I know we are a little behind on updates of Charlotte for all our family members that live far away, which is basically everybody. I don't really remember what I've told everyone about her, so I thought I would just mention a few fun things we are enjoying about her now and include some pictures to look at.
Charlotte has turned into quite a happy little girl. She can still be serious and straight-faced when she wants to, but apart from the fact that she is cutting 3 more teeth right now (one on each side of her bottom teeth and the top right), she is quick to smile and loves to giggle. Things that especially make her laugh include cats and dogs, little children, videos of herself, and her reflection in the mirror.
She is a pretty headstrong girl, refusing to do what she doesn't want to and insisting on doing things that she does. In the last couple of weeks, she has decided she hates me resting my hand on her side while she nurses and will pull and push and squirm until I remove it. She still resists rolling onto her stomach from her back. She loves to stand up but often forgets she can't do it on her own and tries to let go of my hands as soon as she is standing. She tries to walk but her feet are too jumpy. She reminds me of Snow White when Happy sings about his feet..."I love to dance and tap my feet, but they won't keep in rhythm; You see I washed them both today and I can't do nothin' with 'em."
Charlotte chatters up a storm in the mornings and evenings. She seems to spend a lot of the afternoon just observing her surroundings, but the rest of the day she loves to jabber. The day she turned 8 months she started saying dada and even though she doesn't connect it with Fred yet, he of course still loves it and responds every time.
Charlotte loves music and sometimes has a little singsong sound in her voice when she talks. Playing music or singing is a quick way to get her to forget her problems. Fred has played the guitar for her a couple of times and she sure enjoys that. Sometimes while I'm cooking and she's on the counter watching, if I sing something to her and slowly lean my head in towards her she'll do the same to me until our heads touch, and then she pulls back and smiles. Any type of affection like that is cherished by Fred and me because even though she wants to be held about 98% of the time, she is not a cuddly kid. She'll never rest her head on our shoulders for more than 3 seconds at a time and that generally happens only if she isn't feeling well or if she's exhausted.
Charlotte LOVES food. Since Fred and I eat the majority of our veggies fresh and they are too hard for Charlotte, she gets her veggies from a jar, but she loves them. Her fruits, she eats fresh. She loves bananas and can polish a whole one down in no time at all. She also loves watermelon, enjoys blueberries and nectarines but she only likes applesauce warm with oatmeal or wheat in it. She can be a quick learner if she wants. It took her 2 days to learn to feed herself puffs and now she likes all her fruits cut up and put on her tray instead of me feeding her.
Charlotte has an attention span of about 5 seconds which keeps entertaining her fairly difficult, especially in our 900 sq ft home. Consequently, we go for lots of runs and walks together and she really loves to be outdoors. She also loves our playgroup because even though she is too little to play, she loves to watch the other kids.
We are really enjoying her and even though I sometimes wish she would quit growing up so fast, I love to see her accomplishing new things and learning about life.
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