I remembered Valentine's Day is this week and figured I would use a little creativity and fun to help Charlotte make valentines for her preschool classmates. We have lots of crayons around and this is what we did!
Charlotte really liked peeling the crayons.
Chop them up! Charlotte put the chopped ones in the bowl.
Fill the mold with crayon pieces.
Put them in the oven at 230* for about 20 minutes.
Let them cool and harden.
While waiting, glue the valentine pieces together.
Pop out the new crayons. Such pretty colors and patterns!
Some personalization on the back.
Beautiful, useful homemade Valentines!
Girl, we had so much fun making these! I had the idea but worried that you wouldn't be able to be very involved but you jumped right in! You found ways to help me at each step of the process. You thought they were so pretty and named people in your class that you would give them to. It is so much fun being your mom!
You two are so silly together. I didn't anticipate you interacting with eachother so much so soon! Today, when we were playing in Olivia's room together, Charlotte thought we should all have 2 bows. I let her put them in our hair as best she could. You're getting better at this girl! I had to show all three pics because they tell the story of you two!
I managed to get everyone's attention!
And the silliness commences.
Olivia enthralled with big sister.
Another example of you two playing together happened this week! When I take Charlotte to the bathroom, Olivia ends up coming too or she cries if we leave her in another room. So she sits on the bathmat while Charlotte does her business. Afterwards, Charlotte noticed Olivia playing with the shower curtain and wanted to play peekaboo. You two were both cracking up!
Seeing you have fun together brings me so much joy!
Well sweeties, it will be just us girls for the next month. Your hard-working daddy is in California at the National Training Center (NTC) for pre-deployment training. While I never look forward to his time away, I know that it is part of his job. We are truly fortunate to have had so much time with him home since 2008. I always try to make sure he knows we enjoy him being home; I never want to cause him stress or heartache for doing his job so well. He won't deploy until later this year but this time away is required and we're looking at it as training here at home too. I am full-time parent with zero breaks and it can be exhausting some days. However, I can honestly say I find joy in every day I spend with you two. You amaze me...everyday. Here are a couple videos of what you two have been up to this week.
Charlotte, you still love to hang, climb, slide, and swing in your "garden", as you call it. You're thoughtful, inquisitive, and so independent.
Olivia, you're getting more and more determined to increase your mobility each and every day. You're 7 months and you're low crawling through the whole house, sitting up from your crawling position, and have even tried pulling up a couple of times. I see you get intrigued by something across the room and crawl out of eye sight of me but if I leave the room your burst into tears. So I suppose you're independent on your own terms. You love your mama so much and it warms my heart! Notice what you do when I say, "See ya later", in this video.
Poor girl, you get called Crazy Olivia by your mom, dad, and sister most days. I can't believe how BUSY you are all day long! You're just 7 months old and you can navigate your way around an entire room. You prefer your sister's toys already and scoot as quick as you can to where she is playing. Charlotte does pretty well with sharing but sometimes has to be reminded not to take toys away from you.
Your crawling is evolving into a military low crawl, where you pull yourself with your elbows and push with your legs. I'm surprised at how early you've learned to crawl and how quickly you can get from one side of the room to the other. I have a feeling I will have to really watch you as you get more mobile!
You really enjoy your highchair at home and now frequent them if we're at a restaurant. You bang your hands and spoon, cackle, squeal, and grab anything that comes within your reach! You are one busy girl!!
You're so in tune with people around you! You notice when anyone leaves the room and cry every single time I walk away. I literally take you nearly everywhere I go, even if it is just to the bathroom or to the kitchen to get a drink. Deep down I love that you like me so much! I'm floored at how different you already are from your sister and excited to see what kind of kid you grow into.
Charlotte, you're about two and a half years old now (next month) and I feel like you're in the middle of some huge developments. You are the question-asker..."Why, why not, where, what is it?". Here is an actual conversation we had this week:
Charlotte- Where we going?
Mom- Chick-Fil-A
C- Why?
M- We're going to celebrate Madison's birthday.
C- At Chick-to-Play?
M- Not Chick-to-Play, it's called Chick-Fil-A.
C- Why not?
M- That's just what it's called, sweetie.
C- Why? Mommy, why? Moooomy, why not? Why not, Mom? Why it called that? Mama, why? Why not? Why not Mom? Mooom, why? Is it Mama?
M-What is what?
C- What is this called, on my finger?
M- Did it come from your nose?
C- Yes it did!
M- It's probably a booger.
C- A booger? Why?
While this is a tad exhausting, there's not a part of me that would discourage you to continue this curiosity. It's absolutely spot on developmentally and pretty darn cute.
