22 months!

September 24th, 2015

STATS:
weight: 27.4lbs
height: 35.5 inches
clothes: 2T/3T
shoes: toddler 8-8.5

EAT:
Surprisingly, I didn't take many pictures of this kid eating this month!  But don't get me wrong, there were plenty of donuts eaten ;)
The pickiness ebbs and flows and I'm hoping that one of these days, she will just eat whatever I put on her plate and not have an opinion about it (or an opinion about what color the plate/bowl is).

Favorites: pancakes, watermelon juice, steak, chicken, grapes, donuts, Culver's custard, mac and cheese (mama mixes pureed squash or sweet potato in, muhahaha!), yogurt, cheese, apples, peanut butter, raisins, cheesy crackers

SLEEP:
We are in a sleep regression.  Remember sleeping through the night?  Ah I remember it fondly.  And just like that, it was gone and I'm back to sleeping on the floor next to a crib in the middle of the night.

PLAY:
 This month we started something called "Tot School" (www.letstotschool.com)
While I am thrilled to have a few more structured activities to help her learn, I do think it is a bit much and then constant switching out of activities isn't really all that great for toddlers (and I hate the prep).  So we have chosen to focus on a few activities and slowly adding a new one every week or so.

However, I am thrilled with how much she is learning and picking up with repetition of the activities every week!

Learning colors through rice bin sorting and giving color "high fives!" (the hands are still up in the kitchen with the addition to shapes)

 Reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar and making a color sorting caterpillar.

 The finished product! And going on a "blue hunt"

 Button color sorting while snacking

 A little sensory break to throw paper

 Color and shape sorting along with some shape stamping

 Shape sorting in the rice bin and the monster bags (the monster bags turned more into color sorting)

 Making shapes on the window (and sorting by color)

 Texture week!  playing in moon sand and texture paining

 making footprints in playdough

 Painintg

 Playing with moon sand on the deck and painting with q-tips

WITH FRIENDS
 We met Jameson at the park.  These two little friends love to play together!

 Charlee loves to play with her friend Bowen!  We played with them quite a few times this past month, but one of the favorites was going to the Jet Room Restaurant to watch the planes take off.

 And Charlee wanted to take selfies with Bowen after :)

OUTINGS:
The WI Iron Man passes through Verona twice on the bike leg and Verona has a little "festival" to watch the bikers and raise money for high school sports and clubs.  We decided to go watch the bikers again this year.  The favorite part was, of course, eating Culver's Custard.

After watching the Iron Man and nap time, we decided to go apple picking.
After picking two apples, she was over it.

We also spent some time exploring the zoo this month!

Checking out the monkeys.

There's a new zookeeper in town!

And a penguin!

Looking at the polar bears.

We visited Glamma and Pops in Holmen, WI.
Charlee had fun playing at the ReMax picnic

And no trip to Holmen is complete without visiting Clearwater Farm!

Feeding the goats green beans!

Charlee also loves a good Animal Boogie

FAVORITES:
We spend a lot of time at the park.
Going "really really high"

And admiring ourselves in the mirror

SELFIES

WORDS:
too many to count!
putting 2-3 words together to form sentences (trying to mimic words and phrases she can't quite pronounce and only Mama can understand)

LETTER TO CHARLEE:
Dear Charlee,

It's hard to believe that this is your 22nd post and in just two very short months you will be two years old!  You are certainly coming into your own and have developed quite the personality (read: when you don't get your way or hear the word "no," the waterworks and screaming start.  You and me, my darling child, are so very much alike which is probably why we butt heads a lot).

But tantrums aside, you are such a fun little girl to be around.  You love to sing and dance! You are starting to sing along to songs now ("Animal Boogie") and dance along with them.  You love "The Wheels on the Bus" and request it every time you see a bus.  You singing and dancing to the "Animal Boogie" has to be my favorite though.

You love love love your dogs. You are always calling them or telling them to "Come-eee" (come here).  You're so lucky that Lucy lets you snuggle with her.  You are very helpful and feed the dogs at night and get their leashes when it's time to go for a walk.

You can count to 10 all by yourself, but you prefer to have someone count with you.  You know all of your colors and can identify them and sort them (your favorites being blue and yellow).  You know some of your shapes (circle, triangle, heart, star (can sort those and squares and ovals too)).

You are a little chatterbox (unless you are around new people).  You always have a story to tell even if you are the only one who can understand it most of the time.  You love to read books so we have them scattered around the house so you always have some to read.  You love to go to the park and swing "really really high" as you say.  It will be a long winter without the park.

It will be so much fun to see what is in store for you these next couple of months, namely turning 2!

Love you,

Mommy

OUTTAKES: