Lazy Days

There is not a lot going on here in the last few days... but I did catch Charlotte passed out on her daddy last night. So cute! Charlotte is doing much better about sleeping at night (knock on wood). She has been going to bed earlier and earlier. Last night she went to bed at 10:30! (Hey..it used to be 2:00 am, we are making progress). Now, if I could only get her to stop peeing through her pajamas every night, we would be all set. She is one well-hydrated baby :)

We hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the fall weather!

Charlotte's Web!

Yesterday was the annual Lansing Halloween Parade. So the Clinnin/Cannata family along with our friends the Simich family decided to dress our little ones up and join. We were worried that it wasn't going to happen as it looked like rain...but it turned out to be a clear day, a little cold...but clear. If you can't tell, Charlotte was a spider! I put webs all over her stroller, so in effect....she was "Charlotte's Web." I will post more pics on Halloween because we have another aspect to her costume....I'll save that for later. Like I said, it was pretty cold when we got there. I had her dressed in double layers everywhere, but her little hands were cold. I tried pulling her sleeves down over her hands to cover them, but that didn't work. Then I had an ingenious idea...use a spare pair of socks as "mittens." So, she was all black except for her white hands...but at least she was warm! It was a short parade, perfect for the little ones. We all had a great time, Charlotte was mesmerized by what was going on around her. After the parade, we went over to the Simich house for a great lunch. Charlotte got to hang out with her new little friend, Emily. (Emily was dressed as the scarecrow). After lunch, we went to Grandma Clinnin's before heading over to Uncle Jim and Aunt Kathy's house for Ralph's birthday. It was a very long and busy day...but filled with great memories! Enjoy the pictures and video!

Charlotte Eats Pears

Today, we had a few "stomach issues" with Charlotte...so the pediatrician's website recommended apple juice, apples or pears. Well, we found out quickly that Charlotte does not like apple juice. I tried giving it to her straight in a bottle, mixed into cereal and mixed into formula. Nope...no fooling that child. She didn't want any part of apple juice. So, while Kevin was watching Charlotte, I ran some errands. I stopped at the store and got some applesauce and pears. I figured it was a long shot since she didn't like the apple juice. Well, while I was gone her "issues" resolved themselves...but I was still curious to see if she would like the fruit. Later on that evening while we were carving another set of pumpkins...we tried the pears. As you can tell from the video, she thought they were a little tart, but eventually liked them. Aunt Colleen went to the Bears game and then joined us for dinner and pumpkins after. Overall...a good day!

By the way...I was in Bed, Bath and Beyond today and do you know that they make bread bags and cold cut bags in addition to green bags now?? That Debbie Meyers...she's so industrious. What will she think of next.

Pumpkins!!!

We figured Charlotte was a little too young to go to a pumpkin patch this year, so we took a stroller ride to our local nursery to pick out some pumpkins to carve. We had a great time. However, Charlotte passed out on the way there (see the picture!).

After dinner, our neighbors Jack and Susan came over for some drinks and then we carved our pumpkins. Kevin and I had a great time, we hadn't carved pumpkins since we were in grade school. See the pictures below, we carved some rather impressive pumpkins. Charlotte was happy to watch us carve our pumpkins while she tried to eat the little one that we bought her. We are in full Halloween mode now!!!

Kevin's Pumpkin!












Gina's Pumpkin!












Charlotte's Pumpkin!

Charlotte Rolling Like Crazy

I took this video of Charlotte today. You can see just how much she rolls back and forth now. I just thought it was funny how she ended up. She's a riot.

We went for a long walk today, you have to love the fall weather. Charlotte was all bundled up in her car seat with her new coat and her car seat cover. She was asleep before we got to the corner. She loves stroller rides. That's about all for today...not much going on!

Charlotte is 5 Months Old!

Today, Charlotte turned 5 months old! What a big girl! Charlotte had a new experience today, her first stay with a babysitter (other than family). Kevin and I joined our good friends The Zienkiewicz's for a wine tasting at a local wine bar. They have a daughter, Lila, who is just 2 months older than Charlotte and their babysitter didn't mind watching two babies. We had a great time. We called to check in on Charlotte after a while and it turns out she had a little meltdown, but she got over it. So, I was worried about her from that point on. When we got back to Mark and Jill's, we found Charlotte sitting on the couch, in nothing but a diaper watching TV with the babysitter. It was sooo cute. I guess she started getting a rash because she was so hot in her jammies. Plus, anyone that knows Charlotte knows she loves to be naked! The babysitting was definitely more traumatic for me than her. But, it's always good to know another person in the city who can watch her if we need it!

Grandparent Filled Weekend!

