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.

Looking back

Charlotte's not even a year old yet, but I already feel it sneaking up on me. I'm thinking about the day she was born and trying to remember all the little details of the first 3 months. Her little baby nose, tiny little baby fingers and toes and all of her milestones. And believe it or not I'm already starting to think about planning her first birthday. Doesn't seem fair that she's approaching 9 months and no longer a little baby. Well, let's face it - she wasn't a little baby when she was born either, weighing in over 9 pounds!

Charlotte has got to be the happiest little baby on earth. She smiles & laughs allll the time, waves hi to everybody she meets and gets so excited when we take her to daycare. The other day when Gene went to pick her up, he was barely in the doorway when she noticed him and got so excited to see him that she immediately starting crawling to him. She's definitely going to be a Daddy's little girl. ; )

So, even though it's a little early to start going down memory lane I still wanted to post some of her older pictures to record the memory. The idea is, one of these days I would like to put the blog I've made into an album for Charlotte to keep when she gets older.

Enjoy!

Charlotte's birth-day

My sweet baby only a day old.

A couple of weeks old

Almost 2 months old

3 months old

About 4 months

8 months & crawling

Hard to believe that my baby is already crawling! She'd been rocking on her knees for a couple of weeks now and once she realized that she didn't want to be in that position she would push herself back into a sitting position. I really hoped that Charlotte would start crawling while Gene's parents were here, but the day after they left on Sunday she crawled for the first time. Not only did she wait until they left, she waited until Gene left for training (out of town) for a few days. : ( Then to top it off, three days after crawling for the first time, she pulls herself up for the first time, too. Watching her do these things gives me a great deal of satisfaction and sadness at the same time. I'm so proud of her accomplishments, but it's all happening tooo fast. I still can't remember what it was like when she was a newborn and I even stayed home with her for 3 months! People weren't kidding when they said the first year just flies by.

Mother's Day

This was a very nice Mother's Day season for sure. . . My first Mother's Day and I got to spend it with all 3 of my mothers. The weekend before Mother's Day my brothers came over to get together with my mom since she was going to be out of town. Chris' girls just adore Charlotte and she loves being with them so it was super sweet to watch them play with each other. The Friday before, Gene took me to Indianapolis for my first overnight trip without Charlotte to see Pearl Jam, one of my favorite bands. I missed Charlotte terribly and felt guilty for leaving her overnight, but I knew she was in good hands with my Dad and step-mom. Plus, I was able to spend some much needed time with Gene and got to see Pearl Jam for the first time. On Mother's Day we spent some time with my step-mom and the girls and they were all so cute together. Charlotte is really getting much more interactive with everyone, it's like she's lived in the same house with all of them. She just goes freely to everyone without getting fussy or wanting her Mommy & Daddy. I guess there's still time, but in the meantime she's really enjoying being passed around. Later in the evening on Mother's Day Gene's Mum and Dad showed up. They drove all the way from Massachusetts to see their newest grand baby. Charlotte was already in bed for the night, but the next day she didn't miss a beat and went freely to her Nanny without blinking. I have been really blessed with 3 mothers to celebrate this special day with: my mom, my step-mom and my Mum-n-law. Charlotte's one lucky girl to have so many wonderful women in her life that love her so very much.

Charlotte with her Granny

My brother's girls: Layna and Kyla with Granny

Charlotte with her Nana Lori and cousins Kyla and Layna