12-4-09
Check out the Halloween pics of Charly and her cousin Kaden! Lots of other fun new pics too. Couple new videos too. Charly's talking more and becoming more dramatic everyday! She pretty much repeats everything at this point, which is both fun and scary. Can't wait for Christmas - however, we did run into Santa in front of a boutique and it wasn't pretty! At least that will save us a trip and waiting in line at the mall! This year anyway.
10-18-09
It looks like I'm on a every-other-month updating schedule now :) Charly is just a hoot. She's talking up a storm - lots of 2 word combinations and a couple 3 word. She pretty much repeats anything we say (yikes) or at least tries! She's a big girl in gymnastics class now which she really enjoys. Can't quite figure out how to jump on the trampoline yet but she loves to try! More of a high-step right now. She does do her forward rolls at home (puts her head on the ground and butt in the air and waits for me to do the rest). She loves squeezing into enclosed spaces including, the cupboards, her toy chest (see pics) and her little house in the playroom. She's still a dancing machine and really tries to sing as well. She had a BLAST at the pumpkin patch today. Could have gone down the slides for 24 hours straight and loved the pony ride too. Halloween should be a lot of fun - she loves pumpkins, ghosts, and of course, candy (her favorite sign). I can't wait for Christmas - it'll be so much fun to watch her with all the decorations and gifts! She's going to be a cousin again in March and will be ecstatic with a new baby to play with. Hope it's a girl :)
8-18-09
So I've been slacking again on the photos - 2 whole months have gone by, but that means LOTS of pics this time! Charly is a very busy girl... loves her babies and magnadoodle and Mrs. Potato Head. Also loves necklaces or anything that resembles a necklace that she inevitably puts around her neck (I know I know - choking hazard). She loves 'outside' and says it often and never misses a 'choo choo' and we have many that go past. She's kinda sick of performing her animal noises already, but the video is still priceless (see videos). She has also turned into quite the dancing machine (also a video) which pretty much consists of spinning in circles and sometimes nodding her head and clapping. She absolutely loves the 'Fresh Beat Band' on Noggin even though it's painful to watch. Up next for Charly is gymnastics (if you can really call it that) starting next month! If anything it will be a good energy release and an opportunity to hang out with other kiddos since she doesn't get out much!
6-23-09
15 Months! Charly is loving her new adventures exploring the world while walking around! She loves pushing her shopping cart and stroller around the house (although gets very mad at them when they don't cooperate... stroller is in hiding now), she's talking more ('outside' is a fun new addition, as well as 'papa' for Grandpa which she mastered tonight), and she's getting great at hugs and kisses. Hugs anything you tell her - daddy, the dogs, her babies, teddy bears - and I caught her kissing the animals on each page of one of her books. She's frighteningly fabulous at burping... definitely tries to push them out like her daddy! No wonder she does with the reaction he gives her! She got her chubby little leg stuck in between the spindles of her crib today. She was really upset and in pain and I would have got a saw out if my cousin, John, hadn't been there working in our basement to help me! We finally managed to push her little fat rolls around until they squeezed back through. Yikes! Hope that's not an everyday occurence. We had to take out the bumper since she was trying to step on it to climb out of the crib. We have attempted to get her in the pool and around fun sprinklers to no avail. I think it's the cold water - why else would she love the tub and not the pool?! She's eating well (obviously) and is a sucker for cheese. She signs 'more cheese' all day long. Thanks, Grandma, for teaching her :) We can't wait to see what else our Charly has in store for the upcoming months! Enjoy the new pics!
5-18-09
Today Charly is 14 months! WOW! She's walking around now which is a lot of fun! I posted several new videos (now that I figured out our new camcorder) - they might take a while to load, but they're worth it! Her playroom is done - the pictures are posted in this month's album. And I started taking some photography lessons to take better photos of my baby girl (see right). I posted some of my favs. Hopefully they'll only get better! What else... Charly loves being outside in the nice weather - in her wagon, in the swing at Grandma's, playing fetch with Yogi in the backyard... I can't wait to get her in the little pool we got for her! Enjoy the pics and videos! More next month...
