Category Archives: Toddler

The Tiny Tot Loves Her Baseball

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This weekend, we took C to her first baseball game. These two short videos pretty much sum up her love and excitement for the game…


I was really proud… She “did baseball” perfectly. From the moment we arrived to the moment we left, she was eating! Grandma brought her some Annie’s shells and cheese (she took down at least half a box), then she ate a full peach, and apple slices. After that, she got a free fudge bar from the stadium (kid’s day!).

She lasted 5.5 innings, which amounted to nearly 3 hours! And really, to say she “lasted” isn’t fair… She enjoyed 5.5 innings.

When we got home (at 430 – yikes!), we put her directly in bed, where she proceeded to pass out until we woke her around 615. The girl was tired and worn out, but all in all, it was a great day.

She loved the fireworks and would literally hand us her food so she could clap. She got so excited every time the crowd roared. It was great!

Guess Who Pooped in the Potty!?

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Yep! It was this girl…


Before you start thinking things like, “are you f’ing nuts!? Potty training 4 weeks before your due date!?”… Settle.

It was a complete accident.

Charlie has had a bad diaper rash for a week now. Last night we decided to give her some naked time (after dinner), so I simply said to her, “if you have to go pee pee or poopy, tell mommy and we’ll go to the potty.” Mark added that she could point to her lady bits.

Then, she ran to the bathroom. 

Me: we don’t have to be in here. Do you have to go potty?

C: yah!

So I put her on the potty and she immediately started pushing out her FIRST toilet-bound turd.

I couldn’t believe my eyes! She pooped in the toilet!! 

She was so proud. I let her look at the poop and then flush the toilet.

After that point, she seemed a little turned off by the toilet, which is just fine! As mentioned, I’m not prepared to potty train right now.

But, I’m proud of her tiny turd!

21 Months of Lovely

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Somehow I never got around to posting C’s 20 month update and now she’s 21 months old! I cannot believe our baby is now considered, “almost 2.” When did that happen? Once they turn 2, do you officially stop counting months and they just become “2”???? Oy.

The past two months have been filled with increased skills and SO MUCH PERSONALITY. Charlotte is most definitely her own person and has such character. She absolutely LOVES to laugh. She’s sweet and loving, but also spirited and goofy. She adores babies. That feels understated. She has a severe obsession with babies (can’t wait to see how that translates when new baby moves in for good). She really enjoys coloring… especially with markers.

Being outside and everything nature just tickles the girl. She literally screams with glee when she sees a bird. She loves to take walks (she walks and holds our hand).She gets a huge kick out of carrying or pushing things that are bigger than her.


She LOVES music. She loves to sing and dance and play (piano, harmonica… with her nose, etc), and listen.

New Words: Charlotte’s vocabulary continues to grow and she now strings together 2- and 3-word sentences. I’m constantly surprised. Here’s a list of what I can remember; although, I’m sure I’m missing many.

  • Mama, Mommy, Mom
  • Daddy, Dada
  • Nana or NANNY!
  • Daby, Taby (Toby)
  • Itty (Oliver the Kitty)
  • Peees (Please)
  • Teeee (Tree)
  • Birdije (Bird – she loves to point out the birds)
  • Cheeesss (Cheese)
  • Ide (Outside)
  • MORRRRRR (More – this is C’s most common word)
  • I wan da moooorr (I want more – this is C’s most common phrase)
  • Baby, Bebe
  • Baa (sheep)
  • Die/Tie (Bye)
  • Wan (want)
  • Shhh – lotion
  • Liii – Lights
  • No
  • Yah (Yes)
  • Eyeeee (Eye/sunglasses/sun – a word with many meanings)
  • Head
  • Ball Ball (Ball)
  • Ba Ba (Bowl)
  • Spp (Spoon)
  • Me (Me/Charlotte)
  • Mia (Milk)
  • Chee (Cherrios)
  • Hat
  • Teddy (her teddy bear)
  • Ba (Balloon)
  • Haaa (Hug)
  • Hiii!
  • I’m sure there are more new ones, but I’m blanking.

