Charlotte Round-up

Wow! I have really gotten bad at this blogging thing.

Last I posted, I mentioned Charlotte would be graduating from preschool. Well, this happened on June 6.

The kids all entered wearing adorable red graduation gowns and caps to the first song from Frozen. Then they changed into handmade shirts with each of their hand prints on them and proceeded to sing "Let it Go". So cute.

Here's Charlotte (and Phoebe) with her teacher, Ms. Kim.

And with her former teacher, Ms. Cheryl.

Then Charlotte got sick. Right after this happened. And she remained sick for over two weeks. It seems that every time she gets sick it goes straight to her lungs so that she hacks and coughs like crazy. We spent the next couple weeks with her home a bunch. This included a trip to San Diego. Anyway, after going to the doctor three times over two weeks, we got it under control. Unfortunately, all signs point to asthma. She's currently on the allergy medicine Singulair, which is a pill she takes daily before bedtime. She also has two inhalers, but we're waiting to see if she really needs the steroid one on a twice daily basis. (Her doctor takes very conservative approach and doesn't want her on all sorts of medication unless really necessary).

We even had to go to the doctor's on her birthday. They gave her oral steroids for the wheezing, which made her a little loopy at her birthday dinner.

My parents got her a pink digital camera for her birthday. These are some of my favorite shots that she took.

Learning to take a selfie

 

 

 

 

More selfies

This creepy turtle in some movie at my parents' house

Her leg - very abstract

Phoebe legs and a goat at the San Diego Zoo

There are about 5 of these - Chris didn't know she'd taken them until later

There are a bunch more, including ones of a cable, ducks, a piano, and the floor. Hilarious.

I took Charlotte to her 5 year well child visit yesterday. She is now 42.75 inches (that's 3 inches taller than a year ago), and 39.3 pounds. She's a wee skinny thing. To put it in some perspective, she was 28 pounds at her 2 year visit, so it's taken her three years to gain 11 pounds.

4th of July. We went to my co-worker's in-laws' house in Corning, California, which is northwest of Chico. Apparently, it's where most of the olives and olive oil come from in California. My co-worker's in-laws have a large property covered with olive trees and plum trees. Charlotte loved picking plums straight from the tree. She must have eaten five at least. There was a bounce house water slide, a tractor/quad parade, quad rides, and (illegal) fire works. We didn't stay for the fire works, but both girls got a ride on the quad. We had a fantastic time.

Unbelievably, Charlotte starts Kindergarten five weeks from today!

4 With Stats

Charlotte had her four year well child visit today. (Today is also Chris' birthday. Happy Birthday, Chris!)

When Dr. M. came in, I exclaimed: "She's at the doctor's and for once, it's not because she's sick!" We both cheered for that revelation.

She weighs 35 pounds and is still just shy of 40 inches (39.75 to be exact). Both measurements put her in the 50th percentile. Amazingly, she gained two pounds in three weeks. Then again, I can gain two pounds if I just look at food the wrong way, so is it really that surprising?

After she was weighed and measured, the medical assistant took her over to the wall to do her first eye exam. The M.A. started with the sheet that has different letters on it, but when it was apparent that Charlotte was clearly messing up letters badly, she switched to a sheet with hands facing up, down, left, and right. Charlotte did much better on this one and had fun moving her hand to match the hand she saw on the screen. She definitely had a little trouble seeing with her right eye when the left was covered, but all in all, good enough that she doesn't need any further scrutiny for now. They checked her hearing as well, which she easily passed.

I talked to Dr. M. about what to do about Charlotte's food allergies. Her sesame seed allergy was fresh in my mind because when we were in Greece, it seemed like sesame seeds were coating everything. It made me sad to think that Charlotte probably wouldn't be able to visit Greece or any other Mediterranean country (or Asian country) without fear of an allergic reaction. Mind you, we've only had that one incident three years ago, but it was severe enough to ensure we obsessively look at all food labels from then on.

So after Charlotte got her two shots (no crying at all), we headed downstairs to the lab to get her blood drawn. The lab was crazy busy and we waited over twenty minutes to get called in. Charlotte was bouncing off the walls, humming, singing songs. She cheered when her name was called - "I'm Charlotte Berry!" - and everyone around her laughed because, they knew, as I did, what  was in store for her. Sure enough, when the phlebotomist stuck her with the needle, she started screaming, her face turned beet red, and she didn't stop screaming until we were out of the building. Several in the waiting room shouted: "Good job! You did great!," but it did little to console her. She was still screaming as we passed the pharmacy, where everyone turned at the sound of her shrieks.