4-19-09
Charly is now 13 months old and just looks more grown up by the minute. Her hair is growing like wildfire and she has 16 teeth! She had her first dentist checkup which went great. Still not walking on her own but sure cruises around furniture and walls! She even pushes a little walker around (see videos) but I think she's getting too tall for it! She talks nonstop all day long, babbling away. She has a few consistent words like, 'hi', 'bye', 'dada' (which she uses for just about everything... including her dad so we'll count it), 'sh' (shoe), 'baba' (which means any liquid in anything resembling a cup/bottle, also means bubbles and bye-bye). She also says 'where's dada' (again... referring to just about anything) while holding her palms up in the air like she's actually asking a quesiton. I always give her an answer or point at something and it seems to satisfy her. She loves showing off her belly button and loves finding other people's even more :) She's getting better at kisses and boy are they sloppy. Her playroom is almost complete - look for pics of it next month :)
3-27-09
Charly is 1 year old! WOW! Check out the 2 new photo albums added... '1st Birthday Party' and '12 Months'. The Party was great - Charly was completely spoiled with the world's best cake and lots of cute clothes and fun toys. Thanks to everyone for coming and sharing the day! Charly also had her 12 month checkup this week - she gained about 10 oz. since the 9 month checkup, so she's getting closer to the 'normal' curve! She doesn't like real milk yet, but we're trying to trick her for now by adding a little formula. Hopefully she'll give in soon enough! She's not walking yet - which is fine by us! Still too top heavy I think. She's showing more interest in standing by herself, so it's only a matter of time...
2-16-09
11 months! I can't believe I'm actually planning my baby girl's first birthday party!!! Poor Charly is getting in 4 molars (2 are already through) and her top two eye teeth. She's getting into anything and everything - and especially enjoys the items she KNOWS she's not supposed to have! She walks along the couch and ottoman, but shows no interest in walking forward while holding onto our hands. The hair is finally long enough to hold barrettes which is a lot of fun! I bought out every small barrette Super Target has. She loves crawling around outside and playing fetch with Yogi (a must see video if you haven't seen it yet). She reads books to herself in whatever language that is and keeps herself quite busy all day long. She LOVES the kitchen cupboards (which we have bought the locks for but haven't dragged out the drill yet), loves opening and closing doors, suddenly hates baby food and only wants food she can feed herself, loves mom and dad's closet where she unloads everthing she can reach off hangers... I'm sure I'm missing some good stuff but this list could go on forever! The next post will have lots of pics from the birthday party! Ahhhhh!
1-19-09
So it looks like the photography mania has wore off a little... I'm down to monthly updates instead of weekly. Let's just say mom's too too busy and Charly is changing so much and so fast that it's impossible to catch on camera! At her last Dr. appointment we learned that she is no longer off the charts! She's in the 98% for height and 99.8% for weight! She's constantly pulling herself up on anything and everything - she seems to seek out obstacles just to climb on, around or over them! She crawls up the entire staircase... quite impressive and quite the workout! She enjoyed recent meetups with friends Braxton and Asher. She's fascinated with other kids and it's so fun to watch the communication between them. She's eating more and more table food which means mom is going to have to figure out how to cook soon. While mom and dad can survive on a diet of Valentino's and Jimmy John's, it's probably not best for baby! We're pretty sure she's getting in some molars right now. She shoves her fingers so far down her throat that she gags! Those molars are hard to get to and none of her teethers seem to be helping. Poor booger. Her hair is getting longer and thicker everyday. Mom can't wait to get some pigtails in there! I'm sure I'm missing some good stuff - but like I said - she's changing so fast it's hard to keep up! She's pointing, clapping, waving, and has recently developed an obnoxious almost fake laugh. She's so funny. And I'd bet my next paycheck that her first word will be her favorite brother, "Marley."
12-28-08
Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Charly sure did! She may have preferred the wrapping paper to her new toys at first... but she's loving all of them now! Lots of new videos to check out. She's still crawling all over the place and enjoys finding obstacles to climb over - mom's legs, mom's belly, pillows... I think she'll be pulling herself all the way up in no time! Her crawling has led to a couple mouthfuls of dog food (while mom was on the phone with a client), splashes in the water dish, several destroyed magazines, and discoveries of drawers and cabinets to pull open. She has her own language I'm trying to understand. Just jibber-jabbers constantly! She picks and chooses what 'strangers' she'll let hold her but I think she's warming up to more and more people. She loves ALL dogs, books, songs, stuffed animals and is suddenly freaked out by loud things that move... like the vacuum, Grandpa's train set, hair dryer, and a cool new toy from Uncle James and Aunt Michelle that I plan to take the batteries out of for a while! We can't believe her first birthday party is in less than 3 months! Her next doctor visit is on Friday, so we'll see if she's under 100% yet!
