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.