I pulled out my trump card.

"Charlotte," I explained. "Don't forget that we're going to see Monsters University this afternoon. I bet you'll even get to eat popcorn!" She nodded, and the tears were gone by the time we reached the car.

One

I'm a little late in posting things (I'll explain why in a future post), but our sweet little girl is ONE!

I can't believe that a year ago, Phoebe looked like this:

And today:

Phoebe and Charlotte shared a cupcake on Phoebe's actual birthday, Friday, March 15.

Phoebe really enjoyed it and ate her entire half (so did Charlotte).

On Saturday, we had a few people over for lasagna, more cupcakes, and drinks. The weather was perfect! Mid-70s and partly sunny.

Here's Phoebe in her birthday outfit, being held by Auntie Christina!

Phoebe enjoyed the food on the coffee table so much that Christina started calling her "Feed Me" Phoebe.

She actually stuck her hand deep into the spinach artichoke dip I made and then shoved her hand in her mouth. It was delicious, but for some reason, people didn't eat it after the grubby birthday girl called dibs.

And then it was cupcake time again. Phoebe had eaten so many chips and Pirate's booty, along with lasagna, so she was too full to eat too much of her cake. Instead, she had fun obliterating the cupcake with her hands.

It was a great party!

Phoebe is undergoing a lot of transition right now (I'll explain why in a different post). She's already pretty much weaned off the bottle and formula, but I'm not sure if she's getting enough whole milk, because she really wants to nurse, especially in the morning.

Phoebe is getting better and better at standing. She's got great balance and can stand unsupported for a long time before gently sitting down. We got a new walker and she just zooms all over the house with it. I think she'll be walking in a few weeks - she certainly seems to have the motivation.

It's amazing to remark how different Phoebe and Charlotte are. Charlotte is so easy to smile and her smile lights up the room. Phoebe, while a very happy and snuggly baby, just doesn't smile as much. It's also much harder to get her to just smile for the camera. It's not that she's upset, she's just more observant I think. I think she just wants to take everything in. She's also much more adventurous than Charlotte - she climbs onto the couch, she climbs on top of the little piano, she tries to open any cupboard she comes across and pull out the items inside- she's definitely more of a thrill seeker, although perhaps that has something to do with the fact that she sees what Charlotte's doing and tries to imitate.

I took her to her 12 month well baby visit on Monday.
She weighs 21 lbs 4 oz (75%) and is 30 inches long (77%).
She's pretty similar to how Charlotte was in length, although Charlotte weighed over 2 pounds less than Phoebe.

Phoebe was supposed to get a blood draw to check for anemia, but because she has a cough, we'll have to go back in a new weeks to do it. She did get 3 shots yesterday, which left her pretty cranky and tired. Overall though, Dr. M. thinks she looks perfect.

As for me, I'm definitely wistful at how big our little baby is. Her hair is getting longer everyday and it's starting to curl at the ends. She's outgrowing cute baby clothes. I just can't get past how fast this year went. It really doesn't seem that long ago that we were coming home from the hospital. Pretty soon we'll have to replace the infant car seat with a big convertible car seat and that will pretty much be the last infant item we'll have in the house besides the crib. On the other hand, it's pretty amazing to see her changing and growing right before our eyes.

Phoebe, you're the sweetest, prettiest thing I've ever seen. Thanks for making the last year so wonderful.

Love, Mommy

Gobble Gobble

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Ours was fabulous - spent with good friends, delicious food, and excellent wine.

Last Wednesday, I took Phoebe in for her monthly weight check. She weighed in at 17lbs 11.6 oz - she gained nearly two pounds in a month! She went from around the 25th percentile at seven months to the 50th percentile at eight months. Her doctor was very happy to see the upward tick, instead of the downward tick that had happened for three months (she was always gaining weight, it had just slowed considerably).

