Charlotte Ann is 2 months old!

It's hard to believe but Charlotte turns two months old today during Mother's Day Weekend.  

At her last checkup a few weeks ago, we learned that Charlotte gained two full pounds since the last time we saw the pediatrician weighing in at 9 lbs. 4 oz. and she had also grown one full inch since birth measuring at 20.5 inches long!  She fell in the 28th percentile for height and weight and her head measurements put her in the 50th percentile.  She has sensitive skin so we will need to be careful with the lotions/diapers we use.  Throughout the second month, we started working on stretching of legs and arms, increasing her tummy time, and she has been having lotion applied twice a day to her forehead due to dry skin. 

On the warmer days, she has gone on walks around the neighborhood with me in her stroller but we’re excited to use the umbrella stroller a friend gave us once she gets a little bit bigger.  She loves to cuddle, sleep with her hands above her head, soothe herself by rubbing her hair (it’s the cutest thing!), has started smiling back at us, enjoys the highest vibration setting on her bouncy seat (last month she hated it), doesn’t take her eyes off her Dad or me when we’re talking to others, still loves listening to her Daddy sing to her, and she is getting pretty good at grabbing fistfuls of my hair.  Hmm, maybe it's time for me to get a hair cut??! 

The other day she woke herself up laughing and more and more she is smiling when we enter the room or her line of sight.  It is really neat to see her smiling with intentionality these days.  Charlotte also lifts and holds her head up for 5-10 second stretches demonstrating excellent neck and head control.  She also likes laying on her changing table and taking everything in from that vantage point.  She has even fallen asleep while enjoying the view from her changing table!

We began trying out the crib for daytime naps this past month.  In fact, last night was the first night she slept in the crib for most of the night!

 

She loves looking up ~ even at 2:30am ~ and looking toward the light.  This picture was taken as she squirmed in my arms trying to get a better view of the twinkling lights in the tree in the living room that I had left on as a night light.  She is teaching me so much...in this case, to keep looking up, no matter how dark it may get there will always be a light no matter how faint it may appear to be! 

 

 

Love that she is now grabbing on to our fingers!  I don't think I could ever tire of this little grasp that has a huge hold on my heart... 

 

Three little warm bodies cuddling with me during a late night feeding this past month...

My twin, his wife, and their two boys came to visit.  Ben (2 years old), pictured above, was enthralled with Charlotte!

Thomas, who will be four in June, was full of giggles and dare I say mischief as we took Charlotte to her first state park one spring Saturday in April when they came to visit us.

 

Clean shaven Daddy!

This image reminds me that sometimes it may seem all is lost (the dead parts of this flower) but that we can rise and overcome those challenges.  Eventually, we can bloom like this beautiful flower did!

 

Immediately after that yawn above this picture, she passed out on me like this...God love her!

I seem to be obsessed with taking photos of our little girl when she's sleeping.  LOL!

Charlotte also had her first Skype calls this past week with a friend in Pennsylvania and another in Nebraska.  It was so healing for me to talk with these two wonderful women as they shared details of their own birth stories with some of their children.  More than anything I wanted to give Lauren and Margo hugs as we talked but if getting coffee together in person isn’t doable right now then I’m thankful for Skype to connect us virtually as they got to “meet” Charlotte that way!  I’m so lucky to have these two gals in my corner and their prayers and thoughts mean so much.  It was also inspiring to think of how little Charlotte has already made such an impact on not only Adam & me but others in her short life through these moms sharing with me their traumatic birth stories as well.  As some tears were shed by us ladies, hopefully through the shared crying, some healing came with talking about our experiences with one another.

Charlotte and I have also begun going on play dates and getting involved with the local moms group through cooking dinners for meal trains set up for families welcoming new babies to the family, continuing to attend Moms and Tots group at church once a week when we can, and we even attended a Moms Night event at our neighbor's house the other week.  I look forward to continuing to get to know these ladies and their families at future events!

Clothing size:  She has outgrown most newborn outfits but still fits into some of them.  Some of the 0-3 month outfits are too small whereas some others are still big on her.  She is growing too quickly and it is sort of a race trying to get her to wear each outfit she has in the newborn or 0-3 month sizes before she outgrows them all!

This frilly little pink number is one of my favorite tops to put on her.  I hope she doesn't outgrow it for a while!

