What's in a Name?

Did you know that we have been out and about at least twice when we've run into another Charlotte, almost exactly Charlotte's age?  Once, days before Phoebe was born, my mom, Charlotte and I went to the Folsom Zoo.  We were nearing the tiger exhibit, when a girl about seven asked Charlotte her name.  She immediately said, "That's my sister's name too!"  And then we spent the rest of our time there with Charlotte and Charlotte holding hands.  The sister (whose name I have since forgotten) kept saying "There go those Charlottes!"

And then Mother's Day weekend, we headed to Fairytale Town and I was desperately trying to get Charlotte to use the potty in the gingerbread house bathroom.  As I was cajoling her, I heard someone else talking about a Charlotte. My Charlotte said, "That's my name!"  And sure enough, when we were done with our unsuccessful try at going potty, we came out and saw a grandmother and two girls, the younger one being Charlotte. The older one, probably five or six, said "Two Charlottes, and a Sylvie!"

So many little girls named Charlotte.  Also, our dentist who has two girls, one Charlotte's age and one a few months older than Phoebe, named his younger daughter Charlotte. I'd like to think it's because he remembered me talking about her (ha!), but in reality, it's because Charlotte is growing very quickly in popularity in the U.S., according to the Social Security Administration.  Take a look at the past several years:

Popularity of the female name Charlotte

Year of birth	Rank
2011	27
2010	46
2009	68
2008	87
2007	101
2006	125
2005	135
2004	170
2003	182
2002	204
2001	230
2000	289

It's not as popular as Ava, Emma or Olivia (we know several girls under the age of seven with those names), but it's on its way.

Phoebe, on the other hand? Not that popular.

Popularity of the female name Phoebe

Year of birth	Rank
2011	310
2010	309
2009	322
2008	348
2007	337
2006	363
2005	425
2004	405
2003	436
2002	435
2001	388
2000	441

I am getting mildly annoyed when people ask if  we named her after Phoebe Buffay on Friends.  Her character was definitely the furthest thing from my mind when I one day thought of the name Phoebe.  If anything, I'd like our Phoebe to be more like Phoebe Hearst, the mother of William Randolph Hearst, a great philanthropist, and the first woman regent of the University of California, my alma mater. :)  Berkeley's anthropology museum was named after her, and one of the first buildings I visited upon starting at Cal.

Chris and I are no strangers, of course, to popular names.  There were at least 4 Stephanies in my graduating class in high school, one of whom was in every class with me from Kindergarten through Fifth Grade.  I was always known as Stephanie "H.", whereas the other Stephanie went by Stephanie "E." And no wonder! My name was in the top 10 of U.S. girl names from 1981 (the year I was born) until 1993.  And Christopher continues to be one of the most popular boys' names in the U.S over the past 50 or 60 years.  And at the rate that Charlotte is picking steam, the name could very well be in the top 10 within the next two years.

You can check out the popularity of your name or your child's name over the past 100 plus years here.

Fun Times

So we went to the Bay Area last weekend for our good friends' wedding (Congrats Judy and Robbie!).  I was planning on Phoebe wearing a super cute dress from Janie & Jack, but silly me, I didn't try it on her before I bought it. It was way too big.  So she wore the dress that my grandma got her for Easter, along with some tights and a sweater.  Still cute, but not as cute as that adorable dress. 

Phoebe did great the entire time.  She pretty much slept in her carrier about 75% of the 7 hours we were gone.  The dress I wore was one in which I couldn't nurse Phoebe, so she got some bottles of pumped milk instead.  She even amazed everyone by sleeping through the freezing ceremony and then during the very loud dance music.  And she was so tired by the time we got back to Kristen and Todd's house that I couldn't even wake her up to nurse her.  Unfortunately for us, she is the world's loudest sleeper, and Chris and I got pretty much no sleep with her in our room, despite the fact that she slept the entire night.  And this is, once again, why we don't co-sleep.  I'm not against it in theory, but Phoebe grunts constantly in her sleep, and I am a very light sleeper.

Charlotte had a great time with Kristen and Todd.  Their neighborhood was holding its annual block party, complete with bounce house and enormous pumpkins (strange to see in May).  We are so lucky to have such great friends who love our girls.

A neighbor of Kristen and Todd's grows gigantic pumpkins

I am also happy to report that Charlotte has had no accidents in over a week (well, for going Number 1, that is).  She's gone #2 once in the potty, but pretty much still holds it until she's wearing a Pull Up at night.  She keeps saying she has to go, but then doesn't.  Oh well, apparently, it's a very common problem, I've been reading. She'll get there.

