pictures

She really loves the toy her Uncle David got her.


Matt dressed her.


Giving the ol' stink eye.

Look what I can do

Yup.

She climbs now

Happy Thanksgiving

Hope everyone had a safe and happy Thanksgiving. Charlotte loves sweet potatoes. Go figure. She was also attacked by the tickle monster..

.. but she didn't seem to care. :D

Holiday plans

Thanksgiving this year will be spent with my grandparents and Christmas will be spent down in Tennessee. This will be the first year I won't have to work crazy retail hours! I can't believe Thanksgiving is next week, but I'm really looking forward to it as Charlotte will be able to enjoy the delicious food this year.

I've dabbled in cloth diapering Charlotte and I must say it's a lot easier and less intimidating than I thought it'd be. If we ever have another baby I'll probably go the cloth diaper route mostly because I've grown used to it and would like to see what type of money we'd be saving with it.

Oh, something else I'd like to mention - we're on a bit of a budget (especially with Christmas) as we've purchased a new car. Long story short: Focus was totaled (we were t-boned in an intersection by a Cadillac), everyone was fine, and we decided to get something newer and WITH A FULL WARRANTY. Matt really enjoys driving his new car and I'm enjoying driving the Honda which is getting up there with 180k miles. It's nice having cars that we don't have to worry about, finally!

2008 Mazda 3 S hatchback

I think that's about it as far as recent news goes. Charlotte still only has 6 teeth, but she's getting more vocal by the day. She especially enjoys talking to her books and food. :)

Halloween!

We went to our friend's house in Fishers for some trick or treating fun! It was FREEZING, but that didn't stop the little ones from going door-to-door :)




Brave Octopus.


Chillin' with other kids waiting for the festivities to begin.


Carrying her bounty.


Winding down.


Enjoying the heat after a long night of gathering treats.

All-in-all we think she had fun, however we think it'll be a much more eventful holiday next year.

Petting Zoo

Charlotte's first visit to a petting zoo! This particular one was in the Cincinnati Zoo.


riding in style


I think she thinks they're big cats, honestly.


Very aware of dada with the camera


climbing!

We had a fun time. More photos (mostly animal photos) can be found here: Cincinnati Zoo October 2010

Many thanks to the Stevens' for making this trip extra fun and ordering the tickets for us. :)

Trick or Treat! (at the local Mall)

Charlotte wasn't really feeling it, unfortunately. I think she'll need another year to sorta care. :) We went with her cat costume as I didn't feel like wrestling a toddler into a Halloween costume in the mall and the octopus one requires more than just sliding some feet into holes. However, the cat costume is an 18 month costume and it's already too small. :( Ah well. Pictures!


Sampling her trick or treat bag.


Wanting freedom.


Not wanting to be held.


Not wanting to hold hands.


Not too thrilled about being in the stroller.


Feeling pretty good about leaving at this point! Picture with her friend Caleb.

Some drumming fun

Halloween's Coming

We had to try her outfit on her just to make sure it fit. It does! Here's hoping the weather stays nice.



Octocharlotte :) She loves wearing it and runs around like a crazy person.

Cat Interaction

She's doing pretty well with animals now. :)



She loves Willow.

One Year Dr. Visit

We finally had our 1 year checkup, a few weeks late. I think anymore this is just the norm. :) Here are her numbers:

Length (31.5") = above percentile 95
Weight (25.4lbs) = between percentile 90 and 95
Head Circumference (18") = between percentile 50 and 75

Her weight has slowed down dramatically due to being more mobile, but she's still growing like a weed. She weighed 23.11lbs at her 9m so she's only gained 1lb 7oz from her last appointment. She had 1 vaccination and will have her chickenpox vaccination in 3 more months. She had a bit of a reaction to the vaccination (lethargic, swelling/rash in the shot location, irritability), but she's doing a lot better now. I'm glad we waited on the other shot.

The job search for myself is still in the works. I will definitely let people know once I find something, though. ;) Still enjoying my time at home with her and really enjoying the time I get to spend with other moms/friends my age for playdates!

And of course, a picture!



Enjoying a vegetable chip. The sock's on her hand to avoid her picking off a bandaid from a cut. :)

Fun with words

Update

Not a whole lot has happened since the last post. Charlotte is walking around very well now and has started trying to run. She usually gets caught up and falls in the process. She's getting her 4th tooth, as well. She has her 1 year wellness visit on the 16th of this month - about a month late. We've decided to hold on her Chickenpox vaccination by a few months, but we do plan on getting it. Not that we have a choice in the matter. It's sort of mandated by the state of Indiana if we want to put her into daycare and school. :) Short of car woes that I won't get into nothing too eventful (barring Charlotte, that is) is going on in our lives. I guess this is a good thing, though.

She's started waving and saying "hi" and "bye". She also says a few other words and points at things occasionally looking at you for advice on what the particular item of interest might be. It's weird to think that we no longer have a baby, and instead a toddler that can walk around and communicate.

Charlotte's "Catwalk"

This is how she adapted to crawling with a dress on. It's rather amusing. Especially now that she's decided it's a great way to get around.

mmm cake

My grandparents came over tonight and we had a very low key celebration since they are unable to make it to the BBQ on Saturday. It was nice and of course there was cake!



More pictures can be found here: Charlotte's First Birthday [Photos]

Ahh! We have a toddler!

Happy Birthday, Charlotte!

Practice Makes Perfect

Now she can wear dresses without crawling on them. :D The crash sound halfway through is me running into one of her toys. :)

State Fair

On Tuesday we went to the Indiana State Fair with The Luddens (Ginger, Chris, Marsha, and Vern). This was a first for Charlotte. I think she enjoyed it. Especially the poultry barn! I can summarize our trip with just a few photos so here ya go:












We had a really fun time! All photos can be found here. We aren't very adventurous and the most "bizarre" food we tried were the fried Wisconsin cheddar balls. It wasn't too bizarre if you eat fried mozzarella sticks at pubs. Was truly delicious though!

Walking

The cause of some sleepless nights..

.. have finally made their appearance! She actually has one on the bottom that just broke through, too. Needless to say she's been, uh.. fun. ;)

How do I walk?

cell phone photos

I'm really bad about uploading cell phone pictures and I take a ton. So, here are a few!

Hamming it up, as usual. 7/14

At the Hyatt hotel in Chicago 7/25

Teething on a lemon wedge (yuck!) 7/24

Wearing an alumni shirt from Memommy 7/19

Don't worry, I didn't send her out in public like this. Look, hair! :D 7/16

Car nap. 7/28

Riding her push and ride hippo which she has decided also makes a nice step stool. Yikes. 8/6

steps

Charlotte took a few unassisted steps today and tonight. She may be walking before we know it. Or, if it's anything like her crawling - walking in a month or two ;)

Teeth!

We have two top teeth coming in, finally! She won't let me near her mouth to look very often, but we're making progress. They have yet to fully break through, though.


She seems to be in better spirits than last week, too. We like our sleep.

She's also broadened her food choices and we've started introducing milk into her diet at mealtimes. Soon we'll have a toddler!

outgrowing favorites

We're very quickly outgrowing the jumperoo so here are a series of pictures to show her enjoyment before she outgrows it. She really loves the thing!