12-8-08
Everyone is finally healthy again - yay! Charly never got the stomach flu Casey and I had... so thank goodness for that! My camera's memory card when corrupt on me a couple days ago, so I lost a ton of photos - these new ones were all taken the last two days with the new memory card. I made a first attempt at a Christmas Card photo shoot and posted some rejects. Even the 'bad' pictures are so cute! I added some new videos too - the yogurt one is a must-see! I can't believe our baby is almost 9 months old already!
12-2-08
So I've been sick for 2+ weeks and have not really had the camera out. Charly is finally over her cold. Mom and Dad both got a stomach flu that we're praying Charly doesn't get. Yuck! Charly is army-crawling all over the place - can move pretty quick sometimes! Not sure if she'll ever figure out the 'real' crawl or not... she seems pretty satisfied with the army crawl. She's now eating yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese and meats which have all been entertaining to watch! I have a great yogurt video I'll post when I catch up with the rest of my work. And I'm working on a Christmas card. For those of you who have seen our Christmas cards, you know we have a tasteless, tacky standard to live up to! Will be hard to do with Charly involved! Sorry about the slackin' on the pics - will be more soon.
11-16-08
I'm obsessed with this photo I took of Charly in her Gap sweater! Such a cutie! Charly is SOOOO close to crawling! (see video) I know I've been saying that for like 2 months... but really! She can make forward progress - just makes it look really hard! I bet the next time I write on this blog it will be about her crawling all over the place! Charly loves to look at books with baby pictures in them, and even loves to look at her own pictures! (Since they are ALL over the house!) She also loves to play hide and seek with us in her walker. It's so dang cute and fun! She just squeals with delight when she finds us and we 'get her'. She got in teeth 7 and 8 this last week! And got her second flu shot :( They didn't weigh her this time but I bet she's maintaining. I can tell she's losing her double chin and her tummy. So sad. Oh - and she almost broke Dad's phone with all her slobber too... that was a good time!
11-3-08
So Charly was the cutest monkey ever for Halloween. For those of you who don't know - we have called her 'monkey' since she was born. It just came out one day. So, of course, she had to be a monkey! We didn't realize it would be almost 80 degrees on Halloween, so she was a bit toasty in her outfit! She loves cruising in her walker (see new video) and can maneuver it very well considering it's much wider than she is! Her hair is finally growing and I can't wait to get some pigtails on her!
10-27-08
Charly can wave now! Still loves to clap too. She has started sticking her tongue out a lot and has a new cheesy smile (see pic to right). She absolutely loves songs and now anticipates her favorite parts with giggles. It's just so funny! She's having a blast in her new walker now that she figured it out. Her schedule is changing so much. She's now down to 2 naps and 3 bottles a day. She was still at 5 bottles a couple weeks ago! Just not as hungry I guess! Looks like we may be losing some of those chubby little rolls soon :( I added a couple new videos too. Enjoy!
10-19-08
Charly is clapping now! At first I thought it was just a coincidence, but she actually seems to do it on purpose and on cue! It's so funny! She cracks herself up! (Must see video!) She's still enjoys scooting around backwards on the wood floors - no forward crawling yet. She's eating bread and taking prune juice now in addition to baby food and puffs. Food's never a problem for Charly :) We put her in high chairs now at restaurants which is nice! And in the front of the carts while shopping - which opens a whole new world for Charly! So many things to grat at! I can't believe she hasn't dumped over a glass of soda or a plate of food yet! Luckily I'm still one step ahead of her - but not for long! She's slept for 12 hours two nights this past week - it's usually closer to 11... either way it's pretty nice! Her schedule (eating/napping) seems to evolve every week, but hopefully she'll keep sleeping so well at night! She's just so much fun - more fun every day :) We're lucky parents!
10-9-08
Charly went to the doctor today for more shots :( She's still off the charts - in weight, height and head circumference. They would only be concerned at this point if she was off the charts in weight and normal in height... but since it's both... it's no big deal. Just a big baby!
10-6-08
So Charly has been saying 'da-da-da-da' repeatedly for the last 3 days. Of course, Casey wants to claim that's her first word. I think we all know her first word will be 'mama' :) She's a jumpaholic (see new video) and still manages to move backwards on the wood floor (also a new video) - but no forward progress yet! She has her 4 front teeth on top and still just the 2 front ones on the bottom. I brush them everyday! She still isn't interested in any function of any toy besides putting it in her mouth... except for the barn on her excersaucer. It makes music when you push it down and she figured that out and keeps it going forever! That's the only thing she doesn't try to eat. She goes in for shots on Friday where I'm sure we'll hear that she's still off the charts in weight!
