Charlotte's First Christmas - Part One and Part Deux

Hi Friends!

Charlotte had a great First Christmas.  We spent last week in Chicago with Chris' family.  The flight was so much better than the last one that I took with Charlotte (I still haven't finished that post, but plan to, some day).  We were able to get an extra seat for Charlotte on Southwest both ways, which was so helpful.  Even though we held her for most of the time, it was nice to have the extra space and be able to put her in her car seat if we needed to.  The only issue on the way there was a mid-flight diaper outfit change.  But yay for Southwest actually have a changing table in the lavatory!  That was sooo helpful.

The weather was very wintry while we were there -- either snowing or freezing rain.  Charlotte had her worst cold yet, and being the germ factory she is, gave it to everyone, including her grandparents.  Chris and I are still getting over it (this time Chris had it much worse than I).  Still, we managed to enjoy a really nice day at the Museum of Science and Industry, a really fun and interesting museum.  Charlotte loved seeing the newborn chicks in the hatchery.

Christmas morning Charlotte got so many new clothes and toys, but mainly, she was just interested in the wrapping paper and sticking it in her mouth.  Later that morning, Chris' cousin Nicole, who lives in Florida, came by with her nine month old daughter, Olivia.  Olivia was so excited to see a younger baby that she literally shrieked with delight. It was cute to see the two of them together.

We flew back home the day after Christmas, and Charlotte did really well, considering that the poor thing is constipated from all the new solids she's been eating.  She makes the funniest face when she's straining, so we can't help but laugh, but still, we feel so bad for her!*  My parents drove over from their condo in Mammoth and we celebrated Christmas again.  Charlotte received even more fun toys, including a "Giraffe Band" (a giraffe-shaped guitar so she can play Guitar Hero with her daddy), but she won't be able to play with that one for a few months.

All in all, a pretty good first Christmas for our little Charlotte.

Getting ready for the snow in her new outfit from her Auntie Christina.

In the snow and loving it.  Mommy loves Charlotte's mittens because they don't have any thumbs!

I want those chickies!

In front of the huge tree at the Museum of Science & Industry

Charlotte and Mommy break the world record for the fastest moving train.

 

Checking out her Christmas stocking.

Fourth cousins, Charlotte and Olivia.

Sizing each other up.

All tired out.

*By the way, after consulting with the advice nurse, we gave Charlotte some full-strength prune juice and pureed prunes.  It took until yesterday, but finally did the trick!  Poor little baby.

Dear Charlotte,

I can't believe how much has changed in the past six months.  You've grown from a tiny newborn (okay, a big newborn, but tiny to me nonetheless) to an alert, happy, and funny six month old.

Charlotte, less than five days old

Charlotte at the Chicago airport, six months old

You know, a lot has changed with your daddy and me since you were born.  We weren't exactly what you would call party animals, but we did enjoy going over to our friends' homes and drinking wine until the wee hours.  That's not exactly possible anymore.  You are accustomed to your routine, and even though we've tried to have you sleep over at our friends' homes while we eat and play games, you have other things in mind and let us have it that night.  But it's okay.  We can have friends over at our house because you sleep great in your crib.  Plus, your daddy and I are content to spend most of our free time just staring at you in amazement at all the wonderful things you do. You're just so cute and sweet. I truly believe we hit the baby jackpot when we got you!

I could write a lot more about how much I love you and what you mean to me, but there are so many things I don't want to forget, so I'm going to just list them out.

New and Fun Things You Do

• You love food.  In the past couple weeks or so, you've gone from having general disinterest in solids to really getting excited.  You open up your mouth wide in anticipation of your next bite, and you get so excited that Mommy has a hard time getting the spoon in your mouth.  Carrots are a big hit!
• Since we've arrived in Chicago and Grandma and Grandpa Berry's house, you've started sitting up on your own.  You're also so close to crawling. You get one leg up, but your balance still isn't the greatest.  We know you'll be crawling around in no time (and then our lives will be over!)
• You continue to smile and laugh even though you have have a horrible cold and cough since we arrived.
• You're a big flirt.  You'll smile at anybody, but you particularly love men, young and old. This is bad news for Daddy, who says "no boys until you're 30!"
• You're making a lot of noise these days.  You have your vowel sounds down, as you say "EEEEEEEEEE" and kick your legs furiously (see below video).
• We keep thinking you're getting those bottom two teeth, but they have yet to make their appearance.
• Sleeping is still up and down, but we *think* you're finally swaddle-free!  You can get that pacifier in by yourself now, so having your hands free is very helpful!  And although we're still somewhat sleep deprived, it's really no big deal (except for those nights when we have you up too late and you're just so overstimulated you can't calm yourself down enough to sleep well -- those aren't very much fun).

So Charlotte, you are such a great joy to your daddy and me. We can't wait to see what's in store for you next!

Love,
Mommy

Quick Update - 6 month visit

Charlotte had her six month well child visit on Monday.  I can't believe she'll be six months old on Saturday!  I'd like to spend a little time reflecting on the past six months, but it's crazy busy at work, so that will have to wait.  My last week of work until January!

As expected, our baby is still super long!
Height: 28 1/4 inches - 100th percentile
Weight: 16 lbs 12 oz - 70th percentile
Head: One huge noggin!  Haha, just kidding. Somewhere in the 70th percentile. (17 inches?)

Because Charlotte is one tall baby, we need to buy a new carseat.  Her little feet are already sticking out, which provides her with great amusement as she kicks the back of the seat over and over again.  We're going to find one that can be both rear-facing (this is required until she is one year old and 22 lbs) and forward-facing.  Any of you out there have recommendations?

I talked to her pediatrician about whether or not Charlotte needs to eat when she wakes up at 3 or 4 in the morning.  I've been feeding her, but she falls back asleep in about five minutes, so it didn't seem like she's all that hungry. The doctor thought that at this point she's just waking up programmed to eat, so we should try just comforting with a paci or back rub.  We did that on Monday night and although she woke up twice in the night, Chris was able to get her back to sleep with the pacifier.  I actually woke her up at 7:30!  (Of course, I was in a lot of pain, but a small price to pay).  Last night, she was up a lot, and was actually talking to herself in the middle of the night until we inserted the paci again.  She woke up at 6AM and I decided to feed her at that point.  This seems to be going well, so far.  Next up my goal is to finally wean her from the swaddle blanket as I'll have two straight weeks off of work and won't need as much sleep.  Let's hope two weeks is long enough to break that habit!

I was also informed that I should be feeding Charlotte solids three times a day!  I know that Linda at daycare feeds her, but I've been very inconsistent in feeding a solid meal everynight.  Oops. (Don't worry, she's still getting plenty of liquid food).  On that front, Charlotte has gotten much better at eating solids.  Sometimes she downright enjoys herself!  So far, she's tried sweet potatoes, mashed bananas, applesauce, and avocado.  We'll be trying carrots and peas next. 

Here she is enjoying some avocado.  Some even got in her mouth!

Yo, Gobble Gobble

Charlotte had a great first Thanksgiving!  We went to my parents' condo in Mammoth, in the Eastern Sierras.  It's 250 miles away, but seeing as how we have to drive through the mountains to get there, it takes four and a half hours on a good day.  Throw in a 5 month old, and you're adding at least another half hour to an hour.  We left on Wednesday afternoon, and the drive was pretty easy.  Charlotte handled it well, although she had a rough first night, waking up every hour or so and crying.  Mammoth is at a pretty high altitude, over 8000 feet, and that's high enough to make me get a very mild form of altitude sickness (headache and dry throat). Poor Charlotte couldn't communicate her discomfort, other than crying.

