2011 Favorite Books

I read a fair bit in 2011. Here's a roundup of my favorite books:

• "The Tiger's Wife" by Tea Obreht
• "The Marriage Plot" by Jeffrey Eugenides
• "Just Let Me Lie Down" by Kristin Van Ogtrop
• "The Kitchen Daughter" by Jael McHenry
• "What Alice Forgot" by Liane Moriarty
• "Bossypants" by Tina Fey
• "State of Wonder" by Ann Patchett
• "Hunger Games", "Catching Fire", "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
• "The Source of All Things" by Tracy Ross
• "Blood, Bones and Butter" by Gabrielle Hamilton
• "The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels" by Ree Drummond
• "Falling Apart in One Piece" by Stacy Morrison
• "Room" by Emma Donoghue
• "Glass Castle" by Jeanette Walls
• "Half Broke Horses" by Jeanette Walls

The Perfect Hot Cocoa to Marshmallow Ratio

The girls' favorite movie of December is Rio, an animated flick about a parrot who drinks hot cocoa. He waxes poetic about the perfect hot cocoa to marshmallow ratio, and Kate picked up on this quote after just a few viewings. And then insisted that she also get to experience the perfect ratio.

As a result, Kate and Claire had hot cocoa and marshmallows in the living room while reading books between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

They love it, so it's a tradition that I think we'll keep up with.

Hoot and Toot: Charlee at 18 Months

Charlee is a hoot and a toot. When she enters a room, Kate often says "Here comes troubs!" Troubs is short for trouble, of course. Charlee wants to be where the action is, even if that means she's sitting on her sister's puzzle, sitting on Chad's lap while he's eating, or standing in between me and the counter while I'm cooking.


She's a joy to have around... when she's not hungry. Second to playing with her sisters, she loves eating. When she's hungry, you will know it by her 1) bringing you a spoon or bowl, 2) saying "eat, eat, eat," or 3) being extremely grumpy and throwing fits. We often say "slow down, Charlee" as she stuffs everything in front of her into her mouth.

Probably typical of a third child, she can command the room with her voice when she wants. She will yell "MAAAAA-MA!" over and over until she gets my attention. I feel like I'm in a production of A Streetcar Named Desire.

Her vocabulary is larger than here sisters' were at her age. A quick brainstorm of her words: mama, dada, Kate, Claire, dog, kitty, door, bath, cup, spoon, eat, more, please, thank you, love you, bye bye, mine, no, stop, Charlee, laura, Connie, nana, Opa, grandma, papou, shoes, socks, apple, treat, banana, juice, diaper, go, night night, baby, bottle, Dora, Down, up, poopy, hot, this, that

Her relevant stats:
Weight: 23 lb 3.5 oz - 54%
Height: 31-1/2" - 34%
Head: 18-7/8" - 87%