Wednesday, October 28, 2009

9 Month Checkup

Today was the day we met Charlotte's new Pediatrician! We had one too many bad experiences with our old office (the staff, not so much the doctor) and after many referrals and such, we decided on Pediatric Associates of Franklin and Dr. Meneely. He was a great doctor, very "grandfatherly" which is nice in a pediatrician. He provided lots of guidance and do's and don'ts for the next few months without my having to ask and then answered the questions I did ask!

Charlotte got a perfect bill of health for her 9 month progress :) She is crawling, babbling, clapping, cruising, sleeping, eating, all the stuff she is supposed to do! She weighs 18 pounds and 2.4 ounces (in the 45th percentile) and is 28 1/2 inches long (in the 75th percentile) - still my long and skinny bug!

Monday, October 26, 2009

9 Months!

Charlotte is 9 months old!  Again I will say, I can't believe we have gotten here so quickly.  The next 3 months will fly by so fast and 1 year will be here before we know it.  I am amazed at how much she has learned the last month and love the baby she has become.  Here are a couple highlights!

  • Charlotte loves to clap!  She'll clap for herself, clap for you, clap just for the noise.  Such a sweet little sound of her tiny little palms slapping against each other.  I am working on the high fives :)

  • Dadadada is her favorite "word" right now.  She can say mamama and byebyebye, even a little hi-ya but her favorite by far is Dada.  We are working really hard on connecting that noise with her Dad and are starting to sign the word "dad" when she says it too.  She is getting really really good at mimicking.  You can see the concentration on her face and even how she moves her mouth when she is watching and hearing you say something and she works so hard to make the same sound.

  • As you can see in our last post, Charlotte loves climbing the stairs now.  She has made it up 8 now (with me behind her!)  I have come to the conclusion that she will climb them regardless, so we need to teach her how to do it safely.  She has not had any accidents and has been very sturdy on her feet.

  • It's old news that Charlotte is crawling, but she is super fast now.  She'll get places before I know it and disappear around a corner and just grin when you come get her. She does prefer to stay in the same you that you are in - and if you are on the couch, she is at the ottoman right in front of you just wanting to smile with you.

  • We are in big girl car seats now! It definitely changes how we do things when we are getting out and about.  She has to be buckled and unbuckled at every stop instead of just getting in and out with her infant seat.  Since we don't have her infant seat anymore, she has to sit in the carts and highchairs like a big girl which is great for playing and eating finger foods, but not so much for drinking a bottle or when she is sleepy.  It is a change for sure!

  • We have our 9 month check up on Wednesday, so we'll have updates on height, weight, and all the doctor stuff then :)


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Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Stairs!

So Charlotte is now dubbed "super baby"! 5 stairs in under 30 seconds. Yikes! And she would have gone the whole way if I hadn't stopped her. Wow.

Next on my agenda, baby gate research. Anyone have any pros/cons/reviews?

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Halloween Art

In honor of Charlotte's first Halloween we did a little art project! Quick coat of paint on the foot, a couple wiggly eyes, and a little stencil work and we have ourselves a master piece! Well, maybe not a master piece, but it sure is cute :) It's a wonderful way to be able to remember years from now how tiny she used to be.

[caption id="attachment_732" align="alignnone" width="225" caption="Scary Ghost!! Oh, nevermind, it\'s just Charlotte\'s foot. "]Scary Ghost!! Oh, nevermind, it's just Charlotte's foot. [/caption]

Car Seats have arrived!

I was talking with a friend recently who borrowed my "baby bargins" book to shop for son's new car seats (he is 1 year old next week and just hit the height limit). Just for kicks I measured Charlotte and looked at the restrictions on her infant carrier... she was almost an inch too big! Nooo!!! My baby is getting too big! Here I was thinking we'd do car seats for Christmas or even Birthday, but no 8 1/2 months old and she outgrew her infant seat.

I went into furious research and looked online, in Target, and talked with friends about brands, features, all that Jazz. We finally settled on the Britax brand and found a seat that while semi-expensive, would last her til booster seat age and got rave reviews. We went ahead and splurged for 2 because one, they were on sale at amazon.com, and two, I did not want to have to swap it from car to car or end up forgetting to get it from Jeff when he left for work etc. Can you tell which one is mine and which is Jeff's? (hint: check out this post...)

I do lament the end of the infant carrier - it was so easy to just carry her into places, give her a bottle in a store or restaurant, and let her keep sleeping straight up to her room. Now we will have to get her in and out and use a highchair and stroller or cart where ever we go. I know this is the life you will live for years to come, I just didn't think we'd be at this stage short of 9 months! My skinny string bean of a girl... so big.

Anyway, they arrived today and I can't wait to put them in!   For now, Charlotte and I played with them and tried them on for size!  She enjoyed them - climbing on them, sitting in them, eating them... ah the joys.  (and don't forget the fun boxes they came in either!)

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Monday, October 19, 2009

Charlotte's Fashion

I have realized a few things about Charlotte's wardrobe...


  • I am now obsessed with Leggings. Now, this is not just the cotton pants - cause we have tons of those too.  These are the true to the 80s, tight legged, slightly elastic leggings.  Am I weird that I think Charlotte has really cute calves? Because of this, I think the legging look was just made for her! So here we are: lots of colors, lots of patterns.  And I still need a black pair!


[caption id="attachment_703" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Many many leggings...."]IMG_0034[/caption]

And we cant forget this pair...

[caption id="attachment_702" align="alignnone" width="225" caption="See the leggings... and the polka dots."]See the leggings... and the polka dots.[/caption]

  • This photo leads us to the next trend in Charlotte's wardrobe: dots and stripes! We are loving stripes and dots.  Shirts, pants, leggings, passy holder, just about anything that has stripes or dots I want for her.  I am not a big fan of little sayings or animals or cutesy characters on clothes (sorry if you are, just personal choice!) so we go with fun patterns instead - I love flowers too :)

Ring Farm Trip

Fall is here!  With Falls arrival it was time for us to get out in the fresh air and enjoy some corn, cotton, and pumpkins!  There is a farm just a few minutes south of here in Columbia called 'Ring Farm' that is run by a family.  They have a 12 acre corn maze that they cut in the shape of a county in TN with cities and points of interest along the way.  This year was Rutherford county - oh the things you can learn about Murfreesboro and Lascassas :)  The had other festivities like cotton picking, a hayride, a 40 foot slide, corn shooter, playground, and more.

Sunday afternoon me, my mom, sister, Charlotte, and our friend Tracy and her son Nathan all loaded up and headed out. We had  a wonderful time on this sunny yet cool and windy day.  The photo ops were plentiful as you can see below - no better opportunity for some fall photos!

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Sunday, October 11, 2009

I'm behind... Let's catch up!

I am so behind this week!  So many things have been happening the past week or so, I'll give you the short versions.

First, Charlotte is standing! All on her own!  Her max right now is 10 seconds - pretty good for an 8 month old if I must say it myself :) She is gonna be off and walking so soon I'm sure.  Here is a little video of her first standing moments.

She Stands! (Video isn't working :( Vid and Pics soon to come!)