Leaving on a Jet Plane

Today was a very exciting day for the Webster family--Charlotte's very first ride in an airplane! We are in Virginia Beach for Brian's cousin's wedding, and it's going to be a VERY big weekend for us!

We got up early this morning to leave for the airport, since my mom and stepdad offered to drive us so we could avoid paying a ton of $$$ in parking fees. (Really it was just a rather thinly--or not at all--veiled reason to see Charlotte, since my mom hadn't seen her in like, omg, FIVE WHOLE DAYS!!!!1!!!11! But...I digress.) We went through McDonald's and got my crack...coffee! I meant coffee! We got my coffee and puttered on out to I-4...and got about to 10 exits down before I thought to ask Brian if he'd remembered to get his wallet out of his car. Want to guess the answer?

So, around we turned...home we went...wallet we retrieved...and back to I-4 we sped. I'd felt so good about leaving not just on time but even a little early! I should have known better. We got to the airport, and as my mom and stepdad dropped us off curbside. Before we could get our two suitcases, stroller and baby out of the car, some TSA lackey wandered over and announced, in barely discernable English, that we had "TWO MINUTES" to leave. Thanks buddy, can I get my luggage out of the car? Otherwise, the airline might not be able to charge me $50 to check this bag!

We solved that little dilemma by having Ron circle the racetrack...er, airport (have you ever been to the Orlando airport? The idiots there race around like they're qualifying!), and my mom helped Brian and me schlep our belongings into the airport. Anyway, here is Charlotte and me (and Brian in the background) standing outside the Orlando airport. As you can see, she is very interested in photographically commemorating her trip.

And here is Charlotte, finally situated in her stroller (we still had about 30 of our TWO MINUTES left, so I figured I'd snap some pics). Notice the coffee cup. Remember the coffee cup...I will regret that decision shortly.

And finally, here is Charlotte, giving Mommy the "wtf" look:

Anyway. So Ron's circling, Mom's schlepping, and I'm stressing. We were running a few minutes later than I wanted to, and it was about 500% humidity, which really improved my mood, so I was ever so gracious to my husband when started issuing directions over my shoulder at the check-in kiosk. And about that time...remember the coffee cup? Yeah, Charlotte decided she didn't want it in her stroller anymore, so she dumped it out. All over the floor. At which point Brian took the opportunity to step up the kiosk and start fiddling with it, and I'm trying to clean up the coffee mess, so I'm not paying any attention to what he's doing as he checks himself in, but not me, his wonderful and patient and loving wife.

The kiosk proceeds to spit out boarding passes for Brian, me, and my two in-laws (who were already through security and at the gate, by the way. I'm SO glad our airlines are concerned with cutting costs and passing those savings on to you, the customer), and some US Air guy comes over, says our name, and takes one suitcase. I told him, "Mine will be under Webster as well." He made me repeat myself THREE freaking times, then proceeded to turn around and help the guy next to me. Did anyone mention to me that I hadn't been checked in? No, I assumed my husband had done it, or that they guy behind the counter would indicate to me that I had something left to do before he took my suitcase and $20 checked luggage fee. Finally I asked the guy what I needed to do to get my bag checked, and he checked me in.

That done, we say our goodbyes to my mom and head over to security. I'm thinking it's going to be ever so fun to take a baby in a stroller through security, and they didn't let me down. First, we walk up to the entrance, and there's a gaggle of teenage girls congregated around the line entrances, completely blocking anyone from entering. When I finally knock a few down with the all-terrain stroller and get through, the nice lady tells me I need an infant boarding pass for Charlotte.

Now, she was ON the reservation. She was IN the stroller the whole time I was standing with it at the check-in counter. Don't you think that in the time the stupid check-in kiosk printed 500 boarding passes, it might have printed one for her? Or maybe, in the whole time Mr. US Airways was dazzling us with his customer service skills, he could have mentioned that if the baby was going on the plane, she'd need a boarding pass of her very own? But no. That would make sense, and therefore is out of the question.

