Niki's new cousin!

My Aunt Toni, Uncle Eric, and cousin Emma welcomed a new member to their family this week! Audrey Therese was born on June 30 at 12:41 pm, weighing 6 pounds, 10 ounces and measuring 19 3/4 inches long. It seems so funny to be getting a new cousin when I'm 31 years old, but that's what happens when your dad has a sister 16 years his junior, and she has children a little later in life. It's not every day that a great aunt and great uncle have a baby. Hee hee.

As you may recall, little Emma held Charlotte a bunch when we were all in Oregon for Jordan and Jessica's wedding. Looks like that was good practice, because she's holding Audrey like a pro!

Getting in the mood

I was in the grocery store doing a little shopping in preparation for leaving Corey home alone for two days (Charlotte and I are flying to Michigan for the holiday weekend a couple of days before Corey flies up to meet us on Saturday), and I thought I would get him some ice cream as a treat. We love the store-brand ice cream, and so I headed to that section. Lo and behold, I found a flavor featuring Mackinac fudge! [Mackinac is an island in Lake Huron which Corey's family has visited a number of times.] To get Corey in the mood for our trip to Michigan, I bought him a carton to enjoy while he's moping at home alone.

Haute couture

Our little fashion model is shown here in the latest in haute couture, provided to her by her doting Auntie Ernie. Well, maybe they're not so much couture as super cute outfits from Old Navy Baby, but who's counting? Check out our very own supermodel in her new duds:





The teal outfit has matching bloomers underneath. So stinkin' cute!!

Little Piggle

Piggle (as we have been calling Charlie lately for some unknown reason) is becoming a champion thumb-sucker. She is also mastering the art of getting her toes in her mouth. As if that weren't enough, she also gave herself a hickey on her forearm. So much excitement around here!

We have had a nice beginning to the week. We have run lots of errands (including getting Corey's car emissions tested and registration renewed - blech!), but we have also enjoyed a bunch of playtime. Miss Piggle is really getting good at grabbing her toys and waving them all around (in between chomping and sucking on them). This makes playtime a whole lot more interesting for me as I watch to see what she does and what types of toys she prefers. She still seems to enjoy bathtime as well, and that should get even more fun once she realizes how much fun it is to play in the bathtub. Corey and I laughed all through Piggle's bath last night as she chomped on a washcloth and kicked her feet in the water.

Here's the little Piggle on her play mat, bopping around with her toys.

Me 'n' my blankie

Faith Carol knitted Charlie Jo a gorgeous and supersoft blankie, perfect for cuddling and practicing her thumb-sucking! Witness the resulting cuteness:

Little fish

Corey and a partner from work (John) needed to get together to work this afternoon. Since John and his family live just a few miles from us, Corey and John decided to work in John's dining room rather than make the long trek into Nashville. John's wife, Amy, and four-year-old daughter invited Charlotte and me over as well to take a swim in the neighborhood pool. We had a blast! Check out the little bathing beauty:

That's the suit given to her by Kenny & Sally Anderson (they're sort of cousins on my mom's side). We forgot to take a picture with the supercute matching sunglasses on though.

Charlie met some boys(!) at the pool. That's Amy holding her there.

Amy's daughter was a terrific swimmer. She's learning the crawl stroke and can jump into the pool all by herself. She was so sweet with Charlotte!

Linus

Charlie fell asleep sucking on her thumb, with the sheet from my bed positioned just like Linus and his blankie from the comic strip "Peanuts". Maybe we should start calling her "Charlie Brown".

New jumping seat!

Early morning fun

I had some time to crochet this morning before Charlie woke up, but see why I am having a hard time finishing the blanket:


Pacey likes to lie on the yarn and attack it every so often when he decides it has sassed him enough.



Charlie Jo woke up soon after and resumed her latest obsession - chewing on her toes. NOM!!!

Another star sighting

Charlie had her second celebrity encounter today! We were at Merridee's for lunch with Alicia, Faith Carol, David and Shelby (FC's friend), and Naomi Judd was sitting at the next table over. She had a hat and dark glasses on, but she put her order in under her own name! When the gal at the counter yelled out "Naomi", the star popped right up and retrieved her food. We didn't accost Naomi or make her take a photo with Charlie or anything.

Today, Charlie fell asleep during tummy time for about 15 minutes. I kept a eagle-eye on her to make sure she kept breathing, but I was petrified the whole time. Now she's awake and back to her old tummy-time-hating self.

Slow June Weekend

Niki, Charlie, and I had a very nice weekend at home. I had lot of work to do, so I holed myself up in Don's Pool Room (aka the bonus room), and went for it on Saturday and Sunday during the days. Charlie and Niki worked around the house, and took occasional naps. We went for a walk on Saturday morning - Charlie was ready for the Tennessee sunshine.

In the afternoon, we bought Niki and Charlie a new "jogger stroller" for Niki and Charlie to use at Stroller Strides.

Our regular stroller is essentially the British sports car of strollers - very nice to look at and nice to use, but a little fragile. Taking it into the grass is not a good thing. So, we got what is essentially the Jeep Wrangler of joggers - cheap, not as handy, but tough and capable. Charlie absolutely hates it, of course. She hates being strapped in to anything.

On Sunday, the Hancocks stopped by. They had been on vacation and brought Charlie a little shirt as a souvenir. Charlie really enjoyed watching the two kids and playing with them. Sarah and Max are great kids, and were really entertaining Charlie by talking to her and playing with her toys with her. Charlie really responded to them.

Charlie is changing daily. Her voice is changing, and I am enjoying listening to her new sounds as she tries them out. She is not a big fan of tummy time, and much prefers to lay on her back, especially if she can watch a person's face, or play with her toys. She likes to grab her toys and shove them into her mouth. Big fun. She also enjoys watching herself in the mirror. She is fascinated by human faces.

She also really enjoys sticking her feet in her mouth. (Who doesn't, really?) So, most of her time on the changing table is still spent chatting with me and shoving her feet in her mouth. Luckily, she occasionally still does her full-body "soft-shoe routine", where she lays on her back, stops making sounds, and silently and energetically kicks her legs and swings her arms. She'll stop as abruptly as she starts, and goes right back to talking.

She likes to stand. When we sit her in our lap, she ALWAYS pushes up, trying to stand. We hold her by her trunk, and she tries to balance as best she can on her little feet. When she "stands", I love watching her facial expressions as she tries to balance.

She is playing more with her toys, but has not shown a preference. Wait. That's not accurate. She likes anything she can shove in her mouth. As such, our fingers, washcloths, burp cloths, the Baby Bjorn, her toys (such as car keys, Buggy-Bug, and Froggy-Frog), as well as the plastic rings they hang from, are ALL favorite toys.

Today, she rolled over onto her tummy from the back for the first time. Seemed to be an unpleasant surprise for her, as she squalled as soon as she flopped onto her belly. We'll see how this progresses.

This next week should be quiet, as we're less than two weeks away from Charlie's first trip to Michigan!

CJS

Actually...

...she is currently enrolled at Stringer U.