Baby Milestones — 11 Months Old

Our Little Dancing Queen

It's a little hard to believe that my bean is almost one-year-old. Time flies when you're having fun, and that's exactly what hanging out with Charlotte is now. She's growing up so fast, and I love watching her develop more and more every day. Here is what's new with our 11-month-old angel.

Walking. Or should I say running? Crawling is no longer needed for Charlotte, because she walks with ease. It's at the point that I'll let her walk around outside without worrying about her falling every 10 seconds. She is also climbing up onto objects, usually to aid her in a devious plan. We're in trouble with this one.

Talking. Charlotte has some new words that I think are adorable and impressive. For starters, one of her favorite words is "mama," which obviously makes me melt, even when she's crying it. What's even cooler is that she says absolutely perfectly, "up." Her grandpa tears up whenever she says "Papa," and I'm pretty sure she is on the verge of getting the word "doggy" down.

Signing. I haven't been consistent enough with Charlotte for her to really know baby signs, but there are a few that managed to stick. The first is "more." She's been doing this for a couple months, but now she really understands the reason for it. Another sign she does is from her favorite TV show, Signing Time. Today she was signing "table." How cute is that?

Dancing. With a mom who's a former cheerleader and a dad that's an amazing musician, Charlotte has music in her soul. When a song comes on or even if someone is just talking in a pleasant enough tone, Charlotte can't help but bang her head, swing her arms, and bounce and sway her little body around.

Sleeping. She's starting to drop her second nap of the day, however this comes with a benefit—she's sleeping much more soundly at night. Last night, for example, she slept from 9p.m. to 4a.m. without interruptions. Josh and I felt like we were on vacation!


Beyond that, I'm starting to work more, leaving Charlotte for longer periods of time. She is still breastfed, so for her to go up to six hours without fussing for her mom (aka the boob) is quite an accomplishment. I'm starting to feel less depended on, because she really enjoys spending time with her dad, grandma or aunties when I'm away. In less than a month my little will be one-year-old, and I couldn't be more excited. I love watching her grow!

Our Projects — DIY Baby Hand Print Kit

Who says you need to buy an expensive kit to capture your baby's hand in hard plaster? We have an easy DIY recipe to make your child's hand print into a gift, ornament or decoration. Our particular recipe made five hand print ornaments, three with our baby's hand, and two of which we used to stamp our dogs' paws on. Depending on if you'd like to make smaller, larger, more or less ornaments, you might want to adjust the recipe.


DIY Baby Hand Print Kit

2 Cups Flour
1/2 Cup Salt
Water

Mixing Bowl
Cookie Sheet
Wax Paper
Rolling Pin
Straw or Pen Cap
Ribbon

Optional: Food Coloring, Paint and/or Spray Paint

Directions:

Mix together flour and salt in your mixing bowl with water until it's formed into a dough. You don't want to add too much water, so go slowly.

Take out dough, and roll it out flat using the rolling pin. Make sure that the dough is rolled thick enough to allow for your child's hand print to make an decent imprint without breaking through.

Using your cookie cutter, stamp the dough into the desired shapes. If you don't have a cookie cutter, you can use the bottom of a circular large cup or small bowl to trace your ornaments' shapes. I used a large heart shaped cookie cutter to get heart-shaped ornaments, and I was able to take the leftover scraps to re-cut them in to an extra ornament.

Take your child's hand (or dog's paw), and press it gently but firmly into the dough, being sure to push down each finger individually.

Use the pen cap or straw to poke a hole all the way through the top of each ornament.

Place each ornament on wax paper, and either place it in the oven at 150 degrees for an hour or two, or let it dry overnight at room temperature.

Once your ornaments are dry, you can decorate them. I chose to spray mine with silver spray paint. Let me know if you try this recipe. These ornaments make for great, meaningful and inexpensive gifts!

7 Random Facts About Me

Hey everyone! Since this blog is called, Charlotte & Me, I figured I'd put the focus for this blog post on the ME portion of our title. Here are seven random facts about me, because why not?!

1 - I used to be a cheerleader in high school, and during my senior year I was a Varsity Yell Cheer Captain.

2 - I'm the editor for The Inland Empire's Good Time Guide to Dining, Shopping, Attractions, Music, Entertainment and more: www.ieshineon.com

3 - I consider myself an activist in various causes, and one of those is that patients should be allowed safe access to medical cannabis. That being said, I am also a contributing writer for Culture Magazine: www.ireadculture.com

4 - I am not concerned about achieving a certain social or economic status in life. Instead my goals are to surround myself with people I love, do what I love, make a difference, be present, mindful, compassionate and appreciative.

