These Boots Are Made For Walkin'

Happy 16 month b-day Charlotte Anne! By far the most exciting development since her last post is the Starlet going biped. For almost 2 months she's been walking all over the place- down the sidewalk, along the beach, over the dogs... There's no stopping this little locomotion. She's improved her gait from a drunken sailor stumble to a near run in just 2 months. In fact she's gotten a little too fast, and unfortunately one of her favorite new games is "Run Away From Mommy." It makes shopping so much more exciting... At a recent gymnastics class she even learned to walk backwards! It's nail-biting fun to watch her practice.

Now that the weather has warmed up we've been riding our bikes to the park and hitting the beach every weekend. Charlotte is not shy and really works the crowd at the beach. She likes the big kids and they like her too, until she levels their sand castles. Also she prefers other people's snacks and has been caught trying to open stangers' coolers to see what they're packing. Fortunately she's cute enough to get away with it!

The Starlet has found her voice and likes to use it, but she seems frustrated that no one can understand her directions. We all hope she will learn some new words soon. So far everything is a dog, or sounds like a dog. Also she still enjoys blowing raspberries and kisses, and she thinks her burps are the funniest thing ever. Charlotte now has 6 upper and 6 lower teeth and more on the way, but she's still not a big eater. Mommy and Daddy keep trying to fatten her up, but in the process just end up getting fatter themselves. Aarg.

Since her one year b-day Charlotte has made trips to Los Angeles, Dallas, San Francisco and New Smyrna Beach. This summer will bring a few more cross-country trips, but the Starlet is a seasoned air traveler at this point so no worries. She really hopes some family and friends will come visit her soon so she can show off some of her new beach tricks like the "almost somersault" and her new moonwalk.