And So It Begins . . .

We filled 52 bags last year . . . only 49 to go!

Down on the Farm

Last weekend we made a short trip to Ames to visit the Center Grove Orchard. Last year Chad, Megan, and the boys met Jodi, Blaine, and the boys here while we were in Minnesota. They had a lot of fun and we couldn't wait until this summer when we could go along with our little one, and maybe start a new family tradition.

Center Grove is primarily an apple orchard, but to describe it as such, would be an understatement. It's almost like an Adventureland for farm kids! Kelli and I thought the $8 admission was a little steep upon paying it, but later realized it was totally worth it. There's so much for kids to do. The nephews had a blast. And Charly, well she just enjoyed watching all the kids have fun . . . and the goats licking licking her tiny little hands!

There was a large corn pool, water pump rubber duck races, a farm animal petting zoo, multiple playhouses, a pedal tractor obstacle course, a jumping "pillow" trampoline, a corn maze and a hay maze, a super slide, an apple slingshot target range, tractor hayrides, and a pumpkin patch. Cooper was so excited and happy that all his cousins were together. Sweet and reserved Brooks could have gone down the super slide all day long. Jackson wandered from activity to activity losing track of his family on a number of occasions. And Griffin . . . he ate everything in sight!

Maneuvering Charly's stroller and bag throughout the farm proved tricky at times. Kelli had to improvise when feeding her and changing her in the "Potty Barn" was interesting. But Charly loves any opportunity she gets to be around her rowdy Doerrfeld and Henning cousins. We couldn't have asked for a better day with better boys!

10 Things We Love About You

Last Friday Charly turned 7 months. Here are 10 things from this month we learned and love about her . . .

10. Charly loves men. She's going through a phase where she's not too sure of anyone besides her mom and dad however we've noticed that between men and women, she sure tends to warm up to men quicker. If she was a little older, I think the college aged Fareway meat-man she was flirting with the other night, would've tried to get her number!

9. Charly is figuring out how her hands work. She'll study her hands, opening and closing, forever it seems. Not quite sure how those fingers are working. She seems to do it more often when she wants something and we swear there's been a few times where she's waved goodbye at a grandma or grandpa.

8. Charly crawls all over the house! One day, we noticed that Charly was pushing herself up on all fours and rocking back and forth. The next day she made her first moves, crawling forward and backwards. The following day, she was speed crawling throughout the entire house! She follows us everywhere. If we leave the room for even a brief instant, she's at our feet in a heartbeat. She can even sit herself upright from crawling and she does the splits!

7. She says "Mama". Or at least we think she does. It's kind of jibberish but it definitely sounds like a run-on of "Mama-mama-mama-mama" and she definitely mumbles it when she wants something. Or someone . . .

6. She's a good eater. She eats just about any kind of fruit or mixture of fruit (other than peaches), and is coming around on her vegetables. We don't try very hard at home but she gets her fill at daycare!

5. We love the way she wakes up in the morning. We hear movement in her room, slowly crack open the door, and every morning are greeted by her smiling face peeking over the railing of her crib. She can hardly contain herself with excitement as we pick her up out of the crib.

4. She can be surprisingly independent. She enjoys playing with her toys and sitting in her interactive saucer seat.

3. She's a cuddler! When Kelli picks her up at daycare the first thing she does is rub her cheek into Kelli's face and hold it there, cheek to cheek. She loves to play with our faces and refuses to fall asleep if we're not holding her.

2. She's still incredibly laid back. She ate bugs for crying out loud, and it didn't even phase her! She's easy to take places, she smiles and giggles all the time, and she rarely cries. Unless of course, a bunch of strange women enter our house for a baby shower. Then she cries a lot.

1. She holds her arms out to us when she wants to be picked up. It melts us everytime.

Charly Ate Bugs!!!

So yesterday morning on our way out the door, Matt Lauer (or maybe it was Meridith Vierra) informed us that some of Similac's formulas were being recalled due to a possible "bug infestation" at one of Similac's processing plants. We thought: Great! Hope that is not the kind Charly drinks!

It is.

Kelli came home from school with Charly at 4:30 with a half-used tub of Similac from day care. Melanie, our day care provider, checked the "lot number" online and sadly informed us that Charly may or may not have digested "bug parts".

Awesome.

We checked the other two tubs of formula we had at home and both had been recalled. We drove out to Wal-Mart and successfully returned three containers of Similac powder but were unsure of where to go next. Charly was a spitty baby early on and had been doing really well with her Similac formula. Baby food and cereal surely helped, but I was wary of switching brands whereas Kelli refused supporting a company that let "bug parts" possibly fall into their products. We tried Enfamil. We bought a few containers, one for us, one for day care.