5 - One of my favorite foods is falafel. I also love potato tacos. 

6 - I'm allergic to cats. Deathly allergic.

7 - I have asthma, which should help explain the deathly component of my cat allergy. I've had asthma as long as I can remember, but it's usually mild enough so I don't need my inhaler often. 

Our Good Family Dogs — Establishing a Balanced Pack

 

It's all snuggles, kisses and playtime between my almost 11-month-old baby and our two small dogs, Chuck and Mila. Chuck is a five-year-old jack russell mix, while Mila is our seven pound chihuahua who will be three next month. We rescued Chuck from the pound when he was a little over one year old, and we've had Mila since she was eight-weeks-old and two pounds. As I watch our family dogs come up passively to kiss my baby on the cheek, quickly scurrying away as soon as her hands start grabbing at their faces, I am overwhelmed with love and pride. This has been such a relief considering Chuck's past.

Believe it or not, there was a time when I was terrified by the thought of my baby grabbing a toy straight out of Chuck's mouth. My fiance and I had decided to take our dogs to training while I was pregnant in order to have well-behaved animals. Going through formal dog training classes taught Josh and I how to change our habits at home, on walks and in public, which has in turn led to our success with Chuck and Mila.

Although we've always considered Chuck to be a well-behaved and smart dog, he doesn't have the smoothest track record. The first incident involving Chuck happened while Josh and I were in Vegas. Leaving Chuck at my parents' house, he bit my young niece while he was eating. 

Receiving the call, my heart was broken. Going forward we were forced to avoid situations in which Chuck may be provoked, especially when around children. A few years later, I found myself pregnant, and sadly one of the first things that came into my head was that Chuck could be a potential danger to the baby.

We took Chuck and Mila to a dog training course we found in our city's calendar. Train With Love was a 10-week course at a local park. After completing each class, both our dogs knew basic commands. They also became much more calm and submissive, even when leashed by other unfamiliar dogs.

My biggest piece of advice with dog training is to do your homework! Remember that TVshows with super dog trainers like Cesar Milan have great editing techniques that make dog training look effortless. In reality, when you're trying to break your and your dog's bad habits, it takes lots of time, patience and consistency.

Good luck everyone! Please share your stories below!!

Photography — How to Take Band Photos That Don't Suck

Progressive Metal Band The Veil Between

The need for eye-catching promotional photos is one all too familiar to musicians and bands. And while having a couple photos of all the band members standing side by side facing the camera works great, no one benefits from a portfolio full of typical, boring band photos that could potentially make fans and industry connections fall asleep. Luckily, even as an amateur photographer, you can find new and inventive ways to market a band to their audience, while avoiding cliches and pictures that fall flat. Here are a few actions you can take as a photographer (or band member) that will ensure you end up with unique band photos. I'll explain how-to it in two steps, Plan the Picture and Creative Execution.

Plan the Picture:

Start with the Details. I'm such a planning dork, but I've learned that my most successful photo shoots each started with some type of planning. The planning typically consists of researching poses, contemplating the shoot's theme or style. Be sure to include the band in on this brainstorming process to make sure you're getting across the overall look and feel that best represents the band.
 

Subjects. Be sure that in the planning session, you set the standard for wardrobe and props. If you want them to bring a change of clothes, it's good to let them know. What I recommend is letting band members know to wear clothing that are free from other band names, logos or anything else that is distracting. If you're trying to market the band to as many people as possible, you don't want a rival sports team or brand turning someone off from potentially listening to and buying your album. It doesn't hurt for the guys and gals to coordinate. I'm not suggesting matching outfits, rather make sure the band looks like they compliment each other, like they're part of a group. Before the shoot, make sure everyone is put-together and manicured (or not if that's what you're going for). Last, don't forget the details. If all the band members are outside and wearing sunglasses, it's important to encourage them to take them off for at least some (if not a majority) of the photos.

Location. Aside from the subjects, having a great location is the most important aspect of a great band photo (or any photograph really). You might try to find an industrial complex for a goth band or a rural area for a country band. But for this shoot in particular, The Veil Between is a progressive, groove metal band, so I wanted to find a location that was a little rough around the edges, but still with some green elements. I didn't want to go somewhere industrial and be surrounded by cement, because while The Veil Between is metal, they also have a side to their music that is more-so complex, psychedelic rock. I think this makes their style a little more accessible to everyone, so I wanted the pictures to reflect that. So, we set off on a short adventure to find an abandoned house with a small electrical field in the back. Needless to say, it was quite the find in a last minute bind . . . we got kicked off the original location we were at when the owner started demanding $20 before we even took one shot. We left, and it happened for a reason, because as you can see the stumbled upon location was perfect.

