Being a mom

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Charlotte’s 3 month update!

I am trying to be diligent in writing Charlotte’s accomplishments down in blog post form so that eventually I can transfer them into a baby book of sorts. It’s much easier for me to jot something down on the computer than to write it in her baby book because a) I don’t have a baby book for her yet, and b) if I put it on paper then it would be lost in a pile of 2 billion other papers in my house and then eventually thrown away during a ‘purge’.

At 3 months, Charlotte…

– weighs… who knows?! We don’t have another pediatrician appointment until her 4 month check-up and we don’t own a scale so all I can tell you is it’s 10+ lbs {because she weighed 10 lbs at her 2 month check-up and since then has gained lots of yummy leg rolls}.

– can push herself up with her arms while laying on her belly (and has rolled over twice in the past week)!

– has great neck control and is able to hold her head up for a while {unless she has just woken up from a nap or is about to take a nap…then all muscles are apparently powering down and have forgotten what their job is}

– loves to chat it up with mommy or daddy but is otherwise very selective with who she will converse with {so if you’ve experienced it you should feel honored}!

– self soothes by rubbing her own head and playing with her hair {so cute to see} – this is something I know she got from me – the second someone touches my head or plays with my hair… instant calm and I’m out like a light!

– Can sit up {but with a lot of assistance from mommy, daddy, or chair}. I don’t typically leave her up so long that she falls over but I wanted to see how long she would last. Kaboom. She remained happy throughout the ordeal though, so I didn’t feel like such a bad mommy for letting her fall over.

– Is pretty much always full of smiles and snorts and will let out some infectious giggles every now and then.

– Is really starting to find her hands a lot {and frequently gives them a good gnawing while jamming them in her mouth simultaneously, causing a continuous drool flow}.

– Rocked her first cloth diaper experience {love them} – I’ll blog more about the details later but I love not having icky chemicals next to her skin 24/7 {I’m not totally cloth yet because I don’t have a big enough stash of diapers}!

– Has been such a trooper with mommy going back to work {and she LOVES staying with Aunt Melissa during the day}.

I just had to include these because I love all of the faces she makes. So much personality in that little nugget.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I can’t believe it has been 3 months since I first saw her sweet face and awesome head of hair.

Love her to pieces.

 

 

 

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Happy Heinie

Charlotte is rocking her first cloth diaper today at almost 3 months old!

Yup, she loves it. She told me.

I only have 2 of the Rumparooz Lil’ Joey‘s {second hand} but I think they are great! I only wish I had gotten them sooner, as Charlotte is over 10 lbs now and nearing the limit for them. They are made to fit preemie to 12 lbs, so they are wonderful for that odd period of time between birth and when your kiddo has grown big enough to fit nicely into other cloth diapers {around 3 or 4 months for most diapers, depending on the heftiness of your child}. I will definitely hang on to these for our next little one {no rushing that here, though… don’t read between the lines}!

Here’s the run-down:

  • All in one {AIO} with 4 layers of microfiber
  • Inner gussets {the stretchy bands that run the inner length of the diaper that help it contour to baby’s bum and lock in liquid}
  • Snaps down in front to leave space for the umbilical cord
  • 2 rows for snap closures for a variety of fit options
  • Fits preemie – 12 lbs

So cute, and super soft for her little tushie.

I am really loving the All In Ones. So easy. For serious – and I am excited to try some more, just not sure which brand. Any suggestions?

 

 

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You don’t say?!

Charlotte is quite a chatty kathy {well, I guess we could say chatty Charlie}. My mom tells me that I smiled, laughed, babbled and eventually talked ‘early’ and it seems that Charlotte will be just like her mama. Of course, as a speech therapist, it makes me extra proud and somewhat relieved when she accomplishes certain communication milestones. I’ve been trying to capture her ‘talking’ for at least a month now and she finally performed for the camera.

Here is Charlotte {at almost 3 months} sharing her thoughts about our busy day yesterday.

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Our week in pictures.

First off, here’s a photo I forgot to add to last week’s photo recap:

Charlotte’s 2 month appointment. She weighs 10 lbs 1 oz now and regularly sleeps 5 or 6 hours each night. She also got 3 shots during this visit and the tears and cries nearly ripped my heart out – but we survived and I’m sure she’s forgotten all about it. I just kept telling myself “All babies go through this… You did and you don’t even remember it”!

As far as this week goes, we have been quite busy!

Charlotte spent quite a bit of time working on her head control and baby push ups.

and she’s been concentrating so hard to try and figure out how to work her arms and hands to get those toys that are so far away.

We had a lunch date with Chris, my friend Tiffany, and her son Hunter, then went to pick up our race packets for the Wicked 10k


The convention center had some spooky decorations in preparation for the race.

“Charlotte, don’t you know better than to visit a haunted house alone”?

Just kidding, I’m pretty sure Charlotte inherited my scaredy-cat genes so she probably won’t be visiting haunted houses anytime soon. I’ve never been a fan of scary things, so I will probably try to protect her from them as well; but this scary backdrop at the race pick-up location + her gummy smile was just too good of a photo op to pass up.

Tiffany and I finished our first 10k the next day! Our time was 1:26:19. I am so proud of us.

We had intended to push Charlotte and Hunter in strollers, but decided to leave them at home with their daddies just in case Sandy decided to dump rain on us early. Tiffany made our awesome tutus which were fairly practical for running in (and SO glittery – I’m pretty sure we left a fabulous trail of glitter throughout the race course). Some of the other costumes were not so practical, but very entertaining. I wish I had had my camera there to capture some of the creativity: hamster in a cage, telephone booth (life size!), redneck treadmill (beer can hanging from a baseball cap), Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Yoshi in their karts plus a baby in a stroller as the giant bullet, about 12 ‘chickens running with their heads cut off’ (that one took me a bit to figure out…but awesome), Rick from The Walking Dead, Granny in a wheelchair, Captain Planet and all his comrades,  and on and on. It was so much fun and having all the costumes to look at really helped the miles pass.

Later that evening was a co-worker friend’s wedding. I was very relieved that I fit into my ‘wedding’ dresses (I only have two, and another one of my coworker friends got married last weekend so I was very glad that they both fit)! It was such a mad rush to get Charlotte over to my parent’s house after the race then come back and change and make it to the ceremony that I even forgot to put on my wedding rings – oops!

Hurricane Sandy threatened rain all day on Saturday but it didn’t actually start raining until after the race, so that was a blessing.

Sunday morning at church Charlotte and I snuggled up and worked the computer/powerpoint while Chris and the worship band practiced. I’m fairly certain I heard running water and leaky drips in the walls and in the ceiling (something that has definitely happened before in this building) – but we were just happy to be there and the worship was awesome. Charlotte loves the drums and of course loves to hear her daddy play his guitar.

Sunday evenings we typically have small group but instead of continuing on in studying Matthew we decided to enjoy a meal together and some games. It’s always a good time with our group, and with each laugh my abdominals reminded me of my triumphant 10k finish the day before – ouch!

Charlotte loves Kallie and gave us so many giggles that night. Also, during Whits and Wagers my lack of knowledge about all things trivia became abundantly clear.

Today we hunkered down inside while Sandy pounded the east coast. Our neighborhood doesn’t flood so we weren’t ‘stuck’, but still decided to stay in and have a snuggle day. Thank you God for protecting our friends and family during this storm that had the power to do so much more damage.