Between a couple of vacation days for James, a visit from family, and James' birthday the past two weeks have been a nice change from the ordinary. James' brother Daniel and his wife Sarah spent a long weekend with us in Edmonton recently. It was nice to catch up with them and be able to show them a bit of our city, although there's little question Edmonton paled in comparison to Vancouver, which they visited first. But one thing Edmonton had that Vancouver did not was Charlotte! She loved the visit from her uncle and aunt - her second time meeting them - and they seemed to enjoy her too. For the past couple of months Charlotte has been playing strange with people other than us, at least when it comes to being held, but there was none of that with Daniel and Sarah. She was happily held by both of them and signalled her enjoyment of their presence with lots of smiles. James and I were happy to see her socializing well and getting to know her extended family better. We celebrated James' birthday the same way we have for the previous two years - with dinner out at Von's, where they serve the best prime rib around (and in Alberta that really means something). But this year we were joined by Daniel and Sarah as well as by some friends. I had hoped to surprise James with the friends, but James' punctuality combined with the fact that a couple of friends were running late meant that the surprise was revealed in the restaurant parking lot. It was a fun night all the same!
The other high point of late has been taking Charlotte swimming. We'd been wanting to take her for awhile, but between fighting colds and general busy-ness we just hadn't gotten around to it - until last week. We were prepared for Charlotte to last 10 minutes in the water, but she was so comfortable that we stayed in for about 30. And we've already been back twice. The two of us both love swimming, so we're excited that Charlotte's into it too.
We have a bunch of photos that have been sitting on our camera for a month now, so I thought I'd bring you a picture update and give you a peak at what Charlotte's been up to lately...
Charlotte enjoying tummy time with Daddy.
Hanging out in her Jumperoo and trying on her new hat.
Back from a cold walk - but snug as a bug...
Going for coffee on a snowy January weekend
(Fortunately for all of us Charlotte enjoys watching us eat and drink)
Food! First bites.
Getting into it.
Getting messy with the sweet potato.
Charlotte is starting to play more independently.
She actually made herself laugh while playing with the lamb.
Looking grown up (until she stuffs the book in her mouth, that is).
Skating outdoors in the Edmonton river valley.
Charlotte's a natural!
Charlotte "flying". She often does this when she's on her tummy, as if she's trying to propel herself forward.
We ended the month with a weekend in Jasper. Lawyers from James' firm do an annual weekend there. There's no work involved, but we all stayed at the Jasper Park Lodge and had a Saturday buffet dinner together (which was delicious). My parents met us there. It was nice to see them and have some help with Charlotte (marred only by a skating injury suffered by my Dad, who took it in stride - not the first injury he's suffered on the ice!). As is often the case, we were enjoying ourselves so much that we neglected to take pictures. I did, however, get a few when we had to stop on the highway on the way back to allow a group of big horned sheep to cross - they were not in a hurry.
So there's your Charlotte fix. Hope you enjoyed it!
This past week was Charlotte's half-birthday - a whole six months have gone by since the little munchkin entered the world, and rocked ours!
Here's a snapshot of Charlotte at half a year of age:
She's a porker! At her six month check-up on Monday Charlotte tipped the scale at 18 lbs., 15 oz., putting her in the 90th percentile for size (up from 50th at birth).
She loves playing peek-a-boo.
She's started eating solids, but so far seems more interested in the spoon than the food.
She's developed a fake cough, which she cracks out when she's hyper and wants attention.
She is fascinated by the T.V. remote control, the chain on the door, and watching us drink.
She sucks her thumb - but usually only when she's ready to fall asleep.
When she's on her stomach she kicks her legs like she's trying to propel herself forward.
She likes getting kisses from her stuffed animals, her Mommy and Daddy.
She's a great sleeper - I'm almost embarrassed to admit how great... It definitely makes life easier on all of us.
She discovered feet. She grabs her feet now when we're changing her and tries to get them in her mouth. She likes looking at our feet too. Who knew feet were so incredible?
She loves having her head stroked and her hair brushed.
She enjoys books, especially if they involve animal noises.
It's fun to look back over her early pictures, knowing her as we do now. We thought we'd share a few of our favourites from the past few months...
Welcome to the launch of our blog, {Are we there yet?}!
While wracking our brains for a blog name we landed on this perennial childhood question. Since the primary purpose of this blog is to keep our friends and family up-to-date on the adventures of our baby daughter, Charlotte, it seemed fitting. Charlotte is blessed with four adoring grandparents, none of whom live in our city of Edmonton. And so we figured that the least we can do is provide a steady stream of photos and updates in exchange for all the love, phone calls, and Canada Post packages that come her way. This blog was created with the grandparents in mind (hi!), and the rest of you readers, if you're out there, are icing on the cake.
{Are we there yet?} also sums up a feeling James and I share as we round the corner on a cumulative twenty-one years of post-secondary education (even as I write that number it's hard to believe it's real). As much as we've both loved being students and wholeheartedly believe in education for the sake of education and not as a means to an end, I think it's fair to say that we've reached the point where it would be nice to be there already. Likewise, {Are we there yet?} evokes a sentiment I suspect many parents share in working towards a point along the road when they anticipate things will get easier. But the title of our blog is intended to be tongue in cheek, as a reminder that each day is both "there" and "not there yet" and that in order to enjoy the journey we cannot be too consumed with an elusive destination point. And we are enjoying Charlotte, more and more each day. We soak up her smiles and her laughs, watch with wonder as she acquires new knowledge and skills on a daily basis, and search out clues as to who this little person is and who she will become. We hope you'll enjoy watching her grow along with us, and we would love to hear from you too.