So I went back and got her boarding pass, and we were shown to a special family line. I'm thinking, "Nice, this is going to go quickly!" Yeah, they made me take Charlotte OUT of the stroller, fold it up, take her shoes off, and take the food, formula, and water out of the diaper bag so they could "test" it, whatever that means. I fed her some of that formula, and if she grows any extra arms or toes, I'm going to be very upset. (Then, when we were finally through, her shoe wouldn't go back on. She has one foot that is very anti-shoe, and it always falls off. I have no idea.)

We actually made it to the plane in time, so I sent Brian off to get me a Coke...and he came back with water. I'm pretty sure I breathed fire at the point, and somehow a Coke magically appeared. He's a saint, that man.

On the plane, we had the nice front row with lots of room, but had to put the diaper bag away, which was kind of a pain. The flight itself was actually rather uneventful. At Charlotte's 9-month checkup I asked the doctor for any flying advice, and she said to try and make sure Charlotte had something to eat during take-off and landing--it does the same thing for babies that chewing gum does for adults. Sounded like good advice to me, so I made sure to starve the baby all morning so she'd eat on the plane! OK, not really, but I did want her kind of hungry, because sure enough, the time you want her to drink a bottle is the time she won't want it--unless she's hungry. There's a method to my madness!

So she did really well. The flight from Orlando to Charlotte was a little longer, and there were a few times she whined a little, but it was really only for a second or two before she'd get distracted by something else (ooh, a shiny!!! she's SO my kid). She liked looking out the window with Jane, until she realized that Mommy was like, two whole seats away, and that was the end of that.

We didn't have a whole lot of time on our layover, so we grabbed a quick bite to eat on the run between concourses, and made it to our flight from Charlotte to Norfolk with minutes to spare. There were several interesting fashion victims on my trip from Concourse B to Concourse E, but mean old Brian wouldn't let me take a picture with my phone, so I'll just say: Orange linen pants, Blue paisley sportcoat, loafers with no socks...one man.

Our plane to Norfolk was much smaller, and they wouldn't let us sit in the front row, so we got very cozy very quickly. Let's just say that those seats are about 7 inches across, but Charlotte doesn't have a concept of the laws of physics yet, and determined that it is in fact possible to occupy two seats at the same time. It was entertaining, to say the least. She made lots of friends on the plane, probably for the sole reason that she didn't cry at ALL on that flight. I know what people think. I used to (and still sometimes am) one of them. "Oh great, there's a baby on this flight. FUN." But she was a champ. She flirted with the flight attendant, and made friends with the nice older lady across the aisle, and finally, just as we were making our final descent into Norfolk, she crashed. Hard. One minute she was up and looking around, then she literally flopped her head onto my arm and was asleep in seconds. She didn't even wake up when we bumped along the runway, or got off the plane, or any of that. She managed to sleep all the way until we got to baggage claim, which is pretty rare for her; usually she won't sleep while being held.

Anyway...it's super late, and I'm super tired, so that's going to end my rant for the evening. We made it here, and we're actually on the beach--I wish we had more time to enjoy it! Hopefully tomorrow I'll have some time to get Charlotte down to the beach or the pool. Our first plane ride was a success, and Charlotte has done really well since we got here, despite having a LONG day. She's getting some hard-earned rest, and I think I will join her!

Goodbyes

For Stephanie

A very good friend of mine lost her mother this morning to cancer. Stephanie is one of my oldest friends, my college roommate, has been with me through some of the best and very worst times in my life. She is one of the very few people in this world who knows almost everything there is to know about me. In high school, we were in and out of each other's homes so much that our parents took on kind of a universal "Mom-ness"...and though time and distance have taken us each on our own paths, I feel as though a part of me is gone as well.

Mama Byrd was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year, and Stephanie has been steadfastly caring for her mother for these last several months. I'll admit that I was surprised when I heard the news this morning; I truly didn't realize that her health had deteriorated that far. Part of me wants to be happy that she no longer feels pain, she is at peace...but that's such a cliche, and it does nothing to ease the pain of those who are still here. The larger part of me understands that her daughter will now shoulder the burden of grief, in addition to the many others she carries. Though I've known Stephanie for a very long, I've been amazed at the strength and grace with which she's handled mother's illness--I don't know that I could do the same in her situation.

