Rockin' & rollin' in the play pen

Piggle is getting better and better at entertaining herself for longer and longer periods of time. My buddy Alan was just asking me about whether Charlotte could entertain herself and I replied that she couldn't do it for long. Lo and behold, she made me a liar this afternoon when she spent a good 15 minutes sitting alone in the play pen without fussing. I put so many toys in with her that it looked like I was making toy soup, but that's beside the point. Here's the little goofball getting her groove on in the play pen.

Quadra-Piggle

Ever wonder what Piggle would be like if she were quadruplets? Check it out!

The week so far

Piggle and I have had a full week so far. Monday morning, we went to Stroller Strides indoors because it was threatening to rain. We shopped a little in the afternoon. That evening, team Big Love won first prize at Trivia Night! It was only Rich, Dawn and me, but we kicked butt and took names. The best part was when Piggle fell asleep in Dawn's arms. This was most amazing because babies all over the world sometimes don't exactly take to Dawn. Looks like Piggle has decided that she likes her though.




Tuesday morning, Alicia took care of Piggle while I had my first three potential cavities filled at the dentist. The dentist refused to say conclusively whether they were cavities, but I got some fillings anyway. The shots didn't hurt a bit, and the drilling wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I recovered so quickly from the ordeal that Piggle and I then trekked out to the outlets in Lebanon (about 45 minutes away or so from our house) to buy some more jammies at Carters. Piggle is growing out of her clothes so fast! After supper last night, we celebrated the fact that Faith Carol made the school's bowling team with a little dessert.

Today, Piggle and I went to Stroller Strides in Brentwood because the Franklin class was cancelled. After a quick pit stop at home to feed Piggle some carrots (her first!), we headed back out to Brentwood to take Alicia to lunch to thank her for baby-sitting yesterday. The meatloaf and the grilled shrimp on fried green tomatoes were both to die for. Piggle, as usual, charmed everyone with her toothless, crinkled nose smile. After lunch, we went shopping at the mall and are now back at home resting.

Thursday and Friday will be spent preparing for a visit from NanaB and Granddad. We have a full weekend of activities planned. More on that later!

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.