The further adventures...

of Charlotte!

We took a night off from family to go visit my friend. Mom volunteered to drive us over there, but I knew that Charlotte's first Metro ride would be worthy of documentation, so I turned her down.

Here she is, waiting for the train. We missed one by maybe 20 seconds because I couldn't get the #$*&*! stroller through the fare card gates. Rookie mistake. I felt like such a tourist!

Note her death grip on Oscar the dog, a gift from our cousins. He is her traveling companion.

 And here, on the way home. Just outside the frame were two tourists. She was such a flirt, laughing and grinning at them, and I swear to you, they took photos of her. She has papparazzi.

Verdict: she enjoyed the Metro trains themselves, but did not particularly enjoy the waiting for them.

Whelmed.

I'll say it straight - life with Charlotte is awesome, but the rest of life is, well, a little (over)whelming at times. I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm actually overwhelmed, though, more like I feel cluttered in my soul. I feel distracted, frazzled, a little lost.

I think a large part of this cluttered feeling is caused by the clutter that surrounds me at home (and, frankly, at the office. Ok, and in the car, too.). Because, let's face it, I have a stuff problem. Some people have drinking problems, I have stuff problems. I have too much of it. I can't let go of it. I have struggled with my stuff for years and years. I really need to come to grips with it.

I started reading this blog, The Year of Less, and I started looking at organizing stuff on Pinterest, and just the thought of having fewer amounts of more organized stuff makes my soul feel a little lighter. But it's not enough. I need to break down and DO something about it, instead of just thinking about the stuff. Post-maternity leave, I set a goal of going to bed with a clean sink - that helps me feel better, especially when I actually accomplish that goal.

And so, I bring to you: Joie's Year of Less. A loose plan of attack to make my soul feel lighter, my house look cleaner, and myself happier. I'm trying to use SMART goals, so hopefully this won't become yet another CLEAN ALL THE THINGS dream.

To start, I'm just going to make a few small changes:

• I'm going to leave my office desk tidy every night. 
• I'm going to pick out clothes for me and C, and pack lunches and diaper bags the night before.
• I'm going to continue to strive to have a clean sink before bed.
• I'm going to cook one weekday meal on the weekend.

Four goals for the remainder of September, two of which I already do half-heartedly.

I can do this.

Lord, I was born a ramblin' man

Last weekend, Charlotte and I traveled to DC to celebrate my grandmothers. Here's thematic installment no. 1 of our trip. I call it: how to travel with a mobile 6 month old and not lose your mind.

We got to the airport three hours early because I figured there'd be a long line at security, it being the Friday before Labor Day and all. Not only was there virtually no line, the TSA agent actually opened another lane for us. Then I had to fill three hours with a mobile baby.

So, we played with the suitcase for a while. I also instagrammed a lot (follow me: joie_12). The awesome gate agent re-arranged things so that Charlotte and I had a row to ourselves, so she flew in the car seat.

Sleeping on the plane. This didn't actually last very long, and I was forced to resort to SkyMall to keep her entertained.

I learned an important lesson: just because you CAN carry the diaper bag, carseat/kid combo, and a carry-on duffle, doesn't mean you SHOULD. It wasn't so bad in Albany, but National Airport is a lot bigger. I earned some calluses on my hands this trip!

On the way back, killing time with Mimi before the flight. I had already checked the duffle bag at this point.

Despite the relative emptiness of our return flight, we were forced to gate check the car seat. This ended up not being an issue, because Charlotte (and I!) slept for the first 45 minutes of the 65 minute flight. I really enjoyed our snuggly little nap. 

The last twenty minutes were spent playing and making googly eyes at the baby two rows up.

Six months

To recap:

And now:

At six months, Charlotte is 25.25" long (18 percentile) and 16 lbs (44 percentile).

She likes:
crawling
wooden spoons
babbling
pulling herself up

She (strongly) dislikes:
holding still
diaper and clothes changes
napping

Monday pick-me-up

Literally.

I kept waiting for her to pull up, but she never got beyond her knees. She needs something skinny to grab onto - and my leg may be many things, but skinny, it is not.

Breaking news

We Matt lowered Charlotte's crib mattress tonight, probably 2 weeks after we should have done it. I'd read online that it can be helpful for the kid to spend a little time in the crib once the mattress is lower, because otherwise it can feel too much like a new place? I don't know about that, but I don't like waking up multiple times to tend to a screaming baby, so I put her in there with a few stuffed animals.

I took this photo, and while trying to come up with a cute caption for Instagram (follow me: joie_12), some movement caught my eye.

And then I had to quick get out of Instagram and take a picture. Ok, several. Then I ran downstairs to get Matt, who came up, and she was STILL standing.

Then she got all excited and started bouncing like she does in her jumper or exersaucer.

And she fell over. Oh, mo.

I have a feeling she will sleep very well tonight! Lots of exercise for this little munchkin.

Hello? Is this thing on?

 Man, I'm OUTTA here. Those stupid laundry basket photos are for the birds.

 I know! I've seen mama use this thing to communicate. Maybe I can get a rescue mission up in here.

Hello? Can you hear me? Somebody? Anybody? I'm being held hostage!