There's nothing I can say. I wish there was. Everything sounds so trite. The only thing I can think to do is to grieve for my friend, and with her.

Dog for Sale

This morning started off like any other...got up around 7, got Charlotte up and gave her a bottle, got her dressed. No big deal, same as any other day. Then, as I'm walking her back to the bedroom to say goodbye to Daddy before she went to Miss Terri's for the day, I felt something under my foot. It's not unheard of to step in wierd things around this house; with an 8-month-old Golden Retriever, the surprises are endless. This, however, didn't feel like a rock or a squeaky toy or a branch or clump of moss. In fact, it was kind of...wiry? Crunchy? What could it be...?

My glasses. Or, more accurately, half of my glasses. My not altogether inexpensive titanium-no-rim-featherweight-Transition-lens glasses. Nevermind that I'd had them for 5 years, which made me about 3 years overdue for new ones. Nevermind that if I'd taken proper care of my contacts, I wouldn't need my glasses. And nevermind that I hadn't exactly left them in case where they might have been safe (in my defense, they were on the bathroom counter). Just...of all the...my glasses!!!

Since I'd been stringing my last pair of contacts along for the last 2 months or so, and my specs were no longer an option, Brian and I packed up and headed out to find me an eye doctor. I've had vision insurance since I started working for the School Board, but I'd never used it...and the most convenient in-network provider? Wal-Mart. Yeeeeeefreakinghaw.

I felt marginally better about going to Sam's (at least you have to be a "member" there, right?), but the doctor wasn't in until tomorrow. So...Wal-Mart it was. Oh boy. The lady who filled out my paperwork was astounded that I knew my prescription; she's all, "I've never had anyone know that before!" Really? Never? I only look at it every time I put in a new pair of contacts...

They actually got me in pretty quickly, which didn't give me too long to wonder if that was due to their businesslike efficiency or their lack of patronage. It also didn't give me too long to wonder how exactly an eye doctor ends up practicing at Wal-Mart.

I'm thinking it was his winning personality. He immediately chastised me for sleeping in my contacts (helll-lo, I thought it was ok...only like every other eye doctor has told me it was), and barely spoke 2 words the whole time I was there. Not that I like a Chatty Cathy, but still...there is a social contract to fulfill here.

Much to my dismay, I don't get my "official" prescription until I go back next week, which means I couldn't pick out frames today. That saved me from choosing between the Wrangler and NASCAR lines of Ladies' Fashion Frames. Whew.

Just Because You Can...Part Deux

or, Just Because You Can, Concert Edition.

Tara and I just got home from the Darius Rucker/Rascal Flatts concert, at which we had lots of fun. Our original seats were lawn seats, and a word of advice to anyone attending a concert at the Ford Ampitheater who a) isn't drunk and b) doesn't want to spend the evening wearing some guy's beer--pay the extra $$ for regular seats. I'm sure that if I were still in college and skinny and could pull off the jean-skirt-white-tank-cowboy-boots-pigtails thing, it would be SO much fun. I could mingle with the 500 other girls wearing the exact.same.thing, and the fraternity douchebags with their spiked hair and popped collars. Oh, I miss college so much!

Not really.

We ended up being able to sneak into the regular seats for the Rascal Flatts portion of the concert, which was much preferable. The lawn seats did, however, afford us a spectacular view of the comings and goings of the other concert patrons, and oh MY. Just...oh my. Which brings me back to my original thought: Just because you can doesn't mean you should. I know, I've said it before, but apparently not everyone received the memo. So just to recap, here are some thoughts that occurred to me at tonight's event. Just a few things to remember when you're looking in the mirror before leaving the house to go out in PUBLIC.