We've been telling everyone that what's exhausting is not our newborn, but our preschooler.  Phoebe is easy to get to sleep - we swaddle her, rock her a little, and that's it.  She doesn't even want her pacifier 9 times out of 10.  Charlotte, on the other hand, is in the stage of stalling bedtime. Bedtime takes nearly an hour with her. She loves her routine and will get upset if we deviate from it at all. So if Chris or I put her pillow sham on the floor instead of her, she'll remember 10 minutes after we shut the door and cry that she didn't get to do it.  Or if Tandy's been accidentally locked in her room, Charlotte will cry and scream like it's the worst thing every.  Her latest is to tell us that she's "drinky" which is her word for thirsty (and totally cute).  And of course, Charlotte is constantly negotiating extra stories during bedtime. I mean, I love that she loves stories, but yeesh!  Once I go back to work, I will have to start this whole routine about a half an hour earlier.  The past two days, she's come up to our room, earlier than we want her to.  I think I may have to get one of those clocks that glows green or red or whatever to let her know when it's okay to come into our room.  Finally, because Charlotte is potty training and has this tendency to run away and have accidents either in her room or outside or in a corner, we've been watching her like a hawk.  This is exhausting in of itself.  Still, she's pretty great and fun to be around - just tiring!

Mommy's Day

Hi Everyone!

I had a great Mother's Day, or as Charlotte referred to it as, "Mommy's Day."  First thing on Sunday morning, we can hear Charlotte singing something from her room.  When I opened the door, she Charlotte started jabbering on about Beauty and the Beast and then ran down the stairs to get my card, which is one of those cards that play music.  In this case, it was "Be Our Guest" from Beauty and the Beast.  It explains why Charlotte kept asking me if I remembered that song all weekend, while Chris tried to (not so subtly) change the subject.  :)

Anyway, Charlotte and Phoebe got me a beautiful stamped metal necklace that has both their names on it and their birthstones (pearl for Charlotte and aquamarine for Phoebe).  Chris got me a pair of beautiful aquamarine earrings.  When Charlotte was born he got me a string of pearls, so it's so nice to have something on the same theme. We went out for a lovely Mother's Day brunch and then spent the rest of the day running some light errands and enjoying the beautiful weather.

Dancing with Charlotte

And as of yesterday, Phoebe is two months old!  She surprised us that night by sleeping 10 straight hours - from 8PM until 6AM.  Thank you, Phoebe! Of course, I woke up around 5 in a panic and rushed into her room to make sure she was okay.  She didn't repeat it last night, but put in two solid 5 hour stretches.

Today Phoebe had her two month well baby visit. Here are her stats:
Height: 24.75" - 99th percentile
Weight: 11 lbs 13 oz - 77th percentile
Head circumference: 15.25" - 49th percentile

By comparison, Charlotte was 25.5 inches and 13 lbs (her head was much, much bigger). So Phoebe is definitely smaller, but not by much.  She had to have her first set of shots today, and it hurts me so much to see her in pain and screaming.  Right now, she's zonked out in the bassinet in our family room.

Hmm, let's see. What happened in her second month?  Smiles, cooing, major interest in ceiling fans, her swing, and her bouncer.  She's lost a lot of hair on the top of her head, but still has plenty in the back.  If it looks like she's got reddish hair, she doesn't. It's just some oh so lovely cradle cap. :)

A smile! Don't mind the bouncer's bar.

A smile for Mommy

That's about it. Phoebe is attending her first wedding on Saturday (Charlotte will be staying with our friends), and I splurged and bought a really cute dress at Janie and Jack. And when I say "splurge" I totally mean bought on sale.  Still, it's more than I would normally spend on a baby's outfit. Ahh, I so love their simple, classic clothes. Pictures will be forthcoming.

8 Week Updates

Potty Training Hell.

Since last Thursday, a whole week, Charlotte has been in big girl underwear (we have a mix of Mickey Mouse and Tangled if you were curious). She's done great - since Sunday, she has had zero wet accidents.  D said that at daycare, her Pull Up has been dry at naptime.  And if we get Charlotte up early enough, she'll be dry in the morning too. This is awesome! 

Unfortunately, since Sunday, she has also not pooped.  I'm getting worried. It's been five days, and she's home with me today.  This is not going to be good.  Her poor tummy has got to be hurting. But for some reason, she just has some anxiety about going in the potty.  Oy. I just don't know what to do to convince her that pooping no the potty is so much better.

Phoebe/Recovery Update.