But it's really not a surprise, considering the gusto with which Phoebe eats solid foods. She is a little bird, opening her mouth eagerly for more food and squawking impatiently if I'm not there to shovel more in. She also is really good at picking up pieces of food and getting them in her mouth. Suffice it to say Phoebe thoroughly enjoyed her first Thanksgiving, eating bread, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, turkey, and pumpkin cheesecake. She has also already started signing. She makes the sign for milk (opening and closing her right hand), but she seems to mean it in the context of more, as in give me more food NOW. I am relishing having this baby who loves to eat - she slurped down some homemade French onion soup last night - especially in comparison with her older sister.

Charlotte, on the other hand, continues to pick at food, even foods that should be winners like turkey and mashed potatoes. She ate about two bites of Thanksgiving dinner before declaring emphatically that she was "all done." When I tell her what we're having for dinner she almost always says: "I don't very much like green beans/mashed potatoes/whatever I've spent hours slaving over." She did, of course, scarf down a very large piece of pumpkin cheesecake and then had the audacity to ask for more (she didn't get anymore, of course, and normally, she doesn't get dessert if she doesn't eat enough dinner, but I was willing to make an exception for Thanksgiving).

What I'm saying is that I'm living in this strange family where on the one end of the spectrum I have one, stubborn daughter refusing pretty much anything that isn't macaroni and cheese or dessert and throwing an epic tantrum because she was served Thanksgiving leftovers last night instead of quiche, and on the other end, a stubborn baby who has a tantrum if I don't shovel in the food fast enough. It's exhausting, kind of like this...

Six Months Old!

Phoebe turned six months old on Saturday. What was this huge milestone for Charlotte just seems to have crept up on us with Phoebe - such is the way with second children, I guess?



First time in a park swing!

 A lot has happened with Miss Phoebe over the past month. She can sit up unsupported, although she's a bit wobbly. She can wiggle and roll around and get to where she wants to go. When she really wants something, she'll move her knees up and move her legs like she wants to crawl. I'm sure it won't be much longer before she really starts crawling around. She babbles different sounds, although she reserves to mama sounds for when she's really upset. She likes to blow raspberries (I have a great video, but I can't seem to get it uploaded). And the newest trick is that Phoebe has cut her first tooth! I noticed it on Saturday when she was chomping down on my finger.

We've upped her solid food intake, although we haven't been as on top of it as we were with Charlotte. So far, Phoebe has tried sweet potatoes, yams, butternut squash, bananas, apples, carrots, and pears. Pears are the hands down favorite. Last night, Phoebe gummed a piece of baguette and really liked it (no surprise there!). Her doctor recommends waiting seven days before introducing a new food given Charlotte's history with food allergies.

Sleeping continues to be erratic. Phoebe only gets up once a night, but it's anyone's guess when it will be. Sometimes it's 4AM, other times it's 6:30, yet other nights it's 2AM. I really need to look into ways for her to self-soothe because I know she can sleep the entire night without needing to eat, but it's hard to tell her that!

Huge thanks go to Chris for letting me have my first night away from children in close to a year. I think the last night I was away from Charlotte was probably last November for a work trip, and I've never had a night away from Phoebe. I went to Carson City for a day packed with meetings and then I got to stay in a hotel in South Lake Tahoe. It was amazing. The studio was enormous. And the best part was that I slept without any interruptions from Charlotte, Phoebe or the cat. I slept from 10AM to 8AM. I really, really needed it.

Here are Phoebe's stats from her six month appointment:
Weight: 15 lbs 11 oz - 43rd percentile
Height: 27.75 inches - 97th percentile
Head circumference: 17 inches - 72nd percentile

Dr. M. voiced some concern about Phoebe's weight because she dropped off her growth curve (until yesterday, she has consistently been between the 60th and 75th percentile in weight). When we saw him a month ago, she weighed in at 15 lbs 6 oz, so she only gained a quarter of a pound in a month. I reminded him that Phoebe continues to spit up after every single feeding. He suspects that because she's moving around so much that she's expending more calories but not taking in more calories. He's asked that we bring her in six to eight weeks from now for a weight check. In the meantime, we're to give her some cereal at least twice a day in hopes that the rice will expand in her stomach and maybe keep the liquid from coming back up. I'm not sure if there's any merit to that, but I'm willing to give it a try. She's certainly very interested in solid foods, so we'll just have to be better about making sure she gets some every night.

Other than that, Dr. M. declared her "perfect." We certainly agree.