1. If it's a shirt, it requires pants.

2. Tights are not pants. They are undergarments.

3. All boots are not created equal.

4. It's not particularly cute when a large group of girls all dress the same, intentionally or otherwise (though Tara and I did purchase the same Rascal Flatts concert tee, we will not be wearing them at the same time). It's not cute, it just makes you look like you have no imagination. Especially when the outfit you've all chosen to wear is just ugly.

5. If you have a tummy, at all, even a little one, please do not wear super low-cut jeans and tie up your shirt to show it to the world. Or, if you must, please at least stand up straight and suck it in.

6. Men: popped collars look ridiculous. Stop that.

7. Men again: Please leave your shirt on.

8. Back to the ladies: Please leave your shirt on.

9. All sundresses/maxi dresses were not created for all body types. Please wear the proper foundational garments with your dress (like, I don't know...a bra).

10. If your pockets are visible beneath your hemline, your shorts are TOO FREAKING SHORT.

That's it for now. I'm sure there's more, but it's late, and the one beer I had is making me sleepy. (Why only one beer, you ask? Because that ONE beer was EIGHT freaking dollars. EIGHT dollars for a beer. I could buy a whole SIX-PACK with eight bucks, if it wouldn't take me a year to drink that many.)

My Latest Obsession

Has been making Charlotte a tutu. If you are on my Facebook (and I think the three people who read my blog are), you've seen the pictures, but I have to put them here anyway, because I'm just beside myself over the cuteness! I have no idea why I have become so obsessed with making her a tutu (or many, as I have discovered that you can't make just one). It started with thinking it would be cute for her first birthday. I've seen pictures of little babies in these big fluffy tutus, with pearls and crocheted caps and all manner of girly accessories, and while I didn't immediately love the idea, it's kind of snuck up on me. Now it's all I can think about! So here's tutu #1. Look back for future tutu efforts. If you know anyone with a little girl who just must have a tutu, let me know and I'll make you one!

Things I am Thankful For

Or, to appease the grammar nerd in me, things for which I am thankful. I've been kind of down the last couple of days, and worried about the whole CAT scan thing, so I thought it was time to focus on the good, at least for a minute or two...


I am thankful that (and, as a side note, this may be the whole reason I wrote this post) I weighed less today at the gym than I did BEFORE taking almost two whole weeks off and eating a ton of bad (but so, sooooo good) food while on vacation.

I am thankful that I have a job that I love. I went and worked on curriculum maps for several hours today, to which many people responded, "Oh, THAT sounds fun..." But, strange as it may sound, I enjoyed it.

I am thankful for my husband. He loves me, and he's a wonderful father to our baby girl. No, he's not perfect, but neither am I.

I am thankful for my daughter. She's beautiful and happy and so good-natured. I don't think I could have made a more wonderful little person if I'd put her together one piece at a time.

I am thankful that I have a family that loves and supports me. I can't imagine trying to raise a child on my own, though I know there are those who do. I couldn't do the things I do or live the life I live without the love and support from all of my family.

I'm thankful that I have a job, a home, clothes, food, and a vehicle that works. It's not always a lot, and sometimes I wish we had more, but right now there are people with a lot (a LOT) less than we have. Even though I get frustrated and money can be tight, I can (sometimes) step back and realize that it could be a lot worse.

I'm thankful for my students. They've all touched my life in so many ways.

I'm thankful that I'm able to do the things I enjoy. I like silly things, like making a fluffy tutu for my daughter (Brian still hasn't stopped apologizing to her for Mommy's silliness), spending time with my family, and writing on my blog, and hitting "refresh" on my Facebook page every 20 seconds, and doing laundry...and lots of things.

I'm thankful for my friends. I have some friends who've been in my life for almost 20 years, and some for less than one, but I cherish them all--even if I don't show it very well sometimes.

I'm thankful to have an incredible mom.

Something New

I was messing around with this website, and uploaded some beach pics and such. Let me know what you think!

