Tuesday, June 14, 2011

The one with the eight month update!

Okay, I tried to be on time with this update but this time it was Blogger's fault. I had the entire thing written up yesterday but my photos wouldn't upload and then my post disappeared. Not fair! I also apologize for any weird formatting issues. Blogger and I are not friends today. Regardless...

Okay, now that I've posted it says that it was posted on Tuesday, June 14. Apparently we've all gone back in time...

Charlotte turned 8 months yesterday and what a month it has been! She has pretty much exploded with reaching milestones and I'm so proud of all that she has accomplished in the mere weeks since she turned 7 months.















First thing's first is that she learned how to pull herself to standing! She's only done it a handful of times lately, but she can do it and it's very exciting!














Secondly, she's on the move now! She is officially a crawling baby. In the course of about a week and a half, she learned how to get up (and stay up) on her hands and knees, push herself back into a sitting position from her hands and knees, pull herself up onto her knees, and pull herself to standing. It was a crazy amount of gross motor development all at once. It took about another week and a half for her to finally get the crawling thing down, but now she's an expert. :) She's SO much happier now that she doesn't have to rely on us to move her from one thing to another. She doesn't seem overly keen on the whole crawling thing, though - she gets up on her hands and feet and looks like she just wants to get up and walk. It's like she's thinking "ugh, this crawling thing is so degrading, I just want to walk like you guys!" Soon, kiddo, soon.

Thirdly, she finally cut her first tooth! I know, right? FINALLY. Her bottom left tooth popped through on Thursday (same day she learned to crawl - busy, busy!) and her bottom right is on its way. Her bottom left still hasn't come ALL the way into a full tooth, but it's broken through the gums and is popping out, so the hard part is over.


















She had a cold at the end of May and was a little crankier than usual, so I'm not sure if the crankiness was from the cold or from the tooth. Regardless, she was perfectly pleasant the days leading up to her tooth coming through, so I feel confident enough in her amber necklace. I think it worked, personally. I'd recommend one to anyone!

So those are the three biggest milestones that have happened in the last month.

She is still hilarious and sweet as always. She has started initiating games and trying to be funny. She played peek-a-boo with my mother on the airplane coming home from Boston and she's been doing this silly head-tilt thing that makes us all crack up. I love watching her trying to engage us. It's really sweet.

















Her favourite toys are her doll Bill (she gets a HUGE smile on her face when I bring him out and do the "Bill" voice [a deep voice that says "Hi Charlotte, it's me Bill!"] and will hug him and kiss his face), her LeapFrog caterpillar that plays music, and anything that she can bang on. She likes holding two blocks and banging them together. She thinks it's pretty fun! She also just started putting toys into containers. The other day, Boyd handed her some blocks one at a time, and she put them into a bowl. Smart kiddo. She also LOVES to read books with us and knows how to turn the pages on her board books. It's so cute. You have to sort of tip the page up a bit so she can grab it, but she'll take hold of it and flip it over. Love it!



















This photo was taken in mid-page-turn so that's why the rhyme doesn't match the illustration, LOL!

She's still sleeping and eating really well. Nothing has changed in the sleep-through-the-night department. She's still taking two naps a day, but since she's learned how to pull up and has developed object permanence, naps can sometimes get tricky. She likes to sit up and play and will sometimes get really upset that we're not in the room with her. She eventually settles, but it's just a new phase that she's going through. I keep everything as consistent as I can so that she knows that it's still time to sleep, even if she can sit up and look around her room now. ;) Thankfully she doesn't do this at bedtime and all the new stuff she's learned how to do hasn't interfered with her night sleep whatsoever (knock on wood!).
She's eating three meals a day with us now and is definitely ingesting a lot more food. She's started spitting up again after her bottles so we've decided to reduce her bottles by one ounce. We figure that she's filling up more on food so her belly is too full for ALL that milk. She always gets her bottles before her meals, but it still seems to be helping her to have one ounce less in each bottle. She's also figure out how to use her sippy cup without our help! She's an old pro at it now. Yesterday, she picked it up with one hand and drank out of it that way. What a show-off, haha! I'm really hoping that since she's taken so well to a sippy that it will be relatively easy to cut out bottles when she turns one. I hope so, anyway. I can't WAIT to be rid of bottles!

















Here's what Charlotte is doing on the 8-12 month developmental checklist!

