Tonight, I picked Charlotte up from day care and they had her hair back in little tiny pony tails. That doesn't mean much to some people, but for a long time, she barely had hair. Unless she was wearing the brightest, pinkest outfit, people would say "What a cute little boy". Then again, when you dress her in a Packer sweatshirt like this, it doesn't help.
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| From Game Day |
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| Click on pic to view entire album |
I've discussed this issue here and here, but day care is little more than a petri dish where I drop my kid off every day.
I kid. We're actually very happy with Charlotte's day care. However, she picks up these little bugs there that give her a little sniffle or a low grade fever. We also had the pleasure of a couple weeks where Charlotte didn't want to sleep by herself at night. So, what does a sick kid and a lack of sleep for Mommy and Daddy add up to? That's right. Both Mommy and Daddy were home sick on Tuesday. I can't speak for Kaye, but for about 24 hours, I felt like I was hit by a truck. At about 5 in the morning, I told Kaye I thought I had Lyme disease. I don't know why I picked Lyme disease. It made sense at the time.
That, along with a Packer loss in the playoffs [moment of silence] led to my inability to post for the last several weeks. So I shot a little video over the last couple days. The scene was shot while Kaye was at work the other day [I think...I'm really not sure]. Regardless, it's a little peak into what Charlotte and I do when no one else is around. The conversation is fascinating. She's learning a few words, primarily "more" and "ball". She doesn't have "mommy" or "daddy" down yet, but she definitely knows how to ask for more. Well, at least she has her priorities straight. You'll also notice she's learned a few other thing.
The last scene is for my sister. She and Dale gave Charlotte a Zebra for Christmas. She's been hounding me for several weeks to see Charlotte ride it. So I offer this video as proof. As I said, she's been a little under the weather, so she kept it to a slow trot.
As you can see, Charlotte was focused and ready for todays game. Unfortunately for her, she's inherited her father's huge head. The hat she's wearing fit her this fall. No so much any more. Oh and, no, we don't always dress her like a boy. On Friday, she went to school in her pink Packer outfit. So, quit judging us!!
Oh, and Charlotte and I also want it duly noted that we both agreed last January that Favre shouldn't retire. Of course, I didn't see them going to the NFC Championship...but Charlotte knew it all along.
Christmas is like getting a part time job that involves travel, manual labor [ie "Some assembly required"], over eating, and late nights. Last Saturday, we drove to Waupaca. Christmas Eve we drove to Oxford, WI for the Erickson family Christmas [my mother's side]...and then back to Waupaca. Christmas day, we drove to La Crosse to and enjoyed another huge meal with Kaye's family. My mom visited us from Thursday to Sunday. She and Charlotte got lots of quality time. I don't know who ran who more ragged...but I think they both enjoyed it. Lastly, we had Christmas with Kaye's immediate family on Sunday afternoon and watched the Packers.
On Saturday, Santa visited my mom's house. It was the first time Charlotte had any clue of what was going on [unlike the first time]. She had mixed emotions.
[Hat tip to Dick Cook]
Then it was off to the Erickson Family Christmas
Then back to Grandma Michael's for more gifts.
Then on to Kaye's family...
...and more presents.
Just in case that's not enough, we also have pictures.
It took two tries to get these pictures. Round one was an attempt to get pictures with her cousin, Matthew, as well as her 1 year pics. She was in no mood for this. We managed to get the picture with Matthew [even though it looks a little like a church directory picture]. We went back a week later and finally got her 1 year pictures done.
Christmas "Round One" pics & video coming soon
The other big event last weekend was my nephew's graduation from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse with degrees in Sociology and Political Science. We are all very proud of him and know he'll do good things. Dale and Chris took us all out for dinner that night. The cake he's holding was his extra special "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" cake. It was friggin' awesome.
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| Matthew's Graduation [click to view album] |
I was going to write a heartfelt post about how amazing the past year has been, but decided I'd just let it be what it is-a kid's first birthday. Unfortunately, the clowns, ponies, and carnie rides didn't show up. So we had lunch, cake, and presents.
We had lots of family around this weekend because of her B'day and Matthew's Graduation from UW-L [more on that in a post to follow]. Charlotte got plenty of cake, as you can see...plenty of presents, as you can see...and entirely too much attention. Between the attention and a few late night meals [and maybe some teething], she was awake every 30 minutes to an hour both nights. We're not the best at letting her cry it out anyway, but when you've got people staying at your house, it makes it even harder because you don't want them to have to endure it too.
Regardless, it's been a great year with her. She's taught me a lot about myself that I never knew. It's only been a year, but I don't remember what life was like without her, nor would I want to [or maybe I'm just blocking it out for the sake of my own sanity].
It took a while, but we finally got it on film. It's only a few steps, but you get the picture...
It took a few tries though
The walking thing is coming along. This weekend she was witnessed taking 3 or 4 steps... on purpose, not just falling forward. Occasionally she forgets that she needs to use both feet to walk, so she just kind of spins in a circle. I tried to video tape it the other night but, of course, she decided she didn't feel like walking then. The weird thing is that she's taken a liking to jumping. Occasionally she'll get all worked up and both feet will leave the ground.
Seriously, though. Given the choice between taking 10 minutes to walk across the room or crawling in 1/100 the time [or having mom or dad carry you], you wouldn't bother with walking either.
I wanted to post this earlier, but had some problems with the upload. The other day, I walked into Charlotte's daycare and saw this kid go running by. I peaked my head around the corner and discovered it was Charlotte. They have a push toy there that I've seen her use before, but apparently she's become fairly proficient. So, of course, we had to go get one for home. She has also been spotted taking 1 or 2 unassisted steps in the last couple days.
The last portion of the video is a little reminder that she is her father's daughter. Unfortunately, she's developing some of my eating habits. However, at the end, those are oranges Kaye's giving her. So, it isn't completely hopeless...yet.
So, we were going to keep it pretty low key for Halloween, but since they were having a party at her daycare, we thought we'd at least Charlotte wear a costume. You know, just so she didn't feel left out.
I think she would have been fine with "left out".
...and it's not just because of Oktoberfest. Charlotte got in on the raking action yesterday. Ok, maybe it was just to pose for a few pics, but she was there.
The posts have been few and far between lately, so I apologize. With the holidays and her birthday coming up, I'm sure things will pick up. In general things have been pretty quiet. The walking thing is coming around, with help. She's standing on her own, even without anything to hang on to. However, she's not taking any steps on her own.
So it's been a while since I posted last. I'd say we've been busy [and I think we have], but I'm hard pressed to make a list of stuff we've been doing that might have kept me from posting anything. I suppose between ramping up for start of the school year, which is our busiest time at work, and various other stuff, I guess I've neglected this form of communication.
We had some pics taken last week. Check them out.
I also shot some video today that isn't all that eventful.
It does, however, show that her crawling has improved immensely...and, God help us all, she's standing. Sometimes she's able to stand on her own without holding on to anything and some of those are incidents might even be on purpose. As you can see from the pictures, she's getting her teeth.
Update: Remember my plans for retirement? Well, one of my nephew's roommates works at a local Quillins grocery store and also knows the gentleman that I mentioned in that post. Want to guess how he knows him? That's right, he does the same stuff at Quillins...apparently for hours at a time. So, now I'm starting think he may be a slightly past "a little eclectic" and maybe a little closer to goofy. I must admit though, it doesn't make it less funny.
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