Washington

For the past few weeks Charlotte and I have been in Washington visiting family while Ben finishes up his surgery rotation. Tomorrow we fly to LA then onto Disneyland where we'll meet up with him. Here is what we've been up to.

a mariners game

bouncing around (see below video)

sticking our tongues out

going to the beach

Alki Beach is in West Seattle across the water from downtown

*not to mention Charlotte's first slurpee, tiny finger food, saying almost every consonant sound, saying mamamama when she's upset, scooting/army crawling everywhere, taking two 'steps' while crawling then dropping on her tummy... she's definitely growing up a lot lately (but still no teeth)

out on the porch

These were from several weeks ago but I love them so I had to post some. Ben is really good about getting his time in with Charlotte when he gets home from the hospital. He usually feeds her dinner and bathes her. Then he likes to take her out on the porch to show her around.

major random-ness

My friend Krista came over a few weeks back and Lotte was pooped but wanted to hang out while we chatted in the kitchen. She didn't quite make it to the end of our story.

And here she is ready for church a few weeks ago. Open smile as usual. I love this kid.

just like her mama

She loves pickles.

{sure, I'll give it a try...}

{I'm not quite sure about this...}

{holy cow! give me more!}

{dee-lish!}

six months young (plus three days)

Today was Charlotte's six month check up. She of course had her lovely vaccinations as well =( I had Ben hold her down for that. I love that every time we go to the doctor, the nurses and doctors comment on how happy she is and what a sweet/calm temperament she has. I'd have to agree. She's a pretty dang happy baby. Minus getting shots... or having a shirt pulled over her head... or leaving her alone to play after you've been playing one one one together... or getting her nose suctioned...

Her stats at six months:

26 3/4" long (84th percentile)

16 lbs 7 oz (59th percentile)

16 3/4" head circumference (51st percentile)

Charlotte is pretty much an awesome baby all around... but of course I'm biased... She is always smiling and talking to herself or us. She plays with her voice and will shriek super loud, talk like a dinosaur (usually a velociraptor is her dinosaur of choice), or talk with her lips shut.

She has tried every kind of veggie and fruit and is a huge fan of them all except peas, mixed veggies, and peaches... don't quite understand the peaches thing but whatever. She hums a lovely yuuummmm as she eats. She also says babababa, dadadada, and gagagaga. No stinkin mamama yet...

She's starting to be ticklish. Loves to suck on your shoulder. Will go to anyone and smile, grab their lower lip, suck on their shoulder, drool on their shirt, and pant in excitement like a puppy... all in the name of love. The little stinker gets up on all fours and scoots backwards. The day she crawls will be a difficult one for me, as well as my dvd collection... She loves being read to and having her feet nibbled. She can hold onto things while standing and holds herself up with pretty sweet balance. She started sleeping 10 - 11 straight hours at night and then started teething this past week... argh... She loves to suck on pickles, icy toys, fingers, feet, paper, well pretty much anything. She likes playing rough and is a bit of a thrill seeker. She cried for me for the first time the other day. Ben was holding her and I walked away. She cried and pouted out that lower lip of hers until I got her and then she was happy as a clam. Ben was offended, I was thrilled. =) But then today after her shots I was holding her and she leaned towards Ben for comfort. He grabbed her, they snuggled and she quieted down. I was offended, and he was thrilled. So far we're one for one. And yes we are keeping tabs on this. =) HA!

She's my best {girl} friend.

I love her like Tom Cruise on Oprah.