Charlotte Ann is 4 months old!

One of Charlotte's tricks is to wring her hands like she's worrying about something... Even when looking worried, she's so cute!

Charlotte turned four months old today.  Over the last four weeks she has been enjoying playing with new toys, licking her lips (or attempting to do this), pooping in the bath (this I don’t find so adorable), and has discovered her hands and feet!   

 

 

First time in the high chair!  This lasted for about two minutes before she had a meltdown...

 

Just hanging out in the high chair watching Mommy make an Olivia's Buttermilk Pie ~ YUM!

Working on Baptism invitations is such hard tiring work!  Zzzz!

~ Furry brothers enjoying the summer sunshine ~

 

 

 

Beautiful summer sunset one June night that made the leaves across the street look like fall!

She look so worried!

After several tries over the last year that included having a priest over for dinner a few weeks before Charlotte's birthday we finally got our house blessed this past month!!! 

Summer time means enjoying bottles out on the front porch and watching the cars drive down our street.

 

It seems uncomfortable but this is her preferred position these days...to arch her back and twist her wrists and arms back behind her shoulders like so.

 

She likes to play with and hold her hands as often as she can.  She accidentally sucked her thumb a few times this month and is constantly trying to sit up now…she should have abs of steel from all the crunches she does!  She is also sitting up by herself (with the assistance of a pillow or blanket that is).

Watching her balloon is one of her favorite things to do.

  

 

Vacation Bible School also happened this past month where she was a star with the exception of a mom who felt the need to tell me about staying away from vaccinations and issues with not breastfeeding.  I am learning to develop a thicker skin since becoming a mom due to the frequency folks will provide advice on the right and only way to parent….!  Anyhow, back to VBS, the children loved interacting with Charlotte and she passed out smiles like candy.  There weren't as many kids as last year (yet) but hopefully the kids who did attend VBS had fun!!

I love watching the children sing the songs (and one group even spontaneously sang as they worked on their crafts one day). I loved being able to help with Arts and Crafts like I did last year and look forward to volunteering again in the future. 

Planning meeting for VBS

 

Sleeping on the job...

 

 

 

Almost a Dallas Cowboys theme going on here...

 

  In preparation for our upcoming beach trip to Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Charlotte had to try out some summer looks!

 

This past month also showed growth in social skills for Charlotte.  She is able to hold longer and longer conversations with more intonations/inflections.  She also has been smiling more and increasing the variety of facial expressions each day.  She expresses her wants by pushing herself away from the person holding her to hold herself upright if she wants to change positions and she is also continuing to work on her neck and head control skills.

Charlotte appears to still be teething but not to the extent as back in May.  The teeth, so far, have not cut through yet and she sometimes uses her paci, a Giraffe teething toy, and an amber teething necklace (that she doesn’t quite know what to do with just yet).  I do have teething tablets but haven’t tried them with her yet. 

Last year when I volunteered for VBS, we didn't yet know we were expecting.  How fun it was to do it again this year with Charlotte in tow!

The theme of VBS this year was "The Mystery of the Mass Explained through the Eucharist".  We created maps, made grapes and placed them on vineyards, designed prayer journals, and made chalices in Arts and Crafts.  Can't wait to see what we do next year!!

Charlotte Ann is definitely a lot more alert and interested in her surroundings this month.

...including my glasses!  The children at VBS got a kick out of the "Baby Charlotte" name tag on her back.  ; )

Napping furbabies along with miracle baby <3

Charlotte was like a mini celebrity at VBS..hehe!!

 

At VBS, she started playing with her toys on her carseat!

Can you spot Baby Charlotte??

 

I appreciated the sticker that my Mom's cousin used in sending Charlotte a Baptism gift in the mail.  : )

Silly Daddy at lunch one day

Charlotte has recently started playing with our wedding bands when we feed her.  So sweet!

Surprise!!!

 

 

Happy 4th of July!  One year ago today we found out we were pregnant!!!

 

Charlotte wasn't really into the smiling thing for our 4th of July picture so Adam said we should take a photo "crying" like Charlotte hence this picture.  ; )

 

When we first came home from the hospital, Charlotte napped swaddled but since then hasn’t with the exception of one day this past month since she has a tendency to kick her way out of being swaddled.  Every now and then we will put her in a Velcro snap type swaddle sack that is loosely used due to her growing out of it.  So far, she has only slept on her back and sometimes will take a pacifier at naptime. 