Anyway, we ate a lot of yummy food, drank a lot of wine, and relaxed.  My mom and I saw New Moon on Friday afternoon (one of two movies playing at the Mammoth movie theater), and it was actually a lot better than I expected (I thought the first movie was pretty awful).  When we got out of the theater, the weather had changed quite drastically, and it was snowing!  I love when it snows in the mountains because it means it's time for ski season; however, it's not so great when you have to drive in it.

When we woke up the next morning, Saturday, at least a foot of snow had falled on the ground, which did not bode well for our drive home that day.  The weather report indicated that the storm had mostly passed through, but that was not the case at all.  It was never quite a whiteout, but it was definitely the most snow I've seen along Highway 395.  A truck flipped over, semis were stuck in the snow, and we even had to navigate around some cars stuck in the middle of the road.  Pretty harrowing.  Thank goodness for the Subaru and not having to put on chains!  Unfortunately, the drive home still took SEVEN hours!  Charlotte did great, considering we didn't get to stop at our halfway point until after over three hours of driving.  Sadly, the hours spent alone in the backseat, rear-facing, must have done a number on our little girl because she screamed and screamed on Saturday night until about two a.m.  We've never experienced anything like it!  Everytime we tried to put her in her crib, she'd start screaming inconsolably.  And then once Charlotte finally fell asleep, Tandy decided to howl at the top of her lungs every time the heater kicked on.  It was a pretty miserable night.

However, here are the fun pictures from our weekend.

Charlotte's daycare lady made her an Indian headdress to wear.

Charlotte tried mashed bananas for the first time - yum!

Having fun with her Mimi!

Charlotte's first time in the snow! (She wasn't really sure what to make of it).

Family Photo Session!

Thanksgiving update coming soon, but first: I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but I'm a card-carrying member (okay, make that dues-paying member, we don't have cards) of the Greenhaven Mothers' Club.  Greenhaven is the name of my neighborhood in Sacramento (our house is on a street off of Greenhaven Drive), and there has been an active Mothers Club since 1969.  I can't remember how I found out about it, but I joined the club back in April to solicit some daycare advice from its members.  That's how I found our daycare lady, Linda.  I haven't been that involved yet because I'm such a new mom, and Charlotte doesn't do that much yet, but I've been pretty impressed by their organizational skills.  It's a pretty impressive club -- most of the moms are working moms, and most of the children are probably in the 2 to 6 year old range.  Charlotte was one of the youngest, but no longer.  One of the activities that the club does is to provide homecooked meals to new moms.  So my first "job" is to make a meal to a second-time mom whose baby was born ten days ago.  The club is also how I received a gently used Exersaucer and a Bumbo seat, both given by members looking to get rid of their kids' outgrown items!

The club also chooses a charity to sponsor for the year.  This year, the charity is a local women's/children's shelter, the only such homeless shelter for women and children in Sacramento.  The women and children who stay there are down on their luck and/or escaping an abusive environment. I've already donated outgrown diapers (unused, obviously!) and some detergent.  Two weeks ago, the moms' club hosted its annual charity auction to benefit the shelter.  Members went throughout Sacramento asking local businesses and restaurants for items to auction, and there were some great items to bid on.

One of the items I bid on was a one hour photography session plus digital photos with a local children's photographer.  I was so thrilled to win!  I emailed the photographer the very next day to see if she could fit us in for a session in advance of Christmas, and she scheduled us for the next day.  We met her at a beautiful neighborhood park in Carmichael, and we had a lot of fun taking pictures.  Charlotte did great, even though it was getting pretty chilly near the end.  To view the photos, click here and then click on Clients.  The password is our last name.

Here's a preview: Charlotte had a blast in the baby swing!

My Guilty Mommy Pleasure

There is this website that I discovered before Charlotte was born.  It's called Mama Bargains.  The people who run this site get ridiculously good deals on trendy things for babies, kids and moms.  I'm not a huge shopper by nature, but the stuff they sell there is so cute!  B.C., I bought a pair of cute Mary Jane shoes that supposedly are good for new walkers.  They normally sell for $32, but I bought a pair for $10 on this site.  I can't imagine spending $32 for a pair of shoes that Charlotte will undoubtedly outgrow in a week, but it was $10, so score!

Okay, so we all know that SIDS is a real threat, which is why you're not supposed to put babies on their stomachs to sleep, nor are you supposed to put blankets or bumpers, or anything that might pose a suffocation risk.  I admit that I've kept the bumpers intact because I figured Charlotte moving and scooting all the time posed a greater threat, and until recently, blankets were a nonissue since it was so flipping hot here.  But now it's freezing outside (freezing for Sacramento, that is), and our house is not well insulated.  Solution?  The Grobag!  It's European!  It's a wearable sleeping bag!  It keeps baby from flipping over!  Okay, the last one is supposed to be a plus (and one of the main selling points for me), but the Grobag I bought on Mama Bargains is for 6 - 18 months, so Charlotte has some room to grow, and hence, flips over very easily. And I bought it for like 500% off!!!  Because you know, you have to spend money to save money, right??? :)

Anyway, I just thought that Charlotte in her Grobag was too cute to not capture on film.

The funniest aspect of the Grobag is that it comes in varying "Togs" from the 0.5 Tog to the 2.5 Tog.  Tog, apparently, is British for warmth?  I bought the 2.5 Tog for the winter (for rooms with temps under 70 degrees Farenheit) and a 0.5 for the summer.  As you can see from the picture, Charlotte doesn't quite fill out the chest of her "Oops a Daisy" Grobag.  As such, she's just too little right now to be a proper Grobag-sporting baby.  Plus, we're still using the SwaddleMe blanket as she has some room to grow there. We also put her quilt over that for warmth. She doesn't flip over, nor does she wiggle to the end of the crib anymore so I feel confident that she can actually have a blanket with her. 

So there you have it.  I've become a crazed online shopping mom.  I check MB quite often because as soon as one item sells out, they post another.  ACK!  Luckily, I've only bought these two items. Thus far.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly?

I'm devoting this post to me to provide an update on life post-baby.

We'll start with the good:

• How natural it is to be a mother.  When Charlotte needs something I don't think, I jump up and do it.  Sure there are times when I wish I didn't have to (see the bad), but for the most part, it's not a chore at all.  There's something very gratifying about taking care of someone so helpless.  I think parenting has come very naturally to Chris as well.  He's a great partner and does whatever he can to help out.
• Mornings.  Morning is the best time of day.  Charlotte almost always wakes up happy and just grins and laughs constantly.
• Weight loss.  I think I mentioned that I gained 55 pounds when I was pregnant.  Crazy, I know!  A lot was attributed to water weight gain, but a lot was just packed on for some reason.  I'm not really sure how it happened considering that I didn't overeat -- I would wake up in the middle of the night and be hungry, but I never let myself eat.  I walked a lot in the beginning, but my back problems made that hard in the middle of the pregnancy, so maybe that was a contributing factor. Anyway, I've lost 45 of those 55 pounds and I'm still on the losing side.  Unfortunately, I'm still in that in-between world where most of my clothes don't fit, but I'm getting there, and I'm pretty proud of myself.  My pre-pregnancy jeans fit, although pretty tightly.  The holidays are upon us, and all that good food makes it hard to continue to lose weight, so if I maintain my current weight during this period, I'll be pretty happy.  The ultimate goal is to have all the weight lost by nine months postpartum, so that would be around March.  
• Speaking of weight loss, my wedding rings finally fit on my finger again! I was so sure I would have to have them resized, but just today, I tried them on, and they fit!  Hurray!  I haven't worn my rings since January.  I resorted to wearing a ring from my right hand on my left because my right-hand fingers are a half-size bigger than my left.  Strange, but I'm left-handed, so I guess I use my left fingers more, so they're more toned?
• Going back to work has been much easier and more enjoyable than I expected.  My company is very accommodating and family-friendly, so that helps as well.  I enjoy being around my co-workers, while at the same time always thinking about my little girl.

