Simple Joys of the Week, August 24th/Charlie Mae's 2nd Birthday (!!) Edition

Today is Charlie Mae's 2nd birthday! Our little nugget has been around the sun twice now. I can hardly believe it.

Obviously, this means that I had to interrupt my regular SJOTW programming to share some pics of our girlie + turn this week's edition of this column into a Charlie Mae-focused extravaganza ;)

So, here are some [mostly] Charlie Mae-centric simple, sensory joys from the past week + summer...

HEAR: Charlie Mae's singing voice + wide range of songs
Charlie Mae can sing, y'all. She knows so many songs that they're not worth listing here at this point, but suffice it to say that she can sing the the entire ABCs and has been singing happy birthday to herself, to Sayde, to her blanket, and to all of her stuffed animals for weeks now. I love how high, loud, and off-tune her voice can be when she sings and how much she enjoys singing everything from show tunes to Elmo songs. We have fun.

[PS. I have a great video of her singing her ABCs that I'll share in my Instagram story today if you want to see it!]

SEE: Charlie Mae wearing the two *adorable* handmade dresses that she was given as birthday gifts
Do you see the precious dress that Charlie Mae is wearing in her 2-year pic above? That dress was HANDMADE by Starr Struck's very own Sara! She sent her two handmade dresses that arrived last week and they are both the sweetest things ever. Thanks SO much, Sara!  

TASTE: Family ice cream outings
This summer has been a really busy one for us as a family (work-wise + schedule-wise, not necessarily social engagement-wise) and we haven't spent as much time together as a family unit as I would have liked. But, we have made the time to go out to ice cream as a family at least once per week, and it's been a definite highlight. Charlie Mae can eat some serious ice cream and so can her parents, so we've all enjoyed it. We went this week and as usual, it was delicious and fun. 

SMELL: Charlie Mae's scent
I know I'm not the only crazy person who smells my child's clothes, blankets, and pajamas after I take them off of her, right!!?!? It's a pretty wild thing how biologically, we are so drawn towards the scents of our loved ones. Even if I had no other senses, if I smelled Charlie Mae, I would recognize her anywhere; it's my favorite scent in the whole wide world. The biology of motherhood is pretty awesome. 

TOUCH: Wrestling with Charlie Mae on the bed
Yesterday, despite having plans to go to a playground and then storytime, Charlie Mae and I ended up spending the entire morning at home, instead. The reason for this? We were just having too much fun. And when I asked her if she wanted to go, she said, "No, stay home and wrestle and snuggle with mommy." So that's what we did (after I picked myself up off of the floor where I had become a puddle of love). Snuggling and wrestling in "the big bed" with Charlie Mae is one of my favorite activities. 

And there you have it! Just like that, it's been 2 years since I gave birth to Charlie Mae; and what a wild, beautiful, exhausting, and love-filled 2 years it's been! 

If you missed the first year or so of her life as it was captured here on the blog, you can check out the posts below to get caught up:

• Charlie Mae's Birth Story
• Charlie Mae's Newborn Shoot
• Charlie Mae's First Birthday Party
• Charlie Mae's First Birthday Shoot
  
  

Thanks for being a part of this motherhood journey with me!