Monthly Updates

May 182012

stats

Our visit with the doctor went really well today- they said that Charlie looks great, is growing on track and even recommended a little something to mix with his pear juice to help with his ‘output’ issue. That last bit might be TMI but it’s super exciting news for us!

Here’s the stats and a few photos I took a couple days ago- love my super smily little guy!

Height- 25.5 inches (25%)

Weight- 17lbs 7oz (50%)

Head- 17 3/4 (75%)

He’s watching Jay in this photo… love how they adore each other ;)

and one of both my boys just because it makes me smile…

May 172012

today I am…

6 months old!!

One word for that…

I find that the time is flying by kind of like it did when I was pregnant with Charlie… One moment we were announcing that a second little one was on the way and then after blinking I was in the hospital holding my sweet little boy. These days I frequently find myself looking at him and catching glimpses of his personality and wondering when he got so big. He truly is the sweetest, happiest little guy around. He has a sense of peace about him that I envy; he sits back and takes it all in with such joy, amazement and smiles- oh boy does he smile…

Stats- we are headed to the Doctor tomorrow and I will be back to post his stats after we see what they are ;)

Teeth- none as of yet although, he’s working on them and we have he occasional cranky-pants and drool to prove it!

Things of Note-

*Charlie has been sitting up for almost a month now. Just after turning 5 months old he began tripoding really well and since then he has been sitting pretty well on his own. Right now he sits for long periods of time on his own and rarely falls; however, when he does he just rolls to his side or tummy and plays that was for a while.

*Mobility is coming- as of right now he rolls to get whatever he wants. It doesn’t always work in his favor (he has no direction control); however, he is usually content wherever he ends up and with whatever toys ends up closest to him. He is also starting to scoot a little when he is sitting up. He has to be on a slick surface to do this but it’s still movement so I count it.

*Foods- Little boy can eat and has been able to from day one. We have been trying solid foods for about a month now, we started feeding them to him to hopefully help with his acid reflux (the theory is that heavy food in their tummy helps keep him from spitting up milk). The food has helped to keep things down- less spit up- but since he rejects prunes (too acidic), peaches or pears, it has also helped to keep things in. So with one solution we have created another problem and we are working on fixing that right now. His favorites so far are peas and sweet potatoes and he really won’t eat any of the fruits that I have tried to give him other than pears with blueberries- honestly, if he didn’t look so much like me I would swear he wasn’t my kid because of how much he hates the fruit!

*Thumb Sucker- sweet boy loves his thumb. He will take a Paci every once in a while however he only uses it as a teether. But that thumb, oh he has a thing for his thumb… and the way his pointer finger wraps around his little nose when he sucks on it just melts my heart.

*Sleeping has been going well and continues to go well. He sleeps for the most part from 8 or 8:30 every night until 7 or 7:30 and when he wakes up in the morning he usually plays quietly in the crib. Frequently I will go and get him and find him playing with his blankets or his ugly doll (adorable stuffed toy given to him by his godfather Michael), pleased as punch to just be there.

*Pretty much everything within Charlie’s reach these days is fair game- be it toy, blanket, duplo (Jay’s), car (Jay’s), bowl of salad, drink, phone… you get the picture. If he can reach it, it’s his and it will go in his mouth. The phone is a favorite but I think it might be because we use them so frequently… sad to admit… :(

*He is camera shy. If there is such a thing in a photographer’s house, this little boy is somewhat camera shy. He clams up and stops talking, cooing, smiling etc whenever he sees the camera or the phone out. It makes it a challenge to capture just how smiley this little one is; however, I have gotten pretty good at shooting from the hip so he won’t see them camera.

*His relationship with Jay is growing by the minute and is probably my favorite thing lately. He adores Jay, watching him, smiling and belly laughing at the things he does. Jay is just as enamored with Charlie as Charlie is with him. He is always asking where he is (if he’s not around- usually when he is napping), is immediately concerned if he is crying, talks about him all of the time and shares things with him too. Having two this close together is tough on even a good day but seeing their relationship grow the way it has been makes it all the worth while.

