We Have Tooth!

After months and months of drooling, Charlotte has a tooth.  Teeth actually!  That's right, she has two teeth.  Just yesterday I was looking in her mouth and I could see a tooth about to come out, but she was still all gums.  Today I wanted to get a look but she would not let me see, so I felt around in there and I could feel the sharp edges.  As far as teething goes, it was pretty uneventful.  I wouldn't have known that she had a tooth on the way if it weren't for the fact that she is almost 10 months and still had no teeth.  

+1

Emily's cousin Cait had a baby earlier this week.  Oscar Harold Keenan.  So it goes without saying, congratulations to Cait, Zach, and Oscar.  They have their own menagerie (one less cat) and blog.

Follow both here: http://keenleybaby.blogspot.com/

I also added the blog to the cousins link.  A genealogist I ain't, but I'm pretty sure this makes Charlotte and Oscar second-cousins.

Charlotte Knows Her ABCs

C is for Charlotte... and crazy conjoined cats.

Date Night

Last night, Mike and I had our big date night.  It was almost 2 years in the making.  For my birthday in 2009, Mike bought U2 tickets for the show scheduled last summer.  That show was canceled because Bono had to have emergency back surgery.  It was rescheduled for last night so we finally got to go to the U2 concert and it was worth the wait!  This was also our first time leaving someone else to put Charlotte to bed.  We have gone out many times since she was born, but we usually go out after she's asleep so nobody else has put her to bed since she was in the hospital.  So, that was a big deal for us.  

I only have crappy photos from my phone because I didn't want to bring  our real camera since it was going to rain.  However, I think these photos capture a few key elements of the show.  

Anticipation!

The band takes the stage

Fireworks from downtown Minneapolis in the distance

More fireworks

The stage itself was something to see.  It takes 100 semi trucks to deliver all the parts and several days to create the 170 foot tall stage.   There are 3 stages so they can be setting up at the next location while performing in the current location.  They will be for sale at the end of the tour for $25 million each.

We had just experienced a week of oppressive heat here in Minneapolis so I was expecting to be hot at the show too.  The forecast called for rain, but the thought of wearing my raincoat on a hot rainy night sounded gross to me.  Besides, as I told Mike when we were leaving, "the band won't be wearing raincoats!" So, we just dressed for being wet.  By an hour into the show it was raining pretty hard, but it just kind of added to the spectacle of it all.  I have been searching for pictures of the show during the rain because it was so cool, but I haven't found any yet.   The rain turned to a downpour and it was actually cold.  At first, it was nice to be cold after a week of sauna like conditions, but then I was just plain cold.  A nice gentleman behind us offered me his coat so I wore that for the rest of the show, but poor Mike was still cold.  Bono sang a few bars of "Purple Rain" so it really could not have been better for me.  There were also fireworks in downtown Minneapolis for the end of the Aquatennial festival.  It is known as the biggest fireworks display in these parts and it lasted for 5 songs or so.  It was truly awesome!  Another awesome thing, that Mike would be very proud to share, is that we got the rockingest of rock star parking.  We parked for free less than a mile away, which in University of Minnesota parking spheres is a coup.  Especially considering all the road construction in the area.  It was a legendary date night!

Up at the Lake

We just had a long weekend at the cottage.  It was our first trip with Charlotte and Charlotte's first trip to the cottage.  It was a relief to discover that she is a good traveler.  She didn't complain in the car and even slept for a little bit.  My sister's family was already at the cottage so all the cousins got to hang out. Well, hang out as much as 9 month olds do.  Actually, we had three pack n plays in the bedroom.  We called it the cottage nursery.  I should have taken a picture.  Each night we'd put the babies down and they would all cry sometimes waking each other up.  It wasn't as bad as it sounds.  They did eventually go to sleep.  

Splashes

It was wicked hot while we were there.  We had to spend a lot of time in the lake to stay cool.  Just like her friend Poncho, Charlotte loves the water.  She spent all her time in her floaty thing.  Netta and Bailey grew tired of their floaty things and had to be put in baby jail.

