Charlotte is TWO!

Our dear Charlotte is two years old!

I don't know if I can explain in words how incredibly sweet and precious this girl is. It's something you have to experience to believe. She has such a warm and caring heart. Anyone crying? She'll scoot right over, rub the back of her hand over their cheek, and give them pat-pats on the shoulder or leg. She gives "all-in" hugs where she wraps her entire body around you like a finger monkey.

She has that sort of crinkly-eyed sunshine smile that lights up her entire face. You truly feel that smile from the top of your head to the tip of your toes.

Walking is something I felt sure we'd be doing lots of this year, because ya know, kids walk at 12 months, riiiight?! Well, Charlotte has taught me a lot patience and understanding this year, because 12 months came and went, as did 13, 14, 15, and so on. I tend to be a very linear sort of thinker, like "well, I've got her in the RIGHT shoes, I've giving her the RIGHT affirmations, I'm providing her with the RIGHT opportunities and practice ... so it should just happen!" At our 18 month checkup, the idea of physical therapy was discussed even though our pediatrician said she'd seen plenty of forward progress with Charlotte and just to keep encouraging and give her time. Not one to do anything halfway, I enrolled her in 1) weekly at-home physical therapy, 2) preschool two days a week to be surrounded by walking/running peers, and 3) weekly My Gym classes (which, frankly, is about the last thing this uber-pregnant mama sometimes feels like doing ... but we do it). All of this to the tune of over $700 month additional, adding financial stress to that "time's tickin'!!!!!" stress we were already feeling. I mean ... we'd pay that three times over if we needed to (ouch ouch ouch), but I just mention it to sort of paint a realistic picture of what's been going on during this little challenge with our family.

In December, my husband and I noticed some drifting inward of one of her eyes so immediately contacted the pediatrician for advice. She referred us to a great pediatric opthamologist who confirmed it. January, February, and most of March were spent patching Charlotte's stronger eye for 2 hours a day. Not easy for her at first, but she then handled it like a rockstar. Sadly, not enough progress was made to avoid strabismus surgery which occurred yesterday! She had it on both eyeballs. She handled it well and now we're just in that red-eyed recovery period. Who knows, maybe once her eyes are healed we will see some progress with the walking.

Camille and Charlotte have a very normal sister relationship. Sometimes they fight over princesses, books, and mama's attention ... and Camille (2 years older) often pulls out her bossy/sassy/competitive side "Well I'm older than HER" - to which I reply "Yep, you'll be 40 and she'll still be in her 30s, you're exactly right Camille." :) They have had more and more amazing little moments though recently, like starting to really play together, sharing their most prized toys with each other, and being caught holding hands between their little carseats in the car.

Char is so good with her words! Her vocabulary is something we are really proud of. She loves telling us "Good job!" when we do things like clear her plate from the table or change her diaper. It's the funniest thing. She has so many words and her pronunciation is strong. We still sign a little bit too but she always uses her words simultaneously -- mainly just "please" or "all done." Please sounds like "peeeesh" which is just heart melting.

Eating is not a weakness, either. Girlfriend can put down some food! She loves milk, bananas, breakfast foods, fruits and vegetables, tortillas, sandwiches, ethnic foods, she will try it all!

She's 23lbs, 31 inches tall, wears 18-24 month and 24mo/2T clothing, size 4 shoe and size 4 diaper. She counts to 3 and likes pointing at any letters she sees and saying "A!" Books are her favorite and she always wants to sit "on yap!" and read as many as we will read. Her hair is really starting to grow like crazy and some little wispy curls are making their appearance at the back of her hair.

Sleeping is also going great -- she is sleeping 7p-7:30a and also naps 2-4pm. She never cries or screams to be taken out of bed. She wakes up, snuggles her animals and blankets, reads books, and plays with her stuffed animals until we come get her. Dream child.

With the MRI she had last week and the eye surgery this week, we decided just to take it easy on her (and ourselves) this weekend and enjoy a family-centered birthday celebration. No elaborate, over-the-top, exhausting party. And you know what? It was awesome. We took her to Build A Bear where she got to pick out whatever she wanted, and then we went to a family lunch and wrapped that up with a little special frozen yogurt. After naps we played outside as a family in the backyard and did lots of swinging and listening to music. The girls had a picnic outside for dinner. She enjoyed a delicious cupcake with two candles in it and she loved it when we sang "Happy Birthday" to her. She's been practicing that song as well, and hearing her sing it is seriously the sweetest sound!

Charlotte has a very mothering nature and is really drawn to babies. She wants to talk to them, to help feed a bottle, to be very involved. As we prepare for brother's arrival in less than two months, I'm getting really excited to see her in a big sister role!

She is such a precious, sweet part of our family and we can't wait to see what this next year has in store for her!