Two And a Half Years Old

Charlotte is 2 and 1/2 years today.  Doing a bit of quick math in my head, that translates to 30 months. I remember when Charlotte turned six months old and what a milestone that seemed to be. Now six months flies by faster than I want.  She's really not much of a toddler anymore, but a little girl. With attitude, with opinions for certain, but with a pretty happy disposition over all.

I would list all of the things she's learned over the past six months, but I wouldn't know where to start! Her vocabulary grows with each passing day, and it never ceases to astound Chris or me when Charlotte says something that we know she didn't learn from us.  Last week, she stood in the middle of the kitchen and shouted: "And I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house down!"  We've never read her the story of the "Three Little Pigs," so I know she learned that at Miss D's.  And when Charlotte helped me bake Christmas cookies, she took a bite of cookie dough and squealed, "That's delicious!"

Both her enunciation and her pronunciation are not the best - I think part of that stems from the fact that she touches her tongue to the roof of her mouth all the time, so she has quite a lisp.  And it's strange the things that she can't pronounce.  She can say "Mommy" clearly but the word "milk" comes out something like "nyoot."  I'm not sure at what point we should be concerned about her speech, but she does make progress - "nyoot" used to be "nyah." And Charlotte talks so incessantly that we're not always sure what she's saying without considering the context in which she's saying it. Only then can we usually figure it out.

Dancing at the Moms' Club Holiday Party

  Charlotte loves stories.  We have to limit the number of books at bedtime each night or she would never go to sleep.  And even so, nine times out of ten, we'll find her in the morning, sitting on her bed with a pile of books.  One day, I went in her room to get her up from her nap, only to find her milling about the room, throwing books on her bed.  When I asked her in a serious-yet-joking tone what she thought she was doing, she immediately burst into tears, thinking she was in trouble.  (On a related note, Charlotte has still not yet left her room once she's gone to bed or been put down for a nap).

She's excited about being a big sister, but doesn't quite seem to grasp the concept that her baby sister's Mommy and Daddy are also her Mommy and Daddy.  That might be an unwelcome realization when it happens, especially her love of being the center of attention for every adult she encounters.

Our little monkey making monkey faces at the zoo

We don't have a well child visit at 2 1/2 years old, so I don't know how much Charlotte weighs these days.  She has definitely slimmed down and she's grown a little taller. The growth chart in her room has her at just over 36 inches tall, which, according to the babycenter.com percentile calculator, is somewhere in the 50 to 75th percentile.

Finally, I worry about how things will change when the new baby comes.  Life is pretty great for our little family.  Each and every day Charlotte makes us laugh and smile.  I know this new baby will as well, and I just hope that Charlotte won't be too upset and that she knows how much we love her.

Moving the candy cane to the number 19 on our advent calendar

 (P.S. I know it's not relevant to this post, but I passed the one hour glucose test! Hurray! Bring on the Christmas cookies and sweets)

Third Trimester Already?!

Suffice it to say, this pregnancy has flown by.  Today marks 27 weeks and exactly 3 months to the day until D-Day.  I feel I owe it to this baby girl to document some of this pregnancy. So here's a self-portrait at 27 weeks, taken with my cell phone in our master bath. I think I look much smaller than last time. Or maybe it's because I'm further away in this shot? What do you think? Or maybe I'm just carrying much lower?

I'm feeling great now that I finally had a dose of antibiotics prescribed to me last week.  After 4 plus weeks of hacking all the time, I was dying for some relief.  They seem to have done the trick, as my cough is pretty much nonexistent.  I do, however, have a lot of congestion, but I think that can be attributed to the insanely dry weather and general pregnancy symptoms.  Other than that, this has got to be the easiest pregnancy ever. No back aches, no trouble sleeping, and no swelling (to date).  I do have Braxton Hicks contractions all the flipping time, which are strong enough to stop me in my tracks, but I don't have them more than the troublesome 4 times per hour.  Also, the coughing fits were causing a number of BH contractions, so the OB checked things out, but there is no indication of any signs of pre-term labor. Phew!

So yeah, three months to go.  I feel like we have so much to do before Baby Girl makes her appearance.  We have picked out our paint colors, and Chris' mom is going to sew the bedding.  They're coming out next week, so we can figure out fabrics and all of that.  The plan is this - a light coral/peach paint on the bottom, and a bright vanilla color on top.  The fabric will be a light teal or aqua.  We bought a dresser at fifty percent off when this nice baby store went out of business, so that was really exciting.

Charlotte is getting more excited about having a baby sister.  The other day she was sitting in my lap as I was getting her shoes on, and she felt the baby kick her back in protest. I asked if she felt it, and she said "yeah on my back!"  So I think that made it more real for her.  And she's so cute when she says that her baby sister will use her old crib and some of her old clothes.  She has also named her baby sister.  We read out a list of names we're considering, and Charlotte has glommed on to one name in particular, Phoebe.  We like the name Phoebe obviously, as it was on our list, but I'm not sure it's the name yet.  However, anytime we bring up another possibility Charlotte says "No! Phoebe!"  Uh oh. What have we gotten ourselves into?!

So that's about it!  Next week I have to take the dreaded glucose test again. I just have to remember to give myself enough time between lunch and taking the test so as not to cause what happened last time.  Because the three hour test is NO fun. Think non-sugary thoughts for me! :)

The Never-ending Cold and a Pregnancy Update

So I've had a cold for two weeks now.  Pretty much ever since I got back from Hawaii, I've been sick.  I had these coughing fits that almost caused me to throw up I was coughing so hard, but now it's mainly just congestion and a bad cough.  I wake up each morning feeling like I must have smoked for 20 years, the coughing is so bad (of course I really have no reference point except those episodes of Mad Men when Don and Betty Draper wake up and can't stop coughing).

I had my 23 week appointment on Thursday. I guess I was supposed to go in at 24 weeks, but the medical assistant must have miscalculated when she set up the appointment.  Anyway, everything is going great on the baby-front. I've gained 17 pounds so far, which is at least 5 to 7 pounds fewer than I had at a comparable time last pregnancy, so I think that's a good thing! It must be that I don't have as much time to just sit around, waiting for this baby.  Instead, I've got a very active 2.5 year old to chase around.

Baby girl's heartbeat is strong.  I'm definitely feeling her much more these days, but I think she's still breech (which is totally normal), because I think mostly she's just tap-dancing on my bladder. It's a really strange feeling, especially when I'm driving home from work.  I asked the doctor about the cold. She checked my lungs, my ears, and throat and everything's clear except for the congestion.  She told me to start taking some allergy medicine combined with an expectorant to try and get the congestion to go away.  Otherwise, I'm just stuck coughing until this cold goes away.

