It’s been a busy two years. So busy that I’m writing this while waiting for an oil change at Conicelli Mazda. Every day it seems like we are doing something fun and entertaining. A new restaurant. A new town or neighborhood. A new attraction. Returning to favorites. There’s no one that I’d rather spend my time with than Charlotte. She’s fun and curious. Kind and helpful. Patient but jumps at new experiences. She’s quiet but asks plenty of questions and doesn’t hesitate to speak up when she requires attention. I’ve tried to document as much as I can through photos, “diaries”, and videos, hoping that Charlotte can look back on all her experiences and see who she is from the beginning.
When looking at our experiences, I always come back to the nature vs. nurture debate. I see so much of natural self in Charlotte – most acutely her “shyness” around people yet an openness about experiences. If a stranger asks a question, she instinctively pulls my shirt away from my body and tries to hide her face. Yet in a crowd, she operates comfortably, feeding off the excitement. She’s always (nearly) willing to try new foods and we’ve managed to avoid getting into relying on the same food rut or routine. We’ve dialed back the microbrewery visits; replacing them with higher-end restaurant visits. What our dinner conversations lack in depth are made up for with her constant smiling and great behavior. Pizza and ice cream, mint chocolate chip in particularly, are her favorite foods. In another check the box for nature, we are all amazed by the coincidence that mint chocolate chip was also grandmom Charlotte’s favorite ice cream flavor.
At Sesame Place and other attractions, she’s beginning to realize that we don’t need to buy everything, that Dad usually comes through with a departing purchase. She’s patient in lines and I need to catch myself from expressing frustration. Many times she sets a better example than me. She seems to have an awareness of when others are hurt and offers help. During a visit to the American Helicopter Museum in West Chester, we passed a World War II medical evacuation helicopter that had a dummy dressed as a wounded soldier – Charlotte became concerned, stopped and asked if the soldier was ok. Unprompted she’ll throw away her trash and put her dishes in the sink. Feeds Annie treats when we return home.
We’ve delayed taking an extended weeklong vacation to a faraway destination. Limiting our annual vacation to the New Jersey shore and opting to see all the Philadelphia area has to offer and taking long weekend trips to Pittsburgh and New Paltz. Many “social media”, Instagrammy-type events come through the area over the course of the year. Traveling shows, the like of which were limited to circuses, etc. when I was a child have improved significantly over the years. There’re a tremendous range of events from a Coco Melon character meet and greet to walking through a path of life-size dinosaur animatronics. In between we managed to visit museums like the Franklin Institute and Please Touch. We also went to the Turkey Hill and Crayola experiences. We spent a perfect fall afternoon at the Morris Arboretum. During a cousins’ visit we managed to see the Statue of Liberty and Lincoln Memorial on back-to-back days.
The local playgrounds continue to be our favorite after school activity. During the summer we went far (all the way to Pottstown) in search of the areas best spray grounds. Pottstown’s Fountains of Youth was the best and worth the drive. This summer dad is looking forward to Sesame Place’s water park area. One of our favorite places is The Barn Yard in Collegeville. Instead of an indoor playground, the space is an indoor miniature town – there’s a barn and stables, along with a few houses, a veterinary clinic, a post office, police and fire stations, and a grocery store. We hosted Charlotte’s third birth party here. Staying local, Charlotte enrolled in gymnastics at Conshohocken’s Community Center – each week she has swinging on uneven bars, walking balance beams, and jumping off spring boards. We also hit up all the holiday related events including Halloween and swimming with Santa at the Plymouth Community Center’s pool. During Christmas season we squeezed in as many Santa visits as possible from the annual Plymouth Firehall breakfast to the Philadelphia open streets Santa.
I hoped that her favorite characters would be Big Bird and gang. She’s gravitated towards Sonic the Hedgehog and Spiderman (at least we’ve moved on from Baby Shark and Coco Melon). Toy Story and its sequels (except Toy Story 4) have become part of our weekly TV watching experience. We watched the original Toy Story at least 25 times in the first month. Picked up a Buzz Lightyear at the Times Square Disney Store. I feel a little guilty about all the TV watching, primarily compared to how little reading we do, but after long and busy days we all need to unwind. A favorite toy seems to last a week or so, sometimes only for a day – it’s a balancing act between getting her new toys and seeing how she continues to play with the ones she already has.
School continues to go well. Charlotte’s reached an age where she is now playing with her classmates. The after school pickup is my favorite time of the day. There’s this brief period where I watch her and her classmates playing outside, engaged in all sorts of fun, before Charlotte senses my appearance and catches a glimpse of me looking outside through her classroom window. She’s beginning to share what she learned and did at school.
School continues to go well. Charlotte’s reached an age where she is now playing with her classmates. The after school pickup is my favorite time of the day. There’s this brief period where I watch her and her classmates playing outside, engaged in all sorts of fun, before Charlotte senses my appearance and catches a glimpse of me looking outside through her classroom window. She’s beginning to share what she learned and did at school.
She makes parenting fun and easy. Even with going to the bathroom, she knew after we did the three day crash course potty training that there was no returning to diapers. There was a month when we were bringing soiled clothes home from school each day but overall she’s been a pro at letting me know when she needs to use the bathroom. Unfazed by any conditions and appropriately amazed when we enter truly fancy bathrooms. It’s been a great three years and we continue to have all sorts of fun experiences planned for the future.