Charlotte doesn’t usually spit up but I do always have a burp cloth handy just in case.  Due to teething, she was drooling quite a bit at some points over the last four weeks but not enough to have a bib on all the time.

Watching fireworks from our backyard!  I can't wait for Charlotte to experience this holiday treat.  Maybe someday she will invite her friends over to watch the fireworks from her yard. 

I love how you can see the pups in the light of the doorway.

Her newest trick while she sleeps is to kick her legs and turn her body so that she is perpendicular in her crib.  Silly girly!

 

Hey wait a minute, I wore this outfit for my 3 month photo shoot.  Oops!!

After one too many times of Char's little fingers getting stuck in my hair, it was determined I need to donate my hair via a haircut and sending it in to an organization that creates wigs for children with hair loss.

Which toy to play with during tummy time??  Decisions decisions!!

Clothing size:  She is  barely able to pull off wearing some of her newborn outfits as she currently is wearing most of her 3 month outfits and some 3-6 pieces that were brought out of the storage bins the last several weeks. 

Diaper size:  As of last weekend, we are now in size 2 diapers. She's been doing a good job of filling them.  ;)

Nicknames:  “Milk Monster” from Dad and her cousins after the beach trip continues to be a constant.  Lately, I've been calling her "Sweet Pea" or "Chickadee".  Last time I mentioned the idea of CharLee (pronounced Sharlee) as being a possible nickname.  Well, turns out the little boy at the babysitter's who will be three in August calls her that!  LOVE it!!  I have also noticed my Dad referring her to Char so maybe that will stick?  Guess time will tell!  

Health:  Everyone continued to be healthy this past month!  Charlotte's sneezes have changed slightly this past month but are still cute.

Sleep:  Charlotte has been fantastic with her sleeping this past month!!  She sleeps through the night usually for about 10 hours or so.  Hallelujah!!  There were a couple of early morning wakeups but for the most part she usually awakes around 8am which is very welcome here compared to the 3 and 5am wakings she used to be fond of so let's hope the later wake up times keep happening. 

 

Diet:  Charlotte continues to enjoy her formula.  She hasn't really increased her amounts that much and remains pretty stable compared to last month.  She still drinks anywhere from 5 to 8 oz. in a feeding and tends to finish eating with .5 to 1 oz. remaining in her bottle.  

Loves:  She continues to explore her world by stuffing objects into her mouth.  She also loves looking at her fingers and hands in the air.  It's adorable!  She still loves her parents and giraffe swing, has liked each of the new toys she has been presented with this past month (e.g., keys, Mr. Turtle ring) and is enjoying bath time more and more.  She loves her carseat toys and has taken a renewed interest in her activity mat particularly the dangling birds and owls.  She has also started to hold her bottle more which she seems to like doing and enjoyed being worn in the carrier when at the beach.  She also enjoys stretching her growing legs and arms.

Dislikes:  Charlotte continues to prefer to be in an upright position rather than laying down horizontally in your arms unless she's about to fall asleep or is eating.  At nighttime, when she doesn't want to go to bed just yet, she grows fussy and vocalizes but then usually soothes herself and puts herself to sleep within five minutes.  Like clockwork, she gets tired and is ready for night time bed between 8:30 and 9:30pm regardless of how early she started the day.  She is still sleeping in her crib and I'm so thankful we have a cozy little abode where we can hear her if she cries or makes any other sort of noise without being too far away from her.

 

Milestones:  She continues to do very well with her fine motor skills by successfully grabbing onto everything with her fingers including our wedding bands or my bracelets when changing her diaper or feeding her.  She is now making sounds like, "Ahhhhhhh" in addition to her usual coos/babbles during her "conversations" with us and is self soothing a lot now by "talking" to herself. 

Things I want to remember:  I love the way she laughs and squeals now...especially when tickling her belly button or blowing raspberries on her stomach.  The way she now lays her head down on my shoulder when carrying or holding her. I wish I could keep her there forever safe and protected from any harm that may come her way!!

 

She looooooves stretching out her legs and arms!

Walk like an Egyptian....

 Other highlights this month included a special Father's Day celebration across two weekends and our first major road trip to a beach for a family celebratory trip that was held in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.  More on those fun events later in future blog postings that will contain videos of some of the things mentioned here, as it's nearly midnight and I'm sleepy!  Sweet dreams!