First Day of 1st Grade

And just like that summer has ended and a new school year has begun. Charlotte was nervous for her fist day. New teacher, new faces, and some familier ones. I was anxious all day wondering how things were going. Recess, lunch, new friends, her teacher.

Picking her up was a disaster. The school was 110% unorginized and it was caouse. I waited int he arpool lane over over 50min until I gave up and went and parked the car. When she finally saw me she started crying. She thought that she had been left.  After we talked about the pickup mishap, we talked about her day and it was "awesome".

Highlights

   ~ Recess 3 times a day

   ~ Playing with Olli at recess

~ Taking a lunch

   ~ loosing her tooth

   

She had a great day and was looking forward to going back the next day. I can not believe how much she is growing. When it was time to get dressed she completly transformed. My how she has changed over the summer. 

Potty Time

Today, Corbi successfuly used the training potty. 

Another one bites the dust

Friday, January 2nd 2015 Charlotte walked in the door from daycare excited and says " mom, I have good news". This second tooth was nearly as uncooperative and the first. She again was excited for the tooth fairy , whom left her a dollar. 

New Smile

 Oh this tooth. It was loose for so long. I talking over a month. 

Over the weekend I gave Charlotte an apple to help loosen it more. Well, all it did was loosen it enough for it to loose its blood supply and turn grey. It was that color for days. 

I had her " wiggle, wiggle, wiggle" . I even offered to do it, in which she replied " No, you will pull it out". And, I would have. 

Monday Charlotte and her grey tooth went to school. And all day I hoped that it would fall out.  I was ecstatic when I picked her up from daycare and she handed me a little folded piece of paper with her tooth in it. She pulled it out herself, and was so proud. 

So that night we placed it under her pillow in hopes that the tooth-fairy would come. She did and she left a whole $1.00. 

Look at the pretty "new" smile. 

Corbin ~ Eleven Months

11 months and he is on the go. Not only has his crawling become nearly non-existent. His walking is turning into running. This sweet boy can not sit still, nor can he be in one place for to long. He has always got to be moving. Whether its climbing the stairs, running the halls, or moving from chair to chair.
Corbin is such a good baby. He enjoys playing with Charlotte and lucky the feeling is mutual.

At daycare he is just like one of the "Big Kids". He gets himself seated at the table expecting food just like the other children. He is doing really well with eating solids, and sometimes he would rather have solids than milk. 

Seems weekly I am still signing 2-3 accident reports for him. Just the other day he got bit. 

He is happy and  healthy. Now, if he would just sleep through the night. 

Corbin ~ 10 Months

This boy makes my heart swell and has me grinning from ear to ear. 10 months has gone by in seconds and everyday he continues to grow and change. he continues to not sleep though the night. He is up one to two times. He wakes only with a smile on his face. He currently has eight teeth. Four up top, and four on the bottom. Walking is about to happen and happen quick. Right now he take between 4-6 steps before falling down. He has a cute pair on shoes he has been trying to wear. They do not last long on his feet. 

Things about Corbi at 10 months.

       ~ if you are eating, he had better be eating. You must share what you have. He is a big boy now and wants to do what you are doing
       ~ he loves avocados, garlic bread, peas, ice cream, pureed vegetables, watermelon.
       ~ drinks from a sippy cup at mealtime.
       ~ climbs on everything.
       ~ stands and walks around the house using what ever he can to stay upright. (ie.. chairs, wall,  refrigerator)
       ~ loves his binky
       ~ being outside is the best. Walking with the walker, watching dad race the remote controlled car,  digging in the dirt and wood chips.
      ~his nicknames : Sir Corbi" "Sir Corbi of the Valley", or " Sir Corbi of the Shire"

{ 8 Months }

This chunky man is 8 months old and everyday I ask " where has the time gone"? He is such a happy, easy baby. A few weeks back her started crawling. So, of course he is into everything and always has a bruise on his forehead from falling or pulling something over on him. However, after a week of crawling her started pulling himself up into a standing position. Before we know it this little sinker is going to be walking.
At 8 months he is 18lbs of love and has his good and bad nights. Most nights he is up 2 times a night. On a bad night I see every hour. 
Corbi abslutly loves his big sister and she too loves him. She can always get him laughing. Steve and I are so lucky to have these two.  He is doing really well with taking to baby food and gerber puffs. When you are eating, he had better be eating too. But, of course he loves whipped cream, frosting,and  garlic bread. Also, his bottles and food have to be warm. Infact almost hot. He will not drink or eat anything that is cold.

 

Weight : 18lbs                   Height: 2' 3"               Teeth: 3 bottom, 0 Top

He loves :
~ His Binkie. He has to have it to fall asleep anymore. I used to be able to nurse him to sleep. But, now that is step one of two.  He becomes full but still wants to suckel. So he needs his binkie to finish to job

~ Charlotte. He has to be where she is and doing what she is doing. She can always make him laugh.

