pigtails and picture books

After two years of infancy, Charlotte Jane is finally starting to look like a toddler.  The pigtails help with that, but she has also gotten taller and much sturdier in the past six weeks.  It must be a growth spurt or something!  Despite the fact that she is still wearing size 9 - 12 month clothes, she is looking more her age.

She has recently developed a love of "reading," which consists mainly of pulling every book off the shelf, flipping through a few pages, tossing that book, digging through the stack for another, and repeating the process.  She especially loves books that can be sung to her ... Hush Little Baby, Twinkle, Twinkle, and Hickory, Dickory Dock are her favorites.

Yep, there's no denying that she is most certainly behaving like a toddler.

And, folks, toddlerhood is exhausting.  Why didn't someone remind me of that?

Having a toddler  is also a lot of fun!  Charlotte is so funny.  She cracks herself up ... and I laugh along.   She smiles with her whole face and has the best giggle!

Just today she found a pair of Natalie's sunglasses ... made faces in the mirror and played peek-a-boo ... just so pleased with herself!  I managed to catch her in the glasses ... with her mouth wide open!

camouflage

This morning NHV came into our room - as she does most every morning - and hung out while Chad and I were "transitioning" from blissful sleep to the realities of caring for two young children for 12 hours straight.  Trust me, it requires a transition.

Anyway, our sweet four year old was sitting on the floor chatting away ... telling us about her dreams from the night before, asking about our plans for the day, ... the usual onslaught of NHV banter.

For about 30 seconds it got quiet.

And then we heard, "Mommy.  I picked a booger from my nose because it was giving me a distracting feeling."

To which I replied, "Well, where did you put this booger?"

"On the carpet."

Yuck!  "You need to get a tissue for that booger."

"But I can't see it.  It's the same color as the carpet.  It's a camouflage booger!"

Chad is laughing hysterically at this point.

And I would much rather be sleeping than having this conversation, so I reply, "The fact that there's a booger wiped on the carpet is giving me a distracting feeling!"

At least I can safely say that Natalie has a firm grasp on the concept of camouflage, which is a survival strategy ... so that's a good thing, right?

Now I need to go vacuum and hope to capture a cleverly disguised booger!

the fruit snack incident

CJV has recently developed an appetite for fruit snacks.
You know those little pouches of chewy, gelatin-like "fruit" snacks.
She loves them ... like she once loved yogurt melts.
It's serious.  The sight of a fruit snack pouch makes her so very happy!

Which is awesome.  Except today, I made a mistake.

I opened the pouch and dumped the fruit snacks onto the high chair tray.

I thought I was doing her a favor.
I thought wrong.

She flipped out!  And Charlotte doesn't ever really flip out.
But she was not happy with my actions and did a good job of expressing it.

And since it was {clearly} my fault, I quickly picked up each one and put them back into the pouch.  Once she noticed what I was doing, she started to calm down and just watched.

{I should've known she as formulating a plan of her own.}

I handed her the {newly filled} fruit snack pouch.

She smiled that fabulous full-face smile of hers.

And then she turned that pouch upside down and proceeded to dump the fruit snacks onto her tray.

Note to self. Charlotte wants to be the one to dump her fruit snacks onto her tray. What was I thinking?!

She handed me the now empty pouch and said, "Yucky!"

Which was her way of saying, "Could you be a doll and throw this away for me?"

She also repeated my directions, "chew, chew," before she popped a fruit snack in her mouth.

I LOVE that sassy little peanut of mine!

sweet charlotte jane

 i found my sweet two year old at the top of the stairs

playing with big sister's dollies

and, boy, was she pleased with herself!

she was also plenty pleased

to see me ... and my camera ... "cheese!"

and then she sang a little

dolly song ... la, la, la ...

oops!  the dollies fell down ... and 

I could swear she said, "ashes, ashes"

and I know that was followed by 

"uh-oh" and "sorry"

charlotte is going down, too

love this booty-scoot she does!

one last sweet (yet aloof) pose

A Mash-Up: Ham Casserole

Has your friend ever offered you a big hunk of yummy baked ham?
Yeah, well, it was a first for me, too.

That ham made me think of another friend (the one, the only Chitown Momma) who shared a meal plan one time that involved a baked ham and a great leftover recipe.

Have you ever made up your own recipe?
That's not really my thing either, however ...

While I was digging up that recipe from Chitown Momma, I was listening to the Glee Soundtrack, which made me think of BJ Mama over at For What It's Worth (but I digress) ... but, more importantly, those ubber-talented, oh-so-cute high school kids reminded me of the power of the Mash-Up!

Creamy Ham Casserole meet Easy Ham Bake:

Filling:

• 2 cups chopped ham
• 2 cups of broccoli florets
• 1 cup of chopped carrots
• 8 ounces of onion and chive cream cheese
• 10 ounce can of cream of mushroom soup
• 1 cup of milk

Crust:

• 2 cups Bisquick
• 1.5 cups milk (whatever you have on hand)  

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and spray a 9 x 13 dish with non-stick stuff.
2. Prep the veggies and stick them in the microwave for about four minutes.
3. Mix together all of the "filling" ingredients.  Pour it all into the baking dish.
4. Mix the two crust ingredients together and pour it over the top of the filling.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

gettin' her bounce on!

Look what grammy and grampy sent for CJV's 2nd Birthday!

It was confusion at first sight ...

And love at first bounce!

The box arrived the day before Thanksgiving, more than a week before the "big" day.  But we (the grown ups) couldn't wait!  Mainly because the reviews indicated that it was really hard to put together; a few couples even mentioned divorce ... so we were very curious!  Chad didn't have any trouble, and I just stayed out of his way!

Despite the fact that it is somewhat large and brightly colored and sitting in the middle of our living room, the girls LOVE it!  And I love that they can burn some {it's-wet-and-cold-so-we-can't-be-at-the-park} energy!
 

The best part is ... the trampoline is a toy the girls can share!  While they typically take turns, I've caught them bouncing {and giggling} together a few times, too ...

it's just a walk in the park

it's officially fall in the NW

is it rainy?  yep.

chilly?  of course.

beautiful?  that, too!

Those hours between end of nap and dinnertime are perfect for walks to our neighborhood park!

 

CJV is happiest when walking sprinting down the sidewalk with reckless abandon. She giggles non-stop ... except when she does stop to pick up a berry or a rock-y or just to examine a crack in the sidewalk.  In that regard, my little peanut is such a typical toddler!

She also loves to chase after her big sister ... and crunch the leaves with her {fake} Ugg boots!

 

My sweet daredevil will attempt to CLIMB anything in her path.  She is fearless and dangerous and just so cute!

On the rare occasion I catch her sitting still, her bright blue eyes and sweet smile just melt my heart!

And then there's my crazy, silly Natalie.  It seems I take a lot less pictures of her these days.  Mainly because she is so aware of the camera.  I love this shot because it is so her ... wild tufts of hair, bright blue eyes, and mouth open because she is saying something ... probably telling me a story or asking me a question (or 12).

While the girls played, I occupied myself with a little project ... using leaves to form the first letters of their names ... and now my goal is to do something like this for each season!

 

There is nothing like watching my girls grow up together!