Cousin Drew

Charlotte spent yesterday afternoon hangin' with Cousin Drew. Well, it was more like Charlotte rolled around and crawled backwards all over the floor playing with his toys while the D-Man slept. She tried out his new Bumbo seat, which she seemed to enjoy until she decided it would be fun to try to jump out of it. Hopefully she doesn't pass that trick on to Drew.

When Drew finally decided to entertain his guests and wake up, Charlotte mistakenly thought he was a pug and tried to grab and pull him every time she got close to him. Drew is probably already scared of his cousin. That will probably only last for the few months that he is smaller than Charlotte.

All in all, it was a fun day for Charlotte. Drew was very generous with his toys - he didn't seem to mind that she had them all in her mouth at some point. They all receive the "Charlotte Wet and Slimy Seal of Approval." Thanks for the great visit, Drew. We'll be back soon (we can say that now - how cool!)

Our Dr Doolittle

Charlotte's favorite thing (aside from fruit puffs) is animals. She breaks into the biggest smile and squeals with delight when she sees dogs or cats. Her two pugs are the best toys - they keep her entertained for hours. She loves to pull their fur, tug on their tails, grab their paws, and bury her face into their soft bodies.
On a visit to Auntie Tara's parents' house a while back, Mama and Papa Gibson were concerned that their two big dogs might scare Charlotte. To their surprise, Charlotte erupted into a fit of giggles when the very friendly lab and golden retriever rushed to her to sniff her and say hello. And you would think that four insane pugs (our two pups with Nana and JoePa's 'angels') might overwhelm little Charlotte. On the contrary, she tries to give them all hugs while they are swarming around her like sharks. Maybe this is a sign that our Charlotte is going to be a vet. That would be a good thing - she could give us a discount on the obscence amount of vet visits we make with our high maintenance pugs!

Goin' Bananas

Yes, it's another food post about Charlotte. Since eating takes up such a big part of her day, I always seem to reach for the camera while she's munching away. Soon I'll get a clue and take shots of her doing other things, but until then, here's Charlotte eating her first real food. I offered her a piece of banana yesterday. Without hesitation, she attacked it with her pudgy little hand. The real banana was not as easy to pick up as the banana puff, though, which frustrated her. After a minute or two of trying to pick it up, she finally got it in her mouth. I don't know if she liked the taste or not - I think she was just mad at it for being so hard to pick up. Subsequent banana pieces didn't go well, either, so I think we'll hold off on the bananas for a while.

Sweet! Something new on my tray! I'm so good at this grabbing food thing that I'm not even going to let go of the toy in my other hand. I am so talented!

OK. This is getting serious. I can't pick up this silly, slimy, yellow, scrumptious looking object. I had to let go of my toy. Come on fingers. Do your job!

Why must you be so elusive? Why won't you give in to your fate? Get in my belly!!

Success doesn't taste so sweet. Mommy, pass the puffs!

There's No Place Like Home

We clicked our heels three times, and we are finally in Pennsylvania!! Well, I wish it were as easy as clicking our heels. Charlotte, the pugs and I arrived on Friday after three days of having strangers pack up our house, deciding what went to storage and what went to our corporate housing, and enduring our last six hour long car ride for a while. Charlotte was especially good on the ride here. I think she knew she was coming home. It felt like the sign announcing the PA state line after leaving West Virginia should have said "Pennsylania Welcomes the Astons!"

Charlotte's Aunt Amy, Uncle Darin, Cousin Drew, and Aunt Sam all came over on Friday evening to our temporary housing to supply us with food and kitchen essentials - that was a very nice welcome back gift and a relief to know that we wouldn't have to scope out a new grocery store for at least a few days.

After our guests left, Charlotte and the pugs went down for the night. Charlotte slept incredibly well - over 12 hours. She didn't wake up until after 9am - over an hour and a half after her normal wake-up time. I wish I could say the same for the puggies. Trixie was up multiple times barking at noises she thought she heard. Emmet wouldn't leave my sight for a second. Even today, four days later, I have an Emmet at my heels at all times. He is normally not so clingy.

Jed came Sunday evening after making sure the movers got all of our stuff safely on the truck and cleaning every inch of the house. No rest for the weary - he started work today, only 12 hours after he arrived!!