Four Months

Phoebe turned four months old on Sunday.  Four months seemed like such a long time when Charlotte attained that milestone, but as with everything, it's come and gone in a blink of an eye for our Miss Phoebe.

I love my bath, but I'm getting too tall for it!

{Phoebe, first, I apologize for not having written anything when you turned three months old.  It's just that this past month has been crazy busy, and I barely have the energy to crawl up to bed at night. Please forgive me. Love, Mommy}

But to recap, Phoebe underwent some major developmental changes right from the start of turning three months.  Before then, she used to fall asleep pretty much everytime we went on a walk or went for a drive. Not so today.  She is super alert all the time.  She has found her feet, and crams them both in her mouth.  You can even hear her sucking on her toes when you're driving around. Kind of creepy.

She also was fighting naps like crazy (at least for us, she easily takes them for D) until recently.  She would not sleep unless you were holding her, and if you tried putting her down? She'd wake up almost immediately.  But now, she's pretty good at letting us know when she's really tired.  She starts whimpering and making this kind of shriek.  Chris is a certified Baby Whisperer and can put Phoebe down much more easily than I can, although I get her good and tired before handing her off to Chris.

Phoebe is much more interactive with people now. She loves smiling and laughing. She's really ticklish, and emits the cutest laugh when we tickle her.  She also loves when I sing to her - this gets her laughing almost immediately. 

She has really good fine motor skills.  She can hone in on dangling toys and get them in her mouth.  Today, at her four month well baby visit, she made Dr. M laugh as she grabbed his hand while he was trying to check her out with the stethoscope.  What she doesn't like in her mouth? Pacifiers.  She almost always spits them out much to the confusion of Charlotte, who cannot possibly understand why any baby wouldn't want a pacifier (yes, this means Charlotte routinely tries to force a pacifier into Phoebe's mouth, which results in stern words and/or time outs). 

The gross motor skills are also great.  She has been rolling from back to tummy for a few weeks now, and the speed at which she does it now is stunning.  We really have to keep an eye on her on the changing table.  She loves being on her tummy, but then forgets how to roll onto her back. Of course, the rolling onto her tummy has its drawbacks, namely, doing it in her sleep and waking herself up.  And because Phoebe absolutely has to be swaddled to sleep, this makes things hard.

Loving my Bumbo!

Speaking of sleep, it's been completely unpredictable.  Some nights she'll sleep from 7:30 to 6:30, other nights she'll wake up once but never at the same time.  About once a week, she'll wake up twice during the night.  On Saturday night, she woke up at 2:30 and then again at 5, super hungry. I'm chalking it up to the four month sleep regression and/or a growth spurt.  It happened with Charlotte at about the same time.  We can't really complain.  She's never up for no reason, and shes goes back to sleep pretty easily.  In any case, sleeping in past 7:30 is a thing of the past as she is almost always wide awake by then (and usually much earlier than that), no matter what time we put her down.

Anyway, Phoebe had her four month visit today.  She's doing great and growing wonderfully.  She screamed bloody murder after getting her three shots, but cheered up immensely once I gave her some Infant Tylenol.  Here are her four month stats:

Weight: 14 lbs 8 oz - 69th percentile
Length: 26 1/4 inches - 98th percentile
Head Circumference: 16 inches - 38th percentile

 As suspected, Phoebe is a really long baby!  She's outgrown all of her 3 month onesies and even her 6 month onesies are getting a little tight in the nether regions.  Although if you look at Charlotte's stats from the same time, you'll see that Charlotte was even bigger (a full pound heavier and nearly an inch longer), but of course, Charlotte started out bigger. I'm surprised at how much smaller Phoebe's head is, at least percentile-wise, and I think it looks smaller because Phoebe has lost a lot of the hair she was born with. (Side bar: the new hair that's growing in is blond.  It will be so interesting to see if she actually ends up with blond hair like her sister. I was expecting a brunette!)

Here she is tearing up the paper on the exam table! And yes, she has outgrown her size 1 diapers as evidenced by those chunky lamb shank thighs, but we only have a couple dozen left, and by God, she's going to wear every last one of them!

All in all, Phoebe is such a cute, sweet, and inquisitive baby.  She is such a perfect addition to our family, and we love seeing her grow and change!

