Letter to Charlotte: Month twenty-four

Dear Charlotte,

I think it’s serendipitous that I’m starting to write your twenty-four month letter at the exact time you were born, 2:20pm. I took a vacation day so that I could spend your entire birthday with you and you’re taking a nap as I type. I had big plans for our day that included a haircut, a trip to the pet store (the zoo “light” as I like to call it), and lunch together, but those plans were derailed when the sump pump in the basement went on the fritz, literally, surging the surge protector and creating a nice charred mess. The great thing about your easy-going personality is that you didn't care and were just as happy to play with your birthday balloons, run around the house, color, read books, and eat leftover mac ‘n’ cheese. You’re a sweet, spunky, and sassy little girl, a little bit of devil and a lot of angel, and I can’t imagine our lives without you!

You’re in the frustrating (for you … well, and sometimes, ok, a lot of the time, for us too) phase between being a toddler and a pre-schooler where you can vocalize most of what you want, but don’t understand the "why" behind many of the answers. You want to do everything right that second and seem to get your impatience from me, it further complicates the situation when you see your sister doing something you want to do, but can’t because of your age or physical abilities. You've been known to throw quite the tantrum, squeal at the top of your lungs, and cry on a dime … welcome to the world of girls! I don’t remember your sister being this emotional, but she also didn't have an older sister, either way, you definitely have your mother’s passionate and emotional tendencies and I have a feeling I’ll be calling your Gigi a lot to commiserate as the years go by.

Physically you’re growing quickly; you have the softest dirty blonde hair with loose ringlets that are brought to life when you twirl your hair. You love your hair in a ponytail and insist on a bow each day, not any bow, a bow that you pick out, and you don’t care if it matches. Also, you’d like to take your own bow out at the end of the day, thank you very much. You’re probably a little below average height and weight and have the cutest little Buddha belly out there; we often see your little gut peeking through, which makes it the perfect tickle target. You’re strong and definitely know how to throw your weight around and are pretty good at squirming your way out of a hold and into trouble.

You’re smart as a whip and although I don’t spend nearly enough time with you one-on-one, and I’m always amazed at how much you've absorbed either at school, through Anna, or us! One of your sippy cups has “ABC” and “123” and about down when I put it front of you a few months ago and you immediately told me what you saw. The next day we realized you could count to ten and you’re a master at singing the ABC song. Did I mention you did all of this before you were two years old? You have your Dad and I pretty much wrapped around your little finger and pick up on everything that may give you an advantage, including using my signature “hoooonnneeeyyy” in the saddest voice when you really, really, really want me to pick you up.

You pick on pretty much everything Anna does and are quite the little impersonator. Like screaming “ouch” when I haven’t even started brushing your hair, but because you've seen and heard Anna do it when I brush her locks; insisting on sitting on the potty chair and wiping yourself while Anna uses the big potty; climbing on furniture, “running” and “jumping,” in quotes because you’re not that fast yet nor can you get yourself totally off the ground just yet; and your favorite – busting a move and trying to keep up with the beat.

You’re a creature of habit and very particular … you like things “just so” and aren't afraid to tell us. You like your place setting set a certain way (today you reminded me that “Mommy forgot my napkin”), you like doors shut, your toys in a certain order, and prefer to follow a routine for just about everything. You like to tell us who can do what for you with “Mommy do dat” (most often) or “Daddy do dat” and are not pleased if we don’t obey these requests. This week I heard you mumble-crying after I put you to bed. When I went to see what was going on, you said “need to turn the light off,” so I got you up, turned your light on, let you turn it off and laid you back down. You giggled as I was walking out, probably saying “sucker!!” under your breath.

You love to sing and dance, you have hardly any rhythm, but it’s adorable to see your bopping around. You LOVE to sing the ABC song and have started letting us know which songs you’d like to hear, and in which order, when we rock you to sleep at night. Speaking of that, we definitely weren't rocking Anna to sleep at this age, but you demand it, and honestly, we don’t mind. The past few weeks, though, you’d asked to rock yourself while I sit on the stool and sing to you … not really sure I’m on board with that, but I do extend one song while I’m cuddling and walking you over to your crib.

You're a pretty good sleeper, definitely more restless than your sister was at this age, but you sleep through the night unless you’re sick. About once every few weeks you’ll cry out for a few seconds in the middle of the night, but usually fall right back to sleep. There was that one time a few weeks ago that I put you to bed and heard you screaming at the top of your lungs about 10 minute later, when I rushed in you were tearing up and told me “dat stuck,” “dat” would have been your finger and you’d wrung your hair so tight that your little piggy was indeed stuck. You go to bed between 7:30 and 7:45pm and wake up happy as a clam between 6:30 and 7:00am, on school/work days I don’t get you up until 7 and you’re usually content to talk to your stuffed animals or sing to yourself. You’re always cheery and full of giggles and smiles when we get you up, which is a breath of fresh air since your sister usually has a case of “the grumps.” You still take a good nap, but heaven forbid you fall asleep close to naptime in the car for even one minute; you will NOT fall back to sleep and we will go to great lengths to keep you awake in the car. 

In a way the past two years have been a blur and I’m still in awe at how big, advance, and smart you are. What doesn’t surprise me is how sweet and kind you are because that just your nature. You’re one of the most passionate people I know, you love so very hard, and you fight even harder. You’re definitely cut from my cloth and it’s easy to get frustrated until I realize that I’m staring at myself when I look at you. You challenge me to be a better Mommy each day and the love you give in return makes it all worthwhile. Thank you for giving me perspective, making me a better person, and reminding me that there’s nothing sweeter than the smile of a child. No matter how old, you’ll always be my little girl.

Love,

Mom