The bad:

• Being sick and having a baby.  I somehow contracted strep throat.  I have no idea how or from whom, but I've got it.  After spending perhaps the most painful weekend of my life, where even swallowing my saliva was torture, I begged Kaiser to get me an appointment with my doctor.  Yes, I understand that an accompanying cold means it might be a virus, but this was the worst sore throat ever!  My doctor took one look and said, yep, I think it's strep.  She did a throat culture just to be sure, but went ahead and prescribed antibiotics, along with some cough syrup mixed with codeine, and said I could take vicodin for the pain. 
• But let's back up for a second.  In those B.C. days (Before Charlotte), when I would get sick, I'd sit in bed, sleep, and basically do nothing while I convalesced.  That is no longer an option.  She relies on me for food, entertainment, etc.  Combine that with Charlotte also having a cold, and you've got a fussy baby, and a sleepless mommy.  Charlotte also gets very fussy if we're not busy, busy, busy on the weekends.  There's only so often that we can move her from the ExerSaucer to the swing to the bouncer to the blanket before she's had enough.  However, if you take her out and about for errands and she's in her car seat?  She's happy and calm for hours.  But I was sick, so taking her out and about was not an option.  Chris took her on an errand or two, so I could get a little nap in, but for the most part, we dealt with a very bored and fussy baby this weekend.
• Luckily, I was able to take a sick day from work today, and we sent Charlotte to daycare thank goodness.  And seeing as how I'm still contagious and that there are pregnant women at work, I'll be staying home again tomorrow, and Charlotte will be going to daycare again!  This truly makes me appreciate stay-at-home moms who most likely don't have the option to drop the kids off somewhere when they're feeling lousy.
• Let's see, what else is bad?  Not much.  I don't get a lot of free time.  We still haven't cashed in on offers from friends and neighbors to babysit Charlotte so we can have a date night, although that's probably due more to our laziness than anything else.  She goes to bed at 7, so it's easy!
• Pumping is still a pain in the rear.  Once I made peace with the fact that I could only produce about half of what Charlotte eats, it became easier.  I just do what I can and know that's she getting enough calories from formula.  Still, it's annoying because I can't really take any other breaks or I feel guilty, and pumping takes an entire hour out of my workday.  But I know it's worth it for Charlotte.
• Here's a bad-turned-good.  I used to hate working out.  It was last on my list of what I wanted to do.  But now, it's a chance for me to go running or to the gym and just be by myself.  I feel relaxed and invigorated afterwards.

The Ugly?

• I'm not really sure about this one.  Stretch marks, maybe?  Eh, but I don't even really care.  They're becoming less noticeable and I guess they're a badge of motherhood.
• Poop?  Yes, I've dealt with my fair share of explosions, but I got over the yuck factor pretty quickly.
• Charlotte's mullet?  She has quite the party in the back, and it just keeps growing longer. And there's a lovely bald spot right above the mullet.  Okay, so I really don't think it's ugly, but pretty hilarious.  I'm not really sure what to do.  Cut it?  It's going to take a long time for the rest of her hair to catch up. Hmmm...
• I'd say the only real issue to add to this column is when, every so often, I stop what I'm doing at work and add up the number of hours I'm physically spending with Charlotte during the week.  It doesn't add up to much.  But I try not to do that because I know that it will just bring me down, and I know that life is pretty good the way it is.

Swinging!

Yesterday was Veterans' Day, so both Charlotte and I had the day off. Chris did not.  I'd kind of forgotten how exhausting it is to entertain a baby all day, even though I tried to keep us moving so as to not to incur bored baby wrath.  First, it was a long day.  We have given up on our swaddle weaning for now because she keeps flipping onto her tummy and waking herself up and deciding that while she's awake, she might as well eat some food.  The swaddle blanket allows for blissful sleep (she can only roll over if she manages to break free), which equals a happy mommy.  In fact, the past three nights in a row she has slept for 11 to 12 hours long - from 7PM until 6AM (6:45 this morning).  Amazing!  This, of course, means me waking up in sheer terror that something is wrong.  So we were both up at 6AM yesterday because Charlotte had had such a long sleep that she was ready for the day!

But after going grocery shopping, playing, eating, etc., I was out of ideas.  (On a side note, I tried feeding Charlotte applesauce.  She was not a fan.  But rice cereal mixed with breastmilk = yum!  I don't get it.)  Instead, I decided to go for a walk with her in her big baby stroller -- the one where she actually faces forward.  Charlotte liked this a lot because she could see everything.  Every so often, I stopped the stroller and would point things out to her like "there's a tree, there's a kitty, oooh look ducks!"  The greenbelt along which we live connects to these series of canals boarded on each side with bike trails.  The canals are just full of ducks and geese, and since it was a holiday, plenty of school-aged children feeding the ducks.  Charlotte loved hearing and seeing those ducks quacking and furiously going after bits of old bread.  This may have been the first time she's ever noticed ducks.

Anyway, we ended up at the neighborhood park about a mile and a half from our house.  There are plenty of closer ones, but Charlotte and I needed a long walk!   This park looks pretty fun, and I can't wait until Charlotte is old enough to take on the slide or the tire swing, but for now, the only equipment suitable was the baby swing.  She's still a bit small, but she really enjoyed it! I managed to capture her with the video on my iPhone, which seamlessly uploads to YouTube. Enjoy!

Introducing Solids: Big Fat Fail!

Tuesday night, we finally had everything we needed to start introducing solid foods. Yes, I made the ridiculous decision to order baby spoons and bowls online (I was ordering other stuff and just had to get that $25 free super saver shipping on Amazon!), so I've been waiting for them to arrive. I realize that I could have just driven over to the drugstore and bought a rubber-tipped spoon for a dollar, but what's the fun in that? We also were waiting for a Bumbo seat that a lady in the Greenhaven Moms' Club graciously decided to give to us. Charlotte's not quite ready to sit in a high chair yet, but the Bumbo, what fun!

Okay and let me clarify.  By solid foods, I mean semi-liquidy rice cereal. Yum! I sure do wish I were a baby again to eat rice cereal, not!

Wait, where was I? So we had the seat, the spoon, the bowl, the cereal, we were all set to go. The Problem? Our little Wiggle Worm. She didn't want to stop twisting and turning the entire time! Either Chris or I had to sit behind her and hold onto her arms to prevent the twisting. And although she was really interested in the brightly colored baby spoon, she didn't quite master the whole eat and swallow thing. Instead, the cereal just spilled out her mouth. I guess Charlotte has to figure out how to use her tongue to bring in food as opposed to just pushing everything out. I'm not really sure is she actually managed to swallow any of the cereal. First attempt: big fat fail! I guess we'll just keep trying.

