Wow. So it’s been a year now. People ask if it’s flown by, but no, it feels like a year. The first part was a bit rough, but now it’s about a million times more fun than the newborn stage. Charlotte has a personality and a sense of humor, and even though she doesn’t talk yet, we can still communicate. So nice!

I would have posted a birthday post last night, but in an unexpected turn of events, Matt ended up at urgent care with a severe bee allergy reaction, and that kind of threw us all for a loop. Learning you have to carry an Epipen forever is not the best way to celebrate a birthday, but it was definitely memorable. At least they make Epipens, right?

Charlotte is a wonderful daughter, and I love waking up each morning to spend the day with her. We have lots of fun together, and I’m looking forward to all the adventures that this next year will bring. She’s already walking up a storm, and I can tell that she’s going to keep me on my toes. I love you, Charlotte!

It’s been awhile! Time for an update.

Charlotte is 10.5 months old now and is crawling around everywhere. Her current interests include anything and everything that is not one of her toys. It keeps me on my toes these days; watching her is not as easy as it used to be! Of course we’re still on the go all the time all day long, so between the gym, play dates, errands, the pool, and my grandparents’ house, we stay very busy.

Other news: we have a niece now! Matt’s brother Mark and his wife Beth welcomed Kennedy Elizabeth last Tuesday. We got to meet her on the day she was born, and she is very cute and sweet. So crazy that Charlotte was that small; she is huge now. We already got some pictures of them together with Charlotte wearing her “I love my cousin” shirt. I hope they really do love each other dearly and become great friends when they get older.

We’re at the beach right now for the Fourth of July weekend with Matt’s parents and brother James (Mark and Beth are obviously a little preoccupied.) Charlotte is so excited about the beach that she woke up at 6am today and yesterday. She usually sleeps until 7 or 7:30, so I am praying that things get back to normal as soon as we get back to Raleigh.

The beach has been wonderful; even without the boat (which is in the shop getting fixed) we’ve still been having a blast at the sound, on the neighbor’s giant float, riding bikes, fishing, etc. It’s always nice to get away for a bit.

We were so excited for Day 5 of our trip; we had booked an all day adventure tour and were looking forward to spending the day rock climbing, hiking up waterfalls, rappelling, and ziplining. After watching Prince William and his new bride kiss on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, our van arrived to pick us up.

Unlike Wednesday, we did not have a private tour. There were three other couples and three guides, so our merry band of eleven set off south to the town of Caguas. Once we got to the town, there were many twisting turns through the mountains to actually reach our destination. We were really in the middle of nowhere at this point. Our guide pointed out what looked to be the world’s sketchiest BBQ stop with whole pigs on spits out front, and he said that Anthony Bourdain had recently filmed there. I could believe it.

When we arrived, we had to put on helmets and harnesses. Not the most attractive look, but it helps when everyone else is wearing them too. We hiked upstream over a river, basically climbing on rocks and trying not to slip. Sometimes we waded through the water. It reminded us a lot of Matt’s family’s mountain house. At some points they had ropes set up and we had to hoist ourselves up over the steeper terrain. It was fun and a great workout.

After a couple of hours we were at a pretty high elevation, and then we reached the highlight of the tour: rappelling down a waterfall. Neither Matt nor I had ever rappelled before (actually, no one in the group had) and after a quick lesson, we started to go down the waterfall one by one. It helped that we couldn’t see how big the drop was since they wouldn’t let us near the edge before it was our turn; it was a much larger waterfall than I expected. Rappelling was less scary than I thought it would be though, mostly because you are always stopped and have to exert effort to actually lower yourself, if that makes sense. I had previously thought it was the other way around. It was a lot of fun, and I’m so glad we did it!

After the waterfall, we all went ziplining. I’d never done this before either. They weren’t the longest ziplines in the world, but they were still a lot of fun. We went through three of them, and on one of them Matt got a video while in the air.

