What's Arthur and Lewis Doing?

This morning, Charlotte was cheerfully eating her breakfast and making conversation.


Charlotte:  Jessie's eating breakfast too!

Me:  yes.

Charlotte:  What's Arthur and Lewis doing?

Me:  Um, they are probably riding the school bus right now.

Charlotte:  Yeah.  They're going to school.

{Pause}

Charlotte:  They're going to an apple school.  Charlotte goes to an orange school.

Me:  Uh, OK.

Charlotte:  I'm going to an orange school.  Arthur and Lewis going to an apple school.


Me thinks that we've been reading a little too much Richard Scarry with all the pickle cars, apple cars, etc.

Ice Cream at The Oscars!

FUN x 3!

Friday my sister and I took the girls to the Minnesota Children's Museum.  The girls had soooo much fun.  Since they are the same age, they are pretty much in the same place as far as interests go.   We spent a long time in the pretend area.  They shopped in the pretend grocery store, worked in the pretend restaurant, and made some music videos in a room with a green screen. 



Abba cover band



Lillith Fair



Ready, set, go!



They're off!



Snack time (thanks for the picture Jess!)



Cute Kid Alert

Two and a half is such a fun age. Charlotte is exploring and learning about the world everyday and I love it when she shares her observations. Having a new baby sister has exposed her to many new things and she is always asking, "what's that?" She often comes up with her own names for things and phrasing,  including:

"cloth burp" = burp cloth
"office doctor" = doctor's office
"sound poop" = a fart
"bicycle" = tricycle, and she will correct you
"beep beep truck" = any maintenance or construction truck, which require her to wear her sunglasses for protection
"where it is?" = where is it?
"what I'm doing?"= what am I doing?
"I'm number two." = her answer when asked how old she is

and one more

"egg greens and ham"

I've Been Waiting

Charlotte recently started playing with other kids rather than alongside other kids.  It's so cool to watch.  Something I have been looking forward to since my sister and I were pregnant at the same time, is for the girls to play together and it finally happened this weekend!   Over the weekend, we were at a family party at Joanna's.  The kids were playing outside and Charlotte and Netta were playing "soccer" together yelling each other's names and laughing.  Later, the twins wanted to show Charlotte the spare bedroom at Joanna's so they went in there and my sister and I followed.  They told us to leave the room and close the door.  So, we left.  I looked at my sister and said, "they're getting into trouble together for the first time!"  A while later we went to check on the them and we heard squealing and laughter and when we opened the door they were jumping on the bed and laughing.  It's the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Charlotte Pedals!

As you saw in my last post, having your garage torn down creates some new playtime opportunities.  The cement slab is the perfect place for Charlotte to practice riding her tricycle.

I'm Playing a Baseball Game

We finally had our smushed garage removed, which means we had to find place to put all the stuff that was in the garage.   A lot of stuff was damaged from being exposed to rain for a month.  Some of it we threw away and some we wanted to let dry out, but there was a threat of rain so we pitched our tent and put everything in there.  Including the pack-n-play.  Charlotte thinks it lots of fun to have a camping tent in the backyard and she likes to sit in the pack-n-play and look at books.  The other day she wanted Happy in there with her.  

Also, when retrieving our things from the garage, Charlotte discovered a couple of whiffle ball bats and decided she would play a baseball game.  Charlotte's baseball game consisted of each of us hitting a large rubber ball with our respective whiffle ball bats.  Charlotte has become so much more active lately, it's really fun to see

One of two rugs drying out in the backyard.  It looks like we live in a trailer park.  Our neighbors love us.

Two Months

Beautiful

Happy had her two month well visit last week.  She was 23 3/4 inches long and 10 pounds 2 ounces, that's 87th and 20th percentile, respectively.  She is one long and skinny thing!   She had her first shots and handled it like a champ.  She has been smiling at us, but she only smiles at me in the morning for some reason.  The rest of the day she looks very serious.  She loves to look at the bright decals on the wall by the changing table and to relax outside in her bouncy seat.

Charlotte and Happy in the pack n play outside.

Happy the Over-Achiever

She doesn't just sleep smile, she sleep laughs!

Shark Week

Sisters

"Take a Picture of Me Going Back to Texas"

What's Happy Doing?

Looking concerned

"What's Happy doing?"  Charlotte asks several times a day.  The answers are invariably nursing or sleeping.  She doesn't do much else.  She's only two months old (today!), so what do you expect? She does has a few other "skills" at this time:

• She smiles at me every morning, which is awesome.  Otherwise, she spends a lot of time looking very serious and concerned.  Mike can coax more smiles out of her throughout the day.    
• She is a good sleeper!  She consistently sleeps from about 11-5.  During the day, she won't stay asleep unless she is being held, which is a small price to pay for being a well-rested parent.  Plus, I don't mind holding her all day since soon I will have to go to work again.  
• She is already showing an affinity for being outside.  Once outside, she is calm and peaceful.  Sometimes I'll sit on the deck and read and she'll sit in her bouncey seat and look around.
• She is really active and wiggly.  Sometimes nursing her is a little wrestling match and she makes her bouncy seat bounce just by kicking her legs - no batteries needed!
• She is beautiful!

Coming attractions:  vitals! and phenomenal hair pictures!

Conversation with Charlotte #2145

This morning, as is her wont, well, as is any toddler's wont, Charlotte began whining for no apparent reason, out-of-the-blue, and while perfectly content with whatever we were doing (I think I was putting bows in her hair).

ME: Where did that whining come from?

CHARLOTTE: From my mouth.

She's nothing if not honest.