Three Years and Growing, Slightly

I need to post about my new job, but I feel like I barely have had a chance to breathe yet. Between rushing around in the morning to rushing around at night, I'm exhausted by the end of the day. I think Chris is too, since he has to get up at the same time and either keep Phoebe company or get Charlotte up and dressed.

In the meantime, here is how big Charlotte was at her 3 year well child appointment:

Weight: 30 lbs 10 oz - 51%
Height: 36.75 inches - 37%

It's amazing that the girl who was off the charts in length for the first 9 months of her life is nearly in the bottom quartile at 3.  She only gained 2 pounds in a year, but grew more than 3 inches.

Anyway, she's totally healthy and right on track.  The doctor asked her questions and seemed happy with all the things Charlotte can say. He's not worried about her speech at all as he was able to understand everything she said, and he said that all the problems in pronunciation were completely normal and should correct themselves in the next year or two.

On another note, we are officially done with Pull-Ups. Charlotte has been dry at nap time and night for weeks now, so we figured it was time to try it out.  So far, so good. Plus, we have a waterproof mattress cover on her bed, just in case.

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.

A Tale of Two Babies

I'm obviously not getting around to posting as much as I'd like, but well, having a newborn and a very opinionated (and oftentimes defiant) two year old makes it a little difficult.

It's been really interesting learning the similarities and differences between Charlotte and Phoebe.

Charlotte would not let me put her down. Someone had to hold her nonstop for most of the first few weeks of her life.

Phoebe is actually pretty content being put anywhere - her crib, the bassinet, the bouncer.  She'll look at whatever is around and putting in the pacifier makes her happy enough to get through dinner and deal with the older-I-don't-want-to-eat-anything-but-Mac and Cheese-daughter.

Charlotte was an excellent sleeper, pretty much from day one.  We had to wake her up for most feedings, and after her two week well baby checkup, we were given permission to let her go for as long as she wanted.

Phoebe is not as great of a sleeper.  We've only had one night of back to back four hour stretches - the rest of the nights have been a mix of 2 to 3 hours. We think part of this is because Phoebe caught Charlotte's cold.   Of course, Charlotte didn't get sick until she went to daycare at 3 months old, but we can't keep the toddler germs entirely in check anymore. Poor Phoebe has been so congested.  The other reason Phoebe doesn't sleep as well? At two weeks old, Phoebe is at the weight Charlotte was when she lost weight at two days old - 8 lbs 14 oz.  We have a long ways to go to get to Charlotte's birth weight of 9 lbs 9 oz.  In other news, Phoebe is actually longer than Charlotte was at two weeks - 22.75 inches. Impressive!

Charlotte was addicted to her pacifier from the minute we gave it to her, one sleepless night. And it became (until recently) the only way she'd go to sleep.

Phoebe will take the pacifier, but she's by no means addicted and sometimes she refuses it outright. Luckily, she has no problem taking it when we're out and about, which helps a lot.  At night, it's a toss up. Most times, simply nursing her will do the trick.

Charlotte had pretty much no stomach issues and spit up maybe once or twice ever.

Phoebe has horrible, horrible gas.  It's really the only time she ever cries.  There were periods of time last week when she went red in the face, arched her back and started screaming.  Her poor tummy was so tight.  We've started giving her gas drops every four hours or so, and they seem to work.

We've been really bad about taking pictures so far.  The days just seem to fly by with the nonstop nursing.  But here's one I took today when we got back from seeing the Hunger Games.  It was $5 ticket day at the movie theater, and because it's also Spring Break, the movie theater was packed.  Phoebe did great, and after a quick top off at the beginning of the movie, she slept the entire time.  It was really nice to get out.

A Whole Year and a Half!

Charlotte is 18 months old today.  I don't know why, but these six months have really flown by. It seems like only yesterday that we had her first birthday party, and now we're halfway to her second.  It also means that we've been living in our house for over six months, which is even harder to believe.  Charlotte really just gets more fun by the day.  I know I keep saying this, but every new stage has been great.

Charlotte's 18 month appointment was on Friday.  Here are the obligatory stats:

Weight: 24 lbs - 51st percentile

Height: 32.5 inches - 77th percentile

Head Circumference: large - 79-ish percentile

The doctor said she's perfect and growing just as she should be.