9-28-08
Instead of attempting to post the 81 professional pictures by Leah Lund on this site... I'm going to be lazy and send anyone interested to Leah's site! Go to www.leahlundphotography.com and click on 'clients'. Password: charly. Enjoy! Let me know if you have favorites because I have no idea how to pick from all those!!
9-23-08
Lots of new pics! Charly has 5 teeth now - going on 6! She grew out of her baby tub, is obsessed with her feet, loves going on walks and reaches for EVERYTHING and if she gets it, puts it in her mouth. That's Charly in a nutshell :) The teeth have had her grumpy for several evenings now, but hopefully that's about over. Having the front 2 come in at once couldn't have been pleasant! Still sleeping good though! We're still waiting for more professional pics from Leah - will keep the latest posted on the site.
9-18-08
It's Charly's half birthday! Six months already! Leah Lund came over for another round of photos. Our favorite is to the right. The final set of pics isn't complete yet, but you can see a sneak peek on her blog at: http://leahlundblog.com/. I'll post more when they are ready. Poor Charly is getting in 3-4 teeth right now! Her front right tooth popped through on Tuesday and there's a few others that look ready. She got to spend Monday with Grandma and Great-Grandma! She is just so spoiled!
9-8-08
Charly's new thing is sticking out her tongue and spitting/making noises. It's impossible not to laugh at her when she does it! Still trying to get good video of it. I added a couple new ones on the video page of giggles and her trying to get a rattle just out of her reach. So funny! Charly also tried some Gerber 'puffs' this week. She seems to like them. She grabbed for them right away and they got stuck between her chubby little fingers. She kept sticking her fingers in her mouth to try to get the puffs but they were too deep in her hands. It was hilarious. She sure keeps us entertained!
9-1-08
Holy crap it's September. Just realized it. Anyway - baby food is going good. So far she's had sweet potatoes and pears. She seemed more interested in her bib at first but now she opens up her mouth wide to get more... so cute. Charly finally got to try out her new Husker cheerleading outfit this week! She looks just fantastic in it (naturally). She's starting to giggle more and it makes me tear up everytime... it just doesn't get any cuter than that! For you regulars... I moved the Guestbook button over and added a 'Baby Videos' link at the bottom. This will take you to a page with links to all her videos. I just added 3 more - so be sure to check them out! Charly has also started to roll from tummy to back... which means she can actually move across the floor. She's only gone a few feet since she keeps running into furniture - but it should get interesting pretty quick! She's getting in another tooth - looks like it's one of her eye teeth on top (it's hard to tell when there's nothing else up there!) This would follow the same pattern as my teeth according to my well-documented baby book (thanks mom!) so yay - she's got something of me in her!
8-26-08
So I tried to buy Charly some jeans today... they are just not made for her belly! The pics are pretty hilarious though! Charly had a lot of fun this weekend at dad's fantasy football draft party. Baby Keaton and Baby Mia were also there! Keaton's mom, Holly, and me took a million photos of the two together. Keaton wouldn't let go of Charly's dress. They put on quite a show together and so we kept snapping away! I bought some actual Gerber baby food today which we'll try out tonight when dad gets home... I'm sure those pictures will be great!
8-19-08
Charly is just so much fun! She's sitting up now for several minutes at a time - she's got to be watched closely though because when she goes down... she goes down hard! She's trying to grab everything she sees and inevitably tries to fit it in her mouth. Hilarious! Pop cans are still her favorite but she's interested in whatever mom and dad have - camera, remote, pizza, cell phone... and she LOVES the dogs! Especially Marley. She always reaches out to pet him (and grab a chunk of his fur). He can make her giggle better than anyone else! Okay - Dad can too. I'm still trying to get her giggling on video but she always gets the deer in the headlights look whenever she sees the camera. She's still talking a lot - it seems like everyday we hear a new noise out of her! She can get LOUD! Can't wait to see what she does next!