I was looking through my blog to compare my pregnancy with Charlotte.  Last time, I had bad back problems, my feet were already swelling from time to time, and I needed a pillow between my legs.  This time? None of those!  I really feel great, apart from some occasional heartburn.  The only time I haven't physically felt great was after I played tennis when we were in Hawaii.  I think I was moving around too much to chase after the tennis ball because the next day I could barely walk!  I guess I forgot about how much lateral movement there is in tennis and how much loosening of joints occurs during pregnancy.  If I play any more tennis before Baby Girl comes it will have to be me just standing there while someone else hits balls directly at me. 

Chris also just set up my bike to make it stationary. I tried it yesterday, but I think the resistance was way too strong because I felt completely winded and exhausted after only about seven minutes.  I also wasn't wearing my padded bike shorts, so it definitely wasn't a comfortable experience! I will have to try again over the weekend.

No belly shots right now, but suffice it to say, I think I've popped. At least that's what everyone else says!

Fall Photos

We had our pictures taken this morning. It was super cold, but we wanted to get out there to beat the rain.  The photographer, Kristin, was recommended by one of the moms in moms' club I belong to, and she was great! Small world, she's also the sister-in-law of one of the girls from a book club I was in about six years ago.

Charlotte held out for about 45 minutes until she was just too cold and demanded to go back to the car.  Still, Kristin got some great shots.

Here's a link to the sneak peek of some of the great pictures she took. I can't wait to see them all!

A Spooktacular Halloween

The weeks and days leading up to Halloween have been so much fun.  Charlotte has loved seeing all the pumpkins everywhere.  When we asked her what she wanted to be, she always resoundingly said "Pumpkin!" We did get her a cute pumpkin shirt and some black leggings, so she got plenty of use out of those. She's also asked to watch "Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin" every single day. 

But first, to get us even more in the mood for Halloween, we visited a pumpkin patch a few weeks ago.

She insisted on sitting on the pumpkins, which of course makes it look like she's sitting on something else

Driving an old tractor

Sitting on an old truck

And of course there was Halloween.  We never did find a pumpkin costume that we really liked, so when I saw a hula girl costume while we were in Hawaii, it seemed like a great option. It was also nearly 80 degrees yesterday, so it was the perfect outfit to wear on an unseasonably warm Halloween night.

Obviously it would be a tad risque to let her out with a thin fabric bikini top, so I put the top on underneath.

As I mentioned, Charlotte has loved Halloween, and we were confident that she thought everything was great and not scary.  She loved all the spiders and spider webs we used to decorate our entryway. When we carved our pumpkin, Chris asked if she wanted a funny face or scary face. Charlotte replied "Scary face!" and pointed to the scariest face in our series of templates.

Our scary Jack-O-Lantern!

So we were super excited to take her out Trick-Or-Treating.  We went to the house adjacent to ours, and Charlotte loved the decorations - orange twinkle lights - and the neighbors' calico cat. Then we went across the street to one of the homes that was very well decorated for Halloween, and there were moving ghouls, goblins and monsters everywhere.  We did not anticipate her response to animatronics. Poor Charlotte froze, and ran behind my leg. She was visibly frightened and would not let go of me.

Luckily, we went across the street from the "scary" house to the home where we met all our neighbors last year.  Unbelievably, we have not talked to these great neighbors since the day that Santa came through the neighborhood.  It's just that with our house on the side of theirs, and on a different street, we just never see them.  But they all remembered Charlotte.  And since their house is where all the neighbors congregate before Trick-Or-Treating, we were invited inside for drinks and food. So neighborly!  Once again, we admired their amazing kitchen remodel and know exactly what we'll do when we save the money up for our own (it's quite an endeavor and requires some new construction).  Anyway, Charlotte was regaining her confidence by going down their awesome backyard slide and eating apple slices with caramel sauce, until it was time to head back out into the neighborhood. Two of the boys were dressed in these crazy Roman centurion costumes with a skeleton mask, and they freaked Charlotte out.  She clung to my leg once again.

Ultimately, we did end up making it to about 10 houses, although I had to nudge her to go to each door.  We would have gone to more, but Charlotte wanted me to carry her from house to house, and I just can't do that anymore.  One high school girl who answered the door was so smitten by Charlotte that she asked her to do a little hula dance, and Charlotte happily obliged.  I'll have to seek her out to see if she does babysitting. :) I think Charlotte had much more fun being at home and answering the door for our meager amount of Trick-Or-Treaters. She would shout "People are coming! People are coming!"  We had to shut down the Trick-Or-Treating at around 8:45 because Charlotte would not calm down and go to sleep. She jumped out of bed every time the doorbell rang.

All in all, a pretty fun evening.  And we have to find a way to hang out with those neighbors again.  They're so fun.  Maybe we just shout at them from the backyard??  Now to move on to getting Charlotte excited about turkeys and Thanksgiving.  I love this time of year!

Five Little Pumpkins

We'll be back tomorrow with all the fun Charlotte's had this year for Halloween, but in the meantime, here's a short video of Charlotte reciting the poem "Five Little Pumpkins." When we were in Hawaii last week, my mom told it to Charlotte over and over again while we were driving around, so that now, she's completely memorized it!



(And the translation, in case you can't understand her)
Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate.
The first one said, "My it's getting late!"
The second one said, "There are witches in the air!"
The third one said, "We don't care."
The fourth one said, "Let's run, let's run!"
The fifth one said, "Oh, it's just Halloween fun."
Then ooooh went the wind,
And out went the light!
And five little pumpkins rolled fast out of sight.

Sugar and Spice...

... and everything nice.

Baby Berry 2.0 is a little girl!  We are so very excited.

And yes, if we're going to be honest, just a tad disappointed that we're not having a boy.  Chris really wanted to have a boy to take on camping trips, to play basketball with, to get geeky and play video games with. And I feel bad that he'll be so outnumbered - even our cat, Tandy, is a girl! But as Chris said to me the other day, Charlotte is a pretty amazing girl, so what can be better than having two?

We're so happy that Charlotte will have a little sister, one who undoubtedly will look up to her. I hope they're friends.  And yes, we'll have to dress them in matching outfits. Isn't that what you do with two daughters? :)

And our good friends are having a girl, due only three weeks before we are.  At daycare, Charlotte's friend Ava is going to have a little sister right around the time we are, so our little girl will have so many friends to play with. 

