Are you going to be nice Charlotte?

Charlotte is my little angel. She (and her brothers and daddy) is my best friend. We are attached at the hip. Literally. She has severe separation anxiety when it comes to being away from her momma...still at 18 months. Partially because she is my little mini me and partially because she is never away from me. EVER! So she doesn't know what to do with herself when I go for the occasional pedicure or trip to Target by myself.

She is sweet and loving and adorable and hilarious. She is also a mess! Charlotte hugs and kisses me probably 500 times a day. She also screams bloody murder when she doesn't get her way, pushes anyone who gets too close to me, and hits me when I make her angry.

Charlotte has a mind of her own! Scott and I always say that this will be a great thing in her teenage years if she wants to make good choices. If she wants to make bad choices, we are screwed! Part of this "I want what I want when I want it" attitude comes from being the baby girl. She is spoiled by her momma and daddy and for sure by her brothers. And she loves those brothers to pieces. Tonight at dinner the three of them were sitting on the bench at our dinner table, Charlotte on the outside, Paxton in the middle, and Porter on the other side. She just couldn't stand to not be sitting by BOTH of her brothers so she starts to push Paxton out of the way so she can get in the middle. Paxton looks at her and says "Stop pushing me Charlotte." She looks back at him and says in the sweetest voice, "Peeeeeaaaaasssse Bubba?!?!" Of course he moves out of her way and Charlotte takes the middle spot. Spoiled.

Today the boys had their final gymnastics class of the session. This means it was parent observation day. This is not my first rodeo with the parent observation thing, and let me just tell you the last one didn't go so well. This time I come prepared with Braum's biscuits and the wild woman in the stroller. The biscuit lasted about 1 minute. She wanted out immediately. Of course she can not stand that Bubba and PoBo (that's what she calls Paxton and Porter) are jumping in that huge pit without her, so she takes off running toward the group. I try and divert her to the area that the kids are not showing their awesome gymnastics skills, and she's not having it. I try and pick her up and she completely planks out so I almost drop her on her head. All the while she is screaming at the top of her lungs. I take her into the hallway and she is freaking out! Crying, hitting me, trying to open the huge door and sneak back into the gym. I pick her up and in my softest voice start trying to reason with the unreasonable. I told her that she was only allowed to go back into the gym if she was going to be nice:

Me: Charlotte you have to be nice.

CK: (sobbing hysterically) Oooookkkk

Me: No hitting. No screaming. Soft voices. Soft touches.

CK: (still sobbing hysterically) Ok momma

Me: Charlotte the only way you can go back in that room is if you are nice.

CK: (completely red in the face but now calming a bit) Oooookkkkk momma!

Me: Charlotte are you going to be nice?

CK: (catching her breath) I try momma.

At least she is honest! I know being the baby has it's perks, but it also has it's pitfalls too! She wants to play! When we left I said to Scott, "Charlotte is probably going to have bruises on her body." Scott says, "Why because you are about to beat her?!?!" "Um, no from me trying to keep her from bucking out of my arms and breaking her leg, but I bet the other parents trying to video tape their kids on the last day of gymnastics and have Charlotte screaming as the soundtrack probably want to beat her!"

She is seriously my Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde baby. She is the sweetest, sweetest, sweetest baby in the whole world. She is also the most fiesty, sassy, silly, crazy girl I know! She is my little sidekick and I love her to pieces!