Charlotte is ONE!

Happy first birthday sweet girl! What a joy you are:) We celebrated at GG and Big D's house with cupcakes that Aubrey helped make. We didn't have a big celebration because of the move. We love you SO very much!

Firsts: Birthday! Move, being baby sat by Madeline, visiting GG and Big D’s church

Mommy and Daddy’s Favorites: All of your new little words you are saying. Mommy also love watching you when you get a baby or stuffed animal and you make the sweetest sounds and hug it.

Milestones: Standing for several seconds without support. You are starting to become more of a toddler than a baby. You pretend to do things like brush your hair if you see a brush, put shoes on your feet, put bows in your hair (even though you pull them out if I put them in!), and rub your hands together if you see someone washing their hands or putting on lotion.

Measurements Weight and length clothes and diapers: We have to find a new pediatrician so your 1 year checkup is going to be a little delayed. For now I know you are in 6-12 month clothes and in a size 3 diaper, size 4 at night.

Funniest Moment: Watching you dance to music. You love it! You hear any kind of music and you start bouncing. You get one leg going and you get low. If someone is holding you, you start kicking and the you move your arm back and forth.

Memorable moment: Packing up and saying bye to our house and town. We are so excited to be in a new town and have loved our new church. We can’t wait to move into our new house! But it was still a little sad saying good-bye to the house we brought you and Aubrey home to.

Challenges: Packing up a house with a baby and a toddler! It was quite a task!

How we spend the day: This has been pretty crazy this past month. We moved out of our house and haven’t moved in to our new one. We are staying with GG and Big D so our schedule has been a little hectic. We’ve made several trips back and forth to the Dallas area as well as having several errand to run throughout the day…all these things have made our days busy, but fun.

Feedings/Eating: You are eating with us at every meal and several snacks. You are a pretty good eater still although you don’t eat just everything I put in front of you anymore. You still will eat a lot of fruits and veggies. You nurse still before bed and before naps at home. This is also how I get you back to sleep at night. You will probably be night time trained when we move into our own houseL It makes me sad, but you need to sleep through the night now.

Sleeping: You haven’t been sleeping great which is understandable but still hard. You have been waking at least once if not twice a night. Sometimes its hard to get you to go back to sleep. You’ve been waking up pretty consistently about 6:30 for the day and won’t go back to sleep. You are still taking two naps a day unless your schedule is messed up.

Personality: You are becoming such a big girl and have changed so much even in the last month. You want to keep up with Aubrey all the time. You love playing with all of her stuff and love when she plays with you and chases you around. You love to laugh and squeal. You love other people and wave and smile at everyone who passes by. You are generally a very happy baby, but if someone makes you mad you’ll let them know quickly. You are fearless and love to climb in and up anything you can before we catch you…and when we do you crawl away as fast as you can!

Likes: animals, especially puppies, Christmas trees and lights, blueberries and strawberries, climbing up stairs,

Dislikes: When mommy leaves you in the nursery, baby gates that keep you from climbing the stairs, long dresses that hinder your crawling,

Mobility: You crawl everywhere you want to go and you crawl fast. You are such a climber and scare everyone because you climb on tall things and you again, do it very fast. You are starting to stand unassisted for longer and cruise the furniture very easily, but you still haven’t taken your first step yet. You pushed yourself up from squatting to standing by yourself once.

Favorite toy: Anything Aubrey plays with…still! You are starting to like Little People things and you love to just pull stuff out of things like cabinets, suitcases, boxes…

Upcoming Events: Moving into our new house. Your 2^nd Christmas.

New Explorations: You are have a great time at GG and Big D’s house because they have 2 flights of stairs and they have all of their Christmas decorations out. You are always looking to make your great escape up the stairs if someone forgets to put the gate back up. You love looking at all of the lights and want to play with all of the ornaments on the tree. You have also started wanting to hold a pencil or crayon and try to color.

Sounds, words, and communication: You are talking and communicating so much these days. You say hi/bye while you wave. You put a phone up to your ear and say “o” (hello). You say mama…but sadly its mamamama and only when you want milk or you see some kind of food you want. You imitate a lot of sounds…you love to squeal when you hear Aubrey squeal and you just made a woof woof sound when you heard a puppy bark. You point and say uhh uhhh when you want something haha. If you see something pretty that you like you say “ooooo” in a really cute high pitched voice.

Teeth: You finally have 4 teeth. The top ones are still working on coming through though. It looks like the ones next to the tops ones may be trying to break through now as well.

Charlotte's 11th Month

Firsts: staying with Ashley and her girls, fever, Halloween, trick-or-treating, visiting Fortified Hills,

News Headlines: ISIS is basically crazy. There was a terrorist attack in Paris.

Mommy and Daddy’s Favorites: You’ve started dancing to music! You love music and it calms you down if you’re sad. If you’re sitting you start bouncing and twisting your arms, and if you’re standing you hold on and bounce and wiggle one leg. It’s hilarious!

Milestones: saying a few words, standing for a few seconds unassisted, cruising along furniture, climbing on everything, clapping, waving

Measurements Weight and length clothes and diapers: At the doctor on your 11 month birthday you weighed 18lb 6.5oz. You’re wearing 6-12/12 month clothes and size 3 diaper during the day, 4 at night.

