The one with the three month update!

Well, I'm terrible at updating.  Obviously I did not get the seven week update in time ... and now my baby boy is three months old!

What to say about three month old Myles?
He is a pretty big guy.  I had him to the doctor yesterday and he weighs 13bs7oz.  For someone who doesn't eat, that's pretty good!  ;)  He is happy and healthy and that's all that matters.

His eating and sleeping is still nutty.  He doesn't have a whole lot of interest in eating.  He is still only drinking maybe 4oz at a time, every 3-5 hours.  Once in a while, he'll surprise me and eat 5-6oz but that doesn't always happen.  Thankfully, though, he is still growing just fine and has not fallen off his growth curve so I guess he's just doing okay with a small amount of milk.
He goes to bed around 7pm and usually sleeps until around midnight ... and then it varies from there.  Sometimes he will be up again at 3, sometimes he will sleep until 5.  Sometimes he'll go right back to sleep after he wakes and eats, sometimes he just wants to party.  It is a struggle, for sure.  I like my sleep and he, apparently, does not.  I am hoping that as he gets older, he will start to sleep better.  Please, Myles?



He is a very happy and smiley little guy.  All you have to do is look at him and he grins.  He is so sweet!  He loves getting undressed and every time I start taking off his clothes, he starts giggling.  I love it.  He has the most adorable little baby voice and I love when we have conversations and he just coos.  So so cute.
He enjoys hanging out on his play mat, smacking the dangling toys around.  He is starting to reach for items more and will occasionally grasp toys.  This morning, he was playing with a toy and brought it to his mouth!  Exciting times!

He loathes being on his tummy and just sort of sky-dive poses and screams when I try to put him on his tummy.  I'm not too concerned, though.  He can hold his head steady when I'm holding him upright.  He will like being on his tummy more when he is able to roll there by himself.  He will sit in the Bumbo sometimes but prefers to sit on someone's lap and look around.

He still adores his big sister and will stare at her, smile and laugh, and talk to her.  They are adorable together  :)

That's all for now!  Let's be realistic and hope for the next update before he is six months old  :)

The one where Myles is six weeks old

WOW.  Six weeks.  Again, it's that magic number ... once you get over the six week hump, things tend to settle down.  I can't believe how quickly it has gone by this time around.  I guess because we are already in a routine and have an older child, time just tends to speed by.

Our sweet little Myles turned six weeks old on Wednesday (and yes, it is now Sunday ... remember what I said above about time speeding by?  Yeah.)  I really can't believe how big he is getting!  We have not had a doctor's appointment or anything for a while, and we don't own a scale in our house, so I really do not know how big he is right now.  There is a Public Health clinic in town next week (every second Thursday) so I think I will bring him in just to get weighed.  He is for sure over 10lbs, maybe even close to 11lbs now.  When I look at him, I feel like he's HUGE.  He is fitting into 3 month clothing and even a few 6 month pieces.  His hair is still light and has fallen out on the top so he has an awesome "old man" ring going on.  I also remember Charlotte having a similar hairline at this stage  ;)  His eyebrows are so blonde you can't even see them and his eyes are still a dark blue.  I'm wondering if they will stay that colour!  Will he be our little blonde haired blue eyed baby?  Who knows!

We are still trying to figure him out with regards to sleeping and eating.  This last week has been a gong show and I'm chalking it up to the six week growth spurt.  He has been going to bed around 7:30 at night - he gets his bath before Charlotte - and would sleep until around midnight(ish), then again until around 3(ish), and sometimes would wake up again an hour later ... it's been kind of nutty.  Last night, though, we were out a bit later so he went to bed around 8pm and slept until 4am!!  I could get used to that.  He had a hard time falling back to sleep, though, and then woke up again at 6, and then again at 7:15 for the day.  Now it's 9:15 and he's asleep in his swing.  Normally, he loathes our swing with a burning passion of a thousand suns, but this morning I decided to rock him in the rocking chair upstairs until he was asleep and then I transferred him to the swing.  Success!  For now...

His eating has been all over the map.  Sometimes he will only take 2oz, sometimes he'll want 5-6oz, sometimes he'll gulp it down, other times it's a fight to get anything into him.  It's a bit stressful and I'm actually thinking he might have silent reflux.  He always makes noises that sounds like he is clearing his throat or like he is congested, he doesn't spit up often but when he does, it doesn't actually come OUT but just into his mouth, and I think that may have something to do with how fussy he can be.  I don't think it has anything to do with his formula because he was like this when he was breastfed too.  When he has his next doctor's appointment, I am going to bring it up.  I may even bring it up with my doctor when I go to see her next week for my six week postpartum check (it had to be rescheduled because of all the storms we've had here lately - my car was frozen in my driveway!)

He is still super smiley and is becoming more and more focused on the world.  He enjoys the play mat quite a bit now and will kick and move his arms around when Mr. Sun is singing.  He is starting to grab at items - he's grabbed hold of some of the toys dangling from the play mat and he gets a surprisingly good grip on my necklaces or the ties on my hoodies.  He likes he hold my fingers when he's eating  :)  He smiles a lot at Charlotte and he likes when we make silly voices or when we clap his hands together.  He really likes bath time and kicks and splashes around.  I got him a little bath seat like Charlotte had when she was a baby but I actually find it easier just to put him in the big tub with a small amount of water and wash him that way.

So funny - he always had his hand up by his face in utero too and when he's in the tub, it always goes right back up!  I wonder if the warm bath reminds him of the inside  ;)

That's all for now!  Let's see if I can do the seven week update on time!

The one with the five week update

Big five week old boy today!  What is new with five week old Myles?

