11 Months old...no way!

This is the last monthly update before Charlotte turns one! This has been one of the best and challenging years of my life. She is the sweetest, loving, challenging, stubborn baby girl and i could not be more happy to be her mommy.

There have not been any doctors appointments since the last monthly update except her physical therapy (whole other post) so I'm guessing on her growth. I would say she is roughly 26 pounds and about 26 inches long. She is wearing anything that fits and that could be from a 6 month to an 18 month and even some 2t shirts?!? Diapers are about to get more expensive because she is moving from a 3 to a 4...you know less diapers in the box equals more per diaper.

She is still eating roughly 24 oz of formula and on her last can...on to milk! As far as table food she is really eating so many new things and new textures I can not keep track! I was told from her therapist and infant specialist that eating may be an issue for her with the SPD but lately it hasn't stopped her. Charlotte is finding independence in the eating department as well and that is fun to watch and not so fun to clean up. While we do not condone food throwing she fells like rubbing it all over herself and the highchair are necessary for a well balanced experience.

Sleeping has been the same except that she is getting up around 6-630 now but it really works out best for us anyway despite how much I want to push the snooze button :)

No new teeth.

Charlotte is now saying: mama, yaya(dada), KK(Clayton), nana(banana), na(no), nanu (thank you) and she can sign tons of things! Some are in her own language but we can usually figure it out.

She can high five and low five and she can also make the Indian chant noise/mouth movement...you know what I'm talking about? (I'll try for a video) 

As far has her gross motor delay she is progressing little by little. The major improvement is bearing weight on her feet and legs. The next big step with be to stand with out assistance. She is also booty scootchin, her version of crawling.

Charlotte's 11 month photo collage

2 months until 1 year!

So my little miss has entered her 11 month of life already. She turned 10 months on the 3rd of March and I can not begin to tell y'all how that makes me feel. But I will also say because she is still so baby like to me I don't see her as this close to one. Since her last monthly report she really hasn't changed that much. The only big different is that she is now being seen by a physical therapist to help her with a diagnosis of Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). You can read the beginning stages of that process here.

Growth: I am assuming she is roughly 22 lbs and around 26/27 inches long...still short but starting to equal out...maybe :)
She is wearing anything from 6-12 month clothes and size 4 diapers.

Eating: She has 4 bottles of 5oz a day and 9 cubes (18 tbls) of fruits/veggies and 4-6 tbls of cereal . Part of her SPD is textures in food. So while she will eat almost anything she will only in certain forms. For example she will not anything mixed like a casserole or spaghetti. She is basically eating at a stage 2 food. Cookies (biter biscuits) and soft fruits/veggies are OK sometimes but it usually takes a really long time for her to eat them and involves quite a bit of screaming :(

Sleeping: She is now sleeping from 7:30ish pm to 6:30 am, with 2 1.5 hour naps during the day. I shifted her whole day up by about a n hour to make room for the twice weekly PT. Bless her heart she is cutting 3 teeth and the teething is really effecting her sleep. She is just really restless and hard to get her down initially, but is still sleeping through the night.

New developments:
         6 teeth, that's 3 more than last month
         She loves to clap and do hand motions to songs IE. Wheels on the Bus and Patty Cake.
         Still only saying "mama" but is not signing "daddy" "eat" "more" "bottle" "milk"
         Screaming: when she is excited, mad, happy...I can not figure how to make it stop!!

She is still really struggling with gross motor. After evaluation from the PT she was placed at a 3 month development level but only in gross motor she is average if not above in every other aspect.

Charleigh Grace is really coming into her own. She knows what she likes and doesn't, she will laugh when its funny but doesn't waste that energy if it isn't.

Charlotte 10 month collage

Charlottes ninth month of life

Charlotte is a little over 9 months now! So what's been going on in her life lately? SO MUCH!!! This little girl is for sure going to be my frequent flyer in the medical department! I'll get into all of that in a minute but first up some stats:

As of her doctor appointment on Feb 21 (meaning she was actually 9.5 months old)
Growth: She is now 21 lbs (80%) and 25.5  inches long (10%)
              She wears size 3 diaper and 6-12 month clothes. 

