Two Years Old

My sweet baby girl is 2 years old now. I guess she is technically considered a toddler, but she is still so baby! At her doctor's appointment, she weighed 26 lbs, 11 oz, is 33 1/2 inches tall, and is in the 50-60 percentile in both. I felt sorry for her though because she was sick at this appointment. The Parnell family has been passing around the worst cold for the last month. First, it was Nathan (who was sick during his music program), then it was Wayne (who was sick for more than a week including the week he went out of town and Mother's Day!...but he made it up to me the next weekend) and then it was Charlotte. She actually ended up having an ear infection in both ears. Poor baby. Other than that, she got a great report.

One thing we've been concerned about is the fact that she doesn't talk as much as we feel she should...at least not as much as Nathan did at her age. But I have to say, that in the last 2 months, she has really improved. I remember at her 18 month appointment, her doctor said she should have around 50 words and start to put 2 words together. She was no where close to that. I think part of the reason why she doesn't talk as much is that she is so shy. Sometimes when she says or does something that we're proud of her for, she won't do it again when she realizes we are all looking at her. Nathan has even picked up on this. One time we noticed that Charlotte was singing the ABC's. I was so proud of her and asked her to do it again, but she just smiled and turned away from me. While Nathan was eating his cereal, he casually said (in between bites) "Don't look at her, and she'll do it for you." We tried it and it worked! Even though, she is more shy than Nathan, she is surprising us every day with new words AND phrases! I remember two months ago when we were sitting at the kitchen table about to eat dinner, and I was calling Nathan to the table, and Charlotte said, "Nay Nay eat" I just about flipped out! Yay! A two-word sentence! The next mini sentence she said was in the car when she and Nathan wanted me to put in a DVD. Charlotte said, "Movie on." And now, she says so many things all the time. In fact, I'm not all that surprised now when she says a new word. The one I really love is when she says "Thank You" It comes out like "Tattoo"

Wayne and I used to joke that Charlotte was half Canadian and half Pirate because she would say "Eh?" when you asked her a question (she still does it) and says "Aye" for yes (now she says "yeah" but it sounds like "yah" which I guess is her Danish version of yes...so basically, Charlotte is very multi-cultural! Nathan gets frustrated with her always asking us to repeat everything. He told me that after you repeat it 3 times, you have to yell it to her and they she'll stop saying "Eh?"

Nathan and Charlotte are really able to play together so much more now. I would say that overall, they get along well, but they have their moments. What I've noticed most is how much Charlotte wants to do everything that Nathan does. I'm constantly telling Nathan that he has to be a good example for his sister because she really is watching every move he makes. Here is a perfect example: Whenever Nathan gets mad or frustrated, at someone he will call them a "big baby." Of course if he says it to me, he goes to time out, and I'm trying to teach him not to call people names and to just talk about what is bothering him...easier said than done. So, the other day Charlotte was wanting me to fix her some apple juice. She had already had several cups (I swear she'd rather drink than eat!). So I told her I wasn't fixing her anymore juice, and she got so mad at me! She came over and hit my leg and then yelled BABY at me while she was stomping off. I was shocked and amused at the same time! I couldn't help but laugh...and then put her in time out :)

Nathan can be overly sweet and attentive to Charlotte, but also likes to annoy her for fun. On one occasion, Charlotte was trying to climb into the toy box. I heard Nathan say, "No, no little girl. Mommy doesn't want us to get in there." And I thought to myself, "What a good boy he is. He is trying to follow Mommy's rules." I guess Charlotte wasn't listening to him and still had one leg in the box, so Nathan tried a different tactic. "Charlotte, don't get in there. There's a bee in the toy box and it's going to sting you." Charlotte immediately started crying and was trying so hard to get her leg out but couldn't do it because she was so hysterical. Of course, Nathan thought it was funny. After I got Charlotte out, I got onto him for scaring her. He said he wouldn't do it again, but a little while later, I heard him whisper to her that there was a bee on her head. Naughty boy. Now whenever she wants to get a toy out of the toy box she looks at me and says, "Bee?"

Plus, my girly girl is scared of bugs or snakes of which Nathan has plenty...toy ones. I've caught him "accidentally" throwing one of his plastic bugs on her and laughing when she tries to run away :) But Charlotte can hold her own. Her latest way of dealing with Nathan is to scream as loud as she can at him when he bothers her. We have got one lively house!

Even though they argue, there are so many times that they are really sweet to each other. If Charlotte gets hurt, Nathan will say, "Here little girl, let Nay Nay kiss it." And when Nathan goes to school, he always give both of us a kiss and hug. When Nathan wakes up in the morning, he can't wait to go to Charlotte's room to get her up, and they always play "babies" for a few minutes before he brings her downstairs to me. I know they will always be close and look out for each other...right???