Likes:

*WATER!! He loves bath time especially if he gets a few minutes in the tub all to himself to splash around. He does enjoy the bath with company as well, it’s just that he gets to do a little more kicking when it’s only just him in there. The few times that we have taken him in the pool he has been all ear to ear smiles! He loves to splash and spin around!

*He likes to be tickled and when you love on him. Frequently throughout the day I will get his neck and or his belly and he laughs and laughs.

*He likes when we sing songs and read nursery rhymes. He will sit through a few toddler books when I am reading to Jay but he prefers the nursery rhymes and rhythmic stories over the others. Some favorites right now are Hand, Hand Fingers Thumb and a book full of Mother Goose rhymes.

*Watching Piper and Bella. From as early as I can remember he has enjoyed watching Jay, he’s kind of hard to miss these days, but lately he has really taken a liking to the animals. He loves playing with Piper’s fur and feet and he watches both Piper and Bella whenever they are around.

*Being outside- Charlie loves to play outside. We frequently take a blanket outside and sit under the shade to play. It’s a very nice change to being inside all of the time; however, I am not looking forward to the summer when it is even hotter outside than it is now.

Dislikes:

*Honestly, I am at a loss for what to put here… other than the completely normal dislikes of any other tiny human- being tired, being in one place for more than 30 minutes, not being able to poop- he is pretty much a breeze. We are lucky and I know it ;)

Here’s a few from our photo shoot… I took a few in front of our chalkboard wall in addition to the blocks and I LOVE them- it was so hard to narrow it down to even this many!

this one makes him look bigger he is, or at least that is my opinion…

and yes he will probably hate me for the next few but I took similar pictures of Jay so he’ll have company ;)

I pretty much adore this one, sweet chunk of love…

Apr 172012

today I am…

Stats- (let’s face it, I really should only put stats on the posts that we go to the doctor for since I can’t seem to get my act together enough to get them at home)

Weight- Honestly, we really need to get our scale fixed because otherwise I have no idea how much this chunk of love weighs… I will try to do that soon I promise.

Height-

Teeth- Still none, although he is working on that

Things of note-

*Sleeping- He has been in his own room for about a month now (maybe more) and generally sleeps through the night. We did have him on his back for the first little while he was in there and bless his little heart he just couldn’t sleep that way. I am pretty sure it bothers his acid reflux so now that I have flipped him to his tummy (like he sleeps for his naps) he is doing much better and sleeping more soundly.

*Acid Reflux- We are still battling the acid reflux with Charlie Man. Unfortunately, within the last week or so it has really been bothering him and he has been spiting up more than usual. We do have a new medication that we are going to try with him (it is possible that he out grew his last dosage or it doesn’t affect him as well anymore) and we have started giving him a little rice cereal last weekend in hopes of helping the food stay down a bit better. I found a lot of info after researching alternative treatments that a little bit of solid food in the tummy with help ground the food.

*He is grabbing at everything these days. Nothing within an arms reach is really safe anymore-it’s all fair game! Oh and anything he actually does get his little hands on goes straight into his mouth.

*Teeth- While he still doesn’t actually have any his gums are really tough and man is he chewing on things something fierce! Whether it be paci, hands, toys or other random objects they usually go straight to his mouth.

*Food- we have been giving him a tiny bit of Rice Cereal every day for a little bit now. And while he is still exclusively breast feed outside of this he is getting one bowl (about a tablespoon) of cereal a day.

*Paci vs. Thumb- he is shall we say ambi-suckstress. He slightly prefers his thumb to a paci; however, he is pretty content to use a paci if it is there and given to him. Within the last week or so he will do anything to get the paci into his mouth if he sees it in the crib and to his credit he gets it in a good percentage of the time.

*Talking- He talks frequently and to many people. It is really adorable to watch since he is already so animated when he speaks- he laughs and giggles throughout the whole conversation.

