Charlotte's 10 Month Update

Double digits?! Seriously, where is the time going? I can't believe in just two short months, we will be celebrating Charlotte's first birthday! I guess that means I really need to start planning her party.

Eating: We officially ditched the baby food. With seven teeth, there really is no need for the pureed stuff; time for the real deal! Lucky for us, she loves everything we put in front of her. Sometimes the texture of a food may throw her off, but after a second or so of being unsure, she continues to shovel it in. There are some foods that she seems to prefer over others, such as pizza, bread and grapes, but the good news is she still manages to eat her vegetables, which makes me very  happy!

Sleeping: Charlotte's sleeping habits haven't really changed. She still goes down around 7 and is up between 6:30 and 7 the next morning (we were blessed with such a great sleeper). She moves around quite a bit in her sleep but never wakes up. However, nap time is a different story. We struggle on the weekends with a routine so she ends up taking a few short naps throughout the day instead of one long nap. We are fine with not sticking to a tight nap schedule as long as it doesn't affect her behavior. So far it hasn't, so we let her dictate her sleep schedule.

She becomes more active every day. Last month she was pulling herself up and standing while holding on to furniture and this month she is walking from one piece to the next holding on. She can even stand for a few seconds without holding onto anything! I'm curious to see how much longer we have before she starts to walk. With that being said, we've begun the baby proofing. Gates went up, cabinets got locked and electrical sockets got plugged since she is into everything!

We are working on the word "no"to teach her boundaries. So far she just laughs when I say no.....boy, are we in trouble!

This little baby girl has such a personality already. She is silly, playful, energetic and smart, and I can't wait to see how she continues to grow (I have a feeling she will be keeping us busy)!

Check out her other month updates here:

1 Month

2 Months

3 Months

4 Months

5 Months

6 Months

7 Months

8 Months

9 Months

Charlotte's 9 Month Update

Let me start by saying these aren't the best pictures. Now that Charlotte is mobile and truly has a mind of her own, getting her to sit still is next to impossible. Good thing we only have to do this three more times! Physically I don't think she's changed that month, but developmentally she has grown so much in just one short month!

Eating: Charlotte is still such a good eater. She will eat anything we give her and only makes a face when she's trying a food for the first time. She still likes it, just unsure at first. We introduced meat to her this month and just like everything else, she loves it! Although she primarily eats pureed baby food, we are starting to give her real food since she has plenty of teeth to break it all down.

Sleeping: Nothing really new to report on this front. We are still so grateful that she sleeps as well as she does. And now that the sun comes up later, so does Charlotte! I feel bad on the weekends because we won't wake up until 8 or 8:30 because she's so quiet. She'll just sit in her crib talking to herself until we come and get her. We finally have a little weekend routine where she goes down for a nap between 9 and 9:30 and will sleep for a few hours. This is when we get all the stuff around the house done!

So many milestones this month! Charlotte can now pull herself up on just about anything. She loves to stand while holding on, although a few times I've caught her standing by herself and before she loses her balance, she will slowly squat down to sitting on the floor. She gets into everything which has brought on a new challenge; baby proofing! Now that she has teeth we hear all sorts of new noises from her, but my favorite is when she's playing and starts whispering like she has something super important to tell you. She loves remotes and any unconventional toy, and does not like when we take things away from her. She only cries when she's tired or hungry, which makes for such a pleasant baby the rest of the time!

We are no longer concerned about Minnie Mouse, in fact you could say we are best friends now!

I think we have gotten over the stranger danger issue. She doesn't instantly melt down and go into hysterics when she sees a man. Now she is just a little apprehensive which I'll take any day over the breakdown we used to have.

I can't wait to celebrate the holiday season with her while she is at such a fun age. These next three months are going to fly by, but be so much fun!

 Check out her other month updates here:

1 Month

2 Months

3 Months

4 Months

5 Months

6 Months

7 Months

8 Months

Charlotte's 8 Month Update

I can't believe it's been a week since my last blog post! We just got back from another trip to Disney World and I was super busy trying to get everything together for the trip and then getting our lives back together after, that I kept forgetting to make time to blog!

So in case you didn't know, Charlotte turned 8 months on the 9th, so we are just a few days late. However, I did manage to take the pictures on the actual day, so that's a plus.

Eating: Charlotte LOVES real food and will eat anything off my plate. We are introducing her to all different types of foods so she gets used to all foods and not just the pureed baby food. We break it up into super tiny pieces so she doesn't have any trouble getting it down. So far she truly likes everything. Surprisingly enough, we haven't noticed her taking a preference over certain types of foods versus others; she seems to like it all!

Sleeping: She does not enjoy napping very much and often skips a morning nap, but we are fine with it since she still sleeps so well at night. Even though she is teething, she doesn't really wake up. Sometimes we will hear her crying in her sleep but that only lasts a few seconds. She wakes up between 6 and 7 every morning no matter how early or late she goes to bed.

Charlotte seems to discover a new frequency of shrieking every day. She still loves to chat and babble all day long. Along with crawling, her new thing is to wave at things while she is being carried. She is completely freaked out by men right now. She knows her granddads and her daddy, but if any other man approaches her, she instantly starts screaming and reaching for us. I think it's safe to say that "stranger danger" has set in. Charlotte also hates not being able to play with anything she likes. She often gets told no for getting in to things she shouldn't and will let you know her disapproval rather instantly.

I can't believe we are just 4 months away from her first birthday. We absolutely adore watching her grow and discover new things every day as she develops her own unique personality. We truly got lucky with such a sweet, fun and laid back baby!

 Check out her other month updates here:

1 Month

2 Months

3 Months

4 Months

5 Months

6 Months

7 Months

Charlotte's 7 Month Update

Eating - Charlotte eats a vegetable AND a fruit for lunch and dinner. She drinks water with her solid foods which isn't her favorite, but she tolerates it. She can even hold her bottle all on her own! We started practicing motor skills with puffs and she has already come a long way in just a few short weeks. She can pick them up one by one and feed herself, which comes in super handy to tide her over between meals.

Sleeping - We are so blessed in this department. Charlotte goes down between 7 and 8 without much of a fuss (last month she had to cry it out, but now she goes right down). She gets a bath then a little bottle and down she goes. We won't hear from her again until around 6 the next morning!

Charlotte loves to talk and make noise as much as possible. She doesn't like being hungry or dirty diapers. In fact, that is really the only time she fusses. She is so close to crawling and gets frustrated after a while when she can't reach the things she wants to. She can scoot, roll around and get up in the crawling position, but not quite ready to crawl. 

Still curious about Minnie, but not as perplexed as she used to be!

We are loving every minute of this sweet baby and I can't wait to see what the next few months bring. My favorite time of the year is just around the corner and I can't wait to celebrate all of Charlotte's firsts! Not to mention we have two more Disney trips planned for the remainder of the year, so being excited about the next 4 months is an understatement by far!

Check out her other month updates here:

1 Month

2 Months

3 Months

4 Months

5 Months

6 Months

Linking up with Molly for Let it Shine Monday!

Charlotte's Six Month Update

Today is Charlotte's half birthday and you know what that means? Another monthly update! I love watching her change from month to month and documenting all her milestones. Hopefully, one day she will look back on all these posts as a sort of time capsule of her little life.

Eating: This past month was spent exploring new foods. We introduced baby food and to say she loves it is an understatement. Seriously, she has not made a face at anything we've given her. We started with vegetables and introduced a new one every three or four days to make sure she had no issues. This week, we will start introducing fruits which I'm sure she'll love just as much, if not, even more. Currently, she eats two meals a day of baby food, with about 26-28oz of formula which is much better than the 36oz of formula she was eating last month.

Sleeping: We have started to face some challenges on getting Charlotte down for the night, but in the grand scheme of things, it's nothing. She starts acting tired around 7pm so we get her ready for bed and put her down. Then the screaming begins. We know there is nothing wrong with her (besidses the occosaional teething pain), but she will roll around in her crib screaming. After 15 minutes, one of us will go in and give her her pacifier and another kiss goodnight. Usually she will cry for another five minutes or so and then fall asleep for the night.

Mornings are usually pretty easy. She gets up between 5:30 and 6 and after a quick diaper change and a bottle, she will go back to sleep for a few hours, which is especially nice on the weekends.

Charlotte has become much more interactive over the past few weeks and I can tell she is going to be hard to keep up with! She loves playing, bouncing and talking to her animals in her exersaucer. When she's not in that, she loves to independently sit on her own and play with toys that are in her reach. I think in the next month or so she will be able to scoot around or better yet, crawl. She likes to stand while holding your hands and will hang out there for minutes at a time. She still has such a sweet personality and will smile at everyone.

Starting to like Minnie more and more. Look how far she's come!

Check out her other month updates:

1 Month

2 Month

3 Month

4 Month

5 Month

Charlotte's Five Month Update

How has another month come and gone already?! I know I sound like such a cliché, but seriously, can time stop flying by please? On one hand I look forward to Charlotte getting older so we can experience all the new and exciting things as parents, but on another, I don't think I'm ready to move from infant to baby then baby to little girl. I have a feeling next month will hit me hard...