Oh, and the funniest part? Chris getting totally freaked out by the rice cereal that went everywhere but inside Charlotte's mouth -- on the Bumbo, in Charlotte's hair, hands, neck, shirt, you name it! He wanted to wipe up after every bite spit, so I spent most of the time trying to convince him that it's okay if cereal gets everywhere. This must explain why Chris doesn't like to eat ribs or any meat with his hands because OH MY GOD the mess from barbecue sauce! Who knew he was so fastidious? I guess, as his wife, I should have been tipped off?

*Update: I wrote this on Tuesday, but didn't get around to finishing it. We tried again on Wednesday night, but it wasn't much better. Charlotte seems interested and didn't twist as much in the Bumbo, so I guess there's some improvement. Tongue thrusting continues.

Charlotte aux Fraises

Happy Halloween!

Charlotte had a great first Halloween. She dressed up as a strawberry! I'm not sure if I've shared this before, but in France the character for Strawberry Shortcake is "Charlotte aux Fraises." A "Charlotte" is a type of cake in French, generally made with ladyfingers. I personally think a Charlotte aux Fraises cake sounds way much better than strawberry shortcake. And fraises (prounced fre as in Fred + zzz) means strawberry in French. So fitting for our little Baby Berry!  On that note, I think a number of you readers have been wondering how "framboise" is pronounced.  It's pronounced "fram" as in jam and boise as in "bwahzz."  I know that in French a lot of words have the "s" silent but when there is an "e" at the end it turns into a zzz sound.

Okay, that's enough of a French lesson.  So without further ado, here's our little berry!!!

The hat was entirely too large, so Mimi (who was here to celebrate Charlotte's first Halloween), made it smaller by using a couple safety pins.  But all in all, a super cute outfit!

Rolling Over Queen!

Here is Charlotte rolling over from back to belly. Please forgive my excitement - I'm one proud Mommy!

Speaking of rolling over, weaning Charlotte from swaddling has been interesting. She's been waking up each night rolling over, and won't roll onto her back. Monday night, I held her arms down at around 2AM because every time I let go, she'd lift those legs in the air and roll over. Eventually, she calmed down and went back to sleep. Of course, it took Chris and me a long time to fall back asleep because we were just bracing ourselves for her to wake up again. Last night she managed to sleep okay, but that's because she's sleeping on her stomach, which is fine with us.

Weekend Update

Hi Everyone,

This is very stream-of-consciousness so I apologize in advance.

So Friday was Charlotte's four month appointment.  She's growing very consistently.  Her doctor was very pleased with her growth and tickled by her smiles and laughs.

Weight: 15 lbs 10.3 oz - 87%
Height: 27 inches - 100% (still off the charts and around the size of a 7 - 8 month old)
Head Circumference: 16.73 inches - around the 86th percentile - can't quite remember and don't really care?

I discussed with Charlotte's doctor that she eats a lot at daycare -- sometimes as much as 20 oz -- but still wakes up hungry at night.  As a result, we got the go ahead to introduce solids.  We're going to start with rice cereal and once she gets the hang of eating, we'll move on to pureed fruits and vegetables.  So we'll start that as soon as we A) get my boss's son's highchair, B) get a splat mat, and C) get some baby spoons.  We are SO not prepared.

Charlotte also got her four month shots. The Pediatric Injection Clinic was packed on Friday because of parents and children trying to get the HlN1 vaccine.  Luckily, as Charlotte was there to get shots other than the flu shot, we didn't have to wait in line at all!  And as Charlotte is too young to get the flu shot, I got it at the same time.  Score!  Charlotte handled the shots much better this time.  She screamed for a couple minutes, and was all smiles shortly thereafter.

During her exam, Charlotte was constantly rolling over on to her tummy and then back again.  Her doctor was quite impressed and said that if she wanted to, Charlotte could roll across the entire room that way!  Ack!  Mobility!  Time to start baby-proofing our house.

Speaking of rolling over....  So we've been swaddling Charlotte at night since birth.  She takes the swaddling as a cue that it's bedtime and goes to sleep pretty easily.  It's worked great for us until now.  Now, because she's rolling over constantly (mainly from back to belly), this is presenting a problem.  We're trying to wean her from the swaddling, but it's not going very well.  For one thing, it's a lot easier to roll over when your legs and arms are free.  As a result, we have to go up multiple times to flip her onto her back.  Last night she woke up at 12:45 and then again at 5:45, and both times we found her on her stomach.  The thing is, she hasn't gotten the memo that she can just flip herself to her back when she's tired of being on her tummy.  Instead, she starts crying because she's so frustrated.  Oh joy!

We have a great video of Charlotte rolling over onto her stomach three times in succession, so I'll have to share it here as soon as I get a chance to upload it.

Finally, we had a really nice weekend!  On Saturday, we headed to San Francisco to visit with our friends Nancy and Eric, who just moved there.  It was an absolutely beautiful day -- sunny and warm -- and we walked all over the Noe Valley neighborhood.  Two city blocks were blocked off for a Harvest Festival complete with face painting, pumpkin decorating, and a Halloween pet costume contest.  The winner was an adorable little dog dressed up like Frida Kahlo -- she even had the iconic uni-brow!  Charlotte had fun until about the end when she had a major meltdown because she was so tired.  We hightailed it out of there and she slept all the way back to Sacramento.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!  Next weekend, Charlotte's first Halloween!

Like Daughter, Like Father

Charlotte has this new habit of lifting one foot up in the air.  Chris decided to be silly and copy her.  Kind of like those ridiculous Captain Morgan Rum commercials...

Also, we wanted to welcome to the world Jackson Weaver, first son of Terry and Susan.  He was born yesterday and is exactly four months younger than Charlotte!  We hope they will be good friends.

Four Months Old!

Charlotte is four months old today.  I can hardly believe it.  It's a total cliché, but time is seriously flying by!  Our baby girl seems to be discovering new things she can do every day.  She has mastered rolling over from back to tummy.  I'll put her down on her activity mat, and the minute I turn around she's flipped on to her tummy!  She is also getting better and better at her hand eye coordination.  On Saturday, we went to Total Wine to stock up, so we placed her car seat on top of the shopping cart.  While Chris was salivating over the thousands of wines in the store, I would get my face really close to hers (the car seat was much closer to my eye level) and she would grab my nose!  Very cute.  She also has her first stuffed animal friend - a very long and skinny bunny that's easy to grab on to.

Friday is her four month appointment, so we'll find out then how long she is.  She'll also have to get more fun shots. Boo.

Charlotte holding on to her new friend, Bunny.

Charlotte standing up with her cute BabyLegs on.  Taken this morning from  my iPhone!  It's not the best quality, but it sure is convenient.

The New Normal

Charlotte is nothing if not consistent.  Every night for the past 4 nights, like clockwork, she wakes up hungry at 2AM and then at 6AM.  It's pretty eerie, actually.  This doesn't seem to matter whether she goes to bed at 8 (her normal bedtime) or later.  On Monday, we went out to dinner for a friend's birthday and didn't get Charlotte to bed until 9:30.  Two o'clock rolls around and there's that crying on the monitor!  Now, two weeks ago, I was a wreck with this change in sleeping, but it's become the new normal.  After I feed her at 6AM, she falls back to sleep on our bed and I get ready for the day.  So technically it's only one nighttime feeding, but it's still strange that she went from consistently sleeping 8 hour stretches to now not going more than 6 hours at one time.  I've done a lot of researching online and a general consensus is that at four months, babies just start undergoing major developmental changes and this affects their normal sleep habits.  Of course this had to coincide with my going back to work, which might be a coincidence or it might not be.  All in all, it's really not so bad.  She forces me to actually get to work early, which is a good thing. 

