Babysitting

Last night we had the privilege of babysitting our newest cousin, Mae.  Mae is almost 3 months old and she is a doll!  I dug out a boppy from the closet so we could all sit on the floor and  play.  Mae seemed to be interested in what Charlotte was doing, if that is possible for a 3 month old?  Of course, Charlotte had to say "hi" to Mae.  Like a dozen times.  Then she pointed to different parts of Mae's face and named them.   Eyes.  Nose.  Eyes.  Mouth.  Eyes.  All in all, it went pretty well, except when they both seemed to be ready for bed around the same time and I couldn't figure out how to take care of that by myself.  So, I decided to let Charlotte stay up late - until Mae fell asleep or Mike came home, whichever occurred first.

Charlotte saying, "hi."

Charlotte leaning for a kiss.  

Adventures in Babysitting

A few weeks ago, the woman who runs our daycare broke her arm and had a concussion so she needed to take a few weeks of to recover.  Charlotte has been going somewhere different everyday, which has been hard on her.  There were many days without a nap.  She got to spend a few days with her friend, Ziggy.  Fortunately for Charlotte and us, a couple of my friends volunteered to help out some of the days.  Charlotte got to know some new friends, Alma and Noah.  I think everyone had fun, even without naps.  We are beyond grateful to our friends who took care of Charlotte the last couple weeks.  I feel lucky to have friends who were willing and able to help us out.



Alma, Noah, and Charlotte



Walking Alma to school

 
Friday, Charlotte spent the day at Miriam's house, where she slept over for our big date night in February.  Miriam's house is like the Children's Museum - it has places to climb, lots of things to play with like a play kitchen with food and a room full of train tracks. 

Charlotte had fun with her new friends, but I think she is ready to get back to her routine.  Tomorrow she will go back to her daycare and hopefully she will take a nap!

A happy Charlotte

** pictures provided by the babysitters **

Date Night

Back in October, we ran a 5k for Mike's birthday.  It was Charlotte's first race - I pushed her in the jogger.  Mike got second place and got to choose from a table of prizes.  He chose a gift certificate for a night and dinner at L'Hotel Sofitel.

Charlotte replenishing her fluids

After the race

This weekend we had our Hotel Sofitel "staycation" in Bloomington.  Hotel Sofitel is a French Luxury hotel.  Our room was nice.  We had a king size bed with the nicest sheets!  When we got home I was shopping on-line for similar sheets.  Our room had some nice artwork.

Famous towers of the world:

The Eiffel Tower

Moos Tower

Charlotte stayed over at my friend Miriam's.  Miriam's house is super fun.   She has places to climb, a play kitchen and lots of play food,  and Miriam's son Nathan!  Nathan was kind enough to share is stuffed animals with Charlotte.  Just like his mom, he loves hosting.

Nathan, Charlotte, and a couple of lemurs

 An overnight date was a real treat.  I think most parents would enjoy sleeping in the most.  Charlotte will sleep until 7 or 7:30, so she is not exactly an early riser.  So for us, the real treat was sleeping in a (big) bed that is not crowded with animals.  To be able to move my legs freely without being pinned down by animals on top of the covers felt sooooo good.