Monday, July 28, 2008

My Cheeky Three-Year Old

Caption contest: Add a comment with a caption for this fabulous photo (watch out Fancy Nancy, here comes Charlotte!). The winner will get a copy of this priceless photo.

True story:

At breakfast, I had finished everything but my coffee and a few bites of my muffin (carrot-ginger, if you must know!). Charlotte was eating like a slow-poke (as usual) and I was trying to cajole her to eat her yogurt. So, I said, “Look, I finished my yogurt,” and I took a sip of coffee. She looked at me and said, “Mommy, I appreciate that you are thirsty, but you really need to finish your muffin.”

I nearly fell off my chair hearing her repeat to me the things I say to her to get her to eat. I’m sure she doesn’t truly understand what she’s saying. And she can barely pronounce “appreciate.” I'm learning more and more what I sound like as a parent as my little parrot role plays with me. Sometimes it's not terribly flattering and I try hard to retool my approach when I hear things I don't like being repeate. Sometimes it's just unbearably funny, like this morning.





Another true story (written here with Philippe's express permission):

I said something really fast and she thought I said “I’m Baxter.” (Baxter is my brother's dog.) And the following conversation ensued:

Me: You thought I said, “I’m Baxter”? And that was so funny?
C: Yeah
Me: But, I’m mommy, I can’t be Baxter.
C: But Baxter can be a mommy one day.
Me: Not really, because Baxter is a boy. Do you think you might grow up to be a mommy?
C: No.
Me: No?
C: No, I’m going to grow up to be a daddy.
Me: How are you going to do that? Daddies are boys.
C: Well, I’m going to grow up to be a big man. I’m going to grow my hair big.
Me: Oh?
C: Yeah, I’m going to grow my hair big so I can have a beard. And I’m going to grow a big head. Because Daddy has a big head, so I’m going to grow a big head, too.


At this point I was laughing too hard to remember the rest. Note—I did not prompt any of Charlotte’s comments. And at no point in this life on earth have I talked about the size of Philippe's noggin (which, contrary to popular opinion is no larger than average, we've measured and compared!).

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Charlotte the Sand Crab

Charlotte spends about 8 months a year bundled up in a ski parka, boots, hats, mittens, etc. She seeks out snow to throw herslef into and make snow angels. So, what's this snow bunny going to do while at Virginia Beach?


She makes sand angels, of course!