18 Months....A Bit Late!

Charlotte turned 18 months old on June 23rd.  Mat and I were actually in California at the time, but I made sure to ask my mom and dad to give her a special hug and kiss for us.  :)  No surprise that I'm a bit late in posting this, so Charlotte is actually now 20 months old and quickly approaching on 21 months, so this will be a bit more of a recap on her latest developments. 

Her 18 month well-baby visit got pushed back a bit due to our vacation and the doctor's schedule, so she had just turned 19 months when she went in for her check up. 

 

 Dressed and ready to go see Dr. Scott!

 

 

She was happy entertaining herself while waiting for the doctor.  She liked to get into everything, play with the tape measure, look at herself in the mirror, and most of all kept wanting to listen to the musical mobile hanging above her over and over. 

 

She looks so tall and lanky stretching for the mobile.  Hard to believe how much she's thinned out since being in the 99th percentile her first few months! 

 

On July 24th, Charlotte's current stats were:  24 pounds (40%), 32.5 inches (65%), and head circumference of 47 cm (59%).  She seems as if she's starting to take after her brother and really thinning out.  She's so active that it's no surprise.  The only vaccine she had to receive at this check up was Hepatitis A.  Because her hemoglobin levels were low that at her 12 month, they did a quick finger prick blood test to retest the.  The level hadn't changed at all, so we've started her on a vitamin with an iron supplement and will recheck again at 2 years. 

 

Charlotte continues to be a good eater.  She's a bit more picky than she originally was and doesn't eat too many vegetables.  She will eat most meats, LOVES all fruits, likes crackers, sandwiches, pouches of applesauce or baby food mixtures.  She really loves all things sweet (brings back memories of my crazy sweet tooth while pregnant with her), especially chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.  She likes to drink water and milk.

 



Here's the evidence! Chocolate chip pancakes anyone?

 

Charlee is all girl in the morning.  You can tell her mood right away when you walk in her room and many times she can be quite fussy until you feed her.  There's no other activity that comes before breakfast.  She wants to go straight to the dining room, and you'd better have a drink ready for her fast quickly followed by some food or she'll let ya hear about it! 

 





 

Here's one of her morning temper tantrums...probably because she didn't get pancakes.  Ha! 

 

 

Charlotte Noelle is so full of life.  I wouldn't have it any other way, but she keeps you on your toes.  She is a very busy girl, loves to explore, and test her independence.  She is a true risk taker and has no fear!   On the same note, she's very affectionate, full of laughter, and loves to cuddle (when she slows down long enough).  She continues to be a good sleeper.  She typically sleeps from 7:30PM-7:30 AM.  You can lay her down at night and still hear her babbling an hour or so later.  She doesn't cry out, but she just seems to lay in her crib and entertain herself until she goes to sleep.  I can remember MJ doing this as well when he was this age.  She naps pretty well now and although she doesn't take the long marathon naps we were spoiled by with MJ, she's pretty consistently  napping for 2 hours an afternoon (about 1-3PM).  She doesn't fuss when you lay her down, and she happily goes to her room to get ready for nap.  She has a cute little routine that after she's zipped up in her sleep sack and ready for nap or bedtime, she lays her head on your shoulder and wiggles her little butt as she snuggles in while you sing to her.  As soon as you finish singing her a song she looks at you with a big smile and gives you a kiss and then stretches for her bed.  These have become some of my favorite moments with Charlotte! 

 



 



Enjoying cuddles with my baby girl  <3 p="">

 

Charlee seems to love music and likes to dance and run in circles.  Her and MJ often dance together in the living room at night to songs off their iPad! 

 



Charlotte is now babbling more and more.  Some words she says regularly are mama, dada, more, help, up, PopPop, Papa, dog, ball, ow!, and animal sounds.  She still prefers to whine or grunt saying "uh, uh, uh" for something and has to be reminded to use her words.  Then when asked to do so, she'll typically respond with "mama" or "help".

 

She enjoys looking at books.  She'll sit still long enough to listen to her night time stories, but during the day she often only makes it through a couple of pages being read to her before she's ready for the next book!  She has developed a recent obsession with technology.  It's kind of sad, but she really wants to play with your phone or the iPad and she throws a complete fit when you tell her no.  We try to limit her to just a short bit of time a day, but it's amazing how good she is with the iPad already.  She knows and understands so much more than she's able to yet communicate.

