12-18 MONTHS - FEBRUARY 2023 - JULY 2023
​It’s been difficult to measure time for the past few months. I can’t tell whether the weeks and months are moving slow or fast. There was a time for before Charlotte. Now it seems that we are running on Charlotte time. While the first year had noticeable motor skill measurables from rolling over to crawling to using furniture to lift herself up to first steps, the next six months had one major development marker: walking. The walking development has provided the nice cutoffs as crawling to first steps did, however, it has brought with it plenty of excitement. The twelve month to eighteen month learning-to-walk period began with screaming and tears from putting on sneakers for the first time to climbing UP slides at the playground.
There wasn’t much of an indicator for when Charlotte would start walking. When she began taking her first steps there were some days with ten steps, other days with thirty steps, and a whole lot of nothing in between. Then we arrived in Pittsburgh to visit relatives, and whether she was tired of sitting in a car, or intrigued with a new environment, or wanted to explore at a rapider pace, we will never know, but I do know that once she started walking, she couldn’t stop. She was always a bit fussy about being carried pre-walking, now that she could walk, she had even less of a desire to be carried. While many of the Pittsburgh sites were closed due to President’s Day, the major memory from this trip is that “Charlotte the Crawler” was no more.
We thought that now that she was walking (and since it’d been a year since she saw Lola Asares) that it’d be a good time to take a trip to Arizona and California. It may have been an easier trip when she was in a stroller. At the airport Charlotte walked up and down the terminal, into every gate, into every restaurant and store…the only place she didn’t walk was the moving walkway. Unfortunately, all that walking didn’t do much to tire her out. It was still a great trip across the country to see family.
We immediately followed up the West Coast trip with a few days in New York City. The city offered plenty of stimuli, so Charlotte didn’t complain much when we put her in the baby carrier instead of allowing her to walk. This was the first of many summer trips around the area from multiple trips to the Jersey Shore, including a week-long vacation, to other spots closer to home.
Fortunately, with spring arriving shortly after Charlotte learned how to walk, we had an outlet to keep the little walker busy in the form of Conshohocken playgrounds – from Sutcliffe to Mary Wood to Colwell to the recently opened Hallowell / B Field park. Before lunch. After dinner. As long as the slides weren’t too hot, we tried to check out the playgrounds every day. Charlotte’s approach at the playground can best be described as independent with a blend of courageous/craziness. Forget the under-2 zone. And the 2-5 age zone. Charlotte must go down the slides in the 5-12 age zone.
The walking has been the most notable motor skill development and often overshadows the other major development - the emergence of Charlotte's personality. Over the past six months, Charlotte hasn't simply transitioned from a baby to a toddler, but more fascinating, from a baby to a person. Whether on the playground or in the pool or wherever we go, she distinguishes herself from other children. A sense of adventure and courageousness has emerged. A sense of humor. A sense of knowing that we are going on a trip, whether it's to the grocery store or to church, and she must be included. I know longer sit on the couch or at my "office" with a baby whose content with observing her surroundings but rather a person that's interested in being a part of the surroundings. The active motor has expanded from her physical to her mental attributes. Over the next few months, it will be interesting to see her more articulate share the meaning behind her verbal queues and express herself.
From the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean to public pools to swim class to washing her hands to taking a bath, Charlotte has a natural affinity for water. Knowing how much she enjoys bath time always has us feeling that no matter how the days gone we have something to look forward to at the end. If it wasn't the end of the day, Charlotte may spend hours splashing around in the bathtub. More and more toys have been adding to the nightly bathing regime. She's also less slippery getting out of the bath now.
Bathing isn't the only hygiene element Charlotte's shown an interest in - she's been very curious about the brush dad puts in his mouth each morning and evening. So much so that once she starts brushing her teeth it requires some effort to pry the toothbrush from her clenched fist. I've wondered if I should start flossing but I'll settle for her having the same curiosity in being potty trained.
Three times a day I get to eat with this little lady. She is quite an eater from salmon to steak although it's Whole Foods applesauce and fruits in general that she attacks first at every meal. Annie gained five pounds (roughly a quarter of her weight) since Charlotte began eating solid foods thanks to Charlotte's "sharing", however, as Charlotte's appetite grew and her handling of silverware improved, Annie saw less and less scraps fall to her. Now that Charlotte's able to softly say "all done", hopefully the end of meal food tosses had ended.
Exploring the office with Dad and checking out photos of herself at his desk.
Annie is finally receiving some pats on the back instead of hard taps. But the two still need to sit on opposite sides of Dad when relaxing at the end of the day.
Lola and Papa converted the "swamp" into a sandbox play area. It didn't take Charlotte long to figure out how to remove the lid. 
The Easter holiday coincided perfectly with Charlotte’s new interest of placing objects in baskets. Little did she know that the practice of putting balls in buckets would soon become practical with placing eggs in a basket – no chocolate or other candy in the eggs yet. 
For Mother's Day we went to Odette's (which apparently all the boomers know as the place where a news reporter drove into the canal one night in the 1970s - it's now a fancy restaurant in a fancier hotel) followed by stop at the Thompson-Neely house to watch some sheep shearing. Charlotte had just learned that sheep go "baa baa", saw a sheep in a separate pen, called "baa baa", and the sheep came right over to her.