Like Aubrey: You are both so different, but you both love music so much!

Funniest Moment: screaming and being scared of cow at chickfila and dog at GG’s house. You love animals when they are far away, but as soon as they get close to you, you scream and then your lip pokes out and your cry. You also did this with a pig at the pumpkin patch….you get so excited when you see them!

Memorable moment: crawling to mommy and saying mamamama and yelling dada really loudly at the football game. You also heard his voice on the phone and said “dada!”

Challenges: mobility…you’re climbing on everything, even the table. You fell off of Aubrey’s PBK chair and flipped over the side…you have no fear…except baby animals;)  You had 2 days of constipation and we had to use miralax L And you had your first fever because of a virus. The time change…

How we spend the day: These days have been so crazy lately. We found out we are moving and Daddy has a new job in Dallas, GA!! We are so excited but have been doing a lot of traveling back and forth. You’ve had to be a little more flexible lately and deal with a lot more car time. Also the time change has messed up our schedule.

Feedings/Eating: You eat mostly what we eat, when we eat. Mommy still nurses you before bed, if you wake up at night, and before your naps. You’ve been sick a lot so its been harder to get any closer to weaning you, but that’s okay…it will all work out! You are pretty good eater most of the time except the past few days when you weren’t feeling well.

Sleeping: You didn’t sleep well while you were sick and have had a really hard time with the time change. Everyday honestly seems different. After the time change you’ve been getting up about 6 something so you’re pretty tired. You’ve actually taken pretty decent naps recently. For the most part if you’re awake you can put yourself to sleep…if I nurse you beforehand its not to sleep, just as part of our routine. You almost always head to bed about 7:30/45.

Personality: You are so much fun! You are starting to come alive and really let us know what you want to the best of your ability. You are mostly in a happy mood unless you’re tired or hungry…or if you’re not getting your way. You love to play and explore and happy to do that as long as mommy is pretty close by.

Likes: blueberries (I think these are currently your favorite food), Aubrey, climbing in Aubrey’s chairs, looking at animals, climbing in the dishwasher, rolling around on the carpet, music

Dislikes: when you don’t get your way, when someone takes something you want or take you away from something you want to climb on, when you want down and we have to hold you, animals that touch you or bark or get too close, when mommy has to leave or puts you down and you want to be held.

Mobility: Cruising around furniture and climbing everything. You are a champ at climbing up entire flights of stairs. You’ve started dancing to music. You shake your head and bounce and swing your arms.

Favorite toy: any paper you can eat but aren’t supposed to, any flight of stairs or chair you can climb on but aren’t supposed to.

Upcoming Events: Thanksgiving and MOVING! We will be moving the day after thanksgiving to live with GG and Big D for about a month, then we will move into our new house. Also…your first birthday!! How is that even possible??

New Explorations: CLIMBING ON EVERYTHING!!

Sounds, words, and communication: saying mama, dada, bye bye, uh (uh oh), waving, signing all done with prompting, pointing to things you want

Teeth: One top tooth has broken through finally! And the other is possibly on its way.

Charlotte's 10th Month

Firsts: It was a big month of firsts! You met Papa (Daddy’s dad) for the first time. We went to the pumpkin patch and you got your first pumpkin. You’ve also sadly gotten your first ear infection and gotten your first antibiotic (Amoxicillin). You’ve also started waving and we think said your first word while you wave “di-di” (bye bye). You stayed with GG and Big D while mommy and daddy were gone for several hours.

Mommy’s favorited: Watching you and Aubrey play together is still my favorite. It has gotten even more fun the more you grow. The other day you were following her around crawling copying her.

Daddy’s Favorites: You crawled up to him and held your arms up for him to pick you up for the first time.

Milestones: You’ve been waving to people as the come and go quite frequently now. You have also started clapping. You love dancing to music. Also you have become quite the climber and can climb all the way up a flight of stairs. You have been pulling up on everything and have started cruising around all of the furniture.

Measurements: At the pediatrician you were right at 18 pounds. You are in size 3 diapers during the day and I just moved you up to a size 4 at night because you were leaking through. You are in such a mixture of sizes of clothes right now. You’re mostly in size 12 month pj’s but can still fit in a few 9 months. In clothes it is anything from 9 months to 12 months (these are mostly too big) and, depending on the store, 6-12 months.

Memorable moment: You come with us to Aubrey’s kindermusik class and you love it! You get so excited when its time for you to use and instrument and you love listening and dancing to the music!

Funny moment: Aubrey came in to kiss you goodnight. You decided it was time for your milk and for her to go so you started waving bye bye to her.

Challenges: Being sick! You weren’t sleeping very well and had, had a cold for over a week with so much congestion! We took you to the doctor and we were surprised to find you had your first ear infection. Aubrey’s never had one and you didn’t seem phased by it during the day so I didn’t think you’d have one. You don’t like the medicine very much and we have to hold you down to get you to take it:/ But thankfully you’re feeling better and have been sleeping much better now!

How we spend the day: You wake up between 6/7:30 each day and we start bedtime about 7:30. During the day we are still working around your 2 naps. We’ve had a lot going on lately so our schedule has been pretty crazy during the day. You do so well and come along with us wherever we go. You are very flexible, do well in the car, and really enjoy our little outings.

