Teething, teething, teething

Either we are the most unobservant parents in the world, or Miss Charlie Jo is one of those lucky babies who can cut teeth without drama or chaos. Yesterday at lunch with the Vandy Aunties, Angela told me she thought she saw a tooth ready to poke out of Charlie's lower gums. People have been telling me for over three months that Charlie must be teething because she puts EVERYTHING in her mouth, so I didn't think much about it. Later that afternoon, I looked for myself and thought I did see something. I felt her little gums and did feel a little sharpness! Corey confirmed it when he got home. So, it looks like Charlie's bottom right front tooth is making its debut, even though we have seen none of the swelling, redness, fussiness, fever, or anything else associated with teething. Just lots and lots of chewing on things and what seemed to be a fairly normal amount of drool. Go Charlie Jo!

Weekend with NanaB & Granddad

NanaB and Granddad flew down for Charlotte's first Labor Day weekend.  Granddad and Charlie, upon reuniting, promptly settled down for a little nap.



After recharging, Charlie showed NanaB and Granddad how she can sit 'n' play in her pack 'n' play.  Later that weekend, she almost showed us how she can dive out of the pack 'n' play after a toy she dropped, so we took out the upper level and now Charlie sits on the bottom.



We packed up and headed over to Arrington Vineyards to do some "tablegating."  Tablegating is a competition held at the Vineyards where folks decorate tables and a winner is picked each weekend.  Even though NanaB and I came up with a great theme of "Baby Blues", we did not win. 



After taking in a bottle of wine and the wonderful views of the green hills of Middle Tennessee, we came back to the house and got ready to watch the first MSU game of the year.  Charlie geared up. That's the hat from Corey's old Sparty doll that met an early demise when Connie the dog got a hold of it a few years ago.



On Sunday morning, we went for a walk at Crockett Park in Brentwood. Charlie would like her Uncle Jordan to know that there is a nice disc golf course there, and she hopes he will teach her how to play.



We worked up a good appetite and headed to the Loveless Cafe for lunch.  



Sunday evening, we joined the Marshall clan for a picnic dinner on the grounds of Carnton Plantation and a concert by FAB, a terrific Beatles cover band.



NanaB and Granddad enjoyed the concert.



Amazingly enough, Charlie was able to take a little snooze among the noise and chaos.



But then she woke up and practiced her crawling attempts.



The morning of Labor Day, we walked in the Franklin Classic 4k and won! Just kidding, but we did have a good time. (NanaB and I didn't actually run in the "Kids Kilometer", but we liked the shape of the kids' shirt better than the adult one.)



Charlie Jo had a great time with NanaB and Granddad!

Triple feature

Auntie Ernie took these videos when she and Uncle Andrew visited last weekend. Enjoy the triple feature!

First movie -- Charlotte tries squash for the very first time.


Second movie -- Charlotte goes wild.


Third movie -- Charlotte starting to learn how to crawl.

So Piggle, what do you think of your carseat?

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!