Friday, December 31, 2010

The one with the cold

Poor sick baby has her first cold.
























She didn't want to sleep in my arms. She didn't want to sleep in the Moby wrap. She didn't want to sleep in her swing. So I jiggled her, shushed her, and put her in the laundry basket. Success?

What's the best way to help her through this cold? She has a runny and stuffy nose, a bit of a cough, but no fever. She's a bit crankier than usual (naturally), isn't eating as much, and is having a hard time sleeping. I elevated the mattress in her cradle, but other than that - I've got nothin'. She's still so little - is there anything I can do besides just ride it out?

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

The one with the good night's sleep

Shout it from the rooftops - Charlotte slept straight through the night last night! Woot woot!

Now, she's always been a pretty decent night sleeper since we started her bedtime routine. She'd get up once or twice to eat and usually go back to sleep easily. Usually. But last night, oh last night, it was different!

She went to bed at 10:30pm (or just a little bit before). At 4:15am I heard her stretching and sort of sleep-cooing a bit, so I got her bottle ready because I expected her to start smacking and protesting for food. I shook up her bottle, got up, looked in the playpen (we're sleeping at Grammie and Grampie's tonight) and she was FAST asleep. I shrugged and headed back to bed, keeping my ear on her just waiting for her to wake up. Even sleeping from 10:30 til just after 4 was exciting for me.

The next time I woke up was just before 6:30am because I heard people awake. I checked the time and was surprised that Charlotte still hadn't woken for food. I got up and looked at her again. Fast asleep. I stuck my finger into her open hand and she grasped it, so I knew she was still alive ;)

Finally, at 7:45am I decided to get out of bed.
Charlotte was still sleeping.

At 8:00, I checked on her and her eyes were open and she was staring at her hand (naturally). Not fussing, not smacking, not crying - just hanging out with her eyes open. So I started talking to her, asking if she wanted to wake up now, and she looked up at me and grinned.

Melt my heart.

So 10:30pm until 8am, Charlotte slept straight through. How very exciting! Now I don't know if it's a fluke (probably), but we may have to move in with Grammie and Grampie if this continues ;)

Happy rested Mommy and happy rested baby are going to finish up the Christmas shopping today, visit with uncles and aunts, and spend another fun evening with Grammie and Grampie. Hooray!

























My beautiful little lovey <3

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

The one with the two month update!

Charlotte turned two months old yesterday! I'd like to say "time flies", but it feels like it's been two months heh. Not that that's a bad thing, I suppose!
































Hogging all the toys!

She went in for her two-month check up today. She is now 10lbs 6oz and 21.5 inches long. She had to get her first round of vaccinations today and it was TERRIBLE! Poor little lovey. I've never heard her cry like that before (obviously, because I don't hurt her) and I never want to hear it again. She screamed so much, I felt awful. We spent the rest of the afternoon snuggled up on the couch together because I just didn't want to let her go. She didn't develop a fever (hooray!) but she seemed to be in pain, so I gave her some Tylenol and she was happy and back to her normal self for the rest of the evening.

Since I'm a huge dork, I've been taking the developmental checklists we use at work and applying them to my own baby. Yes, I take my work home with me (even though I don't work there anymore *sob sob sob*).

So what is Charlotte doing at two months old? Let's see!
- watches faces intently
- tracks moving objects
- recognizes familiar people at a distance* (she gave me a HUGE pout at the doctor's today when the nurse was holding her and she saw me across the room washing off her pacifier)
-
has developed a social smile
- smiles at the sound of voice
- makes cooing noises, engages in vocal play*
- attends to sound
- startles at loud noises
- enjoys playing with people and may cry if the playing stops (she likes when we get down on the play mat with her)
- becomes more communicative with facial expressions and body
- imitates some movements and facial expressions (loves sticking her tongue out when we do!)

*denotes a three-month skill

She also sits supported (in her Bumbo and on our laps) and I can sometimes let go of her and she'll stay upright for a couple of seconds. She started squealing with delight a few days ago and it's adorable and hilarious, albeit sporadic. She has also been trying to roll over from her back to her tummy. She gets as far as her side and can't quite make it any further. This usually makes her pretty mad. ;)
























"Hmm, now what?"

She's pretty much awesome and she's just getting more and more fun every day! Oh, and she tells the best stories :)









Monday, December 13, 2010

The one with the Christmas tree

We got our tree yesterday, brought it home, put it up, and decorated it. Hooray!
There's nothing like the smell of a fresh pine tree at Christmas time. I love love love this time of year!
























