Charlotte Grace turns 5 I mean 6 months old!

In good Danielle fashion I am roughly a month behind! Oops...The whole family had been really sick over the last month. Flu/pink eye/bronchitis/stomach flu sick FOR A WHOLE MONTH!! So there that is my excuse for not blogging for the month including missing Charlotte's 5 month update.

5 month birthday

6 month birthday

When we left off she had just turned 4 months now she is 6 months and the sweetest, cutest and fun baby ever (besides Clayton of course)


Her schedule is pretty much the same except moved up and hour and she goes to bed a little later (otherwise she would never see her dad!)
6-wake up 6 oz
9- 6 oz & solids
12- 6 oz
3- 6oz & solids
6- 6oz
8 bedtime

She is now eating solids! I love this stage, it is so fun finding out what they like and don't like. So far green beans are her only not like. She has tried: sweet potatoes, squash, peas, avocado, pears, peaches, apples, bananas, green beans, barley, rice, oatmeal. Usually at a meal she has 1-2 tbls of a fruit and veggie and 2-3 tbls of a grain. I make her food, which is actually really fun so her food is portioned out into 2 tbls ice cube type blocks and it is super easy to keep up with what she needs to eat. She is super interested in our food and when we eat but it makes more sense for her to eat when we are not so at dinner she gets a small snack..biter biscuit or some puffs to keep her occupied and give practice with grasping.

 She is 90% still sleeping through the night and taking roughly 3 naps day. Because she has been so sick and will cough her self awake her sleep and naps are a little off but now that she is better she is getting back into her schedule very quickly...thank goodness!!

She is still loving her Jumperoo and slowly getting tired of her bouncy seat and swing :( She loves people mostly men and kids Clayton's age.

She is becoming quite attached to me and that makes things pretty hard but she is so sweet and lovey I have  hard time not picking her up when she cries.

She is wearing 3-6 month clothes and size 2 diapers. At her 4.5 month checkup she was 15 lbs and 23 inches, so in the 5th percentile for height and 25 percentile for weight...short and stout...are you singing the teapot song because I am?! As far as shoes goes she is still in newborn sizes...so tiny

She can finally roll from front to back and getting so close to rolling back to front. She can sit for  few minutes without support. She can grab anything and does! And it goes straight in her mouth every time...speaking of mouth I am pretty sure a tooth is on the horizon!

 Sitting on the couch alone

 Holding her bottle

 Always chewing on her fingers

 She can sit in highchairs and shopping carts now!

Look at those tiny feet and not so tiny legs!!

 Playing hide and seek with Clayton he was in the tunnel peeking out at her :)

Pretty princess!

She has a Dr. appointment on November 18 and I can't wait to see her growth.

Week 7...Charlotte June 15-June 21

7 weeks have gone by already and I can't believe it! I am seriously getting more depressed as the weeks go on but I know I should be thankful for her growth and development.

Babywise and schedule: We have established the morning wake up time finally. She will wake up at 5:30 instead of 6 sometimes but will fix the schedule by her 9 am feeding. She is still on a 3 hour schedule starting at 6am and taking her last feeding at 11:30.

 

obviously not her but I will replace when I get a picture of her in one!

Sleeping: Sleeping through the night totally now and is taking much better naps. Next week I am going to really start working on her napping in her bed. She is napping on average 1.5-2 hours of her 3 hour routine. Once we get beck from GA we are going to transition her to her crib at night. She will be 2.5 months old and I think she will be ready. Still loving the swaddle and realy liking the Swaddleme Swaddle Pod!She is staring to show signs that she is tired instead of me just laying her down at the appropriate times. She rubs her head on my shoulder and starts searching for her pacifier while pulling in a fetal position. We are settling into a more structure bedtime routine for both kids together, I'm giving myself one more week before I report on that!

Diapers: Size one but since we buy cases at a time from daipers.com she is actually wearing a 1-2 (up to 15lbs). Side note: with Clayton I loved huggies little movers but with Charlotte I am loving Pampers...weird how different it is!

Clothes: newborn and 0-3

Weight: at birth 7.9 and 19.5 inches now she is 9.12 and 20in (she went to the Dr this morning so it is not a guess!)

Eating: Still nursing. She takes roughly one bottle a day and then I pump to make the difference. I took her to the Dr this morning because I was concerned that she might have reflux. She will gasp for air and I can feel her chest rattle but both only happen after she eats. According to the Dr it is associated with my overactive let down and not reflux which is great because I am already working on that problem and I am so glad we do not have to put her meds. We thought she might have a milk allergy because she cries after she eats and he said it sounded more like she was still hungry...Thanks goodness, I love milk and dairy!! She has been nursing with the shield for 4 days now and that has really improved the ease of BF and helped her get more caloric milk at each feeding.

