Mama's Little Helper!

Charissa is really becoming a little helper to me. She's growing everyday and she's able to do more and more things all the time. It's so interesting to see little buds of her independence coming out. For instance, now when she's eating her solids she likes to try to feed herself. As I'm bringing the spoon to her mouth she'll grab it and put it in her mouth herself. Of course, being that she's only 6.5 months old, sometimes she can't quite get it into her mouth. But she's still trying! Here are some pictures of her attempts ...






I've chosen not to worry about her making a mess because she's learning hand-eye coordination and I want to encourage her efforts instead of make her completely dependent on me to do things for her. But sometimes it's hard when I have to hose her off after every feeding! (And the fact that I'm somewhat of a neat-freak.) But I have figured out a way to feed her without her making a mess. You know the verse that says "do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing"? Well, for Charissa it's more like "do not let your left hand know that you are eating." I don't know if she's going to be left-handed or not, but she always uses her left hand to feed herself. But that may be because I'm using my right hand so her left hand is closer to the spoon. As long as I keep her occupied looking at something, or singing, or doing something entertaining she is content to let me feed her unassisted.

To sum it up: Charissa is so much fun! And I'm so glad that God is allowing me to relax on some of my "neatness needs" to enjoy meal times with my daughter.

**Oh, one more thing - for all of you about ready to enter solid food time with your babies, buy some plastic bibs that you can just wipe off in the sink. Those cloth ones will just get stained and they let moisture (and the color) seep through to your child's clothing. **

Great-Gramma's 80th Birthday!

This Saturday we celebrated my Gramma's 80th birthday with my family in Clayton. It was the first time my aunt, uncle and cousin had met Charissa, and it had been a long time since I'd seen my cousin's daughter so it was an exciting event. Here are some pictures from the day:

Gramma and my cousin's daughter Aareia who's 3.

My sister-in-laws Kat and Melissa

Charissa and her Nana.
Apparently Charissa likes the hat.
Aareia picked out the hats and she said she wanted Gramma
to have the same ones that she had at her birthday party - Tinkerbell.
Aareia and Charissa discovering how much fun cousins can be.

My brothers Bob and Rusty.
They're enjoying their Tinkerbell hats.

Grumpa and Nana like the hats too.

Gramma had a very bright cake!
They didn't have any birthday candles so they used ones off their mantle.

Apparently Charissa has a taste for Nana's shirt.

It's delicious!!

It was a really fun weekend. We were glad we got to hang out with our family, especially since we just found out that my brother Bob and his wife Melissa are moving to Seattle at the end of October. So we have to get all of our time with them in soon!

Questions I Ask Myself ...

Every time I go to the gym, I try to park as close as I can to the front. Why? I'm going to the gym to work out, but I don't want to walk an extra 10 yards to the door.

Ridiculous.

This Week in Treecingham

It has been quite a week for the Treeces! Here's what we've been up to:

• We're dog-sitting for my parents while they are in Alaska, so their 90 pound dog has become Charissa's new best friend. Shepard and Charissa play on the floor together and try to share toys, but they are thwarted by parents who think doggy slobber isn't good for little girls. Fortunately, Shepard is a very gentle and mild mannered dog, so he doesn't mind if Charissa tries to steal his toys, pulls his fur, rolls into him, or squeals loudly and often. By the way, for all you dog owners - I have two products to recommend for you: the Dyson vacuum cleaner, and the FURminator. One gets the dog hair up off your floors amazingly, and the other takes more hair off your dog than you thought was possible. If you have a dog with hair, the FURminator is a must.
• Charissa had her 6 month check up on Tuesday! YAY! She received a clean bill of health and they told us that she is cognitively and emotionally developing right on track. Her height is doing well - staying in that 37th percentile! - but her weight has dropped from the 60th percentile to the 30th. The doctor isn't concerned about her, but he said we should probably up her solid feedings to two a day. Which brings me to ...
• YUMMY SOLID FOODS! Charissa has decided that she likes solid food! Peaches were a huge hit with her, and we finally figured out how to get her to eat her rice cereal - add some banana. :) So she is now a happy little eater.
  
• On Tuesday, Charissa and I had our first mother-daughter incident where I was truly frightened for her. After I feed Charissa for the last time that night I was holding her in my lap and playing with her, when she vomited all over me. I had barely recognized what she had done, before she did it again. So there I was home alone, with vomit all over Charissa, myself, the couch, and the floor and I didn't know what to think or do. So I did what every woman does - I called my mom. Of course, it helps that my mom was a pediatric nurse for 11 years. But it didn't help that she's in Alaska and it took me about 10 minutes to connect with her. I've never been concerned for Charissa before like this, so I was almost hysterical. And Charissa was perfectly calm. I finally calmed down after it became apparent that she was just reacting to the two shots she had received early that day. So we both had a bath, got cleaned up, and then we cuddled because I didn't want to let her go.
• A friend of ours is going to stay with us for a little while before she gets married in September. In preparation for her arrival, Britt and I tried to rearrange a few things and make some room for her. While doing that, I got really frustrated and said, "We have too much stuff! I just want to get rid of it all!" This comment sparked a contest between me and Britt to see who could get rid of the most stuff. So both of us went through all of our drawers, our closets, the kitchen, and any place containing stuff and threw out a ton of stuff. And since both of us are highly competitive, we were constantly comparing piles, and saying to each other, "I claim it!" when we saw something to get rid of it. It was a really fun way to clean out our house. I highly recommend it.

I think that's all going on with us this week. Tune in again next week to hear more updates from Treecingham!

Ridiculous ...

Mostly Cloudy 101°F Feels Like 109°F Updated Aug 8 03:45 p.m. ET Watch the Raleigh Forecast	UV Index: 4 Moderate Wind: From SW at 8 mph Humidity: 34% Pressure: 29.84 in. Dew Point: 68°F Visibility: 10.0 miles NEW! Track Weather on Larger Maps

It's too hot. I'm not leaving my house again until September. Maybe October.

Solid Fun!

Charissa started solid foods this week! It has been a very exciting transition. I'm even making my own baby food! A friend of mine encouraged me to try and told me it wasn't that hard - which is true! Not that I'm convinces I'll only feed her homemade food, but I am enjoying making it so far. We're not sure if she likes the food yet, but she really enjoys meal time. While she sits in the high chair we're trying to make her smile or laugh because when she does her mouth is wide open and it's real easy to shove some food in. But she's definitely the toughest audience I've ever performed for. All other times of the day she smiles and laughs quite easily, but during mealtime she is stoic. If she does smile, it's a closed-mouth smile. I think she's working us.

Here are some pictures of CJ enjoying her food ...

I know it looks like she's naked, but she does have clothing on.
Her bib is just that big. Or she's really small.

Although it may appear that she is enjoying the food,
she is actually kicking me away with her feet.

As you can see, eating is exhausting.