He seems to be (finally) settling into some natural rhythms this week.  Over the last week, I've discovered that he enjoys being swaddled so I have been wrapping him up to sleep and it's made quite a difference.  He has been going to bed between 8:30-9:00 at night after getting a bath and a nice big bottle.  He will sleep until anywhere between 2am-4am to eat, will go back to sleep, and wake up around 7ish.  His naps are still iffy, but he does sleep relatively well during the day.  Today he slept for three hours in the pack n' play (we are at Grammie and Grampie's house) and he's conked out again in the swing.

He has been eating better as well.  I decided a few days ago that we were finished with breastfeeding and he is 100% on bottles now.  I was tired of fighting with him to stay latched, it was uncomfortable, and exhausting.  Had he been my only child, perhaps we would have continued longer but I have another child to take care of as well and I couldn't spend hours at a time nursing him, only to have him start rooting 20 minutes later.  It just wasn't working for our family anymore and I am okay with that!  He is doing great on formula and doesn't seem bothered in the slightest.  He is eating about 6-7 times in 24 hours.  Most times he will drink 4oz but sometimes he will want 5oz or even 6oz.  I always make a 6oz bottle for the last one before bed, but he usually only drinks about half of it.

He is starting to get a lot more interactive this week.  He has been super smiley all week, giving the little smirks and the big gummy smiles.  He focuses on us a lot more and will "talk" to us, moving his mouth to imitate us and makes a lot more noises besides his usual grunts and groans.

He isn't too bothered by tummy time, usually (although - I'll be honest - I don't do it much because it's not a very natural position for babies to be in ... I prefer carrying him upright or holding him to strengthen his neck muscles) but today he got so angry about being on his tummy, he actually ROLLED from belly to back!  I couldn't believe it.  He was determined, haha!  Normally, though, he just lays there and puts his head down, and watches the world.

He is definitely getting bigger and bigger every day.  I'm not sure exactly what he weighs now, but I weighed myself and then myself + him this morning and the difference was 10.6 on the scale. So 10lbs now?  He is wearing 3 month clothing (still a little big on him, but 0-3 is too tight).  His hair is still a dark blonde(ish) colour and his eyes are still blue!  I wonder if they will change...

The one with the four week update

I know, I know.  We missed the three week mark.  Oops!

Myles is four weeks old today!  He will officially be one month old on Saturday.  I must say, it has gone by pretty quickly.  He had a weight check up on Friday and he was 9lbs even.  He is doing well and does not have to go back to the doctor until his 2 month check up, unless we have concerns before then.  He is bright and chunky and seems to be growing well!  His eyes are still a dark blue but are lightening a little bit around the inside.  His hair is still fuzzy and a lighter colour - kind of blonde in spots, but a little darker toward the back.  I'm really curious to see what colour it will be as it gets thicker!  His eyelashes have gotten longer.  He still isn't producing tears yet (yay!) and has what appears to be a birth mark on his right eyelid.  We thought it was bruising from birth, but it hasn't gone away yet so we're thinking it's a birth mark.  He has some of the same red marks on the back of his head as well.

He still does not seem to have much of a pattern emerging yet for sleeping and eating.  He is kind of all over the place, which makes it a bit difficult for me because we all know that I like predictability and routine.  We were told to wake him up to eat every three hours at his two week check up so I think that has kind of messed with his natural rhythms and he hasn't had a chance to establish a pattern yet.  We've stopped waking him and will let him sleep and eat whenever he needs to, so I am hoping that we will see some patterns emerging in the next few weeks.  He is still doing well with breastfeeding and he switches between breast and bottle just fine at the moment.  I generally nurse him during the day and he gets bottles (either formula or pumped milk) at nighttime.  He usually nurses for about 30-45 minutes (both sides) and will drink about 3-4 ounces from a bottle at a time.

He has periods of quiet alert time where he likes to look around at all the high contrast stuff around him (like the pictures on the wall and the lamp shades in the evening when the light shines through).  He is starting to enjoy laying on the play mat, watching the singing sun, but he seems to prefer looking toward/out the window instead.  He is starting to get used to being put down in the bouncy seat or the swing.  Today was the first time he actually fell asleep in the swing while it was swinging.  Progress!!  He tends to get quite gassy and grunts/growls a lot but, thankfully, that is something that he will outgrow soon enough.  He is just still trying to get used to this whole "digestive system" thing ... but I do look forward to the day when the noises he makes are not just grunts, groans, and growls.  More coos and gurgles please!  :)

That is all for now!  I will update next week!

The one with the two week update

Well, two and a half weeks.  We run a little late here these days.

Myles turned two weeks old on Wednesday.  I remember the first two weeks dragging when Charlotte was a baby, but these last two weeks have gone by pretty quickly!

So far, Myles is doing really well.  He is back up to his birth weight of 8lbs 7oz and we go back to the doctor on Friday to weigh him again for his three week check up.  He is already starting to outgrow his newborn clothing and he's quite round with a double chin so I think he's doing pretty good  ;)  He is still nursing relatively well.   He has a bottle here and there, sometimes formula, sometimes pumped milk.  He takes about 45 minutes to an hour to eat sometimes and usually eats about every three hours during the day and goes longer stretches at nighttime.  He has never had his days and nights mixed up, which is very helpful.  Last night I tried putting him in his cradle at nighttime - he had been sleeping on my pillow all night - and he did pretty good.  He slept soundly from about 10pm until around 3am but then was up almost hourly until about 6am.  He didn't eat very much at 3am so I think that was the issue.  If he had had a nice big feed, he probably would have gone back to sleep right until morning.  Regardless, I'm happy that he seems to have taken well to the cradle!  Hopefully that continues because I slept a lot better as well.