Feedings/Eating: You are still nursing before bed, when you wake up in the middle of the night, and a few times throughout the day…normally before a nap. I probably need to start cutting back on this, but you have always fed on demand so it is a little weird to cut out a feeding when they’ve been so unscheduled. You don’t always like to eat right when you wake up so breakfast is hit or miss, but you love eating lunch and dinner with us. You get so excited about mealtime. I’m pretty sure its your favorite part of the day. You eat basically everything we give you so I just give you a little abbreviated version of whatever we are eating. You love all fruits and most veggies. You’ve even swiped green beans off of my plate before I gave you your own. You have even eaten and liked tomatoes, olives, cucumbers, squash, and other random food. I’m trying to take advantage of this now and make sure you taste several different kinds of foods and textures before you get to a picky stage.

Sleeping: For the most part you are only waking up once a night. When you were sick you were up quite a bit more. Thankfully you’ve gone back to sleeping better. You are taking 2 naps a day; one is normally 30 minutes and the other is a little over an hour. You normally go about 3 hours between your wake up time and between your two naps.

Personality: Your little personality is really coming to life! You are such a happy baby most of the time. It is funny to begin seeing your little opinion develop. You’ve started “yelling” at Aubrey when she wont give you something or takes something away. You love to laugh and smile. You love babies and animals (real and toys) and you make the sweetest noises and start kicking your legs when you see them. You are still a mama’s girl for sure, but you’ve gotten better with going to some other people occasionally.

Likes: Food! Your favorites are strawberries and blueberries. You see them and get so excited. Aubrey and all of her stuff. Mommy and Daddy, Kindermusik, animals, bathtime, GG and Big D!

Dislikes: when mommy walks away or leaves you with someone else, when all of your food is gone, when Aubrey takes something away or won’t play with you.

Mobility: You are cruising all of the furniture now and can get wherever you want to go. You are such a fast little crawler now. When you’re doing something you’re not supposed to and we start to get you, you start crawling away from us really fast.

Favorite toy: You love Aubrey’s babies and you also get excited about anything furry…especially Aubrey’s Kitty and Ellie!

Upcoming Events: Your first Halloween!

New Explorations: You are climbing on everything and pulling up on everything you can. You can even crawl up stairs now.

Sounds, words, and communication: saying bye bye and waving at people. You say mama and dada I’m just not sure if you’ve related to who we are yet. You also say ba, na, etc. and several other sounds.

Teeth: still just the bottom 2!

Charlotte's 9th Month

Firsts: First time going to Lakeview (it was the longest you’ve been away from mommyL), first time at MOPS, sleeping in a pack n’ play, trip to the McWane Center, Ice cream on your 9 month birthday

Mommy and Daddy’s Favorites: You have started dancing every time you hear music or a beat you like. As soon as you notice it you start bouncing and smiling.

Milestones: You’re becoming quite the little climber and pull up on everything you can! You also are a champ at crawling and are always trying to keep up with Aubrey.

Measurements: You wear size 3 diapers and are in mostly 9 months and 6-12 months clothes. We get your exact measurements at the dr. Wednesday. You actually seemed to have slimmed down a bit because you are SO mobile. You were 17lbs 6oz. and 26.75inches…50% for everything.

Like Mommy: Me and Caitlin “Aya” think you have my eyes.

Like Daddy: Most people say you look like Daddy.

Like Aubrey: You love music

Unlike Aubrey: you’re a really good eater so far. You eat almost anything we put in front of you and always try new things. You’ll even eat things like tomatoes, olives, and cucumbers.

Challenges: Still diaper changes!! I’m ready for this phase to pass. Also, it is honestly physically exhausting to hover around you all day to make sure you don’t smash your face or head on something. You are into everything these days and would just crawl right off of the couch if we’d let you. Finally, the biggest thing is mommy leaving you. We went to MOPS for the first time and you basically screamed for an hour until they came to get mommy. You were content as soon as I was holding you. It was awful and broke my heart when I came to get you because you had obviously been crying for a while and were snubbing and congested. I know I have to leave you sometimes, but it breaks my heart when you get like that. You have gotten to where if mommy can’t hold you that you’ll settle for daddy over other people not in the family.

How we spend the day: You wake up about6/7:30…this changes daily for some reason and sometimes it is as late as 8:30. You take a morning nap about 2/2.5 hours after that and then an afternoon nap 3/3.5 hours after you wake up from the morning nap. For the most part you’ve dropped that last nap about 5 unless your other two naps were both only 30 minutes. And you’re getting your bath and going down about 7:30. You eat solids about the same time as we do, but sometimes you don’t eat all 3 meals and will nurse instead. We are just gradually trying to ease you in and continue to nurse on demand.

Feedings/Eating: Your feedings throughout the day are still so random. I never really got you on a strict schedule and it worked for us. I always nurse you before you go to bed and at least once or twice in the middle of the night. You normally eat when you get up and sometime in the afternoon. I offer it several times because I never know when you’ll actually be hungry enough that it is worth it to you to be still and eat! You are doing really well with solids. I’m trying to offer almost everything that we eat so that you get introduced to all kinds of flavors. There are some things that you like better than others, but overall you’ll eat most foods we put in front of you. We give you small bites and you are able to pick them up and feed yourself.

