The one with the two year update!

Oh, faithful readers (are there any of you?) ... I apologize.  I'd like to say I haven't forgotten about this blog, but truth be told, I kind of have.  I suppose "forgot" isn't quite the word.  Life just gets in the way and I don't feel the need to update as often.

That being said, the little lemon that began this blog has turned two! 
That's right, the big two years old.

What can I say about two year old Charlotte?

Let's start with the physical.  She had her two year appointment on Monday (Oct 15) and is a "whopping" 25.4lbs and 33.5 inches tall!  Still my little pixie and I adore her.  She has all her teeth except her bottom two two-year molars.  Her hair is getting longer - it's almost time for a second hair cut - and still has curly bits.  Humid days are my favourite because her hair goes curl-crazy.  Her eyes are brown and she's wearing a size 5 shoe (possibly moving up soon).  She loves to dance and has been attempting to jump/hop.  She can go up and down stairs and can climb up and down easily on furniture.  We are working on potty training/learning and she's making some progress.  She is aware of her functions and will sometimes tell us if she needs to go but it's not always consistent and sometimes when she tells us she needs to go, nothing happens.  It'll all come in time, though, and we both agree that it will NOT happen until she's ready so why push it?

Charlotte continues to amaze me every single day.  At two years old, she currently knows the entire alphabet, what sounds all the letters make, how to spell "mom" and "dad', recognizes/reads the words "mommy", "daddy", and "Charlotte", knows all her shapes and colours, remembers the words to favourite songs, speaks in full sentences (averages about 6-8 words at a time), identifies countries on the globe, identifies planets, recognizes tunes and can identify them, and picks up new information SO quickly it's frightening.  Her current favourite game is "spelling" (she gives us a word and we spell it for her).  My favourite part about all of this?  We taught her NONE of it.  Exposed her to it?  Absolutely.  But she's the one who wants to play spelling, she's the one who wants to "do letters", she's the one who asks to play shapes.  You should have seen the look of sheer joy when she opened her birthday present from us and it was the Leapfrog Word Builder jet thing that goes on the fridge.  Crazy kid ... she just retains information like I've never seen.

She is still as sweet and empathetic as always.  She loves to hug all her dolls and animals.  She thinks the washer and dryer are friends.  She pushes two objects together and declares them "family".  She is very easy-going and loving.  She loves other children and really likes spending time with her cousins.  She has started to exhibit some typical two year old behaviour (whining and tantrums) but so far we're just ignoring the behaviour and acknowledging the positives.  No point in getting into power struggles.  She is extremely funny and KNOWS it.  She's always got a good joke for us  :)
 

We moved her into a toddler bed the weekend of her birthday party (Thanksgiving weekend) and she is doing fantastic!  She fell out once and got out once when she was down for a nap but wasn't tired.  Otherwise, she stays in the entire night (and nap time) and only gets out when one of us goes into her room to get her.  She loves her "big girl bed" and loves "crawlin' in and crawlin' out".  I'm kind of sad there's no more crib in our house but I'm so proud of my big girl. 


A few Charlotte favourites:

• activity: watching the washer and dryer (we recently moved and now have front-loaders - excellent toddler entertainment!) and pushing her doll stroller around
• song: Bruno Mars' "Marry You" (she knows almost all the words and we watch this video about a million times a day)
• food: I think her current favourites are spaghetti and cauliflower (separately).  She is still not a picky eater and generally eats whatever we put in front of her.
• book: she always wants to read from her book of Bible stories that Auntie Rochelle, Uncle Paul, Lucas, and Isla got her last year for her baptism
• toy: currently, I'd say her doll stroller, her kitchen, or her letter magnets

And that's our girl in a nutshell!  Not a baby anymore ... I can't even believe it.
Hopefully I will update again before she turns three  ;)