It seems that Charlotte is handling all the changes like a champ, while Jed, the pugs and I are adjusting slowly. Maybe we should all learn from Charlotte about dealing with stressful situations and just smile all the time, take three naps a day, sleep 12 hours at night and enjoy eating so much that we wear half of the food on our face and our clothes.

Sorry there isn't a new photo of Charlotte. The camera is packed away somwhere around here. I'll find it soon and try to get a picture of her in our temporary crib. Until then, keep your fingers crossed that we'll sell our house soon!!

My Wicked Cool New England Aunts

Charlotte wants to give a big shout out to her Aunt Jill and Aunt Janelle. Her Aunt Jill just started classes to get her teaching certificate in elementary education. Charlotte thinks that Aunt Jill is going to be the greatest teacher ever and wishes she could be lucky enough to be in her class someday. Good luck, Aunt Jill - study hard!!

Charlotte's Aunt Janelle just finished med school at Tufts University. Last week she received her match to do her OB/GYN residency at UMass Medical Center. Charlotte is very proud of her Aunt Janelle for all the hard work she has done over the past few years. Aunt Janelle's future patients will be very lucky to have such a great doctor caring for them!!

Since Charlotte is a die hard PSU football fan, it was hard for her to consider wearing any other sports team's logo. In honor of her two aunts' big accomplishments, though, Charlotte decided to put off her PSU allegiance for one day to support their team - the Boston Red Sox. This photo is for you, Aunt Jill and Aunt Janelle!!

Puff the Magic Candy

To celebrate her 8 month birthday today, Charlotte had her introduction into the world of finger food - banana puffs. She was a little tentative at first. She got it into her mouth no problem - she's a pro at getting things into her mouth and has been doing that for months! Figuring out what to do with it once it was in her mouth was another story. Lots of drool and a few gags later, she eventually figured it out and now LOVES the yummy little puffs. Her first snack was around 2pm today. I got them out again while I was making dinner, and she screamed inbetween puffs if I didn't get one to her fast enough. I guess she likes them.


Hmmmmm...what is this strange star on my tray? Did Mommy give me another toy for being a good girl?

Let me investigate with my mouth. I'm not too sure about this. I think I'd rather suck on a napkin.

Abort, abort!! Whose stupid idea was this?

OK, this second one isn't as bad. Hmmm. Do I taste a hint of banana? I sure do love bananas.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Avery!!

A Birthday Message from Charlotte:

Happy Birthday to my best bud, Avery! I can't wait until I'm two so that I can be just like you. You started out as a tiny princess, and now you are a beautiful, fun and smart big girl. I am so happy that Mommy and Daddy are moving us closer to you so we can play more. And we'll let your little brother play with us only if he's not annoying. We need our girl time! Happy Birthday!!! Love, Charlotte

Life in Reverse

Over the past week and a half, we have made two trips to PA to go house hunting. The trips have gone well, but our place in OH hasn't sold yet, so we can't put an offer on anything. Looks like we'll be hanging out in corporate housing for a while. Yay.

While we were house hunting, Charlotte had a great time hanging out at Nana and JoePa's. She absolutely loves the attention she gets from the four crazy pugs. Even with all four of them running around the living room, Charlotte managed to start the early stages of crawling last week. She used to be content playing on the floor while laying on her back, rolling occasionally. This isn't good enough for her anymore - she now LOVES to roll all around the floor. She can make it from one end of a room to another in no time at all. In the middle of rolling, she is now putting herself in a push up position (this coming from a kid who HATED tummy time). She'll stay in that position for a while, trying so hard to move forward, but it just isn't working yet. She can, however, crawl a few steps backwards. She now just needs Daddy to teach her how to go from reverse into first gear! Hopefully our corporate housing will have enough open space for her to practice this new skill!

Rubber duckie, you're the one...

OK, so you can barely see the duckie, but trust us - he's there. He's always in the bath with Charlotte. Bath time is definitely Charlotte's favorite part of the day. She's practically outgrown the infant tub, though, so it's on to bigger and better tubs soon. Hopefully she'll like her new one in PA.

We don't know exactly where the new tub will be, yet, but we know it will be somewhere in Lancaster county. Charlotte is going house hunting with us this weekend and next. Her only requirement for the new house is a tub. Since most houses these days have at least one, she should be pretty easy to satisfy!