We've kicked off our holiday season today by attending the Asheville City Holiday Parade! Dillon's lived here for almost 15 years and I've been here 10 years and I've only been once when I worked at Grove Park Inn and walked in the parade.
It was actually a lot of fun! It's still a lot of work going downtown with two little ones, but I planned ahead and we went super early (which made Dillon laugh at me), but we got good parking and good spots on the street. Lucas said he loved it and never wanted to leave. Ha! I was ready to go around 12:00 but Luke wanted to stick around to see Santa Claus. So we did. We followed up the parade with picking up groceries and a hectic lunch at Chick Fil A (I think everyone thought that would be a good spot to go after the parade!)
We're all finally coming out of our illnesses from last week. I still have a cough at night, but am at least feeling somewhat back to normal. We're all ready for Thanksgiving this week. I was going to work Monday through Wednesday this week and then someone at work reminded me that I might have some paid time off accumulated. I checked and I had enough to take off the first three days of the week so I'm not working at all next week! Woohoo! I'm super excited to have a whole week off with the kiddos and to get some time to get ready to travel. I also told Luke that if the weather is nice that maybe we'll go to the Nature Center one day this week. That'll at least get some energy out of him!
This kicks off all of our holiday celebrations. Next week is Thanksgiving and after that is getting our tree. Then there's visits with Santa, baking, Christmas gifts and birthday parties. Even my work is fun this time of year because I get to deliver holiday gifts to physician's offices. I'm looking forward to it all, even through the craziness!
Parade ready!
Trying to find a coffee. They were cash only :(
We finally found a coffee (and hot chocolate for Luke) and a bathroom at City Bakery!
My little monster
She loved the music and the dancing!
Yay Enka! That's the school in our neighborhood!
Kids KISS band. HA!
It's not a parade without a pig.
Luke's friend from preschool was in the parade. Hey, Addie!
11 Months. I have to say, I'm a little sad that this will be the last monthly posting I do for any of my babies. Cue the tears. Tomorrow is Charlie's 11th month on this earth and what a blessing she is.
This month she has taken several steps in a row, although she prefers to crawl still because it's much quicker. By her birthday, I feel that she'll be walking a lot. She still has NO TEETH. None. I checked Luke's 11 month pictures and his two little teeth on the bottom had just broken through. We're still waiting patiently over here. Although she's still all gums, it does not keep her from eating everything she comes across. Seriously, she's like a goat. I was wrapping Christmas gifts and gave her some paper to play with. I turned around and she was eating it. We've even caught her with dog food in her mouth. I can never turn my back on her because I'm terrified she'll put something in her mouth and choke on it.
She's still a petite little thing. I put some fleece pants on her that were Luke's. He was comfortably fitting in them at 10 months and they drag the ground on her. She'll probably be short like me.
Her little tear duct is still blocked and I'm nervous that when we go back next month we'll be referred to a pediatric ophthalmologist for a minor procedure to unblock it. It's been this way since birth and we've tried compresses and massaging and it just never seems to clear. It gets at its worst when she gets a little cold. She wakes up with a matted eye. :( Fingers crossed it pops open before her appointment next month!
While we've known that she likes music, this month we've discovered that she likes to MAKE music and dance! One of her favorite things is when Dillon holds her at the kitchen counter and she can bang the pots together to make noise. When a song comes on the television she laughs and bounces up and down. She found a cowbell today and you would have thought it was the best thing ever.
We've mostly come out of our sleep regression. We still have some rough nights, but it's been easier. The time change last week was a real booger and she was waking up before 4:00 in the morning, ready to go. There was a lot of coffee being made in our house.
We'll be putting our tree up next week so I'm curious to see how this all will go down with a baby/toddler.
I honestly can't believe that it's almost been a year since she arrived. It feels like time just slips away and the harder you try to hold on to it the faster it goes. I always think the first year with a baby is the hardest year, it's the year with the most adjustments and the most trials and errors. You learn their little personality and they have to get the hang of your world and while I'm not too terribly sad to say goodbye to bottles and formula and sleepless nights I am sad to see small hands grow bigger and independence emerge. I guess that's what being a parent is all about. Until next month, when we get to say Happy Birthday, sweet girl.
Yoda was in our kitchen!
Making chex mix!
Luke's starting to really enjoy drawing pictures! He's not much for coloring books, but likes to make his own creations!
Charlie received her first birthday gift from her Pappaw Eddie! A little play grocery store.
She ate the box. I had to take it away. Ha!
Trying to stop her tears! She would laugh at us on the camera.