-gets into sitting position without assistance (8-10mos.)
- assumes hand and knee position
- creeps on hands and knees
- gets from sitting to crawling or prone position (10-12mos.)
- pulls self up to standing position
- bangs two one-inch cubes together
- puts objects into container (10-12mos.)
- takes objects out of container (10-12mos.)
- pokes with index finger (I love when she does this - she usually pokes at the faces of her toys that have faces or she pokes Bill's hands)
- explores objects in many different ways (8-10mos.)
- finds hidden objects easily (10-12mos. - I tested this the other day by hiding her toy under a blanket - she knew just where it was and how to get it!)
- shows specific preferences for certain people and toys (8-12mos.)
- repeats sounds or gestures for attention (10-12mos. - the squealing, my god, the squealing!)
- finger feeds herself (8-12mos.)

Hooray!

After 8 months, I've also FINALLY started finishing up her bedroom. That's on my agenda for today. I've already put up her wooden letters that spell her name and I was in the middle of putting up her wall decals when nap time rolled around. Once she wakes up again I'm going to get back to business and, hopefully, I'll have a new post tomorrow with nursery photos! :)

That's all the news on our end!

Thursday, June 9, 2011

The one with the day in the life...

...and it begins early.



Really, it should have started with the clock saying 1:14, then 2:30, then 3:42 because my cat kept waking me up. That darn cat.



Drag myself out of bed to get this silly little goose.



Diaper change



Charlotte tells Bill all about her night's sleep while I prepare her bottle.



Morning feed for lovey.



Morning feed for Mommy.



I get reacquainted with the internet while Charlotte decides to practice pulling up on the only pieces of moveable furniture in the living room...





She decides it's not worth it and settles in with a book.



I get breakfast started.



Charlotte engages in one her favourite activities ever: watching the ceiling fan.



Yum!



Double-fisting the peaches. Atta girl.
Also finally figured out how to use her sippy without my help. Atta girl x2.



Maggie wakes up and decides to join us.



Charlotte beats up Piglet while I load the dishwasher.
8:41 am and someone's getting sleepy. It's time for a nap.



Diaper change and choose a story. Sit down. Turn the pages.
Goodnight, baby.



Diapers need folding.



Ah, much better.



Quick baby check. 9:04, out like a light.
Time to get ready.



Done and done.



Time check. What to do now?



Quick sweep and mop.



Tidy up the living room.



Hooray, the sun!



Update the ol' FB with my plans for the day and check email/LJ/blogs/etc.



Waiting (im)patiently for the baby to wake up so we can get going.



Hooray! Wake up!



Take a moment to laugh at her Conan O'Brien bedhead.



Diaper change, dressed for the day, and smacking that "other" baby in the mirror.



Feed numero deux.



Sisterly love before lunch.



Quick lunch - leftover roasted chicken sandwich and watermelon. We won't even talk about the crap I had for lunch.



Half-assed kitchen clean up.



Ready to go!



Stop for gas first...



Ugh, traffic.



"Ugh traffic" turned into "ugh construction" which turned into "dammit, I'm going across the bridge, I don't want to do this!" and a pit stop to get change to get back across the bridge and downtown like I wanted.



Yay waterfront!



We meet up with Leah and watch the boats go by.





Flying baby!



We meet a cow, stop for ice cream, and enjoy the accordion dude.
Then it's time to head home.



Tired baby falls asleep before we even pull out of the parking garage.



Home sweet home.
Tired baby wakes up after only 30 minutes of sleeping. She's not happy about it.



Feed number three with sad, tired eyes.



Time to play!
I laugh at her as she tries so hard to pull these links off.



Climbing Mt. Mommy!



Maggie takes a nap in the sun.
I think it sounds like a fantastic idea.



Someone disagrees.



Charlotte plays while I prepare supper.





"All done, Mom!"



Quiet play while I keep an eye on the news.



Bathtime!





Grumpy baby is tired.



Goodnight, love.


Change into jammies, settle in with some junk, close up the kitchen, and figure out my night of TV.


7:06 and fast asleep.


Chat with the hubby and apparently make a dumb face.


Top up Maggie's food and water before bed. Maybe she'll let me sleep tonight. Ha, wishful thinking...


Cheer for Boston even though I can't stay up to watch the whole game.


Brush teeth and off to bed...


10:56 (or, judging by this photo, L:7c). Book and bed, there's nothing better.
Goodnight.