8 Months!

Charlotte is a busy, busy girl!  She is wiggly and always wants to be on the floor exploring.  Every day she is getting more mobile, which means we don't have much time to get the house baby-proofed!  Unfortunately she spent much of the first half of February sick.  She had a cold she just couldn't get rid of and ended up with a fever of 104 degrees and a night in Children's E.R.  Thankfully after a course of antibiotics everything cleared up and she was back to her happy self!

*Height and weight - not sure, didn't go to the doctor this month (for a regular check-up that is!)

*Diaper size - size 3!  I don't know what we will do when she moves up from a size 3 ... that's the highest size they make Pampers Swaddlers in and those are my absolute favorite!  I had thought when we moved her up to the bigger size we would solve our blow-out problem, but no such luck.  Reproducibly every morning, Charlotte has an outfit-destroying poop.  I don't think we have picked her up from daycare a single day in the past 2 months without a dirty outfit in a plastic bag!

*Clothing size - She still fits a few 6 month outfits, but she is mostly wearing 6-9 months and 9 months. 

*Eats - Charlotte is doing great in the eating department.  She eats at least two solid meals a day (usually lunch and dinner).  She loves green vegetables ... spinach, peas, and green beans mixed with a starch (rice or potatoes).  I plan to start making some homemade baby food (maybe in May when I am on a light month - geriatrics!), but for now we are using Earth's Best organic canned food.  She doesn't seem to like the turkey or chicken dinners or tomatoes.  Her new discovery this month is HAPPYBABY organic puffs ... these are a lifesaver at restaurants!  She will sit in her highchair and let us feed her puffs one at a time while we eat our meal.  

*Sleep

This picture says it all ... Charlotte is sleeping in her crib!  About one week before she turned 8 months old (which was on March 3rd), she slept in her crib and we haven't looked back.  Bedtime is between 7 and 7:30 and she gets up for the day around 8 AM on non-daycare days.  She spends most of the night on her stomach.  Usually she wakes up at least once at night to eat (sometimes around midnight, other times at 4 AM - which is the worst because it means we are basically up for the day), but we have had a few nights of uninterrupted sleep.  Naps are starting to improve - usually one good nap per day with a few shorter ones.  

*Likes - taking walks, baths, wires and cords (she scoots right for these and loves to shake them), playing on the floor with toys, Brutus's bones

*Dislikes - she has developed a hatred for being put in her carseat - she arches her back, screams, and makes it very difficult for us to strap her in; having her nose or face wiped

*What else Charlotte has been up to:

Charlotte's big motor milestone of the month was learning to push herself from lying on her stomach to a sitting position and vice versa.  This allows her to be fairly mobile and scoot all over the place.  As of March 3rd she wasn't crawling, but could definitely get where she wanted to go.  Her pincer grasp is also getting more refined - allowing her to eat puffs with ease!  She continues to babble frequently using mainly B's and D's (so we have heard "dada" but no "mama" yet!)  

These videos are just iphone quality - but they capture the moment

Hanging out on the front porch

First time in a baby swing ... at Homewood Park

Giants Super Bowl Win 
Charlotte has been a sporting good luck charm since her birth, cheering the Cardinals, Giants, and Crimson Tide on to championships!

Happy 8 Months Charlotte!!

7 Months!

These monthly posts are getting later and later!  But I am determined to keep doing them and to try to get them posted in a more timely manner ... maybe once I am out of the ICU things will calm down and I will have a little more spare time.

Charlotte was 7 months old on February 3rd (so this post will cover January 3rd - February 3rd).  Our big events for the month were Charlotte's baptism and Alabama's national championship.

She LOVES Brutus! 

And the feeling is mutual!

Not crawling on all fours, but she rolls and scoots and manages to get where she wants to go

*Weight - not sure, no visit to the pediatrician this month - but last month's weight of 14 lb 9 oz was really a 6.5 month weight as we were late getting her to her 6 month appointment.  Maybe close to 15 lbs?

*Height - not sure

*Diaper size - size 2

*Clothing size - mostly 6 months, but she is filling them out and almost ready for the next size up!


*Eats - I stopped breastfeeding halfway through the month, which was a difficult transition for me.  I hated to give it up, but work just got too demanding and it became more of a stress than a positive experience.  My goal was to make it to 6 months and I made it a few weeks past that, so overall I am proud of myself.  Charlotte drinks anywhere from 5 to 8 oz bottles throughout the day with no real schedule.  We should probably aim to get her on a breakfast, lunch, dinner, bedtime bottle schedule, but for now she eats when she wants to.  She has just started eating stage 2 baby foods (chicken and rice, turkey and sweet potatoes, etc).  She likes most fruits and really seems to enjoy peas.

Eating a mum-mum rice rusk

*Sleep - Not even sure where to begin on this category.  As our child has become more demanding and begun to exert her personality, sleep deprivation and exhaustion have gotten the best of us and we are sliding backwards in terms of making her an independent sleeper and self-soother.  "The family bed" sums up sleep for us this month.  Invariably between midnight and 3AM, Charlotte works her way in between us in bed and happily sleeps until we get up for the day.  She usually starts off in her bassinet, then throws a temper tantrum until we give in and put her in bed.  We know the right thing is to let her cry it out, but we also know that putting her in bed stops the crying and gives us all a few more hours of good sleep.  Next month should be a little lighter at work, and we plan to have sleep bootcamp in our house.  Charlotte will be moving into her own room in the big crib!

This is how Charlotte and I spent much of our time together in January.  I was on hematology/oncology wards, and it was an incredibly busy month (or so I thought ... the ICU this month has been even busier)

*Likes - Brutus; taking walks in the BOB stroller at Jemison Park; "bamming" tables, pots, boxes, etc with her hands; sitting up and playing with her toys; eating her bib instead of eating her food from the spoon; the Direct TV remote; the cap of her bottle (this is more popular with her than any baby toy we own); baths (she has started splashing) 

*Dislikes - being left alone in a room; being put down (makes getting anything done around the house impossible - and she is getting heavy!) 

*What else Charlotte has been up to - This month Charlotte has been sitting independently.  We still leave pillows around her just in case, but she has really mastered sitting.  It gives her a whole new way to play with her toys.  Playing with toys has also become more fun as she can easily transfer objects from hand to hand.  Mastering sitting has also allowed us to use restaurant highchairs!  This has completely transformed our dining out experience.  She is close to crawling, but not quite there.   She is pushing up on all fours, but not making forward progress yet (she tends to go backwards).  She gets where she wants to go by rolling across the room.  In terms of verbal milestones, she started babbling at the very end of the month.  Her favorite thing to say is "da-da".


*Charlotte's Baptism

Proud parents, worn-out baby 

*Alabama's National Championship

January 9, 2012 - Charlotte is ready to cheer on the Crimson Tide to a 21-0 win over LSU!

*Iphone photo dump

Banging on pots and pans

Walk at the Botanical Gardens

Lunch with Scott McKenzie ... who is now engaged!

Our special lunch at Chez Lulu, where Charlotte fed herself a bottle on pillows next to Grandpa while we ate!  

Sitting in a restaurant highchair like a big girl!  (And our child really does have more clothes than this one purple outfit, even though these pictures would make you think otherwise!!)