Later in the night when Charly needed her first bottle post-recall, we mixed up some of the Enfamil and were anxious to see how she took to it. After just one ounce, she pushed the bottle away. When Kelli tried again, she clamped her mouth shut and twisted her head out of reach. She's too smart for us!

So . . . out in the rain I drove! Back to Wal-Mart. 9:00 at night. Returned the Enfamil and bought Similac Concentrated liquid mix instead. After just 3 ounces, Charly fell asleep. We felt better, but exhausted.

At 1:00 in the morning, Charly woke up tossing and turning. I tried to lull her back to sleep until about 2:00 and then Kelli stepped in. We made another bottle. She only took about half of it and was out cold. Luckily, she slept through the night until 7:30. Charly has always slept through the night but recently, not so much. (Who can blame her with all the bugs probably crawling around in her little stomach!) Each night this week Charly had woken up in 3 hour intervals. Go down at 10:00. Wake up at 1:00. Fight sleep. Go down till 4:00. Fight sleep. Go down till 7:00. Let's just say our students are on a short leash at school!

This morning, after more sleep than we knew what to do with, Kelli and I were ready to go when Charly woke up. Kelli wanted to pass the extra time by giving Charly a bottle before taking her to day care. Charly decided to puke the whole thing up all over Kelli's only Cedar Falls t-shirt. And today was Cedar Falls' Homecoming! So much for showing our school spirit . . .

Here's hoping for a relaxing weekend!

Daddy's Little Panther

One of Kelli's coworkers gave us really great UNI tickets for today's game against Stephen F. Austin. Charly has never been to the UNI-Dome and she is sure going to get her fill of UNI basketball when November comes around so we thought breaking her in today to Panther athletics would be a good idea. Plus they were free! So if she didn't like it, we could leave!

During the first half of the game, she was a little indifferent. Her lips remained tightly pursed, her look sober. If she was entertained by the sights and sounds around her, she wasn't letting us know. I held her for most of the first half because each time I would hand her off to Kelli, she would squirm like crazy and stare down the nice man sitting next to Kelli. We thought it was a little embarrassing but he thought she was cute and we caught him a number of times sneaking his finger into the grip of her little hands.

Charly napped for a good portion of the second quarter and at halftime, Kelli braved the women's bathroom to change her diaper. When she got back I gave her a bottle. The second half brought out the Charly we know and love! She was jabbering away, chewing on every toy in her diaper bag, drooling like crazy, and even smiling. Except every time Kelli would take her, she'd hold her arms out to ME! Those of you who know Charly know she's definitely a "mommy's girl". Not today! Maybe I made her feel safe in this new, loud environment. Maybe the guy sitting next to Kelli was cheering a little too loud (and I was sitting on an aisle). Or maybe this was her way of telling me, "I know I'm a girl dad, but I'll still love watching football with you!"

I'd like to think it was the latter.

Rocking Chair, Oh Rocking Chair

Jordan does most of the writing on this blog. He is a writer, he’s informative, he’s not mushy, and he knows his way around a blog. I am a writer too but a discreet one. I keep a daily diary of activities Charly is involved in, accomplishments she has achieved, and letters I have written her since her birth. Even though I don’t write on here very often I wanted to share a little bit of history with you…

Rocking chairs; a family heirloom, a piece of childhood that each of us can remember. Grandma and Grandpa Wiebke gave Chad his rocking chair, and it was always one of my favorites. The cherry wood, with detailed roped spindles, and wicker backing was a staple in our living room. Jodi’s rocking chair and mine were simpler. Jodi’s was filled with bite marks and mine was filled with cabbage patch dolls.

Our rocking chairs took on a whole new meaning when we had our own children. Watching my nephews rock in Chad’s chair in my parent’s living room, fighting over who could sit in it next, made me smile inside. I couldn’t wait until I had children of my own to fight over the rocking chair and watch them enjoy a little piece of our childhood.

I had that opportunity the other day. Over a year ago, my parents brought my rocking chair to my home. I don’t know if it was a way of getting stuff out of their basement or a hint to start having a baby, but it was now back to it’s rightful owner. The first year at our home it spent its days in the basement. It stored our clothes, boxes, became a drying rack for jeans, and took up space. A week ago, I decided it needed a new purpose; it needed a 6-month old bottom in its seat. I took the circular laundry basket off of the seat, removed the pair of pants lying on its back,and dusted it off. I hauled it outside to partake in a photo shoot with its new friend, Charly. I was excited to start creating new memories, and I was just as excited that Charly was able to sit up in it.

Rocking Chair…you better get accustomed to that little behind sitting in your seat. She will rock you to sleep, drool on your arms, laugh in your accompaniment, and give you the ride of your life. You will love Charly and Charly will love you. I can’t wait for you to be the centerpiece in our living room!

BFFs?

Or, a little too close for comfort?