happy wednesday

sometimes they're friends...  :) 

14 months!!

Despite all my complaints, Charlotte continues to grow up and become a toddler right before my eyes.  The nerve of her. 

I don't even know how to sum up Charlotte at 14 months.  

She's in to everything.  We only make her wear shoes because otherwise she'll pull her socks off.  She tries and tries but she can't get her shoes off (yet).  So she likes to stop by her bin in the kitchen and pull out her other shoes and crawl around the house with them.  I guess they make good toys?

She still absolutely adores her brother and wants to do everything he's doing.  Here they are spying on daddy downstairs. 

She's a little mimic too.  We've all been sick and Colin and I both still have coughs.  Whenever we cough, she pipes up with a little imitation cough and then gives us this devilish smile afterwards.  

She still loves to eat more than almost any person I've ever met.  I recently found out that daycare has to deliver her two lunches or else she'll steal her friend Brenna's lunch off her tray!  She's still very adventurous… she has had (and loved) enchiladas, indian food, chili ….  and she really likes pizza:

Just like her brother, 14 months has arrived and she's still not walking.. but she races around our house full-speed on this walker.  Tell me this kid couldn't walk if she wanted to: 

Charlotte is just so smart and funny and sociable.  When she catches your eye and smiles, you can't help but laugh.  She seems a lot more fearless than her brother at this age too.  She can definitely hold her own and won't hesitate to plow over or into whatever she wants.  She is just so much fun and we love her more and more every day.

another preschool Colin brag

I'm so proud of our big preschooler.  Today Ms. Mel sent me this picture of Colin working on cutting his worksheet and mentioned how far he had come in his coloring and using scissors.  His preschool classroom has been so good for him.  He can count to ten in Spanish, practices writing every day, knows all his letters and is starting to sound words out.  We are lucky he has such a great teacher and that he loves going to school and learning.  Such a smart, big boy!  

colin-isms part II

before I forget these recent gems...

Colin was reporting to me on everything Charlotte was doing that bothered him.  I told him, "mind your own business, Colin."  Response:   " I don't have any business to mind!"

I was attempting to use the bathroom in peace.  Colin strolls on in, shuts the door behind him, and sits on the floor.  I say, "what are you doing?"  Response:   "I wanted you to have some privacy with me."

Last night he wanders into the room and casually informs me, "Mommy, Earth, the place where we live, looks so peaceful from space."   I say, um, what?   Response: "But looks can be deceiving!"  
Later Mike informs me this is a quote from a volcano video he's become obsessed with.  He memorizes everything!

cool kid

Once in awhile, Colin's teacher will email me pictures of Colin during the day at school.  It makes my day to see what he's up to.  These are from yesterday when the weather was finally warm enough for them to play outside.  Cool guy who insisted on taking his shades to school:

Colin and his BFF, Teddy...

mommy-colin day at the symphony

Colin and I took a fun trip to Indy yesterday for a special kids' day at the symphony.  It was so cool.  They had one room where kids could pick up and (attempt to) play violins.  Colin had a blast with this tiny Colin-sized violin....

 This is probably not proper form.  I don't know, I'm a woodwind kind of girl.

He really enjoyed plucking the strings "like a guitar."

They had another room where a bass player was playing songs and talking about his instrument.  I had to pull him out of there when he kept yelling about how "that vase is taller than my daddy!  That guy is not as tall as my daddy though!" 

Here we are waiting "patiently" for the performance to begin.  They did a good job of playing fun pieces and then telling stories and getting the kids involved in between.  He started to get a little bored by the end, but you should have seen his face light up when they started the finale - the Star Wars theme! 

Afterwards we enjoyed a little chocolate gelato in the lounge.

and we spent some time walking around and checking out the sights on the Circle.  He was in awe of the "super tall" buildings, though I was reminded that none were as tall as "that Serious Tower in Chicago."  

I love this picture.  Little guy in the big city.

Colin was also excited to see these "big letters" on the Circle.  Sorry, G. 

Though he's never been our most musically-adept child, I was hoping he'd have some interest in the cool music and the instruments, and he really did seem to enjoy the music and the fun trip to Indy.  So did I!

little gymnasts

We hit open gym Saturday morning.  Charlotte's first time at the gym!

Though she looks a little sad here, she had a blast on the trampoline.  She'd sit and wait for big kids to bounce by her and make the trampoline bounce... when no one was bouncing, she'd rock herself and try to make it bounce.. so cute! 

Like a natural gymnast, she quickly ripped her socks off and then carried them around with her. 

 Colin reunited with his favorite toy
 

Charlotte wanted in on it too....

all the other pics I have of colin turned out something like this:

meanwhile Charlotte went around stealing balls from other kids and tossing them around....

after some practice moves on the low beam, she was ready for the big time...

return of the ball pit

This was weekend #435 in a row of snowy weather (feels like it anyway) and yet again we were trapped in the house all weekend with two bored crabby kids.  So during naptime, we resurrected the ball pit from Colin's first birthday party.  It was a hit. 

At first Charlotte wasn't sure what to think.  She decided to carefully examine the balls before committing to climbing in. 

But she quickly decided to dive in headfirst.

And yes, those are pigtails!  Big girl!  (I told you we were bored)

She was having lots of fun!  

But things got WAY more fun when Colin got up from his nap.

(Colin came out of his room and saw the ball pit and just started saying, over and over, "I remember that!  I remember that!"  Then he ran downstairs and jumped right in)

A couple of short videos of the lady entertaining herself.

mommy's little helper

I had a very "helpful" little helper yesterday as I attempted to load the dishwasher....

Don't worry.. they were all butter knives...  but I am a little concerned about her psycho killer stance here...

did you know there were plates in here mom?

admiring her work...

this is about when I gave up too.