4 Months Old!

 

Our sweet baby girl turned 4 months old today!!!  The days are just flying by!  Michael and I wake up each day excited to see what Charlotte has in store for us.  As soon as she spots us in her crib, she just lights up with smiles.  Who wouldn't want to wake up to that in the morning!?  I still nurse her every 3 hours during the day, and she sleeps 7:30pm - 7:30am at night, sometimes waking up briefly around 5:00am if she can Houdini her way out of her swaddle.  If she wakes up, we just wrap her up and get her back in her crib without nursing her.  She is still wearing size 2 diapers, and mostly 3-6 month clothing (we've pulled out a few 6-9 months).

Her little personality is starting to come out, and she is so precious!  She is also getting a little opinionated!  Sweet baby girl gets a little difficult when you try to put her down for a nap or to sleep at night.  Depending on how tired she is, it is either a few seconds or a couple of minutes.  First, she fusses when you try to swaddle her, and then she arches her back like crazy when I rock her to sleep.  Once she calms down and realizes that she is sleepy, she is absolutely fine!  I am about to start trying to leave her unswaddled for naps, eventually stopping altogether.  I still rock her to sleep (I know... big no-no!), so the next step will be to sleep train her so she can soothe herself to sleep.  I am a little sad about that one because I look forward to rocking with her.  It is so much fun, and she's still very snuggly!

She has started sitting in her BebePod, and she is doing very well.  She still spits up in it almost every time!  She is constantly babbling, and loves making sweet little sounds.  After rolling over at 10 weeks, she decided to boycot showing off her new talent, and waited to show us again until she hit 14 weeks.  She went through a little phase and stopped pushing up on her hands during tummy time.  Instead, she would get her little knees under her bottom and face plant into the floor.  Kind of sad, but super cute!  Finally, she started doing her little mini push up again.  Yay Charlotte!  She really enjoys spending time on her tummy, and slowly turns in little circles if she is down there long enough.  When she lays on her back, she acts like she's going to roll over onto her tummy, but she hasn't quite figured it out yet.  Any day now!  She loves to play with her little plastic chain links, her soft blocks, Chloe the Owl, and a few random rattles and stuffed animals.  She wants her hands in her mouth all the time, but she gets a little confused... Instead of bringing her hands up to her mouth, she tries to bend down to her hands.  It's pretty funny!  She loves our hands/wrists/arms, but I have to say that she seems to prefer mine over Michael's... I think it has something to do with all the hair on Michael's arms!!!  When she's on her back, she has started to pick up her head, and she likes us to grab her hands to pull her to a seated position.  She also makes this funny throat clicking noise that I've always made.  She still spits up a lot, but seems perfectly happy about it!  Michael calls her our little typrewriter because her head is constantly moving from one side to the other... hence her little bald line on the back of her head.  I call her my baby groundhog because she jumps up when I burp her over my shoulder.  She is so adorable!

Here are a few moments from the past month:

We love it when Daddy comes home for lunch to see us!

Reaching down to her toy

Date night with Grammie and Papa

Fun with Nana

Trying out her jumper

3 Months Old

Charlotte is 3 months old!!!  I can't believe how quickly she's growing.  She is so full of smiles, and loves to babble with us!  She didn't have a well baby visit this month, so I'm not sure how much she weighs, but judging by her little rolls, she is doing just fine.  During the day, she still nurses every 3 hours.  During the night, she sleeps 10-12 hours... it is wonderful!  She is wearing size 2 diapers, and is between 0-3 and 3-6 months clothing... depends on the brand.  She did very well with the immunizations that carried over from her 2 month appointment.  She fussed a little throughout the afternoon, but was fine the next day.  She just wanted to sleep on my chest, and  I was happy to oblige!  She had her first stuffy nose this month, and we learned that she absolutely cannot stand the saline spray/bulb syringe combo.  As soon as we use the spray, she "silent cries"... her face turns bright red, and you can tell she's trying to cry, but she is so upset that she can't muster even a whimper.  It's so sad!!!

She is our little Squirmy Wormy!  She loves to "stand" when we hold her, and pushes off each chance she gets.  I can't wait for her to be old enough for her bouncer!  She loves to coo, especially when she listens to music.  We have WAY too many videos of Michael and I "talking" with her.  We should probably be embarrassed by them, but she is just too cute!  Her favorite place in the house is her changing pad.  I'm not sure why, but if you want a smile, just change her diaper!  She loves for us to brush her hair, and she gets so excited for bath time with Daddy.  She doesn't like to be held in a cradle position unless you're feeding her, and she gets VERY impatient when you stop to burp her.  She likes to sit propped up inside her Boppy pillow, especially if she has rattles on her wrists.  She rolled over from tummy to back at 10 weeks, but seems to have decided that since she's already mastered the skill, she doesn't need to do it anymore!  She likes to grab her toys, loves to show off her mini-push up during tummy time, and likes to kick kick kick when she gets excited!  She is happy to let you rub her tummy, is very curious about mirrors, and can put her favorite rattle in her mouth.  She started the month napping in her crib but still sleeping in our room at night.  She is now sleeping in her crib full-time, and loves it.  She is constantly hiccuping, could win an Olympic gold medal in "Spitting Up", and has rubbed a funny line of hair off the back of her head.  She is our little Houdini, and keeps working her way out of even the tightest swaddle.  She still LOVES her hands!

Here are a few pics from this month:

Who is that cute baby in the mirror?

Snug as a bug in a rug

Baby Houdini

2 Months Old

Charlotte Ann is 2 months old!!!  I cannot believe how much she has changed in the past month... it's unbelievable!  She is really filling out.  During her 2 week well visit, she was in the 30th percentile for weight.  Well... she now weighs in at 8lbs, 13oz which is in the 95th percentile!!!  She is clearly getting plenty to eat!  She is 21.5" long (50th percentile), and her head circumference is in the 25th percentile.  She is still nursing every 3 hours during the day, and typically goes 4-6 hours between feedings during the night.  We stopped swaddling her around 4 weeks, but realized it was keeping her awake, so we are swaddling her again for naps and sleeping.  It has made a huge difference in the past few days!  Thank goodness!!!  She was super fussy during her 2 month well baby, so Dr. Halsell suggested coming back for her round of immunizations.  I hope she calms down soon!  It's so sad when she's upset and we can't figure out what is wrong... I think she is just over tired from not sleeping well, but the swaddling seems to be fixing things.

She is so alert and sweet.  She is still super snugly, and is all smiles when she sleeps.  She has started taking a pacifier before she goes to bed for the night, either her Duckie wubbanub or her Nuk.  She loves taking baths in her blue baby tub, but gets a little upset when we wash her hair.  She loves to suck on her hands, especially when she is tired.  She follows objects from side to side very well, and loves tummy time.  She bats at objects in her play gym, and Hattie the owl is her favorite to watch.  She smiles when we play with her Whoozit, and likes for Daddy to carry her around in the Baby Bjorn.  She started cooing, likes to "Superman" while on her tummy and makes little spit bubbles.  She is now in size 1 diapers, and wears size 0-3 months.  She is ticklish on her thighs, likes to hold our fingers when we feed her a bottle, and loves to nestle her head into our chest.  Thankfully, she sleeps really well in the car!  We had a Mamaroo for her, but she wasn't a huge fan.  We exchanged it for a Snuggabunny, and she LOVES it!  It is so nice to have a swing that she likes!

Here are several highlights from the past month:

Batting at her friends in her play gym

Walks with Daddy

Two of her favorites: Daddy and Duckie

Still sleeps at the bottom!