8-7-08
So Charly got her second set of shots today :( She did good - a scream with each shot and was just sniffling by the time I picked her up afterwards. She's 20lbs 7oz and 26" long. Pretty much off the charts in weight and head circumference (17.5") and around 75% in length. She's drooling buckets and always has something in her mouth... Casey's new nickname for her is "Slobba the Hut". Mean, I know, but c'mon... it's hilarious! She's really trying to sit up and can make it a few seconds on her own (sometimes... her belly's pretty big, you know). The last couple of days she has been crossing her feet/legs constantly. So cute. She has followed mom & dad's footsteps and has taken a liking to Diet Pepsi... just the cans... and no we don't let her drink it! She does her happy dance whenever she sees a can and grabs it and slobbers all over the side. She did the same thing to my glass full of diet pepsi at Carlos O Kelly's (see video). It's so much fun to see her "do stuff"! She's been sleeping great too - usually 9-10 hours a night!
7-27-08
More big news! Charly rolls over now! (See video - please excuse Mom's obnoxious commentary). She rolls from her back to her tummy... but not the other way. It would seem easier to go from tummy to back but she hasn't even attempted that yet! Charly took a trip to Omaha last week to meet more of Mom's work buddies and also met another potential boyfriend, Braxton, in Ashland! He's a little cutie (see pic to the right). He's just 3 months old so he's a good month younger than Charly... obviously she's a bit bigger! (She needs to hang out more with babies her own size... like Asher Rathe!) We're guessing she's around 19-20 lbs right now, however my scale is not very accurate. We'll find out for sure on August 7th when she goes to the doctor again for more shots :( I think we need to enjoy the cute fat rolls while she's got them... once she starts crawling they'll probably melt away! Mom and Dad went to the LSE 10 year high school reunion last weekend and had fun showing off pictures of Charly! We found out that a few classmates have been keeping up with Charly's site... it was good to see you guys!
7-16-08
Talking Charly video
7-16-08
Big news... Charly got her first tooth! Actually - 2 teeth! The bottom two front teeth broke through last weekend. I happen to be working on some marketing materials for a Pediatric Dentist, (website coming soon) so when I dropped off his letterhead today he gave me an infant toothbrush for Charly! She loves it - it's the perfect size for her to hold - the pics are a must see! I have to watch her close when she holds it so she doesn't shove it down her throat or up her nose or something! It's so funny to see her attempt something so grown up like brushing teeth! Other than the teeth - she is really chattering up a storm (see video) and is finally starting to giggle. Her giggles are rare and subtle but so worth the wait! Tummy time is going really well - she was getting really close to rolling over by herself, but now she seems to prefer being on her tummy rather than her back... so she doesn't want to roll over! She's sleeping a little better each week. Last night was a new record - 9pm to 7:30am! Oh - and I started her on 'cereal' today. I hope I'm doing that right!
7-7-08
So it's been another crazy week and I've been slacking on Charly's site! New photos are up (showing off some great new outfits) - check them out! Charly had her first of many trips to the Omaha zoo yesterday! She slept through most of it and got a monkey souvenir (since that's her nickname from mom & dad). Charly is talking a whole lot these days - especially when she's tired. She'll grab her feet if you hold them up (I think her belly's too big to get to her feet all by herself!) And just today she started smacking mom and dad in the face with her hand and grabbing noses and lips! Which reminded me I need to trim her little nails! She's got a nice bald spot on the back of her head now which is a little sad since she was born with such beautiful locks! I know it'll grow back... just in an awkward phase right now! Charly went to the neighborhood 4th of July party... she didn't care for the fireworks, but she met an adorable 6 month old stud named Skip who lives in the next circle! He was staring her down for quite a while! So cute.
6-24-08
Another fun week with Charly! She's getting happier and happier! I'd just like to point out how much her photo to the right looks like mine in the upper corner! Okay, she's cuter... but she looks more like me now, doesn't she?!? Charly loves to suck on her hands or anything she can figure out how to get to her mouth... mom's finger, her blankie, her dress... She's getting really good at tummy time (although she still doesn't enjoy it after too long) and I swear she was so close to rolling over this week! I put her in the jumper for the first time this week (see pics) which she seemed to enjoy for the first two minutes and quickly began to hate it! She kicks so darn much in her bouncer that I thought she might really like the jumper, but I don't think her upper body is quite ready for it! Grandma and Grandpa braved taking on Charly and her cousin Kaden so the moms and dads could go to a College World Series game on Sunday - thanks! I'm sure they were more of a handful then they let on!