He is starting to focus on people and things.  He really likes to stare up at the pictures hanging in the living room - I think he likes the contrast between between the dark frames and the light walls.  I like sitting with him on my knees to chat and he will look at me.  He will lay on his play mat and look around but doesn't like to be on the floor for too long.  Charlotte really likes when he is on the floor, though, so she can talk to him and tell him all about the world.

He is a pretty chill little guy, but will complain quite loudly when he needs something.  He absolutely does not like to be wet or dirty (whereas Charlotte never really seemed to care if she needed a new diaper), if he's tired he will yell about it, and when he's hungry he'll protest (and then take forever to latch, the goose) but as long as everything is okay in his world, he's happy  :)

That's it for now!

The one with two weeks left...

Two weeks left until BoJu's due date, can you believe that?  It has certainly been harder to keep up with the blog this time around but I have been trying.

I hit 38 weeks pregnant today and I'm really looking forward to meeting my little boy.  I feel massive and I'm uncomfortable so I'm ready to get him outta me for those reasons!

37 weeks with Charlotte vs. 34 weeks with BoJu

I feel a lot bigger this time around and I have been measuring ahead at a few appointments.  I haven't gained as much weight this time (I think I'm at around 24lbs now) so I think it's just the way he is sitting.  Charlotte was stretched out - I remember writing about "so much for the fetal position" - and he is all curled up in a ball in the front.  I can feel his little heel or elbow or something pointy sticking out all the time.  He has been head down for months now (yay!) so I'm hoping he's getting himself ready to come on out.  He is sitting quite low and I can sometimes feel him just burying himself into my pelvic bones.  So so comfortable, I love it.  NOT.

I finished work last week (November 28) on doctor-ordered sick leave prior to starting maternity leave.  Because of the way he is sitting and how my belly is, I've been in so much pelvic pain and have had shooting pains and numbness going down my leg.  Simple things like driving and walking had become unbearable so I was written off work early.  I'm very grateful for that because I can rest my body now and prepare for labour and delivery.  Now when I'm hurting, I have the option of changing positions, laying down, sitting on the exercise ball, etc. whereas I did not have those options at work.  It has definitely helped.  Now I am just home, trying to finish getting things ready, and wait for my son to arrive!

We are still working on getting his nursery all set up.  We let Charlotte choose the theme for his room and she decided on robots.  LOVE!  We have his crib, dresser/change table, and rocking chair in the room already.  It is getting painted tomorrow (a blue-grey colour called "gentle sea") and I plan to spend Thursday putting everything away and decorating as best I can.  Charlotte is visiting Grammie and Grampie for the week so I am trying to take advantage of the extra "alone" time that I have to get these things finished up.  I will definitely post some photos when I'm all done!  Right now, it's just a mess and will be an even bigger mess tomorrow when it is being painted  :)

Part of his room decor I got at Target  :)

So now that we know what is going on with me, let's find out what's going on with him!  What's in the baby update this week?

BoJu was officially full term last week, so now he's just sort of hanging out in there, putting on a bit more weight, and waiting to come out.  He is shedding his weird fetus hair and cheesy white goo in preparation to come out and be all cute  ;)  All of his organs are developed and ready!  Here we go, little bud - you're ready so come on out!

The one where time flies...

There has been so much happening these days and just no time to really get it all written down!

Our sweet Charlotte turned 4 on Tuesday.  Can you believe that?  Our little lemon, our sweet little Ladybird is now four years old.  I can't believe it.

We spent the day together on Tuesday and had a great time.  I made her a special birthday breakfast, we went to The Play Box (an indoor playground), and out for lunch at Boston Pizza.  She had a great birthday party the Saturday before - a dinosaur party!  Roar!!

Four year old Charlotte amazes me every day.  She is incredibly sweet, kind, and caring.  I can't even explain her compassion and kindness.  She makes my heart swell.  She is so bright and will be starting school next fall.  We are hoping to put her into French because she is pretty well ready for school now and we don't want her to be bored.  She can perform basic math concepts in her head (i.e. "Mommy, when Baby BoJu is 1, I'll be 5.  And when he's 2, I'll be 6."), we think she might be able to read but has a bit of a stubborn streak, and she's printing, loves to spell, and play rhyming games.

She is fully into 4T clothing now and wears a size 8 shoe.  She is still in the 30lb range, sometimes hitting 31 or 32 depending on what she's wearing and what she's eaten  ;)  She's getting more independent every day.  She still has some trouble getting certain articles of clothing off and starting her zippers, but she's just turned 4 so that's understandable!

She started ballet in September and she is doing great!  We got to watch her class last week and she made me so proud.  She was focused and paid attention when she was supposed to and had lots of fun running around and dancing during the free time.  She can do first, second, third, fourth, and fifth position with her feet and knows how to pirouette.  She's awesome.

Here are a few of 4 year old Charlotte's favourites!

Book:  For her birthday, she got The Snail and The Whale and we have read it every single night at bedtime since her birthday party.  She loves it!

Activity:  She still loves playing with her cars and her wooden blocks.  That hasn't changed at all!  She also enjoys playing with her baby dolls, Charlotte Bunny (of course), and creating imaginary friends that visit us for a short period of time - so far, there have been three children whose names I can't remember, Charlotte Turkey, Isabella the tiger, and Charlotte the Dinosaur.  She cracks me up.

Food:  Broccoli chicken and "crunchy" (raw) carrots.

Toy:  Charlotte Bunny will always be number one.  But she's also really loving her doll that she got for her birthday (she named her Lilah) and her Ana and Elsa dolls.