We had such a fun weekend.  Our good friends Kristen and Todd came over from the Bay Area and stayed with us.  We cooked a Christmas goose, which was good, but not as spectacular as I'd hoped.  I think it was because we didn't have a sauce or gravy to pour over the gamey meat.  Anyway, Charlotte has turned into a little mimic.  Todd and Kristen were both standing up against a wall, and Charlotte walked over to them and stood between them.  We got a great video of Kristen and Todd running up to walls, only to have Charlotte run after them shortly afterwards and stand in a nearby spot along the wall.  Here is a picture taken right before bedtime, as a sneak peek of the hilarity (Chris was laughing so hard while taking the video that I know the camera is shaking).

 Charlotte's verbal vocabulary is progressing at a faster and faster pace.  She still doesn't talk as much as I guess I expect her to, but her doctor wasn't concerned, since she clearly speaks well over the six they expect at this stage.  I've lost count, but I think we're at about 30 words, including a good 10 animal sounds.  Charlotte's favorite words are ball, cheese, cup, more, pain (bread in French), nigh-nigh, puppeh (puppy), and all gone.  Her receptive language is amazing, which makes me suddenly much more conscious of what we're saying.

Christmastime has been so much fun.  Charlotte loves turning on the Christmas tree lights; she'll try to get them on and say "ooooh" when they turn on.  She also loves making this little mechanized Snoopy play Christmas music, finding candy canes on the tree, eating her daily piece of chocolate from the Advent calendar, and dancing to Christmas (well, all) music and then shouting "yay" when the song ends.

Her new favorite bedtime ritual is putting Chris and me to sleep.  She pulls her blankets through the slats of the crib, proceeds to make us lie down, and then very meticulously spreads out the blankets on top of us.  Sometimes she even catches us off guard and tries to stick a pacifier in our mouths.


First, she spreads the blanket over Daddy,

 

Then Charlotte lies down on top of Daddy and goes "nigh-nigh" herself.

 

Then she goes through the same process with Mommy, usually by pushing me over, so I'm lying on my side.

 Charlotte really has developed a nurturing side.  Along with wrapping up her stuffed animals and having them go nigh-nigh, she loves babies.  Baby Samantha, Charlotte's birthday buddy, was over and Charlotte tried to put Sam's pacifier in her mouth.  She also brought over toys she thought she might want to play with.  I'm wondering whether she needs some baby dolls for Christmas? When I asked Chris, he said she needs more blocks.


Trying to scale her crib - luckily, she really hasn't tried getting out of her crib yet.

I was about to write how she continues to sleep like a dream, but right now I can hear her crying from her crib.  This happens about once a week or so. I take her out of her crib, bring her downstairs, and let her sit with me on the couch until she's calmed down enough to go to bed.  But really, she generally sleeps really well, and even if we sometimes keep her up past her bedtime, she'll actually let us sleep in.  For example, last night, she had no problem going to sleep, despite loud noises downstairs.  And she didn't wake up until 8:30, which was much appreciated by everyone (even me, who despite staying up late, can't sleep in past 7:30; at least I got to read in bed).
She's just the sweetest, most fun girl ever. We are so, so lucky.

We love you, baby little girl Charlotte.

Rosy Roseola Part II

Charlotte has been sick again, poor thing.  She's had a fever since Friday, and a bumpy rash all over her body, making her poor face one blotchy mess.  This is the most sick she's been since she was seven months.  However, she's been in pretty good spirits. Even being a blotchy mess, Charlotte was still waving and flirting with the old men at the grocery store. 

We went to the doctor's today and Dr. M. confirmed roseola again, along with an ear infection in her right ear.  Because he believes it's virus-related, Dr. M. didn't prescribe antibiotics, only more Benadryl for the itchy rash.

So this is probably only interesting to me, but they measured and weighed her at today's appointment.  And? She weighs 22 lbs, which is what she weighed at the allergist's office six weeks ago and hasn't grown at all since her 12 month appointment three months ago (29.75 inches).  Nothing's wrong with this at all except that now Charlotte is between the 25th and 50th percentile for both height and weight.  She started out being a huge baby, and now she's a wee little thing!  I guess this shouldn't be too much of a surprise considering she has such tiny feet.  She's now only barely a toddler size 4, which is tiny, more like the average 6-12 month size feet.  The 12-24 month size socks she has are so big on her that the heels go half way up her calf.