Friday Blog #2

Here is my second blog...because I have some serious cuteness and the thought of allowing my sweet girl to occupy my previous blog post makes me feel sick, so I made one just for her! Because I love her so much! Today is our last whole day at the beach. Tomorrow we go home, and we'll miss the beach, but we are very excited to see Daddy! Here are some pictures from our last day at the beach!

"Mommy, let's go swimming!"

This is how far she "crawled"--from where I'm standing to her ladybug by the door.

She likes the sand, and her bucket...

...Just not at the same time.

I much prefer to use the bucket as a drum. It's more funner.

A bucket. I has one.

Friday Blog 1

Today requires two blogs...I'll explain why shortly.

First, here:
http://www.theledger.com/article/20090717/NEWS/907179968

This family lives (lived?) about 5 houses down from us, and the poor little baby girl went to Charlotte's daycare. I am sick to my stomach right now, and at a loss for what to think.

My sitter called me on Thursday to tell me that the baby had been rushed to the hospital, but then we left for the beach and I had no idea what happened afterward. I feel so sad for this baby, and for her brother. I'm not sure how I feel about the mother right now, because I feel like she had to have known what was happening and covered it up. I'm reserving judgment, because I don't know, but it's difficult. I've considered that perhaps she was a victim of abuse herself, but I cannot imagine allowing someone to harm my child in such a manner. No matter how I try to wrap my mind around it, I just can't fathom it.

I saw the baby several times in the short weeks she attended daycare with Charlotte, and never would have suspected she was being abused. Of course, I wasn't around her a LOT, and I wasn't inspecting her closely, but she didn't cry a lot (which I would think she would, with a broken arm), and she wasn't fussy, and if she had bruises on her face/head/neck, I didn't see them. Though I seriously doubt there's anything I could have done to help the little girl, I still wonder. I also wonder if the sitter saw something and didn't report it, or if she truly didn't notice. I'll be calling her ASAP tomorrow to discuss.

It makes me sick that this man was in my neighborhood, and that he was in the same house as my daughter. That I saw him and smiled at him, even in passing, and treated him like a civilized human being. The more I type, the angrier I get, so I'm going to try to stop.

Finally!

I got a picture of Charlotte's teeth! (Also check out her super-cute pigtails!)

And here's some pictures of Charlotte on the beach this morning. She was having fun playing with her bucket and shovel, until the maintenance guy came to shovel sand off the path. She wasn't too pleased about the noise.

What a difference...

Wow. What a difference a year makes! This is me, at the Four Winds in July of 2008. I was 50 or so months pregnant (or 7 months. Whatever):

Now...a short but eventful year later:

As you can see, Charlotte was not interested in allowing herself to be photographed. She was, however, interested in Mommy's sunglasses! Yay!

I love this last one--her smile and laugh just show her personality so perfectly!

Beach Blanket Baby!

After last night's adventures, I was more than a little wary of taking Charlotte down to the beach for the first time. True, she's been in a pool before, but the beach is a whole different animal. I get the feeling she's mostly overwhelmed by the whole vacation thing, so I was extremely unsure of how she'd react to the sun and the sand.

She did have lots of fun playing on the floor with her toys:

Preparation for the beach venture took almost as long as the trip itself, of course, and Charlotte was not at all amused with Mommy's pesky sunscreen application.

When Mommy and Charlotte and Grandma finally got down to the beach, we snagged a couple of chairs and an umbrella (right downstairs from our room so Aunt Pam could watch from the balcony!), and set Charlotte up on a towel with a bucket and shovel. She proceeded, of course, to bang these two items together gleefully, completely ignoring the sand.

Then we went down to the water. Let's just say Charlotte's first impressions weren't all that favorable. I put her feet down in the sand right where the water came up, and she immediately pulled them up and hung from my hands like a monkey. I carried her into the water, and she looked around like, "Um, Mommy, what are you doing?" After a few minutes though, she relaxed and started splashing in the water, which was fun until she splashed the salt water in her face--she wasn't impressed. I pulled up a handful of sand for her inspection, and she immediately tried to eat it. Go figure. After a few minutes we decided to go up the pool, and on the way, I tried putting Charlotte back down on the sand. She actually didn't seem to mind this time, until she tried to crawl and ended up with a wave in the face for her efforts.