Apart from learning the sex, it was great to see little our new little girl in action.  She wasn't moving around nearly as much as Charlotte was when we saw her ultrasound, but she was cute just the same.  Everything looks good - as the ultrasound technician pointed out, she has two kidneys, so she'll be able to play sports.  I'm measuring 19 weeks 2 days, and I'm 19 weeks 3 days today, so you can't get much more precise than that. Also, turns out I have an anterior placenta, which means it's at the top of my uterus and explains why I've only intermittently felt the baby thus far.

We have a couple ideas for names, but nothing as sure as we were with Charlotte. The hardest part is finding a good middle name.

And now we have to think of what to paint the baby's room.  We already have a chair rail, which will stay in place, but the room is currently painted a grayish blue by the previous owners.  It's a hard decision. We don't want pink, blue, or yellow - at least, not as a wall color.  Time to start looking at girls' rooms to get some ideas!

Where Dreams Come True

Last week I was in San Diego for my organization's annual conference.  Since my parents no longer let me travel to San Diego without Charlotte, I flew down on Tuesday with Charlotte in tow.  I have to say, it was the easiest flight I've ever done with her.  She and I ate breakfast together in the food court, she colored in her coloring book, and she obediently followed every direction I gave her. I'm just so proud of how big she's getting.

Anyway, while I was working, Charlotte enjoyed three fun days with her grandparents - she went to the zoo, to Sea World, and charmed the pants off our neighbors.  On Thursday night, Chris flew down, but he headed straight to my parents' so I didn't see him until Friday.

On Saturday, we made the pilgrimage to Disneyland.  Having grown up in Southern California, I went to Disneyland quite often, but hadn't gone since Chris and I got married five years ago.  We were so excited to go there with Charlotte. And Chris was excited to implement his Fast Pass/Stroller Pass plan.

The weather was perfect, and Disneyland was decorated for Halloween.  The first ride we went on was the Haunted Mansion, which was redesigned to look like Nightmare Before Christmas. It was cute, but I actually think the original Haunted Mansion is much scarier. Then we went on the Winnie the Pooh ride.

Here is my first belly picture at 18 weeks

What Charlotte loved: the carousel, the flying Dumbo ride, and Casey Jr's train.

But Charlotte's absolute favorite moment of the day? Meeting Mickey Mouse.

It was her naptime when we finally got to the front of the line, so Charlotte was pretty tired. She just went right up to Mickey and gave him a great big hug.  And she wouldn't let go, so Mickey kind of looked at us, like "What should I do?"

Thankfully, she did let go and we were able to get these great shots. Charlotte was in heaven.

And of course, we couldn't go to Disneyland and not get Charlotte her very own Mickey ears. She was very clear that she didn't want the Minnie ears or the special Halloween ears, she wanted the very simple Mickey Mouse ears.

Charlotte did great. She napped for over an hour in her stroller. Papi watched her while Chris, my mom and I took turns going on Splash Mountain.  For the record, I did go on all of the roller coaster rides, except for Thunder Mountain, since we never got over there.  I'm glad Chris implemented his Fast Pass Plan, especially for Space Mountain, because the crowds were crazy that day. For Space Mountain, Chris and I zipped through the Fast Pass line, received a Rider Swap card, went on the ride, and then gave the pass to my parents. They got to bypass the line completely and go in through the disabled route. It was great.   The only ride that definitely gave me some pause afterward was Indiana Jones - it was truly bumpy - but other than that, I had a great time.  We stayed until about 9:15, but didn't exit until we got this cute picture (although I wish I was viewed in profile because I look really wide).

A perfect end to a magical day.

*Next up: Monday we find out if Baby Berry 2.0 is a girl or boy!  What's your prediction? Mine is girl, so is Chris'. But who knows? We could be surprised!

She Said What?

It's hard to remember all the funny things Charlotte says, especially as she gets more and more verbal everyday. Our friend said the other day that the sooner kids start talking, the sooner they start talking back.  Charlotte definitely is starting to talk back.  When we tell her "No," she'll retort (with quite the attitude in her voice, mind you), "Yes!"

Anyway, here is what she said at bedtime the other night. (As background, I get in bed with Charlotte and read about four or five books to her before calling Chris up to say goodnight.  This is how Charlotte has learned that Daddy's real name is Chris.  She'll usually shout "Daddy-Chris" when it's time for him to come upstairs.  Anyway, I was still half-sitting on her bed when Chris came in.)

Chris: Okay, time for hugs and kisses, Charlotte!
[Charlotte gives Chris a hug and a kiss]

Charlotte: Okay, Mommy hug and kiss.
[She gives me a hug and a kiss]

Charlotte: Okay, Mommy. Now get out of my bed!

Silly girl. You make us laugh and smile every day.

She Said What?

It's hard to remember all the funny things Charlotte says, especially as she gets more and more verbal everyday. Our friend said the other day that the sooner kids start talking, the sooner they start talking back.  Charlotte definitely is starting to talk back.  When we tell her "No," she'll retort (with quite the attitude in her voice, mind you), "Yes!"

Anyway, here is what she said at bedtime the other night. (As background, I get in bed with Charlotte and read about four or five books to her before calling Chris up to say goodnight.  This is how Charlotte has learned that Daddy's real name is Chris.  She'll usually shout "Daddy-Chris" when it's time for him to come upstairs.  Anyway, I was still half-sitting on her bed when Chris came in.)

Chris: Okay, time for hugs and kisses, Charlotte!
[Charlotte gives Chris a hug and a kiss]

Charlotte: Okay, Mommy hug and kiss.
[She gives me a hug and a kiss]

Charlotte: Okay, Mommy. Now get out of my bed!

Silly girl. You make us laugh and smile every day.

Theme Parks and Waterslides

I had my 16 week appointment yesterday.  Everything is great - the baby was kicking when the doctor was trying to get a read on the baby's heartbeat, so it took a little while, but the heartrate is exactly where it should be.  It's always gratifying to hear the little heartbeat because I'm still at the point where I'm not feeling any kicks yet.

I gained seven pounds in the past four weeks, which took me by surprise when I stepped on the scale.  When I was waiting for the doctor to come in, I grabbed my phone and looked up my weight gain during a comparable time when I was pregnant with Charlotte.  Pretty much identical, if not a slower weight gain than last time.  Last time, I'd already gained about four pounds by the end of the first trimester, and then another nine pounds between 12 weeks and 17 weeks.  This time, I had maybe gained a pound at 12 weeks, and seven pounds between 12 and 16.  I asked the doctor about it, but she was not concerned in the slightest.  She said the fact that I lost 30 pounds within a week of having Charlotte meant that most of the weight was water retention and huge baby.  In any event, I'm definitely going to keep a close eye on how the weight gain for this pregnancy resembles that of the last pregnancy.