My Thoughts on Co-Sleeping

I've also read that when you go back to work, it's not uncommon for the breastfed baby to start waking up at night to get some extra quality time with mom.  The solution in this book I bought by Dr. Sears was super preachy -- something along the lines of "the experienced mother will just accept this new routine and enjoy this new bonding time with her baby."  So when I read this, it was 2AM on one of the nights I was frustrated and crying, and I literally threw the book across the room.  How dare you tell me that I'm supposed to just accept sleeplessness in the middle of the night when my baby used to be such a great sleeper?  This is also the same book that suggests that adoptive mothers can breastfeed their adopted babies if they just "try" hard enough, and that working mothers should bring their babies to work and "wear" them (please tell me which place of employment allows you to bring your baby to work).  And that the solution is co-sleeping with your baby.  Now, I'm not opposed to co-sleep per se, but the thing is, I can't sleep when Charlotte's in the bed with us.  She moves a lot, and I just can't settle down knowing I might pull the covers over her head and smother her.  So that's why we don't co-sleep.  Wait, let me rephrase this. That's why I don't co-sleep.  Charlotte and her daddy sleep just fine together. :)

So in sum, we're coping.  I'm definitely a little more tired than I'd like, but I actually get up in the morning and have time to take a shower, eat breakfast, actually blowdry my hair, all while Charlotte blissfully sleeps off her 6AM feeding (her daddy is also often sleeping still!).  And of course, my heart melts when we finally wake her up for the day and she just grins and grins like you're the best thing since sliced bread.

Getting in the Swing of Things

The Berrys have all been sick this week, I'm afraid. It started with me getting a sore throat and has expanded to a full head cold.  Then Charlotte got a cold and has been all congested.  Today, Chris is sick.  Although I've felt horrible, Charlotte's been happy, happy, happy.  And she's also been, for the most part, sleeping much better.  We're chalking up last week to a growth spurt and/or transition to a new routine.  Yesterday afternoon Miss Linda called and said that Charlotte must have an ear infection because she's been tugging on her ear and it was bright red.  Uggh, I thought, what next?  So I took Charlotte to the doctor this morning, but nope, no ear infection.  Apart from being all stuffed up, Charlotte is doing great.  She now weighs 14lbs, 14oz!  What a big little girl. No measurements, but her four month appointment is in two weeks, so we'll find out then.

I guess I should expect some paranoia on the part of the daycare lady because the mom who recommended Linda told me that when her son had diarrhea once, Linda was sure it was e. coli. Right. So we'll just have to observe Charlotte ourselves next time before rushing her to the doctor's.

Sleep Regression and Fall in Sacramento

So we've had a rough few days.  Suddenly our great sleeper is waking up every three or four hours during the night.  Wow.  We think she wakes herself up, talks to herself for a bit, and then suddenly decides, "Hey, I'm hungry! Why don't I cry and get Mommy's attention!"  So instead of 8 hours of interrupted sleep, Charlotte has been waking up at 1, 4:30, 7:30, etc.  Ouch!  She seems happy, but obviously there's some kind of change.

I also have a sneaking suspicion that Charlotte might be getting her first cold because she's been coughing and sneezing a lot today, and well, because I'm getting a cold.  I haven't been sick since February, but of course I've ventured back into the real world of germs.  The owner of Dad's Kitchen in Land Park told me at breakfast this morning (he has a 7 month old) that as soon as they get sick their sleeping gets all out of whack. 

Who knows why the sleep change has happened.  It could be A) Charlotte's sick and feeling lousy, B) misses nursing, C) has the so-called 4 month sleep regression where she is more interested in her surroundings so wants to be up and look around, D) hitting a growth spurt that makes her hungry, or E) a combination of the above.  Whatever it is, it's a major change.

In any case, after being frustrated two nights in a row, I've decided to just take it as it comes.  We've been spoiled like crazy up until this point, and Charlotte is still a very happy and mellow baby, so we're still pretty lucky.  She's also the size of a six month old, so maybe she really does need to be eating more (rice cereal?).  I'm going to email her doctor for advice.  And I've decided not to beat myself up about pumping.  Had I thought about it beforehand, I would have been stockpiling milk in the freezer, but since I didn't, I'll know that she's thriving just fine on the half and half diet.

The weather has finally cooled down.  I think Sacramento in the Fall is the best.  The mornings are crisp, the days are still mild, and we're all thankful for no more triple digit days.  We spent yesterday pressing grapes at our neighbors across the street, and today Chris is getting 250 pounds of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes to start fermenting in the garage (he already has Merlot aging).  And today marks one year since we found out that Charlotte was on the way!  So yes, Fall is the best!

Mmm...Maple Syrup!

So I spoke to a lactation consultant the other day, the one who taught our breastfeeding class and helped me out so much when Charlotte was about 5 days old.  She gave me some advice including trying to pump one more session during the day, pumping longer, and taking fenugreek supplements.  I have to say that it's almost impossible to pump one more time at work, and hello, I'm already pumping for half an hour!  Half an hour at a time -- I feel like an industrial dairy cow!  So I'm taking fenugreek pills three times a day and like the lactation consultant warned me, I now smell like maple syrup.  I sweat maple syrup and I pee maple syrup, and now Charlotte smells like maple syrup. Weird. But I guess there are worse smells to have?

So far, I haven't noticed any upswings in the milk supply area.  Not pumping any more, but not pumping any less.  The real difference?  Charlotte has not been sleeping as well.  I think I've boasted about her ability to consistently sleep for 8 to 11 hours at a time (like 8 to 4 or 6) and then eating and sleeping for another three hours.  But now? She's been waking up at 2 or 3 for the past few nights.  On Wednesday night, when she woke up at 2 AM, I lost it and just cried and cried.  I mean, I haven't seen 2AM in weeks (like maybe since she was about 6 weeks old)!  My poor baby.  Is she such a crazy eater during the day that she was used to eating more than the 16 ounces Linda feeds her at daycare?  Does she miss nursing?  Ack.  And of course, this just means that I am exhausted and stressed and worried.

Chris and I decided to try something new for my sanity.  We put Charlotte to bed at 7:30, I went to sleep at 9, and Chris brought Charlotte in at 11PM for me to feed her again.  But I was so out of it that she ate and I pretty much slept through her eating until 12:30, when Chris put her back in her crib.  And then she woke up again at 4, ate, and then slept until 8:30 (I'm working from home today).

I guess I'm just worried that she's not sleeping enough.  When I dropped her off at daycare this morning, Linda said that Charlotte slept a ton yesterday - two hours in the morning and three hours in the afternoon. I  certainly don't want her mixing up her nights and days, but then again, Charlotte was used to sleeping through the night, eating, and then sleeping again for two to three hours.

This insanity really feels like I'm starting all over again.  We need to come up with a new schedule or I'm going to be a wreck at work.

Frustrations with Returning to Work

Before I went back to work last week, Charlotte had never had a drop of anything but breastmilk.  Now, here we are on day four of daycare and she already has to have half and half (formula and BM).  She literally has been drinking every drop I've been supplying.  Apparently I cannot pump anywhere near what I need to get Charlotte fed.  I guess I should have been pumping more often before returning to work to stockpile the milk in the freezer.