~ His Mom and Dad. He is definetly a  mommas boy, but loves to go "flying" with dad.

~ This silly McDonalds toy that Charlotte got in a happy meal years agao. This toy has 2 XL hands and they are perfect for holding and chewing on.

Transition

Charlotte is starting to get too big for her highchair. So, for the last week we have tried this.

Sitting in a booster at the counter. And, to be honest it has worked out pretty good. In fact, she most days does not even want to sit in her highchair. She always pulls her booster off the chair, and then climbs her little self right on up. She is getting so big. Where is my baby?

Monkey

Oh no she didn't!

Charlotte just jumped ship and got out of her crib on her own. I was sitting in the TV room when I heard a thud. questioned it for a minute and then I heard it again. So, I jumped up to see what it was and there was Ms.LaRue standing at the top of the stairs all happy and proud of what had just occurred.

I am not ready for this transition. I just got her on a good bedtime routine after breaking her of the bottle, now if I put her in a toddler bed she can get in and out with great ease. Do I chance it? Chance her falling while climbing out, or bite the bullet and switch her over?

Time to bite the bullet

It's so hard to say goodbye

It is official. Charlotte is off of the bottle, and just like people told me. It did get easier. I think that she realized that her bottles were gone, and I was not going to give in. for the last 4 afternoon, a 4 nights she has taken her naps, and gone to bed without a tear, and without crying. I turn on her music and she just lies down.

Now, riding in the car is another story . She bucks in her car seat when I put her in and she cries. After sometimes she stops and will take her crackers. This too will pass with time I am sure.

This whole thing has been so sad for me. Charlotte having to start giving things up means that she is growing up, and her growing up means that she is not a baby anymore. She is becoming this energetic little girl.

Now that this transition is over and done with, we will soon be onto the next. Potty-training.

Nightly Ritual

This is starting to become a nightly thing around her. Charlotte like to sit on the counter and play with her sippy cups. Mixing and matching. However, it seems this is the only time I can get her to even look at her sippy cups with her throwing a tantrum. Oh well.

(What is with that smile?)

Struggle

I don't know who is having a harder time with this. Me, or Charlotte. On Monday I started weening her from the bottle. It the beginning it was not that bad since she still got her bottle at nap time, and at bedtime. Well, now she does not get it at all and we are really struggling. She is crying a lot more, and so am I. She is getting frustrated more, and so am I. She cries every time we get in the car, every time she naps, every time it is bed time, every time she wants her bottle for comfort. I am slowly loosing it from the constant crying and the tantrums. I did expect there to be some of all the above but not this much.

Maybe it is all my fault. Should I have weened it from her sooner? Have I been to harsh in my removal of the bottle? She has gone 2 long/hard days without it now and everyday I think about giving it back. Just to make things easier. I am really struggeling and I have no idea what to do, and honestly I am not sure how much longer I can do this.

Thank goodness she never had a Binky. I can not image having to do this with a Binky and then a bottle.

Bottoms up !

She just does not have it yet. She finally has mastered drinking from a straw, but drinking from a water bottle....NO WAY !

Charlottes 1yr Pictures

How about a major dose of cuteness.

After a terrible and unsuccessful attempt the day before, I am so pleased with the way they turned out. Charlotte did such a great job. Although towards the end of the session she started to get a little restless she pulled though and got some fantastic pictures.




I will not go anywhere else to get her pictures taken. This was our 4th time getting her pictures taken at JCPenny at the Valley Fair Mall and they are the best. They are so patient with Charlotte and willing to work with you to achieve the best picture they can. They really captured her personality.

I was finally able to get video of Charlotte walking.

Walking on Sunshine

Last night Charlotte took 10, that's right 10 consecutive steps. We can believe it. She will be walking before her birthday.

She stands alone.

She is standing on her own. In fact she does it all the time, it is just hard to capture her doing it since I rarely have my camera ready. I would not be surprised if she were to take some steps in the next few weeks.

Up

The other night Charlotte wanted to go bed about 5-530, adn I was not about to let that happen. We decided to get her all bundeled up and head across the street to look at all the charistmas lights. It was extremlly cold out, about 12 degerees. Needless to say we did not stay out too long. However it did not work. Charlotte was just too tired and was sound asleep by 645.

When did she get so big?

She has grown up so fast. I never realize how much she has grown until I look at pictures of her. She really has lost her baby looks and it turning into a little girl.

Turkey Trot

We did it !

On Saturday the 21st I completed my first 5k. It has been something that has been on my to do list for a long time. My dear friends Shannon and Jessica also ran with me. Well, Shannon ran all of it and me and Jessica walked/jogged. Either way we all finished. It was so cold and I was not really prepared. I only gave myself 3 weeks to get ready for it, and Charlotte was home sick for one of those weeks. Never-the-less I was determined to do it.

Jessica taking a child out.



Shannon and I showing off our t-shirts.

Warming up in the car after the race.