Charlotte, Madison, & Mitchell in Busytown

Charlotte's latest obsession is the Busytown Mysteries show, based on the characters created by Richard Scarry (who wrote and illustrated many of my childhood favorite books).  So, when we were at the mall last week with the "M" crew (my friend, Melissa, and her kids Mia, Mitchell, and Madison) and spotted Lowly and his famous apple car, Charlotte got super excited.  (Okay, okay, so maybe it was me who got super excited.)  Unfortunately, my camera was running out of juice and I only got a couple of pictures before Charlotte and Madison climbed inside.  Once they settled in, they refused to leave until we lured them out with promises of food.

For some reason, my photo program won't let me correct Mitchell's scary red eyes in that last photo.  Here's a better shot.

Good thing there wasn't a ride featuring Huckle Cat and his little red car, or else we would have had to drag Charlotte kicking and screaming out of there.  She is seriously smitten.  Don't tell Diego, but Charlotte's new favorite thing is to solve mysteries and look for clues instead of rescuing animals.

Not my favorite way to start the day

A substantial portion of a box of Kix on the floor.  Both kids in their high chairs, nowhere near the scene of the crime (thus, no one but myself to blame).

This may not have been my favorite way to start the day, but it sure amused my audience.  And no, Connie wouldn't help me clean up.  She is a surprisingly picky eater for a dog.

Scenes from Crazytown

As seen by my cell phone camera over the past week and a half or so:

1.  A firefighter (or as she calls it, a "fighter-fighter") wearing cowboy boots.

2.  Grandpa Spike teaching Charlotte the ABCs, Dr. Seuss style.

3.  Peter worrying about the safety of his giraffe rocker.

4.  Peter actually keeping a hat on his head!

5.  A new way to bathe?

6.  Pigtails on the potty.

7.  The kids doing their best "Edith Ann" imitations at the Nashville Airport while we waited with Grandma JoJo for her luggage.

Doctor day

Yesterday was an exhausting day.  First, we all headed to the dentist so Charlotte and I could get our teeth cleaned.  Charlotte did a little better than last time in that she let the hygienist check out her teeth with the scraper thingy, but Charlotte was NOT about to let any cleaning occur.  Oh well.  Maybe next time.  Meanwhile, Petey got a little antsy being cooped up in the stroller  and was more than happy to toddle around wreaking havoc while I tried to comfort Charlotte during her exam.  At one point, he decided that he was going to brush MY teeth with the toothbrush we had given him to play with.  Unfortunately, he thought I also had teeth at the back of my mouth in the gag reflex area.  I'm lucky I didn't lose my breakfast.  We got out of there without a major incident, but just barely.

Next, we had a double appointment for both kids at the pediatrician's office.  Petey had a 15-month check-up and Charlotte had her three-year-old one.  Charlotte weighed in at 30 1/2 pounds (the 50th percentile) and measured nearly three feet, two inches (the 50th to 75th percentile).  Petey needs to bulk up a little because he only weighed 22 pounds, five ounces (the 10th to 25th percentile), and he only measured two feet, six 1/2 inches tall (the 25th to 50th percentile).  Otherwise, they both got glowing health reports.  I'm supposed to relax about the potty-training issue for Charlotte and try to get Petey to drink more milk.  Will do!

Here are the mugwumps, having a blast in the exam room.  For some reason, Charlotte decided she needed to wear her sunglasses at all times at the doctor's office.  What a goof!

Birthday disaster at Pancho's

I know I already posted these on Facebook, but they were too funny not to be memorialized on the blog. Here is Charlotte on Monday night, celebrating her birthday one last time at Pancho's during Trivia.

Step 1: The waiters tunelessly sing "Happy Birthday" to her.  She's not thrilled with the hat, hence the hesitation in her smile.  Notice the waitress' hand scooping up a dollop of whipped cream.

Step 2:  BAM!  The waitress slops whipped cream on Charlie Jo's face.

Step 3:  CHARLOTTE IS NOT PLEASED.

Step 4: Charlotte only picks at her sundae.  After the trauma she endured, do you blame her?

I still tipped the waitress, but not very generously!

More fun at the Discovery Center

The rest of Charlotte's birthday party went by in a blur.  There was a fire engine to climb on:

A play house to pretend in:

Rocking giraffes to ride on:

A tree balcony to climb up:

And of course, a tantrum to throw when it was time to leave.  Too bad we took this photo outside her party room on our way out the door.  We really did have a great time, as evidenced by Charlotte's disappointment upon exit.

Happy birthday, my sweet girl!

