Dancing Queen.MP4

When Charlie was little we used to joke that we hope she gets my rhythm and Dan's athleticism.  If by some terrible stroke of bad (read catastrophic) luck she gets the reverse (mom's athleticism and dad's rhythm) I fear she will be that awkward child everyone teases... The good news is Charlie loves to get her groove on.. She has dance fever! As soon as she hears some music she starts bopping away. I always joke that she must have Dan's dance moves, BUT there is hope!! Notice towards the end of the video when the song says 'stomp our feet' my genius child stomps her feet!! I'm sure it was just a coincidence, but still it's pretty cute :)

Yea, I'm THAT Mom!

FACTS: Charlie is and has been an extremely healthy baby.  Charlie has been to the doctor more times than most 'sickly' children because she has a neurotic mother.

Before ever having Charlie, I would watch other people's child-rearing methods and make mental notes saying "I will NEVER do that!" or "ugh! they are nuts"! I know it's mean, but c'mon you know you've done it too!! Picture a screaming child in a restaurant... you know the "If that were my kid, I would..." has run through your mind a time or two! Anyway, I find it both hilarious and humbling that most of the "I would NEVER's" have now become "I have done that!" Of particular note, I would see these mother's catering to their child's every whim... baby: *cough* *cough*  mom: Are you ok? Do you have a temperature? I need to make an appt with the dr, you feel warm. B.C. (before Charlie) my response to this would have been 'Geez! Give me a break! he/she is FINE!' I guess it's true what they say... until you walk a mile in someone else's shoes... So! prior to this post, Charlie has only had one fever... about 100º and turns out she had a TERRIBLE ear infection :-( (See post I'm out of the running for the mother of the year award). Dr. Chi said there is a strong likelihood little miss will have another one before she turns 1 year. Well, since telling me that, Charlie no sooner itches her ear or gives her earlobe a tug and she is sitting on the table at Dr. Chi's! Yes, I am that mom. On thurs, Dan calls me at work telling me Charlie feels 'warm' and is acting lethargic and clingy. Now, Dan is the antithesis of an alarmist... his warm = on fire. Trying to stay calm I asked if he could take her temp... she was 102.5º. It took every bit of restraint I had not to flee from my desk and drive home without stopping at a single stop sign or light! I called her Dr. and the receptionist said to give it 24 hrs and give her Tylenol in the meantime. NOW! J&J tylenol was recalled and all the 'good moms' out there ran out and grabbed all the generic acetaminophen off the shelves, leaving NOTHING for me and my fellow procrastinators. Knowing I had such trouble finding it for the last fever, I asked if I could substitute with anything else or worse, what to do if I couldn't find any (she was prob thinking... yea, Susan Russell, I knew that name rang a bell... while you are out getting Tylenol, pick up a chill pill!) I called several pharmacies and found it! Phew! After walking in the door and took one look at Charlie, I called the Dr... AGAIN! ha! I mean, just writing this makes me embarrassed! Charlie was completely flushed, BURNING hot (temp of 103.5º now) and was panting. Now going back to fact #1, I have little experience with any sickness... which further compounds fact #2! I insisted the Dr. see Charlie 1st thing in the morning... Charlie had a ROUGH night, but the fever finally broke around 3:00 AM and she fell asleep. Dan took her to the Dr's in the morning.. (it was my b-day and I was treating myself to a boot camp class... phenomenal btw http://www.backtofitness.org/) and I knew Dan could handle it! Dr. Chi said everything was clear and wanted to send her for blood work just in case... turns out it was viral and Charlie is back to be being a happy babe! And YOU were so worried... hehe

Charlie's BFF

Notice this post is not titled "Kayla's BFF". Charlie loves her friend Kayla Grace, but the jury is still out if these feelings are mutual! haha The pics suggest that KG doesn't share the same enthusiasm for CG, BUT it was late and past both of their bedtimes... Charlie is like her mommy and gets wound up before she crashes! Kayla and Charlie had a great time when Kayla's Grandma and Grandpa watched the two of them while Me, Dan, Tom and Nicole (Kayla's parents) went out for dinner! It as so sweet of them to watch our little miss... Kayla's grandma is basically the baby whisperer because somehow she managed both beauties seemingly effortlessly! We love you Mrs. McDonough!! Thank you again for letting us have a 'play date'!! It was long overdue... we miss our vacation buddies!

Anne does it again...

The weather faked us out yesterday! It poured all day until about an hour before we were scheduled to meet for Cha-Cha's photo shoot!! Talk about timing :) We wanted to capture this little phase before my little girl is up walking and running away!! Check her out if you haven't already www.anneconstance.com She is simply the best! Here is a little preview of the shoot I snatched off of Anne's blog...

I'm 10 months!!

Time is flying! It is almost a little sad... I can't believe my little girl will be one in just 2 short months! YIKES! Must. start. party. planning.

Scary Stuff

At the risk of being too 'preachy' I saw this video and have to share it.

