Charlotte's First Valentine's Day

Mommy had to leave for work before Charlotte was awake this morning—-Mommy stood at Charlotte’s door, listening for the slightest noise from Charlotte’s room to indicate that she was starting to wake up so that Mommy could go into her before she left for work. Mommy was sad to have to leave before wishing her little angel a Happy Valentine’s Day, but Mommy knew that Charlotte was in good hands with Daddy. Daddy reported that when he went into Charlotte’s room close to 9 am, Charlotte was already starting to wake up. She had a busy weekend and went to bed a little later than usual last night, so she probably needed a little more rest this morning.

Charlotte really wasn't interested in eating breakfast this morning, so Daddy brought a bowl of Cheerios upstairs for Charlotte to eat while she watched one of her little programs; however, Charlotte had other plans--she dumped the Cheerios on the floor and then carried handfuls around, dropping them on the floor; all this happened while Daddy was talking on the phone with Mommy. Daddy was not pleased, to say the least.

Charlotte insists on sitting in the new stroller she received for her dollies—-she’s going to break it, so Mommy suggested putting it away for a little while. Mommy just commented to Daddy this morning about all the toys that Daddy has stowed away in Mommy’s closet. One day they are going to come crashing down on Mommy, then she won’t be too pleased.

Charlotte and Daddy played with all the usual toys today; however, Daddy was surprised when Charlotte was quite content to sit in her toy box while Daddy read about 20 little mini books (stories 8-16 pages long) to her. This is the longest period of time that Charlotte has sat and listened to stories. Daddy really isn’t sure if Charlotte was truly listening or not; however, he was able to read a complete story without Charlotte trying to close the book on him, which she has been doing lately—-Daddy hardly gets the first page of a book read and Charlotte is closing it on him and giving him another one. I suspect she’s looking for a particular story and can’t remember what the book looks like.

Later in the afternoon, Daddy took Charlotte out to do a little last-minute Valentine’s shopping for Daddy’s girls. When they returned home, while waiting for Mommy to get home from work, Charlotte and Daddy read the new books that Charlotte received from Nana and Auntie Dale for Valentine’s. During this time, Charlotte also found the gold foil wrapped chocolate bunny she received from Auntie Dale for Chinese New Year. She wouldn’t leave it alone, despite Daddy’s many attempts to relocate it. Daddy was quite anxious for Mommy to get home for dinner, as Charlotte was getting into all her snack foods.

After much discussion throughout the day, Mommy and Daddy decided to take our little family to what we think is Charlotte’s favourite restaurant: Sushi Mountain. It was also the appropriate choice in memory of a dear friend who passed away—-her birthday was on Valentine’s Day and she really enjoyed sushi.
Daddy and Charlotte--Daddy's looking a little tired

Mommy and Charlotte--Mommy looks possessed with her red eyes (oops! Mommy forgot to turn on the red eye reduction on her camera)

As expected, Daddy and Mommy couldn’t keep up with Charlotte’s demand for salmon sashimi (raw salmon). This time, she also enjoyed Edamame. At first, Daddy furiously worked to get a number of peas out of the pod for Charlotte, but she then mimicked Mommy and pulled the peas out of the pod herself. As the restaurant got busier with more patrons, it became more difficult to keep Charlotte contained in the highchair. Charlotte waved and loudly would say “hi” to all, especially young children, who were sat close to us. Eventually, Daddy and Charlotte went for a little walk, visiting people at their tables close to ours.
Charlotte loves spicy salmon hand rolls

Charlotte was quite content to have Daddy hold her like a baby--she even started to make cooing noises like an infant

At home, Mommy and Daddy exchanged anniversary gifts and then we all exchanged Valentine’s gifts. When Charlotte opened her gift, she wasn’t all that interested in the Ty Beany Buddy Valentino and silver heart locket, tossing them aside for the familiar Kindersurpise egg—-she needed very little help to get into the chocolate; Mommy let Charlotte have just a little bit before going to bed, saving the rest for another day.

Charlotte opening her Valentine's gift

Our first Valentine's Day as a family

Mommy dressed Charlotte in a new pair of pink and red striped sleepers with a soft pink kitty on the front, saved especially for Valentine’s Day. Mommy and Daddy tucked Charlotte into bed shortly after 8:30 pm—-goodnight my special sweet Valentine, who’s sweeter than chocolate!