I can confidently say that I love Charly more today than ever. She is a full blown toddler, which means temper tantrums and a defiant streak, but watching her grow has been the single coolest thing I've ever done. Having a toddler is hard sometimes but fun most of the time. I loved my sweet baby, who always wanted to snuggle and slept in my arms, but I love the person that Charly is. She has a twinkle in her eye and an impish grin when she's teasing or making mischief. She loves to make people laugh. She is adventurous and fiercely independent. She has a stellar memory for people and words. She loves books like nobody's business. Her personality is huge.
She's been learning so many new things lately. We took a couple of videos to try to document a little part of Charly's new skills, and, you know, to show off and impress the grandparents and stuff:)
A few things about these videos:
-Every time I say "What do you want to do today?" She says "Ninny!" which is her aunt Nikki. She usually then talks about other members of the family, starting with Hank, the dog. She'll be so sad while Nikki is gone on her mission- we love you Ninny!
-We aren't sure where she started to pick up her numbers from, she just kind of knew some of them, which is crazy. I'm thinking it might be Sesame Street. I'm not one of those people who argues that I let my kid watch TV because it is educational (I'll fess up to the fact that I let her watch it because I need to shower and clean and stuff, and TV allows me that time) but seriously, I think she might be learning from it.
-Hamlet is my sister's dog, and that is exactly how he dances. Charly is enamored with him.
-I can't get over how cute it is when she says her own name!
-My house is messy. That is just the way it is.
A few other things of note that Charly is doing now:
-Her aunt Erin taught her to shake her booty- but she really just moves her arms back and forth.
-She (still) LOVES shoes. She carries them around, takes them on and off, gets frustrated when she isn't able to do it herself, puts shoes on other people and takes them off... it is all shoes, all the time.
-My mom taught her to sing "The Wheels on the Bus" and she loves it. She has an action and one word that she'll say to represent each verse so she can request which comes next .
-Her memory is great- she remembers a lot of my family after this last trip to Utah and will talk about them. She'll even group the right people together (like my brother, his fiancee, and their two kids)
-We are doing some casual potty training and she loves the potty. She doesn't really get what she is supposed to do in it yet I don't think, but she loves to sit on it and say poop and pee pee. And wipe. She is obsessed with wiping herself now that I've showed her how. She even took a wipe out of a stranger's bag at the playground and started wiping her crotch- while fully clothed, mind you! Embarrassing... yes. But also stinkin funny.
And now, for a slew of pictures. If you remember, I never did a 16 month update, so some of these pictures are from then. Forgive me?
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| Dinglehopper? |
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| Charly and "May-man" (Nathan) when we visited Utah |
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| Loving her dandelions! |
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| Charly and her new cousin Cleo! This is Charly's "Cheese!" face. We have her aunties to thank for that one:) |
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| Oh, you know, just chillin. |
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| Getting help with her shoes. Again. For probably the fiftieth time that day. |
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| This scene happens almost daily. |
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| Her little boo boo from falling while running by the pool. |
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| Love her. |
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| Twinkle, impish grin. Check. |
