Sunday, June 10, 2012

Dustin's Triathlon

Dustin did his first Sprint Triathlon today. We tried to be there to see him cross the finish line, but he finished earlier than expected and I got lost driving in circles trying to get there. But, the kids still got to congratulate him at the end of the race...

He finished in great time and had a great time doing it! We are all very proud of him. And we got a couple pictures of the kiddos goofing off...

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Happy 1 Year, Charlotte!

Charlotte, I cannot believe that your first year is already behind us. How did that happen so quickly? My heart is severely conflicted, as part of me would like to keep you tiny and dependent and another part of me is thrilled to see you learning and growing. Stats: Height: Weight: Head:

You are such a chunky little baby, I cannot get enough of those little thighs and your sweet belly! But, you are growing quickly and I know this will be gone in no time! You still scoot on your bottom to get around. Everyone thinks it is so cute, and it is, but you are tearing holes in all your clothes!
You love babies and dolls. I gave you a doll right after your turned 9 months and I think "baby" was one of your first words, after "dada" and "mama." You also adore real babies and are very interested in seeing them and touching them. You also love to give hugs and snuggles. And you will give kisses when asked to by daddy and Mommy. Your sleep schedule is getting altered soon, as we are going to take you down to one nap a day. You tend to take a good, long morning nap and then refuse the afternoon nap. This makes for a cranky baby around 5pm. So we will slowly move your nap time up to get you to take one longer nap around midday. You got to sleep around 6:30 and sleep until between 6:30 and 7:00. Your developing speech continues to blow my mind. I love it! You say bye bye, baby, dada, mama and hi. What really gets me is how you try to mimic things I say and it's always so close! You're very eager to learn words and that's so thrilling.
This is a wonderful time for feeding you. You're at a wonderful stage where you will eat anything and you eat a ton of it. However, you prefer whatever anyone else is eating. We have started feeding you exactly what we are having for dinner and you will eat it all. This has been so wonderful. Breakfast is the most difficult time, you just don't seem to want to eat that much! You still have three bottles a day of whole milk, but we are going to slowly wean you from your bottles. It is so wonderful to not have to buy formula anymore! You still think your brothers hung the moon. Jackson makes you laugh and you're very interested in what he and Brady are doing. I love seeing you interact with your brothers and also get a kick out of hearing one or both of them yelling 'Charlotte" when you have taken some toy away or gotten to close to something they are building or a puzzle they are working on.
Your nicknames at 12 months are Beans, beansie and sissy. Baby girl, I love you so much. You are just the sweetest and happiest little thing I've ever seen. The sound of your babbling is the best music I know. I feel incredibly blessed to be your mommy. Daddy and I can't imagine our lives without any of you guys!

Very Hungry Caterpillar

Charlotte's 1st Birthday Party was the theme of the Eric Carle book "Very Hungry Caterpillar."

Grandma and PaPa Aldridge came to celebrate with her:
She had lots of friends celebrate with her. They sang and watched her eat her cake:
And, she really enjoyed her cake:
She also had tons of fun opening her presents, with her brother's help of course!
Thanks to everyone for celebrating Charlotte's first birthday. It was such a fun time! I can't believe she is already 1!