Anecdotes

Charlotte asked for a ball at Wal-Mart yesterday. She pointed and said 'ba' as we walked past them, so of course, I made her sign please and then pulled out a Winnie the Pooh ball. She clung to it for a while with a great big grin on her face and then she dropped it, discovered it could bounce and that mommy could dribble it (very impressed) - and that was HILARIOUS! Charlotte was laughing so hard at that bouncing ball, she got people walking up and down the aisle laughing. Someone asked me if Charlotte did commercials...I know! And she couldn't believe it when I said no. She called her friends over to see how pretty and cute Charlotte was (and she wasn't even wearing her hair bow).

When Daddy got home last night I told Charlotte to go find her ball and show it to daddy. And she did! All the way from the bedroom into the kitchen, around the breakfast table and then back into find daddy. We were so proud.

She loves giving Moses & Eloise dog biscuits. This morning, she opened up the dog cupboard and pulled out their bag of biscuits, brought it over to me, signed open, reached her hand in and pulled out some biscuits. I helped her practice taking turns: 'Moses, now Eloise's turn' and let her give them about 10 each (dragon breath). Actually...Charlotte decided...I was watching her. She signed all finished, closed the bag and put them back in the dog cupboard. I was so astonished I called up Noni.

We've finally reached big girl status for sure I think...this morning I took a shower with her sitting just on the other side of the curtain. Now, up until this point, she would have just crawled in and sat in the water, hence the reason I had had to wait for Adam to return home before I could clean up (poor Adam) but today she held her drum sticks and sat outside of the curtain, and I just kept telling her 'no, make a good choice' and she did. Wow!

Adam found her some bunny ears at Target and stuck them on her head. She loved it! Didn't want to take them off. She was standing in the buggy, dancing & proud with her bunny ears on. Another one of the cutest things we'd ever seen.

Oh, Charlotte has also started saying 'yes' - or nodding her head. Finally, we're moving on from all the 'no's'.

A Vent

Update: We are no longer under contract on the house on the park in midtown Columbus. It failed the home inspection...MISERABLY. We walked away within our due dilligence after receiving the report. A nightmare, a total nightmare. Lets just say there was a catfish pond of water under the house, the crawl space, was literally, completed flooded among an array of other nightmarish type problems.

We are back on the hunt. We've got to be in Columbus in 4 weeks. Say a prayer for us.

Big News

When I go this long without posting - know that when I do post I'll have some exciting things to report for sure...lots happens in 2 weeks when you're learning everything new for the first time.

Our trip to Columbus 2 weeks ago was successful - we bought a house! It was the house I found the first time we visited Columbus in November and fell in love with. Our realtor told me then, if it's the right house for ya'll - it'll wait. And wait it did. Which is good for seveal reasons: (1) it got a new roof; (2) it got painted.

The house is in the historic/park district section of Columbus - it sits right on Lakebottom Park. It is just precious - it was built in 1931 but fully restored in 2007 so it's kind of like a brand new house with a whole lot of charm. It's a cape cod something or other bungalow. We're thrilled. Charlotte & I looked at about 40 houses all over Columbus and this is the one she liked the most too. It's also only 11 miles from Ft. Benning and only about a mile from the Hooch.

When were at Noni & Popi's house, all she wanted to do was walk around outside, pick up Jakob's nasty ball and carry it with her, laugh at Jakob catching his ball and at Eloise and Moses barking at Jakob. She also would get real tickled with walking down the hills in the yard real fast.

She loves her squeaky shoes. If she's barefooted she'll wander over to her bottom drawer and find her squeaky shoes and try to put them on her feet. We'll be walking around the squares here in Savannah and every dog within a 4 block radius is trying to find out where that squeak is coming from.