After getting the baby's heartbeat, the doctor asked if I had any questions. I paused and said, "Well, my husband has been dying for me to ask you this: what rides can I go on at Disneyland when we go in two weeks?"  She looked at me, smiled, and said: "I say all of them. I was just there and I'm pretty much where you are." Umm, my doctor's pregnant and due at the same time as I am? That was news to me!  The doctor basically said that anything that would really jostle me or cause potential injury, like bumper cars, is out of the question.  This is the point of the pregnancy where the uterus has begun to extend beyond the safety of the pelvis, so injuries can harm the baby.  But anyway. I'm thrilled that I can go on my favorite rides at Disneyland, and Chris is even happier than I am because he has this whole plan to maximize Fast Passes and the Rider Swap option (when a child is too young to go on a ride, the adults can swap with each other and generally not have to wait in line).  I'm letting him implement Operation: Use One Fast Pass for Three Adults.

And did you know that Charlotte is old enough to go on the Matterhorn? Apparently, you only have to be 35" to ride, and she's about 35.5" tall right now.  I was stunned to read that, but I guess it makes sense, as it's more of a bobsled with each person riding in front of you than the other rides where you need your own seat.  We are so excited for Charlotte to experience Disneyland and for us to experience it in a completely different way.  I just hope that Charlotte can nap in her stroller since we plan to be there the entire day.

We're also going to the local waterpark tomorrow, courtesy of Chris' work.  The waterpark is already closed for the season, but Chris' work has bought out the place, so it should be a lot of fun. This week has been super hot - three days in a row of close to 100 degrees.  Tomorrow will still be hot, but a more reasonable 90 degrees. On Sunday, the temps will dip into the mid-70s. I can't wait!  I asked the doctor about the waterpark, and she was not as keen on that idea, again for the same reasons as the bumper cars.  But that's okay. Charlotte can't go on any of the slides either, so we'll hang out in the lazy river and the wave park.

I also am advised not to do any more bike riding for fear of falling (which in my case is a very real fear), which was very disappointing to me since I've been waiting for cooler weather to take Charlotte back in the trailer, or as she calls it, "my bike."  I'll have to nudge Chris to give her some rides from time to time.

Oh, and one more thing. For some reason, I am strongly resisting maternity clothes; I'm not exactly sure why. It's mostly my shirts that don't fit well anymore, but maternity tops are just too big and over-emphasize a mostly non-existent bump. I have pants that still fit and some shorts, but those are also getting pretty tight. Blerg. I guess I need to get over it and start embracing the maternity clothes. At least it will be sweater season soon - something to look forward to? Or maybe I just need a little retail therapy?

She Did It!

I've mentioned before that Charlotte likes to sit on her little potty, wipe herself with toilet paper, and shout, "I did it!"  Of course, up until now, she's never actually "done" anything.

Well, today I took to the baby boards with a question on how to get Charlotte to actually urinate in the potty.  Someone mentioned getting a little cup of warm water and pouring it down her belly button. I was willing to try anything, so tonight before bedtime, I tried it.  Charlotte thought it was really funny: "There's water down there!" but again, nothing happened. So I decided to give up for the night, get her in her diaper and get ready for bed.  But Charlotte started crying, "I wanna go pee pee in my potty," and nothing would convince her to go to bed.

Instead, I grabbed a few books, she sat on the potty, and I read to her. It was during the third book that Charlotte turns to me and says, "I going, Mommy. I going!" And sure enough, she went! We of course made a huge deal out of it, and Charlotte was so proud, she exclaimed over and over "I did it!"

Then she said, "I wanna do it again."

I said, "We'll go again in the morning."

Charlotte nodded. "Okay, Mommy. When I wake up, I go pee pee in the potty. Okay?"

Okay, Charlotte, okay. :)

And Now with Pictures!

The drama-free bedtime continues, thankfully, and Charlotte still hasn't figured out that she's able to leave her bed when unsupervised, which is fine by us!

Here are some pictures of the little girl in her big girl bed.

I snapped this photo as soon as I walked in the door, so it's a little blurry.

And this one was later in the day with her baby doll, whom Charlotte named "Bao."

 I bought the bed rails from a fellow mom in the Moms' Club I belong to - they attach underneath the mattress, and the sides can pop down for getting in and out more easily.

The quilt and sheets are from Pottery Barn Kids. We have another set of sheets that my mom got Charlotte for her birthday, which have a French theme (French poodle, Eiffel Tower, and a French café). They go really well with this quilt as well.

Finally, on the Sixth Night...

So we made the big transition to Charlotte's big girl bed.  It started on Friday when the twin mattress was delivered.  We put it in the future nursery since we didn't have the headboard and footboard assembled yet. I made the mistake of showing Charlotte the mattress, and that was it. She was obsessed.  Charlotte made me pretend to be sleeping so that she'd run out of the room, close the door, open it and say "Wake up Mommy!"  Then she grabbed a handful of books, and we read stories.

It shouldn't have been a surprise that putting her in the crib that night was not going to fly with her.  Charlotte started having a fit, but not saying why.  I pulled her out of the crib, took her downstairs with me to calm her down, and then tried again.  Same thing.  So I took her with my to our bed, turned off the lights, and we lay there for awhile.  She was still upset. Finally, I tried a new tactic. I said, "Charlotte, your friends from playgroup are coming over tomorrow. If you go to sleep, you'll see them in the morning." To which she replied, "I show Elissa my big bed?" The lightbulb went off, "Oh, is that what you want? To sleep in your new bed?" "Yeah, Mommy! I do!"  So Chris and I pulled the twin mattress into Charlotte's room, placed it on the floor next to her crib, and hurriedly put the new sheets on it.  Charlotte immediately went to sleep, and we didn't hear a word from her until 7:30 the next morning.  Naptime was equally easy.  We were astounded. Surely, it can't be this easy.

Saturday night: more crying ensues.  I give Charlotte the option of sleeping in her new big girl bed or going in the crib.  Neither seemed to be the right choice.  I tried lying down next to her, but she just wouldn't go to sleep. I was starting to nod off, while she was making duck signs with her hands.  When I tried to get up to go, the sobbing started up again.  Chris tried his hand at it and made his escape just as she was falling asleep.  Five minutes later she wakes up because she can't find her paci. Hysterics start up again, so we wind up just putting her in her crib. It's 10:30. She's never stayed up this late, ever.

