Months 7 and 8

Hi there.  

Don't worry, I'm not going to bore you with the details of our hectic life in an attempt to justify my complete failure at keeping up with the blog.  I'm just going to say that life is busy, and well, the monthly updates fell to the bottom on the priority list lately!  

Let's see if I can I can do a quick recap of November and December and then I'll just bombard you with pictures!

November

We ended October with Charlotte's first Halloween.  She couldn't decide on just one outfit, so she went with two looks for the day.  A cute outfit with pumpkin hat for daytime and she rocked her ladybug costume better than any ladybug I've ever seen that night!  We went to our good friends the Coltrera's that night for their annual Halloween chili gathering, but unfortunately I was coming down with something quick and we had to cut the night short.  Pretty sure I ended up in bed the next few days and had to get myself a zpack to get back on my feet.  

November saw Charlotte's FIRST pony ride!!!  She took a liking to riding her rocking horse (which belonged to me as a young'n) and she even rode a real live pony thanks to her Aunt Haley who is a horse trainer!  Ironically, she rode the real pony before she ever rode the wooden one!  She loved every minute of it, and Bryan and I are pretty sure we should start saving up now for riding lessons in the future!  

(Glad we have a professional in the family, wink wink)

We traveled up to New Jersey for Thanksgiving this year and had a wonderful visit spending time with family and friends!  Some trips to NC had to be cancelled in October due to the wrath of Sandy, so some much needed grandparent time was in order!  Bryan and I enjoyed catching up on a little sleep too!  And thanks to Sesame Street on the ipad, the drive was a little more tolerable.  Don't judge.

December

December got here fast this year, but we were excited for it!  We had a nice outing with friends to the annual North Hills Christmas tree lighting in Raleigh and enjoyed a few nights out for various Christmas parties.  Big thanks to Bryan's mom for babysitting!!  She even had her first sleepover at their house, which meant Bryan and I had our first night out with no baby responsibilities since last April!  We hit the town with a big group of friends and coined the evening "Parents gone wild 2012".  We had some drinks and saw a great band and really enjoyed ourselves.  We I had fun decorating our house this year since it was the first year we were in our new home for Christmas.  We went with two trees (to Bryan's dismay)!  I needed to have one in the big front windows of the house, but wanted one in the family room where we spend most of our time.  (Hopefully another large scale home improvement project will take shape soon and we won't have this issue next year!!)  

We decided to spend Christmas with BOTH families this year!  How do you ask?  We spent Christmas Eve in North Carolina with Bryans family and had a wonderful afternoon and dinner at his parents.  We then woke up at about 4am, hit the road and were having appies and drinking mimosas in New Jersey by 12:30ish!  We had a great time and were glad we could see everybody! (but don't think we'll be doing the 4am Christmas morning drive again!)  I have to say I think Uncle Adam came out on top with his gift for Charlotte.  Not only did he get her a red radio flyer wagon, but he got her the ATW version - All Terrain Wagon!  I guess he figured it was appropriate for a little Carolina girl!  Charlotte LOVED it!!  (along with all of the other amazing presents received!  She was very spoiled this Christmas)

As for Charlotte she is growing by leaps and bounds and really keeping us on our toes!!  You can't turn your back on this girl for a second or she's GONE!  Still crawling, but standing up on everything and slowing starting to walk holding on.  She'll even stand now without holding onto anything, but falls after about 10 seconds.  She is still as happy as ever and cut her first two teeth on the bottom right around Christmas Eve!  She's sleeping great and eating great and Gunnar is still her best friend.  I have a feeling the fun is just beginning!

ok ok, enough with my rambling!  Here's your photos!

Hopefully it won't take me another 3 months to get back here again!!

 

 

 

 

 

6 Months!!!

It's hard to believe 6 whole months have already passed us by!  

Then again, lately I feel like we're still dealing with the sleeping habits of a newborn!!  

(More on that later)

Charlotte is currently 16lbs 9oz and  26.1in. in length.  She's still wearing most 6 month clothes but quickly moving to 6-12 or 9 month clothing.  Although I did fit her in a 3 month polo dress just yesterday (I know, I know...POLO...shocking!) except it's not a dress anymore, more like a shirt which I paired with leggings.  Maybe she has a skinny neck, but it fit fine and looked cute, so I went with it.

She has learned lots of new tricks this past month, mainly sitting up on her own and CRAWLING!!  No not the worm or the army crawl as most 5 1/2 month olds might possibly do...but full on, all out, "I want that toy (or iphone) across the room so damnit I'm gunna get it!" crawling.  Once she got movin, she never looked back.  About this same time Bryan and I came to the the realization that our house is not child proofed.  

Like, at all.  