One thing that you don't have to learn to be a good mom/dad is your natural instinct to protect your child. All of these chemicals scare the daylights out of me! They inject poisons into baby products because its cheaper and don't lose a wink of sleep in their multimillion dollar mansions. Mr. Johnson from J&J, why do you put harmful chemicals such as parabens (which are linked to breast cancer because they attach themselves to the estrogen receptors) in my daughter's soap when you know it is absorbed through their skin and then found in their urine and then market it as though it is the only choice if you care about your baby? This means that carcinogens are flowing through her body. Gerber, how can you actually write the words 'organic' on your baby food and charge 2x the price as regular when only a small % of the ingredients are actually organic? (if it doesn't have a USDA certified organic stamp, it is NOT organic) I hate that these companies abuse a parent's drive to do the VERY best for their kids... it makes me sick! Although I am realistic in that you cannot protect your child from exposure to EVERY toxic chemical, (charlie would be the next bubble girl!!) there are easy (and often cheaper!) ways to mitigate them. Being an educated buyer is half the battle! Ok, the sermon is over ;) 

The Mad Scientist...

Everyday she is getting closer and closer to walking! She is still pretty wobbly, but she 'cruises' around, holding on to furniture. She LOVES this toy that is on loan from her bff Kayla Grace. She looks like a mad scientist making potions... Charlie is all business when she plays!! 

"Dad! quit calling my name while I'm playing... GEEZ"

*** Please excuse the baby/dog shrapnel scattered throughout our living room... it's an occupational hazard *** 

Laying Sod Is Not For the Faint of Heart

We finally got our sod! I was so excited when Dan told me it was on its way because you know what that means... NO MORE DIRT IN MY HOUSE! Allelujah! The shipment came last Thursday which was my mom's birthday. The plan was we would go out to dinner with the fam, come back, put Charlie to bed and start laying sod. Apparently sod will burn if you leave it rolled up, so we needed to get it done. With full bellies we were ready to go! We started around 9:30 PM and I threw in the towel at 11:30. I did have to work the next day! And I didn't let Dan forget that... I might have said that 30 times during those 2 hours, to which my slave driver (aka Dan) responded 'I have to work early too'. He was referring to finishing up the sod in the AM... it wasn't until 11:29 PM that I was not envious of him! It was really hard!!! I thought you just unrolled them and voilá you're done! No... I was sadly mistaken. I got the unroll part right, but first you must lug a +40 lb roll (yes they are that heavy!) to the prepared place, unroll, line up all seams and smush together. The last step requires you to get down on your hands and knees. Thanks to that step I confirmed that I am STILL allergic to grass. I was wearing shorts, so my legs currently look like they were malled by a wild beast... It is rather cute if you ask me ;) Oh and in those 2 hours we got about 42 pieces down. That's 16.8% of our total order and roughly 420 square feet... just a drop in the bucket... again, I was not envious of Dan, as I looked at the miniscule dent we made in 2 hours!

Here are a few pics of the finished product..

My lovely flower bed :0

A few highlights from the above process...

• Dan over ordered... AGAIN! We had an extra 50 rolls after he and his 'crew' attempted to patch every last bare area in the lawn. My neighbor asked who was in charge of measuring and ordering. Fearing it was me because I tutor their daughter in math... I cleared the air. He sighed with relief.

• Mike came to help early in the morning. I think he was there by 8:00, maybe earlier... I was shocked to hear this because I always though Mike was like me... NOT. A . MORNING . PERSON. The slave driver forced him to work without a break in the hot sun only offering him a peanut butter sandwich and some water. I mean seriously! This is not the way to get people to help you in the future! You should hear Mike tell the story... it was pretty funny!!!

• Dan suckered recruited one of his friends, Jay, to help. I'm sure he showed him the same hospitality he showed his brother... 

• The slave driver also tried to get one of Mike's friends to help... he was smart and said he was 'running late'... Oddly enough he was on time for drinks at the Brew Pub later that evening.. I will place this one in my arsenal for future use.

• By 7:00 PM Mike and Jay were starved and parched and declared mutiny on the big, bad slave driver. Dan tried to crack his whip to make them finish the rest of the 50 rolls but they were too weak from the 100º weather and lack of nutrients. 

All joking aside, both Dan and I are so thankful for our families and friends... They have all poured their blood, sweat and tears (well it's usually my tears, but blood and sweat was def shed by many) into making our house a home. I'm pretty sure my Dad's back can be found somewhere in our retaining wall and particles from Dan's Dad's skin is peacefully residing somewhere in my flower bed. It is now safe to come to our house without the risk of being put to work... I think we are done for awhile!!! 

My Babies

If I could draw a thought bubble above each one of their heads, this is what it would read...

Charlie: 'OOOO what are these hairy things??' (for some reason the child is obsessed with Finn's paws. It's a mystery...

Finn: 'Oh no! Not again! I can't bear to look!! If this thing doesn't stop pulling on my nails and yanking out the little hairs between my toes, I'm gonna.... I'm gonna...

Eska: 'Just get used to it, she isn't going any where' *emphatic sigh*