New Tricks:

  • She sings songs on her own
  • She can put her pants and certain shirts/vests and mommy’s embarrassing undies on by herself
  • She’s a zipper master
  • She buckles the carseat on her own
  • She can climb into the car on her own
  • She’s a master swimmer (the girl blows bubbles and kicks and scoops)
  • She did a flip on the bar in gymnastics (assisted of course, but she held onto the bar the whole time)
  • She can open and close just about every door and cabinet in the house
  • She knows even more songs and nursery rhymes (thank you, Nana and Pandora!)
  • She can climb up steps unassisted
  • She loves to cut things… give the girl a knife (butter of course) and she’ll cut for days
  • She has a serious passion for frozen berries and will literally drink every last bit of the juice.
  • She helps check out at the grocery store
  • She can put her sunglasses on herself
  • She can put her hat on by herself 
  • She LOVES playdough
  • She’s mastered the sassy, “no” face
  • She STILL LOVES to carry items that are entirely too big for her to carry (little person chairs, push toys, her baby stroller, etc)
  • She’s working hard on patience! We’re making progress 🙂
  • Aint nobody better get in the way of her and a baby
  • She gives the sweetest hugs and kisses
  • She loves to twirl and dance
  • She can climb onto the couch by herself
  • She loves the outdoors
  • She’s mastered the, “I wan da mooorr” phrase/look
  • She’s actually making great progress in the quality of her teeth brushing
  • She loves balloons
  • She can jump
  • She loves the piano
  • Charlotte is really well behaved. I mean, don’t get me wrong… she definitely has her toddler moments, but she’s a really great kid. She does a lot of testing, but is generally responsive to our feedback and/or discipline. She’s so easy going and SUCH a joy to be around. She brings happiness and light and love and laughter into every day.

Favorites

Book: Corduroy (the girl loves anything teddy)

Toy: Still Teddy & Baby (both of her babies)… and probably her stroller.

Food: Berries, Cheese… hmm. Milk? She’s definitely gotten way better with food, but these are her faves.

Size

Clothes: In the process of transitioning to 24 months / 2T – they’re definitely a bit big, but her 18 month stuff is getting small

Diapers: 5

Shoes: Moving onto Size 5

Daily Schedule: Ugh! Lately her schedule has been totally off. I feel like she’s been going through a developmental growth spurt, but who knows. She literally gets in bed around 7 and for the past couple weeks, will stay up playing in her crib until 9 or later! It’s so frustrating.

  • 7/7:30: Depending on when she goes to sleep (although today she slept until 9:50 a)
  • 8/830: Breakfast
  • 10: On non-school days, Charlotte has some milk and “quiet time” with Nana, then a snack. On school days, snack time.
  • 12: Lunch
  • 1/2: Depending on her mood, Charlotte’s afternoon nap falls somewhere between 1 and 145. She will typically sleep anywhere between 2-3.5 hours. Usually it’s around 2.5..
  • 5/530: Dinner, Bath (on bath days – she bathes every other day and on swim days)
  • 7: Charlotte goes to bed most often around 7/730 (lately, she falls asleep anywhere between 830 and 10)… oy.

Schedule: Charlotte goes to school from 9-12:30 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays (on these days, she eats a snack and lunch at school and does not nap in the morning). Charlie is with Nana (at our house) on Monday morning, Wednesday all day, Thursday afternoon and Friday afternoon.

Breakfast with a Toddler

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I love oranges!

 

 

What do you mean, “no more oranges??”

 

But I want da morrrre…

 

I heard you… but I want mooooorrre??

 

Oh! That looks tasty!

Did you know I’m cute?

Ooo, ooo, ooo!

 

BIRDIE!!

 

Did you see the birdie??

 

I love birdies.

 

Whaaaat??

 

Maybe I’m all done… maybe not.

   

Okay, Momma… Photo shoot over.

 
      
    
    
    
 

The Aquarium!

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This past weekend we went to the aquarium with my brother and his new gf. They live in Chicago, about 2 hours from us.

So, we got up early on Sunday, waited for C to wake up and the hauled ass to leave the house as early as possible. 

We got on our way at around 830, for a 1030 arrival in Chicago.