Once the hiking was over, we all ate a meal prepared by a local family at their house. Right then it started pouring, so that was really good timing. We had great timing with the rain all week; it usually rained once a day, but always when it didn’t really matter, like when we were in the car driving somewhere.

Back at the hotel, we hit the rooftop hot tub one last time and then headed out for tapas at a restaurant near our hotel (with the not very clever name of “Tapas”). The food was good, and we sat outside while a band played near our table. All in all, it was a great day and a wonderful way to end our trip. Back to reality in the morning!

On Thursday we didn’t have any tours booked; the plan was to take a taxi to downtown San Juan and do a self-guided walking tour to see all the sites.

I brought my Puerto Rico tour book and we followed the walking tour it had laid out for us. This took us through various historic squares and plazas, inside churches, and up quaint cobblestone-covered streets. Old San Juan was much more attractive and picturesque than I was expecting. All the buildings are painted in bright pastel colors, somewhat like Charleston. The weather was gorgeous, and walking along the waterfront felt like going back in time.

The main attractions of Old San Juan – besides the general charm of the city as a whole – are the two large forts that were built hundreds of years ago to protect the city from invaders. We bought a pass to both forts and had fun touring them. It is very, very windy at the forts, and there were lots of people flying kites.

We ate lunch at a casual place that my guide book recommended, and we ended up having to wait forever for our food. It was a nice break to be out of the sun and off our feet, but it didn’t help that we were both starving. The food itself was decent though. We finished the walking tour after lunch and had at that point been over nearly every street in Old San Juan.

The plan was to eat dinner there, so we had a lot of time to kill. We went window shopping in some pretty outlandish stores, including one that sold arrangements of dead butterflies for thousands of dollars. We also took another break when we saw an outdoor cafe that had 2 for 1 mojitos for happy hour.

Dinner was at Dragonfly, a restaurant that our guide book, the internet, and Matt’s uncle all recommended. It did not disappoint. The Asian-fusion tapas were outstanding, and the restaurant itself had really cool decor.

Tomorrow: adventure day!

On Wednesday we went on a combination rainforest/bio bay kayaking tour. We were picked up by our tour company, and we were the only people who had booked that particular tour that day so we had a private driver all to ourselves! First we visited El Yunque rainforest, which is the only tropical rainforest in the US National Parks System.

We began at the extremely nice visitors’ center – so nice that you can rent it out and have your wedding there. We watched a short film about the rainforest narrated by Benicio Del Toro (who is apparently Puerto Rican. I kept thinking about how he knocked up Kimberly Stewart, ew.) Then our driver drove us to one end of this long hiking trail that follows a river, and he left us there to walk on our own. It turned out to be incredibly convenient to have a hired driver, since he could drop us off at one end of the trail and pick us up at the other end. We followed the path and took pictures of the pretty waterfalls.

I spent a good part of my childhood in a rainforest in Panama, so what I was expecting from El Yunque was along the lines of the Panamanian jungle. They really couldn’t be more different. When we got to Panama, we had to watch a 30 minute film about all the creatures in the jungle there that could kill you. Basically anything that was remotely colorful or bright or interesting-looking that wasn’t a flower was most likely horribly poisonous. In El Yunque, there was absolutely nothing that could even cause you the slightest bit of harm. You could, perhaps, scratch yourself on a rock while hiking. The mountains of North Carolina are more dangerous than the Puerto Rican rainforest; they at least have copperheads and bears. So our wildlife sightings were limited to giant snails and small lizards.

We had dinner at a Puerto Rican cafe in Fajardo, and we decided to try out some of the local food. We each got mofongo – mashed plantains with peppers and meat – mine had crab, and Matt’s had pork. It was good; the serving vessel it came in was what made it special though (check out our pictures.)

After filling our stomachs, we met up with all the other tourists who would be joining us for the kayaking tour through the bio bay. There are only a few places in the world with this phenomenon. The tiny microorganisms in the bay glow bright blue when they are disturbed, so when the sun sets and your oar hits the water, there is a blue flash in the water. I figured we had to do it.

