Sunday, September 28, 2008

It's my party and...there were no tears at all. Awesome.



The party was great - despite the fact that we were in a tropical air mass and it poured buckets and 20+ people were squished into my living room/dining room area. But we were all family (even our best friends count as family, even if Kelly refuses the honorary "aunt" title), and everyone stayed pretty cheerful. Charlotte was an excellent co-hostess - she mingled with everyone, and also provided entertainment. She danced and clapped whenever she heard anything resembling music, and she was appreciative of all the gifts and attention. I didn't take any video, because my camera only holds 2 min before it maxes out the memory card, but my brother and his fiancee just bought a camcorder to use on their honeymoon, and Chris taped it and copied it for me. I can't believe we finally have an actual family video! We joked about how it will be hilarious in 15 years when Charlotte makes fun of us for having an actual VHS tape, and we will still make fun of my Uncle Scott for raving about Mamma Mia and how he went to see it three times.

One of my favorite pictures actually isn't from the party - it's Charlotte on Sunday morning realizing that her Uncle Chris is still at the apartment with us.



We get to do this again, a smaller, more exclusive party with my sister-in-law, brother-in-law, Charlotte's paternal grandparents, and her cousin. I am actually super-psyched for that, drama-be-damned. I can't wait to have the cousins together partying it up. Hopefully the almost-eight-year-old's patience will continue to hold, and maybe Charlotte being excited about presents will melt her grandmother. My fingers are duly crossed.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

One year.



Today is Charlotte's birthday. I seriously cannot believe it. This is a picture of my sweet little girl in a serious moment this morning. I really wanted to write a post about her birth, how it felt to go from being a pregnant lady to actually being a mom, and how this past year has changed us both so much. All three of us, really. We are so close and happy as a family - if you had told me a year ago that it would have worked out this well, I wouldn't have believed you. If you'd told me two years ago about where I am today, I would have laughed in your face.

I'm so grateful for my family, which was born a year ago today.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

It's the end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine)

But in a good way.

Charlotte is REALLY walking now. Charging up and down her room, the house, outside, at my grandparent's house, everywhere. She's no shrinking violet, either. Charlotte will fall flat on her face and get right back up again. Matt's big fear right now is that she's going to fall on her face and get a black eye right before her one year-old pictures. Which we actually need to make an appointment for. Crap.



In this video, two things are apparent. 1. She inherited my Dennis-the-Menace cowlick. 2. She is way into Halloween-themed books. Her two favorite books right now, completely of her own accord are Spooky and Where is Baby's Pumpkin?

My sister just got a puppy a couple weeks ago. Her husband surprised her and brought him home on the first day of school (she's a teacher in a public Montessori school, teaching grades 1-3). His name is Marek, and he's just a bitty baby. Right now he's 10 or 12 weeks old, and he and Charlotte met up close and personal for the first time today when I went to walk him. Considering how into dogs Charlotte is, I thought she would be more excited - she loved meeting my buddy Anthony's dog Drina last Friday. I think the fact that Marek is her size and was on her level made her a little nervous. Still, Charlotte graciously accepted his tentative kisses, and then they both just kind of observed each other.

Marek is super-photogenic, and very laid-back, for a puppy. He came from a shelter and is some sort of lab/terrier mix. Which is shelter-speak for "he probably has some pit bull in him, because this is, after all, a city shelter." Nicole and Josh are doing a great job with him so far, and he's very well-behaved. I can't wait for Charlotte and Marek to play together when they are both a little older and understand how to be gentle. Well, hopefully they'll understand how to be gentle.

Let's see, what else? I'm kind of stuck on something good to get Charlotte for her first birthday, which is in, ulp, 6 days now. We are having a mostly family based party on Saturday the 27th. Matt's parents and my dad won't be there, so it will be a little weird, but both sets of my grandparents, all my siblings, and my two best friends will be there. And some assorted aunts and uncles. I think it will be just a low-key picnic, provided the weather is nice, and maybe some t-shirt decorating. I loved all the decorated onesies that we did at my baby showers, and would love for Charlotte to have some more.

I knit Charlotte a blanket that is almost done - it's going to be small, more of a lovey than a blanket, but I didn't get it done before she was born, and I didn't get it done for her first Christmas, but dammit! I'm going to get it done for her birthday. She's also been interested a little in dolls and her stuffed animals lately, picking them up and kissing them, and occasionally rocking them. I cleaned up my brother's old Cabbage Patch Kid (after asking him if he wanted me to save it for future generations of his - he said to give it to Charlotte) and ordered him a new outfit off eBay. I also ordered him some cloth doll diapers, and I'll put those together for Charlotte in a little bag. Matt wanted to have some hand in the selection of the birthday present, as is only natural, but has no ideas and doesn't want to spend any money. Great. This weekend we're going to head to the nearest Toys R Us, which is forever away, and try and figure something out.

Oh, and Charlotte is now babbling, "Ma, ma, ma!" and it almost certainly means "Mumma." She also has a long drawn out "Haaaaa," which we think is meant to be "hi!" There is a word for kitty, but it is impossible to type out. Imagine if a one year old was trying to say "tzatziki sauce."

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Overtired

(Last picture in Charlotte's blue room!)


Well, we're moved. It's been a crazy week and a half since we've moved, I can barely begin to process it.

To get back to my fears from before the move, Charlotte did great with her grandmother all day. Of course, of course! she took her first steps at her grandmother's house when we weren't there. I pretty much nearly cried when Matt told me that his mom called to say, "Did Charlotte ever take six steps before?" I could get nit-picky and bitchy about a bunch of the other things that happened with his mother that day, but I'm going to try and let it go. You would also think that getting to hang out with her granddaughter all by herself for a whole day on her terms would help us all get over the birthday party drama, but no. Oh well.

Our new apartment is a little basement-y, but it's so much bigger. Or at least, it's so much easier to insert our stuff and still have room to walk around. Charlotte has a ton of space in her room, and a nice window. There is a little yippy dog that lives upstairs, and she loves to hear it bark. Everytime she hears him, she does the baby sign for "dog" and gets excited. She's very into dogs right now.

I'm too tired to post much now, but I wanted to fill in the space. We're having Dress Week redux with Charlotte this week, wearing all her dresses before the summer is totally gone and they get packed up. I also just discovered this week that Charlotte can wear barrettes in her hair now, and it's the cutest thing ever.

Well, the longer I type, the less coherent I get. So that's it for now.