hanging out

On Saturday, we were hanging out together at a friend's
1 year birthday picnic. For some snapshots of the guests,
Charlotte posed with Mama ;-)

hanging in there

These are some older shots but they nicely depict the morning routine Charlotte still loves: 

 

After peeling out of bed from a hard night of good sleep, our busy bee gets right to working out. Charlotte loves to push her little red wagon (and dear friends, like Mr. Phillies Phanatic ;-) through the house. 

 

 (And to Penny's dismay, she has recently discovered the fun of "running over" the doggie with it - giggling and following Penny when she jumps up to save her four-legged life...)



After some exercise, hearty breakfast, playtime and Penny-walk, it is time to take another nap.


Baby life is hard!

stille post

Na da muss Penny der Charlotte aber... 











... was lustiges
in's Ohr geflüstert haben!

love and *dislike* (big time!)

 Earlier this year, we posted a few dos and don'ts for Charlotte. Now that she is quickly becoming a toddler it is interesting to see an update:







 

Charlotte now LOVES

Penny, (of course!) ... especially crawling into her bed and looking out of the window together

Butterbrot (good German girl!)

Green stuff, especially Broccoli & Spinach (good kid in general ;-)

Strawberries, blueberries

Using a fork

Penny

Pushing her wagon through the house

Cables

Giggling & Laughing, especially with upside-down tickles

Her feet

Penny's nose

Climbing
Leaves

Swimming

Opening and closing doors

Rosa - her bunny

Penny
Taking the dirt out of planters

Giving kisses

Sand

Reading books (and pulling them off the shelf!)

Everything that rattles

Penny

Charlotte now HATES

Sitting down to eat

Getting her teeth cleaned

New situations

Too much happening

Bibs

Sitting still

Not getting what she wants

Avocado

Parachute rides

Falling asleep when she's still too excited

It will be interesting to see what joins and drops off these lists 

as she grows (more opinionated ;-)

run mama run

Kind of a goal: getting back into running (for real)
before Charlotte's first birthday.

And Mama just made it - the La Jolla half marathon on April 29 was the first race after pregnancy and birth. And despite little training and quite a hilly course, Mama loved every step and mile of it! Running in the crowd of people felt great. And finishing in 1 hour 55 was an extra bonus... confirming Daddy's theory of the family's German heritage: well oiled machines always running on time ;-)

After all, Charlotte was also quite punctual when born on her due date (which apparently only 5 percent of babies manage) -- let's see if this trait holds up through childhood!

flower girl

 

muttertag

... ist jeden Tag!

 

 

 

 

Am Muttertag haben wir gemütlich mit Freunden (ohne Fotoapparat :-) gepicknickt... aber an Charlotte's Geburtstag hat Daddy ein paar schöne Bilder von seinen Mädels geschossen.







Ein netter nasser
Kuss für Mama









Grosses Gelächter...










... weil Charlotte SEHR kitzlig ist :-)








Und:

SO GROSS!!!

1 year (wiser?)

 

On her birthday morning, Charlotte demonstrated that she is a big girl now... with a new skill: picking her nose! ;-)

Very pleased with herself...

Hanging out with Daddy...

Opening Penny's gifts...

Big girl again... "I can dress myself!"

"Almost. Or am I supposed to play peek-a-boo now?!"

"Yes, FREE CHARLOTTE SOPHIE!"
(Or, they only tell you cribs are safe places to relax...)

 

back again, all grown up

 

Alright: after a week+ of celebrations, it's high time to update you on our fun and adventures. We'll get back to posting pictures and stories soon ;-)

happy birthday charlotte!

Today, our other girl is celebrating her birthday - 

she was quite a little bundle too!

 

And we can't believe a year has already passed, with Charlotte on her way into toddlerhood...

Alles Liebe zum 1. Geburtstag Charlotte!

 

happy birthday penny!

Some pictures from your first day with us: you were quite a little bugger...

... but have grown into a great big sister now!

 

guard(ian) dog

You see a lazy dog lounging in the sun? You are probably right.

But we've come to realize there's more to it. Since we've had Charlotte, Penny has become very protective of her baby and the house. A few days ago, she was even more than that: Minding her own business and enjoying the warm tiles on the patio, Penny was rudely awakened by Charlotte toppling onto her from atop the only of two steps we have in the front and back of the house... Thanks to the soft and fluffy fall, Charlotte did not seem to notice that anything unusual had happened. Just Penny needed to find another spot to continue her afternoon snooze in peace ;-)

With that, Penny has officially become Charlotte's guard(ian) dog.
Thanks Penny! Learning to walk can be tricky.

butt of a joke

Apparently a very comfortable sleeping position - right, Charlotte?!

birthday bash

Hard to believe: 

we have birthday number 1 (and 2!) coming up... 

Unfortunately, many out of town family and friends will not be able to come for Charlotte's & Penny's party. If you're local, please join us!

The girls are already excited to celebrate with their two- and four-legged friends... especially when they heard that there will be cupcakes!

We'll make sure to report back on their digging in ;-)

 

tauziehen

... mit Penny macht immer Spass!

(kleiner) mensch!

 

 We post recent and "old" pictures on the blog, whenever we have taken a photo or just come across one that tells a nice story when browsing our library. This snapshot is hot of the press from yesterday... showing how much Charlotte is now starting to look like a person as she's heading towards her 1st birthday - definitely not a baby anymore!

like a fish in water

 



 Alright... I'll refrain from calling her a rat this time ;-)

Every Tuesday and Thursday, Charlotte goes swimming.

 A little apprehensive at first, she's come to love it - and exhibit Daddy's swimming genes. 

She has great fun splashing and giggling with the other babies in the water.

And when swim instructor Martina plays peek-a-boo with her hat, Charlotte is "at home". After all, we know that from Daddy!


 

Charlotte's pool repertoire now includes diving, "jumping" in, and picking up a ring from under water.

 

 

(play) date

 

Charlotte loves her baby gym.


Yesterday, she had fun exploring the ramps and slides with daddy* - while Mama was getting a long overdue haircut!

 

 

* (These shots are from a few weeks back...)