Things have been so crazy and I rarely get to blog, but here are a bunch of random updates with both kiddos…

Charlotte

• Nicknames: Charlie, Charlie Girl, Bunny Girl, Charlie Pie, Lovey
• Funny phrases:
  • Lexa, what da wever today? (Alexa, what’s the weather today)
  • bummmmer
  • That a good idea, mommy?
  • Hemy (Henry)
  • It blake (it broke/it’s broken)
  • Now what? What next? What I doing after nap? (Charlie is constantly asking what the next activity will be. Curious little bunny)
  • New School (despite being at her school since December, she still refers to it as her NEW school)
  • a’cuz (because)
  • “Mommy, you come back!!!” (whenever I enter a room!)
• Charlotte is quite the little narrator. She will walk you through an entire situation, told at warp speed. “First I go here, then I do this, then you ask me this, and Nana gave me this and then I drank milk and now you are here”
• This week, Charlotte has started to get out of her bed after we tuck her in. The second we shut the door, she runs to the door, opens it just a crack and says “goodnight” with a devious little smile. Last night, she KEPT OPENING the dang door! Actually, the night before Henry’s birthday party (so about a month ago) was the first time we encountered anything like this. I was getting things ready, as was Mark. Earlier in the night, while I wasn’t home, he was working out in the yard with the garage door open. When I got home, he was in and out of the house. Literally, every time he would leave the house, I would swear I was hearing the gate in the basement. Needless to say, I was freaking out. I made Mark come back in and sweep the house for an intruder. He was about to leave – already in the garage – when I called him back. “I heard it again and I swear it was by the kids’ room.” Mark finally went into C’s room and asked her if she had left her room. Turns out, I was hearing something every time he left… it was the toddler! haha oy.
• Charlotte LOVES playing outside. She rides her tricycle, goes in the cozy coupe car, takes walks with Nana and OH!! She collects pebbles. I find them in drawers, in piles outside, etc. It’s really pretty funny.
• Charlotte has this really sweet and gentle side. For instance, I’ll say that something is bothering me or I have a headache or whatever and she’ll cup my face with her hands or gently touch my chin and say something like, “ohhhhh, it’s okay, mommy. You’ll feel better soon.” Or she’ll big spoon me and say, “I gotcha, I gotcha” as she kind of rocks me. Sometimes I legit cannot help but burst into laughter. This is how she sees me. haha I love it. So sweet and silly. I’ve actually seen her do it to other kids quite often. “I want Charlotte to stay!!!!” and she cups their face or touches their chin and says that it’s okay “a’cuz” growwwwnuups come back (Daniel Tiger song that she constantly sings).
• When Henry came home from the haircut, C was SO excited! “Hemy took a haircut!! Aww buddy. You’re so cute. I really, really, really, REALLY like Hemy’s haircut!”
• If H is crying, C will usually try to comfort or solve the issue in some way…
  • “Hemy wants mommy really, really a lot!”
  • “Awww buddy. It’s okay. I gotcha, I gotcha. I’m right here!”
  • “I fink (think) Hemy so tired.”
  • “Hemy prolly (probably) make a poop”
  • “I fink Hemy a little hungy (hungry)”
• GF has spice. Lately, if she doesn’t get what she wants or the mood strikes, she YELLS! But it’s interesting, because you can totally tell that she’s just testing it out. There is no anger or real passion behind it. Just theatrics. Regardless… super annoying. The other day, she legit slapped me in the face while taking a bath. And then splashed the shit out of Henry and I. Not our best moment. It’s so hard to find my inner chi at those moments. My instinct is to splash her back… fight the urge. She went straight to bed instead.
• C’s vocabulary is just astounding. Somehow her vocab just grows and grows every day. It’s amazing and just so cool to watch.
• Charlotte is still sitting rear-facing in her car seat… blowing people’s minds daily. But, until she makes a stink about it our outgrows the limits, rear facing she’ll stay, as it’s SO MUCH SAFER.
• Oh! About 3-4 weeks ago (or something that feels like 3-4 weeks ago), Charlotte all of a sudden iced out her bunny/blankey/teddy. She banished them from her bed and no longer slept with them. They now reside in the stuffed animal bin next to her bed (with the other rejects). However, I have noticed that she’s been letting them back in bed every so often… but usually only after we’ve tucked her in. Totally iced.
• Sometimes on the way home from school when I ask C how her day was, she says, “I just don’t feel like talkin’ right now”… I literally have no idea what she does at school and am 100% dealing with a threenager.
• Charlotte’s legit best friend is our neighbor, Ellie. She talks about how much she loves her and constantly wants to hang out with her. Unfortunately, she is also just a rougher human than most girls her age and has been known to take Ellie down. Talk about embarrassing.
• Charlotte snuggles with me!! It took about 2.5 years, but it’s just so sweet and worth the wait. During “snuggle time,” which used to be playing in bed time, she will lay on top of me, give me hugs and say, “I wuv you, mommy! And you wuv me. We wuv eachovers!!” <MELT MELT MELT>
• C’s birthday is on Sunday. This whole week, she has proclaimed “It’s my birfday!!!” every single day.
• Holding that little girl’s hand just means everything to me.
• Charlotte LOVES Henry. Like, LOVES him. It’s the best thing ever and makes me so happy. She’s constantly playing with him and loving on him and just being the sweetest.