Likes:

*Being woken up by the bird. Frequently Charlie wakes up when I am in the middle of doing something (dishes etc) so in the time it takes for me to come to a stopping point Jay has gone into his room to check on him and crawled into the crib with him. I know that I should be mad at Jay for doing this and stop it; however, Charlie really loves to be woken up this way. He smiles, coos and watches his brother the whole time they are in the crib together.

*Jay Bird- Their relationship is a post all in itself. But man-o-man do these boys adore each other. Jay is always checking up on him, wanting to know how Charlie is and helping in whatever way he can with anything Charlie. Charlie on the other hand watches Jay’s every move, looks up to him already- you can already see the admiration that he has for him and Jay is the one person that he without fail will reward with his full on belly laughs. The moments between the two of them make all the crazy that is having two very young kiddos so, so worth it.

*His feet- he can’t get enough of them right now and is frequently grabbing on them and chewing on them as well.

*Rolling over- He has been able to roll for the last month however, he has really gotten good at this within the last two weeks or so. If you put him down, over he flips without fail. Also, he can flip from his tummy to his back now too- which ticks him off it he does this when he is in the crib and just waking up (again, I think it is an acid reflux thing).

*Being Outside- this is nothing new for any of my guys really- they are all happiest when they are outside. A week or so ago I put a blanket down in the grass and Charlie loved it- his little toes danced around in the grass and he giggled the whole time (I can’t wait to post the photos I got of him during this- SO cute!)

*Sitting Up- the boy loves it! Honestly, it is probably his favorite position to be in these days. Lying down bothers his tummy and he doesn’t get much freedom to move when he is being held. Sitting however allows him to see most everything that is going on around and to play! He can sit up on his own for a good bit without assistance however if he has the assistance (a boppy pillow or someone’s legs around him he can go for much longer.

*The exersaucer- It’s almost as good as sitting up AND it has toys attached, enough said :)

*Nursery Rhymes and Songs from Mommy- he’s still a fan and they usually make him smile. Singing to him is my go-to mood changer if I have a sad/fussy little boy on my hands.

*Books- the amount of time that I have available to read to Charlie is far less than I had with Jay. However, he is frequently included while we read with Jay and he can make it through 3-4 shortish books or 1 longer one before getting to antsy. Lately, he has also really taken notice (and in my opinion enjoyed) looking at the illustrations that accompany the books we read. This is a big for us- we LOVE how much Jay Bird likes to read and we hope that Charlie will be the same way too.

Dislikes:

*Loud noises- In particular when his brother yells really loudly and more specifically when he yells really loudly in his face. It startles him and he starts screaming. Not fun and not especially easy to explain to the Bird.

Mar 232012

almost a week ago I was…

A day late but not a dollar short that’s for sure… here’s the update on my sweet little one.

height- 23.5 inches long (the exact same as Jay at his age)

weight- a whopping 16lbs 6oz!! (more than 2lbs more than Jay at his age)

Things of note:

-To begin with Charlie is probably the sweetest happiest baby around. I know that he is mine and therefore I am biased but this child is the picture of patience and so genuinely happy all of the time; I sincerely can’t get enough of him. It seems as though he has gotten Jamie’s laid back/whatever attitude in combination with my happy-go-lucky and it makes for the most wonderful little boy.

-He has been laughing for more than a month now. It is the sweetest sound around :)

-He is also a little ticklish… not a whole lot but from time to time if you get his belly, neck or the top of his legs just right you can hear that sweet baby laugh.

-He started rolling over on Saturday. He goes from his back to his front (which I understand to be unusual; however, both of my boys have gone back to front first). He has done it a few times since then and is marginally happy when he gets there but you better help him out soon since he still isn’t a fan of being on his tummy for too long.