Yesterday I walked her little hienie away from our square, Lafayette Square over to Madison where there is no fountain (she loves the fountain at Lafayette and will spend hours picking up little leaves and acorns, walking over to the fountain, asking mama for help, sitting on the side of the fountain and dropping her leaves and acorns, one at a time, REPEAT) usually I'm all for it for about an hour maybe but yesterday I had on an old pair of too-big, ripped jeans and every time I bent over to lift her onto the side of the fountain, I heard them rip a little more, so we moved on over to Madison Square wher I hoped to not have to do so much squating. It's where all the dogs and all the art students are. There was a sweet spaniel named Erin, a therapy dog, that had just finished visiting the pediatric ward of the hospital, we got to visit with her for a while, until I became aware, once again, of my ripped jeans and decided it best to move on and leave Erin and her person to read and watch squirrels in peace. Charlotte threw an all out hissy fit and we disturbed every art student there, I just know it. I saw one girl get up and throw away her sketch. But I saw it as she was throwing it in the trash and man it was good! These SCAD students must have high expectations, it was all I could do not to reach on in that trash can and pull it out for myself!

Thanks to everyone for the Valentine's cards...Charlotte LOVES her cards. They're all lined up on the mantel and she points to them one at a time for me to get down for her and then she holds them and looks at them.

She got a new book about belly buttons, her favorite body part. She likes to hold her baby doll, Martha, while we read the story and then she finds Martha's belly button and hers and mommy's.
Charlotte found a plastic bowl in the kitchen cabinets. She enjoys going through the drawers and cabinets big time while I do whatever it is I so in the kitchen. It fits on her head just right, kind of like a derby. Now she wears that bowl everywhere, she doesn't want to be without it. It's kind of like a helmet, so that's good. As much as that girl stumbles I'm glad she's making safety a priority.

Corn on the cob has been a huge hit here lately. As I suppose it should considering she's got a great big ole' mouth full of teeth. As are Mac & cheese and ants on a log (see photo below)

Charlotte is so sweet. Every once in a while I start thinking we're doing something right. My hope is to raise her to be compassionate, happy and secure. She's friendly too and I wouldn't say shy but more coy; she seems to make friends wherever we go. She waves and smiles - it's cute at the grocery store and standing in line at the post office but every once in a while she waves and smiles at the homeless man talking to himself. And upon engaging him out of his monologue he'll wander over and begin a dialogue with us...I hope there are no homeless people in Columbus. That's not P.C. is it? Well, I don't know what else to say...I'm not ready to start teaching her about stranger danger...She's just a baby after all...a walking baby...

It is just too beautiful for words outside today...I feel like I can do better than some lame cliche though...It is the type of day that where the sun is shining bright, there's not a cloud in the sky. The temperature is exactly perfect - in that you can wear long sleeves and jeans and be a happy, contented warm in the sun and enjoy the 'cooling off from the sun' in the shade...and there is a perfect, ruffle-your-hair breeze. It's the type of day that puts you in such a pleasant mood you greet nearly everyone you encounter and remark on the magnificence of the weather. NOTE: picture above taken on sunny but COLD morning, NOT on day described. I never would have gotten this shot at Forsyth on a beautiful day, are you kidding? On days like this it's mobbed! People everywhere, especially posing for pictures in front of the fountain.

Charlotte fell asleep, as she normally does on our walks. A police officer walked up to us and felt her toes. He was afraid they might be chilly. They weren't, they were warm...whew...
It was beautiful out most of this week. One day Charlotte and I strolled down to Forsyth to play on the 2-5 playground and to practice walking. The park was big fun. When we first got there we were the only ones there so we got the run of the whole place without me being too worried but then two more little girls showed up and Charlotte was super-excited and wanted to follow them everywhere and they wanted to pretend to be her mommy and kept telling me it was okay, that I could go and sit down and not worry. They would help her crawl through the tunnels and go down the slide. Charlotte looked at me as if to say, that sounds like a good idea, mom . Right. Well, then Charlotte kept hugging them and that made them want to pick her up and carry her, so needless to say, we left pretty soon after they got there. Actually, we were almost the cause of a fight. Both little girls wanted to be the "mommy".