The aquarium was great! Charlotte has never been to the zoo… I know… Insert <gasp>! The husband is anti zoo. Anyway, that’s neither here nor there… We will make it to the zoo. 

With our lack of animal exposure, we were pretty pumped to see all the fish! And honestly, it was great! Charlotte was definitely a bit overwhelmed at times (she preferred stroller time for the first two hours), but loved pointing out the fish and other animals.

All in all, we spent about 4-5 hours trekking around the aquarium and saw all sorts of fish and even got to see beluga whales, dolphins, penguins and otters! Plus, as a bonus, my brother’s gf was great and it was so nice to see him! 

With that said, the ride home after no nap all day was not so fun. Charlotte slept for about 20 minutes, but woke up when we stopped for my husband to get a coffee (I think he’s learned the importance of stopping before we get on the highway). Post 20 minute kitty nap, Charlotte cried at hyperventilating levels on and off for the remainder until I finally moved to the back seat. 

It was lovely.

To say I was tired when we got home would be an understatement. 5 hours on my feet (many of which I was lugging a toddler) + 4 hours in the car (many with a crying toddler) + 34 weeks pregnant = bad. Just bad.

Today is Wednesday and I’m still not fully recovered. 

But look how much fun we had…

   
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
 

Weekend in Review

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I’ve been terrible about keeping up with this blog, as the days and weeks are literally flying by. Regardless, here’s my little weekend in review…

We had a great (and busy) weekend. On Friday after work, we had dinner with my closest little love, Marci, her hubs and babes, her parents and one of Charlie’s classmates and his family. I cannot rave enough about how fun this was.

First, I absolutely adore every minute I have to catch up with Marci and smoosh her ADORABLE little guy. And second, it was a lot of fun to chitter chatter with the other family. I actually went to middle and high school with the dad, so it was just great to catch up.

Funny story… it was around 8:45pm and C was turning into a wild woman. Definitely still behaved, but hyper… my mom would refer to her mood as “punchy.”

Anyway, the dad, Dave, was laying on the ground next to his 7 or 8 month old baby (who C was OBSESSED with) and Mark was laying on a spot on the floor across the room. In C’s wild, happy oblivion, she climbed up on top of Dave and gave him loving, happy pats as she said “Dada.” At first I responded with, “Yes, that’s Eli and Ari’s dada.”

Then, as the others in the room started making comments like, “Wow! Do you believe this kid? Look how comfortable she is… etc.” I started to think, “Well, no… I don’t believe this actually.”

Me: Charlie, you know that’s not Daddy, right? Look at his face. That’s Ari’s Daddy…

Charlotte: (Starts backing off slowly as she looks at his face and realizes that she is not sitting on top of her own daddy.)

As soon as she realized her little mistake, she booked it to Daddy’s arms while I proceeded to cry from laughing so hard.

On Saturday, we went to gymnastics class, which was fun. I haven’t gone in a bit, so it was nice to see how much she’s progressed. Of course, the day I join, Charlotte takes a tumble off of a 3 foot high mat. Thankfully, she really is the toughest little girl ever.

We looked at her in shock and said, “Are you okay”… she thought about it for a few seconds and said, “yeahhh.”

  After gymnastics, we decided to head over to a local farm that welcomes guests. Unfortunately, they were closed for winter; however, the gentleman allowed us to come check out the few animals they had at this location… one chubby bunny, a ton of the LOUDEST, squakiest ducks and 3 pigeons.

Regardless, it was enough to entertain C. In fact, she’s been making duck noises nonstop ever since.

   

  

  

 Before C’s nap, we were also able to get her little art station hung up in her room. I LOVE how it turned out! Now, I just need to finish her table and chairs. 

 That evening, we went to my sweet Carrie’s son’s 2nd birthday party! It was a farm theme and absolutely adorable! Charlie loved it! She played with balloons and toy animals, ate applesauce, cake and berries and got to be with mom and dad. What could be bad? 

    
    
    
    
 On Sunday, we went to Home Depot and Whole Foods in the morning. HD gave away little plastic easter eggs with wrapped chocolate bunnies inside. We’ve never given C chocolate, so we just let her play with the candies assuming she didn’t know what they were. Sure enough, when we looked down at her, she was silently indulging in some chocolate. We let her take one more bite and then called it quits on the chocolate. 