The whole experience was much more exciting than I expected; mostly because to get to the bay, you have to kayak down a very long, narrow path through the mangrove trees. They grow so thick above the channel that it was like paddling through a tunnel. Iguanas sat in the trees over our heads and stared at us. The channel was about a mile long, and then we reached the bay. The water glowed much brighter than I had anticipated, which was a nice surprise. When we paddled back the way we came, it was pitch black. The only lights we had were tiny blinking lights on the front of our kayaks, which gave the effect of going through a haunted house on a kayak.

All in all, a great day! Next up – exploring Old San Juan on foot.

Day 2 started bright and early with a van picking us up at 8 for our snorkeling/sailing excursion on a catamaran. We drove about an hour east to the town of Fajardo where we boarded a very nice catamaran with several other families and couples. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. We sailed to the first island and docked on the beach. There were a surprising number of people who had never snorkeled before, so they had a rudimentary lesson while we walked on the beach for a bit, and then we snorkeled some too. I had already read reviews saying that the snorkeling at the first stop wasn’t that great, so our expectations were pretty low. It was still fun to swim around the beach, and we did see some fish.

When we got back on the boat, we ate the lunch they had laid out for us. It was decent; sandwich meats and fruits. There are several catamaran companies that do this exact same excursion from Fajardo, and when I was researching them all I noticed that the one we ended up going with was the only one that let you drink the rum punch the whole time the boat is sailing. The rest of them wait until you are done snorkeling (presumably so you don’t drown). It wasn’t very strong, but it was still a tasty way to enjoy our trip to island number two.

The second island (Palomino Island) was gorgeous, and we docked in the water just off shore so we could jump in and swim over the reef. The snorkeling was much, much better here. It was pretty windy that day so the water was a little cloudy, but there were still tons of fish, and we even saw some squid (they had gigantic eyes.) On the way back to the dock we sailed past a tiny island where Johnny Depp filmed part of Pirates of the Caribbean – apparently the part where he is stranded on a small island. One of the people on our boat was staying at the hotel that Johnny stayed at while filming, and apparently he had Johnny’s butler (who has the kind of money to stay at places with butlers while traveling?)

Even though I stayed in the shade as much as possible and put on sunscreen twice, I still got burnt on my back. Ridiculous. If it was July or August the whole thing would have been no problem, but my skin in April is very different from my skin at the end of the summer. I guess next time I snorkel in the springtime I’ll have to wear a t-shirt in the water.

When we docked the boat, there were about a dozen iguanas waiting for us. Apparently the crew throws them our watermelon rinds each day, so they hang out and wait for our boat to return each afternoon. It was a pretty cool sight.

Next up: rainforests and kayaking!

We just returned from our first baby-free trip – a 5 night vacation in Puerto Rico! We weren’t sure how it would be to get away for so long (for us, Charlotte, and our parents who were watching her) but it all went much better than we expected. I’m not sure Charlotte even realized we were gone. She was very excited to see us when we were picked up at the airport though!

I planned the whole trip myself by doing lots of web research and by spending tons of time reading Trip Advisor. That site is a godsend. I can’t imagine planning a trip without it. There are even restaurant reviews on it now.

We had two uneventful flights down to San Juan and got to our hotel with zero problems. I like how compact San Juan is – at least the part of it that people would actually want to go to. There’s Old San Juan, Condado, and Isla Verde. You can clearly see each area as you’re driving along the highway from the airport. We stayed in Condado, which we figured would be a good mix of tourists, locals, and a beach within walking distance.

We adored our hotel. We stayed at the Coral Princess Hotel, which is a cute boutique hotel with 20 or so rooms. Our room had a pool view and was near the breakfast patio. I loved how the place was decorated, and I especially loved the rooftop hot tub. We used it three times. There were lots of cute indoor/outdoor lounge spaces with tons of potted plants and trees.