I also wanted to let you know that Phoebe is doing great. She's 8 weeks old today, and she is establishing a pattern of sleeping from 8PM until 4AM and then sleeping until about 8. It's fantastic!  Her tummy problems are pretty much over, and she's only fussy in the evenings because I think she actually would prefer to go down for the night earlier, like at 7.

I bought a BOB Revolution Jogging Stroller last week at REI because Phoebe passes out whenever she's in her car seat and when Charlotte's at daycare, I'm able to walk for at least an hour at a time.  I've been doing long walks in the Snap N Go stroller frame, but it's not really suitable long-term, plus the wheels are so small that every sidewalk crack seems like a huge bump. Oh, why did I not buy the BOB stroller sooner, like when Charlotte was born? It is simply amazing. It's like floating on air. And with the car seat adapter, it's perfect for jogging and walking with Phoebe. I love it.  I've been on two hour-long walks this week, and one jog/walk. 

Speaking of jogging, I tried a solo jog two weeks ago, and within seconds, I had to stop. My incision site was hurting almost immediately. It was very disappointing and frustrating.  But then last Thursday, when Chris' parents were in town, I tried jogging again. Success! No pain, other than the soreness that comes from not having run for about 10 months.  

Big Sister Update.

Charlotte still loves being a big sister. She wants to hug and hold Phoebe all the time. And as I've mentioned she's become very nurturing toward her baby doll.  The other day, she actually mimicked me breastfeeding, but she says that Phoebe gets her food from my tummy. And she likes talking about how Phoebe used to be in my tummy and came out of my belly button. Pretty funny.

Charlotte just graduated to the 3 year old class at gymnastics.  This means no parent participation.  She'd been the oldest in the 2 and under class for quite some time, and I think she was getting bored because she'd get super distracted.  The preschool class does a lot more actual tumbling, and it requires that the kids listen to the teacher.  We start next Tuesday.

Turning the Corner, or Maybe Not

An Update on Potty Training

We have been trying for months and months to potty train Charlotte.  It's been a series of stops and starts, but mostly stops.  I guess it really is true that you can't force these things.  Until recently, Charlotte just wasn't interested in going.

When my mom was here before Phoebe was born, we worked on it a lot. My mom got her to go in the bathroom in my room at the hospital, but then the next day, it was like all the progress was eliminated and Charlotte had several accidents all in one day.

A month ago, we took Charlotte to KinderCare for a trial day.  We had already decided she'd be going there once I go back to work, but her daycare was closed the day after Easter, so we thought, why not try it out for a day?  The director told us that because Charlotte would be in the 3 year old class when she started, that it wouldn't make sense to have her in the 2 year old class for one day.  She asked where we were in the potty training stage, and we confessed that we weren't very far.  She told us to just bring a bunch of pairs of underwear and changes of clothes and they'd handle the accidents.  Well, when I picked Charlotte up that day, aside from being super happy to be there, Charlotte only had one accident the entire day (the first one of the day).  I was floored. And I was even more amazed that the teacher asked if she needed to go before we left, and Charlotte ran to the bathroom (which is conveniently right in the class) and pulled down her pants, went, and then washed her hands. 

However, things haven't been the same since. I'm sure that peer pressure had something to do with it, since all of the other kids are potty-trained, but our daycare lady hasn't been very consistent either.  This is frustrating because I can train all I want, but if it's not consistently applied the rest of the day, Charlotte will just know she can go in her Pull-Ups.

Ten days ago, Charlotte wanted to stay home, so I decided she'd only wear big girl underwear.  She had three accidents that day and only two successes.  It's super draining, especially with having to care for Phoebe, and Charlotte gets so ashamed when she has an accident.

Then, the past five days, Chris' parents have been here.  I decided with the extra bodies around, this would be the weekend.  From Wednesday until today, Charlotte has been in underwear the entire time, including to a friend's birthday party, and going out to two restaurants.  She seems to have the urinating down, but not the other one.  Instead, she'll hold it for days because she's worried about getting the potty messy, or whatever other pressure she's imposed upon herself.  Finally, on Friday, Chris' mom and I got Charlotte to go on the potty by doing this - we put the little potty in her tent  that our friend Nancy made for her (yes, Nancy, I'm sure you didn't expect it to be used for this purpose!), and I told her she could have her special time there.  Well, it worked!  We were all so incredibly excited for her.  Unfortunately, it hasn't happened again and we've had two other accidents, but I really hope we're turning the corner.

Any suggestions out there for a girl who has a mental block about pooping? I really don't know what to do to get her to understand that A) I'll handle the entire clean up (you know Chris won't do that), and B) it's way better than going in your pants.

And tomorrow, it's back to daycare - this time in big girl underwear!