Charlotte Turns Two

Charlotte turned two on March 4, and we had a party the weekend before to celebrate! Charlotte loves Elmo, so I decided to do a Sesame Street theme. I got all of the supplies at Walmart and kept it pretty simple, decorating our kitchen table and hanging some balloons and a banner. 

I also decided to keep the guest list small, so we just invited family. My parents, my grandmother, and my brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew made up the guest list, and in our smallish house, that was plenty of people! Charlotte gets overwhelmed with a lot of people surrounding her at once, so she was pretty clingy and shy at the beginning, but that didn’t stop her from sporting her Elmo hat!

She is not too sure about what is going on.

After I started blowing bubbles and she was able to interact with her cousin Erika, who is six months younger than Charlotte, she started to warm up.

Instead of a birthday cake, I decided to go with a less conventional approach after having some yummy petit fours at my mom’s birthday celebration just a few weeks ago. My parents generously offered to provide the dessert, and the bakery was even able to put Elmo on the little cakes. I loved how they turned out!

For the food, we again opted for the simple (okay, lazy) route and ordered Pizza Hut pizza. While we waited for it to arrive, Charlotte started opening her presents. She got a ton of cute spring clothes from my brother and sister-in-law, along with coloring books and board books.

After the pizza, it was time for cake! Charlotte was a fan.

Digging in!

I tried unsuccessfully to get a good picture with Charlotte, but this is the best I got. We have such a hard time getting her to smile for pictures. She pretty much turns on the frowns when a camera comes out.

 My parents were also unsuccessful in their attempts to get a picture with her.

The party was a little bit chaotic with two toddlers running around, and I was glad that I had decided not to invite a few other kids closer to her age. I think I will save the bigger parties for when she is older and can really enjoy them.

On Charlotte’s actual birthday last Monday, we treated her to one of her favorite things, a donut:

And of course there were a few more presents! We got her a ladybug lunch bag and backpack to use at daycare, which she loved. She also opened presents from Stephen’s parents, some fun blocks and an alphabet computer-type toy.

We also went in with my parents and got her a playhouse for outside. I really wanted to get her a swingset, but the nicer sets are SO expensive! I am happy with this little house, though, and she had a blast playing in it this weekend after her sweet daddy spent some quality time putting it together.

She loved pushing the little doorbell and opening and closing the door.

There’s that sweet smile! Happy girl.

It’s hard to believe that she is already two years old. She is changing so much every day, and even though this is a somewhat turbulent age, I am loving it. It’s so fun now that she is able to talk to us more clearly and express herself, and she cracks us up with the little phrases she says. She is little Miss Independent, and I love seeing her take pride in being able to do things on her own. The days can sometimes be long, but the years are short. I pray that I cherish every moment with her, even the ones that are stressful, for I know that before I know it, she will be grown. We love you, Charlotte Marie! 

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