-He is an absolute angel as far a sleeping goes. He has pretty much been sleeping through the night since he was 3 months old. I honestly believe that part of this has to do with his personality but there is also a portion of this that I attribute to the sleep training work that we have done with him since he was two weeks old. He has a bed time routine and has had for months now and I think it really, really helps. He is also a pretty good napper; frequently, he will fuss a tiny bit then just crash so he can be placed in his crib on his tummy (oh the horror, I know- but it works). Lately, he has been fighting a little harder to stay awake between naps (I think it’s because he is aware of things more and is starting to not want to miss out on anything) so I have been putting him down while he is still awake and while he fusses a little bit he usually gives in and goes to sleep on his own. Like I said- angel :)

-He has really started paying attention to the things around him. He has been watching Jay from quite early on (however, I would have concerns if he wasn’t. Jay can be a whole lot and also pretty in your face) but now he has also noticed Piper and Dolce (Bella doesn’t stick around the littles long enough to be noticed). He will turn your way when he is called and flash you a huge smile as soon as he sees you.

-Teething has started. We have a randomly cranky boy (screams out of nowhere for no reason), he chews on anything that he can reach and we have tons of drool. So, yes we are teething; we’re just hoping that he doesn’t take as long as Jay did to cut teeth.

-He has found his feet. He doesn’t get them every time he tries but when he does he is pretty darn proud of himself for grabbing them.

Likes:

-Bouncer chair. While he is quickly outgrowing this chair he still enjoys it quite a bit and for that I am really glad! It has saved me quite a few times when I have needed some place to put him. We are looking into getting a bumbo, even though we think they are pretty silly looking, since he likes sitting up so much.

-Exersaucer. He is a tad too small for this yet; however, he does enjoy it quite a bit and is wanting to stay in it for longer and longer periods of time. The only challenge I have when he is in it is getting Jay to not spin it around and around.

-Tick tock. I am pretty much guaranteed a huge smile and sometimes a laugh if I hold him up in the air and swing him back and forth like the pendulum on a clock while saying “tick, tock, tick, tock”. It’s such a silly game but he loves it. (editor’s note: for the worried grandmothers, the pivot of the pendulum is his shoulders/neck, so his head stays relatively stationary during the tick tock)

-Nursery rhymes and silly songs. He loves to be sung to (he isn’t as picky as his Daddy is about me staying on key) and loves when I swing his arms along with a song or a rhyme. It’s can almost always get a smile out of him. Some of his favorites are Patty-Cake, Do your Ears Hang Low?, and Tony Knows (Toe, Knee, Noes).

-Crinkle toys are his favorite although he does enjoy a few of his wooden HABA toys as well but the crinkle ones are his favorite. He loves to grab them and smash them into his face and eat the ribbon tags on them. Honestly, I love that these are his favorites since two out of the three that he has are ones that I made for him ;)

-Muslin Blankets. He has really taken to the muslin blankets that he has. They are super lightweight and very soft. He loves to eat them, ball them up with his fists, kick them with his fists, curl up on them and fall asleep on them, suck on the edges- you name it he probably does it with these blankets.

Dislikes:

-The only thing that comes to mind right now is he is not a huge fan of when Jay yells really loudly. It’s a little too much for him (it usually startles him) and he is quick to cry after it happens. However, other than that he is pretty much a wonderful baby so I don’t really have a long list of dislikes…

I guess that about sums him up at this age. Enjoy the rest of the photos of this super sweet little one and although he smiles all of the time face to face he usually makes funny faces at my camera so catching a really good Charlie smile can be hard to do.

usually the face I get from him when he first sees my camera- I know it's big but really!

not a fabulous photo since my camera strap is in it BUT you can see a pretty great Charlie smile if you look hard enough

Mar 172012

4 months old

This little guy is a whopping four months old today!! He is as sweet as ever and growing super fast- he rolled over today all by himself! However, the monthly update will have to wait for another day; it was a late evening and an early morning followed by a long day. So even though I was able to relax on the blanket with Charlie for a little bit and recharge today I am hitting the sack early. Until I can open my eyelids long enough to put together more than a few sentences, enjoy a sweet Charlie smile :)

Feb 192012

today i am…

3 months old!