Baby jail

Happy Poncho 

Cooling off with popsicles

Our friends, Joanna and Greg, came to the lake with their daughters for a day. Joanna and I love s'mores.  We always make s'mores together.  It's one of our special cottage things.  I have been saving a box of Peeps since Easter for our s'mores time.  I thought the sugary outer coating would get all crispy like a creme brulee and make for a gourmet s'more.  Joanna brought fancy chocolate so we were good to go!  After a bit of roasting, the Peeps made a sort of chemical smell.  Probably the sugary coating and fake colors.  Also, the eyes melted off!  Maybe that's how you know when it's done?  The Peeps s'more was delicious, but not better than regular marshmallow s'mores.

Roasting Peeps!

Monday it was so hot that we opted to drive to Neenah and visit Joanna and Greg in their air conditioned house.  Charlotte had her first hairstyling experience courtesy of Pippa.  It was a good trip.  Can't wait to do it again!

Charlotte's First Haircut

Before

After

9 Months

Charlotte had her 9 month well baby visit today.  She is 20 pounds 1 ounce and 28 inches.  She's about the 70th percentile for everything, including head circumference.  She's very proportional.  She has mastered sitting on her own, but has shown little interest in moving around.  If a toy is out of reach, she just plays with something closer.  Charlotte will play on her tummy for a long time and will pivot around, but isn't getting up on all fours and trying to scoot or crawl.  Her pediatrician says she will probably start crawling and pulling up on furniture in the next month.  Yikes!  We are not ready - time to babyproof!  It's so easy having an immobile baby,  especially one as happy as Charlotte. 

Summer Sledding

Emily had a good idea this afternoon.  We got out one of our sleds, filled it with water, and let Charlotte splish and splash in it.  Maybe this is just something all Minnesotans with babies know to do with sleds in the summer.  Regardless, Charlotte liked swimming in a sled a lot more than Pancho liked the bath I gave him after filling Charlotte's sled with water.  But as you can tell, both were happy as can be when the hose was finally turned off.

And as you can see below, Charlotte and Pancho now have a common ground to base their budding friendship on.  They both have a shared interest in sticks.  I had to take Charlotte's stick away from her when she tried to put in her mouth, but let Pancho chew on his.  I figured it was a good teaching moment for Charlotte to learn that life isn't fair.

Scrapmania!

When I was a kid one of my favorite books was a scrapbook my mom made for me.  There were a lot of pictures of animals, faces, families, whatever pictures she could find from her book catalogs and magazines that we would find interesting.  She made one for each of us, me and my two sisters.   I still remember a lot of the pictures and I probably looked at it every day until I could read.  And even after that I would still look at it all the time.  It was so much fun.  Now my mom has continued the tradition for the next generation.   We just got a scrapbook she made for Charlotte in the mail last week and it is now one of Charlotte's favorite books.

It's such a great size for Charlotte.  She loves to get up close to the pictures and touch them.  She can look at one single page for quite a few minutes, no small feat for a nine month old.  And everytime we turn the page together, you can see she is eagerly waiting to see what is on the next page.

My mom kept the tradition alive and made scrapbooks for each of her other three grandchildren, and clearly my niece Sophia is also a fan of the scrapbook.  Sophia beat my mom to the punch this time around and made a scrapbook for Charlotte this summer, before she was born.  The quick reader will note Sophia finished her scrapbook well ahead of her grandma.  Great work Sophia!

And more importantly. Charlotte also really gets into looking at all the pictures in the scrapbook Sophia made for her.

And most importantly, both books put a smile on Charlotte's face.

BFF

As I posted earlier, Charlotte and Pancho coexist but have yet to truly mingle.  But Charlotte does have a friend in Toonces.

I think it helps that Toonces is the runt of the litter and is used to being harassed, chased, and bullied by Nacho (in a gentle giant sort of way).  So when Charlotte reaches out to grab or feel Toonces and ends up grabbing her tail or poking her eye, Toonces is kind of used to it.  But usually Charlotte sticks her hand out and Toonces nuzzles up next to it, happy to receive some attention that doesn't involve being chased and battered by Nacho or shooed away by Emily or me.

Twins!

My nephew, Lewis, said he knew twins - Netta, Bailey, and Charlotte.  Can you guess who's who? 

B, C, N
8 months

B, C, N
1 month

N, C, B
4 months

It is so fun to watch them together.  They are more aware of each other now.  Netta and Bailey are crawling.  Charlotte is still pretty much immobile.  One day we won't be able to stage this picture anymore because they will all be crawling all over the place.

Raspberries