Threepeat - Happy Birthday Charlie!

Three years of life are worthy of three days of celebration. Friday night Charlie had cake and presents with Mommy, Daddy, and Grandma. Saturday was that same crew plus Grammy and Grandpa. Sunday was the real deal - giant birthday party with all of Charlie's daycare friends (9 of them!) and their parents plus Sherie, Ben, Elliot, Hilary, Sam and Max. I'm not sure how we're going to top this next year!

Friday night - the Cake. In what is now becoming a tradition, Chris made Charlie's birthday cake from a Johnston-family recipe.

Raggedy Ann made her way to Boston via Joppatown, MD, Speedway, IN, and Sonoma, CA. The trip only took 35 years, but Charlie is glad she made it. Thanks for taking such great care of her, Nana!
Charlie and Chris are one step closer to taking their band on the road now that Charlie has her own guitar.
Wow. The energy of the toddler set is intense. It was great fun to have all of Charlie's friends celebrate with her.

The birthday girl, Erica and Liam.
Elliot, Charlie, Erica and Liam.
Sam, Charlotte, Charlie and Erica.
Charlie is one tough little girl, in good part because of Henri and Ziad who show her a particular form of rambunctious love. If you ask Charlie who her best friend is, she almost always answers Henri. No one greets Charlie with more enthusiasm than Ziad. She's going to miss these boys as they all move onto to separate preschools.
Henri, Charlie, and Ziad - raise your hand if you're going to preschool!
We believe in giving credit where credit is due -- these two women, May and Fatima (Charlie's beloved Tati) have helped shape Charlie into the little girl that she has become. They have shown her so much loving care in their home over the last year and a half. We'll be forever grateful, and we're so happy that they could be with us for Charlie's birthday.