Cherry wine tasting with NanaB

NanaB taught us the proper way to drink cherry wine.


First, you sip:


Then you eat a chocolate:


Then you take a second sip:


And then the cherry flavor POPS!

Charlotte's first Thanksgiving

Hey! Is it turkey time yet? HEY! Is anyone listening to me?



Kayla, unaware that she will demoted to the position of "just a dog" in a few short months, had a lovely day.



The parents-to-be enjoyed their last Thanksgiving of peace and quiet.



Charlotte showed her Great Grandfather George P. Stringer how to clap his hands.



Four generations of Stringers, goofing around as usual.



NanaB, Granddad, and their little turkey.



Oh Great Uncle Dave, you're so silly.



The after dinner entertainment involved watching the "Chimpanzee on a Segway" video.



Uncle Dave made the crucial mistake of falling asleep on the living room floor. Corey and Don seized the opportunity to stage a more sordid scene.

Escape!

Charlie Jo tried to make a bare-butt escape today when it was time for her bath!



But we caught her and threw her in NanaB and Granddad's sink for a scrub-down.



I'll help wash my hair, Dad!



I think I need more shampoo...



NanaB was a good sport for letting us bathe a splashing baby in her sink in the middle of fixing Thanksgiving dinner!

Messin' with Sasquatch

Yesterday, Charlie Jo demonstrated her phenomenal mess-making skills for everyone. NanaB's floor may never be the same again.



Charlie loves to hang out at the glass-topped coffee table in the sitting room. She also liked to lick it.



Steph & Don's dog, Kayla, proved she will be an excellent companion to Baby Sanderson. She was hilarious playing with Charlie Jo last night, and we were impressed at how gentle she was.

Michigan antics

On Tuesday night, we all headed up to Michigan for Thanksgiving. And when I say "we all", I really mean it. We packed up that little station wagon with two adults, a baby, AND two labrador retrievers. And a ton of luggage and presents. Driving through the night was tough, but much better than wasting all day Wednesday and dealing with a cranky awake baby. Charlie Jo slept for about 90% of the trip, which made it a whole lot easier on everyone.

We have had a lot of fun so far. Yesterday was very low-key and consisted mostly of recovering from the journey. Charlie Jo didn't actually get dressed until mid-afternoon, so that's why she's in her jammies in all of these photos. She has been having a great time with her Aunt Stephanie and Uncle Don. She's giving them practice for early February when they have a little one of their own!

A baby, an avocado, and a nosy dog

NOT a good combination.

Another celebrity sighting

Charlotte has now had three celebrity encounters in her short little life. Soon after she was born, she met Kix Brooks. A few months later, we had lunch right near Naomi Judd. And yesterday morning, we saw Scott Hamilton (the ice skater and ice skating announcer) coming out of the same sportsplex where we do Stroller Strides in the winter. I asked Charlotte if she was impressed, and she pulled a sock off and stuck it in her mouth in response. I'll take that as a yes.

Entertainment tonight

We have entered a new phase in keeping Charlie Jo entertained while I cook dinner. She is no longer content to hang out in the pack 'n' play, so I had to bring out the big guns. I recalled seeing photos of my sister and me playing with things we pulled out of the cupboards, so I led little Charlie to the tupperware. She LOVES it!

Making friends

Charlotte and her little playgroup buddies were hilarious today. At one point, all four of the babies at the playdate were standing in a line in front of some low shelves just walloping on them like they were playing the bongos. We have no idea why, but they thought it was terrific. Unfortunately I only got a shot of three of the four in action, but it's cute nonetheless.



In other news, I got called for circuit court jury duty for the first time ever. Despite hearing from several people that lactating mothers are automatically exempt, this did not turn out to be the case. In our county, however, you can sign up for any two-week period between January and June, and so I signed up for a June slot since Charlie Jo will be weaned by then. Like jury duty in most other states, you have to call in each night to see if you are called to actually go to the courthouse the next morning, so I'm going to have to figure out some kind of arrangement with drop-in daycare or a neighbor (too bad I don't have any neighbors who absolutely adore Charlie Jo and come over to visit her on a daily basis - ha ha!) or something. Who knows what life will be like eight months from now? Despite the fact that I have always wanted to be on a jury, things are a little different now that service would mean leaving my kid rather than getting time off of work. Corey seems to think that no lawyer would ever want to put me on a jury since I am a lawyer myself, but who knows?

Hunting wabbits (actually, a cat)

Charlotte had such a good time crawling around after her Auntie Ernie's cat, Margie, while we were in Chicago. By special request, here is evidence of Charlotte's adoration of that frisky feline.

