Meg's Life: Charlotte Annie is four!

To the one who reminds me daily to keep looking up and to stay- -
To the one who gives me my "why" each day - -
To the one who holds my heart and shares a birthday week with me - -
To the one I want to be proud of me and love me in spite of what I can't be - -

How has it been four years since I first held and laid eyes on you?
Thank you for being the greatest (birthday) gift and my favorite view.

Happy 4th birthday to our one and only: Charlotte Annie!

Many thanks to Buckeyes & Babies for capturing her spirit through these birthday photos!

It's been 20 days since Charlotte Annie turned four and since we were at one of her favorite places for her party. Like many others, we are currently spending our days indoors as we practice social distancing and engage in self-contained quarantine measures due to the coronavirus. We have been logging in a lot of play time and extra hours together as a family unit with working from home, learning from home, and just being in our home.

Charlotte loves the movie, Frozen II, right now and especially playing with her baby Elsa and grown up Elsa these days.

Charlotte continues to be a little girl who is full of energy and seemingly never tires. Just yesterday, alone, she was awake from 9am until 12:37am without any naps. We had tried to wear her out through a nice long walk in our hilly neighborhood and through doing some gymnastics exercises from home as we watched online. I hope, when she grows up, that she is able to use her energy and zeal for life for good!

Continuing our tradition of using this annual "I am ___" banner in the birthday pictures! <3

As a newly turned four year old, Charlotte continues to display sass, charm, knows what she wants, and is unafraid to express her wishes to others. She's very vocal and expressive but at times can become very shy and need prompting when interacting with others. Back in June, when she had her belated 3 year old check up (due to our living in Austria when she turned three), she was 36 inches tall and weighed 28 lbs. She absolutely loves playing with babies and likes to say she's a "babysitter" or "big sister" when she helps Mommy with watching some of the children who have come to our home over the last year. The other day, she overheard me telling Adam about my wanting to help out a colleague with childcare during this crazy time of the coronavirus. He joked, "Charlotte can be a babysitter!" Charlotte came running out to the kitchen where we were talking and said, "Mommy! Mommy! I want to be a big sister! I want us to have a baby." 🙏

Charlotte's favorite activities these days are to play hide and seek, to help with preparing meals, going on walks, to continue picking up and collecting rocks, painting and coloring, and playing with PlayDoh. She loves singing (especially Let It Go), Paw Patrol, playing with her toys (her dollhouse is her favorite right now), and snuggling with her puppies when not chasing them throughout the house.

Charlotte continues to enjoy watching videos of babies...so much so that she requests that she watch, "babies on Daddy's green phone" as she did last year. Playing with her dolls and building houses and castles using her Legos are other favorite ways to spend her time. She began going to school this past August. She attends a local Montessori classroom for three through six year olds three days a week. It's been a joy seeing her grow as she shares what she is learning at school and sings new songs she has learned from her teacher and classmates. Lately, she has been keeping track of when she can do things by saying, "Maybe we can do that in the mornin'! Oh, thank you, Mama!"

Other things our little miracle baby enjoys are to build a tower using her blocks, lining up her colorful dominos in lines all over the floor or coffee table, and receiving piggy back rides. She also enjoys spending time with her cousins and friends. In fact, some of them were able to help celebrate her turning four on her actual birthday at her Frozen-themed birthday party. Looking FOURward to seeing what the next year will bring! ;)

Holding a butterfly Mommy bought with her friend, Sha, when in Venice last year. Each time we see this lacy butterfly, we say a special prayer for our intricate one-of-a-kind friend. I was so thankful that my photographer friend was willing to incorporate this butterfly into the photo shoot.