Witching hour seems to be getting much better or maybe we just know it is coming and are prepared but either way 6-10 has calmed down a lot around here!


She is interacting with Clayton so much and will give him the biggest smiles.They play a game where he swings the chicken hanging from her bouncy seat and she will laugh this sweet little silent chuckle. I love it! 

She is becoming a total diva....knows how to get attention! And will cry this sad awful lip quivering fake cry that is so hard not to laugh at : )

Diaper duty: Slowed down a ton! Like maybe once a week now! I talked to the Dr about it this morning and he said it was completely normal for breast fed babies and as long as she doesn't go longer than 10 days than we are OK. I was concerned she may be dehydrated! It is SO easy to do out here in this dry 100+ heat. however she has some awful smelling gas. So I am going to start taking pro-biotics and when she starts on solids I will introduce them to her per his instructions. She is having well enough wet diapers!

YBFYWBW milestone:
-tracking objects with her eyes
-loving her hands
-starting to use the pacifier to soothe
-really lifting her head now...when pulled up by arms alone she will straighten her neck to raise her ehad level with her body
- grunting to communicate and starting to make some cooing sounds

Clayton

We got his school pictures back and I have to say he is handsome! Still loving camp...this weeks theme was Camping and they brought in fake light streamer fire thing that he is raving about and they got to build tents and have water play in the fake creek...so cute! 

Me

 Weight watchers is going great! I have lost 3 lbs in one week and an inch off of my waist! These yummy Coconut Creme Frappacinos might just be the death of me though!!  

My OB has cleared me for all normal activity and said I was looking great! So workouts here I come!!!

Jason

We should be hearing something really soon about his future assignment maybe by next weeks post we will know something!  

Week 6...Charlotte June 8- June 14

Charlotte is 6 weeks old today! The time is flying by so quickly :(

Babywise: I'm still working on the setting the wake time and we are still working on full feedings but it is getting much easier. I love having this schedule and knowing how to plan the day. It is so helpful with Clayton as well! We are slowly moving to a 3 hour schedule. I decided to make that move because I was having to wake her for every feeding and I assume that is a sign that she can go longer than 2.5 hours. She was crying around 5:30 every morning to be feed but I wanted a 6:30 am wake up. BW suggested when this type of thing happens to either move up the wake time or wake her earlier than when she cries, feed her and then put her back to bed. I tried the second option but once I was up for 30+ minutes at 4:30 I had a hard time going back to sleep so I went with option 1. Our new schedule is:

6 wake up...then she eats every 3 hours so 6,9,12,3,6,9,11:30(dream feed). She then naps for 2 hours at 7,10,1,4,7 and goes to bed at 9. I feed her for around 15 minutes on each side and then we do an activity or play to keep her awake for at least 30 minutes and then lay her down for nap. She is a routine girl and I can already tell a difference in her when she gets too far off of the schedule.

Sleeping: I talked about the schedule above but she is still sleeping in our room in her Rock and Play and will most likely stay there until we get back from GA in mid July. I don't want her to get used to sleeping alone and then have to room with us and then go back...consistency! She is still loving being swaddled and likes her pacifier to go to sleep. I have noticed she likes a dark room with some sort of moving light to watch...ie..projection from her sound machine. OH and she is officially sleeping through the night (11:30-6)

Diapers: size 1 

Clothes: newborn and 0-3

Weight: Complete guess here but I would say around 8lbs

Eating: Nursing unless having a witching hour and then Jason will give her a bottle to relieve me for a little while.Or when we are in public...I am still having a hard time with that one!

Witching hour: I thought she was suffering from colic or really bad gas. She would cry and cry for hours in the evening so I consulted the BW blog and found this post on the different cries and how to distinguish between colic and gas. And if you are a blog follower at all you know that sometimes you click and click again and end up somewhere way off from where you started. Well after a few clicks I ended up a BW post on Witching hour that sounded JUST LIKE our house from 6-10! I knew that babies/children have a fussy period but I was glad to know there is something that can be done about it. Charlotte loves the noise making the post suggest and also going outside. Although it is difficult to tend to her almost non stop for those few hours we have adjusted some things in everyone's schedule and are now handling it better. One of the most frustrating things though is the cluster feeding, or having to feed every 2 sometimes ever hour during that time. I am sore, Clayton is annoyed and everything else is left to be handled later. I am hoping she is past this soon and we can have our evenings back!!
BW blog says: "Do what it takes to keep baby happy during this time. Do what it takes to get baby to sleep during this time so she doesn't get overly tired and overstimulated. It will all be okay :)" I was so glad to read because I worried that breaking the routine would set us back but things fall right back into place the next day.