Colour:  Purple, pink, and red.


So, that's the Charlotte news.  And how about Baby BoJu?

I will be 31 weeks on Tuesday (what?!).  Things are going very well.  Everything is perfect at my check-ups, according to my doctor.  I had my glucose test at the end of September.  I do not remember the drink being so disgusting - I remember drinking it when I was pregnant with Charlotte and thinking it just tasted like orange pop.  This time, it was GROSS.  I had a hard time choking it down.  Thankfully, my sugars are great and I don't have the baby diabetes.  I'm measuring perfectly, my blood pressure is great, my blood work came back perfect (even my iron levels!!  So weird.), and at my 26 week appointment, I had only gained 14lbs.  I didn't ask this time around.  I have my next appointment on Wednesday.

25 weeks, 2 days.  Getting belly pictures this time around is hard!  

The pregnancy is going well in that regard, but I'm another story.  I am pretty much in constant pain.  Everything hurts all the time.  I can't sleep.  I get really sore and stiff if I stay in one position for too long, but moving around hurts too so it's kind of a catch 22.  Do I get up and walk around, hobbling in pain, or do I stay put for a while?  I get really weak - not tired, just weak - so I was convinced that my iron or my blood pressure must have been low, but nope.  My doctor just told me that's the way it goes in the third trimester with a four year old.  Work has also been really busy so there's just no rest, it seems.  I'm really looking forward to being on maternity leave for a couple of weeks before BoJu arrives.

He is moving around but not as much as Charlotte did.  He tends to really like quiet times - he is especially wiggly when I am tucking Charlotte into bed each night.  Tonight, he was moving around like crazy so Charlotte spent a good 10 minutes or more just giggling and talking to him.  She is very excited to be a big sister and I can already see how much she loves him.  She came home from daycare the other day with two pictures of snowmen that she drew for him.  Tonight, she told him that he has a "really nice family out here, your grandparents, me your big sister, Mommy, and Daddy that are all excited for you to come out".  Bless her heart.

With that quick update, let's see what BoJu is up to in there!

BoJu is about the size of a pineapple now and is definitely running out of room!  Kicks and bumps have become rolls and pointy elbow jabs.  All five of his senses are working now and he's going through some major brain development.  He is starting to plump up and get that adorable chubby baby look.

The one with the 20 week ultrasound...

This pregnancy is flying by!  I hit the halfway mark on Tuesday and we had our 20 week ultrasound on Thursday morning.  Unlike the ultrasound with Charlotte, Boyd was allowed to be in the room right from the beginning so he was able to see everything.  That was really nice  :)

I hadn't heard good things about getting ultrasounds done at the hospital we are using, so I was a little nervous about what the experience would be like.  We had an amazing sonographer who did not stop talking and describing exactly what she was seeing and measuring.  It was so wonderful.  I was thrilled to get to see our little Baby Beans in there.  I have not been feeling as much movement as I had with Charlotte, so I was a little concerned.  However, this time around, I have an anterior placenta - which basically just means the placenta attached itself to the front of the uterus rather than the back, so Baby Beans has about a three centimetre thick cushion in addition to all my skin and belly fat to kick through  ;)  The movements I do feel are more stretching and wriggling type of movements; not the big thumping kicks and punches Charlotte threw.  But, we got to see little BB in there, squirming around, opening his/her mouth, spreading his/her fingers open, waving hi to us ... and my absolute favourite was the shot the sonographer got of his/her little legs crossed at the ankles, as if BB was just chillin' in the hood.  Loved. It.

As you have noticed, I am using he/she rather than telling exactly what sex BB is.  Boyd and I were convinced we knew after the ultrasound was complete, but the report we got at my doctor's appointment a few hours later was the complete opposite.  So, we are not 100% sure what to think.  We are going with what the ultrasound report stated, but we are not announcing it publicly yet because we want to make sure.  I have an appointment on Friday, the 15th, at 3D Miracles to find out for sure.  I am also excited to go so Charlotte can come too.  She was not allowed at the hospital appointment and I know she would get a big kick out of seeing her baby brother or sister on the screen.  As well, it will be really nice to have a picture of the baby like we did with Charlotte.

With that, I will leave with the baby update for this time around...











Baby Beans is the size of a banana!  Our ultrasound tech said he/she weighs about 12oz so right on track.  BB's tastebuds are now working and he/she is swallowing amniotic fluid, getting the digestive system up and running.  His/her sensory development exploded last week and we're hoping he/she can hear us through all those layers of placenta and Mommy chub  ;)

The one with the second little Chapman orange

That's right, Chapman Baby #2 will be arriving in December!

We found out just before Easter!  Yeehaw!  I am 15 weeks today and the baby is due December 23.  I am hoping for about a week late, though, as it's no fun having a birthday so close to Christmas (I can say that, as a December 19 baby myself).

So far, the pregnancy has been a bit different than the first time around.  I started feeling sick immediately around 3 weeks and I'm just now starting to feel a bit better.  Nausea was 24/7 this time around and eating sometimes made it better, but not always.  I've had a lot of aversions instead of cravings - baby doesn't like ham or tea, how very sad!! - but I have been able to eat more than I did the first time around because I found that eating made the nausea go away most times.  I was absolutely miserably exhausted for the first couple of months.  Being pregnant and taking care of an older child is way more difficult than being pregnant and able to come home and nap whenever you want and eat whenever you want and basically do nothing if that's what you want to do.  It was a rough couple of months, but that fog is starting to lift and I'm definitely getting my energy back.