Anyway, more rambling.  It's almost September, which I find completely mind blowing.  Where did the summer go?  A week from Thursday, I'm going on my first work trip away from Charlotte.  Heading to Dallas for three full days.  I wish that if I had to go somewhere it would at least be more exciting than Dallas! 

I guess Charlotte's up from her nap, so I'd best sign off.

Thirteen Months

Really quick post. We're leaving for Maui tomorrow. Yippee!  I. Can't. Wait. My parents will be there, so Chris and I will actually be able to spend some time together without Charlotte. This is a rare occurrence, as usually one of us is forced to stay home, while the other goes out with friends or to tennis or volleyball.

Anyway. Charlotte is thirteen months old today.  And she started really taking steps today, about six before she'd fall down.  So exciting.  Maybe she'll have perfected the cute toddle by the time we get back from Hawaii.

We also met with the allergist today and got the results back from her second RAST test.  As we knew, she is mildly allergic to peas, but also lentils.  Not tomatoes.  So maybe it was a contact irritation.  Nothing much to it. We'll be going back for a food challenge September 1 to test her allergy to straight soy.

Discovered she weighs in at a whopping 22 

On Friday, Charlotte got her first real haircut at a place that specializes in children's cuts.  They have this great play area, and when it was time for her cut, she didn't want to leave.

Not so sure about this.

 In the toy car seat because it has a booster chair for little kids.

All done! She even got a pretty barrette.

Okay, back to packing.  We have a 6AM flight, which means leaving for the airport at 3:45AM. Yikes!

12 Months Recap

While I wait for fun birthday party pictures, I needed to get this into the blogo-file. I like to look back and have it at my fingertips.

As I mentioned, we took Charlotte to her 12 month appointment a couple weeks ago to get the doctor to sign off on her health for her new daycare.  Besides proceeding to shove a finger up my nose and cause it to bleed, Charlotte is right on track.

Charlotte has finally doubled her birth weight!  I know she was huge to begin with, but it took a year to happen.
Weight: 19 lbs, 15 oz - 38%
Height: 30 inches - 85%

She's growing, but has certainly slowed down her aggressive pace of height.

Anyway, Charlotte continues to be a joy to be around.  She's happy, she sleeps like a dream (12 hours straight from 7PM to 7AM), and she looks at the world in wonderment.

• She shows very little interest in reading.  I try to read to her every night, but usually have to pin her down because there are just too many other things to look at.
• Charlotte appears to be allergic to peas (peas!).  Twice now, she's broken out in a blotchy rash on her face and then furiously rubs her eyes until they're both bright red.  It's strange because she's had peas before with no adverse effects, but maybe allergies develop over time? No idea. The Kaiser Advice nurse dubs her a "sensitive" child.  Anyway, Benadryl is now on hand.
• She's developing a very independent and stubborn streak. I mentioned that she now has an attitude, whereby she has to do everything herself.  I think that's why she's not walking yet. She needs to do things on her terms.
• Speaking of walking. She's close. It's all about confidence, and Charlotte doesn't think she has any. She'll walk for days if you're holding her hands, but the minute you let go, she drops to the floor.  Each day, however, she'll sit herself down a little more slowly. If we surprise her, she'll stand on her own until realizing that ohmygosh I'm standing! Without holding onto anything! And she'll tumble to the floor.
• Talking.  Not much of it. But boy does she understand a lot.  She can give us high fives, go "je suis grande!" ("I'm so big" and lift her hands up in the air over her head), clap to music, pretend wash herself with a dry washcloth, brush her hair, and more.
• She claps when she eats something really good. I gave her a piece of a churro yesterday, and after tasting, chewing and swallowing, Charlotte looked at me, gave me a big smile and clapped.  Sugar and cinnamon seem to be winners!
• We're weaning her from the bottle.  She still signs for milk. (Breastfeeding ended about three weeks ago when she bit me, I yelled bloody murder, and we stopped. It had already been a while since I stopped pumping at work and Charlotte was more and more frustrated with my dwindling supply, particularly after we came back from St. Louis, so it was time).  She still throws the sippy cup on the ground more times than not, but for the past two mornings, she's willingly drunk milk from the cup and not even gotten mad. Progress, people!
• She loves every cat she sees, but is unsure of dogs.  We saw our friend's big chocolate lab and he started barking. Charlotte turned to me, her face all scrunched up, and started crying.
• Tandy is still her favorite living creature.  Charlotte can't wait for the day that she can move fast enough to catch her.
• Charlotte does not cuddle.  She squirms and squirms and won't calm down.  She just has limitless energy and things to do! The best money I think we'll have spent thus far is to have bought Charlotte her own seat to Hawaii.  I found an amazing deal last week and decided that I was willing to pay to not have to hold her down for six hours. (She is also a routine queen and refuses to take a nap unless it's in her crib or in her car seat -- makes things tough when we're out and about).

