Charlotte - Week 10

Happy (US) Thanksgiving everyone! Well it's official. Charlie is HUGE! She's seemed to have grown so much just in this past week. She's fitting comfortably into 3-6 month clothes now and every day I'm moving onesies from the "just right" pile to the "too small" pile. She's a healthy girl, that's for sure! She's also very strong. She wants to be standing most of the time on her chubby little legs. She's smiling and talking a whole lot more now and unlike Ruby at this age, she'll smile at most everyone. She has the cutest little dimples and I love it when you can see a huge smile coming through her eyes first. She also makes sweet cooing noises when I'm not looking at her to get my attention and then is so proud of herself when I do look at her.

Charlotte continues to be on a schedule of eating every 3 hours with a longer stretch at night. She's still up once a night but I'm hoping she'll soon be giving me at least 6 hours, I'm TIRED. :) We're still walking her around to get her to sleep for her naps and then she usually naps in the swing or the car seat. I'm planning on working on having her put herself to sleep in her own crib in the next few weeks but am dreading the "cry it out" period. I know that eventually I'll be so happy I did it and she'll be happy too but it's always a hard couple of days.

Doug's dad (Pop Pop) is here visiting and we've enjoyed having him around. Ruby really warmed up to him and it's nice to have the extra set of hands.

In the essence of Thanksgiving, I wanted to take a moment to tell you what I am thankful for:
I'm thankful for two healthy, beautiful girls that melt my heart every day;
I'm thankful for the most wonderful husband in the world who loves me unconditionally and works so hard to provide for us so I am able to stay home with our girls;
I'm thankful for the closeness I have with my sisters and brother and how when things get tough, our bond gets tighter;
I'm thankful to live in such a wonderful area and to have made some amazing life-long friends in just the few years we've been here;
I'm thankful for DVR so I can have "Aha moments" with Oprah during the middle-of-the-night feedings. :)

Gobble, Gobble.

Pop Pop with granddaughters #9 & #10!

Making gingersnap cookies with Rubes. It's hard to believe there was enough batter left to make cookies!

Swaddled snuggliness.

Uncle Tommy came to visit!

Do you think she's getting enough to eat? :)

Standing up!

We had a photo shoot with my friend that did our maternity photos, here are some of my favorites:

Charlotte - Week 9

Charlotte had her 2 month appointment on Monday along with 4 shots. :( Like usual, it was harder on Mommy than it was on her. What made it so hard was that the whole time she was getting the shots she was crying but with her eyes open and wouldn't take her eyes off mine, "why are you letting them do this to me, Mommy?" Heart-breaking. The doctor was very pleased with how Charlotte is developing, she's 11 lbs, 6 oz and 23 1/8 inches long. She's in the 50th percentile for weight and 75th for height. I checked back on Ruby's stats at 2 months and she was 10 lbs, 7 oz and 23 inches so a little smaller but pretty close! Also, looking back at my update for Ruby at 9 weeks, she was sleeping through the night every other night by this time. Gotta get working on that one Charlie. :)

Charlotte is all smiles and just cracks me up with her big goofy grins. When I'm so tired and trying to rock her to sleep after feeding her in the middle of the night, she just looks up at me with that huge peaceful smile and suddenly I don't feel so tired and just love the special moment we're having. I also love hearing her coos and chatting sessions. She loves to converse and tries so hard to make noises in response to someone talking to her. She's a sweetie-pie!

Ruby's continuing to be a great big sister and really loves Charlotte. She calls her "Sharlie" and loves to give her hugs and kisses but is not all over her ALL of the time anymore. I'm able to put Charlotte down on the bouncy seat or the play mat when Ruby's around and not fear for her life anymore. :) Ruby continues to crack us up on a daily basis, the best was the other day when she got mad at me and told me I was fired. Where does she get this stuff?!? We're really amazed at how smart she is, we're lucky parents! We're going to attempt to get family photos done this weekend - wish us luck!