It's very frustrating.  We have an unused office in which to pump, but it simply has a fold out table and a phone, so it's not very inspiring.  I've been making myself miserable by pumping every chance I could over the weekend, and now I'm achy and sore -- it feels like the first week Charlotte was born all over again.  Linda convinced me last night when I picked up Charlotte that it's okay to mix the two.  She called this morning to tell me that Charlotte did fine with a mixed bottle, but still, I'm sad.

I guess I'll just do what I can and let Linda mix the rest.  The thing is, I don't even know how to mix formula to make a bottle.  I've never done it.  Tomorrow, I'm driving to San Francisco for the day to attend our organization's quarterly board meetings.  It will be a 12 hour day, and I'll be lucky if I get home in time to feed Charlotte before she goes to bed.  This means that Chris will need to feed her when he picks her up from daycare, and all I have is a lousy 3 ounces saved up.  Chris will have to decide if he wants to feed her formula or not.

In the meantime, I'm awaiting a call back from the lactation consultant on whether or not I can use some herbal supplement to try and increase my milk supply.

On the flip side, work itself is going really well. I'm happy to be back -- in a way, it feels like I never left.  I just wish that an hour of my day wasn't filled with such frustration.

Rolling Over!

I finally captured Charlotte rolling over on video. Look at her go!

Senator Meanie Pants

Hi Internets!

Charlotte here. I don't talk a lot yet, but I wanted to let you know about something important to my mommy and me. My mommy tells me she had excellent doctors and nurses who helped me get born, but that not all mommies have access to good health care.

A mean man out there, Sen. Jon Kyl from some place called Arizona, says that health insurance companies shouldn't be required to cover mommies like mine, who are going to have or have had cute babies like me. And even though Mommy didn't have one, other mommies who have had C-sections can be denied health insurance because it's considered a pre-existing condition. I don't know quite what that means, but it doesn't seem right!

The National Women's Law Center (sounds important!) wants you other mommies or future mommies or daddies, or grammies or aunties, to send baby pictures to Senator Meanie Pants. I did. And I sent a cute picture at that.


Now it's time for a nap!

It's Off to Work I Go

Four months. How did four months go by so fast? When I first stopped working at the end of May, I thought I would be completely bored and would be dying to go back to work. And then Charlotte arrived. Who knew that feeding, changing, and playing with a baby could take up so much time? Suddenly, the days just started flying by.


Anyway, I'm back. How am I feeling? Well, for one, I've never wanted to be a stay at home mom. I love my job, and I love that it's intellectually stimulating and makes me feel like I'm doing something important. But I also never knew that I could love anyone as much as I love that baby. So yeah, it's hard. I'm feeling a range of emotions. First, we just moved buildings so my workspace is completely bare and I don't know where anything is. Second, I feel lost. I've been completely tuned out for four months, so I have no idea what people are talking about. It feels like I just started this job! Finally, I miss Charlotte. She just started doing such fun things -- rolling over, grabbing her feet, and grabbing toys. It makes me sad that I'll be missing these things.


But I feel really good that she's in great hands. I found a lady who runs a small daycare out of her home, and her house is literally just across the greenbelt from our house. In fact, it's closer to walk than to drive, although when we're rushing around in the morning, that's not always going to be feasible. And the best thing? Miss Linda called me at noon and just gushed about Charlotte -- how she's just an absolute doll, and so good and happy. When I told her how much I appreciated her calling me, Linda said: "No thank you for having such a good baby!"


In the meantime, I'm taking things slowly (obviously - I'm at work right now), but overall feeling pretty good. And yes, I'm going to rush home at 4:45 to pick the sweet girl up.

Look how great she stands up! Charlotte will be walking in no time.

Three Months and Movin'!

Yes, it's been a while since I've posted. Charlotte's been movin' and shakin' -- we went to Carmel over Labor Day Weekend and then spent Tuesday through Sunday in San Diego for my best friend's wedding. More on all those later. For now: a video! I haven't captured Charlotte rolling over on video yet, but this shows how she's on her way to being mobile!

Charlotte's 2 months Well Baby Visit

Yesterday, Charlotte and I went to her rescheduled 2 month baby visit and about 2 1/2 months. She did great during the doctor's visit, even smiled at Dr. Hammel while she checked her out. Then we had to go down to the Pediatric Injection Clinic to get Charlotte her first set of shots. As Chris sarcastically said later (he was not able to join us this time), what a fun job to be the lady who makes babies cry all day long. And yes, poor Charlotte screamed when she had her three shots given. And I felt so bad because I had to just hold her while the lady stuck her. Charlotte calmed down pretty quickly, but I think the shots made her both sleepy and achy as she either cried or slept for the rest of day.

Here are the baby stats:
Weight - 13 lbs 0.8 oz - 87%
Height - 25 1/2 inches - literally off the charts -- as the doctor said, Charlotte is the height of most babies at six months old!
Head Circumference - 15.98 inches - 82%

The height explains why we have to put her in 3-6 month onesies in order for them to snap at the bottom and why she doesn't fill them out weight-wise (she looks like a little linebacker!).

That's about it. Charlotte needs the same shots again at four and then six months. Since I'll be back at work by then, I'm going to change the appointments to the afternoon, so that I don't have to leave her with the day care lady when she's feeling all yucky from the shots.

Adventures in Baby-Traveling

We're back in Sacramento after our week-long trip to Chicagoland. Let me start right off the bat by saying that we had a great time and for the most part, the trip went off without a hitch. However, we discovered many things about traveling with an infant that would have never crossed our minds before and definitely are worthy of a rant.

Airlines - how much worse can they treat a family traveling with an infant?

Our flight to Chicago last Thursday was an extremely early one -- 6AM. We had packed almost everything the night before so we could just get up, feed the baby, and hit the road. I woke up at 3AM, got dressed, and woke up Charlotte. She was completely dead to the world, so it was hard to wake her up enough to be interested in eating, but I managed to get her to eat a little bit before she passed out again.

We got to the airport with no trouble, even managed to shove two suitcases, the car seat, the car seat base, the stroller, the Boppy pillow, the diaper bag, the bag with my breast pump and bottles in it, the backpack, and Chris' work laptop all onto the parking lot shuttle in one try. Checking in was no problem and security was fine, although I had to pull a sleeping Charlotte out of the car seat in order to carry her through security and she didn't like that very much. The lady at the United check-in desk even changed our seats so we would have a center and aisle instead of a center and window.

It was when boarding was about to start that we discovered something new. We watched an old lady with a portable oxygen machine pre-board and then a middle-aged man in a wheelchair. So Chris and I went over to the lady at the gate and asked when they were pre-boarding families with infants. The lady curtly replied that United no longer pre-boards families with children and that we would have to get in line with everyone else. My jaw just about dropped to the floor. I mean, I can understand a family with a four year old, but here's my clearly infant daughter, sleeping in her car seat. How could we would not qualify for pre-boarding? So of course, by this point, we weren't even in line to board, so we had to sort of shove our way in once they called our boarding group. Chris, who was pushing the stroller, was practically run over once they called our group number by the masses of people trying to board the plane, which I don't understand since we all have reserved seating. At the plane door, Chris hurriedly unstrapped Charlotte, handed her to me, while he pulled the car seat off the stroller frame and attempted to collapse the stroller. Meanwhile, the people behind us were simply going around us and boarding the plane, which was fine. Once we were almost ready to board the plane, a nice lady told us to go in front of her, but I waved her forward since Chris was still busy collapsing the stroller. The next lady, however, gave me the nastiest, most exasperated look I've ever seen, as if we were purposely holding up the line. I was appalled - what on earth had we done to deserve that nasty scoff? I actually shouted to her as she walked in front of us: "I hope we sit right next to you, and I hope the baby cries the entire time!" Fortunately for this lady, we didn't sit next to her, and Charlotte didn't make a peep the entire time. But this all goes to show the entire point of pre-boarding! If we had been given the opportunity to pre-board, we could have had a few extra minutes to get situated without holding up the line or feeling stressed out.