She takes after me in the wine department and after her Dad in the dining area.
; )

Charlotte puts herself in the funniest positions...they don't seem too comfortable but they work for her.  During this particular sleeping session, she was bent over nearly in half and had her hands stretched out in a high five position all while nestled in my arms.  Hey, whatever works in getting her to sleep works for me! 

 

What a special and handmade gift from one of the moms that was included in a dinner that was dropped off for us this past month.

He doesn't know I took this photo but I thought it was so adorable how it looks like Charlotte is staring at Daddy from the computer screen.  ; )

Charlotte LOVES her new swing.  How cute is the giraffe as it looks like it is keeping an eye on our baby or telling her a secret.  ; )

 

Trying out the body carrier for the first time.  I was able to get many chores down around the house by carrying her this way...but could have used a massage after "wearing" her!

One of the many expressions little Charlotte Ann has...

I heard her cooing and babbling the other day and found her smiling and looking up at Jesus.  <3

 

Here's looking at you kid!

Sunshine Girl!

Can you tell the pups want someone to play with them?  I walked into the office and found these toys arranged just so near my desk chair...ahem.

Diaper size:  We’re still working our way through the diapers that were given to us at the showers thanks to the generosity of our loved ones.  Charlotte is still in a size 1 of the swaddler diapers but I’ve been noticing the particular brand we’re currently using, these are quite snug on her.

 

Baby Burrito  :P

Nicknames:  Adam still lovingly calls her “Milk Monster” while I stick to "Charlotte Girl" or some variation of her name most days.  The other day I did hear myself calling her a “Pooping Machine” after a particularly long day of changing one too many dirty diapers.  Good thing she’s a cutie pie!  ;)

Health:  Both Adam and I got sick in April with wretched colds (Adam still has a nagging cough that won’t go away) but Charlotte has been doing very well and didn’t get our cold germs!  She sneezes the tiniest of sneezes here and there but overall, her health has been fantastic thus far.

Sleep:  The last week or so has involved Charlotte only waking up twice in the night after her last feeding around midnight.  When on schedule, she usually goes down for the night between 8:30 and 9:30pm and may or may not wake again for her midnight feeding.  She then tends to wake between 2 and 3am and then again between 6 and 7am.  We’re looking forward to hopefully longer stretches between feedings in the night in the upcoming weeks. Fingers crossed!  We have also been doing some daytime naps in the crib in the St. Francis room but for night time, she is still sleeping in our bedroom.

Diet:  This entire month consisted of formula eating and Charlotte is growing which means her intake of milk is increasing.  She drinks anywhere from 5 to 8 oz. in a feeding. She’s a healthy little baby girl who loves to eat!

Loves:  She loves her parents, her giraffe swing that replaced her old swing, football when watching it from her changing table if Daddy has it on in the St. Francis room ; ), her bouncy seat, Grandma and Grandpa’s activity mat, bath time, and being rocked.  We also had two major firsts this month that she seemed to enjoy.  She was worn in a baby carrier as I attempted to do chores with her strapped to me and we spent a day shopping with my Mom.  Both times of being worn she snuggled right into my chest and fell asleep so I would call it a success!  During the shopping day, Mom, Charlotte, & I went to two HUGE consignment sales. In her first outing in the baby carrier in which I "wore" her she loved shopping while snuggling. I could see this bargain shopping day being a mother daughter tradition in the future...especially since the one sale we attended has clothing all the way up to teen sizes!  This was the first time I went clothes shopping for Charlotte in being able to pick out girly items.  It sure was fun!!  Adam likened it to little girls playing dress up with their dolls which was something I didn't really get into as a child but I'm certainly making up for it now with the real live baby doll known as Charlotte and picking out the clothes for her.  Between the two sales, I purchased (gulp) 100 items BUT with pants at $1.50 a piece and onesies at $1, dresses at $3 or $4, I felt like I could splurge and was pleased to see I only spent a little over $200 and her wardrobe is taken care of through the holidays.  Another first was to go on a road trip making the 5.5 hour drive to my parents’ home in Pennsylvania.  She did pretty well for it being such a long car ride!  

Love our little snuggle bear!!

~ Celebrating her cousin's First Communion in Pennsylvania with Great Aunt Maureen ~

 

My niece in her First Communion dress with one of her gifts.

