What a Pair

Today Charlotte taught Ben the art of cleaning up with a laugh and a giggle. She had him dump a bucket filled with magnetic Leap Frog alphabet letters and then they tossed them in. Again and again they took pleasure in dumping and cleaning up until Ben decided "no more" and she dumped them on his head. Realizing that she did not have his attention, she cleaned them up by herself. It was not out of anger, per se, but out of necessity to get his attention did she dump the letters on his head. A lesson, my dear Charlotte, in the attention span of an 18 month old boy.

Long Hiatus

Uy, I missed all of Friday in my life. The Stomach bug hit me hard beginning last Thursday evening. The last I remember was Charlotte using the word "Hunormous" in reference to a tower we built and rebuilt and built together as Benjamin enjoyed being allowed to knock it down.

Quite a weekend as David cared for them and took off Friday from work. I am 75% recovered and continuing to regain my energy and enthusiasm for such things as my blog.

Many thanks for keeping up with my postings and health.

The Kid Eats What?

Here is the list:
mushrooms
spinach (fresh and in spanikopita)
plum tea
eggplant
turkey hotdogs
ravioli
hot farina cereal
grapefruit
granola bars
multi-grain bread
freeze dried strawberries
dried mango
raspberry walnut vinegrette
manicotti
humus on bread
cherry tomatoes
corn on the cob
steamed dumplings
avocado sushi
"flavorful but not spicy" foods (I quote)
over easy eggs
hard boiled eggs (ah, normal - only the whites)
swiss cheese
beets
saurkraut
cranberry juice
sesame noodles
and all the regular kid stuff too.
What does this mean...gourmet taster? chef? food writer?
Who knows? For now, it is a kid who loves to eat, shop and cook too. YAY!

Yippee

On our second day of family time ...with David home on yet another snow day... Charlotte and I went out more than once to enjoy the sledding opportunities. On our second excursion, we were greeted by a bit of snow in the air.

"It is snowing again," I told Charlotte.
"Yippe," Charlotte squealed with glee.

What a wonderful sound. Do adults only make that sound after winning the lottery?

Braver and Braver

The first times down the hill in front of our apartment were tenous on the sled. Charlotte went with me and in no terms would go on her own. Then in a moment of clarity, she realized that it would be much more fun alone. There she went, again and again, off on her own. The snow was crunchy with ice, so I made foot prints deep into the snow so that she could walk the sled up the hill on her own.

You go, little girl. I hope that you become braver and braver in all you do.

Loves her Daddy

Charlotte is having a difficult time receiving without giving.
She seems to want to return a gift... any found item - stickers, a quickly made note, etc., when someone gives her a gift.

David gave Charlotte some stickers for Valentine's day.
He also gave me a lovely card that reminded me that we are now together for 18 Valentine's day.

Charlotte - I love your Daddy SO much.

Is it Hot, Hot, Hot?

Charlotte loves food. Charlotte loves to taste new food. Charlotte checks if new foods are spicy or not by asking:

"Is that spicy or flavorful?"

Snow Day

Charlotte and I played outside in the light and fluffy snow. David has a snow day from Franklin High School. YAY!

So, here's the question...how do you dupe your initially timid child into going down the hill on her sled by herself and then loving it once she'd done it?

1. Bring her down with you first.
2. Put her on alone and then tell her you'll meet her at the bottom.
3. See her smile and say "wee" as she does it by herself again and again not wanting to go in "until it is dark please".

Happy Snow Day!

Couple Days Off

Of course, Charlotte spent the weekend saying things that tickled my funny bone. I took the weekend off from blogging. It was my 36th Birthday this weekend (double chai for those in the tribe).

Benjamin did have his own funny moments this weekend. He has been enjoying the comforts of private seating on his potty. This potty, formerly Charlotte's, has now been cleaned and cleared of all the stickers that Charlotte put all over the lid. We'll see if potty training is in our future. Wish us luck.

Curds and what?!

At lunch today we came across an intresting word. Curds, referring to the large part of the cottage cheese that Charlotte picked out off her plate.

Another word added to Charlotte's vocabulary but with an interesting twist. Charlotte is still having difficulty with her hard "C" sound. So, it is "turds" on her plate rather than "curds". Uy.

Truest Words

David had a two hour delay due to some icy roads. Once the kids stirred in their beds at 7:15am we all cuddled up in our bed and enjoyed the delay. Benjamin and Charlotte were in the middle of our snuggle-fest.

The two little munchkins were giggling while David and I held them close.
"I have the BEST little brother in the world," Charlotte said while getting a hug from her family.
"And he has the best big sister in the world," I added.

Yes, those are the truest words.

Ben's word

Can you believe it? For those of you who understand Charlotte's bunny obsession...you will. Charlotte came running into the kitchen from a couple of quiet moments playing with her brother.

"He said Bobo!"
I focused for a moment. Of course, like her mother, Charlotte had the accompanying story.

"I said Bobo and he said it back."

Later, while changing his diaper, Charlotte and I experimented with this new word.
Yes, my friends, one of Benjamin's words in his limited vocabulary is the name of one of Charlotte's favorite bunnies.