Eating - We finally started solids (I guess that's what they call it even though there is nothing solid about watered down oatmeal) and she LOVES it! I thought it would instantly replace a bottle, but she still wants about 3 ounces after she eats her "big girl" food. We are trying to cut back on the formula after I was told by the pediatrician that she can't have more than 36 ounces a day....ooops. We were giving her exactly that, so now we try to only do 30 ounces. Nothing else has majorly changed with her eating. She still spits up a good amount, but we are used to it by now. Hopefully with the solids, we will start to see less of that.

Sleeping - We have been so lucky from the beginning with a baby that sleeps. Some nights she will fall asleep after eating around 6:30or 7 and stay asleep until 6am. Other nights, if she wakes up from her nap, we will give her another bottle around 9:30 and put her down in her crib where she will sleep until 6 or 7am. Only twice since her first tooth started coming in has she woken up in pain, but easily went back down after a little consoling. We try to have a nighttime routine that consists of feeding her in her room with story time, but sometimes she falls asleep earlier than expected and we just let her sleep until we go to bed. She seems to enjoy going with the flow for now.

Charlotte is still a HUGE Daddy's girl and will find him as long as he's in the room. She loves to "talk" to her hands and Wubbanub right before falling asleep. We say she is telling them all about her day. She's not a fan of teething, but who is? Every now and again she will scream in pain, but it only lasts a few seconds. We are finding that chewing on her pacifier helps; she's not big into teething toys just yet.

And just when I thought she was warming up to Minnie, she still seems confused as to why there is a life-sized mouse sitting next to her month after month.

Check out her other month updates here:

1 Month

2 Months

3 Months

4 Months

Linking up with Molly for Funday Monday!

Charlotte's Three Month Update

Today is April 9th and that can only mean one thing....Charlotte is 3 months old today! Time for another month update!

Eating - Charlotte just seems to not be able to get enough. We bumped her up to 5oz hoping she would last longer between feedings....nope. She still eats every 3 hours during the day, but at night she will go 6-8 hours between bottles. I guess she is stock piling during the day for nighttime. I'm definitely not going to complain about that!

Sleeping - She has really gotten a hold of this whole sleeping thing. She takes cat naps during the day but will sleep most of the evening starting at 8pm. Sometimes she will sleep through her next bottle and will wake up around 4am to eat, but now I'm trying to get her to eat again at 11 or 12 because then she'll sleep until 6am!

We found it easier to have her in our room at night in the beginning because she liked sleeping propped up and it made waking up and feeding every few hours a lot easier if she was right next to us. Now that she is getting older, we are putting her in her crib at night but are finding she isn't sleeping as soundly. If she sleeps in her crib, she wakes up between 3 and 4 no matter what. So sometimes we let her sleep in our room again because we can almost guarantee a full night's sleep. 

I can't handle the way she looks at Minnie every single time! Three months of this same picture cracks me up!

Likes and dislikes - There aren't too many things Charlotte doesn't like these days. She is still indifferent about the bath, but other than that she is quite the happy baby. She loves car rides, peek-a-boo, and her Wubbanub. She giggles and babbles a lot in the morning and in the evening. Charlie loves her bobby, blankets and anything she can put in her mouth.

Here is her comparison from last month. I think she grew A TON!

Check out her other month updates here:

1 Month

2 Months

My 5 Must Haves

Charlotte is almost 3 months now, and some days I feel like I've finally got a hang of this whole mom thing until 2.5 seconds later the unexpected happens. Well at least there was a split second when it seemed like the stars aligned just for me. It's really not that bad. I would say I have more star aligning moments than not, but I would be lying if I told you I didn't have any help. Below are my top 5 baby items that I couldn't live without. These are my lifesavers that help me through those rough days.

1. The Boppy - She LOVES her Boppy. It's so nice to be able to put her next to me on the couch and interact with her. It keeps her slightly elevated which helps for spitting up and her reflux but is also comfortable enough for her to take a quick nap in. I like that these grow with your baby as well.
2. Crib wedge - This is my newest purchase and it works wonders! We had Charlotte in our room for the first few months mainly for our convenience. She slept through the night in her Rock-n-Play and I wasn't about to change that routine. I knew she was going to outgrow the Rock-n-Play soon so it was time to face the crib. Just as I feared she kept waking up in the middle of the night. I tried rolling towels under her mattress to elevate it but she would roll off them and wake up with her face pressed against the crib rails (yeah, she wasn't a fan of that as you can imagine). After talking to a few people, I decided to try the crib wedge because it props her up  like the Boppy and Rock-n-Play and is more stable than the towels. Sure enough it worked!
3. Wubbanub - We love these! She has had them since she was born and they are great because they stay in their mouths a lot better than just a regular pacifier. Because there is a little stuffed animal on the end, it's easy for her to grab and keep it in her mouth. And can we talk about how stinkin' cute they look?!
4. Formula stacker - When getting ready to go out for the day, it's so much easier to portion out 3 or 4 feedings than to bring the entire tub of formula. You can bring just one or screw on more containers for more feedings depending on how long you plan to be out. It has an easy pour spout so you won't make a mess trying to dump the formula in the bottle.
5. One piece outfits - I always thought I would want my baby dressed to the nines at all times. That lasted for about a minute. I quickly learned that one piece outfits are your friend. I don't like the idea of leaving Charlotte in her jammies all day but I like the ease of the sleepers. So I went out on a mission to get as many one piece outfits that didn't look like pajamas to wear during the day. Sure, when we go out to see people I will dress her up more, but for errands and lounging around the house it's just not necessary. 

Linking up with Molly and Carly for Funday Monday!

Charlotte's Two Month Update

We've survived another month! Charlotte has her two month checkup this afternoon, so I will update her weight and length later. In the mean time, here are her pictures from yesterday's two month photo shoot. I couldn't capture a good smile, but she was quite content with everything.

Eating - Charlie LOVES to eat! Since last month, we've bumped up her feedings from 3oz to 4oz every 3 hours. She seems to do well with that amount, but I have a feeling we will be going to 5oz sooner than later.

Sleeping - Charlotte has really started becoming very alert during the day. She takes little cat naps when we are at home, but if we go out, she sleeps the whole time. Sometimes I take her out just to get her to sleep some. When she's awake she's generally a happy baby so I really can't complain.

At night, she will often eat at 9 and then sleep until 2 or 3 in the morning which is nice. But I would really like for her to sleep those six hours after eating at midnight so she can sleep through the night. Last night she did just that; ate at 11:30pm and didn't wake up again until 6am! Let's see if we can keep that up! Generally when she wakes up in the middle of the night it's very easy. A quick diaper change and a bottle and she goes right back down.

Just like last month, she seems unsure of Minnie sitting next to her. I love that i got the same picture a month later! I'm going to see how many months I can get her to do this.

Likes and Dislikes - As I said before, Charlotte is a very good baby. We have a few hours in the evening that she's fussy, but other than that she's happy. She loves hanging out in her boppy, but still does not like laying flat in her crib just yet. Her favorite game is peek-a-boo. Dirty diapers make her angry, but once you take it off, she's happy again. Tummy time is fun for a few minutes until she spits up and lays her face in it. Charlie loves being talked to and will smile real big when you get close.

That about sums up her two month update! Wish us luck as we get her vaccinations this afternoon. I have a feeling it will be harder on me than her. Can't wait to keep sharing these updates with you!

Check out last months update here:

1 Month

Linking up with Molly @ Still Being Molly for Funday Monday!

Charlotte's 1 Month Update

Like every mom out there, I can't believe how fast time is going by. It feels like we brought Charlotte home last week but she's already a month old! I love watching her change and grow every week. Even the littlest of milestones are exciting.

Eating - Charlotte isn't the most consistent baby. She loves food, but how much and how often is up to her. She usually eats three to four ounces but sometimes will only take two. We try to feed her essentially an ounce an hour. So if she eats three ounces, we expect to feed her in three hours. That doesn't always work and sometimes she wants to eat every two hours. It can be frustrating not always knowing when she'll want to eat next, but as long as we are prepared with bottles, it's not really a problem.

Sleeping - Like most babies, Charlotte likes her sleep. Although, she seems to be awake more and more the older she gets. I love how alert she is and all the sweet noises she makes, but it's nice when she sleeps too. There have been days when she'll only sleep for 15 minutes at a time which makes for an exhausting day. But I'm learning that taking her out to run errands helps to get her to sleep during the day. We've also learned that the louder it is, the sounder she'll sleep. We took her to a friends house to watch the Super Bowl and she didn't wake up during the five hours we were there, not even to eat! 

Some nights are better than others, but for the most part she only wakes up to eat which is usually about every 3 hours. She sleeps in our room in her rock-n-play which seems to work our well since it elevates her a little and vibrates. If she gets fussy, I can reach out and rock her back to sleep. We really can't complain, we have a good sleeper....for now!

 Couldn't resist sharing this awesome picture of her giving Minnie the stink eye.

Likes and Dislikes - Charlotte likes being wrapped in a blanket and warm at all times. She hates waiting for a bottle and the constant gas pains that are associated with eating (thank goodness for gripe water and gentle ease formula). She loves being held as much as possible and uses her Wubanub as a way to self soothe.

Linking up with Molly @ Still Being Molly for Funday Monday!