Wow,
that was an incredibly fast month! Even Charlotte can't believe how fast it went by...seriously it was over in the blink of an eye!
Summer is winding down with school starting back up in a couple weeks so
we’ve been cramming in last minute trips and visits with friends and family.
Melanie came to visit us from Harrisburg, PA! She is used to the mighty Susquehanna River but we had to show her the Ohio River that divides us in Ohio from nearby West Virginia. Can you see the WV sign on the bridge behind us??
When exploring, Mel and I found a new view of our town!
We also opted to eat along the river in a neighboring town in WV. On our way there, we barely made it through one of the towns as they were celebrating Community Days and the town was about to be shut down for a parade...little did we know as we drove down the main drag moments before the parade started. We felt like celebrities as folks were lined up along both sides of the road in their lawn and folding chairs waiting for the parade. Oops!
Not sure what's happening in this photo but I thought Charlotte's expression was pretty funny here.
Look at the dimples in her hand....too cute!
We loved having Melanie visit and can't wait until the next time we get to see her!
The same weekend Melanie came to see us, we were able to have a quick visit with Meredith and her family as they traveled from PA back to IL. They made a pit stop for a quick dinner and to get out some energy before continuing on to the Chicago area. It was their first time visiting us here at the house and also meeting Charlotte!!
We also celebrated Charlotte’s Baptism in mid-July! It was such a special time with family and I'll have to share more later but, for now, here is a picture of our little angel after mass concluded and before the sacrament.
Charlotte has been extremely vocal with varying pitches and intonations
to her speech these days as is evident in this video one night when she took 90 minutes to go down for the evening.
Fortunately, she is a great sleeper and doesn't usually put up that much of a fight for that long as she does currently (and has since midway through the summer) sleep through the night which has been terrific.We’re hopeful this will continue as we
transition to my returning to work full time at the end of August but who knows what will happen once her teeth start to come in....only time will tell!
She looks so big in the bassinette now that she is not a newborn sleeping in it anymore!
We are also most likely going to begin
introducing solid foods to Charlotte some time this month since her recent checkup at the pediatrician's office revealed she is ready for that transition. !!! She weighed 13 lbs. 11 oz. and was 24.5 inches long meaning she has doubled her birth weight and grown by five inches in the last five months!
Over the last several weeks, she has taken an active interest in her
carseat toys and other toys such as her keys, The Hungry Caterpillar book, and
other rattling type toys.
Who knew the stroller would be a good way to anchor flowers from the store when traveling home on hilly roads?!
Don't the flowers look pretty along the driveway? They're still alive after a couple weeks too!!
Charlotte surveying her flowers. ; )
Our little girl continues
to excel in social skills such as making eye contact, smiling upon seeing joy
in someone else’s face, and quivering her bottom lip to garner more swift
attention to prevent a full out meltdown…haha.
She seems to be taking after her Dad more & more each day. ; )
Love her giggles and smiles! She is such a radiant sunny part of our lives!
So curious about the world around her!
Toward the last half of the month, Charlotte has been boycotting naps then all of a sudden passing out in mid-cry, mid play, mid sitting on my lap, etc.
How is this comfortable??!!!
We also watched Aunt Liz while she was interviewed on Good Morning America one morning this past month!!!
Charlotte and I also attended Holy Hour at a different church this past month. This church was the one where her Dad and I met up every Monday night after teaching Marathon Mondays at work. I have missed that quiet time with my hubby and it was nice being back in that familiar chapel praying to our Lord with baby girl on my lap.
I love that St. John Paul II is behind us in this image. Charlotte and he share a special connection that I will have to explain in the future when I share her name story!! <3
First time at swaddling her since she was itty bitty...I coudln't believe how small the blanket that used to be so snug on her seemed...she is getting to be so big!!
This series of pictures makes her look like she's fingerspelling!!
She's sucking her thumb more and more these days...
Glenn came to see us again! He was here last summer for a conference and was here the day Adam and I went to the doctor's appointment where we found out for sure we were expecting. How special it was for this friend from NC to be here one short year later and to see Charlotte in the flesh. They got along great and loved looking at pictures together. ; ) Looking forward to seeing Glenn and other NC friends again in a few short months when we attend a wedding of dear friends.
SO expressive!!
Charlotte is consistent in that she continues to not be crazy about
tummy time but loves playing a sort of “tug of war” with toys and other objects
such as my necklace, my shirt, and my newly cut hair even! My hair is now 12.5 inches shorter thanks to a donation to the organization, Children With Hair Loss. It was a pretty simple process of getting the hair cut at any salon, filling out a one page form I retrieved from the website,
and then mailing in the hair. When I got home the night of the hair appointment, Charlotte seemed confused with not being able to grab onto it anymore so
she ended up grabbing my shirt instead. ;) Hopefully this is something I can do again in a few years. The hairdresser certainly had quite the workout cutting it all off that night and it feels awesome knowing some children might have a wig due, in part, to the donation!!
This
past month also was when I got back into Zumba!!I have missed the days of going regularly (it
is such a great stress reliever for me!) and am so glad to have found a studio
that is about a ten to fifteen minute drive from home.I’m even able to bring Charlotte along to the
classes so she attended her first Zumba class….with protective ear gear of
course (the music is super loud!!).Charlotte has increased her physical activity over the last couple weeks
like Mommy by playing with her feet on her activity mat and she shows a real
interest in the toys from the top of the activity mat.Unfortunately, so does Hershey.He recently discovered a squeaker toy in the
mat and when not supervised will make his way to the activity mat and try to
get the squeaker out of the mat!He hasn’t
torn any material but I wonder if it’s only a matter of time before he does
so.I have even caught him napping on
the mat once or twice as if it were a doggie bed.Charlotte also has taken an interest in what
is happening during meals for Daddy and Mommy.When holding her in my lap, while eating, she stares with rapt attention
at what is being scooped up from the plate to mouth and has actually been
caught drooling and craning her head from side to side or around to see the
food item.
