Category: Charlotte

Some may find this amusing, maybe even ridiculous. But I assure you, it’s been a very big deal for us. Right up there with potty-training and transitioning to a big kid bed (we’re not going to attempt to put Charlotte through either of those quite yet).

(drumroll)…

*****CHARLOTTE HAS GIVEN UP HER BINKIES FOREVER!!!*****

Pictures like the one below will be happening no longer, because there are no more pacifiers to be found in the house… they’re tucked away somewhere at Jessica & Casey’s. Shhh!

This all started on Saturday night when I bought an Ariel hairbrush for Charlotte (Ariel is her FAVE), and of course Pace commented, “She doesn’t need that!” Hmmm. Right then & there I decided that we would give her the beautiful brush in exchange for the binkies.

Why???

1. Because it was time, 2. She’s a big 2-year-old now, 3. We’re tired of looking for the binkies for every nap and bed time, 4. She’ll have other traumatizing issues to deal with soon enough (like potty-training), and 5. Her teeth will thank us later.

So the very next day we had Charlotte gather all her pacifiers and put them in a large envelope addressed to the “Binky Fairy” (an idea from Supernanny– love it). She was excited about being a big girl, though she certainly didn’t foresee the drastic results of this little ceremony.

We marched outside to put them in the mailbox for the Binky Fairy.

Charlotte came inside to find her new magical Ariel brush from the “Binky Fairy"! She has been carrying it around the house ever since (along with her Ariel doll, and occasionally her Princess magazine and her Unicorn Pillow Pet). She has to have those things with her to go to bed now, too.

The next time she had to go to sleep after “mailing” the binkies, she frantically searched her crib and asked, “Binkies?!?!??” And for the next few days, complete TORTURE followed for all of us. I knew it would happen, but I didn’t know how challenging it would be. She didn’t nap and would cry for a long time before going to sleep, and also woke up all night. It was one of those things where you just want to give in. But we endured! It was tough love.

Charlotte is now completely binky-free and is doing just fine without those darn things. She goes to bed and states calmly, “Charlotte big girl. No cry.” She is proud to call herself a big girl.

This may sound a little silly, but I feel like we’ve accomplished something great, and I’m relieved that things are back to normal now!

UPDATED WITH VIDEO

Charlotte has a new friend, who’s only a month older than her. We watch her twice a week for a few hours. This little friend introduced us to tutus and to her Barbie princess movie which includes a fun dance video called “Shine.”

It’s good for Charlotte to have a girlfriend her age because there are absolutely no girls in our ward or neighborhood anywhere near Charlotte’s age. Nursery right now consists of 5 boys, and Charlotte. Shocking for a Utah ward, eh?!?

Charlotte Noel turned two today! We love, love, love this girl.

Flashback to the day she was born… Charlotte & I were alone in our hospital room that first night after I had had her, so we were able to have some blissful bonding time. I took her blankets off and held her close, skin-to-skin, while I touched her soft hair and inhaled her sweet newborn baby scent. I was so happy to have her! I should have been sleeping, but I just loved how close I felt with Charlotte right from the start. And we adore her more and more every day. So sappy, but so true!

Back to present day: We were able to celebrate Charlotte’s birthday with some family that’s in town. You can tell that she’s a second child (or that we were just burnt out from the holidays) because everything was just kinda thrown together. We were up at the McGrandparents’ house for the weekend, so GG provided a dinosaur tablecloth and I decorated the cake with some frosting squeezed from a plastic bag. But the thing was, Charlotte didn’t care one bit about the décor, and she got tons of presents which is what matters most (hahah!).

This is her classic “smile for the camera!” smile. It makes us laugh! We really love Charlotte and her sweet, laid-back, happy personality.

My kids really enjoy helping me with things like chores, cooking, and even eating treats.

I know I need to enjoy the help while they are still so young, eager, and willing!

I found Charlotte cleaning the toilet the other day. She had sprinkled Comet in there and was just quietly scrubbing away when I found her. It was pretty cute!

Note her feminine left hand, angled upward in perfect princess position. Not that we try to encourage the infamous “princess” complex… but sometimes, it just comes naturally!

(We do have a child lock on the cabinet under the sink where she got the Comet, but it had come loose. I do strive to keep these chemicals out of reach.)

I love this Charlotte girl! She is sweet and a little bit spunky. She communicates a lot with us, and even though I don’t understand things that she’s trying to say sometimes, we’re learning!

Her favorite things to say lately are: “Ho COW!” (holy cow!), “choo choo!”, “Why?”, “Mick Mouse Huh-HOUSE” (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse), and “NOT.” She especially enjoys using those last 3 when it’s naptime and she would rather do something else than go to sleep! She really loves trains and Mickey Mouse. She is such a cutie pie!

Charlotte hates Saturday night. Each week while we are going over the calendar Charlotte walks up to the calendar, reaches into her diaper and smears poop on Saturday night. Last night was the norm. She woke up around midnight and cried for a few hours off and on, then Daddy came in around 3am to hang out and she was fine.