Creative Execution:

Candid Photos. Some of the coolest band photos are ones in which you catch the members just being themselves. You can't fake chemistry, and chances are that most bands have it . . . It's just your job the capture it. Many times throughout the shoot, I just stopped giving them direction to see where things went. Eventually, one of them would make another laugh, and they'd forget the camera was there. This technique produced a couple of my favorite shots from the day.

Be Silly. Beyond making my subjects comfortable when I shoot them, I also like to make them laugh. It helps to loosen them up a little bit, and their overall confidence will come through in the photos. I think this is why I prefer to take photos of people that I have a relationship with, because chances are I already know how to make them laugh.

Change Your Focus. A lot of band photos will have the lead singer as the front and center, because he or she is the face of the band. I like to have the singer stand out in  many of the photos, but changing the focus of your pictures will keep them from looking redundant. I made a point to focus on each guy in the band through a couple poses just to keep things interesting. Also, it doesn't hurt to take some individual shots for each member. These photos are great if the band has a member bio on their website, and the individual shots are also useful to share via social media on each member's birthday.

Recruit Help. If you have the option of having an assistant, it never hurts to invite a friend along to aid with the light reflector or any other tools you might be using. For this shoot, the band brought a friend along to help with the reflector, but (and I really hope he doesn't read this by some chance) he didn't quite grasp the concept of the reflector. It was fine, because the lighting was good enough without it. He was still a lot of help, because he kept the shoot fun by making the guys laugh.

Band photos can be tricky without a little planning and direction. Don't be afraid to tell your subjects what to do, especially in the beginning. Being photographed can be awkward, so do what you can to take the reigns and make it work. I took band photos of TVB four years ago when I first got my camera, and I'm so proud to see the progress I've made in my hobby in the years passed. Let me know which tips I've forgotten in the comments below!

Readers' Favorite Posts of 2014

Happy New Year! I hope you and yours had a safe and exciting celebration last night to bring in 2015. I'm excited to share with you the top five posts of 2014. Like many of you may or may  not know, I started my blog last year, so consequently, these are also my top five posts of all time!

I hope you enjoy:

5. New Year's Resolutions — Setting Goals and Attaining Them. Wow, in just a couple short days, this new post has gained a lot of traffic. I'm happy to see that people are motivated to learn more, so they will hopefully be more successful in sticking to the resolutions they set for themselves in 2015. Something I didn't share in this post was my personal resolutions and goals for 2015. Besides pulling off my wedding in four months, I have set a goal to continue contributing to my blog on average of twice a week. I also want to become the best Editor and leader for the website I work for, www.IEShineOn.com.

4. 40 Weeks In — 40 Weeks Out. I'm so happy this post worked out to be popular, because it is also one of my favorites. While it's a cute idea, it isn't completely my own. While I was pregnant, I saw a similar picture with a mother of twins, and to say the least it was a lot more dramatic. I planned on creating this before and after picture about a year ago, and I even marked Charlotte's 40 week birthday in my calendar. Taking the picture inspired me to share how different I felt 40 weeks after having Charlotte. If anything, I hope it gave pregnant women a light at the end of the tunnel or at least a cute photo idea.

3. Our Birth Story. This is another post that pulls at my heart strings. This is such a personal and detailed account of my family's birth story, and I'm proud that it has been read so many times. Like many women, I thought my labor was going to be easy and without complications, but I was wrong. However, I'm so happy it turned out the way it did, because it brought Charlotte to me. If you haven't given this one a read, please do so now. I do recommend having tissues on hand!

2. Surviving Breastfeeding — One Bite at a Time. Breastfeeding is hard, and it has ups and downs. Apparently, I'm not the only one who feels this way. At first, I was surprised that this is one of my top posts of all time. Now that I've thought about it a little more, I realize that there are so many mothers out there who are trying to hold on to breastfeeding for as long as they can, and many of them are just looking for some advice to keep going a little bit longer. Even I run in to people who tell me to just give up, so I know the value of someone saying, "Stick it out, you can do it!"

1. Tips and Tricks from a Work a Home Mom. I'm so proud to have so many great parents who follow my blog, and so far social media sites like Twitter and Google Plus have really provided me with great platforms to connect with my readers. My most popular post of all time is another helpful list for moms (or dad's) who work at home. Balancing being a mom with work is the biggest challenge I've ever faced, but I love a challenge! I think I've taken it with stride so far, and I'm so happy I get to share what I've learned with all of you.


Thank you to everyone who followed Charlotte & Me throughout 2014! I plan on bringing you even more advice, projects, adventures and experiences this year!