Our little sweet pea.

Daddy actually did her hair this day. :)

Daddy being goofy with Charlie.

Gah, these two are adorable!

Whoa, close up!

Charlie had a very fun AND stimulating play date with her buddy Cecilia.

Ruby and Lucy were WAY too quiet upstairs for a while. They found the bright pink nail polish and decided to give themselves manicures and pedicures.

And then they decided to make Lucy's doll bleed from the eyes.

Love her smile!

Goofy girl.

Charlotte - Week 8 (better late than never!)

Another great week! Beth was here for a few days last week to help us out - thanks Beth!! Ruby loved having her around and was infatuated with her purse, shoes and iPhone. Doug and I were able to get out to celebrate my birthday as well, which was wonderful.

Charlotte continues to grow so fast, she has her 2 month appointment on Monday and I can't wait to see how much she weighs and how much longer she's gotten. Not looking forward to the 4 shots she has to get though. :( Makes me tear up just thinking about it.

We are getting lots of big smiles now but I haven't been able to capture many because once the camera comes out I can't get her to smile. She's a silly girl and loves smiling at mommy and especially daddy. Ruby usually gets too close to her face to get a smile just yet but that will come. Oy. Charlie is also starting to talk to us, it's so cute to watch her get all excited after she makes a noise on purpose. She just loves it when I have a conversation with her and wait for her to respond. She gets so proud of herself. She's also loving standing now. Her legs are incredibly strong and she can keep her weight on them for a long time.

From 5ish to 9ish pm still remains to be a pretty fussy time for Charlie but we got Gripe Water the other day and it seems to really help settle her tummy. She's such a content little girl all day, it breaks my heart to see her in pain in the evening. Hopefully this will pass very soon.

Thinking about her next meal.

Rubes and her BFFs, Lily and Lucy.

Totally relaxed with Daddy.

Her first bow. (Look really hard!)

She can play a mean blow up guitar.

Asleep on Auntie Beth. Look how BIG she is!!

Wait, is she texting???

Naked Charlie!

Hey mom!

OK, so I took a picture of her pooping. It's just so darn funny!!

So happy now that she pooped. :)

OK, not quite done. Sorry Charlotte!!!

All that pooping makes me tired! YAWN.

Charlotte - Week 7

Charlotte continues to be such a sweetie, we're getting settled in a good routine and now we have scheduled feeding/wake and nap times which makes it much easier for us to plan our days. She continues to get up only once a night to eat, she's such a good baby! :) Knowing that this will be our last makes me cherish every moment, even getting up in the middle of the night. I'm happy to do it and love every second of it and I'm not anxiously awaiting the night she sleeps straight through - that will mean she's growing up and I just am loving this baby stage with her.

Charlotte loves the baby swing and that's where she takes most of her naps. Eventually I'll transition her to nap in her crib but I'm in no rush. She makes the sweetest groaning noises when she sleeps, it starts off really softly and then escalates to a really loud groan and sometimes goes on for 10-15 minutes. It's pretty hilarious.

Charlotte had a great first Halloween Trick-or-Treating with her big sister, just don't tell her that I ate all her chocolate. :) I just can't believe our baby will be 2 months old next week, time sure flies when you're having fun!

Our friend Beth is staying with us over the weekend and is being a great help. Doug and I got out for a date yesterday - it was so great to just sit and relax and TALK. We haven't had a full conversation in a long time!

Ruby's class had a Halloween party - sooooo cute!

Sister play time.

Story time with Daddy.

She loved the book Gossie!

Dr. Ruby Trick-or-Treating with her buddy Chris. Racing to the next house.

Scoring some loot.

She didn't like to hang around after she got the candy.

Masterminding her next poop.

Cute little smile. Cute little chins.

Hanging out with Dad.

Awwww!

Ruby's learning how to be such a great big sister and much more gentle!

Look Charlie, it's a wed birwd.