Stroller Strides

Niki learned that her exercise program, Stroller Strides, allows husbands to attend for free on Saturdays. Niki asked me to go, and while I initially deferred on the grounds that I had to sit on my butt before watching MSU play IU at 11:00 AM, I eventually agreed to go. After all, how strenuous could it be?

After attending my first Stroller Strides class - holy cripes! Once the kiddos were strapped into the strollers, we took off, and for the entire next hour, either my muscles were burning or I was out of breath. While I have always been impressed with how dedicated Niki has been to regularly attend Stroller Strides all summer in the steamy Tennessee heat, I am even more in awe of her due to how strenuous the workout is! Wow.

Charlie is really a great kid. She has her fussy moments, but for the most part, she's a happy, healthy, bubbly, active child. She is free with a smile, happy to cuddle, easygoing, and willing to wrassle with dogs, stuffed animals, or Dad. She falls asleep easily in our arms (I know, I know - she's getting too old for us to rock her to sleep, but we like it and it works - quickly), and is delighted having a bath.

I have always known that Niki would be a great mother. I was absolutely right, but I had no idea she would be utterly fantastic! Charlie is truly a lucky kid to get to spend each day with her mother. Niki has struck a really nice balance of concentrating on Charlie every day by playing with her, helping her develop, comforting her, and entertaining her. In the meantime though, Niki has continued to be active with her friends (both new friends with kids and old friends without kids) and in the neighborhood. She has really spent a lot of time communicating with our families all about Charlie as she grows, which we think is very important. In addition, she no qualms about taking Charlie and cruising around town and doing "adult" activities which Niki enjoys. Finally, she does a great job taking care of me and the household. Niki's doing it all around here, and I am really impressed with how easily she does it . . .

Due to Niki, we're a pretty happy little family.

CJS

Where's Charlie?

Where's Charlie?


There she is!


Awww... I gotta get a better hiding place.

Vocalizing

Ever wonder what Charlie says when she's done eating avocados and is covered in green goo from head to toe? Me neither, but here it is!

Truths of life

1. If you give your baby avocado in a feeder and swear you will never do it again, you will in fact do it again within 24 hours to see if it really turns out as messy the second time.

2. It's difficult to scrub avocado out of your squirmy baby's eyebrows, even when she's strapped into her high chair.

3. The dogs are mighty interested in an avocado-filled feeder when dropped on the kitchen floor.

4. Avocado would make a good finger paint.

5. If you suck all the air out of the baggie holding the cut avocado, you don't need to use lemon juice to keep the avocado from going brown.

6. If you push up your baby's sleeves before giving her the avocado-filled feeder, they will inevitably slip right down and become irreparably smeared with avocado.

7. This has got to be the most times I have ever typed avocado in my life in one sitting, Maybe more times in this one post than in all of my past writings to date.

8. I giggled when I read on the box the high chair came in that the entire thing - seat and all - can be put through the dishwasher. Little did I know I would need such a functionality.

9. When Daddy gets home tonight, we're going to try this avocado thing again, but this time we're going to do it in the bathtub!

Check out Miss Charlie Jo's teeth -- they're really coming in nicely.

Adventures in solid foods

Charlotte's NanaB gave us these cool feeders. You put fresh food in a little mesh bag and the baby gums it while slurping the food out. Charlotte loves to suck on a washcloth during her bath, so it seemed like the perfect time to try out the feeder.



I cut up some pieces of ripe avocado and stuffed them in the bag. Charlotte figured it right out, but she did also spend a little time chewing on the handle instead. Oh well.







She really seemed to like it! We're going to try it with some other fresh, age-appropriate foods and see what happens. I know it looks like most of the avocado ended up on her face and bib, but I think she did eat at least some of it. Every day is a new adventure around here.

Snapshot of Piggle's development

Charlie is getting more and more wiggly these days. She is never still unless she's in a deep sleep. She's rolling over both from from to back and from back to front, and she's getting closer to crawling. She can creep backward and can stand on her own if I get her holding on to something. She's also very close to pulling herself up. In short, she is one wiggly monkey.

One of my favorite things that she does is "growl" when she's excited. She is also testing out her yelling and screeching skills. How do you explain to a six-month-old the concept of an "inside voice"?

She has tried all sorts of foods now: squash, carrots, peas, green beans, squash/corn combo, sweet potatoes, bananas, peaches, pears, prunes, apples, oatmeal, barley, rice, soy yoghurt, beef, and probably some other foods I can't remember. Is it hypocritical to feed her veggies that I won't eat? Cross your fingers and hope she's not as picky of an eater as I am.

She weighs 17 pounds, 7 ounces as of this afternoon. She's sleeping an average of 10 uninterrupted hours a night, and she naps three or four times a day for about 30 to 45 minutes at a time. She's drooling like a firehose, but that's easy to forgive when she giggles. We still need to capture the giggle on video.

It's amazing how much she has changed in the past six and a half months. Each new stage is more fun than the last one!

Shopping excursion

Charlie Jo took her daddy shopping on Sunday for some new work clothes (the second part of his birthday present). We put her in the stroller and for the first time she insisted on sitting up and held on to the tray to help her do it.



Go Charlie, go!



Charlie loved hanging out in the three-way mirror.



Look at all those buddies to play with!

Hot TUB!

Does this photo scare you as much as it scares me? Anyway, last night we took Piggle in the hot tub for the first time. (We kept singing the James Brown's Celebrity Hot Tub Party song from an early SNL episode, too.) She LOVED it! The water was only a little bit warm, but we had fun just the same. Piggle grinned and giggled when we swished her through the water and let the jets hit her toes. It was so much fun.

