About 2.5 years old

Since moving to Cincinnati both Mike and I have commented several times that Charlotte seems so much more grown up. We are settling into our new home and love being here but I do get sad when I think about the grandparents missing out on seeing our sweet Charlotte so often. I love the little person Charlotte is becoming. She is still quite fiesty at times, and sure knows how to throw a fit like any 2 year old, but she also is such a sensitive, shy girl who can be so sweet and thoughtful.

So for posterity and for the grandparents this update is for you. (Although I'm sure both Mike and I have already told you all these funny stories, now you can read about it. :) )

Charlotte loves to be a doctor. Mike's old stethoscope has accompanied us many places. She loves listening to her toys and make sure they feel better. 

If she hears or seeing someone crying she'll say, " Someone sad. Need a hug, they'll feel better."

I had a few hard days since being in Cincinnati, not many, but I have, I blame it on pregnancy hormones, anyway when I've had my tearful moments Charlotte without asking or prompting will come up to me a give me a big hug and say, "You happy now mom." I love the way she is beginning to recognize feelings and emotions of others and wanting to them feel better. Such a sweet girl. 

On the other hand, Charlotte tells Mike all the time, "he's fine." Sometimes when Mike asks Charlotte for a hug or kiss, or pretends to be sad, she'll just tell Mike, "you're fine." Quite funny. I'm pretty sure she got that from her dad and is giving him a dose of his own medicine. 

She is still obsessed with listening to Lion King in the car. Although now she likes to listen to the instrumental songs on the soundtrack. She calls the instrumental songs, "Simba Sad" songs. We have branched out to Sound of Music, some Primary music, A Whole New World from Aladdin and A Spoon full of Sugar from Mary Poppins. I've got to be honest I easily get sick of her music. So I put her playlist on my ipod and sometimes she listens to it when we run together or when we are in the car. She loves listening to music on "her phone". (She calls my ipod her phone)

All Charlotte wants to do all day is play hands. She'll bring me a toy and say, "be hands!" and she'll want me to pretend I'm that toy, doing their voice, moving their hands etc. She is obsessed. It's so fun to see her imagination come to life. Charlotte is really starting to play pretend and I love it. 

Clean hands. Charlotte loves to wash her hands. And she always wants to do it by "SELF!" Charlotte grabs her stool, stands up and washes her hands all by herself. It's such a nice habit to have and sure is nice that she can do it by "SELF!"

We bought Charlotte a bike and she seems so grown up riding it. We bought her a STRIDER bike, so it's taking some time to get comfortable on it. But she does enjoy riding it and is getting the balancing thing down. 

Charlotte is still very much a wheeler and dealer. Sadly she has learned the phrases, "just a second," "hold on", "two more minutes" from her busy momma. She now uses these phrases with Mike and I all the time. The other night she wanted Mike to snuggle with her before going to bed and she said, " Just snuggle with me, two minutes." Of course Mike couldn't resist an offer like that. Whenever I ask her to do something whether its bringing her plate to the sink, changing her diaper, getting in the car etc I hear one of these phrases! Seriously sometimes it's so maddening but I can't be upset because the poor girl learned it from me! Dose of my own medicine. 

Oh my little princess. One day, probably about a month ago Charlotte announced to Mike and I that she was Princess Charlotte. What? Truly I have no idea where this came from. We don't really push the princess thing at our house. I haven't wanted Charlotte growing up thinking she is this spoiled, entitled princess,  but it was so endearing when she called herself Princess Charlotte so we've altered the idea of what a princess is. Mike and I tell Charlotte princesses help people, they are kind to others, they love to share, and they ALWAYS obey their parents. So since that day we've altered the idea of what a princess is and run with the idea with Charlotte. It's been to our advantage for sure. Her Grandma Carol and Papa Steve sent Charlotte a little princess package and the girl is in heaven. Princess dress ups and a princess duplo set. What more can a girl need? 

It's been a long time coming but Charlotte actually enjoys going to nursery now! Hooray. Our wonderful new ward and fantastic nursery leaders have made all the difference. We are so grateful to them and appreciate how much they love our daughter.  Charlotte now runs to nursery, not kidding runs, and walks in by herself without tears! This is a huge milestone for us! Hooray! Our girl is growing up. 

Another big milestone Charlotte has reached is that she is officially sleeping and NAPPING in her big girl bed. She's recently had a fear of monsters and bad guys that we've had to battle with before bedtime and nap time which made the transition to a big girl bed a little tricky but so far so good. We had to completely take her crib apart and put it in the baby room so she knew sleeping in the crib was no longer an option. We spray for monsters each night and she sleeps with a night light but as of right now  she is sleeping well and is loving her big girl bed. Phew. 

One last thing. Charlotte seems to be getting so excited to be a big sister. She talks to the baby, tells us se is going to teach the baby things such as jumping, shapes and how to play with toys. Charlotte even talks about sharing with the baby and wanting to hold her. It's so sweet and melts my heart knowing she is going to have a sister to love and play with. However I'm still a little nervous and preparing myself that once baby sister is actually here to stay and soaking up momma's time and attention, all this sweet talk will be a different story. I guess time will tell.

Thanks for indulging me on the longest post ever. As you can tell we are quite obsessed with our Charlotte and feel blessed to have her in our family!