I’m so proud of my daughter’s name.  Charlotte Eva.  I say it, whisper it in her hear, and scribble it on paper.  It’s beautiful and fits her perfectly.

If you have read my blog for any length of time you may have picked up on the fact that I’m sort of obsessed with names.  The amount of time, effort, and research I put into picking out Charlotte’s name is pretty insane.  Here’s a quick look back.

The intense name buildup.

The ultimate decision.

The aftermath.

Yes, the name Charlotte has grown in popularity, but not like some other girl names.  The Nameberry thing in 2010 was just that it was the most searched name, not necessarily the one most parents chose.  (see final link) 2011 brought no new little Charlotte’s to her daycare and none of my Facebook or blog friends named their umpteenth 2012 babies Charlotte.  I haven’t really been sweating it.

Until this weekend.

Oh no he didn’t!!!!!!!

I griped and grumbled when I noticed this guy I grew up with named his adorable newborn daughter Charlotte.  Bryan and I went to middle school and high school together.  We even dated for a little while.  He’s a sweet guy.  I really seriously doubt he even knew my daughter’s name.  Nor should he care.  He should be able to name his kid whatever he wants.  I don’t own the name Charlotte.  I’m just insane.  I can admit it.

This is me being a grown-up and getting over it.  I posted this comment on a picture of his Charlotte….

Bryan, she is so sweet! Congrats! My daughter is named Charlotte, also. Great name!

See…I’m getting less crazy.  Until the next baby name.

Let me say for the record that selling your house blows.  Seriously.  Who has time to unload and load the dishwasher before going to work?!  It is my right as a homeowner to leave my sticky cereal bowl in the sink until I get home, dammit!  But not on a day we have a showing.  Oh no!  It’s all clean-up-your-slobbish-ways-or live-there-forever!

By the way.  If you’re in the market for a lovely townhome with a one-car garage in North Raleigh, please take a look!  You’ll have to act fast since we may be the luckiest SOB’s on the planet to have someone say they want to make an offer a half-hour after we put it on the market!

Some feedback from other showings so far have been “not enough hardwood floors”.

Really?

::sigh::  You can’t please ’em all.  Fingers crossed this offer will go through and we’ll have a new house with a new stainless steel sink in which to leave the remains of our breakfast.

These days we’re hit or miss with potty training in our house.  I’m not really sweating it, nor am I going super hard-core with it because she’s only 19-months-old.  Regardless, potty training has brought up interesting “conversations” with our toddler.

Sometimes they are anatomy lessons.

She knows where her bottom is.  “Ba-ba” as she calls it, as she pats her rear end.  She sits on the potty and we talk.  I explain that poo-poo comes out of her bottom and pee-pee comes out the front.  I tell her these are her “private parts” Pretty soon I’ll use the proper words anus and urethra.  I have also explained that part of her private parts are her vagina.  She just looks at me and tugs on my earring and giggles, or points at my nose and says “Mama nose!”  I laugh.  The point is, we have started the conversation.

I do not believe in using cutesy terms for private parts.  Ever.

Tracie is a sexual abuse survivor and a really inspiring woman.  She explains why cutesy terms are a bad idea better than I ever could.  Read this!!!!  I think my favorite line is “You wouldn’t tell your daughter that her nose is called a Hoo-Ha and then send her out in the world.  Then why is it okay to say that about her vagina?”

Funny thing is, I know Charlotte is listening.  Even at 1 1/2 she understands.  For example, after one of these conversations I was standing in the bathroom and felt a little hand patting my backside.  “Mama ba-ba!”

I died laughing as I picked her up thinking of all the other anatomy lessons she’ll eventually understand.

I think all parents of little singletons wonder what it would be like to raise multiples.  Greyson and I got a little taste of caring for “twins” this weekend when we babysat the son of our good friends.  Charlotte and Josh are just four weeks apart.

Murphy’s Law of Two Toddlers-

1. When one is ready for a nap, the other isn’t.
2. When one gets a snack cup of crackers, the other will want one even if you already asked them if they want one and they refused.
3. When one starts to smear food around while eating, the other will kick up the messy because they think it’s funny.
4. When one has a fresh diaper, the other poops.
5. When one is happily playing with Elmo, he/she suddenly MUST play with the Mickey Mouse the other has.
6. When we play Jason Mraz’s Sesame Street version of “I’m Yours” called “Outdoors”, we’ll have to play it five times in a row.
7. When one has a paci, they will take it from the other child’s mouth out of jealousy.
8. When there are five nearly identical rubber duckies in the bath, both toddlers must hold the same one.
9. When there are two toddlers in the home, the dog will be fatter and happier.
10. When there are two, it is double the giggles, double the fun, and double the sweetness.

Greyson and I laid in bed Saturday morning laughing, even at 6:00am.  The sound of their chatter coming from the monitor woke us up.  We looked at the screen and saw Charlotte standing, looking over her crib at Josh.  He was standing in the Pack ‘N Play.  They were pointing at each other and grinning.  Their baby babble and squeals were indecipherable.  The only thing we understood is their delight at seeing their friend when they woke up.  It was a fun weekend, despite Murphy.

This morning Charlotte and I gave Greyson his silly Father’s Day cards that play music.  Charlotte thought these were so fantastic that we had to keep her from tearing them.

They went to the pool for a Daddy/Daughter swim.  The two of them love nothing more than splashing and blowing bubbles in the water.  I thought their giggles were so fantastic it was all I could do not to tear them both out of the water and smother them with kisses.

Last night Greyson cooked steaks for my Dad.  I let him have Grandaddy time by putting his granddaughter to bed.  It was so fantastic he came downstairs with teary eyes.

I called my Grandfathers and each told me how fantastic it was to get Father’s Day cards from their Great-Granddaughter.  They each asked when we would tear ourselves away from our busy lives to come and visit.

We called my Father-in-Law and he gave us the fantastic news that they would be coming out some time this summer to visit.  I had to tear the phone away from Greyson’s ear so I could hear his voice too.

We laughed so hard we wiped away tears as my Step-Dad opened his card wishing him a “Happy Farter’s Day”.  Rest assured some truly fantastic fart jokes ensued.

I realized how blessed we are this weekend each June.  We get to tear ourselves in many directions to celebrate with so many fathers and it is fantastic.