17 months of Charlotte
{The remote! Always in search of that remote.}
I feel like I could say something new for every single day this month. You are growing right before our eyes and saying new words every day.
**You’re still a huge fan of “brushing” your teeth. The morning brush session goes a little something like this…. You see me get my toothbrush and toothpaste out and you come running to the drawer. You throw out your pacifier and wait anxiously for your toothbrush and toothpaste to appear. Once it does, you flap your arms excitedly. I get our toothbrushes ready and you lift your arms to be placed on the bathroom counter. Once up there and you have your toothbrush, you suck off the toothpaste and then motion for me to turn the water on. I don’t turn the water on until I’m ready to spit. Once you see that the water is on, you rush to put your brush under it and then you suck the water out of your brush. You’ll do this a couple times, until you decide to put everything else under the running water including any items within your reach. You’ll even stick your feet under the water.
**Standing in your high chair is a favorite past time of yours. In order to head off the meltdown of you standing then us buckling you up, we buckle you up as soon as we place you in your chair.
**You have a crazy amount of energy after dinner. We’ve already gotten two (!!) noise complaints from our neighbors below. I’m sure they appreciate this after-dinner burst of energy from you.
**You love your two blankies (2, 18″x18″ squares). You’ll place one on each shoulder and walk around the house. If you are reading a book, you’ll tuck them on one shoulder then lean your head over so they stay in place while you read.
**You love to blow on your food. You still don’t like warm food, so as soon as you see us blow on your food, you blow with us.
**You’ll try any food item. If you try something you don’t like, you typically spit it out into you hand, look it over, then decide it’s okay to eat.
**You see us clean the floor multiple times a day, so whenever you get your hands on a paper towel you “wash” the floor. Grandma has gotten so good at helping you throw things away, so as soon as you’re done cleaning, you throw away your paper towel. You’ve been known to take my paper towel while I’m eating and using it and throw it away. You’re very efficient like that.
**Whenever you see a bird you sign “bird” and I don’t know if there is anything cuter than seeing your little hand make the bird sign (bird as in the animal, not the finger!).
**You throw out every toy during bath time. It’s a game you and daddy play. You throw out the toy and squeal with delight, he tries to throw it back in as quickly as possible so you always have a toy in your tub.
**You know your nighttime routine so well!! When Noni and Papa were visiting last month, mommy and daddy went to dinner. Noni said it was bath time and you ran towards the bathroom. While the water was running, you went and got your bathtub (it was resting along the wall since you were sharing your bathroom with Noni and Papa) and dragged it to the tub. During bath time, you told Noni “more, more” when you were playing with your toys. After you were all dried off you pointed to your potty since we always sit you on there to see if we’ll have any luck. Once you were done with the potty, you pointed to your bedroom because that’s where we put your pj’s on. When you had your pj’s on, you pointed to your rocker because you were ready for Noni to rock with you since you were so tired :)
**You love to say bye-bye and wave. If someone says “bye” to you, you typically wait until they’re out of site before saying “bye bye” and waving. You also say “bye” to your bathwater every night as it goes down the drain.
**You love to watch videos of yourself. Typically you only stay on each video about 2 seconds b/c you love to swipe to the next video and push the play button.
**You get SOOOOO upset when we don’t unlock our phones for you. Temper-tantrum-crocodile-tears upset. We’ve started putting our phones away when we’re with you.
**You hate wearing socks! There are some shoes that you really need to wear socks with, but you cry and cry and aren’t happy until you get your shoes and socks off by yourself. Then you just put your shoes back on sans socks.
**You’re an expert at climbing onto our bed and onto the dining room chairs and sometimes the dining table…
**I have hand-sanitizer on your changing table and use it after diaper changes. As soon as you see it, you start rubbing your hands together as if you have some on your hands.
**You love to get your own shoes as well as try on my shoes and daddy’s shoes. You’ve even started putting shoes away and it’s sooooo cute because they’re always haphazardly placed on the shoe shelves, just barely hanging on since the shelf is really too high for you.
**Standing in you high chair. I don’t know who you think you are! We’ve started buckling you in again which does not make you happy. Again, temper-tantrum-crocodile-tears when you realize you’re buckled in.
**You’re still a bookworm. You know objects in your book (i.e. you touch the top of your head when you see a hat). You also know when the book is upside down.
**You are turning more and more into a little girl. I was at a work retreat for less than 48 hours and when I got home I kept asking you “what happened to my baby?”
**I had surgery on my leg in two separate places earlier this month and every time you see the scar you point at it and get such a concerned look and voice. You also need to touch it each time you spot it.
**We finally dropped you off at church daycare. We’ve been long overdue for this. You went right into the guys arms and didn’t look back. We assume you did well because we didn’t get a text during the service.
**You’ve started climbing into your crib. You do this for kicks, not for when you want/need to go to sleep. You climb up the solid sides (not the side with the slats). My heart stops e v e r y time you do this. There’s a freakin’ decorative ledge on the side that you’ve found which helps hoist you over. We’re thinking of screwing plywood, cut to fit the open area, so you can’t climb in anymore. The same ledge is on the inside of your crib which your bumper pads kinda hide. If you find this ledge on the inside… we’re screwed.