So, we strolled down the sidewalk and wandered into the grass to sit down and enjoy the sunshine.
Charlotte held onto to her 'Little People' of the day, black girl in bathing suit and snorkel mask and we took Moses & Eloise for a nice long walk. Charlotte was in the Ergo (the back pack). It was the type of day (I started this post on Friday, I'm publishing it on Saturday) where Charlotte was able to be bare-footed, thank goodness because I'm tired of losing shoes, and Eloise's incessant biting, tugging and growling at the leash didn't even phase me, well, until she tripped me, the little rascal. Charlotte always has a 'lovey of the day'. Two days in a row this week it was a toothbrush and not the same toothbrush both days. One day it was her toothbrush and the second day was her daddy's toothbrush. We get quite a few comments when it's a toothbrush. She brushes her teeth in the morning and at night. I'll help first then I let her hold it and do it herself while I brush mine. She sits on the bathroom counter and we brush teeth together. But lots of times, she spots daddy's toothbrush. She likes to hold my blush brush and put on blush too. It's the cutest. She has a little blush compact that's emply with her own little blush brush that the Clinique lady gave her. Charty opens it up and puts on her blush.

We found belly buttons this week. I showed her hers and showed her mine and then we practiced finding each others. When daddy got home I asked Charlotte where his belly button was. She couldn't find it, so Adam pulled up his shirt and shower her. She crams her little finger into my belly button and wiggles it around. She was scared of Adam's belly button. I was afraid she would start crying when she saw all that hair in there. Five days have passed and she's still afraid to touch his belly button.

Charlotte loves to play outside on the back porch. Well, it's been cold out for weeks and she hasn't gotten to. Earlier this week it was nice and we all went outside - exciting, where there are toys and it's pretty child-proof...or was. I usually, after about 5 minutes, leave and go tidy up in the room adjacent to the porch, our bedroom and check on her every minute of so. Normally, she's pulling a petal at a time off of a fern. I walked outside and dropped the pile of folded clothes I was holding. She had climbed up into a patio chair and was turned around sitting backwards in it, bouncing, looking very smug and proud of herself. Needless to say, can't leave her out on the porch unsupervised anymore. RATS! So, after I pulled her out of the chair and told her 'danger' she wanted back up there. Well, who am I to be a fun-ruiner, so I told her okay, but only because mommy's here and she's watching. Trying to climb into a chair to sit is acceptable. Climbing from the chair onto the table to nibble a tangerine from the fruit bowl in the center is not, as her friend, Allison, learned to do yesterday. Well, so, she climbed up and back out over and over from the chair. A couple of times she got stuck. I've been trying to encourage her to say 'help' for weeks because I want her to know there's a word to ease her frustration and that the incessant whinning is just not necessary! And she said it! She was grunting and frustrated and she said 'help'! YAY! And then she said it 4 more times that day and hasn't said it since.

A friend gave me the first of T. Berry Brazelton's book on child development, 'Touchpoints 0-3' when I was pregnant. I've heard a bunch of moms talk about the book and it really is a GREAT reference. The best I have and I refer to it often.

Charlotte has tempter tantrums...already - not too bad, not too often, but they happen. It's funny how, as a mom, you always blame yourself. Well, luckily I have this great book, and it always helps. I usually read a chapter or two ahead and keep out my highlighter. It does no good to read ahead, not reallly, because the issues we usually come across are never the ones we expect to have to deal with. In the 'One Year' chapter I highlight all this stuff about diet and motor skills and speech, stuff that in all honesty, now that we're here, in the first year, we've done okay figuring out. Temper tantrums, on the other hand, that section was ignored by my highlighter so I had to go back and look it up. Here's what it says:

Not all babies get independently suddenly and dramatically. But when they do, I am always gladd to see it (he's a pediatrician). This is a real touchpoint if parents can see the progress it represents. Though it means the love affair of the first year is over, the burst of autonomy is normal and healthy. A baby's struggle to express herself and to find out her own limits will take many years. This kind of baby shows us that she'll do it openly. that becomes easier in the long run, believe it or not. Blah blah blah and then: When this new independence comes, parents inevitably worry about spoiling. An independent one-year-old is not a spoiled child.