Sleeping: You do okay I guess. You still wake up at night, but generally go right back to sleep. You have had a little bit of a stuffy nose which has affected your sleep a few nights this past month, but for the most part you wake up about twice and go back to sleep. Your naps range from 30 minutes to 1.5 hours…it just depends on the day. You are pretty consistently down to only 2 naps a day, one about 2.5 hours after you wake up and one about 3 hours after you wake up from that nap.

Personality: You are so silly and have such a fun personality. You want to be big like Aubrey so you can do everything she does. You already like to ‘play’ and have fun with her. You kick your little feet when she’s around and get the biggest grin on your face. If you get one of her Kitties or babies you look at her and smile until she comes to get it back. If she squeals, so do you! You are generally happy unless you are really tired or you want mommy and someone else has you.

Likes: most food especially grapes and strawberries, being independent, taking a bath, Aubrey, Mommy, Daddy, being outside, watching other kids, exploring and pulling up on everything, putting things in your mouth

Dislikes: when Mommy leaves you, when you’re tired, diaper changes/getting clothes changed/being made to be still,

Mobility: Fast crawling and climbing and pulling up on everything. We’ve really had to watch you lately everywhere, but you even try to stand up in the high chair and bathtub.

Favorite toy: You love Aubrey’s babies and get so excited when you finally get your little hands on one.

Upcoming Events: You’ll get to meet ‘Papa in a few weeks for the first time.

New Explorations: tabletops :/ You have been pulling up on everything these days so you are able to get to everything that was once hidden and out of your reach. You are also crawling around and eating every little thing you see on the floor.

Sounds, words, and communication: You aren’t saying words yet, but you are very expressive. You definitely recognize your name. You babble to us like you are telling us a story and we know exactly what you mean. You let us know when you are excited, chatty, angry, sad (you still poke that lip out and put your head down if someone hurts your feelings), or just playful. Your favorite sounds are still “AAAAAAaaaa” and you say this very loud, squealing, and dadadada.

Teeth: Two bottom teeth

Charlotte's 8th Month

Firsts: Tooth! Meeting some of Daddy’s intern friends, going down the slide alone...

  

Milestones: Crawling and pulling up, picking up small objects using pincer grip

Measurements: Size 3 diaper, 3-6 month and 9 months clothes, 26.5inches, 16lbs 12 oz.

Like Mommy: you love fruits and veggies

Like Daddy: People are saying you are looking more like Daddy these days

Unlike Aubrey: You do really well in the car most of the time, you LOVE the pool and have such a fun time, fussier while teething

Memorable moment: We were staying with GG and Big D while Daddy was out of town. GG and Mommy decided to take you and Aubrey to the park. Mommy had you on the slide and was helping you go down while GG was videoing and taking pictures. While Mommy was holding you at the top once a hornet stung her back and her hand and she accidently let go of you and you flew down the slide!! Mommy felt HORRIBLE!! Thankfully you were ok and only cried for a minute or two. Aubrey was so sweet and said she would catch you next time if you fell and was very concerned.

Challenges: Changing your diaper! Oh my goodness you are constantly on the go and roll over the second we lay you down. This means we have to do some quick changes and use all limbs to hold you down! It was also a bit of a challenge to be away from home for two different weeks this month. You actually did better than expected! But it was still a little rough some days and you slept worse.

How we spend the day: You wake up anywhere from about 6:30-8 (normally somewhere in between) and eat breakfast, we play or run errands and you take a morning nap about 2 hours after you wake up. We eat lunch about 11:30 and take an afternoon nap about 1:30/2. We play until about 5 or so and you take a final nap while mommy cooks dinner. You take a bath and get ready for bed about 7:30. You wake up once or twice to eat and go right back down.

Feedings/Eating: You are eating solids about 3 times a day now. You sit in your high chair and eat with us during meals. You still don’t love baby foot, but you eat all kinds of big people food. Your favorites currently are watermelon and mango. When you see a watermelon you get so excited even when its not cut up yet! You whine until you get to pat it and then until we give you a bite. You are getting so good a picking up little pieces and eating them. You are still nursing several times throughout the day, before bed, and a few times at night.

Sleeping: Your sleeping is getting a little better…basically all you’re doing is sleeping a little later. You are still waking normally twice a night and your naps are normally about 30 minutes…one (its always different!) is normally a little longer.

Personality: You are such happy baby! You are definitely starting to get more opinionated though and let us know when you want something and when someone takes something away that you want. You love to “talk” to us and you talk so loud sometimesJ You are becoming more adventurous but only if mommy is in sight. You love to play (and eat everything) and you are constantly laughing and smiling…mostly at Aubrey. You are fairly content most of them time except when you are frustrated because we are trying to change your diaper.

Likes: Watermelon, Mommy, Daddy, Aubrey, eating everything you can get your hands on (grass and leave included), swinging, the pool, when Mommy holds you in the ergo (Sometimes!)

Dislikes: having your diaper changed, not being able to get where you want, when mommy walks out of the room, when Aubrey takes something away that you’re playing with, when you’re strapped in the ergo and you want down.

Mobility: You have started crawling and pulling up on smaller things.

Favorite toy: You’ve had fun in your jumparoo lately and had a great time in your float at the pool. You honestly love any toy that Aubrey has and you love to play in her room.

