Charlie Grace is ONE Today!

Charlie Grace is a year old today. INSANITY. Where in the world did this year go? I feel like that is an incredibly cliché sentiment but clichés are clichés for a reason. We are completely overwhelmed with love for this little girl, and CANNOT BELIEVE she is a year old already. It's been a huge year for this crew!

Charlie has completely rocked our world. Just today, I was chatting with a friend about the adjustment from one to two, and I admitted that it was a significantly bigger adjustment than I had anticipated. I attribute a lot of that to the chaos of our lives, but it also had a lot to do with Charlie's BIG and fairly demanding personality, which is not something Beckett had prepared me for.

Newborn & 1 Month

2 & 3 months

On our third anniversary road trip, Brian and I entertained ourselves by "planning" our children's names & personalities (to entertain yourself with that nonsense, click here). Today I reread that post and this is what we wrote about Charlie:

Charlie will be our little bit edgy, little out of control, little bit of a rebel, little bit country, needs to be reigned in party girl. We envision her with crazy curly hair and a strong personality. She’ll have no clue what she wants to do with her life, and won’t be concerned about figuring it out, but will end up rocking the college life and impressing us all. She may even end up at Bible College with her big bro. Charlie will be our tough one, and will end up with a hilarious, no-filter relationship with Granddad Dennis Wayne.

4 & 5 months 

6 & 7 months

Guys. It's looking like we may be prophets. (Totally JK). But seriously. With the exception of the crazy curly hair (the girl looks nothing like what we'd anticipated), she's on track to prove our predictions right. She's feisty, determined, and sassy. And she's my best friend.

8 & 9 months

10 & 11 months

In true cliché birthday fashion, I thought it would be appropriate to document some fun facts about Charlie Grace. I imagine sitting around on her daughter's first birthday and comparing stats. Should be interesting. So without further ado:

Charlie Grace LIKES Hot Wheels, monster trucks, and bath time.

We obviously think this has a lot to do with her big brother, but Chuck's go to toys are cars and trucks. [Did you read the part about "little bit country?"]

Charlie Grace LOVES nursing, dancing, and SHOES! 

One year into nursing and she shows no sign of letting up. She LOVES nursing and is not super interested in real food. Dancing is her THANG. Turn on some music (or sing a song) and she'll bend those little knees and get right into it. It's incredibly entertaining.
Shoes are a new infatuation. While she screams when I try to get her dressed and tears off every bow I try to put on her, as soon as she sees me pull out the shoes, she swipes on her serious face whips her little foot in my face. She's not playing around. Today, she even went into the closet and picked out her own shoes. Gold glitter. Be still my heart.

Charlie Grace dislikes food and hair bows.

Do you see the concern here? FOOD. And HAIR BOWS. I'm actually, literally, shaking my head as I think about this. I can't get her to eat MOST foods. I'm not sure how to deal with this problem, but we're just going to stick with nursing as her main source of nutrients for a little bit longer and hope I can get her to eat something other than meat and fruit pouches.

The hair bow situation. Whatever man. I'm not going down without a fight.

Charlie Grace has 7 teeth and bright blue eyes.

BRIGHT. BLUE. EYES. What in the world?! When she was born with blonde hair and blue eyes, we were certain both would change in 6 months. I know there's still a good chance, but we're enjoying those baby blues while we've got em!

Charlie Grace can walk and use a fork.

This girl started walking about a month ago. Now she's even trying to run a bit. Of course she's still getting the hang of her new, improved mode of transportation, but she's in love. Fancy pants can also use a fork, which is funny because she doesn't like food and her brother (who LOVES food) STILL has to be reminded to use his fork. Not sure what's up with that but it's fun to watch. 

You should also know that I took these pictures today because I wanted to make sure we documented Charlie on day 365. I even made this cute sign. She wasn't impressed. Every time I tried to hand it to her, she threw it.

Have you ever loved someone so much that it hurts? Because I can barely stand it. This one and I have had a roller coaster of a first year, emotionally, but I'm so grateful for every minute. Happy first birthday, favorite girl. Here's to many more.