Oh great.

And now Piggle apparently knows how to make those funny noises on her own.  There go our hopes for Piggle turning out to be a graceful, delicate child.  (Like that would even be possible with us as her parents.)

Squashing and whining

After the spectacular second-place finish at the Rib Cook-off, we celebrated by feeding Miss Charlie Jo her first taste of squash.  

Despite the look on her face, she really did like it!  I tasted a little and it reminded me of unspiced pumpkin pie.

The next day, we showed Erin and Andrew a typical weekend in Franklin -- lunch at Blue Coast Burrito and a jaunt out to the winery.  

Charlie snoozed for most of it, then woke up and grinned.

I'd like to sample some of that wine right there!

Erin and Andrew found a friendly cat out on the deck.  He was a sweetie!

Then, we had to Erin and Andrew to the airport.  We miss them already!  We're hoping they can come back for the Cook-off in '09!

Rib-Olympics weekend with the Malahowskis

Erin and Andrew flew down for the most exciting weekend of the year for our neighborhood -- the annual Rib Cook-off.  Corey has competed in the past and the results were less than stellar.  Having watched many episodes of "Boy Meets Grill" and "Grill It!", Andrew thought he might be able to help.  The day of our "Rib-Olympics" (as I named them), Andrew warmed up by feeding Piggle her oatmeal cereal breakfast of champions.

And then he tried to eat some of it himself to give him a little boost before grilling.  But it was too gross.

Andrew liked that the white onion I bought him for the sauce was nearly as big as Piggle's head.

Excellent Food Network slicing technique!

The teriyaki-based sauce simmered for hours to reduce.  We thought it was cool how you could watch the oil cook out of the sesame seeds.

We headed across the street to the site of the Cook-off (the Ballentines' backyard) and gawked at the hilarious water slide rented to entertain the kids.

Corey and Andrew made a great grilling team.  Andrew did all the heavy lifting and Corey drank beer.

The ribs were a spectacular sight to behold after slow-grilling in foil for several hours.

They submitted the required five ribs for judging and then we ate dinner while waiting for the results.

It was fun to try the ribs grilled by the other competitors.  Finger-lickin' (and teeth-pickin') good!

The boys won second place out of 14 competitors!  Not bad for a Yankee and a New Yorker-turned-Texan.  Erin, Charlotte and I were so proud.

Such a good influence

We strive on a daily basis to raise Charlotte to be the quintessential little lady with all the poise and grace expected of a Southern Belle. And then her Auntie Erin comes to visit and teaches her stuff like this:

Just reviewing a survey

Piggle and I visited Corey at his office today after lunch with the Vandy Aunties. Corey was struggling with his work, so Piggle helped him out by reviewing a survey for him. Her little eagle eyes spotted some unacceptable encroachments. Good thing we stopped by!

Accessorizing

Little Charlie Jo is tired of having no hairstyle, so she has requested some accessories for her mohawk. In Arizona, Grandma Jo and I bought her some little barrettes. They didn't work so well though. Here's a shot of the only time we really got one to work:

Alicia then gave Lil' CJ some special barrettes for the "hair impaired". They have sort of a rubbery foam on one side of the clip and it really grips those fine baby hairs. Even CJ was surprised it stayed in so well!

Unfortunately, Corey then decided I needed to wear one as well.

Go West, young Charlotte

Charlie Jo slept super late this morning, so I had time to upload some photos. Here's a picture share of Charlie Jo's adventures in the California part of our trip!

Little Miss Sunshine

Charlotte's Great Granny T sent the coolest bib. It buttons up into the kind that has the pocket to catch all of the dribbles, but then it unbuttons to make it way easier to clean. It's absolutely awesome. We tested it out this morning, and it caught all sorts of things. It's also great because it has a very wide neck part. When Charlie gets oatmeal all over her face and then turns to watch the dogs (who circle like sharks while she eats), she usually gets oatmeal all over her shoulder. Not with this new bib! Thanks Granny!

Great Aunt Sibyl

Our trip to California was tacked on to our Arizona trip at the last minute, so we were thrilled Corey's Aunt Sibyl, who lives very close to my parents, was available for lunch to meet her grand niece with almost no advance notice. Charlie warmed up to her great aunt immediately and Sibyl was terrific with her. We'll be back in California for Christmas and hopefully will be able to spend a little more time with Sibyl then.

Back in action

Miss Charlie Jo and I flew home from California yesterday and are back in the swing of things. Our flight home was great, but the end was the best. When we were on our initial descent, two goofy guys sitting in the row behind us made puppets out of their barf bags and put on a little puppet show for Charlie! It was absolutely hilarious, and I'm kicking myself for having packed my camera in checked luggage and failing to get a picture of it. The nice lady sitting next to me figured out that the guys were in a band, and she asked them about it. They were members of the band Storyside:B, which is a Christian rock band. If you click on the link, you get to their homepage. It was the two guys on the left who took it upon themselves to entertain Charlie. Such a crackup.

I'll post some of my favorite California pictures later, but here's one I took this afternoon of Charlie in an outfit given to her by family friends Greg & Susan Lowe. That smile kills me.

Beach bum

Since today was our last full day in California, Grandma Jo, Grandpa Spike and I decided we needed to take little Piggle to see the Pacific Ocean. We basically did an extended photo shoot at Zuma Beach in Malibu, then stopped to have lunch in Oxnard with Piggle's Great Aunt Sibyl, and then finished up by taking a few more pictures at a beach across from Sycamore Canyon in Ventura County. Did our little beach bum like the ocean? Watch the "movie" Grandma Jo made of the photos set to music and decide for yourself!

Sun Devil baby with her monkey

Here are two videos of Charlie in California, playing with the monkey her Auntie Ernie gave her that afternoon. Charlie is also wearing her new Arizona State University Sun Devils dress that Grandpa Spike bought her in Tempe a few days earlier. She is so good at sitting up now that she can even get rowdy and stay upright without help!