"Go, Go, Go!"

Since the last two posts were about Douglass Charles, this one is about sweet Charlotte. Thankfully she seems oblivious to her brother's crying and it adorable to see her try to comfort him when he is downstairs in his bouncy seat - sometimes doing more harm than good.

The pictures above are of her on Easter Sunday. Her Aunt Meg gave her that adorable dress and I wanted to get some pictures for her (see how cute, she looks! Thanks, Aunt Meg!). She loves wandering around the back yard, picking up rocks, grass and occasionally the dreaded dog poop (that is another post all in itself). I just wanted to post these pictures because she looked so cute. They have nothing to do with the story I am about to tell.

Friday evening Doug took all of us to Relay for Life to see his school's team. The whole family took a lap in honor of Doug's granparents - who are both cancer survivors - and my dear grandmother who lost her life to ovarian cancer. We were there for quite a while and it was nice for me to get to visit with adults.

While we were there Charlotte of course wanted to run all over the place. She took one lap with her father while I sat and chatted with Doug's teacher friends. Later, when we were about to leave (and it was already her bed time), she decided she wanted to make another lap. This time I took her. She did not walk, she ran. Yes, she ran around that entire track, passing others as they were walking. About half way around she got faster and faster and began to shout "Go! Go! Go!" She said this over and over again as she literally ran around that track. Thankfully others thought she was cute and she had everyone laughing that she passed.

I remember thinking as she looked up at me, face flushed, breath hard, continuing with her motivational "Go" montra, that I would always remember that moment. Her beautiful blue eyes staring up at me with such enthusiasm as she ran with such determination and complete joy. It was a special moment for her mommy - realizing that her little independent girl was getting all too grown up. :)