Peter makes a new friend

For some reason, there was a person dressed up as the mouse from the book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie at the Discovery Center during Charlotte's party.  Despite feeling so cruddy from his ear infections, Peter took one look at the mouse and decided he was in LOVE.  He has recently developed an affinity for stuffed animals, and he apparently thought this must be another buddy for him to cuddle.

Petey toddled right up to the mouse and grabbed an arm to snuggle.

"Can you come home with me?  Please?!?!?"

"Mommy, I think this mouse wants to come home with us.  We can just strap him to the top of the Big Red Van.  He can sleep in my crib with me!"

We had to bribe Peter with his beloved monkey blanket to peel him off of the mouse.  Most kids are afraid of people dressed up in animal costumes, but apparently not Peter.  I guess this means a trip to Chuck E. Cheese may be a little dangerous, since Peter might storm the stage and try to cuddle the animatronic band!

Charlotte's 3rd Birthday Extravaganza!

We figured out the perfect birthday party for our little animal lover.  The Discovery Center in Murfreesboro had a party that seemed specifically designed for Charlotte -- an opportunity to pick out five animals to come to her party (in a controlled classroom setting) and then free play in the Discovery Center itself.

We started in the party room with an amazing cake made by the fantastic Alicia.  She and Charlotte developed the concept over many discussions the past few weeks.  Charlotte was very certain about the elephants, but the colors were only nailed down in the 11th hour because every time you asked Charlotte, her answer would change.

Watching through the window at her guests arriving.

Shlurping on her favorite treat -- lemonade!

Charlotte has a distinct affinity for Baby Gabe.  Sometimes, we have to hold her back from loving him a little too much.

I bet she wished for some animals to meet.

But first, we opened some great presents, like this cute elephant skirt from Faith Carol.

A play cooking set!

Next, we got to sit down on rainbow mats and have the animals brought out to us.  Charlotte had gone in before the party and viewed all the possible animals.  She asked each one she chose, "would you like to come to my bihfday pahtee?"  The young gal from the Discovery Center then listened in and told Charlotte that yes, indeed they would like to come to her party.  Charlotte chose a bunny, a gecko, a chinchilla, a snake, and a tortoise.

The bunny was a big hit!  Too bad Peter was knocked flat by a double ear infection that subdued him into a dazed stupor during the party, or else he would have had a blast seeing the animals as well.

Hi little gecko!  (Madison petted him too.)

NanaB and I were NOT excited about the snake, but she was very pretty colored.

Odie and Luke were braver than me.

The chinchilla took a hilarious dust bath in a little bowl to get all the oil from our hands off his fur.

Charlie P. wasn't too keen on the animals until the tortoise came out.  Everyone really liked her.

More fun from the party to come.  This post is too long as it is!

NanaB

Oh man -- I thought we didn't get a lot of photos of Grandma JoJo last weekend, but somehow we got even less of NanaB!  I totally fell down on the photography job this weekend.  NanaB is such a great buddy to Charlotte and Peter.  Her years as a nursery school teacher and children's services librarian have attuned her to kids in a special way and it shows!  Too bad these are all the photos we got of NanaB this weekend:

She was with us at Blue Coast Burrito (one of our favorite restaurants!).

She pushed Peter on the swing at the park.  He is a fool for the swings!  In fact, it's kind of a problem since he pitches crazy fits when you try to take him out.  

Here, NanaB modeled one of Charlotte's birthday presents -- a headpiece for a cowgirl dress-up outfit!

NanaB was also part of the crew making the animal cookies.  We had a good time trying to decipher what animal each cookie cutter was supposed to be.

I thought this shot was pretty funny.  This was one well-documented birthday party for one very lucky little three-year-old!

Thank you so much for coming all the way from Michigan to help us celebrate!  We're ready for lots of fun adventures in East Tennessee in May!!

GrandDad Larry

GrandDad and NanaB arrived for Charlie Jo's birthday weekend on Saturday morning.  He hit the ground running and won the game of Zingo that everyone was playing.

After lunch at Blue Coast Burrito, we headed out to our new favorite park.

But then he almost dropped Charlie on her head.  (Apparently, he did the same thing to Uncle Dave when Dave was a baby!)

GrandDad and his Mini Me took Connie for a nice long walk.  The boys wore matching hats (well, for as long as Peter would actually keep the hat on . . .).

When Petey's ear infections hit hard right before the birthday party, GrandDad held a sleeping Peter and then volunteered to stay with Peter out in the van while Peter slept through the first 45 minutes of the party.  We made sure GrandDad got some cake though!

GrandDad checked out the gecko at the birthday party.  He asked him for a car insurance quote, but got no response.

The corn snake even got some love from GrandDad!

The kids have so much fun with their sweet, goofy GrandDad.  Can't wait to hang out with you in the mountains next month!