Breakfast on the Farm!

A month or so ago we went to Breakfast on the Farm for RochesterFest. They serve a delicious pancake breakfast to thousands of people and give tours of the farm, horse drawn wagon rides, and have a petting zoo. Charlotte had lots of fun. For a couple of weeks afterward, she kept saying she wanted to go to the Farmer's Market. When we went to the Farmer's Market, she said, "No, the other Farmer's Market." It took us until she said, "the one with the cows" to figure out she meant the farm.

Petting the bunny with just one finger

Baby goat was just days old!

I guess the pancakes weren't enough for her...she was still hungry! The cow in the background doesn't look too happy about Charlotte trying to steal some of her feed.

That's my breakfast! Scram, little girl!!!

Don't worry, the picture of her trying to eat cow food was a fake. In case you were still thinking about how gross that was.

The corn was much taller than the old saying "knee-high by the fourth of July," especially compared to Charlotte.

Where did she go?

Charlotte? Come back Charlotte.... Char? You need to turn around now. CHARLOTTE, LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER!!!! COME BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!!!

(Matt went in to get her and of course she ran faster when she saw him coming. She got about twice as far away and we couldn't see her anymore in between the stalks! Luckily Matt tracked her down by the movement of the corn. Next time we'll just leave her at the farm so she can help slop the pigs.)

I love this laugh!

Charlotte has a great laugh--it always brings a smile to my face!

Fruit fly

Last night Charlotte wandered into our bedroom at 3 am. This is very unusual for her; she normally sleeps through the night. I can count on one hand the number of times she has come into our room in the night in the last year or two. When we asked her what was the matter, she mumbled something we couldn't understand. We asked her to repeat it a couple of times, but each time she mumbled and we couldn't tell what she was saying. Finally we heard, "There was a fruit fly in my room." Ah yes, those noisy fruit flies are always waking me up. :)
I think she must have been still half asleep because she didn't answer any of my other questions nor did she fuss at all when I put her back in bed.
Pesky fruit flies.

Cousins

Charlotte and Ephrata had fun playing together last weekend in Iowa. Unfortunately we didn't get too many pictures...sorry Laura. :( Ten minutes before we left Lisa said, "Oh, Laura wanted us to take a lot of pictures this weekend!" So we took as many as we could in ten minutes. :) Laura, do you like the little piggie tails I tried to put in Ephrata's hair? Her hair is not really long enough, so they didn't stay in very well. But I tried!

Charlotte says funny things

I need to record a few things Charlotte has been saying before I forget.

The other day we were walking to visit Kristi's Grandpa who lives just a few blocks away. Charlotte began telling a story... "One day, we walked to visit Grandpa John and Grandma Sharon. When we got there I asked, 'Grandpa, how is your kidney?'"
Grandpa John just happens to have a kidney stone at the moment, and Charlotte had learned from Grandma Cindy that his kidney was sick. Matt and I almost died laughing when we heard her tell this story!

Charlotte and Grandma Cindy were driving in the car. Charlotte pushed the automatic window button to roll the window down.
Grandma Cindy: Charlotte, you should ask a grown-up before you roll down the window. It might not be safe.
Charlotte: But I asked myself, and I said it was ok.
Grandma Cindy: But you should ask a grown-up.
Charlotte: But I am growing up.

As we drove to Iowa to visit Lisa, Travis, and Liya, we smelled something stinky in the car. Charlotte said "Pee-yew! What stinks?!" Mama answered, "It was probably that truck with pigs in it that just drove by." Now every time something stinks, Charlotte asks, "Was that a pig truck driving by?"

In Iowa, Charlotte had an incident where she disobeyed Mama by pulling the tag off of one of Liya's toys. It wasn't a big deal for the tag to be off, but I reprimanded her for not listening to me. A few minutes later she introduced a Cabbage Patch doll as her daughter. She said "She's a good daughter and she always listens. She doesn't take the tags off of toys."

At naptime one day she wouldn't settle down. Mama lay down next to her and pretended to sleep. Charlotte sang her some nice songs to lull her to sleep. Mama tried hard to keep a straight face in order to uphold the appearance of sleep. Mostly Charlotte sang classic lullabies like "How Much is that Doggie in the Window" and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." But she also made up a few of her own.
"My heart is full. My heart is full. My heart is full of love. My heart is full of love. And my heart is full. And my bladder is full."

A day to celebrate!

We started out celebrating Charlotte's birthday by picking raspberries at a local berry farm. July 4th, 2007 we picked strawberries near Duluth, MN. Little did we know that in just 24 hours we would have a new baby. Ever since then, we have picked berries on her birthday! Grandpa Randy (Matt's dad) drove down for the 4th of July and Charlotte's birthday, so we got to celebrate with him and pick berries together too. As you can see, Stripe the kitty also came along this year. Note the cowgirl boots that are her favorite footware recently.

Then we went to Grandpa Mark and Grandma Cindy's house for lunch, presents, and cake. Grandpa Randy, Great-Grandma Lois, and Grandma Cindy are enjoying their tacos. Birthday girl is sitting on a box so she can see her food.

Lisa feeding Ephrata in the high chair that used to belong to kids Grandma Cindy babysat in high school!!!! It's like a zillion years old!

Charlotte enjoying her watermelon.

A new backpack from mama and daddy. She doesn't look too excited, but she does love carrying her things around in it.

A dirndl from Austria from Aunt Olivia and Uncle Charlie! She loves to play dress up.

Speaking of dress up....who is this teenage girl? I don't even recognize her in these dress up clothes from Grandpa Mark and Grandma Cindy.