6-17-08
Charly is doing all kinds of new stuff! Whenever she's in a dress, she loves to pull it up as high as she can to show off her big belly! She has also discovered her right hand... she keeps holding up her fist in front of her face and goes cross eyed and puckers up her little lips... she gets very focused. She's slept past 6am two out of the last three nights so yay for sleep! Charly met more of Mom's relatives this week - Clair, Jo & Kevin came down from CO for the College World Series and finally got to meet Charly. Her 3 month birthday is tomorrow... how time flies!
6-9-08
So we came to a sad realization this week... Charly is in fact losing her beautiful hair! The plus side is that it may grow back lighter and she'll look more like mom! Charly's been pretty congested lately but the nice nurses on the hotline phone tell me it's no big deal. Charly made an appearance at Daddy's 10 year high school reunion last weekend! There were actually two other baby girls there younger than Charly (which is surprising considering only 10 class members showed up!) We inherited a camera from Grandpa Steve that's really fancy and we're having lots of fun taking better pics of baby girl (like the one to the right). Check out the rest of the new pics... lots of cute new outfits that she's fitting into!
6-3-08
Watch the cutest video ever of Charly's new smooch trick...
6-2-08
OK so I'm a bad mom and haven't updated the site in 2 weeks... lots of great new pictures for you all to check out! Well we had switched Charly's formula to Similac Sensitive a couple weeks ago which seemed to help with her gassiness, but she had been extra grumpy so I took her into the doc last week and found out we were over-feeding her by a good 10 oz a day. Which is a lot! So she thought that was probably part of the problem! Poor kid! We now have her on yet another formula and feeding her the appropriate amount so hopefully she'll be feeling better! In my defense - no one ever told me how much to feed her! I kept hearing/reading "feed her when she's hungry"... so I did! Charly seems to be getting stronger and stronger! She's got great head control and loves to stand up with her chunky little legs! She's getting lots of tummy time and we just started putting her in the Bumbo seat (see pics). And last night was her sleeping record... 10:30pm to 5:30am! I'll take it!
5-20-08
Poor Charly had her first set of shots today - and poor Daddy had to take her. (Mom was in Omaha for work and worrying about Charly the whole time.) She got 3 shots in one leg and 2 in the other. Dad says that Mom is definitely taking her next time! Charly's really packing on the weight (in case the pictures aren't proof enough) - she now weighs almost 14 lbs and is almost 24 inches long! Lots of events this week for Charly - another shower from Casey's work friends where she scored an Exersaucer and an adorable leapord-print swimsuit and coverup! Grandma babysat Charly twice this week - it was the first time without Mom or Dad at her side! Grandma says she did great - but Grandma would never complain about her new grandbaby even if she screamed the whole time! Charly also visited another potential boyfriend... Keaton Persson! He's a couple weeks older... but a few pounds lighter! We didn't get a chance to get pictures of the two of them together because Charly got hungry (aka cried loudly) so we had to jet! She's still smiling lots - we're still waiting to hear what must be the cutest giggle ever... it's got to be close to coming out!
5-11-08
Happy Mothers Day to me! Casey got me a gift card to Campbell's to pick out a tree to plant in honor of Charly - cute, right?! I suppose it should bloom pink! Charly's smiling up a storm these days! Lots of great smiling photos in the latest album - my favorite is to the right :) She survived her second Husker baseball game on Friday night (no, we did not stay all 16 innings!) After pulling out Casey's baby pics we have determined that she pretty much looks exactly like him except for the eyes and eyebrows - definitely my eyebrows. She may never forgive me if the traits of mine she gets are my bushy eyebrows and small boobs! Sheesh. At least she has a good-looking Daddy that she's taking after! Can't believe it's almost been 2 months! Her next Dr. appointment is coming up. I will conveniently be working in Omaha that day so Daddy can watch her get her shots :(
5-5-08
Charly had lots of visitors this week! Julie and Pat, Nate and Holly, and Brian, Matt and Sachit! It's so much fun to show her off! She's smiling more and more - not quite on command yet, but at least her eyes are open when she does it! She follows mom and dad around the room with her eyes which is fun! Makes us feel special! She's definitely getting bigger too - longer and chubbier. It's scary to hear people say that's she's getting so big because I want her to stay a little baby forever! But at the same time, we can't wait to hear her giggle and start walking and talking and all that good stuff! She's still not sleeping through the night - I'm hoping she'll finally give in for a Mother's Day present!