In the pool she had a grand old time...she sat on the wall and kicked her feet, and sat on the steps and kicked her feet, and rode around with Mommy and kicked her feet...and splashed and splashed and splashed! All in all, I have to say the trip to the beach and the pool was a success. We stayed down there for about an hour, then came up and had lunch, and Charlotte and Mommy took a nice, long nap. We're looking forward to more fun in the sun tomorrow!

Note: I have a TON more pictures, but some of them are on my mom's camera, and this craptastic connection doesn't want to upload them, so I'll get 'em up sooner or later.

And she hasn't even been ON the beach yet...

While I'm waiting on the slowest Facebook photo upload EVER, let me go ahead and tell you about our first summer beach trip with...the bambina!

Almost every year since I was about five years old, I've gone on a week-long family trip to Longboat Key Beach. My grandma had a time-share condo at the Four Winds, so at first it was grandma, my mom, and me, along with whatever other members of the family wanted to come down for a day or the week. When my grandma's health got too bad, we stopped coming for a few years, but renewed the tradition when I was 14, returning to Four Winds with my best friend Tara and her mom Theresa. Five or so years later, we began taking our summer sojourns with my Aunt Pam; we've tried several different places, but we keep coming back to Longboat Key. What can I say, I'm sentimental.

So here I am, more than 20 years since I first came to the Four Winds, with the fourth generation of "Knight Women" to grace its premises. We got here on Saturday after a prolonged lunch at the Cracker Barrel (in which Charlotte had carrots and mashed potatoes, in case you're interested), followed by a trip down I-75 in the pouring rain. We finally made it around 3 in the afternoon and realized that traveling with a baby requires two luggage carts, opposed to the previously sufficient single cart. Once we got her assorted paraphernalia into the room and set up, it was almost time for dinner--her dinner, anyway, as Mommy, Grandma and Aunt Pam were still full from our late lunch.

I had kind of assumed that we would go out for dinner, so I decided that I'd go ahead with her bath and change her into a non-sweaty outfit. I don't know if she was hungry, or objected to the change in her routine, or didn't like the different tub, or some combination thereof, but my usually splash-happy kid was NOT in the mood for cleanliness.

I just want to take a break to say you know, this would be a LOT freaking easier if I had an internet connection that didn't crap out every 30 seconds. Just sayin.

Anyway. So I put her in the tub (which is a little weird--it's very deep and rather narrow, and the water takes like 20 minutes to get above a temperature that could be considered anything other than lukewarm), and she looked up at me and her little face just melted down. She immediately started waving her arms up and down in her "Mommy Pick Me Up" gesture, and practically climbed up the sides of the tub when I reached down for her. After I had an armful of wet baby, I checked the water temperature, which was fine, and put her toys in, and tried again. No go. Got her out, calmed her down, tried one more time. Fail.

Finally I brought her into the kitchen and bathed her in the sink, which was only marginally more successful. After the bathtime debacle, we decided to forego a dinner out and just get subs from Publix, which is right across the street. A plan emerged: I would give Charlotte dinner, then my mom and I would go to Publix while Charlotte chillaxed with Aunt Pam and got ready for her sleeps. I quickly learned that she was indeed hungry, as she gulped down a Hearty Vegetable Stew and some Bananas/Stawberries with a side of amoxicillin without even batting an eyelash.

So Charlotte hung out in her swing for a bit, then Aunt Pam put her in the Pack & Play and she actually went to sleep while Mommy and Grandma were at Publix. Mommy, however, couldn't leave well enough alone, and much madness ensued upon our return. When I went in to check on Charlotte, I of course had to fix her blanket, which woke her up, which led her to begin crying when she discovered that she was in an unfamiliar place and Mommy wasn't there. Grandma rescued her from the evil baby jail, and we brought her out to the living room to sit for a minute and try to get her to take a bottle. No such luck...for oh, 3 hours or so. She played, she laughed, she cried, she fussed...what she would not do is go back to sleep. She was so tired too; she'd yawn and suck her thumb and cuddle up to whoever was holding her, until she saw or heard something that she needed to check out. It was like she was so afraid she'd miss something if she closed her eyes for just a second.

Finally, a little after 10, I took her into the bedroom and tried laying her in the PnP next to my bed, where she proceeded to roll around and play and laugh like...well, like she was drunk. I have no idea what her malfunction was! Finally she fell asleep close to 11, and slept till about 8 this morning. It's been quite eventful so far, and she hasn't even made it out of the room yet!

So...Charlotte had her 9-month well baby checkup on Tuesday, and we got mixed reviews. She weighed in at 17 lbs, 13 oz, and measured 27.5 inches, which puts her in roughly the 25th percentile for weight and the 50th percentile for length. But she's puttering along nicely on her own growth curve, so all is well in that area.

She was very happy to discover that the 9-month checkup means...NO SHOTS! Yay! Dr. Velez checked for all the other stuff, like making sure she's rolling over, sitting up, crawling (not so much on that one...), she can sort of stand. All that good stuff. What didn't go so well was the chest listening and ear inspection--Charlotte has quite a bit of nasal congestion that has spread down to her chest, and she has the beginnings of an ear infection. Not yay. Dr. Velez prescribed some antibiotics to clear up the ear infection, and it's safe to say that Charlotte does.not.like. I have managed to get her to take her medicine by putting it in her morning bottle, which she sucks down without questioning its contents, and in her evening serving of fruit, about which she is a little more discerning. Last night I put the medicine in her pears, and she looked at me the whole time like, "I'm eating it, but I'm not fooled and I don't like it." Once the medicine was gone, she returned to her pear-eating with her usual gusto.

Anyway. So Charlotte's doing well developmentally, but she's feeling rather poorly. The last week or so has been a particular challenge for because I am NOT used to having a fussy baby. (This is where my friend Tara tells me, "Now you know what it's like for the rest of us." Moms with fussy kids--I salute you. Really.) We've also spent the rest of the week visiting with my Aunt Pam, who arrived on Wednesday afternoon. I got a really cute video of Charlotte scooting across the carpet in my mom's living room, but I can't figure out how to get it to play on my computer...as soon as I do, I'll put it up! I can't believe how much stuff she can do now!

Tomorrow we head off for Charlotte's first trip to the beach! Yay! I'll try to post pictures and stuff.

Happy 4th!!

So I have to say that all in all, Charlotte's first 4th of July was a success!

Before I tell you all about it, I just want to say a huge thank you to all the men and women (and their families) who dedicate their lives to serving our country and to preserving our rights and independence. You are appreciated!!!

To celebrate the 4th, we went to my in-laws' house in Palmetto. We did this last year, and looks like it might become a nice little (dare I say it?) family tradition. We went over there in the early afternoon, which meant we missed out on the day trip on the boat. I would have liked to have gone out on the boat and gone swimming and whatnot, but in the interest of preserving Charlotte's good nature, we decided to make sure she had her morning nap before we went anywhere. She's still feeling a mite poorly, so I didn't want to stress her too badly.

So we had the house to ourselves when we got there, which gave us time to give Charlotte her lunch and set up the various paraphernalia and accoutrements that are necessary for any overnight travel with a baby. We'd borrowed my mom's Pack & Play, which is the "modern" equivalent of a play pen; it doubles as a play pen and a baby bed, and it folds up into roughly the size of a deck of cards for convenient travel. Awesome invention. I have no idea why I don't have one of these things! Anyway...so Charlotte went to town in the PnP with her bag o'toys and Mommy and Daddy vegged on the couch while we waited for the rest of clan Webster/Dane to arrive. Check out her very festive and patriotic outfit:

After the rest of the family and friends got back from their day trip aboard the Doodle II, everyone got a-bustlin' with preparations for dinner: steak, baked potatoes, mushrooms, bread, and salad (which of course I didn't eat). Nummers. The men were, of course, in charge of the meat, while the ladies handled the potatoes and such. I'll be honest, I didn't really do anything--usually I'm all about helping out, but the kitchen is itty bitty and I had a baby to watch, so I stayed out of the way. While the little ladies were in the kitchen, Brian and David decided that a pina colada would be tasty, so off they went to buy a blender and assorted ingredients necessary for their libations.

