Mistaken Identity

Last week Emily had a work happy hour an important meeting for work so she was not home for our dinner and bedtime routine.  Charlotte asked where Emily was once or twice and then went about her business.  I was making dinner when I heard Charlotte crying very loudly and sadly, "I WANT MY MOMMY!! I WANT MY MOMMY!"  I went into the living room uncertain how I could offer anything remotely comforting to her, as I would only be serving as a giant reminder that her mommy wasn't home.  And predicted Charlotte saw me and was even more insistent, demanding "I want my Mommy!"

But, there on the couch was Happy, babbling away holding some generic plastic female action figure type doll.  And that would be the mommy Charlotte wanted.  Well over 100 toys between the living room and the den, and she is crying frantically over some piece of crap doll she never showed specific interest in before.  But sure, now that Happy has it, Charlotte has deemed the doll as "my mommy," all in the name of a burgeoning sibling rivalry.  Now that is the kind of crisis I can ignore manage.

Overheard, Exhibit O

Charlotte in the back of the car as we were driving home:

"Pancho is a good dog.  He needs a hug.  He's sad because the cats scared him so he needs a hug."

Whatever you say Charlotte.  When we got home, we did indeed hug Pancho, but only after cleaning up the trash he got into.

Conversations with Charlotte #6710892373

BREAKING NEWS: Charlotte no longer dislikes Brian Longley.  After a year of "I don't like Brian" (and then smirking) over the past week she has told me she loves Brian.  But she has also told me she loves tables, so take her proclamations of love with a grain of salt.  Charlotte also likes talking out her ass, so much so that I call her out on it to see where it will go.  This morning we were eating breakfast talking about, what else, food.

CHARLOTTE: I like coffee.

ME: Really?  You like coffee.  You've had some coffee and said, 'Mmm this is good."

CHARLOTTE: Yeah.  I like coffee.  It's yummy.

ME:  So where did you did you drink all this delicious coffee?

CHARLOTTE: At Brian's house.

ME: Arabica beans or robusta?

CHARLOTTE: Rabica.

ME:  So you're telling me you were hanging out with Brian drinking coffee with him.  Just you and Brian or was anyone else there?

CHARLOTTE: Me, Brian, and Ancy.  (Ancy would be Nancy)

ME: You guys were all just sitting in the kitchen, drinking some coffee, having a little conversation about politics and sports.

CHARLOTTE:  Yeah.  And Mommy and Daddy and Baby Happy were at home.

ME: What did you guys talk about?

CHARLOTTE: Christmas trees.

She never misses a beat as she just pulls out one random answer after another out of her butt.  It's a little unnerving how adept she is at this.

Happy & Jess

First Supper

Tonight Emily set the high chair up in recline and Happy joined us for the first time at the dinner table.  Upon seeing Happy was joining us for dinner, Charlotte insisted that she sit next to Happy.  A few months ago, Charlotte used to do this on a nightly basis, only it was pulling her chair next to mine so we could sit side-by-side.  Then the novelty of that wore off and she moved on to sitting next Emily.  And then she realized more personal space is better, and went back to having a side of the table to herself.

So in  few weeks the fun of sitting next to Happy will also pass.  And in a few months, when Happy is mobile and grabbing toys, Charlotte won't want to be next to her at all.  And in a few years they won't want to be in the same room at all.  But tonight it was very fun to see this.

The close observer will note the Rody (the green horse) is resting on top of the trampoline.  That's two toys bought solely for the purpose of physical therapy being used for very un-physical purposes... as per usual.  

Well Babies

Charlotte and Happy had their well child visits last week.  Here are the deets in tabular form.

	Charlotte	Abigail
Age	3 years	5 months
Height	36.5 inches	26 inches
Weight	36 lb	12 lb 12 oz
Likes	reading books eating Play Doh drawing and painting running with daddy	Charlotte Toonces eating wiggling around laughing
Dislikes	having her hair brushed having her hair washed pooping on the potty	sleeping during the day

Happy Halloween with the Big Cats

Another Halloween has come and gone.  This year was the first year Charlotte figured out what it was all about so we had a lot of fun.  First, we carved our pumpkin.

Charlotte's Jack-O-Lattern face.

Scooping out the guts.

It looks just like the one she colored at school!

Charlotte said she wanted to be a leopard and Netta and Bailey were going to be a cheetah and a lion.  They came over to trick or treat Thursday night.  It took FOREVER to get them to line up for this picture.  It was like herding cats.  Literally.  I don't know why Toonces looks like a ghost in this picture?

Too cute.

Happy is a skunk.

The girls were cute, but Poncho stole the show while we out trick or treating.

We only went to a few houses.  The girls were still navigating this whole asking strangers for candy thing.  At the last house, Charlotte and Netta went up to the door by themselves.  Our neighbor said, "what do you say?"  And they just stood there in silence.  

They all chose Skittles as their first treat.  Charlotte spotted a Milky Way and said, "I want to eat that chocolate brown too."  After she went to bed, I had to inspect her loot for anything that was not appropriate for a 3 year old.  You know, like Kit Kats.