a crazy week.

well, charis is 4 months old!!! she turned 4 months on my birthday last week, september 21. it was a frustrating day...we had planned a great day at the aquarium in newport, but as we were putting charis in the stroller in the parking garage, i threw out my back. i could hardly stand or walk, but not to be thwarted, derek got me a wheelchair so that we could still enjoy the aquarium. i held charis, and he pushed us all the way through. it was somewhat disappointing, but we did our best to make it a great day in spite of it.



we were fortunate that my chiropractor was willing to go in to the office that day (on a sunday!) to adjust me and get me some relief...but leaving his office, the car's exhaust slammed on the curb and impact broke the catalytic converter! so we're frantically trying to find a replacement vehicle at a decent price that will last us...i think we've settled on a used honda odyssey, but we've yet to seal a deal.

the friday before my birthday, charis had a really rough day...very irritable, wouldn't nurse, etc. well, saturday morning we discovered the source of her discomfort -- a tooth! yep, she cut her first tooth, one day shy of 4 months old. she's about to pop that 2nd one through as well...it should show any day now.

so most of this week has been spent trying to find a new car (or van, as it may be). but when we haven't been focusing on that, charis has been becoming a fabulous little sitter, sometimes sitting for as much as 10 minutes at a time. she is really starting to reach for things, including our dishes at dinner time. she's getting really good at grasping and figuring out how her hands and arms work in 3d space...and when she is on her stomach, she is pushing up on her arms, getting herself so high above the ground! she's also trying to get up on her knees, and it seems that she is building the muscles she'll need to crawl. this little girl is growing up way too fast!

i'll leave you with a few pictures from her 4 month photo session. my sister has been begging for profile pictures, so i made sure to shoot a few this time. enjoy, sis! :)

(well, the first one is actually from celebrating my birthday at my mom's on saturday night)