Week 56 - Back in the blogging groove, sort of

Charlotte is almost 13 months old and I am getting a tad worried that she is not saying words yet.  I know, I know, I am being silly as our doctor has said 15 months is usually the marker for such things... but you know.... we know kids Charlotte's age who are already speaking.  Charlotte is saying words, but rather indiscriminately and when you ask her to say "mama" or whatever, she just smiles and looks at you like you are nutty.  As if this tiger cannot be tamed.  Sigh.

What Charlotte is doing is walking.  All the time walking.  We can't get her to stop walking.  We try to put on TV - and she would rather be walking.  She has mad skills she needs to put to use.  I don't blame her, but you know, being Asian and all, I want to foster her more cerebral side.  We want to read her a book and she has no attention for it (and she never has really).  These days even books are somewhat off limits because she wants to eat the binding (and I am growing more reluctant to lose a finger to try to get the paper bits out of her mouth).  So yes, I wonder about her intellectual stimulation.

Why am I so neurotic these days?  O yes, it is because I have the double whammy of being both jet lagged and sick.  The doctor yesterday confirmed it was just a benign viral infection and to let my body fight it off but needless to say I have been coughing a lot and am surprised to not see a lung next to me when I wake up in the morning (Matt, too has been less than pleased).  So I have just been inhabiting this fog, this gray anti-matter of a space where I feel like I have accomplished little but stay in my head for too long.  Oh and Charlotte is sick too but has a much more spirited temperament than I.

We are trying new foods on Charlotte - sometimes she likes and sometimes she doesn't.  She doesn't much care for carrots plain but broccoli plain is ok (?).  We have started her on yogurt and that seems to be going well although she was grumpy the first day and I was convinced it was due to evil dairy... and it wasn't.  Sometimes kids are just grumpy.

I brought back a baby gate from the US - and it has been great as we have made the 2nd floor of our house a new walking zone (see video below).  We also have discovered that Charlotte loves our remote controls - less about the control (although she loves to push buttons - soon she will teach me about my smartphone!) but I think it is the SHAPE - she loves to carry something roughly 8 inches by 2 inches.  She also likes carrying a lotion tube of a similar size.

Mother's Day came and went this past weekend and I was sick and alone as Matt was traveling and we both forgot it was Mother's Day on Sunday.  Sigh.  Too much traveling made us forget.

Here is Charlotte whizzing down the living room in her toy car:

A day in the life of Charlotte in her new 'gated' second floor:

Charlotte and mommy going to the park alone (e.g. no one else there) on a hot Mother's Day:

Carrying that infamous 8" x 2" device:

Walking outside:

Liking or not liking her purse:

Eating pasta and looking tired - all that night coughing!

Petting our resigned Bucky:

Week 55 - Back in Singapore

Well - not so much to report except I have the worst bout of jet lag ever.  I did myself no favors by sleeping most of the day away today.  It is nice to be in sunny (er, rainy) Singapore - spending time with Charlotte who miraculously still remembers me and all the good times we had (I think).

Charlotte is now walking the neighborhood - she seems to hate sidewalks as much as I do.  She requires some handholding which she doesn't like but we don't live in a cul-de-sac, you know (but we will when in Wisconsin - thank goodness).  She is also walking up the stairs and is a keen climber as mentioned previously.  O, and I realized while walking her around the neighborhood that she walks faster than me - at 55 weeks. 

I should mention - right around when I left (e.g. Apr 24) she got her 8th teeth in (front right).  So that should be it with the teething issues for at least a little while....

Here are a few pictures - some from before and some from today.  I haven't been around so much so there aren't so many outfits to choose from here...

Feeding herself at Brussel Sprouts near East Coast Park:

Enjoying an ice cream float from that White House Coffee Place:

I know - this party is the post that won't die - here is a pic of the front of our 'Moon Drake Cafe':

I came back to Charlotte with these spider bites on each side of her face - yuck:

Only recently am I contemplating shaping the mullet a bit:

Don't know what is so scary about the bath - you have 2 every day:

Brushing the back of her teeth:

Week 54 - Away from home

So I am away in Madison, Wisconsin, leaving my dear Charlotte for the longest stretch to date (9 days!) and embarking on perhaps the most insane renovating project ever.  The Charlotte update will be short as I really don't know save what Matt tells me - and we all know that his updates can be a bit succinct.

Matt tells me Charlotte has not been sleeping well - perhaps she misses me!  Forty five minutes on Tuesday (the whole day) does not make for a happy Charlotte.  Plus she bit Matt on Sunday - and drew blood.  And probably laughed about it (not in a sadomasochistic way I must add - she just laughs when she gets a reaction out of us).

Here are some pix I took before coming to the land of the cold...

A better french fry/sugar cookie picture from Charlotte's party- I realize I didn't take a good one before:

Charlotte walking and laughing:

Walking the stairs with Grandma:

With her Green Bay Packer National Champion T-shirt on:

Week 53 - We survived a year! Long first birthday post

Charlotte had the most eventful of weeks that would make any normal person weak in the knees from the flurry of activity. Charlotte was a champ though - starting with Grandma Kathy's arrival late on the eve of her birthday. Charlotte's birthday (last Thursday the 14th) meant a questionably timed doctor visit (I suppose I never thought about getting shots on one's birthday). Charlotte seems to be developing well on all the major metrics except her pointing skills are non existent (and sweetie same-aged Javier seems to have mastered this). Speaking of pointing, Charlotte seems to have 'forgotten' her sign language skills - the only one she seems to be using with any consistency over the last few days is 'sleep.' She does occasionally feature a 'funny face' for good measure.