Merry Christmas from our tree to yours!
























"What do you mean there's a seven foot lighted pine tree behind me? Who cares! Have you seen this hand?! Amazing!"

Thursday, December 9, 2010

The one where Charlotte is eight weeks old

Happy eight week birthday, baby girl!
























Gee, can you tell she's a girl? Holy pink.

She is such a funny kid. She's smiling regularly now and there are certain things we can do that will pretty much guarantee a smile. She loves when we wag her arms around, blow raspberries at her (I think she likes to get spit on?), and whack her noggin with a paper towel tube - gently, of course. What a weird kid. She has discovered both her hands and her feet and will spend a great deal of time just staring at them. She still can't figure out how to get her hands into her mouth or how to touch her feet, but she's working on it :)

Another game we like to play is "pull yourself into sitting!". She loves it and if she grabs onto our hands just right, she'll pull herself up. She loves to sit and chat with us, so we pulled out the Bumbo chair the other night to see if she's ready for it. She seemed to really like it and we've sat her in it a few more times since then. Thank you so much for giving it to us, Nola!!
























"Hey, what's over there?"

















Still a little on the tilted side, but she loves it!
Never would have thought my eight-week old baby would be strong enough to hang out in a Bumbo, but here we are! She's got the strength for it, that's for sure. She just loves being in the sitting position. We sit with her (our knees bent up and her sitting with her back against them) all the time and she's happy as a clam that way.

Fortunately (or unfortunately, depends on how you look at it) my background with child development puts me in a fun position being a mother. I love seeing what she's doing and figuring out whether or not she "should" be doing those things. There are a few things that I think she's ahead of the game with. She seems to have already learned cause-and-effect outside of her own body (secondary circular reactions) and will do whatever she can to activate her motion-activated toys. She's not completely purposeful in her actions yet, but she knows (for example) that if she kicks her legs and flails her arms hard enough, the lights and music on her bouncy chair will go off. And let me tell you, she works SO hard to do it too!



She's been cooing for what seems like forever. She's also making consonant sounds at this point - not consistently, but we definitely get "gah"s and "bah"s out of her on a daily basis. I wonder if she'll be an early talker... we'll see!



















"Oh Mommy, you're so interesting!"

She finally outgrew all of her newborn sleepers (finally) and I have to put them all away now. Some 0-3 clothes are still too big for her, depending on the brand. I find Joe Fresh sleepers fit her perfectly, but their onesies are a little wide. Old Navy 0-3 shirts are fantastic and fit her great. Plus, they're soft as all heck and cheap! She's just about outgrown her 0-3 parachute pants, so I bought her another pair in 3-6 because I adore those pants. And, sadly, her skinny jeans are way too small for her ... but only in the waist. They're still too long. Weird. Her hair is starting to grow back in! Hooray! She still has a silly hairline, but the bald spots have adorable fuzzy baby hair sprouting. It's looking like she's going to keep her dark hair. I'm quite pleased about that :)

She has her next doctor's appointment on the 15th - her two month appointment! I can't wait to see how much she's grown since her six week checkup ... but I'm not really looking forward to her getting her shots. Poor babe. :(

As far as life with the adults goes, we're doing well. Boyd is home for a whole week at a time this month, plus a few 3-4 day stretches. We're trying to get ready for Christmas as best we can. Christmas cards will be going in the mail today and we'll probably put up the tree sometime this weekend. I can't wait! Charlotte saw the lights on the tree at Grammie and Grampie Joe's house and her face was priceless. The lights turned on and her eyes got wide, she pursed her lips, and made an "ooooh!" face. I wish I had recorded it. It was the perfect reaction. Today we're going to head to the mall to do a bit of Christmas shopping and just enjoy a day out.
My birthday is coming up next weekend, so my mom and Joe will be coming to babysit so that Boyd and I can go out. Hooray! I'm very excited about it. The plan is to go out for dinner and then go see The Wizard of Oz at the Neptune Theatre in Halifax. Can't wait!

That's all the news here! I'll leave you with some pictures of early morning playtime at the Chapman house. Enjoy!

















Thursday, December 2, 2010

The one with the photo essay

Charlotte turned seven weeks today and here's how she chose to celebrate the occasion:
























"Oh hi! Look at me, I'm happy!"
























"Hmm, or am I?"
























"Yawn! I'm tired."
























"DIDN'T YOU HEAR ME? I SAID I WAS TIRED!"


Lather, rinse, repeat.
Notice there are no photos of her sleeping. There's a reason for that.