Meanwhile, back at the house, Charlotte sat on the floor in the living room and enjoyed the attentions of everyone in the house...and there was much attention, believe me. She handled it pretty well. Lately she's been a little clingy around people she's not used to, but she just ate it up. Probably because my 2 brothers-in-law and their friend were there, so she had lots of boys to play with. Never mind the pesky wives, or that 30-something year age gap...she was making all sorts of big flirty eyes at them. (I'm really looking forward to about 13, 14 years from now when she discovers boys her own age.) Jason and his friend Adam had to run to the store, and we decided to have them drop Brian's car off at the marina so we could take the boat back there and drive home, rather than attempt to navigate the somewhat shallow waters of the Intracoastal in the dark to take us back to the house.

Brian and David returned with the makings for some kickass pina coladas, fired up the grill, and got down to their manly business while I got Charlotte a bath. She helped me eat my baked potato and was none too happy with my assessment that her one tooth is insufficient to handle a steak. Mean old Mommy.

After dinner...it was time to go on the boat to watch the fireworks! This was the part I was unsure about. Either Charlotte was going to love it, or she was going to hate it. It takes about 30-45 minutes to get from the house on the Intracoastal Waterway to the place near Bradenton where we watch the fireworks, and it was already about an hour past Charlotte's bedtime, so I was crossing my fingers! We sat on the top deck with her so she could see what was going on--at first she was a little unsure, but once she got used to it she was very interested in what was going on.

She also got to spend some quality time with her Grandma Jane, which is pretty rare...usually Charlotte gets around to see everyone else, but not this time!

The boat ride was incredible...no rain, nice breeze, pretty sunset. We got to our spot just in time to watch the fireworks, which was nice...last year we went out on the boat and cooked and ate dinner there, then had to wait several hours for the fireworks to start--it made for a very long evening (of course, I was like 500 months pregnant at the time, which didn't help much). This year was nice; we only had to wait about 15 minutes for the show to start.

The fireworks started at about 9:30, and even though Charlotte was super tired by that time, she really enjoyed them. She started whimpering a little at the first one or two loud booms, but after that she was riveted.

She watched the first part of the show with Mommy, but the boat turned around so we couldn't see the fireworks very well, so she went to sit with Daddy.

The show lasted about 30 minutes or so, and she started to get a little bored with it by the end, though she dug the finale--lots of pretty lights! On the way back, Brian and I realized that in our rush to get on the boat after dinner, neither of us had brought the keys to his car, which was sitting in the parking lot at the marina, waiting to take us home. Oops...

Brian and David took a cab back to the house (and in the bustling metropolis that is Palmetto, it was probably the most expensive 5 minute taxi ride ever) and brought back the keys. Luckily we'd thought to bring Charlotte's swing on the boat, so she was passed out in the air conditioned cabin, swinging merrily away (and Mommy was not sacked out on the couch next to her...definitely not). When we finally made it back to the house, Charlotte pretty much immediately went back to sleep in the PnP, and slept until an unprecedented 8 o'clock this morning. Which of course meant she wasn't interested in going back to sleep like she usually does.

After her first breakfast, which was way less interesting than watching Granddad's dogs run around on the floor, she played with her toys (sharing nicely with Tink and Bell), and generally had a good old time until Mommy the Mean Sucky Bulb Monster attacked her. That pretty much ruined her morning and led to a meltdown, followed closely by nap.

All in all we had a really nice weekend. I'm very happy that Charlotte enjoyed the boat and fireworks, and I can't wait until we take her to the beach next weekend! Hope you had a safe, fun, and happy 4th!