Back to the doctor visit - the vital stats are: 10.03 kg (she has lost .24 kg over the last 2 weeks - probably because of all of the walking) and is 75 cm - which means that she is half of my height (and half my weight too! Haha).

I keep forgetting to mention that Charlotte is obsessed with belly buttons - she lifts everyone's shirt just to confirm that we each have one I suppose. Maybe she is doing an inventory of innies and outies in the house... She also is climbing the platform beds in the house.

The night of her birthday we took Charlotte to Al Forno where she dined on chicken rice (brought from home), eggplant and the saltiest pasta with meat sauce she has had to date.

Saturday we had a soiree for Charlotte. She chose her destiny in her hanbok - and she chose to be a scholar. And then for all of the noise and attention from her choice - she cried. It was some kind of adorable.

Here is Charlotte in a pretty blue dress:

Cheeky at her birthday dinner:

Charlotte the cheerleader in the making:

Channeling my inner Martha - desserts for everyone at Charlotte's party. Mini cupcake burgers with sugar cookie fries and pudding and whipped cream shakes. All with a custom burger flag:

Charlotte getting ready in her hanbok:

Ready and hot - the hat lasted for two seconds:

En route to choosing her destiny...

... and she chooses to be a scholar!

"I regret my choice! (just kidding - all the attention and noise was a bit overwhelming I guess)"

Charlotte's amazing chocolate cake - courtesy of Ling:

Charlotte clapping with her cake:

Charlotte samples her 'larger' burger:

Charlotte's first taste of chocolate:

Charlotte in our new weekend park in Telok Kerau - her first time on a swing:

Charlotte had an outdoor 'funny face' bath because her usual bath venue was full of birthday goodies:

Charlotte clapping on cue at her birthday dinner:

Charlotte choosing her destiny (repost from Facebook):

Charlotte's first birthday cake:

Week 52 - Almost One!

Tomorrow is Charlotte's Birthday.  A year ago tonight Matt and I had a decadent meal at Spruce including grown-up mac and cheese and a proper hamburger (though I think grown up as well with caramelized onions).  And then a year ago tomorrow was the craziest day of my life - even more crazy than my wedding day!  I should write a worst case scenario book that they sell at Urban Outfitters, except I hate that store because of what they did to Johnny Cupcakes.

I have not succeeded in weaning Charlotte from visual stimuli while eating.  She knows she has me wrapped around her little finger - providing Elmo and the Bucky song with a grave shake of her head.

Charlotte is now walking all the time.  It was a gradual transition that it blindsided us until I thought about it three days ago.  She also has squeaky shoes that Susan Kuklinski gave her.  Matt has never seen her wear them as I am sure he would throw them out the window - he is fundamentally opposed to squeaky shoes.  I am ok with that because I am a wuss when it comes to smallish shoes.

Charlotte went to her first birthday party - for the twins on Saturday.  She had stranger anxiety again... but luckily it got better and it wasn't an afternoon of sobbing.  The twins came over this morning and the girls played - aside from some snack possessiveness everyone played well.

Here is Charlotte and Daddy (in matching outfits) opening Charlotte's first birthday gift that arrived on Sunday(!):

Charlotte and the twin girls battling for snacks at the girls' party...

...and playing more peaceably at our house this morning...

Here is Charlotte stealthily scrounging for snacks from Kiro:

Charlotte's stranger anxiety manifests even among friends... o dear...

Happy Family:


Charlotte dark (literally) and conniving:

In a Wisconsin cheerleading outfit from Aunts Lindsey and Hillary:

Happy:

Charlotte - readying herself for a day at the beach -with sunglasses and teether in tow!

Glamorpuss:

Week 51 - Building a better Bucky

Bucky is better - all the vitamin shots and TLC paid off and he is fine... for now.  Tonight we have tried out the body harness collar and it went well.


I called the Project Manager of the Park Renovation near our house - they will finish in June and open in July!  We are very happy about this as Charlotte needs her play friends again!  All my photos are of her in her playpen - not nearly as picturesque as the local park at dusk...

Charlotte is progressing along with her signing - today she signed drink, cry, and I think fish.  She also does a 'funny face' and flying kisses, though the flying kisses are similar to thank you which is also similar to hot.  So one gesture can be one of three things.

Speaking of kisses, Charlotte loves to give kisses!  Big sloppy, opened mouth kisses that she dispenses freely.  It is the absolute best!

Here is Charlotte dancing - notice the 'snake' at 18 seconds in:

Charlotte in a grumpy, snackless moment.  We are trying to get her to do 'funny face' and 'flying kiss' and she just wants to sleep.

Here is Charlotte serious in the tub.  Retro eh?

Another retro look achieved by poor light manipulation:

Charlotte winks better than her mother (and does everything better with a snack):

Captain Sweetheart: