Charlie: 2 Years Old

Dear Charlie,

Today you turned 2 years old!  And what a fun and adventurous 2 years it has been!

This year you have gotten all your hair and have become our little "tow head"!  We can't believe we have such a precious blonde baby boy!  You are so cute these days that you tend to draw people to you wherever we go.  You are becoming tall like daddy but you even it out with your weight:)  You love to eat and have definitely discovered your favorite foods!  For breakfast you love to eat cereal (cheerios or fruit loops) and yogurt.  You also sometimes have pancakes, muffins or breakfast bars.  You LOVE snacks and are obsessed with eating fruit snacks and popsicles.  For lunch you eat turkey, cheese, fruit and veggie sticks mostly.  Your other favorite foods are pizza, grilled cheese, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches and pretty much all fruit.  You absolutely LOVE any kind of dip and are always coming up with very interested dip combinations.  You really hate to sit in your highchair/booster seat lately and want to sit on the bench like a big boy.   You also love drinking milk and are always asking for it!

You have almost all of your teeth and run to the bathroom when it's time to brush them.  You definietly still love your paci and sleep with it along with your 2 green mimi's every night.  You love reading books and singing songs before bed and have become a pretty good con artist each night to delay going to bed!  You are a good sleeper for the most part and go to bed around 7:30am and wake up around 7am each morning.  You still take a great nap anywhere from 2-3 hours.  

You are talking so much more and can repeat pretty much anything.  We love to hear you sing all of your favorite songs (Muffin Man, Twinkle Twinkle, Jesus Loves Me, Jesus Loves The Little Children, The Bumble Bee Song, Ring Around The Rosie, etc).  Your favorite toys are balls and can already hit a baseball, shoot a basketball, throw a football and drop kick a ball!  You seem very athletic and are constantly climbing and have no fear. There have been so many times where I could have sworn we were going to the ER and you just stand up smiling like it's no big deal!  I literally cannot take my eyes off of you because you are into everything!  You also love playing with trucks, cars, planes and legos.  Whenever we pass a big truck on the road you scream "Big Truck!"

You have such a happy demeanor but can definitely pitch a good fit if you don't get your way.  You cut your eyes like it's no ones business!  You absolutely adore Hayes and want to do everything he's doing.  In fact, you actually listen to him better than us!  He has taught you so much.  You can absolutely hold your own with Hayes especially since you're only a few pounds lighter!    It is so sweet to see you love on Marianna as well.  You're always asking to "hold her" even though we keep her away from you mostly because some times you love a little too much:)  You have made some other friends (other than Hayes) and always talk about Jack, Sam and Lola!

We love you so very much, Charlie!  You are so precious and we just want to squeeze you all day long.  We pray for your health and safety and that you never get overlooked as our middle child.  We can't wait to watch you grow even more!

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We were at the beach for your 2nd birthday this year, so you opened your presents the night before we left!  This year you got some trucks, a book, a new T Ball set, your own scooter (just like Hayes') and your own ninja turtle costume (just like Hayes')!

On your actual birthday, Daddy brought back some birthday doughnuts and we spent the day at the beach!  That night after dinner we went to a playground and for ice cream!

At your official 2 year old checkup with Dr. Leeper you weighed 29 pounds and 8 ounces (80th %) and measured 36 inches in length (85th %)!  Dr Leeper said you looked great!