Rebellion, that is. Charlotte is such a little rebel! And i admit i'm pretty sucktastic at the discipline stuff because i usually just laugh when she does things to be willfully "disobedient".
Example: Yesterday we went swimming at the Y after work, and there was a little girl there who turned 2 about 6 weeks before Charlotte, but she didn't seem as steady on her feet or as comfortable in the water. The little girl toddled over toward Charlotte in the shallow water where it was only about 2 or 3 inches deep, and her mom stopped her and said, "Can you wave to the baby?" Charlotte waved. LOL, good for her for following directions.
The little girl toddled closer with her arms out kind of like a zombie, and her mom stopped her again. Mom said, "No, don't touch the baby." And here's where Charlotte's rebellious side showed right through. She stuck out her finger and very deliberately touched the other girl on the shoulder. Like she was trying to get her attention. i seriously almost fell over backward laughing. i suck at "mom".
Or maybe the woman from the Positive Discipline class was right when she said kids just can't handle "don't". They hear "don't touch the baby" and hear "mumble TOUCH the BABY!" But i almost like thinking she does it on purpose. Because MAYBE just MAYBE we'll get to a comfortable place in the "terrible twos" and the "unthinkable fifteens" won't be quite as bad. Yeah, right!
Friday, July 1, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
All you need is love!
A couple of weekends ago, we visited my dad. "Papaw" to his grandkids. (Cute, because Char used to call him "Pol Pot" but finally figured it out). She woke up on the wrong side of the toddler bed from her nap, and took for-freaking-ever to warm up to him. So he started approaching her and just tickling her for a second, or poking her, etc. And he stole her nose.
i would have thought she was too young for that game, but she LOVED it. She thought it was hilarious! And she stole his nose, and "dropped" it, then searched for it, found it, and put it back. Such an imagination! Ever since then, she's played noses in the bathtub at night. For some reason, her bath time brings out her imagination (she also gives us "cookies" and makes us eat them just like the Cookie Monster).
Tonight she threw my nose into the corner of the tub, then found it and hid it behind her back to make me "sad". Then she gave it back and said, "Mommy happy!" Then she thought for a minute and said, "Papaw took my nose!" i said, "He did, didn't he?" She said, "Papaw likes me." i said, "Papaw does like you. He also loves you! And so do i!" She said, "Papaw loves me."
Fast forward to bedtime. She decided briefly that she wanted to go to bed in the big bed again tonight, so i finished reading to her in bed next to her. Then she hovered over me, said, "I love you, mommy" and kissed me.
Hands down the best moment of the last 2 years and in the top 4 of my life (DH telling me he loved me, DH proposing, getting the call for Charlotte, and this, all tied for first).
i would have thought she was too young for that game, but she LOVED it. She thought it was hilarious! And she stole his nose, and "dropped" it, then searched for it, found it, and put it back. Such an imagination! Ever since then, she's played noses in the bathtub at night. For some reason, her bath time brings out her imagination (she also gives us "cookies" and makes us eat them just like the Cookie Monster).
Tonight she threw my nose into the corner of the tub, then found it and hid it behind her back to make me "sad". Then she gave it back and said, "Mommy happy!" Then she thought for a minute and said, "Papaw took my nose!" i said, "He did, didn't he?" She said, "Papaw likes me." i said, "Papaw does like you. He also loves you! And so do i!" She said, "Papaw loves me."
Fast forward to bedtime. She decided briefly that she wanted to go to bed in the big bed again tonight, so i finished reading to her in bed next to her. Then she hovered over me, said, "I love you, mommy" and kissed me.
Hands down the best moment of the last 2 years and in the top 4 of my life (DH telling me he loved me, DH proposing, getting the call for Charlotte, and this, all tied for first).
Monday, June 27, 2011
Thank God for Charlotte's brother, T!
And his family! They are such wonderful people, and i'm so glad that Charlotte's primary connection to her birth family will be through them.
We went and saw them yesterday. We had hoped that T's 12-year-old sister would babysit (for money, of course, and while the mom was there, of course!) and we could go to a movie, but after a couple of hours there, i really didn't want to leave! Charlotte had such fun playing with T outside and inside, and she especially loved his trampoline. The two of them running around and playing in there was just too fun! Makes me wish we had a trampoline. But alas, our yard slopes.
While we were there, the subject of the other two siblings (there's also a half-sister about age 13 or 14 and a full brother about 8 or 9) came up. i mentioned that i search Facebook for the sister periodically because she's at that age. Well, apparently i was searching the wrong social medium because late last night, DH found her on MySpace. Do people really use MySpace anymore?
