Charlotte at 9 months

Hanging out in her stroller at a MOPS playdate

Visiting with Grandma at Cracker Barrel. Charlotte enjoyed some tiny bites of pancakes that day too. She gobbled them up.

Charlotte started pulling up. She also started crawling more on her hands and knees instead of scooting. Once she’s on her feet, she doesn’t go anywhere and usually just waits until someone helps her down.

Charlotte still has bright blue eyes.

It will be interesting to see if they change. Rosemary’s were this bright when she was this age and now they are a hazel-green. Ben’s were brown pretty early on.

We had a check-up this month and here are her stats:

Weight: 15 lbs, 13 oz., 5th percentile

Length: 27.5 in, 50th percentile

Head: 45 cm, 75th percentile

All of our kids have huge heads. Whenever our doctor tells us her stats, it’s usually concluded with, “She is a Peine.” Light-weight, big heads. :-)

We still are at two naps a day with about an hour in the morning and 2 and a half hours in the afternoon. And she sleeps about 12 hours at night.

Temperament-wise she’s still very sweet and easygoing. I am finding though that she seems to have a harder time in childcare at church or at MOPS than the other two. Hopefully we can work through it though. My guess is it’s harder for her to sleep in either of those places, and if she doesn’t get her sleep, she gets a bit grumpy. Otherwise, she’s so easy and her whole family thinks she’s pretty amazing.

Our girls

SeaWorld

We snuck away this past weekend to celebrate my dad’s birthday at the condo in Orlando. It was gorgeous weather. A little cool for the pool but we still all got in. It was perfect for a day at SeaWorld. Jonathan and I even got away for a bit to go on a shopping date. He needed shoes. Pretty sure that’s the only way I could get him to willingly shop with me. :-)

At SeaWorld waiting for Blue Horizons.

I think Ben looks so much like Jonathan here.

Charlotte fell asleep in the stroller with her little leg propped up. And Rosemary rode most of the time in the seat beside Charlotte. Ben had first right of refusal for the stroller seat and he almost always chose to walk instead.

Ben thoroughly enjoyed his alone time with Grandma and Grandpa while the girls rode in the stroller.

The Glorious Flight Airport Visit & Reading with Grandma

Last week we read The Glorious Flight for our Five in a Row book. Richard and Janice came to Gainesville one day and Richard took Rosemary and me to the general aviation side of the airport to teach Rosemary a little bit about airplanes (I learned a lot too).

This was Rosemary’s first time this close to a plane. She’s never flown before and seemed a bit overwhelmed with things, but soaked everything in. It amazes me how much she retains after just hearing something once.

Afterwards, we visited a bit then Rosemary did some reading with Janice. She’s doing so well with her reading. The thought of teaching Rosemary how to read was what I found most intimidating about homeschooling, but she is thriving. The curriculum we’re using seems to really click for her.

And yes, Rosemary’s hair is pink. Ben’s hair was blue that day.

Ballet–Parent Observation Night

Last week, I got to watch Rosemary in her ballet class.

Overall, she did pretty well.

But she did fall down a lot too. This girl keeps us on our toes.

Another climber

The other day, Rosemary had her step stool in the living room. We looked over and look who had gotten on her feet. She’s nowhere near cruising, but she occasionally gets up like this if there’s something low enough. And Charlotte’s following in her siblings’ footsteps, she’s another climber.

Greathouse & Corky Bells

A few weeks ago, we woke up one Saturday with absolutely no plans for the day. We don’t get many weekends like that. So we decided to take advantage of the day and headed to the Monarch Butterfly Festival at Greathouse Butterfly Farm in Earleton, about half an hour away from Gainesville.

We checked out the vendors and Rosemary and Ben potted some milkweek to bring home for our garden.

Then we headed over for some pony rides. Neither of the kids had ever been on a horse before.

Charlotte hung out with me in the sling. Definitely wasn’t stroller terrain around the farm.

The kids enjoyed the tractor too.

Sitting like a such a boy.

Before leaving the farm, we decided to take a walking tour. We figured it would be around 20 minutes or so. It was 45 minutes. And Rosemary and Ben were amazing. They stayed with us the whole time, listened (or at least were quiet), and didn’t complain a bit. Charlotte napped in the wrap.

By the time we left it was lunch time. We drove over to Palatka to eat at Corky Bells on the St. John’s River. The week before we’d read Night of the Moonjellies for Five in a Row so we were in the mood for some good seafood. Rosemary and Ben ate like they’d never seen food before in their lives.

Everything was delicious!

And before heading home, we headed down to the dock to see the river and the boats that had pulled up to grab a bite too.

Charlotte at 8 Months

On Saturday, September 10, Charlotte turned 8 months old. It was a full month of some exciting milestones once again.

Still loving that thumb!

She’s sitting up, but it’s still a bit precarious.

 

On Saturday, August 13, Jonathan noticed Charlotte’s first little tooth coming in on the bottom. About a week and a half later, the second one popped through. Neither seemed to cause too much grief for her.

Jonathan got the high chair out from the attic and set it up for Charlotte. She’s still on the small side so she’s propped up with some towels, but she’d just gotten too big (or maybe just too strong) for the Bumbo. She’s eating cereal every morning and two servings of veggies or fruits for dinner. She’s completely weaned now and getting 5 bottles a day.

For College Day at church, the girls wore matching Gator dresses.

Charlotte’s now enjoying some puffs and Cheerios with those new pearly whites.

She drops a good number, but still manages to get some to her mouth.

Charlotte still sleeps from 9:30 – 10:30am every morning and from about 1:30 to 4:00pm every afternoon.

While camping, she was babbling and said ma-ma-ma-ma. The kids and I were super excited but she hasn’t done it again since then. We’re working on it though. ;-)

She’s the sweetest and most content baby. Rosemary and Ben continue to adore her and in the midst of our full lives, Charlotte just fits right in.

Ben’s First Day of Preschool

Tuesday was Ben’s first day of preschool. He’s going three days a week this year and this little boy was so excited! It was finally his turn. Every time we would drive by the school this summer, Ben would exclaim, “My school!”

First Day of Preschool – September 6, 2011

Some silly faces while waiting to go in

Heading in to class. He gave me and Rosemary quick hugs then marched in like a pro. I don’t know why, but it was much different watching Ben head off to class. He just seemed like such a big boy.

And a special plate for his special day.