Happy New Year!

Year In Pictures New Year's Card

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Happy New Year! One of my resolutions is to post at least monthly to the blog, as much for myself as for you all out there in blog-land. xo

Who is this kid?

We just got back from a long weekend in IL with our families, so I'll be updating about that trip (and C's first airplane ride!) soon, but I had to get this post up asap for my own records.

Yesterday, July 6, I woke up to let the dogs out and left Charlotte sleeping in our bed (where she sleeps fulltime.) I left to her on her back and returned to her on her stomach. She had rolled, back to stomach, in her sleep. I thought maybe I'd imagined it, but yesterday evening, Daddy laid her on the bed on her tummy to play, and she immediately rolled tummy to back. So I guess it's official. She rolls.

Also yesterday, she was standing on the couch, (with my help) looking over the back out the window, one of her favorite things to do. She was pretty happy about looking outside, and was smacking the back of the couch in excitement. My phone was resting on the back of the couch near her, and it slid off onto the floor. She turned and looked at me, with what was clearly an "uh-oh" look on her face. I was amazed! She had caused something to happen, and realized it. It was awesome.

Major update!

Charlotte's pappa was resting on the arm of the couch. She reached over and grabbed it. This is the first time she's ever attempted to pick something up. It didn't make it to her mouth (she grabbed the nipple,) but she did pick it up. I'm amazed--this is the first time she's wanted something and then made it happen. Yay, Charlotte!

(And a pappa picture, because what's a blog post with no pictures?)

Thursday morning was Charlotte's 4 month well-baby visit. She's 13 lbs 14 oz, 24 3/4" long and her head circumference is 17". That puts her in the 50th, 75th, 96th percentiles, respectively, and she's up 6lbs 13oz and 4 1/4" from her birth weight and length. Her visit went well. She's hitting all of her developmental milestones and then some; her pediatrician was surprised at her strength and ability to pull up/stand while holding someone's hands, (which we know is a reflex, but Charlotte does it with little or no coaxing/help, and is pretty strong, so she'll stay standing for pretty long periods of time.)

On Friday we went to her first actual physical therapy appointment (the last one was an evaluation.) It was basically 45 minutes of hardcore playing. We learned how to play with her in a way that will benefit her neck best, and that she loves the football hold, and doesn't mind having her neck stretched when she's laying that way.
Physical therapy also resulted in a trip to Babies R Us, in an effort to find a ball, since we've learned that she's a big fan of them. Went spent a good amount of time there, lamenting the loss of toys that don't require batteries, but ended up finding one, plus a few new books. (Mama's a book addict, and is trying to indoctrinate Charlotte similarly.)
Last night Charlotte met up with her future husband friend, Jack, who is 3 days older. (We were in the same birth class with Jack's parents.) I didn't bring my camera (silly Mama) so, alas no pictures. But I assure you, it was pretty cute. And there will be many more baby dates in the future.

All in all it was a pretty good, eventful weekend.

Tilty head--be gone!

Last Thursday, Charlotte had her first physical therapy appointment. It was to evaluate the severity of her torticollis (From webMD: "Torticollis is a twisted neck in which the head is tipped to one side, while the chin is turned to the other.") We saw the doctor about it, because torticollis can lead to flat spots on the head, (which can lead to needing to wear a helmet to re-shape the head), facial features like cheeks & eyes developing asymmetrically, and probably some other stuff that I'm forgetting.

Her physical therapist, Natasha, did the Bayley development evaluation (or whatever it's called,) and she did pretty well. She was kinda ticked during parts of it; she wanted to be back on her tummy (go figure...the kid who hates tummy time) chewing on the sparkly purple ball they had. When Natasha made her sit up or was holding her she was fussy, but mostly because she wanted that ball. :) So, really the only things she didn't do that she should've been able to do we've seen her do, so we know she can. She just wouldn't. The therapist was trying to get her to roll, but it didn't happen because of her big cloth-diapered bum (though she hasn't rolled fully even naked.) She tried to get her to grab her feet too, which didn't happen until I took her jeans off, then bam! feet-to-hand-magnet immediately.