New Explorations: Crawling and pulling up. This is a stressful time for mommy and daddy. Not only are you constantly falling and running into things, but you also can move around and you eat everything you can get your hands on. We have to watch you SO carefully!

Sounds, words, and communication: You are making so many sounds these day. “A da a da” “na na na” “ya ya ya” “blah blah blah” “la la la” etc. You love to scream and just be really loud just for fun! You talk all of the time and love to yell especially if there is an echo. You squeal with a huge smile on your face and have the most serious conversations with us and look like you know exactly what you are trying to tell us.

Teeth: You have finally gotten your bottom two teeth. It has been a little rough some days and you have been a little whinier than normal. But they are finally through and you seem to be a little happier.

Charlotte's 7th Month

I can’t believe you are already 7 months old. This one kind of snuck up on me…it doesn’t seem like its been a whole other month. How did you get closer to your first birthday than your birth??

Firsts: 4^th of July, swimming in the pool in your floaty

News Headlines: Supreme Court legalizes “so-called gay marriage” in all 50 states.

  

Milestones: You are sitting up really well now and only occasionally fall over when you’re trying to reach for something. You are pushing yourself up really far now. You want to crawl, but you haven’t mastered getting your belly up and your knees up under you. You love to wiggle and stand and move…but you can’t do anything independently yet. You are able to pick up cheerios and put them in your mouth…you haven’t mastered the pincer grip quite yet though.

Measurements: You’re still in 3-6 month clothes except for a few 9 month pj’s and size 3 diapers. You weight 16 pounds 3 ounces according to our scale, and you’re about 26ish inches.

Funny/Memorable moment: Giving you your first food. You make the worst faces when we give you new food.

Challenges: Sleeping…always sleeping. You are so inconsistent with your nap times and wake up times. Sometimes you are up 3 times and sometimes only once. Sometimes you’ll be up for the day before 6 and sometimes not until 7. Naps range from 30-2 hours. Another new challenge is eating. We’ve officially started solids and you hate them all basically. You’ll eat a few things that are real chunks of food but absolutely hate pureed baby food. You have also had a little rash. I’m not sure exactly what it is…possibly a little virus. You’ve been a little extra fussy lately but that could be because you’re starting to realize more when mommy leaves the room.

Feedings/Eating: You’re still getting most of your calories from nursing. You’re still fed very on demand. I’m not sure why I haven’t gotten you more on a schedule with this, but you seem to do fine with how we are doing things and are gaining weight well. You’ve tried a lot of different foods so far and you basically only like puffs, yogurt bites, popsicles, and pizza crust. You also don’t mind fruit cup peaches, avocado, and watermelon. You haven’t liked one puree and have gagged a lot. I’m kind of at a loss so I’ve just tried to continue letting you try several things to see how you do!

Sleeping: We’ve tried to do a better job getting you on a sleep schedule. You take a nap about 2 hours after you wake up which usually falls about 8:30 or 9. Depending on how long you sleep and what time you get up from your nap I try to wait until 12:30 or 1 for an afternoon nap. If you sleep well then, I’ll give you one more nap about 5 for about 30 minutes and you’ll go to bed for the night starting at 7:30/45. The times aren’t consistent so you’ll occasionally take a 4^th nap if one of your other ones isn’t long. You wake at night at all different times…it changes daily/weekly. I have gotten you to the point that if you wake up only an hour or so after I put you down you are able to quickly put yourself back to sleep. You normally wake about 11:30 and 3:30 and then 5 or 6 something. Sometimes you’ll go back to sleep if you’re up before 6…sometimes not. Those are hard days…

Personality: You are pretty laid back for the most part as long as mommy is around. You love to laugh and squeal at Aubrey. When you get excited you make all kinds of noises and kick your legs really big. You’re always smiling and chatting with whoever will listen. You have always been a mommy’s girl, but this seems to be growing a bit. You’ll be fine playing until I walk out of a room…then you cry and sheik and get really angry. You also get like this when someone takes something away that you want…like pizza crust.

Likes: Mommy, Aubrey, Sometimes Daddy (he’s growing on you!), some solid foods,

Dislikes: pureed baby food,

Mobility: You are creeping all over the place. I can sit you down and walk away and you will be on your belly and twisted around. I’m guessing you’ll be crawling soon! You can’t go from a sitting to laying position very smoothly yet. You like to stand but can only do it while someone is holding you.

Favorite toy: You still like Sophie the Giraffe, but basically you enjoy anything you can put in your mouth…especially if it is crinkly!

Upcoming Events: Going to GG and Big D’s house for a week two different times.

New Explorations: You are starting to focus in on smaller things and more details. You are also able to move around a little bit on your own so this helps you explore what you want. You’ve been arching your back a lot lately and will look around upside down.

Sounds, words, and communication: You’ve started doing a ya/na/da something I can’t quite decide which one. Its only occasionally and normally you stick with your old faithful AAAAA in a loud voice and high pitched squealJ

Teeth: Still nothing!

6 Months Old...Half a year

Firsts: VBS (you were mostly mommy’s little helper), first trip to the beach,

News Headlines: Prince William and Kate Middleton have a baby girl and name her Charlotte Elizabeth Diana!! 

