It’s my niece’s birthday today. Hardly feels like yesterday that I was scooping Charlotte up in my arms and watching as she opened her tiny eyes and looked at me for the first time, and yet there she was today ripping gift wrap off her hundreds of presents and chasing people around with her fairy wand. It’s hard not to burst into fits of laughter when you see her little face and huge toothy grin.
She’s such a smart little girl too. Not one of these dopey kids that lies around in front of the TV all day. Oh no, I had her counting to 5 by the time she was about 18 months old. Sure, it’s wasn’t logical and she was mimicking at the time, but here she is at two years old with the abilty to tell you what comes after number 2, or what comes before number 5. Don’t try and steal her toys — she’ll count them in front of you and know damn well you’ve taken one.
Not only is she smart, but sneaky too. I bought a piece of chocolate cake from the shop earlier, and she spotted it straight away. It’s like kids have a magnet that draws them to junk food or something. It’s her birthday, she’s allowed a bit of cake I thought, so I offer her the corner to take a nibble out of. Nibble? This girl has a big mouth! She didn’t just take a bite out of the corner but tilted the whole cake forwards (this is the sneaky bit) and eats half of the icing on the top! Damnit — that’s the best bit! Of course, Auntie Jem gave her cake, so that earns me the biggest hug you could imagine along with a nice, slobbery, chocolate flavoured kiss. Mmhhm.
Intelligence brings manners, of course. “Please” (or rather “peez” and sometimes “cleez”) was one of the first words I personally taught her after I spent several hours repeating it to her when she was about one. She also says “cheers” or “ta” for thank you, and is more than happy to share her food with you (just not her toys, hehe). She’s also picked up the word “sheet” (shit) from somewhere, but we won’t go in to that.
So yes, my little Charlie princess is two years old today. Excuse me if I indulge in a little Auntie-pride and baby talk..
18 May at 3:50 pm
*Will never be an auntie* *Sobs* Nah, I don’t really like children so I’m good for now :P Happy birthday to your niece though, she sounds rather cute :)
18 May at 4:33 pm
Happy birthday to your niece Charlie. God bless.
18 May at 4:39 pm
awww bless!! So you use “Charlie” as a shortened version of Charlotte? That’s cute, although I’m not used to it – my youngest sister is called Charlotte, but we (especially my Dad) shorten it to “Lottie”…
18 May at 5:09 pm
She sounds adorable. Happy birthday to her. I love little kids. My aunt has 3- one 5, one 4, and one 3. Their house is a little crazy. :P I love them soo much, so I know how you feel, even though I’m only a first cousin. :P
18 May at 7:54 pm
Oh my goodness, that’s so cute. I love little kids, I really do. I just met my 2-month old niece (well, Matt’s niece, but close enough) this week, and I’ll be watching her Sunday. I can’t get enough of her, already! By the way, I haven’t been able to visit in a while. I love this layout/theme. It’s awesome! :)
18 May at 8:21 pm
Aw. It’s kinda sad when they grow up, isn’t it?
18 May at 9:02 pm
cool, she has the same birthday as my brother :P Except he just turned 13. Hooray!
18 May at 9:58 pm
Nice to hear about good children, I only see the little brats at work and home. Ugh.
18 May at 11:51 pm
That was one of the most enjoyable entries I’ve read anywhere, lately. It just makes me think of my nephew, who is almost two years old (it’s coming up!). His father is Mexican and his mother is American, so he hears both Spanish and English every day–making him a bilingual little boy. He’ll say something like, “Agua, please” (Water, please) or, “Momma, no! Susio!” (Momma, no! That’s dirty!) The susio comes from the fact he’s a little bum-retentive when it comes to being clean. Hurrah for smart children. :-D
19 May at 3:21 am
Aww this post makes me a little sad that I’m not closer to my neices and nephew. I’ve only met one of my neices once (she lives with her Mum and not my half-brother), and the other two I only see 3 times a year. Love her to bits but I wish I was as close as you guys are :D
19 May at 3:34 am
Kids are adorable… Most of the time… lol. Shes sounds just great! I have two little boy cousins who I just adore… Smart ones are the best, of course. Happy birthday to her.
19 May at 8:35 am
I’ll never be an auntie either… Happy birthday Charlotte :)
19 May at 8:51 pm
Somehow I simply don’t believe that you will sell your children on eBay after this post ;) Aren’t little kids the best? You’ll be the nifty aunt who teaches her how to read soon and buy her all sorts of books. And when she’s older, you’ll be the awesome aunt that teaches her to curse people out correctly ;) Especially those boys, make sure she stays away from them, haha.