Look at how strong she is!  She pulled herself up as I was getting her dressed for mass at my parents' house.

On the road again!

 

Are we there yet??

Poor Hershey!  He kept wanting to check on Charlotte in her car seat then losing his spot in the doggie bed when Dusty would spread out...he eventually got back in the dog bed and wound up sitting on top of Dusty at some point who didn't seem to mind.

Keeping an eye on the road...

Dislikes:  being put down when she would rather snuggle, taking a break from eating to burp or have a diaper change in the middle of a feeding, being over tired, and her diaper immediately after a blow-out.  Adam shared with me the other night that sometimes in the middle of the night he’ll hear the noises of her doing # 2 and then immediately she wakes herself up and cries.  Who could blame her?!

Milestones:  She is definitely continuing to work on fine motor skills grabbing onto fingers, my bracelets or necklace, my  hair, her collar or blanket, a pup’s fur ; ), and also cooing.  In the last half of the month, she has increased her joint eye gaze and joint attention with others.  She is still intrigued with shadows and light too.

Here she is content with helping me with laundry...

...and not so content here!

We took Charlotte to campus for a classical music event in the student union building this past month.  She didn't seem too sure at first but slept through the musical performances.

She was wide awake for visiting with Marita afterwards though!  I love how she is holding on to Adam's finger outside of Marita's office here.

Ah, those eyes!!!

 

This is what happens when Mommy forgets to bring a hat on a walk in the stroller.  Charlotte sported her Ariel, from the Little Mermaid, look that night.

Again...how she sleeps in these positions I don't know but I'll take all the snuggling I can get!

 

This is one of the meals we delivered to a family welcoming baby girl # 3 (Apple Cinnamon Pork Chops and green beans)!

The dinner was packaged in this sweet gift bag I recycled from one of our gifts.

This was with one of the gifts Charlotte received in the mail this past month.  How cute is this message?!

These were our purchases from the first of two consignment sales Mom, Charlotte and I attended last week.  What fun it was shopping for her!!

Lunch break in the car before heading to sale # 2!

Where's the baby?!

Shopping is hard work!  Whew!!

Adam looking for his daughter amidst the consignment sale purchases..hehe!

Things I want to remember:  Everything!!  I love the sounds she makes as she “talks” to herself, the babbling and cooing back and forth, the newest facial expression of opening her mouth in surprise, the eyebrow raises, the sighs of contentment, the way she kicks her legs in excitement (or anger), how she goes from 0 to 180 when she is not happy about something (she definitely knows how to express her feelings that’s for sure!), the way she snuggles in tucking her head under my chin and burrowing her face into my neck, the little baby breaths as she falls asleep, and the victory pose she tends to take on when she falls asleep in the crib or bassinette with arms raised over her head and legs sprawled as she utterly and totally relaxes herself.  Charlotte also has the funniest expressions and goes through so many in what seems like a five second interval then she starts all over again. The other night, she added a new expression to her repertoire by opening her mouth as if she were gulping  air in a surprised fashion.

Wearing the onesie she came home from the hospital in...I was so happy it still fit her!

  Here is our bath time photo shoot!

She reminds me of a worrying little old lady when she puts her hands up to her head like this...!

He's mine too...  <3

Another meal made for another family welcoming baby girl # 2 (Beef Bourguignon and Crusty Italian Bread)!

One second she's cooing...then falls asleep...

...then she gets herself into this silly position....

...then decides she wants to watch football with Daddy and the pups instead of sleeping!

Excited for her first Skype date with a friend from Pennsylvania!

~ Snuck a picture of these two pieces of my heart ~

 

This is the headband that she wore on the day she came home from the hospital.  It was too big then but is a bit snug now...again, she's growing so fast!

This is her newest expression...opening her mouth up as if she is surprised when she sees me doing it.  She even almost stuck out her tongue when I stuck mine out at her.  Silliness!

This bracelet was an early Mother's Day gift from one of my sisters-in-law in California.  Charlotte spontaneously grabbed onto it during her supper last night.  How appropriate considering what it says on the back of the charm...(see below)....

Even her hands are getting so big compared to one month ago!

Falling asleep on the job...

She sure loves her tummy time!

It's amazing how someone so small can take up so much room in our hearts.  She is growing like a flower and by God's grace may she continue to blossom and add beauty to the days!