Easter pics

Although Easter pictures were not on my mind when we went out to play the other day, they are certainly what I got!  Our neighbors have Easter decorations set up and Charlotte is fascinated by them, especially the giant eggs.  When she first noticed them, I just happened to have a sweet little dress on.  And of course she had a bow in - do we do anything without one anymore?  (Not counting sick days.)

I think this first picture is the best - it's the only one I caught of her looking at the camera.  All of these were taken with my iPhone (as I was not expecting anything pictureworthy at the time), so maybe I could've gotten a better shot with my real camera, but that's not how it worked out.

The rest of these are here to tell the story.  She must have been feeling the yellow that day because she picked out her yellow bow and immediately started messing with the yellow eggs.  She originally had the smaller yellow egg, but then noticed the bigger one and dropped the first.  Then she noticed the first egg and started trying to hold both at the same time, which of course did not work out at all.  So she brought me one of the eggs so she could go back for the second.  On the way back, she noticed the pink egg and made a detour.  It didn't last long, though.  There are more pictures of her going to a different yellow egg, but I figured enough of the egg shots, so they didn't make the cut.

After messing with the giant eggs for a while, she went to investigate her favorite part of their yard - the flowers.  Obviously the bluebonnets are blooming right now.  She loves to smell them (and any other flower she notices).  I'd be lying if I told you it doesn't make me feel proud that she likes to smell flowers - I feel like she got that from me.  If it's a normal kid thing, don't tell me.  I like my egotistical delusion.

Lotion lover

Along with her other girly traits, Charlotte has become obsessed with a little travel-sized bottle of lotion. She carries it around with her all day long. I brought it home from some hotel, and I'll admit it smells really good, so Charlotte isn't lacking in her taste, but it must smell a bit too delicious, because for the longest time, she was serious about eating it.  She must be maturing, though, because this is what she figured out to do with it (with NO prompting fgrom me!):

Oh yes, she was lotioning up her feet.  And if you look closely at the last picture, you can see she also tried it out in her hair, under her nose, and on her cheek.  This continued for quite a while - I'm sure she had the softest feet around be the time she finished.  I guess she's seen Mama put on lotion after a bath enough times to finally figure out what to do with it!

Dada's little helper

Yesterday Koby was tightening up some bolts on our rocking chairs.  Guess who had to have her own Allen wrench so she could help!

A sick little girl!

Yes, I know, I've not been so great about updating the blog, but man!  The past few weeks have been busy! We have a sick little girl on our hands.  Charlotte has had three outbreaks of Rotavirus, the virus that keeps on giving.  In between outbreaks, I've been working on some pretty big projects, the main two being Charlotte's new big girl room and refinishing new cabinet doors for the kitchen.  We have made plenty of time for playing (on the days she hasn't been sick), so it's not all work! As I have yet to complete ANY project of the multitude going on, I'll just have to give yall the pictures of playing. We have (in no particular order):

played at the park - ALOT,

relaxed in the back yard,

gone to the zoo with the big girls,

seen baby sister, currently known as "be-be",

   

hunkered down in the corner of the porch with the ever-important baby for at least 10 minutes (no idea why...),

picked LOTS of flowers,

discovered hidden "balls" (Easter eggs) in the neighbor's yard,

and repeatedly quacked at a plastic duck.

Like I said, we've been busy.  I don't have a picture of it, but boy have we gone for boom-boom rides. (The boom-boom is from Oma's house - it's a red plastic push car that she sits in and waves like a queen from to all the people and cars we pass.) Even on sick days, we go for at least one or two rides.  Most days, we go for three rides.  On special days, we go for a fourth ride when Da-da gets home.  I guess if I had someone willing to push me around wherever I go, I'd want to go that many times as well!

Accessorize!



Bringing me yet another bow to put in her hair.



My dear little girl has become obsessed with draping herself with things, including necklaces, scarves, and even (clean) underwear from the laundry.  To top it off, she insists on a bow several times a day, multiple ones at a time if she sees them.  This has become an issue when we go upstairs to change her diaper, as her bow holder is in sight the entire time.  Often we have a bow just for a new diaper. In these two pictures, she is sporting a scarf, a necklace, and three bows.



A close up of the three bows she thought went well with her necklace/scarf combo



In this particular picture, I looped the scarf around her shoulders because she kept dragging and tripping on it.  Usually my help only extends to putting the bows she brings me in her hair. The rest is allll her!

I want to assure all of you out there reading this that I feel like I haven't really done anything to promote this new side of Charlotte's personality.  Of course, I haven't done anything to discourage it, either.  Honestly, I'm excited by the possibility that she may be a girly-girl, although before she was born I swore up and down I didn't want that. What the heck did I know?  It has been hilarious watching Charlotte trying to "dress up" and I'm so excited to see what becomes of this.  

 

Caught in the act

So I peeked in the playroom the other day to see what in the world was keeping Charlotte so quietly entertained and this is what I saw.  She was making some hand gestures and gibbering quietly while reading herself a book.  My teacher heart jumped for joy.  I can't wait until she starts talking for real so I can spy on her "stories"!