     
After our errands, we went to my parents’ house for brunch and some playtime. Then, post-nap, Mark’s Dad and Step Mom came over for a pizza dinner. 

    
    
    
    
 All in all, it was a great weekend!

Some other cute pics: 

    
    
 

More Costumes!

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Charlotte had another Purim celebration at school yesterday… so of course, she needed a new costume. God forbid she wears the same costume twice.

So, being that I have issues, I forced Mark to stay up late with me on Wednesday night so we could whip together another costume. This time, we would transform our little Super C into a cuddly little black bear.

When I made her Super C costume, I used liquid stitch instead of sewing, so it was pretty darn easy. The downfall? She smelled like glue (yeah, that can’t be healthy). This time, I didn’t have enough time for the glue to dry and wanted to avoid the stench… so Mark and I were left sewing.

I started with a furry vest of mine that I just don’t wear. I put it on C and made some very rough measurements (she was not feeling it). Then, I got to chopping. I cut every which way until the adult sized vest was a bit more toddler-sized. Then, I sewed buttons on the back to fasten it.

I used excess fur on the knees of her pants and to make ears.

After about… 4-5 hours, we were done! 

 And, just like magic, our little C wore her costume all day. In fact, I think she really enjoyed it. She loved the ears and had a great day!

   

  

 Nana came for the celebration. It was a literal BLAST! So much fun watching our sweet girl. And, during the service portion where they spoke in only Hebrew for about 40 minutes, little C sat on my lap SO PATIENTLY. I was bored and chatting up Nana, but Charlotte was such a patient, good girl. I was proud.

  

  

  

   
   
    
    
   
    
    
    
    
    
  

  
    
   
   
    

 

Charlotte’s First Performance

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In celebration of Purim, Charlotte’s school put on a carnival with a special little “World’s Greatest Circus” Show. Each of the kiddies participated in some way, including MY GIRL!

When we first arrived, I dropped C off with her class. The “staging area” was chaotic with kids and stage people getting everything ready. Little Charlie, being the timid little miss that she is, was instantly overwhelmed. I tried to get her pumped up, but ultimately, left her standing with her teacher… in tears sobs.

   

 We all got a seat and I sat there stressing. Will Charlie actually get out on stage in front of all of these people? No way. Oy. Is she going to start bawling her eyes out in the middle and I’ll have to go and grab her?

I know, I know… ultimately, who cares? But I was nervous for her!

The introductions dragged on, but then, it was finally time! The kiddies came out and our little nugget walked in front of the big crowd holding one of the K4 student’s hands. 

 I was so impressed already, so imagine how surprised I was to then see my SUPER C volunteer to be the first little daredevil superhero to go through the crazy ring of fire…

Here’s her shining moment: 

 Want to know pathetic? I literally teared up. I know, so sad… but I got so stupidly nervous for her and she just did it! Like such a big girl. I was proud.

   

  

  

  

  

 After the show, Charlie enjoyed all the games at the carnival! She even stayed still and got her hand painted. Our little tot is really growing up so quickly.

   

  

  


   

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

   

So Many Weekends…

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3/10/16

I have been hoarding photos. So, here’s a review of some of our past few weekends through and excessive series of photos…

   
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
 

Three Years ❤️

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Today marks three years of marriage with my love. While it feels like time has just flown by so quickly, it’s also hard to believe it’s only been three years. It’s hard to imagine a time without my husband by my side.


I’m a very lucky woman. While we’re not always rainbows and butterflies, we’re always working… on our marriage, on our communication, on our love.

 As parenting becomes less about simply keeping Charlotte alive and healthy, and more about shaping a human mind and heart, it becomes more clear. I have truly ended up with a man who gets me. Someone who shares my passions. Someone who wants to live and love in the same way.

 I’m married to a very amazing man, husband, father. My children and I are beyond lucky to have such strength and love and silliness from now until forever.

 Happy Anniversary, sweet man of mine. Being your wife and starting a family with you has been seamless… like, this is the way it was always meant to be. I can’t imagine my world without you. Thanks for being you and for choosing me. I love you deeply.