Dear Charlotte,
Happy Half Birthday Little Lady! I’ve always said 6 months is my very favorite age, but I think maybe it’s now tied with 18 months- maybe I just love half birthdays, who knows. Anyway, I love everything about you right now- you’re curiosity, spunk, the love you have for your friends and family, and the lightening speed you are learning new things. It’s so exciting to see the world through your eyes.

If play is the work of childhood, you take your job really seriously. You never stop, or even slow down, unless  you are asleep.  You’ve recently started to enjoy playing with puzzles, listening to books for more than 3 seconds at a time, and coloring with markers and crayons. But more than toys, you are interested in anything and everything that adults or anyone older than you is doing. You love looking at pictures on my phone and naming our family members.

Speaking of family, you are obsessed. You are constantly talking about your grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, and your brother. You love spending time with these people more than anything, and we are so blessed that we live in the same city as so many of them. You even talk about your great-Grandaddy, who died years before you were born, and you identify him in pictures even though no one told you who he was. Care to explain that one, missy?

Your vocabulary continues to grow exponentially and you are just beginning to put words together to form phrases and little sentences. You love to sing, and know all the words to many songs, including hand motions. You are hilarious when you perform for us. Your favorite to sing is still “The B-I-B-L-E” and you will randomly sing it at different times during the day.

We had your 18 month checkup last week and you are completely healthy. I never want to take your health and your abilities for granted. At 18 months you:

• Weigh 24 1/2 pounds and are in the 60% for height.
• Still have only 4 teeth. Your doctor assures me they are coming, and we won’t worry about it until you turn 2
• Wear 18-24 month clothing, size 4.5 shoes and size 4 diapers
• Still take a bottle of milk before naps and bedtime and I can’t even imagine the drama if we tried to take that away right now
• Sleep 12-13 hours at night and usually take a 1.5-2 hour nap in the afternoon

Charlotte, you are just simply the best. I could not love and adore you more if I tried. Happy Half Birthday!

Love,
Mommy