Charlotte doesn't like to find daddy's belly button but she does like to give him kisses. But for some reason, she opens her mouth real wide...like she's going after his nose instead.

And we're back!

It started out pretty rough -

Charlie fell asleep right away and her head fell forward forward forward until it was almost touching her knees. Adam set me up with a little mirror that attaches to my mirror so that I can see her. I kept staring at her little head and soon to be sore neck and pulled over, fixed it (see, we've invested in countless pillows and gadgets and dollies to help remedy this problem. Back on the road, 1 minute later, head falls forward again. Repeat 4 times - after 20 minutes, and the 4th stop she was up. Now we have four hours left in the car and Charlotte is sleep deprived by 2 hours. Thank goodness for Teletubbies. About 3 hours in I guess she got tired of Tinky Winky because she started kicking and tugging on her DVD player. I scolded her, she laughed and continued to kick, waiting for me to make that funny mean face again...

She fell asleep again 10 minutes from Columbus. Adam was already at the hotel so he ran out, jumped in the car and we left for dinner (and to drive around the area I'd already scoped out).

Previously I'd fallen in love with the midtown park district of Columbus - all these old homes, restored, loads of character and charm. Finally got to show Adam and he really liked the area (even though it was dark out and he didnt' get to see it GOOD) and it does have a lot of charm so we haven't ruled it out entirely but we haven't found the right house for us there YET...

We went for Italian, Charlie had spaghetti and limes and made a HUGE mess, I know, hard to believe...then we went to Toys R Us. Charlotte was riding in the basket of the buggy (prohibited) like Teen Wolf surfing on the top of his van when she spotted a baby doll. So, she got her first baby doll, and Charlie with that doll is so precious. She pokes her in the eyes and grabs her feet and whacks her head on the floor, then she shows her to me and I give kiss and make 'boo boo' all better for baby.

The next morning, Noni arrived (HOORAY!) to help for the day while I looked at houses with the realtor and Adam attended meetings. We're all loaded, Charlotte's in her car seat and DVD player WILL NOT TURN ON. Oh no...

I ran and jumped in the car with the realtor, poor Noni...left to drive Charlie around with no movie...But if you know Noni, you know she has a stress level of like negative 5 or something, has the most optimistic, enthusiastic disposition all of us that know her have ever known, so all I have to say about her driving Charlotte around with no DVD player? Better her than me...

It turned out to be a good day and at the end of it, when Noni got in her car to drive to Hampton and I got in mine with Charlotte, there was a Wal-Mart just 4 minutes away and we managed to get a DVD player. And as soon as I got it hooked in and running, Charlotte started kicking it...and laughing...

We went to Hampton, where Moses, Eloise, Star and Jakob were (and Popi!). Charlotte was excited to see Mo/Ellie but when Jakob came running up she squealed. When we're out walking and she sees a yellow dog she points and says 'MO' real excitedly and tries to get my attention (remember, 'Mo' is her word for 'look'). She has a Baby Einstein DVD about pets and there's a Golden and a Lab in the part about dogs and she gets really excited and tries to show me whenever she sees them. She's trying to say Jakob...

Charlotte got some Wee Squeak shoes! http://www.weesqueak.com/ They are so precious! She wants to walk all the time with those things on and I think they're helping. She'd had a tendency to step on the inside of her right feet, lead with her left and now, if she does that, the shoe won't squeak, she has to step correctly for the squeak. She wants to walk all the time, holding hands, no, not hands, HAND. One hand, round and round the house, over and over. She has no interest in doing it independently. She wants one of us right there. And it's usually me since I don't have to hunch way over to reach. Last night Adam was standing with her in the living room and she was going round and round in a circle. At the Mexican restaurant Saturday night, after she was finished with supper (chips, taco, rice and beans!) she wanted down and lead me right to this lady, and handed the lady her gnawed on cookie. Awkward. Then the lady told me her daughter didn't walk until she was 15 months by herself, even though was perfectly capable - she wanted someone with her, holding her hand...oh, great.

