Charlotte's First Race!

Charlotte ran in the fun run at Victory races this morning.  It's Mike's favorite race  - it's fast, flat, and a fun family event.  Aunt Jessie and the cousins ran too!  Charlotte had a blast, she was smiling the whole time.  Happy had a very pretty miserable time, it was cold and I left her pacifier in the car.  Poor thing.

photo credit Gene Niemi for Down the Backstretch

Post-race hot dog

I've Been Waiting

Charlotte recently started playing with other kids rather than alongside other kids.  It's so cool to watch.  Something I have been looking forward to since my sister and I were pregnant at the same time, is for the girls to play together and it finally happened this weekend!   Over the weekend, we were at a family party at Joanna's.  The kids were playing outside and Charlotte and Netta were playing "soccer" together yelling each other's names and laughing.  Later, the twins wanted to show Charlotte the spare bedroom at Joanna's so they went in there and my sister and I followed.  They told us to leave the room and close the door.  So, we left.  I looked at my sister and said, "they're getting into trouble together for the first time!"  A while later we went to check on the them and we heard squealing and laughter and when we opened the door they were jumping on the bed and laughing.  It's the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

This is a Special News Bulletin!

It is warm and sunny outside and everyone should put their shorts on and go swimming.

In other news, Charlotte took a step today!  I met a couple friends at Menchies this afternoon and I brought Charlotte along.  We were sitting outside and Charlotte was cruising around our chairs and then she just stood there for a while and took one step.  Then she sort of leaned forward and put her hands on the ground.  Then she got up and did it again.  Very exciting!  My friend was a former occupational therapist turned epidemiologist, so maybe she worked some OT magic on Charlotte. 

I love that there are frozen yogurt places popping up in the twin cities.  Menchies has a flavor called original tarte and it is basically plain flavor frozen yogurt.  It's my favorite.  I get it with fruit on top.  Today they also had peanut butter so I got some of that with Kit Kats on top.  Yummers.  Charlotte was not interested in having a few tastes from my yogurt cup - so I had to scoop a little into her own cup.

Growing Up is Hard To Do

Charlotte had her first real tantrum yesterday.  We got home and I gave her some milk and sat her on the floor while I ran to the bathroom.  When I returned, she was standing up at her high chair so I thought maybe she wanted to sit there and drink her milk.  So, I picked her up and she started screaming.  We went to sit on the couch together but she was still screaming and writhing around.  I moved her to the floor so she wouldn't fall off the couch.  Then she proceeded to have a full-on temper tantrum.  She was actually rolling around on the floor and kicking her legs.  I was too busy trying not to laugh that I did not think to take a picture.  Besides, would that be mean?  Anyway, she also got all snotty and since we live in a zoo, she had cat and dog hair stuck to her face afterward.  What a sight!

First Haircut

This morning we took Charlotte to get her first haircut.  I have cut her bangs a few times, but I was afraid to cut all her hair.  Her hair was getting so long, everyday her hair would be full of tangles and random food and she hated having her hair brushed.  So, we went to one of those cheesey kids haircut places and said goodbye to her beautiful baby locks.  They even gave us an envelope for the hair.

She is not enthused.

Goodbye.

This is the hair that Charlotte had when she was born in utero.  What can I say?  Girlfriend has a lot of hair.  Even the ultrasound technicians would comment on how much hair she had.

A colorful slinky made a nice distraction.

Some final primping.  

This is a Special News Bulletin!

Acutally, two special news bulletins!

First, we have reports from Suze that Charlotte scootched all the way to the kitchen today.  It is not exactly crawling.  She basically uses her arms and drags her body behind her.  It's pretty awesome.  We should attach Swiffers to her clothes so she can pick up all the pet hair while she scootches.   Of course, when I got home she refused to do it.  Oh, the life of a working mom!  Wah.

Second, Charlotte said her first word about 2 weeks ago.  I've been holding out on sharing this piece of news because I wanted to have a video to go with the announcement.  Alas!  For weeks, Charlotte had been saying something that sounded like, "cat" but it was not very specific.  Sometimes there wasn't a cat nearby or it just sounded like she was scat singing or something.  Then one morning, Mike went in her room when she woke up.  They were hanging out and in walks Nacho Grande and Charlotte said, "Cat!"  Then she did it again.  And when she came downstairs and the cats were sitting in the window, she said cat at again.  Very exciting!  And ironic.  You see, I do not like the the cats.  Earlier this summer I was looking for a new home for them (sidebar:  my mom died and her cat, who is old, needs a new home.  My cats are young and more likely to be adopted, or so I thought.  This was right after the tornado in North Minneapolis and there was an overabundance of pets without homes.  So, we kept out cats and my sister kept my mom's cat.  The end.).  Charlotte has been increasingly paying attention to the cats.  She would reach out to pet or grab a handful of them, and she would clap at them.  It actually made me hate the cats less.   Then a few days later, we were listening to a CD with children's songs and there was a song with meowing and Charlotte meowed in response to the song.  Looks like we've got a cat person on our hands!

Charlotte's First Trip to the Fair & Corn on the Cob

Over the weekend we took Charlotte to The Fair.  We had our turkey sandwiches (and I did not share with Charlotte), saw lots of animals, Mike and Suze bought some honey and we checked out the crafts.  Charlotte was a trooper.  I think she enjoyed the animals and that we carried her around a lot.  

Charlotte checking out a goose or a goose checking out Charlotte

Rooster

After the fair we went home and Charlotte did not take a nap.  Then we went to a BBQ at Josh's house. Charlotte was watching her great uncle Dick eat a corn on the cob and she was so interested!  So I gave her a corn on the cob and she held it in front of her face while she moved her teeth up and down.  Eventually, she figured it out and put it in her mouth.

Charlotte figuring it out

She didn't get much off the cob since she barely has any teeth.  But seeing her little teeth marks on the cob was the cutest thing.

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.  

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

Speaking of Splashes

Charlotte went to her first pool party today.  Charlotte's babysitter offered to take Charlotte and her own daughter to the pool today.   Apparently, Charlotte splashed until she wore herself out and then she had a fit and promptly took a nap as soon as they got inside.

It's Chow Time

Charlotte 6 months old in her birthday chair.

We recently started solids with Charlotte.  Like good new parents, we took oodles of pictures and made a video, but then our home computer was out of commission for a couple weeks and we couldn't share them until now.  Here are some pictures from Charlotte's first meal of rice cereal.

Before.

 

After.

She really seemed to enjoy the process of eating, but wasn't so sure about swallowing.  In fact, she did this trick a few times.  After a few successful days of rice cereal we branched out to avocado.   You can't tell in this picture but it was a big hit.  Since then, we have also tried sweet potatoes, which she liked so much that she was angry that I wasn't feeding her fast enough.

Bottle

We started bottle feeding on Sunday.  Now that I am able to stay a little ahead of Charlotte's needs, she can be fed breast milk in a bottle.  This will be fun for Mike and it means that the nurses can bottle feed her when we can't be there.  So far, she is getting about 1/5 of her nutrition orally, and the rest through her feeding tube but she is getting more consistent.   The more she gets to practice and workout her little jaw muscles the sooner she can ditch the feeding tube and go home.

Charlotte's First Bottle

Baby Burp