Mommy and Daddy’s Favorites: Seeing you and Aubrey play and interact together. Mommy also loves that you've found your two fingers to slurp on. You slurp on them and play with your ear when you're tired. Its so great that you've found something that helps soothe you when you're sad and its the sweetest:)

Milestones: Sitting up…just for a few seconds…and right at the end of the month

Measurements: 15lbs 15oz. (50%) 26.75 inches (75%) We are trying to finish up our last few size two diapers and are already a size 3 at night, still almost all 3-6 month clothes but starting to move up to 9 month pj’s,

Like Daddy: People are starting to say you look more like Daddy

Unlike Aubrey: You loved putting your feet in the sand!

Funniest Moment: You are a very loud baby…you are always expressing yourself very noisily

Memorable moment: Your first time going to the beach…you really liked putting your feet in the sand and in the ocean.

Challenges: Our “vacation”…I use this term very loosely! It was great to get away and to be around family, but it was in no way relaxing. You went into it with you 100^th cold since you’ve been born. You did GREAT in the car and slept the whole time both there and back, BUT you slept terrible…especially the first 2 nights. You woke up several times and were awake for hours when you woke up. It was so crazy how wired you were! Thankfully you settled in towards the end of the week. Also, since you’ve been sick you’ve digressed and are back in the rock n play since its inclined. Now that you’re better we are having a harder time transitioning you back to your crib.

How we spend the day: You used to wake up about 6:30 but that’s not been the case lately. Sometimes you are up about 5/5:30 and sometimes you will go back to sleep and stay asleep until about 7/7:30. You take your first nap between 8 and 9 (depending on your wake up time) and take another one or two afternoon naps and normally one last shorter one about 4:30/5. We spend the day playing, sleeping, eating, and going places. You do great when we are out and about.

Feedings/Eating: You eat I guess about every 3 hours (every 2-4ish) You don’t always eat right when you get up but get pretty hungry about 10 or so. You still eat once or twice at night also…you need it to fill out your chunky thighs ;) We haven’t started solids yet but I’ve let you slurp on a banana and a watermelon chunk…you seemed to enjoy then since you are constantly trying to grab food off of our plates.

Sleeping: Other than our vacation you do a decent job sleeping. Your naps are pretty sporadic but you’ll normally sleep 45-1.5 hours. But occasionally you’ll take a much longer nap, especially if you’ve gotten up at 5 something for the day. You seem to be getting ready to have a more scheduled naptime with a longish morning and afternoon nap and a quick one before dinner. One thing I’ve noticed is if you are still awake after your last feeding I’ll lay you down and you’ll put yourself to sleep!! If you do this you normally sleep better than if you fall asleep nursing. You are waking up 1-2 times a night. You’re always up around 3/3:30, but sometimes you’re up around 11 before you settle in for the night or are up at 5 and will hopefully go back to sleep! The closer to 6, the more likely you’re up for the day.

Personality: You are normally such a happy, smiley little baby! You are easy to make small and are constantly chatting up a storm to whoever will listen. You won’t always give a big giggle, but when you do it is the best sound in the world! You are content to be out and about and on the go, but you also like to play at home.

Likes: Aubrey…she can always get you to laugh and smile, Sophie the Giraffe…she is your favorite, all of Aubrey’s toys, mommy…and daddy occasionally, eating, playing, being outside…it calms you down even if you’re fussy

Dislikes: when mommy leaves you in the nursery…it is awful and I hate it. Your lip pokes out and you cry this sad, high-pitched cry and breaks mommy’s heart, being left by yourself, sitting in your car seat in the car…you are fine if you are outside, in the house, and even for a few minutes in a restaurant, but as soon as we stick you in the car you start to cry.

Mobility: You are rolling both ways but not so much that you’re getting too far. If I lay you down I normally come back to find you on your belly and facing a different direction. You look so proud of yourself.

Favorite toy: Sophie the Giraffe…you seriously love that thing. You will gnaw on it and hold it and talk to it for a long time.

Upcoming Events: Starting new foods and trying out a sippy cup.

New Explorations: seeing the world from a new view while you sit up to play! You are also really into eating your toes these days…I’m not sure when that started and if I’ve mentioned it before but you love it and so do I!!

Sounds, words, and communication: You’re still making the AAAaaaa aaaa sounds all day every day. I’ve been trying to listen for consonant sounds but I don’t think you’ve started that yet. You have the loudest little voice and I love it and think its adorable. You've also started to make that raspberry sound and you think its hilarious.

Teeth: No teeth yet…but I keep thinking they will pop through soon. You’ve been drooling up a storm and you chew on anything (including our fingers and your toes) you can grab fast and shove in there.

Charlotte's 5th Month

Firsts: rolling both ways, trip to the zoo, night in your crib and own room, Mother's Day,

Mommy and Daddy’s Favorites: The way you act with Aubrey! You can be a total grouch and when you see Aubrey you start smiling and giggling. We also love the sound of your sweet laugh!

Milestones: Rolling from belly to back and back to belly

Measurements Weight and length clothes and diapers:

Like Aubrey: you transitioned into your crib fairly easy, you are starting to hate the paci :(, you love to eat everything and put everything in your mouth

Unlike Aubrey: you have such chunky legs! You seem to have a harder time going to other people and tend to scream and cry until you get Mommy back. She was much more content with others. As soon as you see Mommy and realize someone else is holding you your little lip pokes out and the tears begin.

