Charlie Grace turns 2!

To say that I’m a little late with this post is an understatement. I’ve been dying to put my thoughts to paper for a long while but have been so busy with my new business adventure.
From my journal 2.5 months ago:

“Today is Charlotte’s 2nd birthday. I’ve been pretty weepy all week with anticipation. Somehow ‘2 years old’ seems infinitely older than ‘1 year, 11 months, and 30 days’. It’s just excessive.”

Can we say dramatic?! Oy. Though in this moment right now I am wishing even more for my 1 year, 11 month, 30 day old child back because this 2 year old is currently weeping and wailing because the peanut butter and jelly sandwich she begged for had a bite taken out of it. a bite she just took.
Sometimes you can’t win with them. but in the end we are her parents and not her best friends. She doesn’t have to be pleased with us every moment of the day, and I know this is just preparing us for the parenting woes of later years, like when she hits double digits. Am I right?! All you parents out there parenting a tween or teen give me an AMEN!
Back to Charlotte. She’s 2 now and I’m beginning to regret unleashing my ‘speech therapy’ self on her at such a young age. She absolutely knows the power of words and uses them to her advantage. Example:

After angrily crying in her crib for 2 or 3 minutes because we had the audacity to enforce a nap she began shouting “Mama, I crying!”. Oh, that’s what you were doing? I wasn’t quite sure, but now that you’ve announced it…

I love hearing how she learns and uses the rules of our language to create new things to say, things she’s never heard anyone say before. You guys… I know this seems like a ‘duh’ moment, but for serious, not every child does this. Our ability to speak is a MIRACLE!

Ok,  mama-speech-therapist rant aside, I am so proud of the little lady Charlotte is becoming. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to get any good 2 year photos of her, what with her aversion of the camera and my not-so-professional photography skills but I was pleasantly surprised with the results. I decided to use the picnic theme we were planning for her party and the doll is one my mom made her for her 1st birthday. precious.
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We continued the theme from her pictures into her party and had a picnic party with family and friends. The weather was beautiful and we had tons of fun. Charlotte is very blessed.
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I am so thankful for cameras and photographs. A luxury some people today still don’t experience, but I am forever grateful for the times I’ve remembered to pull out my camera and capture a few moment’s in time.