Happy 4th Birthday...

Four years ago today, at 1:13pm, my sweet Charlotte Sophia was born. She was named Charlotte after Brandon's father. I was due on his birthday...what are the odds??? She was nicknamed Sophie by her big sister, Haley, and the name has stuck ever since.

It has been an incredible four years. It has had more twist and turns than I ever could have imagined.

She is an amazing little girl. With more strength and determination than I could ever muster up. Trust me...she has tested it out on me many times and won!!!

I love her with all of my heart. Her smile lights up my world. Her meltdowns crush me.

It is hard parenting a special needs child. Harder than I could ever imagine. But the rewards are greater than I could have ever dreamt of.

She continues to make strides developmentally. She gallops everywhere she goes. So adorable. She could only be going 5 feet but she will gallop to get there. It's fun for her. Something new.

Her new words are "air conditioner" and "watching you". After her surgery, sudden noises would scare her. The sound of the air conditioner coming on or the toilet flushing or the very faint beep at the end of the cycle on the washer or the automatic ice machine in the refrigerator. When she hears these noises, she gets a panic look on her face and jumps into the closest lap. It is getting better, as she is starting to understand what these noises are.

She will repeat a lot of words you ask her to except "I want" or "more ____". I will start going through the list of words she knows and she will repeat them. Does not hesitate. And then I ask her to say "I want". Complete silence. Does not even attempt to say it. I will even try to break it down by asking her to repeat just "I" or "want" by itself...refuses. But she has spontaneously put two separate words together. She does say two word combos like "air conditioner" or "watching you" or "thank you" or "all done". But these words are always said together. So what I am referring to is two separate words that make sense but not something I always say together. Like "mommy happy". I have no idea where she got that from. Just said it to me one day. She also said "I good" after getting in trouble at school one day. These are HUGE breakthroughs. I am so proud of her. I have no doubt that her language will continue to get stronger with time.

I love you my sweet baby girl. Happy 4th Birthday.