Memorable moment: When Aubrey sat on you :/ and later "lolled" you across her floor.

Challenges: SLEEP! So there is this little thing called a 4 month sleep regression and it is for the birds! The struggle was real this month as we had to function off of minimal sleep and waking up every hour or two for several nights in a row. You also decided your new wake up time was 5:30...it was horrible. You have thankfully gotten back to normal towards the end of the month.

How we spend the day: Our days are crazy! If we are home you take a nap 3-4 times a day and sleep anywhere from 35min.-2 hours. We start your bedtime routine about 7:30 and you are up for the day normally about 6 something. We make several trips to Montgomery throughout the week so you are pretty good about sleeping in the car and are content to be out and about.

Feedings/Eating: You go about every 3ish hours. You are basically fed on demand. At night (except for a few rough weeks) you go anywhere from 3-5 hours at a time. You are still only nursing although you seem to be getting more and more interested in what's on our plate. We will wait one more month before starting solids!

Sleeping: Wow, this was a rough month for that. Night time sleep was just not happening. You were waking every hour on the hour some nights. Thankfully you are back to only waking once around 2-3 and then up for the day about 6/6:30. Its early, but I'll take it for now. You are also now sleeping in your crib. It seems to be helping a little. I think you were getting more mature sleep habits and not sleeping as deeply so we were waking you up. You transitioned really well. If you wake up about 5 something I'll try to put you back in the rock n' play to see if it helps you sleep a little longer. We are also trying to wean you out of the swaddle. It is hard during nap time because you seem to wake up when I lay you down. We keep trying looser swaddling and one arm swaddling. Hopefully you'll be completely in your crib and unsaddled by next month.

Personality:You seem to be fairly laid back and content as long as you are with Mommy and you aren't tired. If you cry there is normally a reason.

Likes:Sophie the Giraffe, eating your hands, eating anything near your hands and mouth, Aubrey, Mommy, sometimes Daddy, being outside, your bath

Dislikes: when someone else holds you, when you're tired, riding in the car, being left where you can't see Mommy,

Mobility: Right after your 4 month appointment you rolled from your tummy to your back. You've been consistently doing this all month. On your 5th month birthday you rolled from your back to your belly twice. You are still not confident at this but you have been practicing. You are getting better with grasping objects and bringing them to your mouth.

Favorite toy: Anything you can put in your mouth honestly. You love your hands. You also like your little blanket bunny and recently have loved Sophie the Giraffe because you can chew it!

Upcoming Events: a visit from GG, Big D, and Madeline, VBS, Aubrey's 3rd birthday, and your first trip to the beach.

New Explorations: Your learning to roll over the past month has allowed you to view your little world a little differently. As you get more confident bringing things to your mouth you have been exploring things this way more and more.

Sounds, words, and communication: You have been screeching and chatting up a storm all month. When you talk to us you have the most expressive looks on your face and say "Aaaaa aaa aaaaa". You laugh and squeal and its the cutest sound.

Teeth: No teeth yet but you drool like a champ! I would guess a tooth this month or next by the way you drool and constantly put things in your mouth.

Charlotte's 4th Month

Firsts: pair of shoes, trip to Calico Fort, grabbing your feet and other things, first time staying in the church nursery but only for the second hour, first Easter and Easter egg hunt, first baby shower for mommy’s cousin’s wife.

Mommy and Daddy’s Favorites: We love watching you smile and laugh. We especially love watching you interact and smile and laugh with Aubrey!

Milestones: Grasping objects and reaching out for toys. You’ve found your feet and like to play with themJ Lifting head at a 90 degree angle during tummy time. You also have been bearing weight on your legs really well for a while now.

Measurements: 14lbs (50%) and 25.75in. (90%), 3-6 month clothes, and size 2 diapers

Like Aubrey: You’re a little goat babyJ Just like Aubrey you love putting things in your mouth.

Unlike Aubrey: you like to sleep a little more, thankfully! Also you seem to like a paci.

Memorable moment: At lunch one day you started to get fussy and Aubrey had been about to get in trouble. She came over to you and you both got happy. She started playing with you and you started smiling at her. You both love each other so much already!

Challenges: You’ve had another cold…and so have the rest of us. You’ve been very congested and its waking you up at night. This has been hard when Mommy has also felt pretty yucky. Also going to the grocery store. You don’t like to sit in your car seat during the trip and you are hating the ergo and k’tan right now for some reason so we’ve had some screaming trips to the grocery store lately.

How we spend the day: You typically wake up between 6 and 7. This gives us a few minutes to spend with you before Aubrey wakes up about 7:30. You normally go down for a nap about an hour and a half later and sleep anywhere from 35 minutes to an hour and 35 minutes. Its normally a little on the shorter end. We’ve been working on the eat/play/sleep pattern but aren’t too rigid with it. You are normally ready for bed about 7:30 (sometimes a little earlier depending on when your last nap fell, but we try to wait until 7:30)Mommy normally gets you ready for bed while Daddy gets Aubrey ready and you get your last feeding and are asleep for a while. This month your wake up times have been a little off, but on a good night you’re waking once at night on other nights twice.

