The end of this pregnancy is looming dangerously close. Less than 45 days. Though I have done virtually nothing to prepare for the arrival of the baby, I am taking advantage of every second I have left with Charlotte as my only child. Does that count as nesting?
Charlotte's personality has exploded lately. She cracks me up all day long. She is also starting to challenge me and get me thinking about parenting techniques. Her vocabulary is unbelievable. She knows easily over 200 words. I can know this because she has a book of 100 words/pictures and she can correctly identify every single picture. Beyond that, she talks all day long.
Yesterday I went in to get her in the morning and she jumps up and points at my head, "earrings! off! Mommy put away!" And she was right, I had been wearing earrings the day before and now I wasn't.
She LOVES her baby dolls. We can't leave the house without at least 2 babies (one specific doll comes everywhere, and then usually that baby needs a friend.) We have also have had to bring the baby stroller on quite a few occasions. She spends most of her independent play time rocking, kissing, changing and playing with her baby. She puts blankets on them and says, "nigh nigh baby, shhh" then sings them a song to sleep. When she says "shhh" she puts her finger up to her mouth. Then, "wake up! Diaper poopy, pee-eww! Change diaper, clean bottom."
She is really hindered by clothing and much prefers nudity. If I take any article of clothing off of her, she insists that entirety of her outfit be removed. I take her hat off and she says, "shirt off! shorts off! shoes off! diaper off! NAKED!" At home, no problem; grocery store, different story. She also likes it when other people are naked. When Jer comes home from work, she runs to the bedroom and tells him, "daddy change work clothes, daddy naked!" Even taking off a jacket or sweater qualifies as naked in her book, and gets her very excited.
She is still my dream sleeper; sleeping a solid 12 hours at night or more and a 3 hour nap everyday. And you don't need to tell me (though everyone does) I don't expect to get so lucky the second time around.
She eats pretty well, but is definitely getting more picky. I don't know how she does it, but she can identify a dessert dish as dessert even if she has never seen/tasted it before.
When she sees a camera, she runs over and yells "cheese!" When she sees the phone, she grabs it and starts talking to all her favorite people. She especially loves to FaceTime. She puts things around her neck and declares, "necklace" or around her waist, "belt."
She loves to sing and dance. She requests specific songs all day long. She comes over to me, "It's music time!" (which she got from one of her toys) Then requests about 10 songs to sing. A little while ago she kept asking to sing "low, low." Despite my best efforts, I could not figure out what she was talking about. Finally she says, rather fed up, "low, low, butt!" and then it dawned on me. Row, Row, Row Your Boat! "Low, Low, Butt" has earned its spot in her top 5 favorite songs.
Her observation skills continue to amaze me. She knows where Jeremy is going based on his clothing. He had a frisbee game last night and Charlotte noticed his clothes, "daddy, freebee. Go Go Daddy!"
She mimics anything and everything you do, from the way you sit to the words you say.
Lately, she has started yelling, "NO" at her friends when they try to share a toy with her. I correct her by saying, "Uh-oh! We need to be nice to our friends. Let's use kinds words." Now she says, "NO! Nice friends, kind words." Progress?
For the most part she is really easy-going, but she certainly has opinions about things. When she makes a plan and you interrupt her execution of that plan, she completely falls apart. Right now we are learning to pick our battles. Sure, you can bring your doll stroller in the car. No, sorry, you can't be naked in WinCo.
She goes on a plane for the first time next week. Jeremy and I are beyond apprehensive. I'll let you know how it goes!
So, for the next 4-6 weeks, I will be rocking her just a little longer, kissing her just a few extra times, and reading just one more book. I have been so blessed to be her mommy these past 20 months. This season is coming to a close, way too quickly, but a new and exciting season is right around the corner. Can't imagine more love in this house, but we're about to find out!