I know one day she'll be running around, not needing me for anything and it will break my heart. I'll long for the days she begged to have me hold her hand. I'm just going to try and enjoy them...

Wish Us Luck...

...Because luck is what we'll need...

Charlotte and I are headed to Columbus today to go house shopping tomorrow.

It's a 41/2 hour drive...all my sanity lies in the hopes of a nice, long nap and the teletubbies - tinky, winky & poo, well, and maybe a snack trap full of cheetos (she's just like her mommy, when cranky - offer cheetos...)

Adam is driving his truck...seperately from us. He must not believe in my plan...

Her First Few Steps

January 19, 2008 is the day that Charlotte took her first steps! This is not a girl that airs on the side of caution, however, she more sort of ran her first steps. It was five steps and was over before we even knew it and then she wanted to do it again and again but was trying to do it so fast that she couldn't keep up with herself. Her legs kept getting there ahead of her body or vice versa and she was giggling all the while.


She wanted help walking all weekend, one hand but several times she would get to moving so fast that she'd just twirl around and have to grab onto said hand-holders leg and then off she'd want to go again. I also discovered her favorite song. 'Don't stop till you get enough', Michael Jackson. She hangs onto schoolbus and buggie down to Michael. It's pretty much the cutest thing I've ever seen.





She's doing better and better with foods...I still nurse her at night but she's getting more and more to where she doesn't need me during the day (sniffle).

Last week was miserable and cold and rainy. Being here in Savannah we have to walk the dogs at least 3 times a day just to go potty...yes, even when it's raining out. So, we're all bundled up, Charlotte in her winter parka (2 sizes too big because that's all I could find) wrapped in blankets & daddy's rain jacket, in the stroller with the canopy. Here I go, getting soaking wet with no umbrella just my Parka and hoood, walking two dogs, pushing a stoller, obviously, I can't carry an umbrella. Moses, terrified of the rain and Eloise barking and bullying everyone and NOT focused on going potty. So yes, it was a huge relief when Noni & Popi came down this weekend (yay company!) and then took Moses & Eloise BACK with them! (I'll see them in a few days)

And she got to have some yummy yummy birthday cake this weekend - it was Noni's birthday! Charlotte's Noni & Popi drove down for the weekend with Jakob and Starbright! Noni & Popi helped her practicing walking (she wants to hold hands and walk all over the house) and dancing. We also went and ate at Uncle Bubba's and Charlotte got her first taste of shrimp...and really liked it! Of course, not as much as the cake:

While we're on the subject of sweets and growing up...did I mention her love of M&M's? That's how I change her diaper. She fights and squirms and wants off the change table...I tried giving her brand new, never before seen toys only for changing, please, not near enticing enough. I tried diapering her standing up but after 3 stinky diapers that exploded out the back due to poor diaper application I revised that plan. Now, I take M&M minis and give her one at a time while I change her diaper. Usually it only takes 3.

Sunday we went to Savannah's 'Ships of Maritime' Exhibit. They wouldn't allow strollers and yeah, it was as fun as it sounds. Charlotte wanted to walk around the whole place and climb into the fireplaces, pull herself up on the boat models worth probably hundreds of thousands of dollars and then she found the uncovered electrical outlets. We were exhausted by the time we left.

We drove out to Wormsloe Plantation and discovered you can't drive the whole thing you have to walk and it was FREEZING outside! So, we saw the 4oo Great Oaks and we'll save the rest for another day.

Do you remember that singing balloon Charlotte had for her birthday? Well, it still has helium in it...and it still sings, you just have to hit it in the right spot. Charlotte knows the spot. It's tied to her highchair. After she finishes a meal, or right smack in the middle of one, she'll reach up, grab that balloon, pull it down and start BANGING on it until it plays the birthday tune and she'll dance and clap...it was the cutest thing, we all got a kick out of that Saturday night...well, that and we were a fun audience for her - we'd all had a bit to drink so it was especially cute and funny...