You're also really into pretending! You will say that you're doing something that you're not actually doing, but you've set yourself up to look like you're doing it. Here's a video that will show you what I mean.
Here is a picture of your castle that you love to set up and play with. The lions are unrelated to the set but you decided that they would be pets for the king and queen.
You also love to pretend to exercise. You go to the gym with me a few days a week so you get to see me workout and you mimic the movements.
Here is your squat.
Here is your lunge.
Another fun development recently is your interest with doing your hair. You let me practice braiding your hair twice today. You liked to feel it and was excited to show your daddy "my braid and my other braid".
You sometimes get frustrated when you don't get what you want. You might growl, pout, or speak rudely, but we work through the emotion pretty quickly. You seem to enjoy taking a minute to yourself in timeout to calm down. I've been prompting you to remember a bible verse "Be kind and loving to eachother" Ephesians 4:32 and we pray. Today, you got mad while trying to pick up too many things at once. You threw them down and sat on the floor. I said that wasn't nice and that we don't treat our things that way when we're frustrated. You said, "I pray mommy." You closed your eyes, folded your hands, and looked at me. You repeated me..."Dear Jesus, please help me to be kind, Amen".
Your dad and I are in awe of what you are able to comprehend, say, and do. I'm having to really work hard to keep up with you and I'm loving every minute of it.
Today, we dedicated Olivia to the Lord. Meaning, Josh and I are committed to raising her to have a relationship with her Lord and Savior. Our church, http://www.gcomchurch.com/, hosted a meaningful and laid-back event for us to share our vision and plan for Olivia's upbringing. When we step back and block out the crisis of the moment, we are able to think of your life eternally. In the end, it won't matter when you got your first tooth, when you were potty trained, or whether you were on honor roll or valedictorian. What matters most is that you know Christ as your Savior and you seek and accept Him. We strive to raise you to have a strong spirit, be an active listener, and enthusiastically pursue life. Your dad and I are going to nurture our own relationship by continuing the girls' early bedtime to give us time together and establish consistent date nights. We will help grow our relationships with our Savior by continuing our personal quiet time with God and staying active in small groups. We partner with our church, friends, and family to ensure we are kept accountable in these goals.
Olivia was on her best behavior, as were the other 6 babies being dedicated this morning. We stood and introduced Olivia to our church family, recognizing the support we have here at Grace.
Our close friends, Brian, Laura, and Braden Major, joined us in our celebration and commit to keeping us accountable in our parenting journey. Charlotte has a bit of a crush on Brian, might choose Laura over me if given the opportunity, and treats Braden like her brother. The Major family means so much to us and I thank the Lord for this family in Christ.
Charlotte was happy to help Olivia out with the cupcake situation, since Livi doesn't have any teeth yet. How very generous of her. Charlotte was dedicated two years ago here at Grace as well. This church family has seen her grow since she was just 4 months old. We are so blessed to have extended "aunts, uncles, grandmas and grandpas" here to help us in raising these girls.
Congratulations, Olivia!
"We have not stopped praying for you since we heard about you. We pray God will show you everything he wants you to do and that you may have all the wisdom and understanding that his Spirit gives."
Here you are, two and a half years old, and so ready for preschool! You're potty trained, independent, and curious. You have learned more than I ever imagined in your first two years. I've had so much fun teaching you and it continues! However, one area I lack is your social interaction with others. You do great with our friends, but I wanted you to know that other adults can take good care of you. We also want you to figure out how to navigate with a group of other children in a more structured setting. You will go to preschool 2 days a week from 9am-2pm. I have the option of picking you up after lunch if you don't figure out how to nap well in the company of other kids. So here goes your first day...
The day prior we talked about you going to school and you were so excited. You said, "Daddy drop me off? I say 'goodbye daddy!"... so of course he reworked his schedule so that he could make that happen.
You gave us both kisses and hugs and was immediately playing with the other kids. I put away your packed lunch, water, coat, and nap mat in your own hook and cubby.
You and your class crafted, sang, played in the gymnasium, and ate lunch. You told your teacher when you needed to potty and after lunch you asked your teacher for sleep. However, when I came in to pick you up at 2:00 and you were walking around in the room with your nah-nah while the other kids were on their mats (some sleeping, some not). You had never napped in the same room as other kids so I'm sure this was way too exciting for sleep. We'll try it some more and see if you get used to it. On the way home you talked about Parker, a little girl in your class. You said, "she a girl, she nice". I asked you what you all did and you said, "I play, I run fast...not slow, we ate, we sleep". I kept asking questions and you finally said, "no thank you...no talk". Guess you were tired from all the play and NO sleep! We came home and I put you right in bed and you passed OUT!
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