Playdate at the mall

My moms' group had a lunch/magazine swap/playdate at the mall a few days ago, and Charlotte seemed to thoroughly enjoy it. She sat in her highchair during lunch at the foodcourt and was happy as a clam to eat puffs, throw puffs onto the floor, and trade puffs and toys back and forth with one of her buddies (an 11-month-old boy with whom she always has a great time). After lunch, we headed downstairs to the mall's indoor play area. Charlotte was so excited to be around all of the kids. It's neat to see her so interested in social activity. If we hadn't needed to leave so soon after we got there, I bet she would have played for quite a while.

And this may be why Duke can't lose weight

Charlotte channels Wendy the cat

The cat my family had for almost all of my childhood was named Wendy (after Wendy Whiner, a character on "Saturday Night Live"). We rescued her from a shelter the summer before Erin and I started first grade, and she passed away only a few weeks after I got married. Whenever she got shut down in the basement and wanted back upstairs, she used to stick her paw underneath the door and "twang" the doorstop that was screwed to the door. She was one smart cat.

All weekend long in Chicago, Erin and I kept trying to figure out who was smarter - Charlotte or Erin's cat, Margie. When Charlotte and Margie were interested in the same toys, we thought they might just be about on the same level. And then this happened:

Snug as a bug in a rug

Charlie Jo got all bundled up when we took the dogs for a walk. Doesn't she look nice and cozy? You may protest the bare hands, but I was guessing that putting mittens on a thumb-sucker wouldn't go over very well.

Development at 8 months

Charlie Jo is officially eight months old, and boy is she changing fast! She's really starting to manipulate the moving parts of her toys rather than just shoving them immediately in her mouth. That, in addition to the pulling up and crawling, has really made playtime a lot more fun for both of us. Thank goodness she also figured out how to get back down from the standing up position. She used to pull up on something, get "stranded", and then cry. I spent a lot of time rescuing her.

Charlie can now crawl over obstacles (such as my legs and a pillow) and up the two carpeted half stairs in the bonus room. Going down them is not quite as easy. Corey was trying to teach her how to crawl down them head first tonight before I stopped him and suggested backwards as a safer alternative.

Charlie also has her first cold. I knew the time would come, but it makes me sad nonetheless. She HATES the snot sucker (aka the nasal aspirator) and HATES me wiping her nose. Luckily, she doesn't have any other symptoms and is trucking along with only some minor fussiness. We put her to bed a full half an hour early tonight because she was just beside herself tired and cranky -- probably because of the nose full of snot.

Charlie is meeting all of the developmental milestones set forth in the books I'm reading, and she's even reaching some pretty early. She's "protesting" (as the books call it) when we take away toys (or objects she thinks are toys) and learning to chew soft pieces of food. She's also learning that if she hangs a hand full of food over the edge of her highchair tray, the dogs will come running. They are eating biter biscuits right out of her hand, which she thinks is hilarious. We're not so sure Duke needs any more calories (he DID score 10 out of 10 on the obesity scale at the last vet appointment), but he seems to think he deserves a treat for putting up with the newest member of the family.

The dogs have overall been fairly good with Charlie. They are way more interested in getting past her to be petted by us, but they haven't really stepped on her or anything bad. Surprisingly, Duke is the one who is more nervous around Charlie. Connie lets Charlie climb all over her (but she did walk away while Charlie was in the middle of pulling up on her, which resulted in Charlie falling and screaming), even in her bed. Duke gets nervous and walks away if Charlie crawls toward him, and he has growled softly on a couple of occasions when Charlie tried to crawl up onto him. We're reading up on how to handle that because we're bound and determined to raise Charlie as an animal lover. Pacey the cat will hang out near Charlie, but the first move she makes toward him always sends him running for the hills. We're pretty sure that relationship will evolve over time as we teach Charlie how to pet nicely, but it may be a few years.

Charlie does notice the television, but she hasn't ever watched it for long. She loves to watch herself on the computer though!

More Windy City adventures

Trying on fun hats



Crawling with Auntie Ernie



Checking out the birdies with her buddy, Margie



Meeting Corey's college roommate, Dave (and his wife, Ana, and gorgeous 2 1/2-month-old daughter, Lucia)

Windy City adventures

I have been dreading having to whittle down the 8,000 photos I took last weekend in Chicago for the blog post, so that's why I haven't posted yet. We had such a wonderful time with Auntie Ernie and Uncle Andrew, and it's hard to capture that in words and a few photos. Honestly, Corey is much better at expressing feelings in writing, but since he wasn't there it's up to me. Here's just a sampling of what we did and the terrific photos we shot:

Modeling their Notre Dame jerseys



Charlie Jo telling Auntie Ernie just how much she loves borrowing that adorable raccoon sweater during lunch at Uncle Julio's



Bundled up at the Morton Arboretum



Hugging Zach's memorial tree



Playing with Margie the cat (can you see her behind the door?)



More to come!!