Eating: Based on her measurements and some mobility issues her pediatrician recommended a new menu to maximise her calorie intake to ensure that every calorie counts. She eats 4 bottles of  5oz. 3 meals and 2 very small snacks.We are working on the transition to sippy cups so she has one sippy a day instead of a bottle.

Sleeping: 8 pm-730 am and 2  1.5-2 hour naps. She is such a great sleeper! She lays down in her crib without much fuss, turns her head and off to sleep she goes...unlike her brother!

New developments:She has 3 new teeth! They came in without much issue thank goodness.
                  No new words this month. But she has started signing "more", "eat", "sad". She will respond to "dad", "mom", "bottle", "eat" and "play".

                   She is starting to show some signs of separation anxiety but I am doing everything to nip that in the bud!!

 With her bubba

Cellulitis: Charlotte had what looked like a zit on her little hiney. I noticed that it has popped but didn't think much of it. This is going to get pretty detailed and gross so be warned!! On a Monday she started running a fever and was a little fussy but I assumed it was teeth. Jason said he noticed  a little blood in her diaper and wondered if it was related but Charlotte has always been a little on the constipated side and again I just assumed it was from straining. But when I checked her diaper I saw that the zit spot was bruised and hard and looked like it had been bleeding. Once I wiped it the blood started pouring out. I FREAKED and immediately started texting with my Dr neighbor. He suggested I squeeze out the discharge. It was for sure some sort of infection. The color was turning from blood to a dark purple almost black grossness! I put a band aid on the spot (since it was in the area of poo!) and gave her some Tylenol. The next day she was much worse. I have never seen either of my kiddos that sick. Straight to the Dr we went. Dr Bitnis immediately said it was cellulitis and swabbed the discharge to check for MRSA. We were sent home with a strong antibiotic. The test came back negative for MRSA but was inconclusive for another bacteria strain that remains in the system. She may have this situation again or not. Time will tell. 

 Always eating

At each well baby visit there is a questionnaire called the Ages and Stages. Charlotte is on target in every category except Gross Motor..they score on 5-60 scale and test gross and fine motor, social, communication, and cognition.  The first one that we noticed she was not making a great score was four months but she was still in the "OK but we are going to watch this" stage. By her 9 month visit she is literally failing. She scored a 10. So the doctor went back and tested her at a 6 month and 4 month questionnaire and Charleigh Grace failed them both as well. This is super confusing seeing as that she is scoring 55-60 in EVERY other category including fine motor! But she is still trying to roll over so crawling, standing or walking re out of the question. I have been having a lot of emotions and thoughts on all of this but I am not sure how to get the floating thoughts into words just yet. At this point she has been referred to California's early intervention program and they matched us with a physical therapist that then referred us to a pediatric physical therapist. She goes on Monday (March 5) for her initial appointment. Once a PT looks at her and can give us a direction I will feel better if for no other reason than having a jumping off point.So if you have it in you, a prayer would be greatly appreciated. I went through a lot to get this PT and to get her approved so I know that God has this.

Celebrating her birthday early with my dad"s family

This is me at 9 months or around there:

9 month collage

Only three more squares to go before the big 1 year!

Charlotte is 8 months old

I know I say this every month but I am in disbelief that Charlotte is on the downward hill to a year old! I am so struggling with this!! I love her baby ways and I love her baby looks.sweet sweet girl.

So she appears to growing some finally! I mean height when I say this as she is not struggling to grow in the weight department :) As far as I can figure she has grown to 25" and weighs about 19 lbs. She is still wearing size 3 diapers. Her clothes are ranging from 3-12 month stuff. It all depends on the brand and what it is.

She is seriously eating everything!! We took her to Chick fil A and she killed some waffle fries. Of course she loves all the other stuff too as long as she is eating :)  Oh and she HAS NO TEETH!!!