Sunday night: still more crying.  We try to make our escape, thinking for sure she'll get up and run after us. This is the crazy part. Despite the mattress being on the floor, Charlotte never once gets up and comes out the door. She cries for about twenty minutes.  When I check on her later, her head is at the foot of the mattress, but she's still on it. She must have it in her head that she can't leave the bed once she's in it. It's cute but hilarious at the same time.

Monday night: about 15 minutes of crying.  Charlotte still never gets up off her mattress. Chris goes in the next morning to see her reading in bed and smiling.

Tuesday: we finally get around to disassembling the crib and assembling the new bed and the toddler rails I scored for $10.  Charlotte is so excited that she jumps around the room, calling "my bed, my bed!"  We read stories in bed, she cries for a few minutes, and goes to sleep shortly thereafter.  We find her sitting up at the foot of her bed.  She immediately gets off the bed, but it's clear she hasn't left the bed yet.

Tonight - night six: Charlotte and I read stories in bed. Chris chases Tandy out of the room for the fifth time in ten minutes, we each give Charlotte a hug and a kiss, we tuck her in, Chris chases Tandy out of the room, one more time Charlotte giggles, and says "nigh-nigh." And that's it. Silence. We shut the door, Chris does a silent dance and fist bump into the air, and we head downstairs.

Success!

(By the way, we have a baby gate set up to prevent Charlotte from going down the stairs in the middle of the night.  We close it each night,, but like I said, she doesn't leave her bed once she's in it. Crazy girl. I wonder how long it will last until she figures out that she has complete freedom to roam around).

Update and Second Trimester

I can't believe it's already September and I'm exactly six months from my due date! So I've already been out of the first trimester for one or two weeks depending on whose calculation of first trimester you use, but I find so little time to blog when I'm still so tired.  I'm still pretty tired, but feeling pretty good overall.  I would really, really, really like it if I didn't have to keep getting up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom.  That would be awesome.  And I did overdue it yesterday by jogging in the morning - I was feeling pretty crampy for the rest of the day.  The doctor's assistant said that I made my uterus mad and that I should refrain from running anymore.  I'm feeling much better today.

We had the genetic testing ultrasound last week, and it was pretty exciting to see the little peanut stretching his/her legs, moving his/her arm near his/her face, and being jolted by the ultrasound wand.  It really made me feel like I was actually going to have a baby again.  We have a ton of pictures, but I'm just too busy/lazy to actually scan them onto the computer.  Suffice it to say, we think he/she is adorable. :)

We've scheduled the "big" ultrasound for Monday, October 17, so we still have a little over five weeks to go.  I really don't feel like I'm hoping for one or the other - I truly mean it when I say that I would be equally happy with either a boy or a girl.  On the one hand, it would be fun to have a boy, since we already have a girl.  On the other hand, I love my little girl so much and would love to have another.  Chris would like to have a boy since he has all these dreams of playing basketball and baseball with him, but who knows? Charlotte could get into basketball  herself or we could have a boy who has no interest in sports.

As for Charlotte, we are working on our pre-baby list.  We bought her an adorable comforter, pillow sham, and sheet set from Pottery Barn Kids and just today, her new twin mattress and box springs were delivered.  We haven't set it up yet since Chris has to deconstruct the crib first to get it out of Charlotte's room.  We did let Charlotte sleep with her pillow last night, and she was in.love.  Who knew that a "big girl" pillow would elicit such excitement?  I think we're both scared about her actually being in a bed.  We have toddler rails, but I just know it's going to be hard to make her think of the bed as the place to sleep and not have fun.  When we picked out the mattress Charlotte had so much fun running around and flinging herself onto the mattresses. She'd lie down for a second and then pop up and say "Wake up! Wake up!"

We've been trying to coax the idea of getting rid of the pacifier, but it really hasn't worked.  We have a present for her if she agrees to let the "Paci Fairy" take away her pacifier, but to no avail.  Every day she says "Oh popeyes are for babies," but then at night she can't give it up.  Yes, she calls her pacifier a "popeye." We'll keep trying.

The other super fun thing we've started doing is taking Charlotte to gymnastics.  She's in the "tumble-bunny" class for one and two-year-olds, and she absolutely loves it.  It's a parent participation class until the kids turn three, so Chris and I generally take turns wrangling Charlotte.  Charlotte's getting really good at being patient enough to wait her turn on the trampoline (even asking us "my turn now?"), and last week, she even climbed the mini rock wall all by herself.  Charlotte's somersaults have also vastly improved in just three weeks.  The one bad part? She asks if we're going to 'nastics every.single.day, and gets upset when we tell her that it's not Monday yet.  But it sure is fun.

This weekend? I'm hosting Saturday playgroup at our house and then we're hoping to head up to the berry farm on Sunday to do some berry picking.  I've been wanting to go forever, but we had a late spring/winter so the berries weren't even ripe until mid-summer. 

List-mania

First, you know you're pregnant when you're so hungry on the 30 minute drive home from work that you have to stop at a cupcake place and proceed to eat an entire cupcake in your car when it's 95 degrees out.  Seriously, I really need some healthy snacks tucked in strategic places around my car so that I can snack on the way home.

Once I got home yesterday, I demanded that we go out for pizza. I was still starving, despite my cupcake indulgence. But I think the cupcake ultimately was a bad decision because once I ate some salad, I started feeling really nauseated and could barely eat any pizza. Oh well, pizza leftovers for lunch today!

I'm eleven weeks pregnant today.  The past two weeks have resulted in some major stomach expansion. I tried on some pants that fit two weeks ago, only to find that I could barely zip them up.  Luckily, I saved all of my maternity clothes, so out came that trusty belly band.  Also? What am I going to wear to our friends' wedding next week?  I have a dress that fit, albeit tightly, a week ago, but will it still fit a week from now?

Here's a picture of my favorite girl, who, by the way, astounds me by the new words and things she learns every single day.

Little diva says "Cheese" every time we put a camera in front of her, which makes the beginning of videos sound pretty funny

So anyway, I feel like I have a lot to do to prepare for Baby Berry Part Deux to arrive. Here is my list:

• Transition Charlotte to a "Big Girl Bed" - we have the headboard, footboard, toddler rails, and sheets, we just need a twin mattress and comforter. I'm excited about this, but all nervous
• Get Charlotte potty-trained. Seriously. This girl sits on her little potty and exclaims "I did it!," but never actually goes in the potty. She also demands a "tissue pwees" and wipes herself, even though she never goes.  It's pretty cute, but I'm about to get super serious about this one, even if it means extended naked time.
• Get rid of that damn pacifier!  We haven't had any more tantrums about it, but she's still as addicted as ever. She's also addicted to her little baby "banket" but at least that one's not ruining her teeth.
• New furniture for the baby's new room. We were lucky to get all of my old furniture for Charlotte's room, but this means we need a new dresser and bookshelf for the nursery.
• Blackout curtains. The nursery, which is currently unoccupied, gets pretty bright in the morning. The plantation shutters just don't do the job.
• New closet shelving for the nursery. The existing shelving is all white wire and is really impractical. It's hard to hang up anything. Plus it's ugly.
• A lot of organization overall. We have all of our suitcases in the nursery closet, so we'll have to find somewhere for those to go.
• Research strollers that have those handy toddler seats in the back.
• Find a full-time preschool/daycare for Charlotte to start at when she turns 3, thereby opening up her spot for the new Berry at Miss D's.