Once on board, things went fine. Charlotte mostly slept, and I fed her about halfway through the 3 1/2 hour flight. The real problem happened when Charlotte had her usual post-feeding poop explosion. This one was a blowout, shooting up her back and getting everywhere. Luckily, it was at a point when we could actually get out of the seat and go to the lavatory. Now, I've been on planes several times since I got pregnant and noticed that most of the them have changing tables above the toilet. This plane, however, did not because, in the words of the flight attendant, it's an older plane (which is a ridiculous excuse, we're not the first people to have traveled with a baby before). Chris and I were forced to change her (outfit, diaper and all) on the floor at the rear of the plane. The flight attendants were actually somewhat helpful in that one of them held Charlotte briefly while I went to wash my hands and attempt to wash out her soiled clothes.

On the subject of changing tables.

You just don't think about things like that until you have a baby. And it's bizarre the places they show up or fail to show up. For example, when we went to Mammoth a few weeks ago and stopped in Gardnerville to feed and change her, neither the Starbucks nor the Burger King had a changing table. You'd think that at the very least Burger King, with it's marketing to children, would have one. Then, about two weeks ago, we went to Total Wine, which is a huge store with, you guessed it, wine, and lots of it. Charlotte had another explosion while we were there, and that place, which clearly does not count children as its customers, had a changing table! So it's completely random. However, you'd expect them to be in at least one of the lavatories on a plane. I mean, come on!

Why I Now Have Fully Come to Appreciate the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The rest of the flight went really smoothly. I'm super grateful that I brought the Boppy pillow with me as it was a great way to hold the baby without feeling like your arm would fall off after a four hour flight. When we got off the plane in Chicago, changed the baby again (this time in a convenient and private "family restroom"), we followed the signs for the baggage claims area and came straight up to down escalators, no elevators in sight. After walking one hundred yards in each direction, and still not finding the elevator, we gave up and pulled the car seat off the stroller base and go down the escalator. I'm sure the elevator was somewhere (by law they have to have one), but don't you think it would make sense to put it near the escalator? Oy.

The Spoiled White Gold
One of the main reasons for our trip to Chicago was so I could go to the committee meetings at our national association's conference. In order to be in meetings all day, I brought along my breastpump and several ounces of frozen expressed milk in a small cooler so that Chris could feed Charlotte in my absence. When we checked in at the hotel last Thursday, I asked for a crib and a refrigerator. We received both within minutes of getting to our room, and the gentleman who brought them plugged the mini-fridge into an outlet and went on his way. It wasn't until 1PM the next day that Chris called me out of a meeting to tell me that the outlet didn't work and, consequently, the refrigerator had not been on the entire time we were there! The milk, which we have dubbed white gold, was completely spoiled. I was so mad. You're never as effective at pumping milk as your baby is, so those ounces represented a lot of time and effort. Luckily, I was mostly able to leave meetings early in order to feed Charlotte, but I still had to pump to build up enough supply so that Chris' mom could watch her while Chris, his dad, and I went to a White Sox game. So another lesson learned -- make sure the fridge is up and running. Don't count on it being plugged in to work. Needless to say, I called the front desk and complained and got them to comp the fridge rental.

All these annoyances aside, Charlotte was amazingly well behaved the entire time we were traveling. So many people on the plane from the flight to and from Chicago remarked about how good she was and how, if they hadn't physically seen her, they wouldn't have known she was there. Charlotte also learned some new skills on her vacation. She is cooing a lot more and has discovered her hands. She interlaces them constantly now, which we've learned is a precursor to grasping things. In addition, she managed to roll over from belly to back for the first time, albeit, she did use the back of the couch as leverage for her feet.

We did a lot of fun things, and Charlotte was with us for the entirety (except for the White Sox game). It's so great that we can take her everywhere. I just wish that other people and corporations would be more baby-friendly. On the way back to Sacramento, a number of people who were in the line with us to board the plane were astounded by the fact that United doesn't pre-board infants. I hope they'll write a letter. I know I'm inclined to. I just can't see how spending five extra minutes to help families board safely could so severely impact their bottom line. Oh well.

Two Month Stats

Today was supposed to be Charlotte's two month well child visit, which was to include several immunizations. Unfortunately, I was woken up at 6:45AM to a call from Kaiser that Charlotte's doctor had called in sick, and consequently, her appointment was canceled. It's now been rescheduled for September 1st.

Chris and I decided to do our own measurements of Charlotte. I stepped on the scale with and then without Charlotte. According to this very exact science, Charlotte weighs 13.2 pounds! And then Chris used his measuring tape while Charlotte was lying on the changing table and she's 25 inches long. According to a growth chart online, Charlotte is still above the 95th percentile in length and between the 75th and 90th percentile in weight. Right now, I have her strapped to me in the Baby Bjorn, and my back can certainly attest to how heavy she is! This past week, we've had to retire some of her 0-3 month clothes, including her adorable sleeping gowns, as she's gotten too long for them. Sniff.

And now, I must get back to packing for our one week trip to Chicago. The flight leaves super early, at 6AM, which means that we really have to get everything ready tonight so that the only thing I do tomorrow before we leave for the airport is feed her. Obviously, I've seen the early hours of 3 and 4AM many times in the past two months (last night was one of them), but I haven't had to stay awake afterwards. Oy. Not looking forward to that. And I doubt Chris and I will get much sleep on the plane as we take turns holding Charlotte for four hours.

I've also bought ear plugs to put in since we'll be sharing a hotel room with our precious daughter. She thrashes and makes so many noises in her sleep, as I found out in Mammoth when I was waking up multiple times a night only to find that she was still asleep, that ear plugs are an absolute necessity for me. Putting her in her crib has been amazing because I wake up only when she actually cries and not when she's scooted her way down the entire length of the crib (how she does that when she's in her little straitjacket swaddle blanket, I'll never know...).

A report on Charlotte's first plane ride and hotel stay to follow next week!

Busy Busy Bee

Hi Everyone,


Thanks for the messages about Marzi. We really miss her, but we know it was the best decision for everyone. When I was choosing pictures of her to post last week, I realized just how different Marzipan looked, even from just a year ago. She'd lost so much weight and her coat wasn't shiny anymore. Tandy seems to be okay, but has definitely become more affectionate and attention-hungry. We're keeping a close eye on her just to be sure.


Anyway, a lot has been happening in the past couple of weeks. Chris' work had a product celebration at the Six Flags Discovery Kingdom last Thursday, and since we had free tickets, we thought it would be no big deal to bring Charlotte along. Obviously, we couldn't go on any rides, but it was a nice break from the Sacramento heat, and we took turns watching her while the other went on a rollercoaster. It went great except that Charlotte got a little too much sun and got her first sunburn.


The next day, my parents and grandparents came into town. My grandparents, Charlotte's only great-grandparents, live in South Carolina and were so anxious to meet the first member of the next generation. Of course, everyone loved Charlotte.


