Up side to being sick

Monday since Charli was sick she couldn't have milk so no bottles. She was drinking water and then a little juice from her sippy cup. She used to drink water or as she calls it, "ice" from them but that was about it. I kept trying to get her to use them more and more but to no avail. But without the choice, sippy cups it was. Well, I washed the bottles Monday night and put them away. She has not had one since. I have noticed she doesn't seem to be drinking quite as much yet but I am hopeful this will come around. I am really happy to be done with the bottles. And this all comes prior to day care so that too is a good thing.

By the way, doesn't my blog look fabulous!!! Juli did an amazing job. Didn't she?!?

What a week....

this has been. Juli and Dan had us over for dinner and so the kiddos could play on Saturday night. It was a ton of fun. Charli was scared of their dog Ted for a while. Mind you Ted is probably smaller than our cat Jezebel. And after an hour or so, Charli was even playing with Emily and Louie. It was great to see. By Monday morning a stomach flu virus hit our house. Charli did a projectile puke all over herself, me and the couch just before we were to leave for work. Needless to say we didn't go to work. She threw up once more but turned the corner and was fine by 2:00PM. I on the other hand had a fever of 101 all afternoon. By Tuesday we were both fine and off to work.

Today was swimming lessons day. I think Charli is turing into a fish. She didn't cry until we hit the locker room. She didn't really cry it was more of a wimper. We then got changed and headed to the water. She kind of did the wimper cry for the first part of class. But even the instructor noticed how she instinctually relaxed in the water and did what she should. And he heard her say, "ball" during class. (hard to convince us that you don't like it if you want to play with the ball). Again we stayed after class and played. She was actually going in face first to reach the toys. She didn't want to leave. I am thrilled.

I also want to let you know that the appearance of my blog may be changing. Juli has been taking photography classes and playing with all kinds of photo software. She recently changed her family blog and it looks fabulous. She's offered to re-do/update mine. I of course accepted this as I have never been thrilled with the appearance but it served a greater purpose. This blog does not just keep my family and friends across the country updated, it also serves as the story of Charlotte. I can't wait to have this page look more like us. Thanks, Juli!!!

sara

Wanted more

Teething still sucks!! Sleep has gotten better but she gets whiny and needy and that drives me nuts. I was afraid that swimming lessons would be a real nightmare. Well, we walked in and made it past the windows without any crying. As a matter of fact she was pointing at the pool. However the tears started when we entered the family locker room. There was another little guy in there and he was crying so Charli had to copy him. She proceeded to cry from then through most of class. The funny thing is she cries but yet does what she is supposed to. She even was totally relaxed floating on her back with her head resting on my chest. By the end of class she was not crying and playing with the toys in the shallow water. Again I decided to stay as she was having fun. She didn't really want to leave when we did but I figured I best get out and get her home for some dinner. As we were leaving the Y, she looked at the windows into the pool area and signed "more". I asked if she wanted more swimming and she nodded. I told her we'd come back and she could swim again. Progress has been made!!!

We just have to get the teeth in and the next thing is day care.... Charli will start on Monday 2/16 and go again the following Monday and we'll work up to 3 days a week. Another chapter will begin.....

sara

Teething Sucks!!!

Charli has two new teeth. She has two more right at the surface and two others where the gums are red and swollen. Needless to say it's not fun. For the most part it doesn't bother her. No fever, ear aches or diaper disasters. Sleep on the other hand is what is disturbed. Her 10-12 hours of nighttime sleep have dwindled to about 8. She wakes up happy but it doesn't take long and she's needy, crabby and wanting to be held. This makes for a lot of fun at the office.... And swimming lessons tomorrow should be interesting...

I am hoping that these teeth come through rather quickly. I personally don't function as well myself on the 5-6 hours of sleep I'm getting. I know I shouldn't complain that's a lot by some standards. I just happen to be a person who does better with more than 6 hours a night. Oh, well this too shall pass.
sara

Getting better

Although it was freezing cold here last night, we still went to swimming lessons. Charli did just fine until she saw the windows into the pool area. She started crying from that point until nearly the end of class. She didn't cry hard the entire time. And by the end of class she was not crying and enjoying the toy/play time. I decided to stay a while longer in the water since she was enjoying it. She was smiling and even chasing after a ball. She slipped once and stumbled but when she got upright (with some help from mom) she didn't bat a lash or cry. I do believe progress has been made. Hopefully it will continue to get better each week.

sara

Yikes

Tonight is our second swimming lesson and it's going to be about 10 below zero or colder. This weather is horrendous!!! I hate to say it, but I'm done with winter. Charli has yet to really even play in the snow. Why you ask? Well, everytime we get a nice snow fall, the temperature drops below 10 and in most cases below zero. This is not exactly weather for adults let alone toddlers. I had to laugh this morning. Actually I wanted to tell Matt Lauer and Meredith Viera to suck it up as they were complaining that it was cold in NYC (20 degrees). Please that would feel like a tropical heat wave here.

At least the pool at the Y is warm and I can pretend we are somewhere else for a half hour. Of course it will be easier to pretend if Charli is NOT crying for the whole lesson. We'll see.

sara

A new adventure

Last night Charli and I started a new adventure. She is now taking swim lessons at the YMCA in Hudson. It's about 2 blocks from home so that's nice. She cried about 90% of the time. I loved our instructor. He said he continues to teach when they cry as they will still learn. He also helped to develop the program for teaching little ones to turn underwater and reach the wall.

We go every Wednesday night for 7 weeks. I'm hoping she doesn't cry all 7 weeks. :-) I'll keep you posted.

Happy New Year

I am such a bad blogger. Sorry. I need to be more like my friend Juli. I finally put some pictures on here from our court day. Charlotte officially became mine on 12/23/08. We were in Judge Needham's court. He was absolutely wonderful. I gave my camera to Eric and he managed to not only get a few pictures but video as well. I then had everyone over to our house for a champagne brunch. It was a really special day.

Christmas was nice. We went to mom and dad's during the day of the 24th and we stayed overnight there. Santa managed to bring her presents from home to Jama and Papa's house. Charli was a tad overwhelmed but who wouldn't be at 16 months. I suspect next year will be even better.

New Year's Eve Maureen, Jane, Dan, Sue and I did NOT go to our normal night at the "Village Inn" in North Hudson. Last year under the new owners it was kind of a dud. So this year we met at Maureen and Jane's house. We all brought an appetizer and hung out there for the night. Charli had her first solo sleep over at Jama and Papa's house. It went really well. This of course thrills me.

So now I think I have you all caught up. One resolution I have is to keep this more current. We'll see how well that goes.

Playing with my new kitchen

Christmas morning 2008

New jammies from Papa and Jama

Christmas Eve 2008

Citizenship Day 12/23/2008