Happy Birthday Charlie...

My daughter is 2 years old today.

She's one of those kids that makes people who don't have any, immediately want one. Between her and her brother, I am a very lucky Dad. I have been blessed with the opportunity spend a lot of time with them during these years when every parent tells you to "cherish every moment."

They tell you this, because obviously, kids grow up so fast that by the time you've really begun to love one aspect of their personality, or the way they look, they suddenly change on you. It's like you have 100 different kids in one, just switching out every other week. It's exciting and terrifying at the same time. We've noticed that Charlie's vocabulary has exploded in the last week, and she keeps growing like a weed. Soon she'll be talking up a storm just like Oliver does...and I almost don't want that.

I love how she's mysterious and so emotive now. She can't just say certain things, so she has to act them out or use hand signals, or whatever. The communication is very simple, and it's so honest. It also makes for moments when you're completely blindsided by how it makes you feel when she just suddenly comes up and hugs you. Makes you feel like a million bucks.

Yeah, so as a parent you love the birthdays because you can throw a party for your kid. It's a fun time...but you secretly wish they'd stop having them all the time.

I mean if you had a little princess like this to wake you up every morning by kicking you square in the face, you would too.