The walking babies!

Charlotte took her first steps just a couple of days shy of her 1st birthday, but we could never get it caught on film. She'd stand for a really long time balancing herself, but once she took a couple of steps she'd fall right over before I could even run for the camera. So, a couple of weeks ago we finally caught some video of Charlotte walking. Now, she walks everywhere with a few crawls in between. I just can't believe how fast she's grown. It seems like yesterday that she crawled for the first time. Before I know it, she'll be running a marathon!

Charlotte's First Trip to the Zoo

I'm playing catch up since I'm on Thanksgiving break and wanted to post some pictures of Charlotte's first trip to the zoo taken in August right before her birthday. It was also her first time being on a carousel, too. She didn't like the horse that went up & down, so once we switched to a stationary one she really enjoyed it. She was so excited to see the rhinos (since she sees Daddy's figurines all over the house) and tigers (like her cats at home) that she pointed and squealed. She had a great day and seemed pretty content hanging out with Mommy & Daddy seeing something new. I can't wait to take her to the San Diego Wildlife Park, California. That place is amazing. Until then, the Louisville Zoo will have to do for now. : )

Charlotte's First Birthday

So, Charlotte's been a year old for almost 2 months now and I'm just getting around to posting some pictures. Hopefully my next blog won't be to mention that's she's in preschool already. lol! Most of my trouble is getting Blogger to load my pictures. I'll have a short message with some picture updates then I get kicked off because it's taking so long to upload. I've never had this problem before and it's quite annoying. We have wireless and high speed Internet access so I'm not sure what the deal is. I may have to find another website to blog.

Anyways, we had a wonderful birthday party for Charlotte at the house on Saturday, September 25th in the afternoon with family & friends. It was the perfect day: warm, sunny and just beautiful. I made lady bug cupcakes for a quick & easy serve and to cut down on the mess. Since we typically feed Charlotte fresh fruits, veges and chicken she didn't quite know what to do with the cupcake. She'd had a couple of bites of ice cream before, but we're pretty strict on what we feed her, so I really didn't know how she'd handle it. At first she stared at it, poked at the cupcake a couple of times, put a finger in her mouth to taste it and after a couple of bites she wanted her strawberries instead. ; )

She had a good day and we're very thankful for all of the love our family and friends showed our baby girl. She's so very lucky and so are we!!

Slideshow of Charlotte's First Year

Charlotte's 11 months and Mommy goes back to school

I apologize for the lag in between blogs. We've had lots of changes lately and I'm just now getting adjusted to my new routine. I have just recently quit my job of 5 years as a receptionist at a law firm to go back to school full time majoring in Human Resources. I'm taking 4 classes and boy has it been busy. It's been a long time since I've been a full time student, so being a mother on top of it doesn't leave me much time for blogging. I tend to check in with Facebook every now and then, but my nose is in the books. I've been very fortunate that Gene's super supportive so that I'm able to focus 100% on my school work without adding a job on top of it. It'll be tough for awhile, but it's only temporary and will be so worth it in the long run. In the meantime, I'll be in touch when I can. Now on to Charlotte! ; )

Since our last few posts, Charlotte had a couple of teeth, started to crawl, transitioned to table food and went on her first vacation. Now, she's got a mouth full of teeth (about 4 on top and bottom), she loves to feed herself (fruits & pasta are her favorites) and she's pulling up on everything to the point where she's lifting her legs to climb on top of things. She's not there yet, but give her time. She does alot of cruising and walks back and forth to me and Gene as long as we're holding her hands. Most of the time she just wants to crawl because she can do that fast as lightning. Off and on we can get her to balance herself without holding on, but she's very distracted and wants to always be on the move. Gets into EVERYTHING and will scream and cry to go outside. She loves it out there. Lately it's been cool enough and the humidity doesn't smack you in the face, so it's been easier to take her out. She loves animals and squeals with delight every time she sees a dog or a cat. She understands lots of things I say and even shakes her head no when she's finished with her dinner. Points to objects if I ask her where they are and babbles like you wouldn't believe. There's so much more that she does that amazes me that I'm in constant awe of her. I just can't believe that in 2 weeks she's going to be a year old. It's amazing how fast time can fly by. I never thought I'd make it through the first few months being a new mom with trying to nurse, function on little sleep and deal with taking her to daycare for the first time. And now we're pros. . . eh. . . well maybe not that close. ; )

Charlotte's First Vacation

For vacation this year, we took Charlotte up to visit Gene's family in Rhode Island and Massachusetts then stopped by his best friend's house in Connecticut. Charlotte and I flew out to Rhode Island to meet her Auntie Jill, Uncle Scott and cousins Meg & Allie while Gene and his brother Tim rode their bikes up from Indiana. I was so proud of Charlotte who handled flying like a pro. Laughed & babbled on the first flight and slept right thru the second flight. I was so worried that she would cry because her ears would be bothering her, but it didn't seem to phase her one bit. Once we got to Gene's sister's house, Charlotte decided she didn't want baby food anymore. Another milestone I wasn't quite ready for, but she did great. She did really well picking up her food with her little chubby fingers and barely left a mess in her chair. She fell in love with blueberries and couldn't get enough of her green beans & carrots. Such a good girl! After being with Jill for a few days, we went to visit Gene's parents in Mass for a bit and that's when things started to get a little rough. Poor Charlotte wouldn't sleep through the night. I thought maybe it was because she wasn't familiar with her environment, but Gene noticed another tooth poking through. Poor thing, we just didn't have anything stronger than Tylenol. Plus, I think once she noticed we were sleeping in the room with her she wouldn't go back to sleep. Needless to say, Gene & I didn't get much sleep on our vacation. The night before we left Jill hosted a big family gathering for the family. Gene's older sister Alice and her husband Ray with son Donovan drove all the way from New Jersey to visit which was awesome. It was so nice to be able to see everyone on the trip. Wish we had more time, but you all know how that goes.

As usual, I didn't take enough pictures, but here are a few highlights from the trip.

No, she really did fly with me on the plane, I promise!

While on vacation, Little Miss Charlotte mastered her sippy cup like a pro. Maybe weaning her from the bottle won't be so hard (on Mommy) after all! ; )

Charlotte with her Nanny

Like father, like daughter

Gene with his brother Tim, his oldest sister Claire and his Mum & Dad

Charlotte and Uncle Timmy

Good friends Tony & Kristin with sons Alex and Jonathan

Aunties Jillian & Alice

Charlotte (and Mommy & Daddy, too!) had too much fun in Auntie Jill's pool. Thanks to my boss Susan for the adorable bathing suit for Charlotte! You can't tell from this picture, but it has a super cute lady bug on it.

Charlotte's cousins Meghan, Allison and Donovan. Aren't they too cute!?!? I really wanted to get Charlotte in the picture with them, but she was tonkered out and already in bed. Maybe next time.

Father's Day - better late than never!

Gene's 1st Father's Day! Doesn't Charlotte look just like her Daddy!!

My Dad with his grandkids (Kyla - 2 1/2, Charlotte - almost 9 months here and Layna - 4)

The whole family!

(Gene, Charlotte, me, Chris, Layna, Vanna, Kyla, Johnny, Bradley, Dad & Lori)

My brothers and I celebrated Father's Day with our Dad the day before. That allowed Charlotte & I to spend some time with Gene on Sunday - his first Father's Day. It was a great weekend; the weather was beautiful, Charlotte was a great baby and being around family always makes me happy.