On Sunday, my parents, Charlotte and I drove to our condo in Mammoth. I've loved being off of work and being with Charlotte, but I was having a bit of house-fever, since I've been home every day since mid-May. Unfortunately, Mammoth is at a very high altitude and Charlotte just wasn't sleeping very well (so consequently I was not sleeping very well), so my mom and I drove back to Sacramento on Tuesday instead of today as planned. While at Mammoth, I did manage to take Charlotte in the pool for the first time -- the water was really warm, but the air was not, so let's just say that this experiment was very short lived. We've had a lot of fun since then -- going to the Farmers Market downtown, playing tennis while Charlotte rested in the stroller (we had to stop every so often and put in her "plug" as Chris calls the pacifier), and even going to Charlotte's first movie in the theater (Julie and Julia - very cute). Charlotte did fantastically in the theater and never made a noise the entire time.


And my mom was also nice enough to watch Charlotte on Wednesday night so Chris and I could go out for our third anniversary! I can't believe it's been three years since we got married. We had a great meal and then went and saw a movie.

Next week, we head to Chicago for a work conference (read: free trip to Chicago for me, frequent flier miles for Chris) and then staying at Chris' parents for a few days so that everyone can meet her. Traveling on a plane with her will certainly be an adventure, not only because she's a baby, but because you have to bring so much darned stuff with you when you're traveling with an infant. I found this out last weekend when we went to Mammoth.


Oh and next week, Charlotte will be two months old! I can't wait to find out how long she is and how much weight she's gained. I know for a fact she's gotten much longer because we no longer can swaddle her in the receiving blanket we brought home from the hospital, and there is only about an inch or two max of room lengthwise in her travel crib.


Have a great weekend!! And here's one of the 75 pictures I finally got around to posting on our photo site... :)

A Tribute to Marzipan

Today, Chris and I had to do the hardest thing we've ever had to do since we've been together. We had to say goodbye to our sweet cat Marzipan. She's was only 4 1/2 years old, but she was not a well kitty. A year and a half ago, we discovered that her mouth was bothering her, only to find out that she had stomatitis, a severe form of gingivitis that causes horrible inflammation of her gums to the point that eating is extremely painful. With the help of our vet, we were mostly able to keep her happy, having her eat wet food and giving her medicine. After a while, we realized that the meds weren't doing their job and the vet recommended having all her teeth extracted. We wondered what kind of quality of life this would have for Marzi, but we thought that it would make things better. So we scheduled the extraction for last Tuesday. Unfortunately, about two weeks ago, we noticed that Marzi was having trouble urinating to the point that she was straining all the time. We rushed her to the vet and after a urinalysis, bloodwork and ultrasound, found out that she not only had a severe urinary tract infection but also a severe kidney disease. She had also lost more weight. After three days of hospitalization, she came home feeling better but not cured. And things just deteriorated after that point. Marzipan simply wasn't the same, happy cat. She was hungry all the time, but when we tried to feed her, she would only eat a little bit before refusing any more. We had simply reached the limits of the care we could provide for her at home.



Marzipan was such a sweet cat. She loved to cuddle on just about anyone's lap, and she really made a cat lover out of Chris. We both came home from the vet today, after saying our goodbyes, feeling lost without our sweet "Gray Bear." Our house just won't be the same without her. She was our first baby, the first creature we were responsible for after Chris and I started living together. So here are some pictures that we've taken over the years...

Marzi the day we brought her home from the pound - ~ 3 months old
In her favorite spot on my lap.

Giving an itty bitty Tandy some love, albeit begrudgingly. This was Marzi before she got sick, when the vet told me she should lose some weight.

We love you Marzipan, and we'll miss you.

6 weeks old video

My first attempt at uploading a video of Charlotte. Unfortunately I didn't move quite quickly enough to capture her smiling and laughing in her bouncer, but this will have to do for now!

She's 1 Month Old Already?

I haven't posted in a while (the last post I actually started last week, but didn't get around to finishing until today), but our baby girl is now a month old! It really is amazing how fast she has changed in four weeks.

For the past week, Chris' parents have been visiting us. They don't visit as often as we'd like, so we wanted to take them around Sacramento some (the extreme heat made this pretty difficult, but we did what we could). Chris' dad works for the railroad in Chicago, mainly as a dispatcher, and has his entire adult life, so it seemed a natural fit to take him to the California State Railroad Museum. Now Chris has lived here for nine years, and I've lived here for almost six, but neither of us had ever been. We were also a little wary of bringing a 4 week old. Well, we have learned very quickly that Charlotte is an extremely good, portable baby. Chris strapped her in the Bjorn and we walked all over the museum, went out to lunch, and Charlotte basically slept most of the time.

Oh did I also mention that last Wednesday night Charlotte slept for 8 hours straight?! We went out for dinner for our friend's birthday, got back around 9:30, got Charlotte ready for bed and fed her, and then she slept from 10:30 until 6:30. Amazing! Consequently, we too had 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. I felt like a million bucks! I went running for the first time in 9 months, but soon learned that my sports bra does not, ahem do the job anymore (I had to promptly run out and buy a "maximum" support sports bra - me!). Charlotte hasn't repeated her 8 hour stretch since, but she still sleeps great (6 or 7 hours at a time) and I feel fine getting up once a night. I guess there are advantages to birthing what essentially is a 3 month old. :)

In addition to sleeping like a champ and being so good that we can take her just about anywhere, Charlotte has started to smile! It is, in my highly biased opinion, the cutest thing I've ever seen. It just about melts our hearts every time she does it. She has also discovered that the swing isn't so bad -- for whatever reason she is fixated on the bar of the swing and she smiles and makes noises at it. Very strange, but hey, it gives us enough time to eat dinner!

So yes, I'm gushing about my baby, but she really is such a great baby. In fact, we just got back from a very nice restaurant to celebrate my mother-in-law's birthday, and Charlotte slept most of the time -- the rest of the time, the pacifier came to the rescue. We may live to regret Charlotte's addiction to her Soothie, but for now, it's a God send.

Nursery Photos - Better Late than Never!

I realize that this is kind of late, but I wanted to send photos of the nursery for those of you who don't live nearby. The reason for the delay is that I was waiting for my parents to come up and bring my old furniture (dresser, bookcase, nightstand, and headboard/footboard). My parents were saving my furniture for the day I should have a baby girl -- well, I have one now! I hope you like the room because we had a lot of fun planning out our baby's girly jungle love theme!

The crib - Charlotte loves the big dots and stares at them intently. Note the adorable name banner that her Tia Nancy made for her -- it looks perfect with the crib theme!

These next two are little letterpress cards that I ordered from a fellow mommy blogger who does letterpress for a living. I fell in love with the cute little elephant and giraffe notecards, but wanted to do something special with them. So I found an online framing store, measured the cards, and ordered the matting in Madagascar pink. They came out better than expected!

The nightstand with a frame that matches Charlotte's baby book - I couldn't resist.

The changing table where we spend a lot of our time.

The dresser and wooden Charlotte letters. We ordered these long before the baby shower, but I only received them about two weeks before Charlotte was born.

All of Charlotte's many books (and some of mine as well - I don't think she'll be reading the Twilight series for quite some time)

And of course, the little girl who makes this room possible -- wearing adorable cupcake pajamas from our friends Amber and Kris. She hasn't actually slept in her crib yet, but we're going to try that out soon. Also, please note that she's not crying here, I just snapped the shot when she was flailing her arms about.