby! He told me on the phone Saturday morning while I was still in Ottawa, and I was a little less than impressed. To his credit, James' heart was in the right place: he felt bad that her hair was getting in her eyes. "But", I protested, "it was almost long enough to stay behind her ears!" I didn't mention that I'd specifically showed him where to find her hair barrettes before I left. Ah well. It's just hair. And Charlotte's fine with it. Although the fact that she has less hair around the ears may explain her recent obsession with wearing hats...

Freshly shorn. Notice the path of destruction behind her.

Sitting up tall. And wearing the sweater Grandma made her.