Little Miss No Nap

Most of the time Claire goes down for nap without fighting it and still sleeps between 2-3 hours. Every once in awhile, though, she decides that she can do without. A few Fridays ago napping was not in the cards. After an hour of her talking and playing in her room I went up and got her. We read books, colored and worked on her letters. It was great to spend some one on one time with her. She has become so grown up lately. She has such a personality and is so independent. I love the little person she is becoming and can't wait to see what the future holds for her.

15 Months Old

Charlotte turned 15 months old on Halloween. Over the past 3 months she has turned into a toddler. She understands everything and seems so grown up.

At 15 months, Charlotte:
- is very independent. She loves to look at books by herself, feed herself with a spoon and brush her own teeth.
- loves to dance. When you tell her to dance she starts bobbing her head and bouncing up and down.
- enjoys baby dolls. She loves to carry them around the house, pretend to feed them bottles and give them hugs and kisses. She sleeps with a small cloth one during nap and bedtime and loves to fall asleep with it under her head.
- adores real babies, too. She gets super excited and loves to get in their face and give them lots of (mostly gentle) touches.
- tries to repeat everything we say. She isn't saying a ton of words on her own yet, but has mastered a few of the basic ones: yes, no, baby, bottle, uh-oh, more, all done, nana (banana), bye, mama, dada.
- loves pizza. It is honestly the one food that she goes completely crazy over and consistently asks for more of. Overall, she is still a pretty good eater...as long as she is feeling well.
- has 4 teeth on top, 4 on bottom, her top 2 molars and her bottom 2 are trying hard to come through. She is kind of a crab when she is teething, so I'm looking forward to a break from teeth for awhile.
- can identify a handful of body parts on her own - hand, foot, belly, head.
- moved to the toddler room on Monday and it is going well so far. She cries at drop-off, but usually calms down pretty fast.
- is 30.5 inches tall (51st percentile) and weighs 20 lbs 3 oz (11th percentile).
- is super sweet and loving. She is constantly giving out hugs and kisses and we just love her!

Halloween Weekend

We had a weekend packed with Halloween activities. Friday morning I took the girls to school so they could participate in their Halloween parties. I helped at Claire's and she had so much fun. There were a ton of Halloween-inspired activities, pumpkin cookies and some spooky songs as well. I also got to see Charlotte's music class. A great morning. Friday evening we carved pumpkins. The girls were interested for about 10 minutes before losing complete interest. Probably not that surprising to any parents out there. Maybe next year.

Saturday morning we went to a Halloween party at some friend's house - unfortunately, I did take any pictures. Sunday evening we got together with two other families from our daycare and went trick-or-treating. Claire had a blast. She was so excited to go from one house to the next. And of course Charlotte wanted in on the action as well. It was a very successful Halloween.

Concentration

Charlotte was struck be a nasty bug in the middle of the night on Tuesday, so she got to spend the day at home on Wednesday. Art took the morning shift and I took the afternoon. After sleeping in until 9:30, she was all smiles and laughs the rest of the day. While I love spending time with the girls together, sometimes it is really nice to have some one-on-one time with each of them. We went on a walk, read books and played.
She took this toy off the shelf and starting taking the pieces off and putting them back on. She was so focused. I tried to help her a few times and she wanted nothing to do with me. She wanted to do it all by herself. Little Miss Independent. I love that she is becoming her own little person and is figuring things out on her own, but it makes me realize that she is not my little baby anymore. She moves to the toddler room at school in one week and she is just that...a toddler. I'm not sure I'm ready for this just yet.

Napa Valley

Art & I headed to Napa Valley last week for vacation. While it was extremely hard to leave the girls, it was amazing to get away for a few days. The weather was beautiful...blue skies and sunshine every day. We drank plenty of wine, ate some pretty incredible food and did a lot of relaxing. I think it is our new favorite vacation spot and I am certain that we will be back some time soon. A huge thanks to my parents for taking such great care of the girls while we were gone.

Family Photos

We had our annual photo session on Friday afternoon. It was hot. Over 80 degrees hot. Expecting more mild temperatures, we were all in long sleeves, sweaters, tights. The actual session was a bit of a disaster as the girls were super crabby and uncooperative. I can't say I blame them as I'm sure they were overheating under all the layers. Our photographer posted a 'sneak peek' on her blog last night and I was pleasantly surprised. Take a peek when you get a chance.

http://katiewelshphotography.com/blog/

Apple and Leaf Picking

We have been busy this fall. The weather has been incredible, the fall colors are peaking and we have been soaking all of it in before the weather turns cold. The girls' school had a play-date at Minnetonka Orchards last weekend. The weather started out a little rainy, but cleared up by the time we arrived. We enjoyed a hayride, a trip through the corn maze, and of course apple picking. The girls had a great time and I imagine that this may become an annual excursion. We have also been enjoying all of the colorful leaves. On Friday the girls and I went on a little nature walk to collect leaves. Claire loved finding different colors of leaves and putting them in her bag. And Charlotte loved following her around, copying her every move. They really are two peas in a pod.