Charlotte Matches Her Name!!

While shopping at Target yesterday, Charlotte and I picked up some foam letter stickers from their dollar bin.  Last night Wayne and I had fun spelling short words for her with the stickers.  

This afternoon I needed to work on my computer and Charlotte wanted to get the letters out again.  I busted those foam babies out thinking I would be able to work on my computer at the same time.  On the fly I asked Charlotte if she wanted to spell her name and decided to write it out for her to “match” the letters.  I was hoping this would keep her busy for a while but she surprised me and worked through her name very quickly.  It was neat to watch her search the pile for the right letters, turning them around and holding them up to the paper.    Once she found a letter that she thought matched Charlotte would ask me if it was the right letter.  “J” for “L” and “Q” for “O” had her confused but otherwise she was amazingly fast.   

 

Once Wayne came home, Charlotte was so proud to show him what she spelled.  After dinner they worked on Charlotte's middle name, Morgan, and she impressed her Daddy then too! 

Play Date With Cousin Brennan

This morning Brennan came over for a short play date with Charlotte.  They were so cute together playing cars, Legos, fishing for letters, making food in the play kitchen and watching a movie.  Charlotte LOVED having Brennan over but she made me laugh when she kept acting like she was the teacher and kinda moving Brennan along from one activity to the next.  She would randomly start singing the “Clean Up” song and picking up the toys so they could go the next activity.  He was a really good sport about the whole thing EXCEPT when Charlotte tried to get him to play with her babies.  THAT was hilarious because she could not figure out why Brennan wasn’t interested in pushing the baby around in it’s stroller and her was just looking at her like Charlotte was crazy!  Adorable!   

It was so fun to be a fly on the wall and watch their interactions.  Usually we are all together in one big loud chaotic group so you spend your time counting heads and breaking up disagreements.  It was nice to just stand back and watch them enjoy their play date.

It’s What’s For Dinner

Not too shabby for a thrown together Monday night dinner…

Double crust, Italian seasoned, baked pork chop

Wedge salad topped with homemade balsamic vinaigrette, bacon and diced eggs

Baked potato …dressed to the nines seconds after this photo was taken …

Charlotte's Cutting Practice

This afternoon Charlotte asked me if we could do an art project…..ummm, right, I thought about that for two whole nanoseconds! 

OF COURSE WE CAN MY WONDERFUL CHILD! 

Let me insert here in the spirit of FULL disclosure that it is my fondest wish that “Future Charlotte” will grow into a smart, feisty, happy, outgoing girl who just happens to LOVE crafting/cooking/baking with her Mama!  ;)  These early days feel a bit like training a sous chef.  But through the fun moments I think we are building up to a bright sunny day where we will be sitting at the crafting table together and I can ask her to pass the glue gun!  A mom can dream too, right?!?

So, today I pulled out a neat booklet I’d picked up at Target that helps kids with cutting practice.  (I feel like I am pretty okay with coming up with things for us to do on the fly but it is so nice to have ready-made projects, uh…at the ready.)   Anyway, Charlotte picked the rainbow picture and then the colors she wanted to use and we were off.  First things first, she needed to cut strips of paper and then cut those strips into tiny squares.  She was on it, with VERY little instruction.  The neat thing about this activity is that the rainbow stripes on the picture are actually contact paper, I know – genius, right?!?  Once she was done with the cutting, all Charlotte had to do was place the colored squares onto the paper to complete her pictures.  She had a BLAST and I did too!

Preschool Activity Bag Exchange

A few days ago I happened upon a blog with a preschool activity bag exchange with other moms across the country, I jumped at it!  Basically you agreed to some guidelines (like keeping each bag around $1.00), are assigned an activity theme (generally fun & educational) and then go to work. 

The main idea is that you (and 29 other cyber friends) make a self-contained activity that fits into a zip top bag. When you need an activity to occupy your bored or too busy kid, you bust it out! Some are great for on-the-go while others are a bit messier and work better at home.  Either way, kids love any new activity so I am super excited for Charlotte.

My project is lacing cards.  I purchased pre cut shapes, laminated, cut out, punched lacing holes in them...almost ready to go.  I will send them off in about a week and after another week a box with 30+ different activity bags will land on my doorstep. Sweet, Sweet Jackpot!

Gotta say these would be great for party favors, classroom holiday exchanges or charity donations.

Crafting’ An American Flag

Today Charlotte asked to make a flag….what perfect timing this kid has.  I took a quick stroll through my craft supplies and she came up with this work of art.

I am so proud of how her craftin’ skills improve each time we bust out the glue.  As long as I break the steps down for her and offer guidance from time to time, she is able to do so much by herself.  At this point the hands off approach is key because she doesn’t really want ANYONES help anyway! 

 “I.CAN.DO.IT.BY.MYSELF.MOMMY”

 

Don’t you love her festive nails?  Charlotte asked to buy – ok, really she said “Mommy, I’m buyn’ this!” –while we were at the store earlier this weekend.  The toes match, of course!