Toddlerhood

Charlie girl is really becoming her own little person.  The difference between infant and toddler is ASTOUNDING.  Even just the difference in personality and development in the last few weeks is huge.  I write this blog for a few reasons.  One, because writing has always been a release for me, whether or not people read it.  Two, some of you seem to get a kick out of the shit I say.  And three, most importantly, because I want to look back on Charlotte’s life and remember the little things I put to paper (or computer screen).  So I thought I’d jot down a few of the things that have made Charlotte more of a person and less of a baby.

• She walks everywhere.  You know that your baby is going to walk inevitably, but when you see it happen it’s still pretty incredible.  It only took about a week before she was really going places.  She still looks like a drunken sailor a lot of the time, but she is managing just fine.  One of my favorite things to watch is when I don’t close the kitchen gate and she swings it open and steps on in.  She looks like a cowboy coming into the saloon for a drink.
• The talking.  The child doesn’t shut up, but I guess with me as her mother that was also inevitable.  She has her own wonderful vocabulary of baby talk and I love listening to her.  She will pick up my cell phone and put it next to her ear and jabber away.  When she sees Mickey or Minnie Mouse she shouts MIN!  The other day I taught her how to shake her finger at Spanky and say “no no no!” when he barks a lot, and an hour later she was following him up and down the hallway shaking her finger and shouting.  I almost peed my pants.
• Playing.  A friend of mine bought the Mickey and Minnie set of the Little People toys and I cracked that box open about a week ago.  Last night I set it up and sat with her and we actually played with the toys.  I would put Mickey outside of the door and go “knock, knock!” and after a few tries she figured out how to open the door to let Mickey in.  (Disclaimer: this got SUPER boring for me after about 5 minutes, so I’m not going to pretend that this was the most thrilling parent/child bonding moment of my life.  Mama just had to kill some time before it was time to go to bed.)
• Her personality.  This is the best thing to watch.  I wanted a girl so, so badly for my whole life.  All because of the clothes and the bows and the accessories.  I had visions, people.  Grand visions.  If you know Charlotte, you’ll already know that this is not how my child is.  She rips bows out of her hair so hard and fast that the hair comes out of her scalp with the bow.  She has not worn a pair of shoes in her entire life.  In fact, the other day my mom and I had to leave the Disney store because we were trying sandals on her and she threw one of the biggest fits known to man.  She is not gentle or dainty AT ALL.  She picks up her toys and throws them across the room.  The other day Eric was sleeping before work and she picked up her toy microphone and walked over to the closed bedroom door.  I told her to come back because daddy was sleeping. She looked at me, looked at the door and then proceeded to hurl the microphone at it.  She has perfected her back hand when she does not want someone close to her.  I don’t know how many times a day we tell her “do nice, do nice” but she does the opposite.  When she nurses now she holds my nose closed so I can’t breathe.  She will fall and hit her head and stand back up and do whatever she was doing prior to the fall.  She is seriously tough.  She does not use any of her stuffed animals or lovies as a calming or security item.  In fact, she will hurl anything I put in her crib right on out of it when she wakes up.  I don’t know where she came from but she keeps me laughing every day, even when she’s ripping my glasses off my face and launching them across the room.
• The love.  Oh my GOSH the love.  She walks up to me and hugs me now.  She nuzzles her head in my neck when she doesn’t want anyone else to hold her.  She looks SO happy to see me when she wakes up in the morning (or in the middle of the night). When I walk in the door after being at work all day the smile she gives me crushes my heart into powder and explodes out of my ears like a shower of confetti.  Every day is better and better.