The first day we were there was basically spent relaxing, walking along the beach, eating at a Mexican restaurant, soaking in the hot tub, and enjoying the feeling of not being immediately responsible for a baby. Day 2 will be covered in the next post!

The Oscars are this Sunday, and I look forward to them every year. I love the whole awards season, actually…Golden Globes, SAG Awards…it’s a fun break from the cold, winter blahs. I always try to watch each movie that’s nominated for Best Picture. Last year the powers that be decided to make that a lot harder for me by changing the number of nominees from five to ten. But, five days before the ceremony, we got it done! All ten movies have been viewed by Matt and me.
Just for funsies, I’m going to rank them in order of how much I liked them and give my random thoughts on why I ranked them like I did. This is not the order I think they’ll place in the ceremony; it’s just my personal opinion on their entertainment value.

The movies can be divided into chunks. The 4 movies below are the first chunk, which represents movies I LOVED.

1. The Social Network – loved the dialogue, loved the fast pace, just an all-around great movie

2. The  King’s Speech – could be my #1 based on what mood I’m in, as it is a very different movie than TSN (yet still oh so awesome)

3. 127 Hours – I adored this movie. I liked it much more than Matt did. The fact that it was based on a true story that happened so recently really hit home with me for some reason, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it for days. My crush on James Franco may also be a factor.

4. Inception – so inventive, imaginative, and different. Christopher Nolan is a movie-making god.

****Imaginary line here. The next three movies were decent; enjoyable, yet not super-fantastic.

5. Black Swan – twisted and freaky; not my usual movie, but Natalie Portman took it to another level with her performance

6. Toy Story 3 – I’m not much of an animated movie person, and I liked How to Train Your Dragon better. But it was good.

7. The Kids are All Right – this was fair… I was expecting more of a comedy. There wasn’t too much of a plot.

****Last imaginary line. The bottom three are the movies I didn’t really care for.

8. True Grit – I know this movie is beloved by many, but I was bored. The Cohen brothers are hit or miss for me.

9. The Fighter – I dislike movies about loser-type people doing loser-type things and swearing at each other a lot. It got good once Marky Mark finally started boxing.

10. Winter’s Bone – this movie was bleak with a capital B. BLEAK. Sure, the acting was great, but wow, talk about depressing. It makes you think that the Ozarks are the third circle of hell.

Happy Academy Awards week to you!

Wow, I have GOT to update this blog more often!

Charlotte is six months old now! I know, crazy, right?! She had her doctor’s appointment today (and got more vaccinations.) Her weight really jumped up, which won’t surprise anyone who’s looked at her recently. She’s now in the 75-90th percentile for weight, as opposed to 25-50th from the 4 month visit. I usually feel like she doesn’t really eat that much, but obviously something is working right when it comes to food. She loves solid food and can put away some fruits, veggies, and oatmeal. We’re moving to two solid meals soon.

As for the massive head, her head circumference went up even more – now she’s in the 95-99th percentile. Our pediatrician says that it should start leveling off and shouldn’t increase at the rate it has been from now on, and if that’s not the case at her 9 month appointment then we’ll have to get some tests done. So, here’s to hoping for a more normal-sized head!

I’m going to start updating this blog more often, I promise! I’ll probably do an Oscars post soon. Yay for the Oscars this Sunday!

Charlotte’s 4 month doctor’s appointment was a couple of weeks ago, but I wanted to share the funniest part of our visit (believe me, it was not the multiple immunizations.) While her weight and height are in the 25-50th percentile, Charlotte’s head circumference is currently in the…95th percentile. The nurse actually said, “Whoa, let me measure her head again just to make sure that’s right.” It was. Our kid has a huge head. We’ve now had two strangers comment on her head’s large size. It doesn’t look particularly enormous if you just see her by herself, but if she’s next to another baby, then watch out. I’m interested to see if this pattern continues at her 6 month visit!