4-28-08
Well Charly had another 'first' yesterday... peeing through her clothes onto Mom! I was just thinking - hmmm, I haven't changed her in a long time and sure enough I started to feel something wet on my leg while burping her. Good thing we brought a backup outfit (since we were at Grandma's). Charly got to meet lots of cousins yesterday too - Ramsey even held her (see adorable photo to the right). Charly is finally big enough to wear some of her 0-3 month clothes which is nice! I was sick of putting her in the same 4 newborn outfits! We're on our last package of '0' diapers too - she's ready for the '1's now! Charly sure loves to eat and even though we don't own a scale - I'm sure she's packing on the pounds! She's still got a ways to go to catch up with mom and dad when they were chubby babies ('thunder thighs' and 'buddha'). Charly also met the neighbor ladies yesterday. I had heard rumors that they were questioning her existence, so when I saw a couple of them out there I showed her off! Of course, being the magnet she is, more neighbors came out to see her! She'll have so much fun playing with the neighbor kids when she's old enough! There are over a dozen kids in our circle alone! Stay tuned for more pics and updates!
4-20-08
Charly went to her first Husker Baseball game today! Pretty sure she was the youngest fan there! She looked so cute in her pink sunglasses! We lucked out that it was a beautiful day (minus some raging wind) - too bad she's apparently bad luck for the Huskers! We're having more and more fun with our Charly... she really seems to be studying her environment - including mom and dad. She tries to talk to us - we just can't understand her quite yet! We discovered yesterday that she very clearly has dad's toes... yet another thing I can't claim. I'm hoping I can take credit for at least one adorable trait! Dad's hogging all of them so far. My friends from work in Omaha came down to meet Charly - thanks for coming ladies! It was so good to see you! Charly also met a new friend (future boyfriend?) this week! Our friends Jared and Kelly (who were due the same day as us) had Asher on March 23rd. We grilled out over at their place and took some cute pics of the kids - make sure to check them out in the album!
4-14-08
So I'm pretty sure Charly officially smiled this morning! She usually does when she's in and out of sleeping or when she's tooting... but this morning she was wide awake and looking at me and gave me a huge smile! I haven't been able to make her do it since but I'll sure keep trying! Charly finally met Great-Grandma Bowen this weekend as well as Uncle Richard and Aunt Brentleigh! She also endured another restaurant outing successfully - we snuck out of there just in time before she got too hungry and started wailing! I wanted to clear something up... we've had a lot of people ask where we got the name 'Charly' for a girl... it's NOT from the perfume (that we didn't know existed in the 70's). I honestly don't remember when I started liking the name, but it's been my favorite girl name for as long as I can remember. The only girls I know of named Charlie are the girl from Top Gun (it was actually her "call sign") and one of Ross's girlfriends on the show Friends. I don't think I got it from either of these - I have just always liked that name for a girl! Actually, I like lots of boy names for girls (like Sam and Alex). Plus - Charly was one of the two names Casey and I agreed on! The other was Brynn and I hesitated to name her that because I think that name is becoming increasingly popular. I think we're safe with Charly!
4-7-08
Charly had a big day yesterday! She ran errands with mom for the first time and went to her first restaurant to celebrate Grandma's birthday! Thankfully, she slept through all of it! I bought a "hotsling" to put her in for trips to Target as well as around the house while I do laundry and dishes! It's fabulous! I had two people ask me if I had a baby in there... which makes me wonder what everyone else thought I had in there! I'm hoping it's obvious there's a baby in the sling and it's not some new purse trend I'm trying to start or something! I finally squeezed myself into a pair of non-maternity jeans which is nice, however my favorite jeans are frighteningly nowhere close to fitting! I suppose that's the small price you pay for having the world's cutest baby! We tried to move up a size in diapers, since she weighs enough but they look soooo big on her! The sticky tabs overlap in front! So we're back to the newborn size!
4-3-08
Charly had her 2 week checkup with Dr. Frontera today! Right after the doc asked if she was still having spitty issues to which I replied 'no', she proceeded to spit up what must have been half her last bottle all down my shirt. I swear she only spits up for doctors! Maybe it's the car ride or something! Her measurements and weight are all great - she's at 59% for weight (8lbs 10oz) and 87% for height (21.5in). I forgot my list of questions (of course) so I rewrote them in the waiting room. It seemed their response for every one of my questions was 'that's normal' so I guess she's doing fine! Charly's first BIG roadtrip is this Saturday to Ashland for Suzi's baby shower... should be interesting! The weather's supposed to be nice so maybe she'll get to wear a dress for the first time!
