Two.

Now that Charlotte is almost 2 1/2, I guess I will write about her second birthday (and share lots of photos).

The night before her birthday, I definitely had one of those sad mom moments thinking about how I was putting my toddler to bed for the last time as a one year old. Truthfully, though, I feel like I will get that feeling every. single. birthday.

On the day of her second birthday, Char had her well child exam first thing in the morning. I mean, what better way to celebrate your birthday than going to the doctor? Ha. She was 23 pounds 8 ounces and between 35-36 inches (trying to get her to stand still to measure her height was hard!). She also had to get her flu shot and blood drawn for a complete work up. The last part was optional, but I had a fear that she was going to be super anemic like me (she bruises like me, that's for sure). So, our doctor recommended a full work up, if we were comfortable, to have a baseline for future lab work.

Well, the nurse and the phlebotomist both came in at the same time. The phlebotomist was skeptical about having Char get her flu shot first since it might make her get worked up, making it harder to draw blood. I assured her that she would rock her flu shot - and she did. No tears. Didn't flinch. Nothing. Then the phlebotomist went to draw her blood. Again, nothing. Char was an absolute champ. The phlebotomist admitted afterwards that she was dreading coming into our room when she saw she was drawing blood from a toddler, but then was impressed that she did better than some adults. (For those of you curious, her blood work was completely fine. She is just clumsy like me.)

After her doctor's appointment, we took Char to pick out a balloon at Party City. We had promised her she could do this for about a month. She never forgot. So we went and she picked out the biggest Olaf balloon you've ever seen. It was pretty comical to watch her hold his hand and walk around. (I have no idea where a picture of that is.)

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. We had been working with teaching her to tell us she was two and hold up two fingers, so we kept trying to get a picture of that outside. Of course, now whenever we are outside she wants to stand by the tree and tell us she is two.

Two!

The weather was pretty amazing on her birthday, so she also got to play with bubbles which is one of her most favorite things to do ever.

We had pizza for dinner followed by cake and opening presents. And as an added bonus: she loved her cake this year, which was a major change from last year.

Stayed tuned for her second birthday party details.