9 Months

Charlotte had her 9 month check-up. As always, Dr. Shettell is wonderful. She gave him an intimidating brow furrow, it didn't phase him. Just the facts, m'am:

Weight: 17 lbs 10 oz (25th %)
Length 27.5 inches (45th %)

Thoughts on Food

We have another foodie in the house. When I reluctantly started feeding Charlotte at 6 months she wasn't particularly interested in what I had to offer. But over the course of 2 weeks, she went from an apathetic taster to an enthusiastic inhaler. This girl will eat anything.  In the beginning, I would offer her a new food, mango for example, she would suck and suck on the piece until the rind was clean. I would call Jeremy, "She loves mango!" The next day it was pear, "She loves pear!" The next day is was egg salad "She loves egg salad!" Eventually, he got the idea. She has yet to meet a food item she doesn't like. Dinner is possibly her favorite time of the day. I put her in her chair naked with food on her tray and let her loose. She will literally sit and eat for an hour. Her attention span is astounding. Nothing like a little food as motivation. It is so fun to watch her choose which item on her tray she wants to eat. If there are 3 different choice (olives, strawberries, raisins for example) she will scan the tray, decide which piece she wants to eat, pick it up and eat it. The next bite will be a different selection. Sometimes a raisin and strawberry at the same time. Hey, why not? I don't think she will have an aversion to her food touching.

Feeding a baby feels like such a huge responsibility to me. For the first 6 months, her nutritional state never crossed my mind. Now, every single thing that goes into her body is exclusively my decision. Her health and nutritional well being is in my hands.  I think I should have gone to nutrition school before this. And, as with every other thing in the parenting world, there are 10 million different opinions about the healthiest diet for children. I definitely fall into the safe, predictable camp, no gimmicks or fads just basic fruits, veggies, whole grains. Staying away from obviously poor choices. Then again, how many people grew up on chicken nuggets and tater tots and turned out just fine? Feeding her is a magnifying glass on my poor eating choices. Maybe I should hire a mother to dictate my diet as well as I control hers. "No cookies for you, Kelly, here is some juicy mango to enjoy!"

The real reason I feed Charlotte is so I can take 23,000 adorable pictures of her covered in food.

On The Move

Wow! Almost two weeks without an update! Disgraceful. Honestly, things have been extremely busy and yet very predictable. There haven't been a lot of exciting, blog worthy events. Until now! Charlotte is officially mobile. Within a matter of days she went from a bump-on-a-log to professional army-crawling machine! Not very coordinated in appearance, but effective nonetheless; Charlotte can make quick work of an empty room. Moving from one side to the other in the blink of an (extremely extended) eye. Maybe more of a doze off than a blink. But still, she's moving! It is so incredibly adorable. She kicks her little legs then lunges forward with her head, sort of rolling and squirming  and somehow making forward progress. I will definitely post a video of this exciting accomplishment.

Otherwise, things are peachy. Jer went on a backpacking trip last weekend and Charlotte and I survived our first 3 days without him. 

She is 9 months old today! We have our check-up on Monday; stay tuned for her staggering statistics! Hoping to break 17 pounds!

She is really expanding her vocabulary. It now includes bluh-bluh-bluh with her tongue. Hard to describe, but oh so cute. 

Best Buds

All her friends

Bath + Bubbles

Classic Spaghetti Pictures!

Ooooh...

Helping with the laundry

I see you!

Boo

My Little Fish

Charlotte had her first swimming lesson today at the YMCA. I was apprehensive to say the least. Not only was her first pool experience less than exceptional; the lesson coincided perfectly with nap time. But, being the brave mommy I am, I put on our swimsuits and headed to the pool. The lessons are at the indoor pool and I think every kid west of the Sacramento River is enrolled. It was loud, and humid, and chaotic. Expecting the worst, we got in the bath pool (the water must have been at least 90 degrees). With a big smile on her face, she started splashing and kicking. All right! Unfortunately, the "Shrimp" class had very low enrollment, so us shrimp were combined with the seahorses. Despite the fact that the class is geared for 4 year olds, I am looking forward to at least exposing Charlotte to the water. And I am happy that she enjoyed it. I'm pretty sure by the end of the week she will be swimming the 50 Fly like a pro. Otherwise, I want my $25 back.

We have also been trying to have a few play dates each week. Charlotte, though not quite mobile, is starting to really enjoy being around new people and new toys. She is so sweet, sitting and watching the other kids crawl and play all around her.

We have had a very busy past few weeks, Charlotte has gone to bed late and missed many a nap, but she handles it well and continues to charm anyone who will give her the time of day. Love these long summer days!

The First Fourth

Charlotte celebrated her first Fourth of July  happily asleep in her bed. While the thought of watching fireworks with every other citizen of Redding sounds oh so enticing, my aversion to crowds kept us a safe distance away. And keeping the baby up 3 hours past her normal bedtime didn't exactly sound like a barrel of fun either. We did climb on our roof and saw where the fireworks would be, had there not been 20 trees in the way.

The big event of the day was Charlotte's first pool experience. Due to the lack of bathtub, Charlotte has spent her life being bathed in the kitchen sink. This doesn't leave much room for water play, so her exposure to and comfort in the water is limited. I wouldn't say she hated it, but she probably wouldn't put it on the list of her 5 favorite activities. We start swim lessons next week, so I'm looking forward to continued time in the water.

We celebrated Jer's birthday this weekend with pizza, bowling, frozen yogurt and great company. It was such a fun night. We are incredibly blessed to be part of this community. A word to the wise: unless you want your bowling game to be completely embarrassed, don't bowl with me. I scored an astronomical 33 the first game. That's right, 33. As for the warning: you're welcome...

Charlotte's bathroom is one step closer to completion. The bathtub was delivered last week. It is currently residing in our living room and acting as a coffee table/play pen. We are multi-purpose kind of people. Jeremy said it will be installed in the next month! No more kitchen sink baths for Boo. An exciting day indeed.