We had a busy busy weekend here at the Clinnin house! On Friday, I had to take my car into Toyota for some maintenance, so Charlotte and I headed down to the south suburbs early. My dad came with us so that we could drop my car off and we could go in his car back to their house. After a little while at home, the three of us went to Sam's Club to get some groceries and other stuff. After Sam's, we went back to Grandma and Grandpa's to make dinner and wait for Grandma to get home from work. I also set up both Grandma and Grandpa's computers with Skype accounts so that we can see Charlotte when we are in Hawaii. Also, it allows them to see Charlotte anytime they want. Skype is a free service that allows people to have live video web chats. If you haven't tried it out, we highly recommend it! It's great, even Aunt Liz and Aunt Emily can see Charlotte from college! Later on in the evening, Kevin called to let me know that Aunt Colleen and Uncle Andy were at our house, so Charlotte and I packed up and went home so that we could hang out with them. Uncle Andy got a great promotion...congrats to him!! Kevin and Andy went out to get a few beers to celebrate while Colleen and I stayed back and played with Charlotte.

Saturday, we hung around the house for the most part. Later on in the evening, Grandma and Grandpa Cannata and their friends stopped by for a little while. They were downtown seeing a play and going out to dinner. Seeing as how they were just a few miles away, they couldn't go back to the burbs without a quick "Charlotte Fix."

Sunday, we went down to Grandma Clinnin's house to spend the day visiting with Grandma, Aunt Colleen, Aunt Mary and Uncle Phil. Charlotte had a great time..she was smiling and happy and very playful! While we were there, we also set up Grandma and Aunt Colleen's computers with Skype. So, now...all the grandparents can see Charlotte anytime they would like! It's really a great thing and we can't wait to utilize it. I can't wait until Charlotte is older and says, "Call Grandma on the computer!!!" It's amazing how far we have come. I was joking with Kevin that in the movie "Back the the Future," having video calls was a totally futuristic thing....and now here we are! If anyone else out there is a Skype user or wants to be...let us know, we'd love to "Skype" with you! All in all, we had a very busy, but great weekend!

Charlotte's First Trip

We are back from our weekend trip to Springfield, MA, where we visited Charlotte's Great Grandma (Nana). The trip was fantastic and Charlotte did great on the plane both there and back. On the way there, she fell asleep while we were waiting at the gate in Chicago and didn't wake up until we walked into Grandma's house. She slept through: boarding, the entire flight, getting the luggage, the rental car shuttle, getting the rental loaded and the drive to Grandma's from the airport! You wouldn't have even known there was an infant on the plane, she did that great. I was sooo nervous on the plane, I didn't know how she would react. But sure enough, just like the car, she was completely out. We had a great time visiting with all of our family out east. The first day we were there we made a pretty big discovery...Charlotte's first tooth!! She has been drooling like crazy and chewing on anything she can get her hands on. Well, I felt her gums and sure enough...there it was. Her bottom front tooth on the right finally poked through! (Update..she now has both bottom teeth!)

As usual, Charlotte was the belle of the ball and everyone had a good time meeting her. For the most part, she was very happy and smiley the entire time. Out of the three nights we spent in the hotel, she only slept the entire night once. The other two, we were up from 1-4.

On Friday, we went right to Grandma's from the airport and had lunch (her famous chicken tortellini soup with meatballs...I craved it when I couldn't eat for 8 weeks). That evening, everyone came over for dinner. Saturday, we went to Tom and Nancy's house for dinner and Sunday was the big dinner back at Grandma's. I kid you not....this is what we ate: Spaghetti and Meatballs, broiled chicken, sausage and peppers, fried eggplant, eggplant parmigiana, zucchini, broccoli, calamari, bread, salad, spinach, roasted vegetables, green beans, roasted red peppers, tomatoes (and I know I am forgetting something). Then for dessert....pumpkin pie, three different types of cakes, cookies and canolis from La Fiorentina (The bakery where my Grandma and Grandpa got their wedding cake) and fruit. 6 weeks until Hawaii...did I plan this trip at a bad time or what?

Charlotte sleeping on the plane.













Charlotte with her hat!












Charlotte singing karaoke with Great Uncle Tom











Charlotte with Nana












Charlotte with Jessica and Joey

Cereal!!

Well, today we decided to try something new...cereal! We have heard conflicting reports on when to start cereal....4 months...6 months. So, we figured we would give it a try and see how it went. It was a little weird for her at first, but she liked it eventually! I think it was strange for her to eat off of a spoon...very new. I am going to post a few videos. The first try we did, we made the cereal a little watery, but then we thickened it up and she liked it more. Enjoy!

Congrats to Kevin...he got a promotion yesterday!!

Two more days until our trip to Massachusetts. Pray for us for a calm and safe plane ride!!