Sitting Pretty on the Potty

Sitting pretty on the potty Charlotte says "There is only one towel" - referring to the bath towel hanging on one of two hooks on the wall. "Where is the other towel?" I ask her. "It is in Eema and Daddy's bathroom" she says. "What is that?" she asks. "A hook" I reply. "That is for another towel" she reminds me.

A smart observation on the bathroom world around her.

Interpretting Abstract Art

Charlotte has been pointing out the explanations of her abstract tempra paint art. "That is a shoe". "That is a foot". "That is a letter". I'm sure that she sees all of this as she interprets her art for us after it has sufficiently dried, returned from preschool and is hung proudly on our living room wall near the front door.

She has been using wide looping strokes in painting 1.5x2.5 foot papers in preschool. The time and effort that she extends will be evident in a future post of an actual picture. Give me a day or two to get it posted.

My little artist:)

Corn: Misunderstood

It seems that many readers think that Charlotte permanenly boycotted all other foods besides corn. Nope, Thanksgiving night she ate some turkey with her corn and then the next day she was back to cornflakes with bannanas for breakfast. Lunch was a vegetable soup and a bagel at Barry's Bagel in Toledo, Ohio and so on for other meals. There is about one night a week that she boycotts food. But, then again, we have our "off meals" too.

Seeve

David's PHD advisor was Steve F. We saw Steve and stayed with his ex in Toledo for the second part of Thanksgiving weekend. Charlotte just adores him. "Seeve come do dinner"..."Seeve go to synagogue with us"....Seeve read me a book".

Well, what took the cake was when I told Charlotte that we'd have bathtime at home on Sunday evening. She said, "Seeve take a bath with Charlotte at home". Nope Charlotte, no older bathmates for you!

More Corn

Good Morning Charlotte! We're going to change your diaper, get dressed and eat breakfast.
"I want more Corn," she says without skipping a beat.
Ah, the power of corn.

Corn for Thanksgiving

Can you belive that Charlotte picked Thanksgiving to have one of her weekly hunger strikes?! All she wanted was the canned corn niblets. Gosh, after all that cooking: turkey, sweet potatoes, stuffing, mashed potatoes and rolls...all she wanted was the canned item: CORN.

And the Dish Ran Away with the Spoon

Those Nursery Rhymes are sure a catchy thing for Charlotte. Nana and Pops gave Charlotte a felt board with "NR" characters. So, we've just about become all sung out on all of them: Jack n Jill, Eensie Weensie Spider and Cow Jumped Over the Moon. She has become quite attached to the Dish and the Spoon felt picture. Why that picture? Noone will ever know. What about the little dog that laughed? Gotta love this kid!

Long Day in the Car

Four hours turned into Eight as we battled our way through sleet, snow and rain to Ann Arbor, Michigan. God bless Charlotte for being an excellent passenger. We did feel a little less loved as she fixated her ride with "Don's house, don's house" rather than "are we there yet?" We are at her beloved Don's. She only goes to my parents the way she goes to him. Friendship - ain't it grand?! Be thankful for what you have...Happy Thanksgiving.

Memory like Dorie

You know Dorie from "Finding Nemo", right? Well, sometimes that short term memory loss is a good thing. Listen to your "out" from situations when your little one does not key into things that a bit of that memory loss helps out:

We went with Charlotte on a short shopping trip for some DVDs to add pleasant time to our six hour trip to Toledo. Charlotte was so excited to help pick the movies and insisted that we'd watch one when we got home. I'd have prefered that she wait til we went on the trip but, Oh well.

After Pajama time, getting her milk/dry cereal..she announced that she wanted to watch "Baby Einstein" animals. Yay, Dorie....uh, Charlotte...good going!

Lyrics

The library is a wonderful source of new, old and all around interesting music. Yesterday I borowed a CD of classic "folk" music for and sung by children. Charlotte enjoyed "Tamborine Man" (Melanie), "Puff the Magic Dragon" (P,P and M), "Happiness Runs" (Cat Stevens) and "Shower the People" (James Taylor). The CD is great for both mother and child.