I guess that's it for now, but it's a lot on the brain, particularly the potty training! 

Five Years of Fun

Today is our fifth wedding anniversary. I am really astounded when I think about how fast five years has gone by.  It really has been a great five years.

This morning I was ticking off all the fun places we've been to in the past five years: St. Lucia for our honeymoon, France in 2007, Australia in 2008, Maui in 2010, Costa Rica in 2011.  This doesn't count all the ski trips to Tahoe and Mammoth, or the other road trips we've taken, or the trips Chris has accompanied me on for work (Orlando and D.C.).

Plus, of course, we've had a baby, which is by far the best thing we've ever done. And now we have a new one on the way! I'm so lucky to have such a great partner and friend as my husband. I couldn't ask for a better person to have joined me on this journey.  Chris is such a great dad too.

And now some pictures from our amazing wedding, which was such a special day.

The wedding party

The "berry" wedding cake, and a traditional French wedding cake

The Beautiful Serra Museum

And tonight, we're headed to The Kitchen for an amazing meal. I can't wait!

Shh...

Shh... Come close. I have a secret to tell you.

Actually, I'll let Charlotte tell you.

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She's going to be a big sister!

That's right, Baby Berry 2.0 is on his/her way!  She/he is due on March 9, 2012, so I'm about 9 1/2 weeks along right now.  It's still early, so we're not out of the woods yet, but I had my first prenatal appointment two weeks ago, during which I saw the baby and its strong and steady heartbeat.  They say the chance of miscarriage goes down once the baby's established a heartbeat, so I thought why not divulge it to my small readership?

(Oh and don't you love Charlotte's shirt? I ordered it from a seller on Etsy, purposely in a big size so that it will still fit when the baby comes.  And I can order a matching onesie. Yay! Those poor kids are going to hate being in matching clothes)

I've been feeling pretty good.  No morning sickness, just a crazy heightened sense of smell that has made me avoid the break room during lunch, and exhaustion that causes me to pass out in front of the TV at 8:30 or 9 each night. Seriously, Chris is annoyed that I can never make it through an episode of Mad Men without falling asleep, but I can't help it.  I'd say that apart from the sheer exhaustion, I feel  better even than last time, and I had a pretty easy first trimester the first go around.  The one difference is that I haven't been quite as hungry. Last time around if I didn't eat often enough I would get extremely queasy and shaky.  It's only just in the past couple of days that I've noticed that my appetite has considerably increased.

I still fit in all my clothes, which definitely was not the case when I was this far along with Charlotte. I guess it makes sense, since all my clothes I wear today were purchased post-Charlotte, and I'm down to my pre-pregnancy weight. Point is, I still have room to grow in my pants and shorts for at least a few more weeks.

As I mentioned above, I've had one prenatal appointment so far. It was pretty routine, until the doctor reviewed my information from the last pregnancy.  Because Charlotte was over 9 pounds at birth, I have to be monitored more closely for both regular diabetes and gestational diabetes.  I was so disappointed to learn that I'd have to do a one hour glucose test right away and then again at 28 weeks. So right after my appointment ended, I went down to the lab and drank the disgusting orange glucola drink.  The good news is that I passed it with flying colors, so no three hour test! What a relief.  Let's hope the trend continues at 28 weeks. Oh, and because of Charlotte's enormous birth weight, they're going to keep an eye on how large this baby is too.  It doesn't mean I'll have to be induced early (unless I have gestational diabetes), but it could play a role in how long they'll let me go after the due date passes.


I ask Charlotte every few days if she wants a baby sister or baby brother, and she pretty much consistently says baby sister.  When I ask her boy or girl, however, her response changes every time. Still, I think she's ready to have a baby to read books to.

Here she is reading a Strawberry Shortcake book about Strawberry Shortcake's little sister, Apple Dumpling.

Anyway, there's the exciting news that I've been wanting to share for a while. I just told my new boss today, and her reaction was much better than expected, so I figured there's no reason to keep it a secret. I am, however, going to hold off just a little while longer before posting on Facebook.

Happy Day to You!

Okay, so I really haven't been the best blogger lately.  And frankly, I don't have the energy to write a bunch right now.  I'm not saying more than work has been challenging lately. But suffice it to say, we've been busy and enjoying each and every weekend.

This weekend is exhausting just thinking about it - dinner with friends on Friday, playgroup Saturday morning, a birthday party for one of Charlotte's daycare friends on Saturday evening, the State Fair on Sunday, and then a pool party for the Moms' Club I belong to (and sometime on Sunday I'm expected to make cookies for said pool party!). I think I need to take a nap right now just to get ready.

Anyway, since I got Chris a Flip Video Camera for Father's Day, we've been taking a lot more videos.

Here is a video of Charlotte a few weeks ago on the way to the sprayground by our house, singing Happy Birthday. It's just too cute.

Two

We've been busy celebrating, but for now:

6/19/09

6/19/10

6/18/11 at her 2nd Birthday Party

Backyard Tweets

Some exciting things have been happening in our backyard that past few days.  For one, we had a solid patio cover installed.  The wooden lattice patio cover was rotting and the paint was flaking everywhere. In five hours, the builders had the old one down and the new one up, complete with a ceiling fan.

Excuse the lighting as I used my iPhone for all of these pictures.  Anyway, it looks amazing, and it will be so nice to enjoy Spring and Fall days when it's raining, but not super cold.  The fan will also make hot summer days more tolerable.

We also bought some new patio furniture now that we have a solid cover to protect them from the elements. 

I love the way it looks, and it definitely goes really well with the patio cover.

