Dada's Poem to Charlotte

Charlotte,
This is copied from your 3 year old card from Daddy.

C ould not be prouder of my little miss:
H as courage to run, but knows when to stay,
A lways shares fruit snacks with her baby sis,
R eminds her shy friends to join in and play,
L oves running, dancing, her school, and the bay,
O pines something witty out of the blue,
T akes time to make pancakes on Saturday,
T hrives with a challenge whatever we do. 
E xcited to see you grow Charlotte: I love you!

Charlotte Grace - 3 Years Old!

Don't want to forget what your belly button looked like at 3

Charlotte Grace,

Oh.  My.  Goodness.  You are 3.  No longer a baby.  No longer a toddler.  Officially into the "Pre-School" years.  Part of me feels compelled to remark on how quickly the time has passed.  The rest of me feels we've done well cherishing each step along the way. 

-As noted before, you are a remarkable big sister.  You love Baby Cailin with your whole being.  When she was sick recently, I stood back and watched you rub her back saying "It's okay Baby Sissy.  It's ok.  Don't worry."  You look out for her at home and out on the playground.  You help people to understand what she's saying and you ensure they treat her with the proper respect.  You never talk down to her.  This is one of my favorite things to see.  Many people look at Cailin and speak in one word phrases (honestly, some people still do this to you...) but you talk to her just as you would an adult.  It shows how much you respect her and how smart you know she is.

-You are very interested in Dora the Explorer.  Last summer, the dentist gave you a Dora toothbrush.  You were so excited, despite not knowing who she was.  It's now your favorite TV show, your favorite type of fruit snack, your favorite puzzle, and it was even your birthday party theme. 

-You are a rule follower.  You stay in your bed until it's time to get out.  You use please and thank you without reminders.  You are kind to friends and adults.  You ask to be excused when you've finished eating. 

-You love to cook.  You've learned that weekends are great "because we get to spend time with our family" and the first thing you request on Saturday mornings is to help Daddy make pancakes.  You guys made frosted heart shapes for Valentines day, green shamrocks for St Patty's, and often you make jungle animals using a fun pan a friend gave us. 

-You (and Cailin) have had a rough winter. You two have been so busy hanging out with friends at school and stroller strides, you seem to have caught every germ being passed around Virginia Beach. Just another reason to love summer. 

-You are anxious for summer to begin.  You've been talking about Busch Gardens, Ocean Freeze, and the pool regularly despite that it snowed yesterday.

-You expect a Baby Boy.  And soon.  Baby Girl is walking and talking now so you have started to demand a baby boy.  This morning you opened a new package of toothbrushes.  There were 3 in the pack, so naturally one was set aside for Baby Boy.  We would all like a baby boy (well, I am not certain Cailin would) but I think you can go ahead and plan on using that toothbrush for yourself for now. 

-You never want to grow up.  You are precocious which is generally fun, but also provides undue stress.  In the car last week, you began to cry saying "I don't want to be a mommy like you!  I want to be a kid!!"  Thankfully, you turned 3.  Not 30. 

-Your new favorite pastime is board games. You received a few for your birthday and this morning you chose to forgo a trip to the aquarium to stay home and play games. I love spending that time watching you figure out new games and new strategies. 

-You still nap most days.  Yay!

-You can spell your [crazy long!] name! And you are [as you should be] so proud. Your name is spelled on your door and you studied it for a few weeks until one day you could recite the 9 letters, in order, by yourself! Next step, learning to write all those letters.

-Another mom asked recently if you were going through "a phase". She had implied this phase was undesirable and all I could do was boast of what a wonderful "phase" you are in. I am so proud of who you are and how you treat others. I am so impressed with your language, intelligence and determination. I won't remind you of this in person but you are growing up and I could not be happier with the little girl you've become.

Love love love!
Mama




Papi and Vovo came for your party!




Pin the tail on Swiper with Emily




Pinata!




You sang to yourself :)




You blew out the candle on the first try this year

Happy 3rd Birthday Charlotte!

Allergies

 

Both girls were allergic to dairy for the first year.  They both have a sensitivity to eggs.  Cailin can't eat avocado.  And neither does well with antibiotics.  Apparently. 

Charlotte tried amoxicillan as a toddler and on day 8 of the regimen, a rash appeared on her belly.  The pediatrician advised to discontinue and avoid it in the future.  Easy.  Done.  A few weeks ago, she tried azythromycin which caused hives.  More benadryl and update the records. 

Cailin took a full course of amoxicillan early this winter with no reaction, so we thought she was the easy kid.  Wrong.  So wrong.  She got a rash a few weeks ago, then got ear infections (and its subsequent amoxicillan) and the rash continued.  Since it'd started before the medicine began, surely it was unrelated.  Right?  On day 10 of the rash, the pediatrician indicated this rash may be a "side effect" rather than an allergic reaction to the meds.  I ignored my gut which said "This is exactly what Charlotte had 1.5 years ago, isn't it?"  After 2 more doses, Cailin woke up covered in hives.  Fire red spots consuming her body.  Far worse than I'd ever seen on my hive-prone children.  Another call to the doctor (we spoke or saw her every day this week) who suggested benadryl and hydrocortisone and ending the antibiotics.  These didn't help.  I called our allergist who didn't return my call. 

This brings us to Thursday night.  Cailin tossed and turned and whined and moaned.  All.  Night.  Long.  We did not sleep.  Friday morning her face was so swollen, she could barely open her eyes.  Her spots had connected and she was one giant welt.  It was painful to look at her.  She was  miserably itchy.  At the doctor's office, the pediatrician walks in and says "OOOH, Wow."  Well, I felt justified for freaking out.  She prescribed a steroid, more creams, and more antihistamines.  Meanwhile, both ears are still infected which we cannot treat until the hives are under control.  Cailin couldn't sleep during nap and instead cried.  And cried.  And cried.  While crying, she wheezed, so then I panicked.  And I cried.  There was nothing I could do to make her more comfortable and I regretted not trusting my gut days before.  This may be the worse combination for a mom.

Throughout all of this, Charlotte was amazing.  She tried to comfort her sister constantly.  She was understanding even when I couldn't hold/snuggle her because my arms were full.  For being not yet 3, she was very mature.  And that made me feel blessed. 

Matt brought home pizza and I rented a movie.  We had a pizza picnic to kick off our weekend.  Charlotte was given the snuggles she deserved and Cailin finally started acting like herself.  Cailin's face is still quite swollen, her skin looks like she's been burned, and she is still fragile, but, thank God, we are improving.

Testing

Maya, Charlotte, and Piper watch the Super Bowl

I haven't been able to upload pictures to the blog for months which gradually resulted in abandoning the blog.  But this seems to have worked, so time to get caught up!