The good, the bad, and the ugly. The good is that she lives in a steady house with her father, and he obviously loves her. In fact, he lists her as one of his heroes on his page. However the bad is truly ugly. His personalized account homepage has a very unsavory name, of the white supremacist variety. It kind of makes me sick to my stomach to think of it.
For about two hours this morning, before i knew that vital little tidbit, i had this little fantasy of writing her grandparents a letter. i thought that she lived with her grandparents actually. i dreamed of writing them a letter and having them write back with maybe a picture or two of the little girl at various ages, a story or two about her personality, and, dream of dreams, maybe just maybe they would have some information about the kids' birthmom, or, absolute best case scenario, a photo of her. Why do i get my hopes up?
Well, like i said, thank God for Charlotte's brother, T, and his amazing family, because without them i wouldn't have anything positive to share with Charlotte about her birth family.
We went and saw them yesterday. We had hoped that T's 12-year-old sister would babysit (for money, of course, and while the mom was there, of course!) and we could go to a movie, but after a couple of hours there, i really didn't want to leave! Charlotte had such fun playing with T outside and inside, and she especially loved his trampoline. The two of them running around and playing in there was just too fun! Makes me wish we had a trampoline. But alas, our yard slopes.
While we were there, the subject of the other two siblings (there's also a half-sister about age 13 or 14 and a full brother about 8 or 9) came up. i mentioned that i search Facebook for the sister periodically because she's at that age. Well, apparently i was searching the wrong social medium because late last night, DH found her on MySpace. Do people really use MySpace anymore?
The good, the bad, and the ugly. The good is that she lives in a steady house with her father, and he obviously loves her. In fact, he lists her as one of his heroes on his page. However the bad is truly ugly. His personalized account homepage has a very unsavory name, of the white supremacist variety. It kind of makes me sick to my stomach to think of it.
For about two hours this morning, before i knew that vital little tidbit, i had this little fantasy of writing her grandparents a letter. i thought that she lived with her grandparents actually. i dreamed of writing them a letter and having them write back with maybe a picture or two of the little girl at various ages, a story or two about her personality, and, dream of dreams, maybe just maybe they would have some information about the kids' birthmom, or, absolute best case scenario, a photo of her. Why do i get my hopes up?
Well, like i said, thank God for Charlotte's brother, T, and his amazing family, because without them i wouldn't have anything positive to share with Charlotte about her birth family.
Friday, June 24, 2011
It's amazing how kids make you busy
Before Charlotte, we lived a pretty dull life. Some of you may remember from my early blog entries lol. We didn't spend much time with friends, we didn't have many obligations. If we wanted to see a movie, we just saw a movie. The only thing keeping us close to home on weekends were the dogs.
And i've always heard that kids change that. And that's perfectly fine by me! But i really had no idea how true that is. i figured if you had a few kids, especially school age kids in sports and other extracurriculars, your life would be pretty busy and you wouldn't have a lot of free weekend time. But with one kid who has no extracurriculars? And yet, there it is!
For weeks we've been intending to visit my horse, Sunny, but for weeks things come up. Good things, fun things, but still things. Charlotte's party, in-laws visiting, visiting my dad for Father's Day, you get the idea. This weekend we were sure we were going to see him, but we were invited to our babysitter's church's friends and family picnic thingie tomorrow and we're going to visit Charlotte's brother's family on Sunday (and hire his 12 year old sister to babysit so we can go to a movie, hopefully!). We might be able to go tomorrow afternoon, but if we don't, it's okay. It'll be a lot of fun!
And i've always heard that kids change that. And that's perfectly fine by me! But i really had no idea how true that is. i figured if you had a few kids, especially school age kids in sports and other extracurriculars, your life would be pretty busy and you wouldn't have a lot of free weekend time. But with one kid who has no extracurriculars? And yet, there it is!
For weeks we've been intending to visit my horse, Sunny, but for weeks things come up. Good things, fun things, but still things. Charlotte's party, in-laws visiting, visiting my dad for Father's Day, you get the idea. This weekend we were sure we were going to see him, but we were invited to our babysitter's church's friends and family picnic thingie tomorrow and we're going to visit Charlotte's brother's family on Sunday (and hire his 12 year old sister to babysit so we can go to a movie, hopefully!). We might be able to go tomorrow afternoon, but if we don't, it's okay. It'll be a lot of fun!
Thursday, June 16, 2011
"BIG" Adventures
Charlotte is obsessed with "big" things now. She seems to have picked up what the word means in the last month or two and uses it a lot, particularly to show her preference. "Big cup!" "Big bowl!" "Big car!" Today it was "Big pool!" (our YMCA has 3 outdoor pools: a baby pool, a medium sized pool with a zero-grade entry and a little slide, up to 3' deep, and a regular sized pool). She tried (to no avail) to convince me she should go down the "Big slide!"