So we've implemented some really sophisticated methods of child proofing.  Just to name a few, pillows now adorn the brick hearth of the fireplace.  No, not some fancy pillows that are meant to protect innocent heads from jagged brick, but rather some regular throw pillows I've had for about 8 years now that Bryan has been begging me to throw out for about 4  years now.  I'll tell ya what though, good thing I didn't throw those puppies out, 3 of them fit perfectly across our hearth and Charlie's little head lands on them so softly.  

In fact, I think she enjoys laying on them and lounging.  

We have also used the dog bed to block the space between two chairs and create a penned area of sorts in the family room.  She hasn't figured out climbing yet so this works so far.

Playing with toys in her crib has worked out well when I'm putting clothes away in her room.

I did splurge and get some electrical socket covers...I know, I really went all out!

We do have plans to purchase things such as gates to block the stairs,just haven't gotten around to it yet.  Perhaps this month!

She also pulled herself up to her knees this week while exploring her bookcase in her room (and subsequently lost her grip at the same time and hit bumped her head.  No crying though!) so I imagine a full on stand is in our near future.  Is it just me or does my child seem to be doing things abnormally early?!?!  

An over achiever perhaps....

This early overachiever behavior seems to mimic her adorable personality that is starting to shine through.  She is extremely determined and if she wants to do something (like crawl, or stand) she tries over and over and over again until she gets it.  She doesn't fuss, she doesn't cry, she just keeps at it until she's tired, takes a nap and starts over again!  

Even at meal time she wants to do it herself and always tries to take the spoon from me!  If I don't pay close enough attention she'll get the spoon and then typically end up wearing her dinner.

Exhibit A:

She is doing GREAT with solid foods.  So far she has had: rice cereal, avocado, sweet potato, butternut squash, banana, apple and peas.  She likes everything for the most part, and I'm enjoying making it too!  Peas were challenging in the beginning and she would spit them back out at me, but she'll take them now if they're mixed with some sweet potato.  We just upped her this week to three meals a day as well, so she's getting breakfast lunch and dinner and 4 bottles a day!!  Being such an active girl she's a hungry one!  

On the flip side of that you would also think she would be a tired girl!!  

Unfortunately in the sleeping department we have digressed this month.  

*Sigh*  

I am wishing and praying and crossing all of my fingers and toes and wearing my pajamas inside out at night in hopes that this is all due to that nasty little developmental phase we call teething!! 

The girl is leaking like a sieve.  

Everything she picks up goes in her mouth, she gets really angry biting on things and her poor gums are the grayest color, however nothing has popped through yet.  With that said, Tylenol is now our new best friend.  I only use it in the evening though because she fairs well during the day chewing on things like cold teether, hard toys, her fist, the dog, other babies (yea, she was caught at daycare trying to suck another kids thumb).  I just look at it as a sign she likes to share and be social.

So she's going to bed around 7 but no longer sleeping through till 7.  Sometimes she wakes between 11 and 12 and then again between 4 and 5.  (Around the exact times the glorious Tylenol wears off)  It was one thing getting up in the middle of the night during maternity leave, but when I have go to work the next day and actually be intellectual, or at least pretend to be, this new sleeping pattern is proving to be a bit more challenging for me!  I got her back to sleep fairly quickly last night as opposed to it taking 3+ hours like on Sunday night, so it's at least better!  The doctor suggested today feeding her a little more food if she wants it and trying to push bedtime a little bit later.  We'll give it a shot and hope it works!

Fingers crossed those little fangs teeth pop through soon.

***Update: It takes me a few days to finish these posts and things change quickly.  Charlotte slept 12 full hours last night!!!  It was the best thing EVER!  We fed her more food yesterday so hopefully that was the trick.  Unfortunately this morning she's already refused breakfast.  Here's hoping she eats when she wakes up from her nap!

Let's see, what else.  She likes playing with Gunnar and ripping his fur out.  She still loves bath time.  She enjoys long walks in the stroller, squealing very loud and when you make fart sounds at her...that's when you get the biggest laugh! (Definite sign she belongs to her father.)  

We have been busy around the house and new projects are underway.  We dug up the backyard about two weeks ago and are anxiously waiting for grass to grow.  Right now it's still mostly dirt but some green is starting to pop through.  Here's a progression.

I also planted some hydrangea bushes under the window you see above which I'm SUPER excited about!  Here's hoping I don't kill them like I usually do.

Here's some more pictures from the past month

 Loves her daddy!

Hangin with Big Bear

 

Much more interested in the elephant  humidifier

Took care of voting!

 

We had a nice outing to the farmers market with the Pino clan to pick out Charlie's first pumpkin

Everybody gets their own blanket to play on

I was able to sneak away for a day of riding with my soon to be sister in law and loved every minute! 
Felt great to be riding again!

We also made it out for a date night one evening...early bird special!

Charlotte behaved like a champ while we met some friends at a new bar/restaurant that opened

Daddy joined us for the 6 month doctor appointment

 My morning entertainment

Oh and how could I forget, one of the brat.
He thinks this is his new "spot".  I think he's wrong.