A day in the life of Charlotte

A typical day for Charlotte involves a lot of eating...

Walking and playing...


Some relaxing...

Stuffing her face some more...

Learning bad habits from her brother...

And taking care of business.

A major Mommy milestone was reached today--I had my first macaroni necklace brought home from preschool.

The artist proudly showing off his work. Fortunately Jack should still be asleep when I leave for work tomorrow so he won't see what I'm wearing. I'm in a meeting with other Midwestern WIC Administrators and USDA officials, and I'm pretty sure pasta accessories are not appropriate dress code :)

Halloween party

We joined the Johnstons today at the Buckingham Athletic Club's Halloween party. This was the closest I could get to having all 3 kids look at the camera.

Charlotte was a watermelon.

And Jack was Mater (from "Cars.") He picked out his costume this year--he kept going back and forth between being a Car or a pumpkin. I was hoping he'd choose pumpkin because that would have looked perfect alongside Charlotte's watermelon, but of course he didn't. Oh well, he still managed to make kind of a weird-looking costume cute.

Actually looking more like Mater here with this spacey expression. (See the round little watermelon in the background!)

Showing off her her svelte figure.

Duel window-licking.

Trying to put her hat back on--I don't know why, since every time I put it on, she'd immediately tear it off.

Fascinated with Courtney's shoes.

We got to see a cool magic show (in the racquetball court). Charlotte was more interested in playing with Courtney and Will.

Will was transfixed by the magician. Look at those beautiful curls. I think Charlotte may be 5 years old before she has that much hair.

Will and Jack petting the magician's bunny.

Jack surprised us all by planting a kiss on the bunny.

Oh no, another baby with the same costume!


Tired Charlotte getting a hug from Daddy. She walked quite a bit and was worn out. I'll have to get some video of the walking, or rather waddling, watermelon.

Here she goes!

Charlotte had a big night! She's been on the verge of walking for a really long time, and earlier tonight she finally did it. Over the past couple months, she's taken a step or two here and there; mostly when she wasn't even aware of what she was doing. She's got such strength and balance that we knew as soon as she figured things out, she'd take off. She definitely proved us right--I think she probably walked 15-20 consecutive steps tonight on her longest stretches. At this rate she'll be running in a couple weeks!

The Super Incredible Big Brother

I ordered Jack and Charlotte a couple of personalized books, and Jack's came with a medal--same title as the book: "The Super, Incredible Big Brother." I actually didn't think he'd really be interested in the medal, but he's worn it pretty much non-stop the past few days since it arrived.

While he isn't always a fan of sharing his toys, or of Charlotte touching him (can't say that I necessarily blame him--she is quite a brute, after all), overall Jack is a great big brother. Charlotte adores him.


Making babbling noises at each other.

So cute.

Jack also makes my life easier by entertaining himself pretty well if I'm busy with Charlotte. Though I was a little surprised on this day to come out and discover his interpretation of "make a pretty picture with stickers."

You should see the other guy...

Charlotte is such a bruiser--literally. She creates a path of destruction everywhere she goes, and her only speed is full-throttle. She should be charged with reckless crawling. I've never seen a baby slam into more doors, chairs, furniture, and fall flat on her face as much as Charlotte does. And she shakes off most accidents like they never happened; just minor speedbumps in her quests to wreak havoc. Unfortunately her propensity for faceplants results in her often looking like she's just lost a boxing match.

Of course the camera flash washed out her face--trust me, these bruises looked much worse in person. She had not one, but two quarter-sized bruises on her left cheek, and a cut on her right eyelid. The pictures were actually from a couple weeks ago, so fortunately she didn't look like this on her birthday.

Trip to Goebbert's

We had a fun fall outing on Sunday to Goebberts farm in South Barrington. The weather was perfect--a clear, crisp autumn day. Unfortunately it was so perfect that the sun was really bright and the kids either didn't want to look up into the camera or were squinting when they did. Oh well, we were still able to get some cute pictures.

Jack and Charlotte doing some cute poses in the cartoon cut-outs with Aunt Lisa, Grandma, and Elif.



Jack and Aunt Lisa at the big wooden tractor.

Oh no, we shrunk!

The cutest pumpkins in the patch!


In addition to the pumpkins, there were also tons of other activities. We all really enjoyed the huge petting zoo; especially the cool giraffes.

Mr. Giraffe looking for some carrots.

Both kids had a lot of fun at the pig race. Here's Jack and Grandma watching. Jack kept talking about the pig race afterward, and the fact that pigs were given Oreos as an incentive to run.

Charlotte was rocking out to the loud country music at the race, but then her lack of a morning nap caught up to her.

Tired baby snuggling with Grandpa.

Checking out all the animals.

The kids really liked these adorable little piglets.