So colorful!! No wonder Charlotte has been interested in the food! Adam prepared this really good and super healthy dinner of carrot & apple juice as the
beverage, summer salad (containing grape tomatoes, corn, & avocado),
honeydew melon for dessert, and the main entree of chicken cacciatore
(complete with red peppers, onions, basil, garlic, oregano, salt/pepper,
carrots, diced tomatoes, veggie broth, & white wine) on the sticky
rice...Mmmm!
Charlotte is able to hold her balance for a few
seconds then tips over if not propped up with a pillow or boppy. She does
pretty well maintaining her head/neck in a straight position when holding her (and
has from an early age) which is neat to see!
Charlotte loves getting surprises in the mail (thanks Aunt Jen Jen!!).
She plays hard...then naps hard but lately the naps have been for 10 or 20 minutes then she's back up and at 'em!
I don't think I will ever tire of hearing her laugh!
Fighting oh so hard her nap...
So we played instead...which makes for...super sleepy night time feedings.
At the end of July, Aunt Frances from Adam's side of the family came all the way from Arkansas to stay overnight as she made her way to western Pennsylvania for a family reunion. It was great fun having her here with us that night and the next day before she left around dinner time. While here, she and I explored campus, invited a friend we bumped into while there to join us the rest of the afternoon, and then we caravanned downtown where I showed them some of the murals that are found on various buildings in the downtown area. I tried my best to recall some of the stories we had learned during Baptism Week and afterwards we enjoyed an early dinner at the restaurant where Charlotte's Baptism Dinner was held.
It was past Charlotte's bedtime so she looks a bit worried here!
I think it's funny how she sleeps the same way...this is a different photo from the one I posted earlier yet she is in the same position. Consistent she is!
Aunt Frances and I learned something fascinating while exploring on campus! The friar responsible for this building, the Port, is an uncle of a second cousin on Adam's side of the family. Incredible huh!!! Who would have thought it? This is now the second Godicidence about where I'm living/working right now. I suppose God thought I needed more reassurance that this is where we're to be right now??!! I mean to go from not knowing a soul in this town or anything about the school to living around the corner from where second cousins used to live to finding out that a second cousin's uncle had a huge role at my university....the common deominator here is second cousin it seems. Perhaps Charlotte will be even more close to her cousins as they can maybe fill in as siblings in her relationships with them? I don't know...?!
Through the trees, in front of the stained glass windows, is the spot where we had our pregnancy announcement photos taken last October. <3
Cuddles are the best!! If I can't get her to sleep...at least I can cuddle with the little one!
...even when she is sooo obviously tired!! If you can't beat 'em join 'em.
Dusty Shamrock even gets in on the cuddling fun from time to time.
Which seems to make her more alert!
I'm going to miss these summer afternoons of cuddling....sniff, sniff...
This was after a particularly trying morning in which she didn't nap at all. Then, in the middle of her afternoon bottle, she wound up passing out from exhaustion. I didn't dare move her...drool and all...but she awoke about 20 minutes later so off to campus we went for a walk with a friend on her lunch break. Lol!
Our grinning babe!
She loves her fuzzy taggie that was a Baptism gift from a friend. It's so fun watching her interact with her toys and books these days.
This was her reaction when I asked if she wanted to help with revising syllabi for the upcoming semester. ;)
Summer evenings are for picnics in the park!
She is an expert at drooling. Is there an Olympic category for that??
This gazebo reminds me of the one from Lake Harveston in Temecula, CA where we had our engagement photos taken!
Love this man and how he cares for his family!!
I wonder what she's thinking?!
See how Hershey can't be bothered when the activity mat is in the vicinity? He practically guards the mat!
I wonder what goes through Charlotte's mind as she watches her pups play with or chew on their toys.
This is the trick with getting Charlotte Ann to enjoy her tummy time. Just stick doggies in front of her and she will happily complete her daily tummy time as long as she can watch them. ; )
Now that Charlotte is officially five months old, she has definitely taken on a more active role by staying awake longer (boycotting naps...noooo!), turning her head every which way to see what's happening within and out of eyesight, alerting to sounds and recognizing Daddy's or Mommy's voices, "talking" with others, and simply taking everything in as she goes about her daily life. She is grabbing her toys although she doesn't particularly demonstrate a favorite toy or object just yet. She recently has started working on dropping items but has not made the cause and effect connection. She tends to suck on her hand or fingers rather than her feet but has demonstrated flexibility. A personal favorite pose of mine is when she looks like she's clapping with her feet...so adorable! She also keeps her head steady while playing with her toys and has been sitting up for longer periods of time when propped up with a pillow or using a chair/couch cushion. She is usually a pretty relaxed and happy baby girl who tends to get upset if she accidentally gets her finger tangled in my bracelet, realizes she is all of a sudden hungry, or is fighting going to sleep. She has also become somewhat of a flirt scrunching up her nose, batting her eyelashes, and sticking out her tongue at others when interacting with them for giggles.
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