Feedings/Eating: You go about every 3 hours on average. Sometimes its more and sometimes less. You are still exclusively breast fed. We talked to your pediatrician and will wait until about 6 months to start solids since you are gaining weight so well.

Sleeping: Its been a little off this month because of the cold. It was rough… There were several nights you were awake for a while in the middle of the night or up really early. Normally you go right back down after a feeding…this month it was a struggle. I’m hoping it was because you were sick and you’ll get back to being a better sleeper! However, one game changer…you take a paci when you get tired which really helps lull you to sleep! It has been great with helping get you down for naps. When Aubrey was 4 months old we did sleep training with her. I’m still not sure what we will do because you are doing better, but we will see! We are also going to have to start weaning you from the swaddle and sadly, from the rock n’ play. I’m not sure when this will happen…but hopefully we will have some smooth transitions!!

Personality: You are SUCH a happy baby! You are always smiling and “chatting” with us unless there’s something wrong. Normally if you are crying you are tired. You do have a few different cries, one is a really high pitched pitiful cry. It normally occurs after your bottom lip pokes out and its so sad! You absolutely love Aubrey and she always can get you to smile. You seem to be a bit of a mamas girl which is to be expected since we spend a lot of time together. You have recently gotten upset if someone else holds you but will stop as soon as mommy gets you back.

Likes: Mommy, Daddy, and Aubrey…we all get SO many sweet smiles as soon as you see us! Your hands and feet, “soother” pacis (but only the wubbanub kind or the 0-3 month softer ones), being swaddled, playing with your play mat

Dislikes: the ergo in the grocery store…you’ve screamed this way in several trips, when certain people hold you that aren’t family members, being left alone,

Mobility: You are pretty close to rolling but haven’t yet. You are doing a really good job holding your head up and are getting really strong. We have to be carful when we prop you up because you’ll use those little baby abs and kind of fall forward.

Favorite toy: You love your wubbanubs, your bunny lovie, and your play mat. Sometimes if you’re fussy we lay you down on that and you play for several minutes…you must enjoy just getting to stretch your legs and wiggle around!

New Explorations: Your toes! You have found your toes and love to grab them. You’ve learned to grab onto objects really well and grab the toys on your play mat. Sometimes it makes you mad because you want to put them in your mouth.

Sounds and communication: You talk to us all day. You love to join in our little family’s conversation. Sometimes you get really loud and make these crazy loud pterodactyl sheiks.

Teeth: No teeth yet, but you’re starting to drool all the time.

Charlotte's 3rd Month

Firsts: Cold (boo!),  giggle, trip to Kindermusik, big round of shots

Mommy and Daddy’s Favorites: Your laugh, the way you smile at us and at Aubrey

Measurements: 13lbs 3oz 24in., 0-3 and some 3-6months, size 2 diaper

Like Aubrey: you love to eat everything!

Sweetest Moment: We absolutely love seeing you and Aubrey interact. You are constantly watching her and have started smiling at her. She loves to give you kisses and asks to hold you daily. If you start to cry she loves to help rock your carseat to calm you down or come and get mommy and daddy to help you.

Memorable moment: Hearing your giggle for the first time! Daddy was changing you and making silly sounds. A few days later you giggled for mommy in the tubby!

Challenges: Sickness. Your third month has been hard. You didn’t handle your shots well. They caused you tummy problems and you were crabby and didn’t sleep well for a solid week. You have honestly not gotten back to how you were sleeping before your shots still. After you were finally better from that, Aubrey got sick again with a fever and then you got your first cold. It was so pitifulL You have a very runny nose and ended up with rough sounding cough. We took you to the doctor because you were having trouble breathing, but they just told us it was a cold and to use your nose sucker, saline drops, and a humidifier.

How we spend the day: Nothing much different from last month.

Feedings/Eating: You’re back to waking in the middle of the night and then super early. You don’t really have a schedule yet, but we try to stick with the eat, play, sleep pattern. I works most of the time.

Sleeping: Your sleeping has gotten worse this month due to your sickness. You have been waking up several times and not always going back to sleep after waking up really early. Your naps have gotten better thankfully! It was suggested to us to swaddle you during naps as well and now we get at least 30 minutes if not longer and we are able to lay you down. You’ve even taken a few naps in your crib!

Personality: You are starting to develop your own little personality. You have such a sweet demeanor about you. You are content to sit back and just suck on your hands or your blanket for a while. You have a pretty distinct grumpy face, but its very easy to get you to smile and coo at us.

Likes: microwave fan, being swaddled, a moving car, Aubrey, Mommy and Daddy, being outside, Dislikes: getting saline squirted in your nose, having your nose sucked out, getting tired,

Mobility: you are doing such a good job holding your head up, you can also hold yourself up for a few seconds and move your head from one side to another during tummy time.

Favorite toy: Your bunny animal blanket. You like to hold on to it (or anything really) and suck on your hands.

New Explorations: You are doing slightly better at tummy time. You don’t mind if as much if you are propped up on your boppy. We’ve even gotten a few smiles from you.

Sounds: You are constantly talking to us with your sweet coos and squeels. I love this age so much because your make the cuestest sounds and love to just chat with us for several minutes in a row.