She's got good range of motion in the neck, it's just that her "default position" is with a bend on the right. It's not a true torticollis, she said, since Charlotte bends to the right but doesn't rotate/look to the left. She faces straight out, just with her head tilted.

So we got a list of exercises & stretches to do, and we go back Friday, but the therapist said she imagines Charlotte will only need 2-3 visits before she's discharged. So, yay!

In the last month...

Since the last post, Charlotte has:



Found her feet

Moved to a new house

Learned to hold her own toys...

...including with her feet!

Worn jeans and shoes for the first time

Almost cut several (maybe as many as 8!) teeth

Turned 4 months old

and hung around.























Sorry for the lack of posts lately; moving is exhausting!!

Already?!

And bonus:

Milestones?

Yesterday, Charlotte had some solo tummy time. (As in, not on someone's chest.) She is not a fan. She half-rolled, attempting to get off of her stomach, but her big cloth-diapered booty acted like a giant door stop.











Today, we tried naked tummy time. She was much happier, owing to the fact that she was pantsless, no doubt, and spent more time on her tummy before attempting a roll. She's a smart kiddo though, because once she got her top half onto her side, with her hips still facing down, she quit trying to roll. She was happy just being off her tummy and laying half on her side.


After a few minutes of watching her best friend (the ceiling fan), I flipped her hips and legs over so she was entirely on her back. She was even happier, being on her back and naked, and spent the next several minutes squirming, kicking, smiling, laughing and talking. Because, really, who doesn't like to lay around pantsless?
Also, she's only 12wks old, but we're 99% sure she's teething. For the last 2 weeks, she's been super drooly, had an occasional cough, had watery poops, and been extra mama-needy. Last night she was up all night, screamy and inconsolable, and had trouble latching. She's still having trouble with her latch today, and has been chewing on her pappa (pacifier) allllll evening. Her eyes are also red and watery looking, and she's been rubbing her cheeks with her fists. All of these things are way out of the ordinary for her. I know it's early, but according to Dr. Sears' Baby Book, these are all the signs of teething. Plus we've had two seasoned parents say that it sounds like she's teething. She's got a couple teethers, but lacks the motor skills to get them to her mouth. So, she's either chewing on her fists, pappa, or the teether while we hold it.




She likes Sophie the Giraffe.

But the fists are her favorite.

Daddy just took a trip to the store to buy some Hyland's Homeopathic Teething Tablets, and we put some pappas in the freezer. Poor kiddo. She's asleep right now, but just barely. A few people have said that their kids started teething at 3 months but didn't actually get their first tooth until 5 or 7 months. My poor baby. I've already cried once tonight just thinking about the fact that she's old enough to be teething, but if this goes on for 2-4 months before it chills out, I'll never make it; I don't do well seeing her in pain. :(

The First Post

I’ve wanted to start a blog about Charlotte for a while now. I figured I’d better get on it, because she’s 11 weeks old (as of yesterday) and I barely remember this morning, let alone every detail from the last 11 weeks. I think I’ll try to catch up on the last 2.5 months, but no promises.


For about 2 weeks, (maybe less,) she’s been making connections and figuring out that she can affect her world. Sunday morning, she reached up and touched the orange stuffed dog that hangs from her carseat handle. Before that, she’s flail her hands, and accidentally hit one, which would move and jingle and make her so excited that she’d flail her hands again, and repeat. Sunday morning was the first intentional time. I could see the synapses firing in her brain as she thought about moving the dog and then actually did it. Her eyes were so wide when it jingled and moved. She sat in amazement for the rest of the car ride.

Tonight, at the grocery store, she hit the dog repeatedly. She wasn’t giddy and excited like she is sometimes for them, just intently studying how and where it moved when she touched it. We stood there, in the honey section of the King Soopers aisle, just watching her. I got that soppy admiring-parent look on my face, and didn’t even care if it was cheesy. It’s amazing to see this little person learning and growing.

I am in awe of her.