Carlotta turned 3 years old on Thursday.
B & I spent the day driving 750 miles to visit her for her birthday weekend.
She was so excited to see us! Thank goodness, one of my greatest fears about being a "far-away grandmother" was my grandchildren would be shy around me & be afraid of me.
Carlotta has never been shy towards me! To others, yes! But not to me & that's what counts!
I brought a camping cot & B an inflatable mattress. Their small apartment limits the amount of extra furniture they can fit. They only have the basics.
We used T & Cs old "Little Mermaid" bedding since we planned on leaving them there for her to use on her new big girl bed.
She noticed the castle on the comforter & named my bed "the castle bed" for the entire weekend. She also noticed the image of King Triton & told me how mean he was to have broken Ariel's toys!
Recall how she came to my house back in November?
It was amazing to me how her vocabulary had grown since that visit. I understood everything she said!
Well, almost everything!
She does talk a bit fast at times but that's due to her mimicking her parents rapid fire talking!
And her appetite! Wow! She eats a lot of food now! Lots of it & a larger variety too!
Thank goodness for that! I was worried she would be so small her whole life!
Still in diapers, parents haven't given up hope, but they are trying to make it her choice to get out of diapers & not traumatize her w/forcing her to potty train. So, I worked "going on the potty" into many of my conversations w/Carlotta this weekend.
It would certainly help make their place smell better if she were potty trained!
She loves books, movies & books/toys about the movies she likes! She draws w/much detail. Her people have body parts! She loves taking baths & insisted on wearing the swimming bubble we brought to her, in the tub!
Like her mother, she HATES getting her hair done up pretty. She runs in the opposite direction if she sees a comb in your hand!
Her facial expressions are so fun to watch! She has one for every emotion, no need for words! Her eyes are huge, round & brown! She hardly ever blinks. Probably too busy observing everything & is afraid she'll miss something if she blinks!
She has a funny, tiptoe sort of running style. I shouldn't laugh though! I hated running because of my weird style, if you could call it a style! Loves the playground, especially the swings! B was a great swing pusher w/our daughters & continues the tradition w/Carlotta! If they only knew it was because he'd rather stand in one spot & keep them in the confining apparatus than have to chase them all over the rest of the playground!
She's a squeaker like her Auntie C! High pitched voice & squeals of laughter! She also loves having a collection of different shoes but doesn't seem to ever want to wear them. We gave her some new ballet clothes, shoes & tap shoes for her first dance class session beginning this summer. I'll need lots of pictures from them when that happens! She's also been approved for the Head Start program if they meet the income requirements.
I loved spending time w/Carlotta. We made a special trip to the cemetery to visit w/Evergreen. It was the 1st time we've been since getting the headstone installed. It's small & nice, a pink one w/2 butterflies on it. And as usual, she ordered up a brisk, gusty wind to greet us during our visit!
Happens w/every visit!
Thanks Evergreen!
As much as I miss not being closer for more frequent visits, I know T's family nor mine would be happy moving from the places we live now. Besides, could T handle my nagging or could I handle my suggestions being ignored? Probably not. LOL!
And now, my latest visit is over. Over much too quickly! I have begun saving for the next visit. I hope to go one more time to VA before the end of 2013. Then, we must save to get them up here in time for C's graduation from college in Spring of 2014!
Thanks to all who made our trip a good one. from B working overtime, C feeding the cats & her boyfriend, G who kept our driveway snow free! Thanks!