The biggest excitement in the backyard was on Sunday afternoon, however.  We came back from Home Depot, where we had purchased the outdoor fan and some tomato fertilizer for my tomato plant.  I was filling up my trusty watering pail (see in the above picture), when I saw this little guy around the wooden play set:

 I immediately yelled for Chris to stop watching the final game of the NBA finals and come help me.  First, it was clear that this chick was hurt in some way.  When we would get close to him, he would attempt to walk away, but would tip over sideways instead.  We also had no idea what kind of bird he was until he started moving.  His neck suddenly doubled in size, and my first thought was a great egret or some other wading bird.  I also burst into tears because, next to him, was a seriously decomposed chick.  Chris also said that he almost ran over another dead one earlier that day when he was mowing the lawns.  I was just heartbroken because he was just so little and helpless and clearly his mother was no longer around. In any case, he had most certainly fallen out of his nest in the tree above the play set and was in need of help.  Charlotte was also very concerned by the little guy and exclaimed, "Oh no! Quack quack fall down!"*  She also tried to feed him grubs that I dug up, but given that the chick was so little, he probably needed the food regurgitated, and I wasn't about to do that.

But we had no idea what to do or whom to call.  Chris was saying something along the lines of "this is life," but I wasn't willing to give up so easily. So I turned to Twitter. I'm not much of a Tweeter (Twitterer?), but I figured there's got to be someone out there who knows something about birds (read from the bottom up).

Then I found the Twitter account for International Bird Rescue, @IntBirdRescue, and tweeted a similar message. They responded really quickly and gave me a link of all the Wildlife Rescue organizations in California.  They also sent out my message to all of their 3,000 plus followers to solicit more advice.

I located the number for the Sacramento County wildlife rescue, but when I called, they were already closed for the day and weren't accepting any drop-offs until 10AM on Monday.  I didn't know what to do as I had to be at work by 10 due to a presentation I was supposed to give, and Chris was on his way to Portland for a work trip.


Meanwhile, I tweeted the above picture to @IntBirdRescue and asked if it was an egret. They thought it was and directed me to immediately put it in a ventilated box and get it to the nearest rehab center.  Chris captured the little guy, and we put him in the box in our bathroom with the door closed, so Tandy wouldn't be tempted to have a midnight snack.



Luckily, we are very close to the El Dorado County border, so when I met up with my Playgroup Moms for drinks that night, they suggested Sierra Wildlife Rescue in Placerville as many of them live in El Dorado Hills (just up the hill from Folsom).

All night long, I tossed and turned thinking about the poor little chick.  I was told not to give him food or water, so I kept having nightmares that he had died.  However, when I checked on him in the morning, he was fine.


I called Sierra Wildlife Rescue in the morning and I was put through to the "egret lady,"  who told me to get it up to Placerville as soon as I could.  They were open much earlier than the Sacramento County one, so I hightailed it up there at around 8:30.  The ladies were waiting for me when I arrived.  They were very nice, and I found out that everyone who works there are volunteers (and they're open 12 hours a day, 7 days a week).  I handed off the little guy, and all the volunteers ooh and aahed about how beautiful he is.  One lady actually thought it was a blue heron.  She asked me if we lived next to a rookery, as apparently herons like to nest in colonies.  I said, it's just a nest in a tall tree in our backyard and to my knowledge there's only one of them (how crazy would it be if a bunch of herons decided to all nest in our tree?!).

Since the verdict was still out on what kind of wading bird it was, I turned back to Twitter this time asking the Audubon Society of California:

I got confirmation this time that it's actually a green heron.  I had never heard of a green heron before, so I immediately did a Google Image search, and sure enough, that's what it is.  It's not endangered in any way, but it is rare to see them as the adults are usually only active at dusk and dawn.  This explains why we never saw the mother bird going to and from our tree (albeit the nest is up really, really high), and gives me more insight into the cracked teal blue eggs I found in the yard a few weeks ago (I was certain they were robin eggs).  This might be boring to the average person, but I thought it was amazing to have such a beautiful bird nesting in our backyard.

Picture of Green Heron and Chicks from PointsinFocus.com

In any case, I am feeling pretty good about social media right now. Thanks to Twitter, I was able to find out exactly what to do, and I hope I saved a life. It's also really amazing to think that there are such kind-hearted souls out there who do nothing all day but nurse little animals back to health. Kind of renews your faith in people.

*Since then, Charlotte has gone outside each day asking "Where'd quack quack go, Mommy? Where'd quack quack go?"

Planes, Trains and Weddings

This has been a strange and busy past few weeks.  Strange in that it's June, and it feels like February. We've had rain for days, mixed with some days of thunder, lightning and hail.  There have been days where the temperature didn't get up above 65. In late May and early June. This is unheard of!  Where is summer? At this rate, our pool will never be warm enough to swim in.

Okay, moving on.

We had a great time during our trip to Ann Arbor, Michigan for my cousin Shannon's wedding.  Traveling there was a little tough because our flight was at 6AM, and Charlotte napped for a total of one hour on the plane.  She was pretty upset when we first got to the rehearsal dinner, but once she had some food, she rallied and made friends with everyone.

The day of the wedding was gorgeous.  The ceremony was at a beautiful old church right off of the University of Michigan Campus.  I was worried about how Charlotte would do with the time change and a morning wedding, but luckily they had childcare during the ceremony.  Here are a few pictures that the babysitter/photographer took of Charlotte and two other young wedding guests (one is Shannon's cousin Sawyer).



Charlotte in her cutie dress



I was a tad annoyed that they let Charlotte play in the mud sand as it got on her shoes, but luckily not on her dress. However, it sure beat a wriggling toddler during a beautiful wedding ceremony.

The reception was at a country club close to where Shannon lives, and it was really fun as well. It was great to see old friends of the family (I haven't been to Michigan since I was in high school), all of whom doted on Charlotte. They had a photo booth set up, which was a blast.  I let Charlotte choose which hat for each of to where, and this is what she chose:

Mimi and Cha-Cha

Charlotte did really well at the reception, and eventually we got her to take a nap in her stroller for about forty-five minutes.  And because it was an afternoon wedding, we were able to go back to the hotel, swim in the indoor pool, eat dinner at a loud but yummy German restaurant, and have Charlotte sleep in my parents' room while we saw a 10 pm showing of Bridesmaids.

And of course, how can I not show a picture of the radiant bride and her new husband, Joe? They just looked ecstatic all day long.

Photo by Mark Bogarin Photography

The next day we walked around the U of M campus.  My mom and I wanted to get Charlotte some Michigan clothes, but Chris wouldn't allow it.  He likened it to someone giving me Stanford apparel, so we had to pass. 