Stats-

weight

height

things of note-

* For the most part Charlie is sleeping at night. Most nights he will sleep 8-9 hours at a time, which means that I can feed him before I go to bed then again in the early morning. Occasionally, he wakes me up around 3:30 or 4 but even then it’s not really all that bad.

* Charlie is smiling and cooing ALL of the time. Honestly, he is his the happiest baby I know- we are lucky, lucky, lucky!! (see the video at the end of this post!)

* Just within the last week or two he has discovered his hands and tongue. They are super fascinating and frequently he will send long periods of time (for a 3 month old) staring at them, putting them in his mouth or licking things.

* He laughs, like a real laugh… it’s not really deliberate or at anything in particular but he laughs and it melts my heart none the less.

* He really started noticing the things and people around him. Frequently, he will watch me, Jamie or Jay when we walk past him and will follow us when we walk through the room. He notices when we leave and when we come back and he usually gives us a huge smile when we return.

* He is a thumb sucker. He will take a paci but prefers his thumb by far and he is actually getting pretty good and finding it on his own. It is not unusual for me to put him down to nap with a paci and come back to find him sucking his thumb instead. I guess we will have one of each- one paci kid (Jay) and one thumb sucker…

likes:

* He likes being sung too. I don’t have a stellar voice by any means but he giggles and grins when I sing to him. Some of his favorites right now are the Itsie Bitsy Spider sung by Jay and Do Your Ears Hang Low.

* He LOVES his bouncy chair. Jay never much took to it but Charlie will spend long periods of time just hanging out in it. He takes in the sights around him and is happy as a clam just softly bouncing in it. When he gets really excited and happy he can really make that thing go.

* Just like Jay, he prefers sleeping on his tummy- shh, don’t tell the Doctor, this is really against the rules! We aren’t supposed to leave him unattended on his tummy right now per the doctors orders. But he will sleep for such a long time on his tummy so really who am I to argue? He also goes to sleep very easily and he likes to have a blanket to sleep on. Just today he was kind of fussy before going down for his nap until I put a blanket over my shoulder and he snuggled down into it. I hadn’t realized until just then that he prefers that blanket being there.

* Charlie likes to be able to check out what is going on and to see what is happening which means he likes being upright- either up on your shoulder or facing out, lying down is for eating and unless he is doing that lying down is unacceptable. I think that this may stem from when his acid reflux started. He was uncomfortable when he was on his back (because of the reflux) and so he got used to sitting up and he also got used to being able to see and now he doesn’t like it any other way.

* He still really likes being warm- if you snuggle this little boy up I would be very surprised if he didn’t fall asleep. When he is snug as a bug he just crashes. He also likes to eat/rub/put blankets in his mouth- frequently the edges of his blankets are damp because he has been sucking on them.

* He adores watching his big brother Jay and Jay Bird really does dote on Charlie. Jay will stand in front of his bouncer and talk to him or cover him with a blanket. Frequently, Charlie “talks” to Jay deliberately- I mean he looks right at Jay and starts cooing and talking like he is trying to start up a conversation with him. It’s so sweet to watch them together and I love that they are already friends. I really can’t wait to see how their relationship will grow as they get older.

dislikes:

* Being tired… finding dislikes for this little guy is honestly a stretch. There is not much that truly makes him unhappy although he really doesn’t like to be tired- does anyone though? Usually, if he is fussy it means that he is tired and needs to go down for a nap and will crash on your shoulder shortly…

* He’s also not a huge fan of tummy time. I find that he is either completely sacked out when I put him on his tummy or fussy- no real in-between. Although, I have been propping him up on the boppy pillow during some of his tummy time and this seems to help a bit. But again, even though I say it’s a dislike it’s pretty much a stretch.

also… if you aren’t family you may be bored with this little video but feel free to watch anyway if you want. Jamie and I are apparently “those parents”, you know the ones that post and share videos of their kids doing next to nothing and claim it as the most amazing/adorable (fill in the adjective here) video around :)

Jan 172012

today I am…

2 months old!

