{i heart faces}–bust a gut!

If only saying the word ‘poopy’ made everyone laugh like this…

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Annnnd we’re off…

Holy cow.

I knew in utero that Charley was an active girl.  Constantly moving…feet in my ribs…butt poking out…she was a busy girl before she was even born.  And until she started army crawling a little over a month ago, sister was one frustrated baby.  She wanted so badly to get to her toys but just couldn’t quite get there.  I’m actually pretty thankful that she army crawled for so long…it eased us into the world of a mobile baby.  And when Charley started to pull up on things a month ago I could not have been more proud.  She’s been on the verge of full blown crawling for weeks…and a couple weeks ago she started taking a couple ‘crawls’ before she’d revert back to belly crawling.  She’d been close for so long that I almost thought she’d never crawl…she’d be the baby that went straight to walking.

And then one day…the 15th to be exact…she decided it was the day to lift her belly off the ground and start to crawl…putting one hand in front of the other…and repeating it over and over again.

Now she is on the move.  Crawling everywhere and pulling up on anything she can get her hands on…literally…yesterday she pulled up on a wall.

It amazes me how the human brain works.  How is it that babies know to get up on their hands and knees and crawl?  And how is that all of the sudden they learn new sounds.  Overnight Charley went from saying her n’s and m’s over and over again…to saying more consonants then I can even count.  It’s mind-blowing watching Charley grow up.

Hard to believe she’s 8 months old.  Outside the weather has been more confused than ever.  Today when I was putting Charley in her carseat it smelled like Spring…like it did when I was at the tail end of my pregnancy…waiting for Charley to be born.  And here we are…8 months later.

Moving at the speed of light.

We go to Tennessee tomorrow for Thanksgiving.  Good times will be had…yummy food will be eaten…and many pictures will be taken.

And then I’ll allow myself to get excited for Christmas.  🙂

 

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Wowza

Super quick post

I’m sitting here…looking at old baby pictures of Charley…

Is this really the same baby?

I’m beyond baffled.

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{i heart faces}–black

I wasn’t even going to enter this challenge because I didn’t have a photo I really liked…until my shoot today.

I love everything about this.  The sunlight…the movement…her expression.

 

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New badge…

Tonight was scary.

Tonight Andy and I earned another badge of parenthood…and we both saw how having a kid completely changes the way you react in scary situations.

Tonight Charley choked on some food…full blown choking.  I clarify this because Andy always corrects me when some water goes down the wrong pipe, and I’m coughing like crazy saying, “I’m choking”…to which Andy replies, “No you’re not…if you were choking you wouldn’t be able to make any noise”.  Thanks, smartass…now help me.

Choking has been one of my biggest fears with Charley…and I’ve almost been dreading introducing solid food to her because of it.  Breastfeeding is so much easier.  And of course lil’ miss independent insists on feeding herself.  When I first gave her some ‘real food’ I watched her like a hawk…never turning my back because I was sure she was going to choke.  I still saw her as the tiny newborn that wouldn’t even take a bottle…no way she knew how to chew.  But she did.  And for the past month sister has been a pro…which has led me to be more relaxed around her.  I never leave her unattended, but I find myself turning my back for a second to get something out of the fridge or the pantry.  Which is what happened tonight.

Charley had finished eating her dinner and was eating some yogurt bites for dessert.  I turned my back to get something out of the pantry when I heard her struggling to cough.  I ran over to her just as she inhaled…silence…her arms flailing and her face a deep shade or reddish/purple.  Everything happened so fast after that.  Normally I struggle to maneuver her high chair tray.  I can never seem to press the right buttons…but tonight I showed super human strength and tore that tray off in less than a second…throwing it on the floor.  I grabbed Charley and did back blows until I heard her cough.  Andy was right there too…holding his hand under Charley’s mouth.  I love it.  My husband…who gets grossed out over other people’s bodily functions…was ready to catch whatever came out of his daughter.  That’s love.

Once we knew Charley was okay I brought her to my chest and just held her…shaking…tears welling up in my eyes.

Within a few minutes she was good as new.  Rolling around on the bed while I wrestled to get her clothes off to take a bath.  I…on the other hand…I still can’t quit thinking about it.  I keep seeing her face, and how scared she was.

And here’s something…

I always say how things happen for a reason.  I have ALWAYS buckled Charley in her highchair…which has the same kind of straps as a carseat…it’s a pain to have to tuck her arms in and out of them.  However, yesterday my good friend Amber watched Charley for me, and when I went to pick her up Charley was in her daughter’s high chair…without the straps.  After that I realized Charley would be fine with just the tray keeping her in the chair.  Now chances are, I would have been able to get Charley out even strapped in…but…because I didn’t I was able to grab her even faster.  Pretty cool, God…pretty cool.

Needless to say I’ll be back to watching her like a hawk tomorrow…limiting the amount of food on her tray.

I just love her too much.  🙂

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Good enough to eat…

I read to Charley daily…sometimes more.  She loves it…soaks in the words like a sponge.  My normally squirmy, busy of a little lady becomes relaxed and still once I sit her in my lap and grab a book.  I love that.  I love how when she’s older I can tell her how much she loved having me read to her.  Most baby books are pretty simple…and…I’ll go ahead and say it…boring.  However, my mom gave Charley a book a couple weeks ago, and I find myself wanting to read it…without Charley.  It’s from the Dolly Parton Imagination Library…called All of Baby…Nose to Toes.  It’s one of those books that you end up reading to a beat…and now I’ve got the last couple pages of it in my head.

…oh what a sweet baby

…sweep me off my feet baby

…good enough to eat baby

That’s just what Charley is…

…good enough to eat.

She’s turned up her spunk to a new level…and God help us through her toddler years.

Look at those eyes...

Charley is the definition of busy.  She’s constantly on the move and leaves a path of destruction in her wake.  Her Jeep walker is now mirrorless, and today she managed to pull her learning table on top of herself.  No toy is left unplayed with…and Andy and I will find ourselves surrounded by 5 different toys going off at once.

“ABCDEFG…”

“Daddy…hello, Daddy”

“The cow says…mooo”

“HIJKLMNOP”

“I’m the monkey…I want to ride”

Sister knows what she wants and lets everybody know when she’s not happy…and while I find it extremely challenging, I wouldn’t trade her personality for anything in the world.  God has big plans for her…and I know that stubbornness and attitude will take her far…

…with plenty of time-out stops along the way.

Yesterday was Halloween which meant I got to dress Charley up as whatever I wanted…and gave me the excuse to make something crafty.  It’s been way too long.

Meet the cutest…and probably the only…peacock on the block.

I put ‘dressing a baby up for Halloween’ near the top of my ‘Reasons to have a baby’ list…right behind ‘cute baby butts’.

…good enough to eat baby.  🙂

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