Smiling: She has really found this cute smile in the last week and I love it! The best part is that she will smile for Clayton bigger and more often than anyone else. At first I was a little jealous but I see that I want this to be the way they are with each other...melts my heart!!

Rolled over: Charlotte can roll from tummy to back if laying the right way and if she is mad enough!

Pooping: I was really worried about her BM's! She is only going every few days but I have read that that is normal with BF babies...was different that Clayton was for sure!!

Massage: I am still massaging Charlotte every time I bathe her and often during the day to relieve some of her gas.

Tummy Time: She does not love it but I try to do it every day if even for a few minutes. She is getting much better at holding her head up for a little longer than last week.

Hair: Still has really dark hair but is slowly losing it and getting the baby bald spot :(

Baby Bjorn: She LOVES it and I "wear" her to grocery shop, clean the house and any time she is fussy. I read that babies that are worn may be smarter! 

Dermatitis: She had HORRIBLE baby acne when we brought her home and that is clearing up but she still has a little rash that seems to get worse the day she is scheduled to take a bathe...oil maybe?

YBFYWBW Milestones:
-gaining neck control
-expresses excitement by flailing arms and legs and grasping at air...really cute!
-will stop when a new sound is introduced to her surroundings
-loves to sit up (controlled by someone obviously) and look around and seems to really notice things in this position
- can study an object in her hand...usually her other hand
-gets excited and anticipated objects...ie bottle or the boppy which both equal food! This shows memory improvement
-is staying awake for longer periods of time on her own
-really starting to reach for things like the little animals from her mobile in her swing

Me

I have started weight watchers and hoping that will help me lose some of this awful weight!! Once I get "cleared: by the doc I am going to get hard core about the exercising again. 

Clayton

Clayton is still in camp and loving it! We are also going to the library story time followed by Starbucks on Thursdays.

And swimming every chance he gets!

Jason

Everything that Jason experiences with Charlotte is new to him. He missed this part with Clayton because of his deployment so it is really fun to watch him interact with her and learn how to care for a baby over the age of 3 weeks. He is changing command but we will be staying here at Ft Irwin to take another command that is more related to his job field. He has also really gotten interested in working out and weight lifting...pretty inspiring for me to get back in shape...don't want to be that couple!

How did I have a baby without these things?

With Charlotte being our second child and a child born with a little more preparation and at different place in our lives makes her the "get better stuff" baby. When we decided to have another baby we thought it would be much cheaper this go round because we already had everything. If it was a girl we would add some pink clothes and bows and be done...right? Wrong! First we had to replace the bouncy seat and swing because with 2 government moves since Clayton was a baby we have lost several pieces to both items...thanks movers! But we have also gained some things that we didn't have with Clayton that I now see the benefit in having. With Clayton if we didn't get it as a gift and we could make it through a day with out we didn't bother. But with Charlotte people gave us some things we didn't already have and since we had MOST everything we needed we splurged and got some of the "cooler" things we missed out on with Clayton...here are my now "I don't know how I how a baby with out these things" items.

Diaper Genie
 

We were given 2 Diaper genies this round and I love having 2 of them so much. We have one near the pack n play/ changing table downstairs and one in her room upstairs. I love that they don't smell and I feel like I am saving money by not taking the trash out everyday. Obviously it can be done with out them but I won't do it again!

Video Monitor 
 

This monitor is awesome. great quality and I can see baby girl sleeping (or not sleeping) whenever I want and I don't have to walk in her to check on her. The best part is the 2 way sound feature. When she is crying I can sing through the monitor or talk to her and calm her down without having to go in there. I'm not lazy or avoiding going in her room or anything but once she sees me she wants to be picked up so I try not to let her see me if she is just fussing. This camera has also helped me catch Clayton sneaking in there!