I am starting to show already and I've felt the baby move a couple of times already (just tiny little thumps and flutters).  I'm looking forward to getting some maternity clothes so I can feel comfy again!

Our ultrasound is scheduled for August 7 and I'd like to set up an appointment for a 3D ultrasound again.  We can find out what the sex of the baby is at the hospital but Charlotte is not allowed in the room for the ultrasound and I really want her to be there when we find out if she will have a little brother or a little sister.  I haven't set up that appointment yet but I will!

For now, I will leave you all with a baby update!



Baby Beans (as he/she is affectionately known as) is about 11cm long and is rolling around, hiccuping, and testing out his/her joints.  Limbs akimbo!  BB is about the size of an orange and getting bigger every day.  :)

The one with the two year update!

Oh, faithful readers (are there any of you?) ... I apologize.  I'd like to say I haven't forgotten about this blog, but truth be told, I kind of have.  I suppose "forgot" isn't quite the word.  Life just gets in the way and I don't feel the need to update as often.

That being said, the little lemon that began this blog has turned two! 
That's right, the big two years old.

What can I say about two year old Charlotte?

Let's start with the physical.  She had her two year appointment on Monday (Oct 15) and is a "whopping" 25.4lbs and 33.5 inches tall!  Still my little pixie and I adore her.  She has all her teeth except her bottom two two-year molars.  Her hair is getting longer - it's almost time for a second hair cut - and still has curly bits.  Humid days are my favourite because her hair goes curl-crazy.  Her eyes are brown and she's wearing a size 5 shoe (possibly moving up soon).  She loves to dance and has been attempting to jump/hop.  She can go up and down stairs and can climb up and down easily on furniture.  We are working on potty training/learning and she's making some progress.  She is aware of her functions and will sometimes tell us if she needs to go but it's not always consistent and sometimes when she tells us she needs to go, nothing happens.  It'll all come in time, though, and we both agree that it will NOT happen until she's ready so why push it?

Charlotte continues to amaze me every single day.  At two years old, she currently knows the entire alphabet, what sounds all the letters make, how to spell "mom" and "dad', recognizes/reads the words "mommy", "daddy", and "Charlotte", knows all her shapes and colours, remembers the words to favourite songs, speaks in full sentences (averages about 6-8 words at a time), identifies countries on the globe, identifies planets, recognizes tunes and can identify them, and picks up new information SO quickly it's frightening.  Her current favourite game is "spelling" (she gives us a word and we spell it for her).  My favourite part about all of this?  We taught her NONE of it.  Exposed her to it?  Absolutely.  But she's the one who wants to play spelling, she's the one who wants to "do letters", she's the one who asks to play shapes.  You should have seen the look of sheer joy when she opened her birthday present from us and it was the Leapfrog Word Builder jet thing that goes on the fridge.  Crazy kid ... she just retains information like I've never seen.

She is still as sweet and empathetic as always.  She loves to hug all her dolls and animals.  She thinks the washer and dryer are friends.  She pushes two objects together and declares them "family".  She is very easy-going and loving.  She loves other children and really likes spending time with her cousins.  She has started to exhibit some typical two year old behaviour (whining and tantrums) but so far we're just ignoring the behaviour and acknowledging the positives.  No point in getting into power struggles.  She is extremely funny and KNOWS it.  She's always got a good joke for us  :)
 

We moved her into a toddler bed the weekend of her birthday party (Thanksgiving weekend) and she is doing fantastic!  She fell out once and got out once when she was down for a nap but wasn't tired.  Otherwise, she stays in the entire night (and nap time) and only gets out when one of us goes into her room to get her.  She loves her "big girl bed" and loves "crawlin' in and crawlin' out".  I'm kind of sad there's no more crib in our house but I'm so proud of my big girl. 


A few Charlotte favourites:

• activity: watching the washer and dryer (we recently moved and now have front-loaders - excellent toddler entertainment!) and pushing her doll stroller around
• song: Bruno Mars' "Marry You" (she knows almost all the words and we watch this video about a million times a day)
• food: I think her current favourites are spaghetti and cauliflower (separately).  She is still not a picky eater and generally eats whatever we put in front of her.
• book: she always wants to read from her book of Bible stories that Auntie Rochelle, Uncle Paul, Lucas, and Isla got her last year for her baptism
• toy: currently, I'd say her doll stroller, her kitchen, or her letter magnets

And that's our girl in a nutshell!  Not a baby anymore ... I can't even believe it.
Hopefully I will update again before she turns three  ;)

The one with the LOOOOONG overdue update!

I know, I know! I swear I didn't intend for Charlotte to turn one and then the blog suddenly stops. Things have just been busy - nothing special, really, but just life.

We had a wonderful Christmas and even though I only had two days off work (four days total since Christmas was on a weekend) we still managed to see both of our families and have our own Christmas time. It was busy and a bit stressful but we made it work. Charlotte was very excited about Christmas morning. She didn't really know what was going on but she danced around and ate cinnamon buns in the living room and got new toys, so she was happy. She was absolutely enamored with snowmen and Christmas trees and I'm a bit sad that the season is over. Granted, she was the same way with pumpkins around Hallowe'en so I'm sure she'll find something new to obsess over ;)
























She turned 15 months yesterday and continues to amaze me. She still doesn't talk much but she understands so much and picks things up so quickly that it's almost scary. She points a lot and she'll point to something if you ask her (i.e. "Charlotte, where's your humidifier?"). She currently signs "more", "all done", "sing", "milk", "I love you", and "toilet". She knows what a horse, cow, sheep, cat, dog, duck, lion, and Santa say. When she asks to sing, she will choose songs herself (for example, she'll smack her lips together if she wants "Pop Goes The Weasel" or will say "E-I-O" if she wants "Old MacDonald"). She recognizes letters (has a fondness for "O" and will walk around, carrying her "O" magnets going "Ooooo") and can recognize some colours. Her comprehension is outstanding and I often forget just how young she actually is.

















