Daily life, lately

Daily life as a stay-at-home mom has definitely seen some improvements since we have gotten settled in St Neots and as I have gotten much more comfortable with driving here. Charlotte is also learning more words and I am getting better at telling what she wants/needs, so there is some improvement with random crying fits in that department. Paul and I are also working out a system where he can take care of her for a few hours on one of his days off, so that I can go have some "Amanda time" outside the house -- reading, knitting, blogging, whatever -- and get a break from toddler time. My first official solo outing (not including grocery shopping type errands) was to a coffee shop in St Neots last Sunday morning. I finished a book and enjoyed a chai latte very much. I'm so glad he's encouraging of me to do this, I need it more than I realize.

"Amanda time"

We also have registered at the local Children's Centre, which has classes almost daily during the week that cater to kids 0-5 years of age. We went to "Singasaurus" a couple of weeks ago, which ended up being nursery rhymes and songs for the little ones to bounce along to. Charlotte loved it, although she started to fade during the last 10 minutes of the 45 minute class (not grumpy, just kind of glazing over). My ego was burst when I realized that, despite having a mom who knows every American nursery rhyme in the book, I did NOT know more than about 1/3 of the British nursery rhymes we did in the class! They did give us a book with the rhymes in them, which was *slightly* helpful. I was glad Charlotte isn't old enough to roll her eyes at a mum who doesn't know the words :) We also went to the local library on Friday morning, where they hold "RhymeTime." No book there, but I did remember enough of the rhymes to sing along more confidently. Charlotte also got a "passport" at the library to get little stamps on for each class the attends or books she checks out. Too cute, now I just have to remember to bring it! 

Heading to the library for RhymeTime (I take her in the stroller; so nice to not have to use the car!)

Charlotte adores being outside. It's still fairly cool most days, and when I hold up her coat she runs over with her little arm stuck out and jams it straight into the sleeve hole. She can't get it on fast enough! We take little walks in the cul-de-sac and examine the shrubs, rocks, trees, flowers, etc. She is also an eagle-eye for birds -- whether they are flying or sitting in the trees/on the rooftops -- and sings out "Coocoo! coocoo!" when she sees or hears them. 

The rocks in our front yard -- she usually holds one in each hand as we take a walk.

Strolling down the cul-de-sac.

She also had a playdate one day when we went to visit Erin and one of her friends, Heather. Heather also has a little girl named Charlotte and they are almost the same age. They had fun at the playground (although they look like total teenagers in this picture). "Mooooom stop with the pictures!"

Charlottes

She is turning into a real toddler! Learning how to spoon her food (actually has made great improvements with yogurt and applesauce), saying lots of words ("tickle," "spoon" [poon], "gone" [gahh], "GusGus" [guhguh], "Cheerio" [jo jo], "go," "Dada go," "bye bye Dada go," "bye-bye jo jo" (when I put the box away), "hat" [aaht], "door" [doa], "book" [bukka]. She says "baa baa," "raaar," "coocoo," and "wuuh" when asked about animal sounds. She also can give "tea" to her stuffed animals, and after I imitated a slurping sound when her animals take a sip, she started making that sound to indicate when she wants something to drink. It is so much fun to see her learn new words and figure out ways to communicate with us. If she is trying to tell me something and getting frustrated, if I ask her to show me what she wants, she very often can do a gesture or point to help me understand. You can see the wheels turning!

Mmm, yogurt. She can usually eat about 80% with her spoon and then I finish it up for her.

Hanging out with "Little Pig," the only stuffed animal she has really started to love so far.

So proud of herself for being able to climb up on the ottoman (oh no). 

Brushing her teeth (more like sucking on the toothbrush after I do the actual brush).

And on an unrelated note, I started and completed a knitting project within a month!! This is a big deal for me -- as Paul pointed out, the most recent project I started was initiated when George W Bush was still in office. But I had a deadline... booties have to be finished before baby Gus grows out of them! I was proud of the finished product, and gave them to Jerome & Erin yesterday. I'm not speedy but I do enjoy knitting.