Anyway, what else can I say?  This girl just charms the pants off of just about everybody she meets.  She's become a favorite of the 3 and 4 year old teachers at daycare, who stop in just so they can hold "Baby Charlotte."  

Baby in a Box!

"Walking" with Grandma and Grandpa Berry

Here's to an amazing year, Charlotte.  We can't wait to find out what the next year holds.

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

Moved

This will be short since we don't have internet installed at the new house, and I'm doing this at work.

We've moved! Last night was our first night in the new house.  It's strange waking up in a new place, even when all of our furniture is the same.

It's a bittersweet move since our house in Greenhaven was our first home, we love our neighbors, and we love our grocery store.  Luckily there is a Nugget up one freeway exit, and it is so worth the drive for nice people, good wine, excellent produce, and an amazing cheese department.  The closest grocery store to our new house just pales in comparison.

I had to take Charlotte to her 12 month appointment two weeks early because the new daycare requires a signed statement from her physician that she's in good health.  This meant going to her new doctor in Folsom, whose medical assistant measured Charlotte as having shrunk by a quarter inch.  Despite telling her that this was impossible, she didn't believe me.  When I told Dr. M, he looked at her chart (it's all on an electronic medical record after all), gave an exasperated sigh as though this had not been the first "user error" and re-measured her.  She's 29.75" not 28.5". Eighty-fifth percentile versus the incredible shrinking baby. :)

Another quick observation: apparently we moved to a lower-crime zipcode, as we just received rebate checks in the mail from our car insurance carrier.  That helps!

Okay, back to work.  New post once we have the internet up and running.

Nine Months and Climbing

Charlotte is nine months old today!  She is 3/4 of a year old! How can this be? {Insert cliche here about how big she's getting and how sad I am.}

I feel like Charlotte likes to perfect her milestones just in time for her monthly birthday.  Today? She perfected the crawl and then sit on her bum.  Lunge forward, and then sit down. Rinse, repeat.  And she's also perfected the pincer grasp, as I mentioned when she grabbed at and then proceeded to eat Tandy's food.  Charlotte always starts crawling on her hands and knees, but then moves too fast and falls on her stomach, after which time she simply reverts back to the army crawl.  Still, she is fast!  I turn around for one second and she's gone!

And Charlotte is so busy, all the time!  When I'm holding her, she'll see something she wants and lunge for it. Never mind the fact that what she's looking at is five or ten feet away.  My back is really paying for it.  Ouch!

She still only has one tooth, barely.  The little speck of white tooth enamel in her upper gums is still there, but now the tooth has actually erupted out of the gums. And when she grabs my finger or Chris' and chomps down, it hurts!

Anyway, today Charlotte had her nine month check-up.  Nothing much to it, since she's not due for shots until she's a year old.  What I found interesting is that in the three months since her last regular check-up, Charlotte's only grown 1/2 an inch! I made the medical assistant check it again just to be sure, but it was true.  Her slowest growth to date.  The doctor's not concerned because up until this point Charlotte was literally off the charts for length, and she had to slow down at some point.  Now she's more in the 90th percentile range.  Her weight gain was also slowed somewhat.  She's gained about two pounds in three months -- she still hasn't doubled her weight, something most babies do by the time they're six months old.  Of course, Charlotte was enormous when she was born, so it's going to still take a month or two before she gets there. Overall, a great visit.

Weight: 18 lb 8.5 oz - 46%

Height: 28.75 inches - 87%

Head circumference: - 17.75 inches - 81% (the only stat where the percentile is increasing.  Such a big noggin!)

And for your viewing pleasure, pictures of Charlotte that I actually took this morning and posted the same day!

 Charlotte pulling herself up

 This requires a lot of concentration!

 I did it! Now if I could only open up my yummy vitamin bottle, I would be Queen of the World!

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!

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!

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.

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.

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!