We had about 10 minutes to grab a few snacks at the famous Zingerman's Deli before rushing to the Amtrak Station to board the train to Chicago.  Charlotte loved the idea of being on a train, and once again, barely got any sleep at all.  When we left Ann Arbor, the sun was out and it was beautiful and warm.  When we got to our stop in Hammond,  Indiana, Chris' mom was waiting for us, and it was pouring down rain and hailing, some hail so big it was at least golf ball-sized.  It was pretty crazy getting Charlotte, and all of our luggage off the train in the pouring rain.  We were all soaked and recovering in the car while Charlotte shouted "Bye bye choo choo. Bye bye choo choo."

Our time in Chicago was brief, but also a lot of fun.  Charlotte immediately took to Gamma and Gampa, and has been asking where Gamma is ever since we got back.  We went to the park, and saw the ducks.  We also went to the Museum of Science and Industry, where Charlotte saw more Choo-Choos and planes up close. MSI is normally a lot of fun to visit, but it was overrun that day by school children.  Imagine hundreds of children, who can literally taste the start of summer vacation running around with a handful of chaperones. To me, it was a nightmare.  I get really uncomfortable in crowds, so it was a relief to escape to the under 10 Idea Zone (we have pictures, I just haven't uploaded them yet) where Charlotte actually had room to run around and explore without fear of getting pummeled by a bunch of tweens. We also had a little time to visit with Charlotte's Aunt Jennele and Cousin Anya who adored seeing Charlotte.

The onlyreally crazy part of the trip was actually the return trip home.  We got to the airport almost two hours before our scheduled departure.  After waiting in the so-called express bag drop-off line and then the longest security line I've ever seen, we only had 15 minutes before our flight was scheduled to depart.  Without even putting on Charlotte's shoes, I grabbed her and quite literally ran past 25 gates, only to hear once I got to our gate that due to inclement weather, our plane would be delayed. And it was delayed by three hours because of lightning and our plane being diverted to Indianapolis.  This actually ended up being a blessing in disguise because we wouldn't have been able to get food for Charlotte otherwise. She (and I) also burned some energy walking up and down the moving sidewalks about 20 times. 

Coming up in the next few weeks: more wedding celebrations and someone's 2nd birthday! Now if only the weather would begin to act more like June (I know I'll regret writing this when it's 110 degrees outside a month from now).

Only One Until Two!

Unbelievably, Charlotte is 23 months today! Twenty-three months! I feel like this year has gone by so much faster than any other one before it. I keep asking her how old she will be, and she always says “one.” I kind of wish I could keep her frozen at this age forever.
There was a point where I was counting the number of words Charlotte can say. Well, suffice it say that I have officially lost count.  Charlotte speaks more than 100 words, and understands hundreds more.  And now she is speaking in more and more sentences, and stringing adjectives to describe her words. For example, "big cup" "balloon up high."

Here are a few of her favorite words/phrases:

• It’s mine! (definitely not one of my favorite phrases)
• I do it – or I wanna do it! Also, anytime she figures anything out on her own she says “I did it!” and beams her adorable smile.
• Kiss? (if Chris or I get an “owie” she will offer to kiss it, which is just so cute)
• Okay? (if she thinks we’re hurt, she’ll ask if we’re okay, which of course, is what we ask her all day long)
• Kitty down; Kitty, No!; Kitty, where are you?
• I wanna watch Ses’me Stree (the only show we let her watch, and albeit, not very often)
• C’MON Mommy!

Things she loves:

• Planes
• Trains
• Dogs (she still calls them woof-woofs and gets excited anytime she hears a neighbor’s dog barking)
• Cats
• Singing songs – Twinkle, Twinkle; the Itsy Bitsy Spider (complete with gestures); a silly French song my mom made up; Row Your Boat, Ring Around the Rosy (she twirls around and yells “Ashes, We all fall doowwwwnn!”)
• Tomatoes, or as she calls them – May-mos
• Mickey Mouse (I don't know how this started as we have nothing in our house with Mickey on it, but somehow Charlotte knows – probably from daycare. Every time she sees his face, she yells out "Mi-mee").
• Cake and cookies - "I want cake." "I want cookie." (it doesn't matter what time of the day).



We got Charlotte a training potty, which she enjoys sitting on and asking for "tisss-yoo, " but we're a ways off before she'll be anywhere near ready to be pottytrained.  We'll have to work on it some weekend and just deal with the messes that will inevitably ensue.

Last week, we took Charlotte to her first dentist appointment. It s a pediatric dental practice, and it was great. The waiting room has a separate playroom for young children to play in, and the best part is that a train goes all around. Charlotte loved watching it go by and would flit from room to room following it. The dental hygienist was so sweet, she showed Charlotte all the tools she was going to use and let her try them out. Charlotte did so well– she had no qualms whatsoever about strangers poking and prodding her teeth – the only thing she didn’t like was when the chair went backwards, as she hates that feeling (which is why she does not like floating on her back in the pool). At the end, they gave her a Thomas the Tank Engine toy, a Hello Kitty sticker, and a balloon. Pretty much best.day.ever for Miss Charlotte. She plays with her Rosie Tank Engine every day and gives it a kiss before she goes to bed.

Charlotte’s teeth are in great shape, but the dentist and hygienist could immediately tell that she’s been sucking on a pacifier. Apparently, Charlotte has a severe underbite that may or may not correct itself – she has to shift her lower teeth to one side or the other in order to chew. They recommend discontinuing the paci as soon as possible, but well, that’s easier said than done.

Lately, Charlotte has shown an unhealthy obsession with her pacifier, which she calls her “popeye.” We only let her use it when she’s sleeping, so she’s been asking to go “nigh-nigh” during the day, and throwing epic tantrums when we don’t let her. We tried a trick I read about online that said to cut off the nipple of the pacifier, so that the child will reject it. I tried that, and when I handed it to her, she looked at it and said “oh no!” over and over again and started wailing. The dentist recommends putting a hole in the pacifier to make it less desirable, so I guess I’ll try that next. We’re heading to Michigan tomorrow for my cousin’s wedding and then to Chicago to see Chris’ family, so I think we’ll work on dropping the pacifier once we get back. It’s definitely a prop for her, and one that has gone on long enough. All I can say is that it’s not going to be pretty when we finally wean her of her beloved popeye.

All in all, this is such a fun age. She’s getting so independent and wants to do everything herself, but at the same time, we are still her favorite playmates (except for maybe her Mimi). When she plays on her play set in the backyard she always demands that I join her – “Mommy, UP!” and when Chris is out of the room, she yells over and over “Daddy! Daddy? Daddy, where are you?” I know that soon she’ll prefer to play with other kids, but for now, she’s all ours. And we’ll enjoy every second.