Month 27 - Recap

Your pronunciation of certain words still leaves us in stitches. Currently, the way you say 'bunny rabbit' [buddy wabbip] and 'ketchup' [keppup] are our favorites. And as I was with Natalie, I'm impressed with how much you pick up without being taught. We were in some store the other day and you saw a globe. You flipped out and started hollering "Pan-tet uhf!!!" It took me a minute to figure out that you were saying 'planet earth', but once I did, you look so relieved and said "Momma, talk 'BOUT". So I said "That's what you were talking about?" And you squealed "YEP!" Conversations with two-year-olds often crack me up.

Every time we change you out of your jammies, you always want us to stop just after we pull your shirt over your head (but before your shirt is completely off) so you can run around the house and wear your shirt on your head like Shirt Hair. You get so excited to show Natalie how silly 'Na-ded Chaw-dee' [Naked Charlie] looks. And you being shirtless gives us an excellent opportunity to blubber and tickle your plump little belly.

And after you're in your jammies and ready for bed, you take a running leap into your rocking chair in your room and yell "MY CHAIR!" This, clearly, is Daddy's and my invitation to (gently, of course) sit on you and wonder where on earth (uhf) Charlie is. You squeal and start sounding mad, but when we get up, you whine for us to sit on you again. Because don't sit on me, but please sit on me. Makes perfect sense.

You're slowly starting to want to play games, namely matching games. You love watching Natalie play her games, and you're the perfect cheering section for when she finds a match. For you, though, I take it down a few notches and put just three cards in front of you and give you one card at a time to see if you can find the match among the three cards. A month or so ago, you didn't get what 'match' and 'the same' was. You just thought it was fun to throw the cards around the playroom (and I have to admit, I joined you and it was pretty fun). But just last week, it was like a switch flipped and you were a matching machine. When you made a match, I could see it in your eyes - you GOT it. You figured out what it meant. And you were so tickled with yourself.

You took your first non-hysterical bath this month. You still cried, but you didn't act like you were being bathed in molten lava. IT WAS SO AWESOME. It might have been a coincidence that you just happened to be in the bath with Natalie (you two have only bathed together three or four times - you hate baths so much that you're not much fun to be in a tub with), but Natalie looked so proud that she helped you be brave for your bath. I don't care if it was a coincidence or not, having someone you love feel proud over an accomplishment is a joyous thing. And not having your ears bleed because a certain be-dimpled munchkin insists on throwing fits in the ONE room where acoustics are so good (or bad?) is equally as joyous.

Hugs and smooches,
Mommy & Daddy

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Headlines for February 9, 2014:

• Georgia Prepares Heavily as South Expects Another Wintry Blow
• Clint Eastwood jumps into action, saves choking man
• G-olden Olympians: 40-somethings steal show
• US Suspect Possibly Targeted for Drone Attack
• Michelle Obama Gets All Motherly About Justin Bieber