We have a WALKER!

After at least two months of pulling up and cruising around holding onto furniture we finally have a walker!  Charlotte has been taking a few steps here and there for the better part of a 2 weeks, but I really wasn't calling her a walker.  On Saturday night Grandpa Maher came over and put his arms out trying to get Charlotte to walk to him.  Almost without hesitation she took about 10 steps and went to him!  All day Sunday she was practicing although she is still quite wobbly.  I think it's safe to say that she will be running around in no time. 

I guess we picked great timing for buying Charlotte her first pair of shoes.  Saturday afternoon Dave and I took her to Stride Rite to have her fitted for "big girl walking" shoes.  She sat still next to her Daddy on the bench in the store and let the sales attendant measure her foot and then put the shoes on.  I should note that every time I attempt to put shoes on her little fat feet she curls her toes up and wiggles away, which is probably why I gave up making her wear them a long time ago.  She doesn't seem to mind the new pair and we need to get her used to wearing them if she is going to be trotting all over the place.

Here are a few pictures of Charlotte since her first birthday.  We got a new Canon Power Shot and I love it!  A few were taken at the house and some of the others are from her visit to the Children's Museum.

First Birthday Party

Charlotte's first birthday party was a huge success.  The party began at 2 while she was napping. At about 2:20 I heard her making some noise so Alyssa and I immediately went into her room and put her birthday tutu on her.  We marched her out in front of all the guests and boy did she make a sour face.  I think she was wondering what all the people were doing in her house!

She quickly warmed up to the crowd and began socializing.  After a bit of play time she opened her presents.  She received some great gifts and hasn't stop playing with them since.  Grandma and Grandpa Cooley got her yellow rubber ducks and she likes to carry one around in each hand.  She also received lots of fun water activities including a baby pool, slip-n-slide, and a baby water play area that hooks up to the hose.  Not to mention a new array of bathing suits and towels.  I guess everyone got the notice that she loves the water. 

After presents we sang Happy Birthday and let her devour a mini cake.  Of course she loved it, the child never turns down food.  After an afternoon playing in her baby pool and hanging out with the family Charlotte was completely tuckered out.  At 8pm she went to bed and for once I didn't even hear here playing in the crib...out like a light.

Thanks to everyone who could come celebrate with us - we had a great time!

She's 1 Year Old!

Charlotte turns 1 year old tomorrow.  Little did we know, Dave and I were spending our last day as a family of 2 on this day last year.

On May 22 Dave and I went to Mirror Imaging to have an early ultrasound done.  I was 17 weeks pregnant.  We asked the technician to write "boy" or "girl" on a card and seal it in an envelope.  We drove directly to the bakery where they awaited the arrival of the results.  A few house later they delivered a cake to our house that had either pink or blue filling.  After dinner that night, with family all around, we cut the cake!  I had guessed it was another girl, and Dave was betting on a boy.  I was wrong!  Baby #2 is a BOY and we are thrilled!!  A few weeks later we came to a final decision on his name.  Asher Joseph Cooley will be joining us on October 25th (our 2nd wedding anniversary) at 8am via scheduled c-section.

Charlotte has been hitting lots of new milestones.  She babbles constantly and strings together multiple syllables.  I feel like she is really trying to say something, but it just comes out as a big jumbled mess.  She does clearly say "mama", "dada", and "Hi, Zoe!".  She used to say "Tricia" all the time but she hasn't seen the babysitter in a while (she is off due to foot surgery), so I am not sure if she remembers that one.   Her new favorite thing is to point at something and say "Ohhhh!".  She gets so excited over the funniest items, like sunglasses.  She points and squeals and then must hold them...no matter who is wearing them.   

She crawls EVERYWHERE and pulls up on EVERYTHING, including Daddy's legs....which means he gets his leg hairs pulled on a regular basis.  As long as she has a hold of something she walks around.  We are still trying to get her to take her first unassisted step and I don't think we have much longer to wait.   

Her blanket is a new fixture in her life.  I began giving it to her when she goes to bed at night and she attempts to drag it out each morning.  I am making an attempt to keep it in the crib, but sometimes she just seems to love it so much I let her carry it around a bit.

Her eating habits have also drastically changed.  We started weaning her off the bottle after she turned 11 months old and she began devouring all solid food we put in front of her.  I am fairly sure there isn't a single food or drink she has declined at this point.  She loves feeding herself, so applesauce, cottage cheese, and yogurt are the only items she needs help with. 

Next, the swimming.  Oh how she loves swimming.  We spent a week on the beach in Maine  and have taken her swimming over Aunt Pattie's house several times.  The beach was a fun new experience for her and she only ate a few handfuls of sand before she decided it didn't taste very good.  She can't get enough of the water and she is so tan.  I put sun screen on her all the time but she still looks like a little brown bear.  We have officially decided that she has my complexion....not Daddy's. 

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And finally, after more swimming on the 4th of July Charlotte tried out the slip-n-slide for the very first time.  She seemed to enjoy watching her cousin Madison and Daddy sliding away so we thought we would let her try it.  The little dare devil loved it.

That's it! I will post about her birthday party next week.

Catching Up!

Oh - where to start? Charlotte is 10 months old and doing great! She has learned so many new skills in the last month I think it's going to be hard to remember them all.

At 9 months she would get up on her hands and knees but never went anywhere. By exactly 10 months she was crawling backwards. She would get up on her hand and knees and take a few "steps" backward and then plop onto her belly and then repeat. Eventually she would end up in a corner or under a piece of furniture and proceed to scream until one of us would rescue her. About a week ago she began crawling a few "steps" forward and I know she will be cruising along in no time. One of the first times she crawled forward was to get to the dog's bowls in the kitchen. Why is it that she wants to play with the dirty bowls and not the toys we surround her with?

For at least a few weeks she has also been using her rolling skills to get herself where she wants to go. On quite a few occasions I witnessed her laying down, rolling over and then sitting back up near a new toy. It seems like it would be easier to crawl but she seems to enjoy the rolling. Being able to sit up on her own from a laying position has been an interesting skill because it means that she can do this while in her crib. It took her a while to stop practicing her sitting up skills when it was time for bed! She would be so tired and when I would lay her down she would roll over, sit up and cry. Finally she realized that she could lay back down and go to sleep. I do love coming in to get her in the morning now because she pops her little head up and then promptly sits up and grabs her blankey and waits for me to come get her.


Charlotte also started pulling up on the furniture! I saw her attempt this a few times unsuccessfully. One day I left her sitting in a pile of toys in the basement and went upstairs to the kitchen, only to hear something being moved around on the coffee table. I ran back to the stairs to see what was happening and caught her standing by the coffee table trying to knock the glass candle onto the ground!


Last but not least I am convinced that she is able to call the dog. She puts her hand in the air and says "da, da, da". She loves petting Zoe and pulling her ears, now she has figured out how to get her attention!


On a yuckier note she was sick for a WHOLE TEN DAYS with vomity stomach virus. Poor thing didn't get much to eat and managed to get me, Dave, the babysitter and my Mom sick in the process. I was so ready for the whole thing to be OVER WITH! Luckily everyone has been healthy for over a week now - so I think we're over the hump.

Here are some recent shots of the little stinker.