3 Months

3 months. My teenie tiny baby girl is 3 months old! It's safe to say we are officially out of the newborn stage.  My little lump now smiles, talks, puts things in her mouth, is awake longer than 20 minutes at a time, and sleeps all night.  She holds her head up and looks around.  She recognizes familiar faces. She turns her head when you call her name.  To celebrate her 3 month birthday, she laughed at me for the first time. (Swoon). She is trying to decide if she prefers to suck her thumb or her first two fingers, the first of many difficult life decisions. Her tongue is always out! She has the most active tongue of anyone I have ever met. It is acrobatic! Much to her dad's dismay, she is quite pukey.  She never complains about it, just spits up frequently.  Jer can't handle it.  Think of Vince Vaughn in 4 Christmases. And all I can do is laugh hysterically.  We are quite a scene: Charlotte covered in spit up, Jer doing the best he can not to join her in the puke-party, and me unable to help because I can't contain my laughter.  Parenthood is certainly not glamorous. But it sure is joy-filled.  I absolutely can't get enough of this sweet girl.   

I have always thought of myself as a newborn kinda gal, but this little girly is showing me the joys and wonders of every stage.  Not to say I am no longer a lover of newborns, because I am certainly am; I have just come to learn that I am also a lover of 3 month olds (and probably 4 month olds, and 8 month olds, and 1 year olds). 

These have been by far the greatest 3 months of my life.  And it is just the beginning. What a blessing and honor it is to be a parent.  It is a job I take very seriously; the most important job I will ever have. The least paying and most rewarding. 

For those of you who have been following this blog since 2008 BC (Before Charlotte) you know that we are in the midst of a massive remodel.  We have made incredible progress on our 60 year old home: new kitchen, new windows, new paint, new bathroom, etc.  We are excited to tackle our next big project: new floors!  We are having the hardwood floors refinished this week and I am giddy about it.  The small bummer is that we have to move out for at least a week.  With a rambunctious puppy and 3 month old baby, we aren't the most convenient house guests. However, Jeremy's parents have graciously invited us to invade their home while we are temporarily displaced.  I will be sure to post before and after pictures next week.

I must confess, I didn't take a lot of pictures this week. I did snap a few this morning. 3 months and 1 day. 

Monday Update

This past week has been a fun one.  Charlotte is starting to have more and more wake time and during that wake time, she is all smiles! You just look at this little girl and her whole face lights up with joy.  She found her teenie tiny voice and is starting to coo a little bit.  She also found her hands and is excited to add them to the list of things that goes in her mouth (Currently limited to mom and paci).  Inspired by her cousin's (2 days younger) ability to roll over, I decided I should probably start putting her on the ground every once in a while for tummy time.  So far, so good.  At first she just face planted, but now she can hold her head up a little bit and look around.  There will be no rolling any time soon, but it is a start :)  Frankly, I would be happy if she stayed immobile for a year! We took her to the snow for a friend's birthday party.  She looked adorable in her snow suit.  She mostly slept through the event, but I'm sure she enjoyed herself :) Charlotte is an absolute joy and I love every second I get to spend with her. I have yet to part with her, but Jeremy and I are entertaining the idea of a possible date night next weekend. We'll see. 

Love this girl

In the snow with Dad

In the snow with Mom

Playing with her friend Charlie

My 2 favs

The same picture we took the day before Charlotte was born

Pure Joy

Let's Get It Started!

Happy New Year everyone! I have never been more excited about an upcoming year than I am about this one.  2011 is the year I have waited for my entire life. The year I get to watch my baby girl learn to sit, crawl, babble, walk, laugh and grow.  I didn't make any resolutions this year, I am too content with life to try and think of something I need to change.  We do have a goal of completing a triathlon in May, so let's call that our resolution.

I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas. We had a wonderful day and I think Charlotte enjoyed her first experience with Santa.  We spent most of the day bouncing from house to house, visiting all the family. It was a blessed time, and we feel so thankful to live so close to them. Charlotte received a lot of nice gifts from the family: a hand made sweater, a mobile, toys, adorable clothes, books and the start of a college fund! We feel very blessed!  I even got her a little toy and wrapped it, she was very underwhelmed.

Jeremy was fortunate enough to have some time off work to spend with us.  It was so great to have him home and I know Charlotte loved the extra time with him.  We took her to sit on Santa's lap, did lots of Christmas shopping, he demolished the guest bathroom.  It was perfect timing because Charlotte is really starting to interact more, so it was great that they got that special time together. I even got to do some shopping all on my own!

Charlotte is becoming quite the little lady. She smiles all the time! She wakes up with a smile on her face, and goes to bed the same way.  Everything is funny, especially when you stick your tongue out at her. She is really starting to talk, and I even think I heard a little giggle the other day.  She loves to play in her jungle gym and bouncy seat.  She has been sleeping through the night for over 3 weeks now.  Hooray!

She had her 2 month vaccines last week and did very well.  A lot better than Mom!  I had to stay in the waiting room and let Jer take her back; I was a total wreck.  It is so funny how I can form a career around causing pain to babies, but when it comes to my own, I turn into a total sis. I better toughen up or we might not make it!

Since I am writing this blog as a journal, a memory, I will include this information for posterity.  I'm sure most people don't want to know, but in 20 years I will want to look back and remember. Charlotte has a rather slow metabolism.  Like, every 8 days slow. But on that 8th day, watch out! I think this contributes to the massive amounts of gas this girly passes. Because of the frequency of her toots, she has been given the nickname Toot Toot.  I'm hoping we aren't setting ourselves up for years of therapy. It's cute, for now :)

Today was her 2 month appointment (though she is closer to 10 weeks). She got a clean bill of health from her Dr.  A little eczema on her face, but other than that, she's perfect!  She weighs 11 lbs 3 oz and is 22 inches long.  That is the 40th percentile in weight and the 12th percentile in height.  She may not be the star basketball player after all.  How tall do you need to be for professional golf?  

I'm sure its hard to detect how much we love this little girl...But believe me, we do!

She has been such a joy and blessing to this family.

My first time in jeans

First time in a skirt

Hi Momma!

Laughing at Great Grandma, Nan

Sleeping on Christmas

Merry Christmas Abbey!

All dressed up for Christmas

Daddy and Daughter

I love my Auntie Justine

Snuggling with Daddy

Or do I love my Uncle Ryan more?

Excited to go meet Santa