How's Charlotte adjusting?

We have been asked this many times since Paige was born. 

I think she's taken it all in stride.  There have been plenty of meltdowns, usually in perfect synchrony with Paige, especially when their mealtimes coincide, but for the most part Charlotte is doing really well.

She is still the same old happy girl - with a new twist: she's potty trained!  I know, I can't believe it either.  There's nothing like seeing my first baby in big-girl panties to make me realize she is NOT a baby any more. 

The potty training went fairly well, considering we did it with a newborn, which I do NOT recommend to anyone.  The first three days were stressful, and we're still working on perfecting use of the potty, but she only wears diapers to nap and sleep in at night.  She was so ready to potty train that we just couldn't put it off any longer.  I'm glad that Koby was at home to help me - I can't imagine doing that alone!!

Now that she's not a baby any more, Charlotte's sense of humor is starting to develop.  She really finds herself hilarious.  The latest thing is tucking her bottom lip up over her top lip.  This qualifies as high humor, as the next picture proves:

 

When she's not cracking herself up, she's starting to get really interested in "helping" mommy with chores, especially wiping up messes with towels and sponges, sweeping, and the laundry.

 

She has also discovered art and teaching.  She loves to "paint the brush" with watercolors inside and homemade paints outside on the patio and driveway. This is messy, but again, she also loves to wipe it up, so it kind of evens out.  As far as teaching goes, she shows her toys to Paige and her babies and gets about the same response from both.  Here, she's teaching her favorite baby about the goat from a beloved puzzle.

 

Miss Independent is starting to pick out things to wear.  She asked to put these on, then walked around saying, "Pretty...outfit.  Pretty...outfit." over and over again.

Don't get me wrong, she very much enjoys cuddling and being our "baby," especially with Daddy.  And the baby equipment laying around is used more by her than Paige sometimes.  But she's so light that she's still in the weight limit!  Maybe one of these days she'll outgrow them, but for now here's what I see around our house most days (the lack of clothes is due to potty training) :