I tried to have this post ready ahead of time so that it could be up early this morning; however I baked a cake, hooked a ton of cars for Jay and had some really good cuddle time with Charlie while Jay was napping so I don’t feel that bad about this posting so late ;) Also, I don’t have his statistics yet since we haven’t gone to his doctor appointment yet but I will post those when I get them.

Things of note-

Sleeping- Charlie is sleeping anywhere from 3.5-5 hours a night for about the last week (the 5hours is new). However, we didn’t start his nighttime routine until just recently and I think that has really helped his sleeping patterns. His nighttime routine consists of a bath, nursing and cuddling with Mommy, being wrapped (like a swaddle but with his arms out), Good Night Moon and then being tucked in with Jenny playing (his sound machine giraffe). During the day he takes a few naps; his best nap is usually in the morning and he really likes to sleep on his tummy (shh, don’t tell the doctor).

*He snores and snores loudly!

*As far as eating is concerned- things are going fabulously! He eats really well, usually every 2.5-3 hours during the day. He is very quick and efficient and usually doesn’t dawdle when he nurses- this little one means business when he eats! I am anxious to see how much he weighs when we take him to the doctor since he seems to really be packing on the pounds and chins :)

*He has been smiling and cooing frequently lately. It’s enough to make your heart puddle right then and there- I swear. He is usually happiest right after he has eaten and we are playing but he also smiles frequently during other times of the day. Usually I can rub my finger on his cheek when we are playing and he will give me a huge grin. He also smiles when I kiss his cheeks- I love it!

Likes:

*Facing out. Unless he is sleepy and wants to nap he likes to be held out so that he can see what is going on. He has really started to be aware of his surroundings and has taken notice of things a lot more lately. He prefers to be sitting up instead of reclining and if you will walk while holding him that is a plus too.

*Holding hands- Frequently, if he is upset you can calm him down by holding his hand. I don’t know if it makes him feel more secure or what but whether we are walking, riding in the car or just sitting holding him, grabbing and holding on to his hand calms him down when he us upset.

*The morning. The morning after his first feeding is usually his happiest time. He is the most alert at this point and will play with me for quite awhile.

*The fan- Charlie loves looking at the fan and lights just like Jay did- the fan is his buddy, his pal.

*Books- The colors book is one that we frequently “read” during play time and he loves the black and white zebra page or the monkey page in another black and white line drawing book that we have. He will smile and kick when we turn to those pages.

*Being outside. Just like with Jay you can walk outside while Charlie is fussy and he usually calms down pretty quickly. He just loves to be out there enjoying the sun. He also likes to sit in the sun coming in through the window in his bouncy chair- it’s almost as good as being outside.

Dislikes:

*Turning off the lights or walking into a dark room. I honestly can’t think of many things that he dislikes (he’s a pretty easy baby and we are really lucky) but the one thing he really doesn’t like is to walk into a dark room or when you turn the lights off in a room. Almost immediately he will start fussing but as soon as you go into a room with lights he is all better.

I think that pretty much sums up Charlie at this point. We are still adjusting to our new family of four and Jay has gotten much better about him being around- guess he figured out that he was going to stick around. We are still working on being gentle, which is really tough for his two year old self, but we are making progress. He really likes to hug and kiss Charlie which translates to slobber and squish Charlie but again we are making progress and at this point I am really just happy that he isn’t ignoring him anymore. Jay also really likes to help with Charlie. He will carry my nursing pillow around the house when my hands are full, he notifies us when Charlie is crying (as if we can’t hear it ourselves), usually tells him it’s okay when he is crying and if Charlie is within reach he will put his or Charlie’s paci (whichever is closer) in his mouth when he is crying. It’s really sweet to watch them together and I can’t wait to see where their relationship will take them.

Here’s some more photos from our “shoot”. As you can tell he is really a very happy little boy :)