Sitting!!!

I can hardly believe it!  My precious baby girl can sit all on her own!  Over the past couple of weeks, I have been working on sitting with her more and more.  A little bebePod time, playing while sitting in front of me, etc.  She was doing really well, but was she wasn't quite confident enough to try it all on her own.

I was out running errands today, and came home to this:

I walked in the door, and saw her on the floor with Michael... just sitting like it wasn't a big deal!  Michael didn't even think to mention it!  I flipped out, cried a little, and grabbed the camera!  She is growing up so fast.  At first, she was sitting with her hands on the ground in front of her, but now, she sits hands free.  We are so proud of our sweet baby girl!

Here are a few highlights of her evolving sitting skills:

Under Lock & Key

It's official... I have had my first super scary moment as a mother.  Charlotte and I were having a fantastic morning, and were about to head out for our weekly playgroup at Willow Bend.  Due to her nap schedule, I usually feel rushed getting out of the house, but she woke up early today, and we were actually leaving early!  I felt so proud!  We walked out the door into the garage, I put the door up, started the car (putting her diaper bag and my phone into the passenger seat), and put her carseat in.  I closed both doors and walked around to my side of the car to jump in and head off to playgroup.  Small problem: my door was locked!!!  All of the doors were locked, my daughter is in the car (that was turned on THANK GOODNESS), and my phone is in the car. 

I am FREAKING OUT!  We don't have a house phone line, and I don't have a spare set of keys (long story...).  I run into the house looking for anything that might possibly open my car.  I unwind a wire hanger, shove it in between the window and the door (I've seen too many movies).  I consider running to a neighbors house, but can't bring myself to leave my daughter in a running car alone.  I check to see if she is okay, and she is crying hysterically in her little seat.  I would be too if I heard lots of scratching and screaming outside the door. 

Just as I am about to break open a car window using a hammer, I remember that my car was broken into several months ago using a screwdriver.  I run over to Michael's tool box, select my screwdriver of choice, and run back to my door.  I had no idea what I was doing... I'm not at all experienced at breaking into vehicles.  I shove the screwdriver in, wiggle it around for a while, and hear the sweetest click imaginable!!!  The door unlocked!!!  I still can't believe it! 

I ran around to open Charlotte's door, and couldn't stop kissing her!  I realize the car was turned on, but it was still so scary!  We were a little late to playgroup today...

Sweet girl... home safe and sound!

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

Baby's First Chair

When I was pregnant with Charlotte, I ordered a pink BebePod from Zulilly (one of the greatest websites for baby/kids gear and clothing deals).  I'm not sure why, but I have been looking forward to using this for so long!  I have been counting down the days until she turned 3 months, and actually put her in it 1 day early.  I know, I'm such a rebel! 

How did it go?  Drum roll please!!!

In case you can't tell from the picture above, she wasn't quite sure what to think of her new seat!  Poor girl was looking at me like I was punishing her.  That's okay... we persevered!  We kept trying, and each day, she did better and better!  Now... she loves it!  She likes to hold toys while sitting, or bat at objects we put in front of her.  Sadly, she seems to spit up almost every time we put her in!  Oh well!  At least she is predictable=)

Progress:

Charlotte's Sip & See

Michael and I are very fortunate to have made lots of life long friends with people we work with.  Michael's office is such a great environment, and we are thankful for the relationships we have made over the past 7 years.  The guys have so much fun together, and the wives have built a very strong support system over the years.  It is such a treat to look forward to each work dinner, party and trip. 

Several of the couples planned a baby shower for us that was originally scheduled for April 2nd.  When Charlotte came early, we decided to postpone the shower, and turn it into a Sip & See.  Michael and I have been looking forward to the party for so long, and it was such a treat to see all of our friends and enjoy a nice dinner!  The Cruse's home looked beautiful as always, the food was delicious, and Charlotte was very excited to meet everyone!  The girls sure knew what they were doing with dinner... if you want to make Michael happy, just serve fajitas!  He was thrilled!

Thank you so much for making us feel so special!  We love you all so much =)

The hostesses: Lacey, Stephanie, Katie, Sara, Ashley, Kimberly, Me, Veronica holding Charlotte & Joy





Big Pop & Nana with the guest of honor

Brandon and Michael

Charlotte's precious cake

The sweet banner  (great job Lacey!)

Michael snuggling with his little girl





Red, White & Blue Weekend!

We celebrated Charlotte's first 4th of July with Michael's family this weekend!  For the past few years, Michael's mother and step father have reserved a room at the Hotel Intercontinental in Addison that overlooks the Kaboomtown fireworks and air show.  This was our first time to go, and we had a blast!  Sunday evening, we watched all of the fun and festivities from the hotel room along with Brent, Camie and the boys.  Rowan and Kai really enjoyed the air show before the sun set, the fireworks were fantastic, and it was wonderful to enjoy everything while taking advantage of the air conditioning!  Charlotte slept through most of the show in Nana's arms!

Monday morning, our neighborhood had a 4th of July Parade.  Michael made breakfast, and I decorated Charlotte's stroller with red, white and blue ribbons, streamers and American flags... she was ready to roll in patriotic style!  We weren't too sure how long the parade would be, and we knew she wouldn't last too long out in the heat.  She was more than fine... the parade was pretty short, and it ended with refreshments at a neighbor's home.  It was great to meet some of our neighbors that have young children! 

We had a great long weekend!!!