Last night it was "Night night big bed PEEZE?" Charlotte's room has her toddler bed and a queen bed in it from the old foster days when we were prepared for siblings. How can i say no to that?
So, the toddler mattress went down next to the queen bed and she slept in the big bed. She actually did really really well. She slept all nighgt without waking or fussing, and slept about 30 minutes longer than usual. Tonight she picked the big bed again, but tossed and turned for about an hour before finally falling asleep, upside down with ther feet up on the headboard. LOL!
Last night it was "Night night big bed PEEZE?" Charlotte's room has her toddler bed and a queen bed in it from the old foster days when we were prepared for siblings. How can i say no to that?
So, the toddler mattress went down next to the queen bed and she slept in the big bed. She actually did really really well. She slept all nighgt without waking or fussing, and slept about 30 minutes longer than usual. Tonight she picked the big bed again, but tossed and turned for about an hour before finally falling asleep, upside down with ther feet up on the headboard. LOL!
Monday, June 13, 2011
Photography
i have a nice camera. Well, a pretty nice camera, anyway. It's the Canon Rebel XSi; not professional quality but still good quality. i even have a decent lens (in addition to the kit lens): a 50mm 1.8, aka the "Thrifty Fifty". However, what i don't have is the knowledge of how to use it. i can stick it in full auto mode and get some decent pictures. Not professional quality by any stretch but still decent pics. i can stick it in "P" mode and get passable indoor pics most of the time. And i LOVE that i don't get "shutter lag" (probably really focus lag), so when i press the button, it shoots right away. No 10 seconds later business that can kill a photo shoot or passing moment when photographing pets and toddlers. But i can't use any of the other manual settings, and i don't really understand the "P" mode.
i'm reading the book "Understanding Exposure" and taking the lessons at 2 Peas. You can find my progress here.
For those who don't want to go to the other sites, here's my favorite picture: 
Kiddo was lying down on the deck of her toddler climber with her head hanging down over the slide ever so slightly, about to slide down.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Wow, such a brave girl!
We had Charlotte's 2 year doctor's appointment today. She did so great! But first, the stats.
She weighed 26 pounds, 8 oz, which is exactly 2 pounds up from her NINE MONTH appointment! In over a year, she's gained 2 pounds lol. And she's grown probably a foot and is now 34" tall (i remember her being like 2'2" tall at a year). So she went from being close to 75% weight and 25% height to being 40% weight and 50% height. Yay! She's average! Oh, but her head, you ask? Yeah, she still has a 95+% noggin, the little genius!
At this appointment they do a Hep booster and a finger prick to check iron, lead, etc levels. At 1 year she was just slightly low on iron and took a supplement for a few months until she started eating more eggs and leafy greens. Thankfully her iron levels are absolutely fine now, but her platelet count came out really, really low. She said 100 would be low and she'd want to monitor it, but Char's were 60 and she said, "Technically i can't let you leave the building." Yikes! So they repeated the finger prick on the other hand, and this time it came out to 350, so we were good to go. Thank goodness!
And through all of that (including a newby learning the finger prick the first time -- perhaps why it came out wonky the first time), Charlotte did not cry at all. She didn't even really whimper or whine. She wanted "up please" but settled for hugs. She's such a brave girl! Those finger sticks HURT!
She weighed 26 pounds, 8 oz, which is exactly 2 pounds up from her NINE MONTH appointment! In over a year, she's gained 2 pounds lol. And she's grown probably a foot and is now 34" tall (i remember her being like 2'2" tall at a year). So she went from being close to 75% weight and 25% height to being 40% weight and 50% height. Yay! She's average! Oh, but her head, you ask? Yeah, she still has a 95+% noggin, the little genius!
At this appointment they do a Hep booster and a finger prick to check iron, lead, etc levels. At 1 year she was just slightly low on iron and took a supplement for a few months until she started eating more eggs and leafy greens. Thankfully her iron levels are absolutely fine now, but her platelet count came out really, really low. She said 100 would be low and she'd want to monitor it, but Char's were 60 and she said, "Technically i can't let you leave the building." Yikes! So they repeated the finger prick on the other hand, and this time it came out to 350, so we were good to go. Thank goodness!
And through all of that (including a newby learning the finger prick the first time -- perhaps why it came out wonky the first time), Charlotte did not cry at all. She didn't even really whimper or whine. She wanted "up please" but settled for hugs. She's such a brave girl! Those finger sticks HURT!
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