I mentioned last month that her feet are tiny and they are still tiny but she can fit into a size 1 now. After reading up and talking to a PT and another pediatrician I am trying her out in bigger shoes to see if that will help her bear weight on her feet. The idea is that she doesn't feel like her tiny feet can hold her, a deception issue, so if her shoes are bigger a give her the illusion that her feet are bigger she will bear more weight....guess what? It worked!!

Her gross motor has improved quite a bit. She is doing the rocking motion on her belly and is handling falling from sitting so much better than she was. She has also learned to throw her weight when she wants like rocking her pack and play. Her fine motor skill are excellent. She is picking up everything even tiny things and of course it all goes straight to her mouth!

Her favorite toy is still her paci and now that she can put it in her mouth herself we find it in all directions.

She is a giggling machine and can say "mama" and "hi". Clapping, waving and patting things are also new this month.

I took her swinging the for the first time this month and she loved it.

I LOVE that she is a structured baby. Here is what happens when we do not stick to her schedule.

I think one of the best things she has learned to do this month is give kisses....melts me

And by the way in every video you can hear me laughing in the background but that is seriously all I do around these kids! They make me laugh all the time!

8 month charlotte collage

My sweet girl

Charlotte's 6 month checkup and 7th month of life

Charlotte had her 6 month check up on November 18 with her new (for now) pediatrician. Being in the Army means that my kiddos see several different Dr's and they can change from appointment to appointment. I am not always OK with this but there are times it benefits. Sometimes a different opinion in nice but sometimes it would be nice to not have to go over their entire life story (not that that is very long for her!) every appointment...anyway back to subject at hand!

Her measurements were: 18 lbs (98%) and 23 inches (2%). I can't remember her head circumference but it was in the normal range. The Dr was concerned about her height/weight and we talked about her eating and adjusted it a little to include more fruits and veggies and less formula (she is still well within the normal formula consumption). The height is the biggest issue. While there isn't really anything that can be done it is something the Dr wanted to watch. She was was 19.5 at birth so that is a 4 inch increase and the typical height should be around 25 inches at .5-1 inch of growth a month.

The other concern is how tiny her feet are! Seriously she is still in newborn shoes and they are too small. She doesn't need to wear shoes yet but we cannot find any that tiny anyway. Comparing her foot prints they have grown about a centimeter in 6 months.

While the doctor was not super worried about her development I was very concerned! She has only rolled over from tummy to back and stopped doing that a few weeks ago. There is no attempt to crawl or even scoot, she will not stand unless in her jumperoo. While this is helpful and means that I can still lay her somewhere and be pretty certain she is still going to be there it is sad and hard to watch the other children her age doing these things and her not being able to.

She is sitting VERY well and can lean in every direction and get herself back up and the doctor said this could be why she gets so upset when she is laying down. She is feeding herself finger foods and trying every food I will let her...she is not a picky girl!! She is starting to get very curious about how or why things work. I can almost see the wheels turning as she plays with new toys or watches Clayton play with toys.

Socially Charlotte is a hoot! She smiles at everyone and even flirts with the men :) She will look around my shoulder or whatever is blocking her to look at noises people are making.

Verbally Charlotte is "talking" up a storm! She babbles and makes this noise that can only be understood if heard! This noise can be a tad bit annoying at times!

She is wearing mostly 6-9 month clothes and size 3 diapers.

Sleeping is still great. The only time she wakes up is if she gets cold or on the rare occasion she falls asleep without eating enough. But she often falls back to sleep pretty fast.

I touched on eating earlier but basically her schedule is
630  5 oz
715 solids
930 5 oz
1230 5 oz and solids
330 5 oz
630 5 oz and solids

She also eats finger foods throughout the day just for practice. The sippy cup is being introduced but she is still trying to get the concept.

Charlotte has recently started to play by herself pretty well (thanks babywise!) We have added playpen time to her schedule and she is doing great with it and gives me a little time to get some stuff done other than at nap times. Plus she is a little bit of a mommy's girl so this is helping her branch out :)

I am disbelief that she is getting so big and that she is actually 7 months old as I write this!

6 month collage

Half a year old!

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.