My babies....Charlotte

Charlotte Eve

Charlotte will be turning 5 in a month and, man, what to say about this kid (smh)......seriously, she is one of a kind.

 

She's the little comedian. She's just like her Dad! She loves to make everyone laugh, even herself! Andy and I always said that some of the best comedians ever are the ones who make "themselves laugh at themselves". I think her favorite is making her sister laugh. Drea thinks Charlotte is hilarious as much as Charlotte thinks Charlotte is hilarious. My favorite times are catching Charlotte and Drea just playing and laughing together. The sound of Drea's authentic belly laugh and Charlotte's giggle (because she is causing the laughter) are the best sounds ever! She has often made all of us crack up over just a weird look or a silly face she is making, often without even trying. She just has that look of orneriness!

Charlotte is very headstrong. Very stubborn. Well, that almost makes it sound only negative. But it's not. The thing is...Charlotte knows what she wants. She makes decisions fairly easily because she knows what she wants. It's very hard to convince her she wants something that she doesn't....and you really can't talk her into much of anything. I have found that I can't buy her clothes if she's not with me to pick them out (well, I just have to be ready to take them back.) If she didn't pick them out and she doesn't love it, she is not wearing it. I'm serious. Even Drea has begged her to wear the same outfit and be "twins" sometimes and she just refuses to. She really likes being an individual. I stopped caring a couple years ago about what she wears to daycare because she loves putting her own outfit together and making her own style. (That is very hard for this Momma!)

She is so inquisitive. She always wants to know how everything works and loves to get her hands dirty to figure it out. Since she was a baby she has always wanted to build things with us and help us with mostly anything. She "helped" work on the house when we were remodeling and while Bob was building the garage addition onto their house, she could often be found out working (or as she says "wo'lken") right along side Bob. If you get involved in any project while Charlotte is awake, you can expect she will be right beside you.

She is definitely a five year old little sister. She wants so desperately to be just like her big sister. She wants to read like her and do everything she does. But...and that's a big ole' but, she loves antagonizing her and driving her crazy, too. Boy, can these two get some good fights going!

Charlotte's love language is physical touch. (...in my opinion.) She has an obsession with snuggling, cuddling, and always wants to feel her face against my skin. It may sound weird but it's really cute and endearing. She looks like a cat sometimes.

Some other awesome things about Charlotte:

• Charlotte is pretty athletic like Drea. They both love to be outside...but Charlotte keeps telling me that she can't wait for the warm weather because she hates being out in the cold. (I think this is ironic because she is always warm. Drea is always cold.) She also loves to be riding her bike, playing on the playground, playing dollies outside, bubbles, kites, swimming...anything active outside in the summer especially.
• She is constantly moving. And I don't just mean she likes to be on the go...I mean even when she's doing a "sitting still activity", she's not sitting still. You have never seen a kid watch tv and keep her eyes on the tv while flipping around like she's on a jungle gym constantly. When she stops moving...she's going to fall asleep. If you know anything about how much Chad, my Dad or I move....she is about 100 times worse. Chad even videotaped her one time because he couldn't get over it.
• She's a hoarder. I've never seen a kid stuff more things in pockets like this kid does. And not just her pockets...up her sleeves, in her lunchbox, in her purse, in any container she can find. And it's so funny because it will either be little baby dolls or rocks. Yep, rocks.
• She does like her clothes and shoes like Drea although not to the same extreme. She likes to put on fashion shows and dress up in princess outfits just like Drea. They are so cute when they get their little fashion shows going. But one thing about Charlotte, you will usually find her in a skirt or a dress. She used to always say every morning that she needed her ballerina on. Drea was similar but acted pretty prissy to go along with it. You can find Charlotte in her skirt building a garage though! Drea used to always want to wear dresses and skirts too and grew out of that stage into a fashionable Justice sweatsuit stage that insisted on comfort. Wonder if Charlotte will make the same turn in a couple years. :)
• Charlotte is a home-body. She would much rather be home than out and about. She would be perfectly content with having no plans and not leaving the house for a week.
• She loves chocolate, playing the iPad or games on the phone, doing "homework" with her sister, playing dolls with her sister, books, board games (although she is a good cheater!), and relaxing with a good movie! lol!
• At the age of four (creeping up on five), she...is getting ready to start kindergarten next year(!!!) and can count to 12 and knows her shapes and what her letters look like....she hates taking showers and could probably spend the whole day playing in the tub....she would rather go to daycare and play with her friends than stay home with mommy or daddy (the little social butterfly)...still crawls in bed with me most nights at some point in the middle of the night...just stopped wearing pullups to bed and is completely potty trained (sometimes the night time part takes awhile!)....also hasn't lost any teeth...and just like her sister loves her cousins and her friends and spending lots of time with them! ...AND she makes my heart happy every day!

Charlotte is growing up so much every day! Some days I can't believe she was the little baby I was holding just yesterday but I feel so lucky to be raising her and watching her grow! I pray she always knows that I'm proud of her no matter what she does!

~God, as I prayed for Drea...please help me to show her my unconditional love and teach her how to love like that and that your love is greater than all and will never fail her. Thank you God for always helping her make people smile and showing me how to encourage her as much as I can! Amen.