This morning when she woke up, she asked for "Tamborine Man" when she found her tamborine in the living room. In the car, she sang "Puff the Magic Dragon" along with the lyrics' chorus. And then, she asked for "Shower the People". It is exciting and fun to share familiar lyrics with my little girl.

Babysitter Idol

Rachel is Charlotte's most beloved babysitter (and only). Yesterday, when inspecting her itchy scab on her knee, Rachel got a little copycat going. Charlotte dropped to her knees and announced, "I get a boo boo just like Rachel".

Ahhh, the beginning of peer pressure and outside influences. Well, Rachel is way cool...she could do much worse :)

Video Advantage

Last Spring a group of adventurous mommies held a garage sale to rival all garage sales. At the end of our very successfull day a video was passed to me with the warning to never let her daughter see it again. Well, now that we know "The Wheels on the Bus" video by heart...obviously Charlotte does as well. There are four segments and we allow her to watch two at any given sitting.

So, to the point....
In her highchair yesterday she began to recite "Jack and Jill" nursery poem. Our eyes widened as she recited each line and finally reached the end.

Yes, there is some advantage to watching vidoes...even annoying ones.

I Don't Care for That

My grandmother taught me that saying "I hate that" or "That is disgusting" was not nice. I guess that Charlotte figured this out on her own... While at the Art Institute of Chicago on Saturday she seemed to dislike the Picasso paintings greatly and announced with tears, "I don't care for that". My little art critic!

4am Changing

Charlotte's tummy has been a bit under the weather. So, when neighbors rudely doing laundry at 4am woke me...I changed her diaper. On the changing table my sleeping daughter says: "Daddy has panties". My smiling resopnse, "Nope hun, Daddy has FOTL underwear." Tee hee hee:)

Sounds from the Back Seat

"It is a beautiful wonderful day Eema" she says on a mildy sunny but mostly cloudy day. I've been called an eternal optimist and that occasionally it is to a fault. GOD, I hope that she continues to think this way. It is SUNNY with some clouds.

Byan

The name retention on this kid is astounding. She remembers all the names of the kids from our current playgroup and some of their moms. She knows the names of most of the kids from our former playgroup in Baltimore and some of their moms. She knows the name of the guy at the library who does storytime - "Byan" (Briant). She knows her grandparents and some of her aunts and uncles. Good for her!

Animal Report

Wasn't there but David tells me that upon their return from the park Charlotte reported to her animals. There they sat on the couch and she told them "do not worry, I'm home from the park now." We've all got to care for our youngin's

Trains

Isn't it interesting that when a girl gets trains that it is Tom Boy'ish. What do you think?

Charlotte loves playing with the trains at the children's museum so Aunt Emmy's birthday money went to getting her a wooden train set. She loves every moment of moving the trains around the tracks and rearranging the animals, people and houses.

Ah, the pleasure of a new toy.

Good Charlotte Mommy

Charlotte is such a good mommy to her animals. She usually cares for them quite dearly until she decides to hurl them in the air while dancing around.

Today, Charlotte was preparing for her naptime and placed her Bunny on the couch, covererd her and gave her the same back rub as she gets before sleep. Counting, "one, two, three, rubbing for Bunny" and then skipped happily into her room.

Love for all overflows out of her pores.

Sharing and Caring

Today was our first INDOOR playgroup and we hosted at our house. Charlotte only made one noise of protest when it came to sharing her toys with Ava, Thomas, Isabel, Annika and Avay. When Ava picked up Bunny...Charlotte let her know that it was hers in a kind way. Good for you little girl. Friends are special people.

Just love my birthday cupcake! 

The songs I like to sing

Savta taught Charlotte "Rain, rain, go away". Charlotte is not too fond of rain and always says that rain is "all done". She enjoyed learning "Rain, Rain, go away". I'll have to use this song to calm the little human when the rain is all around like today.

BTW, she ate babaganouj, cucumbers with yogurt and mint, spiced rice and some pita at a Mediteranean restaurant for lunch. Yum.