Changing table
I didn't take a picture because I am too lazy to go upstairs and take it and I couldn't find ours online! With Clayton we changed him on the pack n play changing table until he was bigger and then I did it on the floor. But we had a single story house and didn't have a second child to watch. I think it is so nice to have a real place to change her and to store diapers and linens for her room. 
Sound machine

This has been an awesome addition to out musical/lights crap that we force upon our kids in hopes that something other than us can make them fall asleep. This particular one has a projector that displays 3 different scenes on the ceiling and she loves to watch the lights and listen to the animal sounds. I have to say when I need a break the ocean sound is very soothing! 
Baby Bjorn

When Clayton was little I had an infantino carrier and I felt like he was going to fall out all the time! I love this carrier and I am so glad we found one for super on sale at Target in lime green (see picture above) but I would take it in poop brown honestly as much as it has helped me!


These opinions are just that! Every parent finds different things invaluable when they have babies but I was pleasantly surprised how much I liked these items and how glad I am that we are trying them out this time around!

Week 5 of Charlotte May 31 through June 7

 Charlotte is 5w and 2 days old today and I am already having a hard time watching her grow so much so fast. She is great baby except when she is hungry and then it becomes a little bit hectic but we are working on patience for both her and me.

Charlotte:

Babywise: So far so good on the BW front. We are slowly working on really sticking to the schedule and following the BW guidelines but also doing what makes the most sense for our family. It is so much harder to do BW with a sibling and also with a daddy. When Clayton was this age Jason was in Iraq and I was basically free to do with Clayton as I saw fit without any one's opinion and now I have to take Jason and Clayton's needs into account when I make her schedule. The biggest thing I am working on right now is the first wake up or the Early Morning feeding. BW says this sets the tone for the day so I am really wanting to get this time set in stone. We are also working on getting full feedings. Charlotte is wanting to be a snacker and I am trying to get full feedings every 2.5 hours instead of the wanted every 45 minute nibble...um no!

Schedule:

 6:30 wake up-diaper-feed

         within that 30 minutes she eats for 10...diaper change and burp for 10...eats for 10

7:00 wake time (WT)

7:30-9:00 nap

and repeat every 2.5 hours until 9pm. At 9pm she eats and goes right back to bed at 10 and will usually want to eat again around 11:30 and then sleeps until 6:30.

Over the last few days she has wanted to get up 6 so I may adjust everything up or wait until she moves on to the 3 hour schedule.

Sleeping: So far she is doing great with sleeping through the night (mostly). She is in her "bed" by 11 for the final time and doesn't get up until 5:30 usually and will go back to sleep until 6:30 when she is up for good. I can work with this schedule. I have to get up to get Clayton to "camp" by 8 so the forced 6:30 wake up helps everyone get up and moving in the mornings. As far as naps she is getting in a more regular schedule . As long as she is swaddled and has a paci she is good to go. I am working really hard at making her nap in the pack and play or her bed and not get used to the swing or bouncy for a nap. This is mostly because she needs something to do during wake time and I want her to associate certain places with certain activities.

 Eating: She is eating every 2.5 hours right now but I feel like she is trying to push to the 3 hour but there are times during the day she just can not go that extra 1/2 hour. There are even times in the evening she tries to cluster feed and eat every 2 hours...um hello we have a schedule in place!  I'm kidding on that but only a little :) She is still breastfeeding and you can read all about that is the post I plan to write soon on our trials and tribulations of the baby vs. boob saga! There have been some issues but we are working through it all and my goal of six weeks is only 6 days away and I am extending it out to at least 3 months...if nothing more than so we don't have to worry about formula in GA.

 Diapers: She is in a size one and doesn't look like she is moving anytime soon
Clothes: She wears a newborn or 0-3 months

 This is 0-3 and it's kind of big still

Pacifier: We offered her a pacifier when she is sleeping or in the car and I hope it stays that way. There are certain times during the day when she will calm if she has it and usually will nap soon after she gets it. She loves the Advent and the Playtex Binky's.

Your Baby's First Year Week by Week: This is where I will touch on the major topics I read about this week:

bathing :she bathes about 3 times a week in the cutes and coolest little tub. YBFY talks about family tubs...no thanks but that's just me.

Obviously not me but I didn't have a bath pictures of her yet ( i know crazy right?)

swing: she is not a super huge fan of the swing and that is so sad to me because Clayton loved his. We got her a new one after we realized the movers in our last move lost the major pieces. It is a safe place to lay her though when I need to do something or run upstairs.

milestones:
-her actions are becoming more voluntary
-she bats at objects not within her reach
-she is calmed faster by me or another woman that a male
-she is retaining memory of objects (such as a paci or sounds)
-can be quieted by a paci
-quiets when held or a familiar face is in her line of vision
-she prefers to watch people over objects

pain: According to what I have read at this point babies can remember pain. They will not remember having a pain at 6 weeks when they are three but they will remember tomorrow when they encounter whatever ailed them again.
sounds: She loves music and sound machine noises. New sounds are supposed to be good for babies so I am trying to find some lullabies to introduce weekly and not just the norms!
physical development: She is working really hard at holding her head up when laying on her tummy.

