Monday, October 21, 2013

15 Months!

Ok, so she is 16 months now, but in September she had her 15 month check-up with our favorite doctor, Dr. Otto. 

He said she is growing beautifully! She weighed in at 18lbs! So hard to believe she was just 5 lbs when I brought her home from the hospital.  She has grown and changed so much! She loves her bracelets and accessories, she likes to dress herself now, and will often bring you two different shoes to wear.  She loves to walk and swing.  She also loves slides and sitting down (I know its weird, but she loves little chairs, I put one on her Xmas list, so I hope santa brings her one, she will climb in and out of her chair over and over again in the backyard)

She is extremely loving.  She blows kisses to everyone, including strangers haha.  She loves to be independent and won't hold hands when walking unless the terrain is rocky, and then her little hand will reach out for mine and its so sweet.  Even when she is running and being independent she always looks back to make sure I am watching.  She loves to run around the backyard and will come over to where I am to give me a kiss and then run around again.  She loves animals. ALL animals.  She pets them and kisses them and still runs around saying "hi dog".  She loves to go to the zoo to see all the animals.  She says "moo" when she sees the cows. 

Charlotte loves to eat.  She will try anything once, but if she doesn't like it she will definitely let you know.  I gave her ketchup to try with her French fries, she dipped them in, tried it, hated it, so she turned the French fry around and ate from the other end.  She is smart like that, a problem solver.  She looks at all of the food presented to her and carefully chooses what piece she wants.  She loves grapes and blueberries, those are her current favorite fruits.  She loves mini bagels, with almost any spread. 

She says a lot of words, and the words she doesn't know she tries to say.  She says hi, bubble, GG, mama, da (for dad), dog, duck, moo, bird, hot (she will even blow on her food after she says hot, sometimes she says hot and blows on it just for funsies, like with a popsicle).  She signs very well too, she even puts a couple signs together.  She can sign, more, eat, sleep, diaper, drink, cookie, and her all time favorite thing to sign is please.  She is working on signing help, but she struggles with it and would rather just make a noise and sign please. 

She loves to "help" and is quite the copy cat.  She likes to put on makeup like me, and if anyone is painting their nails she will INSIST hers get painted too, but walks away after only one foot is done, so they are forever different colors.  She likes to put things in and out of the dishwasher and help cook but stirring and adding ingredients.  She likes to help dress herself and help change her diaper.  She will try to do everything by herself, but struggles which can sometimes frustrate her. 

She has started the "tantrum" phase.  She freezes and cries when she does not get what she wants, but after a few seconds of ignoring and letting her know what she wants is not a choice and providing her with things that are choices she calms down right away. 

If you're still reading, this is her update and I hope you liked it and know Charlotte a little bit better if you don't get to see her as much as I do haha.  Charlotte is amazing, I am so blessed to be her mother.  I love keeping this blog (even though I have been neglectful recently).  I will always remember these amazing times with her that I am fortunate enough to have, and I can't wait until she is old enough to read the posts and see all the amazing adventures she's had since birth.  I know there are so so many more to come! I have many many more posts and will get to them soon, but for now it is off to bed with me, Charlotte will be up soon and I like to get in some rest before she wakes, but it is easy to sleep when I feel so blessed. 





Renn Fest!

One of my favorite fall things to do is visit the Maryland Renaissance Festival! So we braved it the day after our awesome aquarium trip.  I was quite nervous because I have never been to such a big event with her on my own when she could walk, but luckily we met a big group of friends there so I had extra sets of eyes!

So have you ever seen those kids with the backpack leashes on them? Well I used to totally judge those people, seriously judge them.  I would say the things like "how could they ever do that?" Well, I do not have said backpack leash, but I totally understand where those people are coming from.  I don't think those are for me (yet haha), but there will be no more judging, kids can run, and they can run fast haha

Overall it was super fun! Here is the dilemma I face, and if anyone still reads my blog, I'm open to suggestions! So events like this I need to take her stroller, it's a lot of walking and uneven ground, and it also is good to be able to contain her, but I also like to let her walk around, but it so hard to chase her, push the stroller haul all of her belongings through a sea of people dressed like beer wenches and nobles. 

Charlotte and I had a blast on the big slide, that had to be both our favorite parts! She even sat in her stroller and watched a magic show.  She ate a turkey leg and fried mac and cheese and played on the playground.  What a great day we had.  We will definitely go back.  Going out and about to these things on my own with her is challenging, but always worthwhile.  I never ever ever want her to miss out on anything because it is more difficult for me to take her places without someone else there, so it is always worth it.  We both have a blast, I have a blast watching her have a blast haha



 
Isn't this how you read your maps?

Aunt Jenna Gets Married!

Charlotte's aunt Jenna got Married on September 7th! It was a fantastic day! The weather was amazing, and the wedding was beautiful! Jenna and mom did a great job picking everything out and they made almost everything, including the flowers!

Charlotte was such a joy to have at the wedding, she loved running around the Ravens field! Charlotte and I were both so honored to be a part of such an amazing and wonderful day! Charlotte loves her aunt Jenna and cousin Holden, and uncle Andrew SO MUCH!

The Ravens Locker Room:


Two of the most important ladies in my life:
 
I LOVE this picture:




                                   The Happy Family!! How beautiful is Jenna?!
 

The Aquarium!

Charlotte and I went to the Aquarium on September 14th.  It was her first time since February, and then she was so little I had her in her baby carrier.  She loved it then, lots of things to look at so I was very much looking forward to this trip. 

The Aquarium does not allow strollers, we took ours for walking to and from the garage and to and from dinner (at Chipotle of course, she LOVES it there!) It was also a beautiful day outside so we got to walk around the harbor too.  She loves all the sights and sounds down there. 

The aquarium did not disappoint.  We had so much fun together. She has really been getting good at walking so we braved it.  No baby carrier.  Overall it was a good decision, but she did get pissed a few times I did not let her walk and held her.  She really likes to be as independent as possible, however it is definitely unsafe to let a one year old ride the escalator and moving walkways hahaha. The good news is that the aquarium has a ton of stuff to distract her with. 

She loved the rainforest part, there were things to look at everywhere, and she particularly loved the waterfall.  She loved the sharks too, because they constantly swim by.  Also, I think every kid loves the bubble tubes haha! She is so curious and likes to look at and touch everything.  We had so much fun, and I can't wait to go back!