Of course the outfit isn't complete without frog rainboots from Uncle Travis, Aunt Lisa, and Cousin Ephrata. Can you see Aunt Laura, Uncle Justin and dog cousin Smokie on the TV in the background? We Skyped with them during the party!

Poor little birthday girl is all tuckered out. She is in her new sleeping bag from Grandpa Randy! He also got her a little kid fishing pole, so now we're ready to take her on her first camping trip!

More pictures to come since Grandpa Mark and Grandma Cindy have lots of the pictures on their camera.

Happy Birthday Charlotte!

On Monday Charlotte turned three years old. How can she be that big already? Wasn't it just yesterday that I was in labor or that we were holding her in our arms for the first time?

Or wasn't it just her first birthday where we bought her a watermelon as a gift and she snuggled with Grandma CarolAnn?


Or perhaps it was just yesterday that our little bumble bee turned two?



But no, it really has been three whole years that she has been a part of our family. Last year I wrote a letter to Charlotte for her birthday, and I think I'll do that again.

Dear Charlotte,
You just turned three years old! You're not a baby anymore; you're hardly even a toddler anymore! You have become a preschooler, a little lady.

Your language skills have grown by leaps and bounds in the past year. Last year you were just starting to put two or three words together. Now you are speaking in complete sentences and paragraphs. You always have something to say or a story to tell (which I hear from Grandma Cindy is the same way your mama was...). You melt our hearts when you sign "I love you" by pointing to your eye, crossing your arms over your heart, and pointing to daddy or I. Daddy then taught you how to sign "I love you, too" by holding up two fingers at the end of it. You now know all of your capital letters by sight, and you know what sounds some of them make. You also know what letter certain words start with, like what letter does the word 'popcorn' or 'baby' or 'Charlotte' and so on. You also know how to spell mom, dad, dog, and cat. Sometimes you can spell nap and bed, but not as consistently.

You are a bundle of energy, a little spitfire. You are always busy. Your favorite thing to do is "play." Whenever we are home together in the morning and you snuggle in our bed, I ask what you want to do that day. Your answer is always "play and play!" (pronounced pyay and pyay!) The kitties are still your favorite thing to play with; they like to have birthday parties, tea parties, go to the pretend grocery store (riding in the Little Tykes cart or a "shopping bag"), or go to school. You love to pretend you are going to school! I think you will love going to preschool either this fall or next year. Often we will hear you gathering things and putting on your shoes before yelling "Goodbye! I'm going to school!" You definitely crave being with other kids, and you even had your first sleepover this year with your friend Raechel when mama's friend Audrey babysat you! You have such a good time playing dolls, dress-up, My Little Ponies, and everything else with Raechel. I think we will need to enroll you in some sort of activity with other kids this year if not preschool.

This spring you learned how to ride a tricycle! We are borrowing one from Baby George across the street until he is big enough to use it. You prefer going downhill when the pedaling is easy, and usually make us "help" push you up any sort of incline. Your motor skills are improving so much. Since Grandma Lois bought you a bike trailer for your birthday, our new favorite activity this summer has been biking. It won't be too many years before you will want to ride your own bike instead of being in the trailer!

You are usually singing or dancing your way through life these days. The other day at the Farmer's Market you danced and danced to the live music with your kitty Stripe in your arms and wearing your pink cowgirl boots, oblivious to all the passersby who were grinning from ear to ear at you. You know the words to lots of songs. This year you were particularly fond of "The Bare Necessities" from the Jungle Book (which you called "The Bare Sessies"). At bedtime you love to hear the bedtime song from Mary Poppins and a Sara Groves song called "You Cannot Lose My Love" which you call the "Baby Teeth Song" because it talks about losing baby teeth. I am amazed at your ability to remember words to songs and books. Yesterday when you didn't know I was nearby I overheard you singing all the right words to a song from a book we have read only about 10 times. Your favorite books right now are the Aristocats, "Felix and the Worrier," and any of the "Rotten Ralph" books.

Recently you have become a little more independent and a little less willing to conform to what you are told. Some days there are lots of time outs and frustration (on both ends!). Daddy and I are working to help you understand why it's important to obey, and why love means we have to discipline you. We want you to learn at a young age how to love and respect others as well as yourself. It's a learning process for all three of us. We're learning how to reinforce that even though we discipline and get mad at your behavior, we will always love you. You seems to get it, as much as a three year old can, and you ask "but you still love me, right?" after a particularly naughty time.

Despite those times, we forget that you could ever be naughty the next morning when your door pops open and you wander out with your "dandelion fluff hair" and your squinty eyes in the bright light with your hippo blanket slung over your shoulder and a kitty or puppy nestled in your arms. You smile and say "Good Morning!" in your tiny little voice and all is right in the world.

Charlotte, while it is often challenging to be a parent and we often don't know what we're doing (we've never done this before--sorry that you're our guinea pig, hope you turn out ok!), we do love having you in our family. I know that we belong together when we sit at the table together for dinner or when we pray before bedtime and you say "We're all together!" Even though our lives are crazy and busy and this year mama and daddy have slept at the hospital every fourth night, I wouldn't trade having you in our family for the world. Of course I wish I didn't have to work so many hours (especially when you say "Don't go to work mama!!! Take off your work clothes!!! Stay home and play with me!!!"), but I hope that you're young enough now that you won't remember us being gone so much. What I hope you remember is that you have a mama and daddy who love you so much and a Grandma and Grandpa who have provided a second home and have been an extension of our family this year.

I can't believe how quickly time passes, little Charlotte. By the time you read this letter and understand what it's about, I will be the mama to a grown up young lady. Who will you be then? I can't wait to see. I love you!

Love,

Mama