She trick-or-treated, played in the leaves, attended her first of many UNI basketball games, watched a lot of New England Patriot football with her daddy, helped her mommy with the laundry, chased Elliot around the house, fed herself her first Puff, danced and sang to her favorite show Glee, and began investigating the many drawers and cupboards of her home.
Lately we've been noticing a lot of similarities between Charly and Elliot.
During our first year of marriage, Kelli and I found two little, Columbia stocking hats, a pink one and a blue one, shaped like penguins, that we just couldn't pass up. Someday, we thought, they could belong to our very own little ones.
15 months later, the size "9 months" proved to be the correct choice. It fit Charly perfect. However Kelli spotted a pair of fairy wings and a tutu that she thought Charly needed this year as well. So, our daughter had two Halloween costumes!
Daycare is proving to be a great experience. No matter how hard it is for Kelli to drop her off each day! Mel, our daycare provider just loves Charly, and she's not the only one. Everyday, adorable Kiera (4 years old) meets Kelli at the door after school and gives her an update on Charly's day. She even gets Charly's carseat ready. On most days when Kelli arrives after school, Charly can be found in the arms of Mel's junior high daughter Haley, navigating Facebook, helping with Haley's homework, or being shown off to friends. And best of all, Charly's first friend Violet. Each morning, Violet squeals and squeals and crawls as fast as she can to Charly's carseat, as if to say "Get outta there! We got playin' to do!" Charly's little face lights up as soon as she gets over the shock of Violet's squeals and becomes equally as excited. Violet is the daughter of a fellow teacher at my school. She is one year old. As the two get older, Mel may have her hands full!
Two things happened this month, causing us to see Charly in a new light. Sadly, she no longer feels like a baby. First, she's gone mobile! She speed crawls everywhere. She follows us into every room, including the bathroom, she chases Elliot, and she pulls herself up to a standing position near our couch, entertainment center, chairs, laundry baskets, inside her crib, and up our legs. She doesn't stand on her own quite yet (although we have seen glimpses of it), but any day, we swear, she's gonna take off walking. We had to lower her crib for the first time because of this!
Second, her baby cousin Cruz was born. Charly is only 8 months old, but it feels like forever ago that she was Cruz's size. He seems so tiny comparatively. Our little girl is no longer the littlest of the family. While visiting Cruz in the hospital we also discovered that Charly can be a little territorial. Kelli was holding the little guy while Ashley played with Charly. Charly appeared to be in good spirits until she spotted the tiny creature in her mommy's arms. She stared at the people in the room and stared dumbfounded at Cruz. Then she started whining and grunting and holding out her arms and kicking away from Ashley. We all laughed hysterically while Kelli handed Cruz off to Beau and took Charly. Charly immediately whipped herself around in Kelli's lap, found Cruz, and grinned triumphantly. What can we say? She knows her mommy and daddy and loves us very much!
Last Wednesday, Charly was scheduled for 8-month photos. We were to meet our photographer at 4:30. Kelli and I don't get out of school until 4:05 so Grandpa Merle and Grandma Dolores were going to help out and pick up Charly from daycare (for the third time). They were going to have her changed and ready to go for us when we got home. Instead, we had to cancel pictures. Charly had an uncharacteristically whiny day at daycare and never really settled for my grandparents. Opened their eyes to a whole new Charly! Charly is rarely fussy so we knew something was amiss. Her bottom gums looked swollen and white so we chalked it up to teething. It wasn't until Friday, when Kelli was tipping Charly upside down tickling her that we noticed not one, not two, but THREE teeth poking through in her upper gums! No wonder the poor thing was out of sorts. Since then, we've even spotted a FOURTH up there!
Waving "bye-bye" to Kelli. Just once.
Ever since Charly was born, Kelli has been determined to become a runner. She renewed our rec center passes. She even routinely used the rec for a while. I had good intentions too, but eventually, balancing school and Charly and everything else was just too much. Running and exercising were not high on either of our lists of priorities. But still, Kelli wanted to run.
5K equates to about 3.1 miles. The weeks leading up to the race, Kelli started running at the rec center again. Then baby Cruz came along and threw off her routine a little. She knew she could run 3 miles, but she never wanted to go into the race cold. Before we knew it, race weekend was here and she had never really trained the way she wanted to. But it didn't matter. Her and Jodi's goal was to finish in under 35 minutes. And they did. By 1 minute! And they didn't stop running once!
Charly was a trooper. The race began at 8:30 last Sunday morning and it was chilly. But she didn't peep throughout. Blaine and I, Charly and her cousins Cooper and Brooks walked to where we thought the halfway point would be to cheer them on. We saw one of my 5th graders from Lincoln and cheered for him too. Little did we know at the time, the he went on to finish 41st overall out of 800 runners. It wasn't before long, the boys spotted Kelli and Jodi coming down the road. The boys started screaming and I think the encounter boosted the girls' spirits! We hurried back in the direction of the finish line and made it in plenty of time to see them cross. They did awesome! We were all very proud.
Every year Kelli and I road trip to Prairie du Chien with her parents in search of apples, cheese, wine, and leaves. Last year Charly was in Kelli's belly. This year she was out and ready to take in her third state in seven months!
From there, we drive to an apple orchard just outside of Prairie du Chien, Shihata Orchards. 5-6 years ago when we stopped at this place, we swear it wasn't much other than a tin shed with a few arts and crafts inside. This place has grown so much in the last few years. Now there's a pumpkin patch and a petting zoo and hay rides! If it wasn't for the apple donuts at Gays Mills Sunrise Orchards, there would be no reason to drive any further than this place.
But one of Kelli and her mom's highlights each year is visiting the little old lady selling pumpkins in the bank parking lot in Gays Mills. So drive on we did. Last year we were late and stuck with scraps. We still scored some nice pumpkins but this year, we arrived plenty early and got the pick of the litter. I sat in the car and ate cheese curds with a sleeping Charly while the rest of the family shopped.
We couldn't have chosen a better day to visit. The trees hadn't quite changed yet (some had) but the drive was still scenic, nonetheless. Kelli looks forward to this trip every year and this year, it was made extra special by being able to bring Charly along. It was fun to watch her soak in her surroundings. Hopefully it becomes a place she loves to visit too.
First up, new countertop and sink. The countertop I could not do myself and the sink I could enlist dad's help with. We went through Nichols Home Improvement in Evansdale and they did great work. I was a little nervous at times, but decided next time I hire work to be done in our house, I need to butt out and trust the professionals.
The day the countertop installers were working a City of Cedar Falls truck pulled into our driveway. The city employee didn't even knock on the door. He walked right into the kitchen and asked to speak with the countertop guys. He asked them who was doing the plumbing. They pointed to me. He stared me up and down and asked if I was the homeowner. He was totally unconvinced, even though I was holding Charly. After explaining to me why he had invited himself into my home (as if I was a 12-year-old) he told me that it was my right as a homeowner to do my own plumbing, just that I needed to pull a permit from the city to do so. He said he'd stop back sometime and make sure I had no leaks.
After the countertop and sink were finished, I installed the new backsplash. We found glass tiles at Home Depot that matched the colors already in our kitchen and since we loved the color, it saved us from painting. I kind of underestimated how much work was involved in scraping off the old "white heart" tile, putting the new on, and cutting tiny pieces for corners and trim. It was a three-four day process but Kelli was patient and most of the work was done before Ashley's baby shower. I didn't lose any fingers (came close a few times) and I've yet to make the finishing touches but we'll get there . . . maybe next year.