Henry

• Nicknames: Hem, Hem Hem, Hemzy, Henry Pie, Hemy, buddy
• Words: Mama, Dada, Cheese!!! (this is a new one as of the past 2 days), Mo (more), Wawawa (water), I swear he said “chair” and “book” today while pointing at the respective objects, hi! (I LOVE when he says hi… I think this was his first non-mama/dada word… or maybe more), bye! (he says hi and by with a little wave. So cute)
• Henry pulls himself up on EVERYTHING. He is constantly standing and is actually quite good at slowly lowering himself back down. It’s all assisted standing at this point.
• Henry loves smashing shit and oh my goodness does the kid LOVE the bathroom. Just so much crap to get into. Not literal crap, thankfully. Unroll the toilet paper. Play the toilet drum. Try to flush the toilet. Try to open toilet lid and throw shit inside. Smash hands on glass shower door. Open drawers. Throw stuff in open drawers. Etc, etc. If Henry goes crawling on a mission, one can assume he is headed towards the bathroom.
• In the past 2-3 weeks, Henry has begun legit crawling; although, if he’s going anywhere far, he uses his trusty army crawl. Boy is fast.
• Henry loves to play with balls. He sits in his ball pit and just tosses the balls out one by one (damn that ball pit!).
• Henry really enjoys reading books.
• He has a great sense of humor. Loves to laugh and wow does the kid chat. He’s just constantly talk talk talking! You can tell by his facial expressions and hand motions that he knows exactly what he’s saying. He’s so serious about it, too. He’s going to be the chatty one.
• Henry loves puzzles; although, he likes doing them in the opposite way than intended. Essentially, he will pull every wood puzzle off the shelf and then pull each piece out, then abort mission. DESTRUCT!!
• Henry’s got passion for music. He loves to make music on the guitar and piano and can’t help but bob his head, wave his arms around, clap his hands or shake those shoulders when a jam comes on. Definition of jam: anything that slightly resembles a song (music from toys, mom singing weird – out of tune – songs, etc).
• Hem thinks his sister is juuuust hilarious. 9 times out of 10, as I’m finishing telling C to be gentle or leave H alone, he lets out a huge laugh signifying that somehow he actually likes when she lays on top of him in hopes that he’ll give her an army crawl ride.
• Henry got his FIRST HAIRCUT on Tuesday and my oh my does he look like such a man. For the record, that makes him about 13 months. Charlotte has yet to have her first haircut.
• Henry ends every meal and really, every course of each meal, by throwing his food on the floor for Toby. Even at a restaurant… grr!
• Henry is the sweetest cuddler. He gives these hugs that leave me in puddles. He’ll even tap my back as he hugs me. This morning, I was cleaning C up after breakfast and had my back to Henry. All of a sudden, I felt his chubby mits wrapped around my waist and his head against my butt, giving me a sweet little hug.
• Henry is the ultimate buddy. Like, that’s just the best way to describe him. SUCH a lovey buddy.
• Henry is also a big baby. He cries big old cries when he doesn’t get his food and/or water fast enough or if someone takes something from him or if someone puts him down and he wants to be held or if mommy walks into the damn room. Somehow my presence always makes him cry. He gets hit with an uncontrollable need to be in my arms (or back in the womb). His cries are actually pretty cute… sometimes.
• Henry has a squeaky little voice that I want to bottle up and save forever.

Okay! I think that’s all for now… baby is awake!