She's still teeny and probably always will be. I'm not sure how big she is, but I imagine she's hit 20lbs by now. She just went through a growth spurt and finally fits into the 18month clothing she owns. She has 11 teeth - four front, three bottom, two top molars, and two bottom molars. Her hair is growing longer and her curls are adorable. She's started to change her looks and I get told she looks a lot more like me now. It's nice to hear :) I did birth her, after all...

















She still loves her books and reading is still one of her favourite activities. She got a kitchen for Christmas from Santa and has been enjoying "cooking" there and feeding us her concoctions. She also got a lion from Santa and LOVES it. She runs around the house, hugging it, and saying "roar!" She has a couple of dolls and enjoys feeding them, brushing their hair, and patting their backs. She just loves pointing at things and figuring out what things are. Right now her current obsessions are the ladybugs on her blanket and Maggie's toy mice. I can't quite tell if she likes the mice or hates the mice, but she'll walk around the house with a toy mouse in each hand, following Maggie, attempting to give them to the cat. If she sees a cat toy on the floor, she points at it and kind of yells. Maybe she's mad that Maggie doesn't clean up after herself.

She has little traits that make me chuckle. She likes to put her cup in the cup holder of her high chair tray when she's done taking a drink. If it doesn't fit, she puts it on the table. When she's eating snack, she'll put something (a cracker, a piece of fruit) back in the bowl before taking something else to nibble on. She's developing her little personality more and more every day and she's certainly a character!

























She's still doing great with her eating and sleeping habits. We've finally, FINALLY, rid ourselves of bottles! Hooray! She's doing perfectly fine without them and doesn't seem to miss them one bit. She's eating three meals and two snacks a day and, usually, sleeps 10-11 hours at night. She has one after-lunch nap that is usually 2 hours on average, but can sometimes be as short as an hour and a half or as long as today where she slept for FOUR hours. Nutty. It's usually 2, 2.5 hours though. She doesn't eat as much in one sitting as she used to (which makes sense, because she's not growing as rapidly as she was in her first year) but she still eats well. She still loves all her usual favourites: pasta, meats, potatoes, corn, peas, english muffins, toast, crackers, grapes, bananas, blueberries, waffles, etc. There's not really a whole lot she won't eat as a whole - somedays she'd rather have one thing over another, but as a whole she eats a really well-balanced diet and loves her healthy foods.
























She's just the light of our lives. She has a very sweet, caring, pleasant personality and is so very easy-going. Charlotte, we love you!

I promise to update again before she turns 2 ;)

The one with the one year update!

I know it's coming late, but it's been a busy week(ish)! With birthday parties to throw and attend and then Baby's First Stomach Bug, it's been hard for me to really get a chance to sit down and update the blog.

Can you even believe it's been a whole year? A whole year! It feels like just yesterday, I was sitting at my mother's kitchen table, updating about how I was going to have to be induced. And here we are - a whole year later and I have a sweet, loving, hilarious, brilliant little toddler girl.
























First, we'll start with some stats. She had her one year check up and vaccinations and she is now 19lbs 9.5oz and 29 inches long. Tiny little pixie! (To put that into perspective, my 4 month old nephew is 15lbs and 27 inches long, LOL!). She didn't triple her birth weight but hey - she's still growing and gaining and that's all that matters to me. Someone has to be on the lower end of the growth chart, right? Right. She's fitting into 12-18 month clothing a bit better now - they're not as baggy on her as they were last month.

She continues to amaze me every day with the things she learns and the things she knows. Every so often, she will do something that shocks me. Yesterday, for example, her pants were falling down a bit (stomach flu = disposable diapers = her pants don't fit anymore) and I said "Charlotte, come here and let me fix your pants". She tugged at the waistband of her pants, snapped it a couple of times, and giggled. Now when I ask her "where are your pants?" she grabs at the waistband. I had no idea she knew what pants were! She will also stick out her tongue if you ask "where's your tongue" and will point to eyes and hair if you ask where those are. Today I asked her if she wanted some water and told her to go to the fridge and I would get her some. Up she went and walked right over to the fridge. Smarty pants.

















She's been learning a bit of turn-taking as well. If she has something in her hand and you ask "can I see?" she will gently give it to you. We've been encouraging this and will go back and forth with the same item doing the whole "my turn/your turn" thing. She's still too young, I think, to really get it but there's no reason we can't expose her to it now! She's gotten back into signing "all done" consistently after having a bit of a signing stand-off recently. She still won't sign "more" for us, even though she knows how. She'll just point at whatever she wants. Silly goose. Lately, she'll sign "all done" in the bath tub when I drain the water - last night she even signed "all done" before I drained it and started to pull the plug herself!

