Seventeen months!

Phew, this month went fast!! As of right now, our moving POD is stuffed to the gills and we are all sleeping on travel beds. Charlotte seems to be handling this transition gracefully, with just a few minor meltdowns and sleep adjustments. We are very grateful, and so so proud of our big girl. 

This update will be a different format from some previous months, as I don't want to forget to hit "publish" before we start our cross country road trip tomorrow. 

Charlotte loves: animals, buses, trucks, balls, taking rides in the stroller, her water table, being outside, eating lunch, climbing UP and going down slides, running, her family, and reading books. 

Charlotte is great at walking, running, climbing, eating, giving hugs, blowing kisses, snuggling for very short amounts of time, being flexible with her naps, sleeping at night. 

Words: buh bye, ball, bus, dada, amen, iPad, momma, baby, rabbit, teeth, bath, no no. 

Body parts she knows: hair, ears, tongue, teeth, eyes, ears, nose, toes, feet, legs, fingers (sometimes)

Fun things this month: we went to Brooklyn, NY, for a night. We said goodbye to many precious friends here in Glenside. We packed up our house. We saw Charlotte's little brother on the ultrasound screen (and confirmed that he is, in fact, a brother). We played outside A LOT, went out to eat a lot, and played at a lot of parks. 

Not so fun things: this month I thought Charlotte was starting to adjust to taking one nap. We had a difficult week trying to help her transition before realizing she really still needs two naps. The trickiest part is that she doesn't wake up at a consistent time each day... If she gets up before 6am, she is desperate to nap pretty soon after that, but if she sleeps until 7 or 7:30, she isn't tired for a while and it's hard to fit in two naps. We are all doing our best to be flexible :)

Parenting challenges: lately Charlotte has been wanting to do EVERYTHING by herself. We are trying to support her independence and be extraordinarily patient. It's challenging, though, especially when she spills her water or makes a mess, or gets hurt and cries very hard. It's also challenging because she is working hard to communicate, but we often can't understand exactly what she is trying to do, or what she has planned. There have been a few frustrated tantrums on her part, and more than a few tears on my part.