Charlotte is THREE!!

Our little Charlie Jane turned THREE!  Despite my best efforts to freeze time, she just keeps getting bigger and older.  Everything but her hair just keeps growing!  I can occasionally get a glimpse that there will soon be a time in my life when I won't have a little nugget to pack around with me everywhere and to cuddle and kiss whenever I want. :(  And there's nothing quite as entertaining as little kids.  There isn't a day that goes by that we don't all laugh at something Char has done or said.  She is funny!  And cute!  We are all still pretty smitten with our little bunny.

Here's a look back at Charlotte from 2 to 3....

     

  

  

   

  

  

  

Charlotte at 3:

• She talks A LOT.  She's been very verbal for a long time.  It makes her seem older...people are often confused when they hear her talk while we're out because her lack of hair makes her look so young!  I mostly love that she can talk so well (so much easier to know what she wants and needs), but sometimes it's a lot to listen to!!
• She wants to be just like her older brother and sister!  When they tell their tales of the day, she always has a story to tell about her school and her friends.  "At my school today, my teacher said this... or did that...."  Or, "My friend (insert weird name) did this or that....."  Amazingly her teachers' names are very similar to Carson and Aubrey's and her friends sometimes have very similar names.... 
• She just started her first gymnastics class.  It's really her first experience getting to be the one in the class or playing the sport.  And she is LOVING it!  She wears her leotard all day.  And she was not one bit nervous on the first day....just headed in there like she owned the place.  And I'm so glad to discover she listens well, does what the teacher asks, tries everything, and is a pretty coordinated little thing.
• She is bald.  I mean, really, she has no hair.  I'm sure I said this same thing last bday post, thinking that in another year she'd have lots of hair!  Nope.  Nada.  Still waiting.  
• She's a pretty easy going kid.  Mostly just happy and sweet.  She potty trained easy, she sleeps well, she eats okay (has gotten better recently).  Very reminiscent of my other female child in many ways.  She does have some spunk, though.  I have seen her wrestle a friend to the ground to get her toy!  And she has a little bit of a naughty streak.  But mostly, just easy.  She has discovered, however, that Brian and I are getting a little lazy in our old age.  If we tell her no and she does it or takes it anyway and then runs away, we may or may not have the energy to chase her down....
• Her looks remind me mostly of Carson.  She definitely has his eyes (Brian's) and is built a little more like him....not quite as tall and lanky as Aubrey.  Although I do catch a glimpse of Aubrey from time to time, I see mostly Carson, and maybe it's the hair?  With Aubrey being a mini-me and Carson being a mini-Brian, we've long wondered which side she would go toward....
• She is full up in the princess phase.  Loves all the princesses!  Her favorite toys are definitely her little princesses, her princess barbies, and her My Little Ponies.  She can play with those things forever!  She plays with them just like Carson plays with his action figures.  It's so cute!  But she does NOT like anyone watching her when she's in that play mode....
• She is hilarious.  Her crazy faces, the songs she makes up, her stories.... I get such a kick out of her. 
• She is obsessed with gum.  (I think all of my kids have gone through this phase?) Every time we get in the car, she asks for gum.  And she is NOT happy if we have to say no.  But, she chews it and doesn't ever swallow it.  And she can blow a bubble! Serious bubbles.... I'm pretty sure she and Aubrey learned at the same time.  It looks so cute to see this little peanut blowing huge bubbles.
• She loves..... her blankets Pinkie and Brownie, reading books, coloring and cutting, screen time, doing everything herself, making people laugh, her family, playing with the big kids, playdates, chapstick, helping make dinner, singing, and dress up.

We love you Charlie Bell, and we're SO glad you were born!