She's moving from the "baby" toys to more "toddler" toys now. She still adores her books, of course. Her current favourite items right now are her books, her Peek-a-Block train, her wooden xylophone, balls, her Sock Monkey, and balloons (left over from her birthday party!). And, of course, walking around, playing peek-a-boo, and pointing at things saying "da". I'm pretty sure she's asking "what's that" when she does it. In fact, we had a pretty funny "conversation" last night:

Charlotte: *thrusts a shape at me from her shape sorter* "Da!"
Me: "You found a shape!"
Charlotte: *gently places it in my hand* "Da."
Me: "Mommy's turn? Thank you."
Charlotte: *points at it repeatedly* "Da!"
Me: "It's a shape!"
Charlotte: *continues pointing* "Da!"
Me: *counts the sides* Uh, it's a hexagon!"
Charlotte: *removes it from my hand and walks away*

Apparently, "shape" wasn't a good enough answer for her!









































She has recently upgraded from eating food off her highchair tray to eating food out of dishes. She was starting to protest at mealtimes and kept pointing to our plates/bowls. It only took two nights of gentle reminders, but she no longer attempts to lift her plate or bowl up or throw it or anything like that. We have a couple of "baby" dishes for her, but otherwise she just eats off of one of our smaller plates. We're still attempting to transition her onto whole milk but she's not overly enthusiastic about it. At this point, we're just trying to get her to drink ANYTHING that isn't water out of her cup. If it's not water, she looks at the cup with a puzzled look on her face and just lets the milk dribble out of her mouth. We're working on it. I'm really looking forward to getting rid of bottles. Right now, she's down to one - maybe two - bottles a day. She has one when she wakes up from her nap and one at bedtime, depending on how much dinner she ate and when she ate. Most times she hardly drinks any from her bedtime bottle anyway.
























She is also, on normal days, down to one after-lunch nap a day and sleeps for a good few hours (right now, for example, she's been asleep for almost 2.5 hours - she should be up soon!). She goes to bed a bit later now that I'm back at work but also sleeps in a touch later as well. She goes to bed around 7:30 and usually sleeps until 7-7:30.

I still can't believe she's a year old. What a whirlwind of a year it has been! I am so lucky to have my beautiful little baby girl. She is the light of my life, my everything. My best little friend. I can't wait to see what the future brings for us. I love watching her grow and learn. She is my entire world. I love you, Charlotte!!
(...and she's awake, I just heard her turn her music on! Ha! My kid!)

The one with the eleven month update!

Well, eleven months and a week... oops. Things have been extra busy around here as I started back to work on Tuesday and just hadn't had the chance to sit down and update the blog. But now it's Friday evening and I'm sitting with my Pepsi and GSN and figured now was the time!

I can't believe it but my baby girl turned 11 months old on the 14th. 11 months. She's going to be a year old in the blink of an eye. Wowzers!
























So what is new in the life of 11-month-old Charlotte? Well, this kid is mobile!! She's not only walking now but she's practically running. I'd say she's walking about 90% of the time. She really only crawls now if she falls down and has to pull herself back up to be able to walk. She's still not able to just stand back up without assistance but she'll get there in time. She's a walking pro and it makes her SO happy! She was born wanting to walk and now she's finally achieved her goal :) Thankfully she's not the type of kid (right now) to get into everything so her walking isn't a big deal. She loves walking around the corner and playing peekaboo with whoever she finds on the other side. She just likes to walk around, usually carrying a pompom or a puzzle piece, and is just happy to be moving - she doesn't care about destroying the house! She also LOVES to climb the stairs and is really good at it. She likes opening and closing cupboards but hasn't really shown any interest to what's inside.
























She has four teeth (bottom two and top two) and her eye teeth seem to be coming in. Her hair is getting longer and curlier at the bottom. She's sort-of talking - mostly things that only we understand. She knows what sound a duck makes and will "quack" (cough) when we ask her what the ducky says. She also likes to wave at us when we ask "where's the baby?" or "where's Charlotte?". She says "dad" ALL the freakin' time, "mum" occasionally (sounds more like "ma'am" haha), "duh" for dog sometimes, and is working really hard on saying "fan" and "fish". She can make the "f" sound but that's as far as she gets. Boyd heard her say "bird" this morning as they were watching the birds out the window. I love love love hearing all the new things that come out of her mouth! I can't wait for the "I love you, Mummy" :)

She's outgrown all her 6-12 and 9 month clothing and is now in 12-18 even though it's slightly too big. I'm not sure her stats as we don't have another doctor's appointment until October but I think she's close to 20lbs now and people tell us that she's tall.
























Charlotte is ALL about the social games lately. She adores peekaboo, pattycake, and anything that we can do and giggle together. She's still loving her books and will sit quietly and look through them ALL. She empties out her whole bookshelf and then picks through them. She loves the pompoms, her space puzzle, and her PeekaBlock train. She's also started kicking her ball and will chase it all around the house, giggling.

















She's still eating and sleeping extremely well. Her bottle intake is going down pretty significantly. She's down to three bottles a day and quite often she doesn't finish it - she'll pull it out, look at it, say "da", point at it, etc. We're hoping that the transition off bottles will be an easy one since she really doesn't care about them much at all. There's definitely no bottle attachment! She's a pro with her sippy cup so it should be an easy switch.

I still can't believe the next Charlotte update will be her birthday update. Where did this year go?! Wow...

The one with the overwhelming feeling of relief and closure

As most followers of this blog know, Charlotte and I were never able to sustain a breastfeeding relationship. As outlined in this post, we struggled with severe pain and damage on my end and latching problems on her end. She was evaluated for tongue-tie a couple of times and it was found that she was fine. We had no real explanation for why she had such a poor latch, why she would jerk her head around until she had a shallow latch, why she couldn't latch onto a nipple shield, why she drank from bottles and left the nipple bent when she was through.

A few weeks ago, I came across a blog posted in one of my formula-friendly Facebook pages from a breastfeeding mother desperately seeking help. Her blog brought me to something that I had never ever heard of before: abnormal attachment of the maxillary frenum. I read about it, looked at the photos, and a light bulb went off in my head. In the very early months of Charlotte's life, I clearly remember looking at her smiling and asking Boyd "do you think she's going to have a gap between her front teeth because of that bump there?" That "bump there" is where her maxillary frenulum connects to her gums and goes all the way back to her soft palate. We all have upper and lower frenulums, but it's how they're attached that makes a difference. Just like some babies are tongue-tied (i.e. their lower frenulums are too tightly attached) there are some babies who have an upper lip tie (their upper frenulums are too tightly attached). And I was positive my baby was one of them.

