The one with the five month update!

Apologies for the lateness - yesterday was Boyd's 30th birthday so celebrating with him took precedence over updating the blog :)

Charlotte turned five months old yesterday! What a big girl!
























We didn't have a 5 month well baby check up, so I'm not too sure how much she's grown. I'm pretty sure she's well over 13lbs by now. She's definitely getting heavier, that's for sure!

She is becoming more and more like a little person every day. She is hilarious and has so much personality. She continues to "talk" a lot and I'm slightly convinced that she's going to be an early talker. She loves to watch our mouths when we talk and she moves her mouth at the same time. When we say "hi" to her, she'll usually repeat the sound (a short vocalization with the "h" sound at the beginning) and the other day she watched Maggie (our kitty) walk by and she said "aaaaah-geeee" haha. It was a total fluke, but still funny.

She's been rolling more this past month as well. She rolls back-to-front like a pro and we can't keep her on her back very long these days. She doesn't complain as much as she used to but she still doesn't like being on her belly for too long. She'll reach forward and grab toys to bring to her mouth. She's got the right lower body movements for creeping but hasn't figured out that she needs to use her arms as well. Once she figures that out, look out - we'll have a mobile baby!

















That's a look of determination if I've ever seen it!

She's still a drooling and chewing machine but still no teeth. Sometimes I think I can feel them, but I'm not sure if they're teeth or just regular hard baby gums. She doesn't seem overly bothered by it, so that's good. I just make sure to wipe her face a lot so she doesn't end up with a drool rash.

Now that the days are getting more predictable and the weather is nicer, we've been trying to venture out more. We went to a Reel Babies movie with my friend Leah and we've checked out the Babies n' Tots program at the library. I can't wait until it gets even warmer and we can start going to the park. Baby swings, here we come!!

That's it on our end!

The one where Charlotte meets the ocean

Last week, we decided to take advantage of the sunshine and head down to Peggy's Cove. We didn't stay too long, but it was nice for Charlotte to catch a glimpse of the Atlantic for the very first time - and it was nice for us to get outside for a little while.

















Charlotte and her Daddy heading up to the lighthouse.








































Seeing the ocean through fresh eyes...

















Smooch!
























My two favourite people.
























Love.

The one with the big difference

Looking back on old pictures...





























It's so amazing the difference a mere 4(ish) months can make.

The one with the rolling baby pt. II

Charlotte has, after much practice, mastered the art of rolling back to front. If you put her on her back, she immediately rolls over onto her belly.




However, Charlotte has not mastered the art of enjoying being on her tummy. So, she rolls herself over and then complains about it. Quite loudly. Tears and everything.

Oh kiddo... you slay me.

The one with the four month update!

Sorry it's late - it's been a busy couple of days!

Charlotte turned 4 months old on Valentine's Day and I couldn't have asked for a sweeter Valentine :) She's been doing great, as usual!

We had her 4 month check-up on the 11th. She got two more needles - poor babe - and doesn't go back again until she's 6 months. She is 12lbs 13oz, 23.75" long, and healthy as a horse! She's (obviously) still on the smaller side but the doctor doesn't seem concerned in the slightest. She just takes after her mom and dad - we're not exactly big people.

A touch too small for her highchair, yet! She thinks it's pretty hilarious :)

She is getting funnier and funnier as the days go on. She talks all the time and changes the volume of her voice - sometimes she'll squeal and yell at us and sometimes she'll lower her voice and softly talk to us. It's adorable. She's rolled back to belly once after a good solid three days of constant practice - and now she won't do it anymore. She did it and decided once was good enough :) She loves standing and can sit up by herself for a few minutes without toppling over. She recently discovered that she has a head so she's always reaching up to touch her hair or touch her ear. It's super cute. She's also finally figured out how to get her fingers into her mouth and is chewing on them pretty much non-stop. I suspect some teeth soon!

Yummy!

She's become pretty predictable and we have her on a nice eat, play, sleep schedule. She sleeps through the night a few nights a week (like, from 8pm-7am sort of thing) otherwise she gets up once around 5am to eat, then goes back to sleep until about 8:30ish. She's still happy as a clam to sleep in her crib, wakes me in the morning with soft little coos, and always greets me with a huge gummy grin. Love. Her.

As far as milestones go, here's what she's been doing on my 4-7 month developmental checklist:

• Sits with support of hands (5-6mos.)
• Supports whole weight on legs (6-7mos.)
• Grasps feet (6mos.) - she LOVES her toes when she gets her diaper changed
• Tracks moving objects with ease (4-7mos.)
• Grasps objects dangling in front of her (5-6mos.)
• Uses voice to express joy and displeasure (4-6mos.)
• Explores with hands and mouth (4-7mos.)
• Enjoys social play (4-7mos.)
• Interested in mirror images (5-7mos.) - she loves looking at herself in the mirror!

She's just a joy! Every day, I just can't wait to see what she'll do next.
























February 16, 2011 - Four months and 2 days old.

The one with the Valentine bum

Remember the awesome jammies in this post?
























Happy Valentine's Day!
(4 month post will come tomorrow - I gots me a date tonight!)

The one where Charlotte is too cool for school

And by "school", I mean "being rocked to sleep".

Yes, that's right. My tiny little baby who isn't even four months old yet has decided that she doesn't want to be rocked to sleep anymore. She just wants to be put in her crib and she'll fall asleep on her own, thank you very much.

This makes Mommy very sad ... and very thankful at the same time.

I hear of a lot of parents having a ridiculously difficult time getting their babies to sleep at all, so I really should not be complaining that my baby is sleeping, sleeping for long stretches, sleeping for long stretches after falling asleep on her own...

(Can I track down all those people who, during my pregnancy, told me that I would never sleep again once the baby came? Remember those people? Ha! I have a magic sleeping baby, y'all!)

But it does bum me out that she's becoming so independent so quickly. I mean, not only will she not sleep on us at all, but there's no way we can rock her to sleep anymore. She'll doze in our arms, but she won't get into a good deep sleep until we put her down in her bed. It's almost like rocking with us is just too much stimulation and she needs to relax comfortably in her own bed to sleep. She wiggles and squirms and makes noises until we put her down in her crib and then she relaxes like "ahhhhh, it's bedtime!"

It also bums me out because I feel like I missed out on all that prime snuggly time when she was a newborn. Because of our horrible breastfeeding issues, I had a really hard time dealing with her when she was young and liked being held and snuggled all the time. Now, she's older and more curious - she doesn't want to sit on our laps or cuddle for very long. She just wants to go and explore. I'm a bit angry that I couldn't enjoy her as much as I deserved to when she was little. I want those two and a half weeks back. I want to lay on the couch with her all snuggled up on my chest, fast asleep ... but she won't have any of that now.

But, in the long run, I know this is a good thing. She obviously has a secure attachment and feels safe and happy falling asleep on her own. She knows that she'll be well-rested and that when she wakes up, our smiling faces will peer over the side of her crib and she'll come out and play with us. I like the fact that (thus far) she's not crying in her bed because she has to go to sleep. I like that (knock on wood) we won't have to do any sleep training with her. Sleep is something that we don't have to worry about and that's really a wonderful thing in the Land O' Parenting.

At least I can live vicariously through pictures...