box(ed) seats for the show

When there are lemons, make lemonade. We took Charlotte to a concert at her baby gym last weekend. It was their annual party and a children's musician was hired to put on a concert. Out in the courtyard 30 or so toddlers were bumbling around, followed by 50 or so parents trying to prevent collisions.

Charlotte saw the masses and immediately concluded that she's better than this. Hobnobbing with the hoi polloi just isn't for her. But alas, her father is an economist and can't be counted on to spring for seats away from the proletariat, so a place on the concrete it must be for Charlotte.

The prospect of such cheap seats must have been so off-putting to Charlotte that she decided to take matters into her own hands. To make lemonade, if you will. In the front row, just beside the stage, sat a beautiful box. The boxed seat must have been very expensive since no family reserved it.

No worries, rules were meant to be broken. (Guess which parent that comes from...) Charlotte saw an opening and pinballed her way through the crowd. She reached the box, climbed in, and with little effort procured the best seat in the house.

She seemed quite proud that the inability of her parents to provide adequately for her comfort would not hinder her enjoyment of an evening on the town. That is, until another child decided that such luxuries should no longer be the exclusive provence of the 1%. (Fearing nationalization of her property, Charlotte quickly vacated to another less conspicuous settlement.)

TCB

Punching a clock sure can be a grind. If her weekend napping is any indication, Charlotte's days at the 'baby office' take a lot out of her (Ed.: what with the playing and dancing and painting and eating and sleeping...) Her afternoon naps have been pushing almost four hours the last two weekends, and she's always complaining about some dreaded TPS reports. Early this week she remarked that "Old man Leland was bustin' her hump" over something or the other. 

Even still, Charlotte enjoys daycare. We can see it: sometimes she doesn't want to go home in the afternoon. And she's learning a lot too. The disappointment that was Mama and Daddy's aborted attempt to teach some basic signs to the little critter has been rectified by her teachers. After only a week, Charlotte now signs for "more" at the dinner table. (Unfortunately the sign is the same regardless of whether the additional food is meant for feeding Charlotte or Penny.) 

(This is Charlotte's impression of Onkel Marcel after a busy work-week.)

kaffeeklatsch

 

 

holding court

 

Even at a young age,* Charlotte knew how to rally her troops... ;-)

about 8 months

ein echtes deutsches mädel

Guter deutscher Arbeitsmoral folgend "hilft" Charlotte gerne... denn grosse Mädchen machen sich nützlich, sind ununterbrochen eifrig am Werk und folgen beherzt Anweisungen &
kleinen Bitten.

Ganz toll findet Charlotte Spülmaschine ausräumen, Klopapier abrollen, Stühle schieben, Sachen wegräumen (am liebsten in den Papierkorb...) und gärtnern.

Beim Blätteraufsammeln hat Charlotte dann auch letztens einen neuen (deutschen :-) Freund entdeckt...

Ha, schau mal: da ist ja Jupp, der Gartenzwerg!

 

 

 

clean up, clean up...

      ♬ ... everybody, everywhere. Clean up, clean up... everybody do your share!  ♬


So they tell Charlotte at baby class and daycare.

And she happily complies, always waddling with an excited smile to the toy bin -- to drop off whatever she played with. That sense of orderly acquiescence must be a German trait.

Although, Charlotte is not that neat when it comes to eating.

 

Learning to use a spoon and fork is just too much fun to let all the food simply disappear in your mouth ;-) 

But luckily, there's always a doggie who's happy to clean up that part. 

A round of applause for Penny!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

sunday brunch

These shots are from a few weeks back (actually the weekend when Charlotte really took off walking) but show nicely how fun it is to have a lazy Sunday breakfast out at a local cafe with a dog- and kid-friendly patio (more space to roam around and have Mama or Daddy chasing after you ;-) and on the way to our beloved farmers' market.









While Penny was snoozing below the table, Charlotte was excited for our food to come...













...waving the "we-have-ordered" card to our waiter and everyone else in the restaurant.














Breakfast, please!

in control

 

 

Troy and I have long given up any illusions... we know who runs our life and family: dear Charlotte & Penny.

Fittingly, the remote is one of Charlotte's favorite 'toys' -- the real one, of course! She pretty quickly noticed that the other one Daddy put into her toy drawer is out of batteries and does not control anything!!  Pushing blinking buttons to switch on (and off, and on, and off, and on...) the TV and music is just too much fun ;-)

geräuschkulisse

Charlotte liebt ihr Buch der Töne und Geräusche:

Einige ihrer neuen Lieblingsgeräusche sind der jaulende Wolf, der knallende Kracher und der tropfende Wassertropfen - die werden jedes Mal beim Durchblättern energisch und wiederholt mit dem Zeigefinger angezeigt und wenn Mama sie dann herzhaft imitiert gibt's dazu ein grosses Babygrinsen!

Wir können es jetzt kaum noch abwarten bis Charlotte selbst lautstark jaulend, krachend und tröpfelnd durch's Haus rennt...

waiting for daddy

One of those melt-your-heart pictures...

Charlotte (and Penny) love to head out and wait for Daddy when they hear him pull into the driveway at the end of the day.

first day of 'school'

Charlotte has been busy over the past two weeks visiting a new stomping ground: daycare!

She's happily made new friends there,  discovered all the fun toys and play areas they have, and found it interesting to eat at a mini table on mini chairs (before washing her hands at a mini sink! "Hey, why don't we have everything my size at home?!!")

She even managed to nap there - of course, in the comforting company of dear Rosa.

And on Monday, the big day was there:
Charlotte started daycare full time.

Mama was probably more nervous about the drop off than her -
after all, that's where all the other kids go too ;-)

And remember, I'm a big girl now!

circus coming to town

 As mentioned, Charlotte loves her morning walks with Penny... and friends!







 
The other day, she insisted on taking dear friend Rosa AND
new pal Leo along
for the ride.





Together with Penny, our circus was complete to go through town ;-)