Charlie Ann: Two and a Half

Charlie Ann at two and a half years old is best summed up in this quote: 

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us..." -A Tale of Two Cities

Never could truer words be spoken of life as a conflicted toddler. 

I love this child more than I ever imagined possible. Her smiles, her tears, her tantrums, her squeals of delight, her humor, her joy, her naivety, her wonder, her happiness. We ride out the storms of a child who is expanding her freedoms, her choices, pushing her boundaries and trying to make sense of her little world. It is a beautiful thing and very messy thing. And I wouldn't trade any day, even the ones when I am counting the minutes 'til Daddy comes home, for a day without her. 

Charlie Ann, at two and a half, is very different than her two year old self. She has replaced Elmo love, with Minnie Mouse love. She used to not get enough of "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" (or whatever book) being read to her on repeat for weeks on end, now it is the complexity of multiple, ever-changing, library books, that she reads to herself. She has discovered choice, and preference, and opinion. She is verbalizing her world to us. She is figuring out cause and effect. She is growing up. 

Overly tired, and therefore overly excited for Christmas. -Christmas Eve 2013

Testing out the Bumbo for Tripp- January 2014

Sleepy, silly and sick - most of Spring 2014

Chores and learning responsibility (and also learning a lot about bubbles and water and making a wet mess) -February 2014

Playing and Potty Training - most of Spring 2014

Painting and painting, snow day after snow day -March 2014

Book wormin' -March 2014

Muddy Puddle Stomping - March 2014

The Car Seat Thing-2014

More Spring Snow -March 2014

Nervous feelings about Butterflies -March 2014

Silliness (and Potty Training) -April 2014

First Braids -April 2014 

Conflicted over Bugs -April 2014 

Swimming lessons, the best thing to happen to this girl since sliced bread -April 2014

Daddy, Her Main Squeeze -Palm Sunday, 2014

Thrilled about Veggies and Hummus for Dinner -April 2014

This Face -April 2014 

She is brave and dramatic and careful, she is kind and giving and protective, she is smart and logical and determined. My little two and a half year old Charlie Ann. 

Tripp: 4 Months and 5 Months!

I'm not quite sure how two months have slipped by... Babies? Toddlers? Potty training? Nap training? Baby laundry? Cooking? Nursing? Cleaning? Oh yeah, that's how two months has slipped by..  

But back to catching up on the last two months of my sweet baby boy. 

Month Four

Month Five

Stats: 14lbs, 25in, size 6mon clothes, size 2 diapers and size 2 shoes. 

Likes: Toys! (Owl Book, Elephant Teether, Zebra and Lady Bug car seat toys), play mat, his sister, being held, snuggling, Mommy, bath time and being outside. 

Dislikes: being set down, beards, the Bumbo, pacifiers when it's not sleep time, bottles and being swaddled. 

Tricks: lots of baby chatter-squealing, talking, singing, general baby orca sounds; rolling over!; knows his name; laughing; grabbing at everything and putting it all in his mouth. 

Feeding: we are still nursing on demand and it is working wonderfully. Right about the 3.5 month mark, I felt like my milk supply was decreasing. But between pumping, adding in some extra feedings, and using this fabulous product, MotherLove, that issue quickly resolved. He nurses at least once (sometimes twice) at night, and frequently throughout the day. He is still good at nursing in public, however he is just starting to be distract-able. On a down side, Tripp does NOT like bottles. We are trying every trick in the book and every bottle on the shelf. We will prevail! This mamma needs him to take a bottle :)

Sleeping: Tripp is the easiest baby to put to sleep. It's one of my favorite parts of our days together. We swaddle (thanks to the amazing Woombie), nurse and rock to sleep. Actually he's asleep before I ever start rocking him, but I just can't not rock him. It's adorable. Even though he is five months old, he still curls his knees up under his belly and nuzzles into my neck like a new born. I may not have any more babies, so I'm breaking all the sleep rules and savoring this little guy. 

Tripp goes to bed around 6:30pm and is up for the day around 7am. He wakes up twice (generally) to nurse, about 1am and 5am. Daytime sleep is still fairly scattered and unpredictable. He usually does a 45min-1hour nap around 9am. Another similar snooze about noon and recently, he has done a big 2-3hour sleep fest in the afternoon. 

In Other News: Tripp's first tooth made it's appearance on the bottom right. It seems that another one is on the way as well. Bring on the teething tablets, amber necklaces and Tylenol! 

Tripp is the happiest, sweetest, most enjoyable baby ever. He laughs and smiles all day long. He plays well by himself and is easily entertained by his sister. This little boy just fits right in to our crazy.