I immediately made a dentist appointment for her to have her checked out. I brought her in, the dentist and nurses oohed and ahhed over the cute baby, stuck a finger in her mouth, and proclaimed her fine. "See you when she's three!" Mother's intuition kicked in and I really just didn't think she was "fine". Perhaps if they had spent more time examining her rather than cooing over her, I might have been able to accept their diagnosis. But I didn't. I didn't really know what else to do until I came across a "Contact Us" form on Dr. Lawrence Kotlow's website. Might as well go directly to the source, right? This is exactly what Dr. Kotlow specializes in. I sent him a request to have a look at Charlotte's mouth and hoped that he might take the time to do it.

I sent him this photo that I was able to quickly snap one day:














and I immediately got the following reply:

"Without a doubt according to my criteria a class 4 lip tie which can cause breastfeeding problems due to a poor latch. Dr.K"

The emotions that I'm feeling right now are overwhelming. A strong mix of relief and anger all at once. Until you're a mother who has "failed" at breastfeeding, you can never understand the feelings that come along with that. Thankfully, I've done my own research these last nine months and I have a very different outlook now regarding infant feeding, but it's still very difficult to hear things like "everything about your baby is unnatural" or "you're too selfish to give your baby the best" and not feel bad about yourself and your ability to be a good parent. Even though I know that we made the best decision we could, I would still often wonder in the back of my mind whether or not we had "given up" too quickly, would it have gotten better as time went on, would we have been successful had I stuck through the pain?

The answer, as I know now, is no. No. Unless someone had discovered this when Charlotte was a newborn and we had had it fixed, no. Her latch would not have improved. Every feed would still have been torturous. She would still have been ripping my nipples to shreds every time she ate.

There's nothing that can be done now. Had I known about this nine months ago, things would have been very different. The thing is, I had no idea this was even a thing. Upper lip tie? Not even on my radar. No doctor, nurse, midwife, public health nurse, or lactation consultant ever made mention of it. Googling it brings up a handful of results. Even kellymom.com, one of the best breastfeeding resources online, makes ONE mention of it in the "tongue-tie" section ("This story is about a child who had a tight upper (labial) frenulum, which can also cause problems.") It's not well-known as a possible breastfeeding issue but it is a very real issue. So even though I sought help in the early weeks of Charlotte's life, no one helped me because it seems no one knew.

I'm just happy that I have some closure now. I know, without a doubt now, that we did what we could. I know that there was a very REAL, physical reason that my daughter could not breastfeed. It wasn't because I was "lazy" or "selfish" or too stupid to not fall for some "booby trap" like some lactivists like to believe of all formula feeding mothers. I recently posted my story to one of my favourite blogs, the Fearless Formula Feeder, and what the author wrote of my story is so very very true. She wrote:

"Lisa's FFF Friday submission is superbly written (her last paragraph is one of the most beautiful things I've read about formula feeding), but beyond that, I think it speaks powerfully to the common misconception that women who "fail" at breastfeeding were simply lacking support, motivation or information. However, there's a caveat to Lisa's story, which I have included, and this suggests that the biggest booby trap might be a refusal of the medical profession to acknowledge rare, but very real, breastfeeding difficulties."

Our breastfeeding struggles boil down to a mother that wanted to but a baby that couldn't. I'm happy to finally put an end to the emotional turmoil this whole thing has caused and I really wish that, in the future, all babies have their whole mouths examined when breastfeeding issues are present. I'm sure it would save some women out there a whole lot of heartache.

The one with the nine month update

Nine months!





















My apologies for the lateness of updating. I always seem to be out of town when the 14th of the month rolls around.

Charlotte turned nine months on Thursday! We had her 9 month well baby check-up on Friday. She is 17.7lbs, 27.5" long and is doing fantastic!

These last few weeks weren't as explosive as the few weeks before she turned eight months, but she still continues to learn and grow all the time. She's an expert at cruising now and has learned how to smoothly go from standing to sitting. She can stand alone for a short period of time and LOVES to walk while holding onto someone's hands. She recently learned how to clap and has been signing "all done" consistently at meal times. She now has two teeth: both bottom.





















Her favourite activities these days are cruising, patting surfaces (patting the coffee table, patting the couch, patting the laptop when I'm trying to type, etc.), playing at her standing activity table, playing with shoe laces, and trying desperately to get into Maggie's food/water dishes. She also love her books and can pull books out of her bookshelf all by herself these days.



















She's a total water baby and is SO happy going into the pool. When we bring her into our backyard pool, she kicks her legs like a little frog :) I've also noticed that she's started splashing a lot more in the bathtub now that she's had more water play outside of bathtime. I think that might be why she's so attracted to Maggie's water dish. I've brought out dishes of water to play in on hot days and she has a blast.





















She's still eating and sleeping well. She's had some new foods these last few weeks as her pincer grasp has gotten a lot better. I've noticed she tends to bite off pieces now, spit them out, then pick them back up later. It's like she's breaking her food into smaller pieces by herself. She loves Cheerios, mixed veggies (the little ones with peas/corn/cubed carrots/etc), and pineapple lately. She had steak and sushi recently as well. This kid eats WAY better than I do!























And I think that's it on our end! We're just spending as much time together as possible before I go back to work and getting out there and enjoying summer!