Charlotte at 2 3/4 years

The original plan was to wait until Charlotte turned three to do another "update" post but seriously, she has been hilarious lately & seems to change daily so here I am writing a "Charlotte at 2 3/4 years." I do this so I won't forget the precious way she says things, the silliness that has overtaken our household & to record many of the things she is so proud of being able to do.

Her eyes are so bright and in turn brighten my day....every day

Chitty Chatty Char

• I love how I can ask her to tell me about something & she thinks for a minute and starts to describe it.  One thing she loves to tell me about is the whales at Sea World & how they "spash eveybody" & how she can make them jump out of the water.  A couple weeks ago when we were leaving Sea World after the evening show Char was crying & upset that we had to go home. She informed us that she would like to stay there all night long. We told her that the whales had to go night night since it was dark outside.  The next morning she woke up screaming "whales awake! whales awake! I go see'um?" Many nights/mornings she will look outside and let me know if the whales are awake or "sleepin'"
• When you tell her that you have her lunch ready, she says "What you have for me Mommy?"
• She requests "pive" (5) of anything that is quantifiable
• My dad was asking her questions at the dinner table this week and the following conversation transpired- Dad: Charlotte, what has 4 legs and sleeps on the couch all day?  Charlotte: thinking for a second.... MY DADDY! (hahahaha) Me: Your Daddy doesn't have 4 legs! How many legs does Daddy have? Charlotte: thinking again.... PIVE!
• She tells herself stories from many of the familiar books she has. She will snuggle up in the chair or on her bed & read to herself. On the airplane to Houston she "read" the whole Skymall magazine which makes for some pretty interesting descriptions!
• She says "hahn" for head: example "don't bump your hahn baby Elo!" She also says "bahn" for bed: example "let's read books in mommy's bahn!"
• She says "yen" for leg
• She likes to identify people as "boyees & gayls" (boys & girls.)  She thinks it's really funny to say that Daddy is a girl or Mommy is a boy. She says it & then grins waiting for us to say "are you sure?" then she says "NO, you a gayl mommy!"
• When you ask her what her full name is she says "Tawlott Gace Vowtime"
• When you ask her when her birthday is she say "youlie tateent" July 13th for those of you who don't speak her language.
• Our names are "Lawin & Wobby"
• She calls one Grandpa "Pop Pop" & one "Paw Paw." We were helping her remember which is which & I told her that Paw Paw (my dad) does the werewolf sounds when we Skype. She said "Oh yeah, I like Paw Paw werewolf raaaaroooooo!"
• I feel like I am reliving the movie Groundhog Day every night when we put her to bed. Charlotte: "I wah leave the doohee open." Me: "okay Char, we can try it." Charlotte: "But what happens if I come out?" No need for me to reply, she has already memorized the answer. Charlotte: "We have to close doohee." Every night for like 4 months....no kidding.
• Another thing we hear frequently is "I wah candy for dinee please" or if she gets up to use the restroom during a meal she will tell us or the dogs "doh eat my dinee!"
• She says "parrot" for favorite. A few examples: "I yuve pink, it's my parrot color!" "Peanut butta & je-wee is my parrot mommy!"
• Speaking of parrots, I feel like I have a parrot named Charlotte that follows me around.  EVERYTHING I say to Eloise is repeated immediately following the closure of my sentence. It is pretty funny. She has also been heard telling Bennett "take a chill pill Buddy!"

It's just a figment of her imagination:
Someones imagination has really taken off recently & has provided quite the entertainment for our family. Here are the best of the best...

• This started when we were reading the story of how an angel came to Mary to tell her that she would have a son & his name would be Jesus.  Charlotte interrupted the story & said "I have a baby in my belly! It's baby Isaac....you wanna howee?" So I reach out to hold him & she shouts, "Oh no! He fly away!" When she is holding this said baby, he is about 8 inches long.
• One afternoon Rob had the girls at the park by himself. They were sitting on a bench eating a snack when Char said "Daddy, I see a mouse!" He said "you do, where is it Charlotte?" She told him it was up in the tree.  He started looking and couldn't find it. A few minutes later she said it again so he started looking up in the branches.  He said, "Charlotte, what color is the mouse" to which she replied "pink!"
• Just during our stay in Kingwood, she has pretended to be Matilda, her BFF.  When you are getting her out of the car or asking her to do something and refer to her as Charlotte she says "I not Tawlott, I Mati!"
• My mom was trying to get her to lay down & take a nap the first day we were at her house.  She was lying down on the bed with her & Charlotte started telling her about the baby in her belly. Then, she stood up & looked out the window behind the bed. She told my mom that there were animals out there & when asked what animals there were she said she could see elephants & zebras with pink stripes! Wow! Did you know my parents have an African safari next door? I didn't!

silly, silly, silly

Mr.Sandman...bring me a dream:
I wish there was a sandman who could bring me a full night's sleep maybe once a week ; ) We are tackling the overnight visiting to Mommy & Daddy's bed when we get home from Kingwood next week.  She goes to sleep in her own room without much of a struggle, stays in until sometime after 3 (usually) and then comes straight to our bed.  Robby says she is like a ninja & can sneak in completely unnoticed. One morning we woke up to our heads being scratched simultaneously. We actually thought the other person was doing it until we were completely conscious & found Charlotte between us. Hahaha! The other sleep related thing that has made us laugh is when we have watched Char nurse all of her stuffed animals before going to to sleep at nap time. She is going to be such a great mommy someday.  Her usual hours of snoozing are 8-7 overnight & 12:30-2:30 each afternoon.

Some of Charlotte's "parrot" things:

• playing hide & seek but screaming to get the person's attention that is seeking
• swinging in the big girl swing at the park
• shouting out the letters on signs while we are driving
• balancing on one foot
• jumping onto the couch from the arm rest
• carrying her baby sister around...she is seriously strong
• running, skipping, climbing
• walking backwards- the other day she walked backwards from Matilda's house to our house...a good 5 minute walk
• saying things she knows are funny then waiting for a response from us
• watching Angelina Ballerina or "ange-yeena by-yeena" & Shaun the Sheep or "tawn teep"
• playing with stickers
• sorting buttons or laying ribbons out straight
• wearing ALL of her silly bandz at one time on her ankle

I let her wear them for about a week straight but had to make a new rule that she can only wear them on her wrist because her ankle had some really deep creases that weren't going away....oops!

Charlotte is a sweetheart. I love spending my days (and nights) with her.  Three more months & she will be a big three year old!  Here is a great picture that shows her most recent haircut result....only the second haircut in her lifetime : )