Love this girl.

Charlie loves to hang out in the bedroom while Paul is studying.  She climbs all over him, opens all of the drawers,  and loves to check herself out in the mirror in the closet.  Her new favorite thing in the bathtub is to take all of her toys out of the basket and then one by one put them all away.  I might put her to work around the house.  

It fits!

Charlie got a first birthday outfit from Linda Kelly when she was born.  I have been eyeing it for a long time hoping it will still fit in February.  I tried it on her this week just to see and it still fits.  It is snug but looks so cute on her.  

11 months.

My big girl is 11 months.  I have been thinking a lot lately about her birthday and how to celebrate it.  I know she won't remember anything about it but it is tempting to want to go all out for her first birthday. 

 She seems so old to me.  On Wednesday (January 23rd) I dropper her off at our gym daycare while I worked out.  I came back to pick her up and one of the workers told me she took a couple of steps.  I was so excited but couldn't believe that I didn't get to see them!  She loves holding onto my hands and walking all over our house.  It will be fun to see her start to take off.

Her favorite things this month were:

getting thrown onto the bed by Paul

being tickled

music-she loves the wiggles

Elmo

kissing everything- me, phones, pictures, stuffed animals

chasing after Chloe

Cheerios and Cheetos

talking- she loves to babble but her actual words are hi, bye, dadda, momma

Feeling better.

Charlie has been sick the past couple of days.  I don't know if she had the flu, if she is teething, or if she has something else going on.  I wouldn't say she is completely back to normal yet, but I am happy she isn't throwing up anymore.  She still hasn't eaten food yet but has been keeping her formula down.  She has been very cuddly the past couple of days which doesn't happen very often.   I try to take advantage of it when she is willing lay around with me.

Charlie is standing up so much on her own now. I think she took a step tonight when she was trying to take away my camera as I was doing a photoshoot of her.   It was hard to tell because she launched herself at me.  

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Dolly Parton.

Charlie is enrolled in a free book program sponsered by Dolly Parton.  Every kid in Missouri is eligible to sign up for the program and can receive a new book each month.  The book this month was pretty cute.

Charlie has been sick the past couple of days.  She has thrown up in the middle of the night twice.  I feel guilty because I love it when she wants to cuddle all day, but she seems miserable.  We don't know if it is because of the new foods she has tried (tater tot casserole last night), teething, or some kind of flu.  We have done lots of laundry in the last couple of days.  She has still been acting very sweet but you can tell that she isn't feeling 100%.  Hopefully we won't have any middle of the night wake up calls tonight.  

Around the house.

We tried to babyproof most of our house before Charlie became mobile.  We left a drawer in the kitchen unlocked so she could play with tupperware, measuring cups, and all of her cups and bowls.  When we cook in the kitchen she sits and plays while we make dinner.

Charlie loves to play with anything that is Chloes.  She loves all of her toys and her water and food bowls.  We try to remember to put them out of her reach but she is pretty quick to find them when they are out.  I tell her no and she responds by shaking her head no at me and splashing in Chloe's bowl.  I don't know if she doesn't know what no means or if she is completely ignoring me.  Hopefully it is the former.

What we've been up to.

The four of us (Chloe included) have had a cold the last week or so.  We have been going through large amounts of Kleenex, and I have fallen in love with Boogie Wipes.  Charlie actually lets me wipe her nose with them!

New things-

• Charlie has tried lots of new food lately; pickles, pancakes, spinach, pizza. 
• We got a new carseat for Charlie that has a recline button, cup holder, and fits!
• She has a fascination with the bathroom.  She loves to put the toilet seat up and down and to unroll toilet paper.  When she hears the water running in the bathtub she crawls straight to the bathroom to get ready for her bath.  I am glad we have two bathrooms, one for me and one for her.   

10 months.

On December 21st we went to the pediatrician for Charlie's 9 month checkup.  It was almost a month after she was 9 months so the percentages might be a bit off but she is still a big girl!  23 pounds, 9 oz. and 28.5 inches long.


Charlie learned quite a few new tricks while we were in Cedar Falls.  When anyone says ,"touchdown", she throws her arms up in the air.  She can stand up for about 20-30 seconds now on her own.  I keep thinking that today is the day she is going to start walking.   She loves to climb the stairs at her grandparents' houses and has gotten pretty quick.  She loves to push bar stools around and make horrible loud noises across the tile floor.

 She also switched over from baby food to table food.  She is refusing to eat her normal Stage 2 pureed food.  Turkey, cheese, toast, Cheerios, and fruit are her new favorite things to eat.