She is stretching out and uncurling from the fetal position when laying on her back

She can move her hand to her mouth at will to soothe
vision: She is able to focus on people within 18 inches of her eyes

Different Cries: We are slowly learning the different cries and working on what best fixes her problem

This is her I am not happy cry!

Gums: We have not done this but the book suggest even at this age massage the gums and clean them after feedings. It will stimulate growth and help adjust her to cleaning to avoid that issue later.
massage: Baby massage is great and calming for both of us.
where to sleep: The book talks about the family bed. We chose not to do this and instead she sleeps in her Rock and Play beside me. I still have access to her at night and can see her but she is in her own bed. We will transition her in the next few weeks (after out trip home I'm guessing) into her own bed.
hiccups: Oh man she is the hiccup queen! And that is said to be uncommon in breastfeed babies but b/c she is using a shield (whole post on that here...or coming) she may be getting more air then I think. I give her Gripe Water when they get so bad they are interfering with her sleep or causing obvious pain. 
toys: Clayton is her toy of choice followed by me and Jason and then when that fails she likes her own hand.

Me:

I'm doing pretty well with sleep and eating. I am actually finding time for both. 

I of course would love to drop this baby weight a little faster than I am but I am getting into a routine of working out in the mornings while I only have one child and hopefully that will drop the weight! I lost a lot in the beginning thanks to breastfeeding but that was all nature could do the rest is up to me!

Clayton:
He is doing so well adjusting to her and has been a HUGE help! There are times he wants more attention than I can give...usually at feeding times. He is going to camp 5 days a week for 3 hours and loves the time and friends there. He tells everyone that she is his baby sister and all the details about her!

First day of camp!

Recap of first few weeks of Little Lottie's life

I want to blog at the end of each week of Charlotte's life. I sort of did this with Clayton in a legit hand written journal but now that I blog I would rather do it here and eventually make a book maybe. I am counting weeks as in the 'week of life'. So for example she was born on May 3 so May 3rd through May 10th would be week one and I will blog on that Monday night before she turns the next week old...make sense?

[Disclaimer: As I write this she is actually in her 5th week of life! I am behind but I wanted it documented so I am going back and filling in the blanks!]

This time around with my pregnancy I read Your Pregnancy Week by Week so I stuck with that serious and am reading Your Baby's First Year Week by Week so when I compare the "average" baby to Charlotte that is where I am getting my comparison.

Weeks 1-4

Jaundice
Before we left the hospital we were told that Lottie's biliruben (Sp) levels were high but not high enough to stay in the hospital and that we were free to leave with her if we brought her back the next morning for another blood test and weight check. This went on for 4 more days and on Mother's Day she was finally cleared to not come back until her 2 week check-up...Happy Mother's Day to me!

 

This is the best picture I can find where she looks a little yellow

Schedule

 I am really looking forward to implementing the Babywise parenting method into our lives again. It worked well with Clayton and I would like to do it with Charlotte as well. Right now we are letting her get adjusted and she is eating on somewhat of a schedule on her own. She eats roughly every 2 hours as instructed by the Dr to flush out her jaundice.

Growth

At her 2 day check up she had not gained back to her birth weight but was working up to it. (I'm not sure exactly what she was at the time we left the hospital or at her 2 day). She is obviously eating something that is making her gain the weight and that was a huge concern for me sense she is breastfeeding (see post on that). By her 2 week checkup she was at 7lb 10oz and 19 3/4 in. (7lb 9oz 19.5 in at birth) so that is great news and the goal we were told to look for! 

Sleeping 

She sleeps in a Rock n Play ^ and loves to be swaddled! Complete opposite of her brother. She also is already sleeping with a pacifier. I like having her close to me but not in the bed with me at this point. I would like for her to never sleep in the bed with me (it is really hard to get them out...trust me!). She is waking maybe 2 times to eat and going right back to sleep. I feel rested and that is super important with 2 to take care of now!

Reacting with Clayton

Obviously they do not play together yet but Clayton is very respectful of her things and space and the time I need to take out of his time to care for her. There are times I see him looking at her trying to figure the whole thing out but so far they are doing great together. She is not effected by his noise level or his sporadic movements even though I am! 

So far so good on the family of 4 front!