No, the picture doesn't have anything to do with the hot tub, but I thought it was worth posting anyway.

Should we call her Bucky?

Here are some attempts at capturing both of Piggle's new teeth on film. It already looks like she's going to need as much orthodontia as her poor mother, Auntie Erin, and Aunt Stephanie. Poor thing.

There is nothing cuter...

...than a baby butt.


We snapped this photo while Charlie watched her bath water fill up. We're so glad Charlie Jo loves her bath time. It's one of the highlights of our day to watch her rocking and rolling in the tub. She gets so excited when she hears the water running that she won't concentrate on nursing or anything. Maybe she'll be a water girl like her second cousin, Cady Lane. That is one girl who loves water!

Funny e-mail from Meem & Pop

I received this funny e-mail from Meem & Pop (my maternal grandparents) about my sister and me when they brought Pop's dad out to Alabama to visit us for our first Christmas:

Hey, Niki,
That jumping video was the best yet!! Reminded us of you and Erin at 6 months in Birmingham. Your Great Grand Pop thought it was a shame only one could jump at a time, so he bought a second one and your Mom put them in two doorways that were close so you could watch each other and maybe even have a contest. That was a riot. So we know what a thrill you are getting watching Charlie Jo !!
Love, Pop & Meem

Can you believe she's a great grandmother?

Meem was born to be wild.



That's my cousin Lindsay's motorcycle that Meem is astride. You don't see many people with velcro shoes on a bike. The jacket is the crowning touch.

Somebody fed her jumping beans

She may not crawl yet, but boy can she jump!

Charlie emulates her hero

Charlie has seen several photos of Sophie (the daughter of my sister's buddies, Carol & Brian) in a very lovely tutu. Alicia and Faith Carol got Charlie a tutu of her own this summer, and so Charlotte requested that I film her dancing in her tutu to show Sophie. So far, it looks like she has her father's dancing talents. Lessons may need to be in Charlotte's future.

Daddy's birthday party

Tonight, Charlotte helped her daddy celebrate his birthday.



She showed him the cake she made him this afternoon. There's raspberry jam between the layers!



Then, she stuck her toy in the cake when Daddy let her get a little too close.



Before the Marshalls came over, Charlotte insisted on putting on her party outfit.



Charlotte might need a little more practice with the sippy cup.



You can't really see her, but Charlotte was helping her daddy blow out his candles.

Happy birthday, Daddy!

Piggle would like to take this opportunity to wish her daddy a very happy 33rd birthday! She bought him a wooden United States puzzle (each state is a puzzle piece) and some wooden blocks. They always say to buy someone something you want yourself, right? This weekend, she's also going to take Daddy shopping for new work clothes. Fun stuff!

I am making my first two-layer birthday cake in honor of the occasion. Wish me luck...

Margie memorialized on a onesie

This

Plus this

Equals this!


Auntie Ernie put her favorite photo of her cat, Margie, on a onesie for Charlotte! We just hope Pacey doesn't get jealous.

Stringers in black and white

Corey just developed some photos he took with his old school camera (you actually have to manually focus it!). Some were from when Charlie was still in my tummy, and a couple were from when she was still teeny tiny. Amazingly enough, Duke the dog's fear of cameras somehow goes away when he's outside, so there are some great shots of him.

Dukie is so shiny!



Charlie was still in my belly.



Connie has a large tongue.



Charlie was just a little bubba in these photos.



Eyes not quite focusing yet.



And a family photo from Labor Day weekend.



When I went to the drug store to turn in the 35mm film for processing, I didn't realize you don't fill out a little envelope anymore. Some to think of it, the last time I probably took 35mm film in for processing was right after our honeymoon -- five years ago!

And we have tooth #2!

Charlie and I were goofing around while we were waiting for the bathtub to fill for her bath, so we played our favorite game, "What's the Pretty Baby in the Mirror Doing?" The pretty baby in the mirror was of course smiling with a big cheeseball smile. I took the opportunity to check out her new tooth, and I saw a little bit of white peeking through her gums to the right of her existing tooth. Looks like her second tooth is ready to erupt!

The elusive tooth

Little Charlie Jo had just finished lunch (prune juice and apples mixed with oatmeal) and was playing in her highchair as happy as a clam. I figured out that I could see her tooth when she did her big grin, so I got the camera out. After many many many failures, I finally captured the tooth on film! Can you see it on the bottom right (her bottom left)? It's not even halfway in yet, but it's as sharp as a razor. If you click on the photograph, it will blow up to a larger size.


She's wearing her Arizona State dress today, and she received many compliments on it at the baby playgroup we just attended. This was Charlie's first playgroup since she learned to sit up on her own, and she seemed to really enjoy it. She kept trying to grab all of the other babies, and she managed to steal at least one toy from each baby there at one time or another. Share, Charlie, share!

Six months old and doing "awesome"!

Charlotte's six-month appointment with the pediatrician was today, and the doctor raved that Charlotte is doing "awesome". She is a whopping 26.5 inches long and weighs in at 17 pounds, 4 ounces. Both of these stats place her squarely in the 75th percentile. She got some shots and cried a little, but as usual she calmed right down when we cuddled her afterward.

The pretty baby in the mirror is a never-ending source of amusement.



Daddy put his coat on Charlie because it was so cold in there!



Dance, pretty baby, dance!



She kept bending forward carefully to gently "bonk" the pretty baby with her forehead. Then, she would straighten up and grin.



I love that cute little "skort" I got on sale at Target.

Prune mishap

It wasn't my fault that a spoonful of Charlie Jo's prune breakfast almost ended up in her eye. Not entirely my fault, anyway. Where, oh where is Auntie Ernie, the world's neatest baby-feeder, when you need her?