 





Looking at books in her room before bedtime.  She quickly said "cheeeeeese" when she saw that I was going to take her picture.  Such a little ham.

 

 

I think that those are most of the major updates and changes in the last few months.  I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking...

 

 

 Looking like such a little Miss Priss here.  This is while Gigi was visiting and we went to the Naught Dog for breakfast.  Charlotte enjoyed having her sunglasses on and sitting in the chair like a big girl. 

 Charlee's first ponytail-late July 2013.  Love it! 

 

 Poor Charlotte definitely suffers from 2nd child syndrome (and soon middle child syndrome).  While MJ had 2 homemade scrapbooks created by his 1st birthday, Charlotte hardly even has any printed pictures of her.  I just haven't been able to keep up with documenting things the way I wish I could.  I was bound and determined though to get this sweet girl her own first year scrapbook made one way or another, so I decided to go the digital route this time.  I made a 150 page book on Shutterfly, and I must say it turned out so cute!  Not quite as nice as homemade, but I'm betting it holds up even better, and I just love it.  I was excited to get this finished before baby # 3 arrived!

 

 Charlotte enjoying playing in the splash pad in Davenport.  Girl loves water!

 



 This picture is SO Charlotte.  MJ was playing in the bath.  Charlotte had already had a bath that morning, so she was fully dressed and was in my room with me as I was putting some clothes away.  I quickly realized she'd left the room right as I heard MJ holler, "Charlotte's getting in the bath!"  Sure enough, fully clothed, she climbed right in and grabbed a washcloth and began washing her face.  Can't take your eyes off this one for a minute!

 

 Who me?  But I look so innocent...

 

 Not the best picture, but her expression was priceless.  If you can't make out the sign, Charlee and MJ are standing beneath the Planes movie billboard.  Charlotte attended her first movie this August!  MJ was dying to see this movie, and we were both really excited to take him.  Cars 2 had been his first movie (at 2 1/2 years old).  We weren't quite sure how Charlotte would do, but we decided to give it a try.  I don't think we'll be taking her back until she's a bit bigger, but overall she did pretty good.  She wanted to eat the entire time, so we kept her pretty busy with popcorn and snacks, but then she kept wanting to get up and down and walk around.  She was happy to sit in her own chair though and didn't seem scared by the movie experience at all!

 

 Charlotte and I playing in the pool during a recent visit to visit our friends, The Backes Family, in Naperville.

 

 Another picture that is all Charlotte!  This was after playing in the splash pad at Davenport.  Charlotte makes me a nervous wreck on the playground!  She has no fear and climbs, jumps and swings off just about anything.  She tries things that MJ just began trying last year. 

 

 Playing in our pool in the backyard.  She'll now go down the slide on her own and plop into the water.  She loves to splash around and play with her brother.

 

 Miss Personality!

 

 She's still fully in diapers, but she's begun to take interest in the little potty.  She sits on it at least once a day, but hasn't peed it in yet. 

 



She continues to love teeth brushing time!  This was before bed just recently, and she was wearing pajamas that I wore myself as a little girl.  My mom tells me that I loved these pajamas.  Apparently I should have put them on her much earlier, because they're already pretty snug, and I don't think she'll be wearing them long.

 

 

I still can't believe that in just a month, or less, Charlotte will no longer be "my baby".  She is such a mama's girl that I am worried how she is going to adjust to this big change.  She is very interested in my belly and likes to touch it and laugh, but is completely oblivious to the fact that a baby is soon arriving.  She is a little "mommy" and I think will be very interested in the baby and helping out; however, I think the few days away from me while I'm in the hospital will be rough on her, and when I come home and can't immediately lift her and hold her is going to break my heart.  I know she's going to be saying "mama, up!"  I pray that she will continue to know and feel my love and will adjust to being a big sister.  I think it overall suits her personality well, so hopefully once we get past the initial adjustment, it will be A-Okay. 

 

Charlotte makes me smile, laugh and cringe multiple times a day.  I know God knew what he was doing when he designed this beautiful little girl just for us.  She already has many characteristics that I myself wish I had, and I can't wait to see how she continues to grow and develop.