4-1-08
Today is Charly's 2 week birthday! She's getting cuter and cuter and that hair is just getting longer! No - she's not sleeping through the night by any means, but we still love her! Charly had her first two roadtrips (all the way to Grandma and Grandpa's) this last weekend where she proceeded to sleep the entire time! She appears to enjoy car rides, so that's a relief! She has a checkup on Thursday so we can find out if she's packing on the weight! She sure likes to eat so I imagine we're okay there!
3-28-08
Charly's umbilical stump fell off last night before her bath - to reveal she has the cutest belly button on the planet! Ah - she's growing up so fast already! She still doesn't like the baths but she seems to enjoy getting her gorgeous locks washed! She slept really well last night too which makes Mom happy!
3-26-08
Charly had a big day yesterday! Her first professional photo shoot! She had just eaten so I thought for sure she would be in a food coma the whole time, but she was wide awake and only fussed a couple times! It was amazing! She may have found her calling at the age of one week! Future model! I added some of the pictures to an album on the site (click 'Professional Pics by Leah Lund' to the right). To see more, go to: www.leahlundphotography.com then click on 'clients' at the bottom. (You'll see a pic of Charly come up!) Then type the password: charly (all lowercase) and you'll be able to see her pictures. We had so much fun watching her pose!
3-24-08
Today is Charly's due date! We had another checkup with the doctor this morning. Charly has put on 2.5 oz since Saturday which is great! The doc said that we were doing a great job as parents and that she's doing perfectly... which is soooo good to hear! She loved Charly's lashes and told Casey to start cleaning his gun now. Charly had her second home bath today... still doesn't care for it much!
3-21-08
Charly had her first bath at home today! She also had visits from both Grandma's (who broght Mom & Dad food... thanks!) and also a visit from Aunt Sarah. She's getting hungrier by the day and cuter by the minute! Check out the new pics in the 'Charly's Second Day Home' album...
3-20-08
Charly got to come home today! We took a TON of photos - so check out the 'Charly Comes Home' album. So far she seems to be a very content baby. She's finally figuring out how to eat without spitting it all back up - so that's good! She had fun sitting in her bouncer and swing today and meeting her furry brothers. Casey is an amazing Daddy and can't get enough of his baby girl. The three of us will be home this weekend and all next week if anyone is interested in stopping by to meet the newest addition to our family. Little kids might be tough to handle since our dogs are still trying to get used to baby! Thanks for all of your messages on the guestbook and phone calls and texts. We are doing great and can't wait to share Baby Charly with all our family and friends!
3-18-08
Baby Charly is finally here! She arrived today at 2:45pm. We came to the hospital at 5am, started pitocin at 6, got my water broken at 8, got the epidural at 9:15, started pushing around 2pm and out she came at 2:45! The epidural was fabulous! I had painful contractions for only about an hour - so I really can't complain! We're so excited to finally have our baby girl!
3-13-08
I had an ultrasound today which revealed that baby is currently 8.7 lbs! Which means she has clothes in her closet she has already grown out of! She also has a full head of hair which means she must be taking after her Dad (Mom was bald for 2 years and Dad was almost 10 lbs at birth). We have an induction planned for Tuesday, March 18th (39 weeks). Hopefully she'll decide to come sooner! Keep checking the site for more info...
3-1-08
I had another baby shower today and got so many cute clothes and fun gifts... lots of bunny stuff for Easter time! Thanks to everyone who came and to Casey's fam for the delicious brunch! There's only one thing left for us to get... a baby! Hope she comes sooner than later... I'm sick of getting kicked!
2-17-08
I had my first baby shower today and got so many amazing gifts - baby girl is so spoiled already and she's not even here yet! Thanks so much to everyone who came! We're not sure where to put everything - but we're sure having fun playing with it!
2-11-08
Only six weeks to go! We can't wait to meet our baby girl and bring her home! The nursery is mostly ready (minus the rocker/glider that's on the way). As for mom and dad... we're mostly ready too! Bring on the tea parties baby girl!
Full Name:
Charly Ann Diekmann
Birthday: March 18, 2008
Birth Weight: 8lbs 1.5oz
Birth Length: 21 in
10/1 Weight: 31lbs 6oz
10/1 Length: 34.75 in