Four Months Old

At four month old, Charlotte:

• is rolling like crazy. You put her down on her back and she rolls right over on her tummy.
• is still swaddled at home. Some new state regulations went into affect this summer that prohibits childcare centers from swaddling, which means that she is only in a sleepsack at school. Some days she naps okay without the swaddle and other days she only sleeps for 30 minutes at a time.
• has decided that sleeping overnight is overrated. Don't get me wrong, she has had a few great nights where she has slept from 7:30 - 5:00 (and once until 6:00), but I can count them on one hand. And lately she has been sleeping awful. I think we are going to try to wean her from the pacifier this week to see if it helps...I think she is waking up when she loses it and we are more than sick of putting it back in her mouth in the middle of the night. We will see if it helps and if we actually have it in us to take it away!
• loves to smile and laugh. She has started laughing more consistently and it is adorable. Art is especially skilled at making her giggle! :)
• adores when you sing to her. She can be super sad and the minute you start singing a smile crosses her face.
• still loves bathtime.
• has discovered her fingers and they are in her mouth all the time. She doesn't really have a preference for one over the other, but definitely loves to drool all over them!
• still enjoys the swing. When we are struggling to get her to nap, it usually puts her right to sleep.
• is loved by her mom, dad and big sister Claire!
  
  

Thanksgiving Weekend

Thanksgiving 2009 was busy. We celebrated with both of our families. There was plenty of delicious food and great company to be had. While Claire had a blast with all of her cousins, Charlotte was a bit overwhelmed and not much of a sleeper. She slept a total of 2 hours the entire day (which is nothing compared to her usual) and was completely done by about 6pm. We headed home and called it a night. Honestly, I think we were all tired. Luckily the rest of the weekend was pretty low-key. Art and Claire ventured out to get a tree on Friday morning. The highlight of the trip for Claire was her first taste of hot chocolate on their way home. She loved it!! We spent the rest of the day getting the decorations up and trimming the tree. Saturday night Art and I were lucky enough to catch a movie and dinner. We went to a new theater in St. Louis Park that serves alcohol and has nice leather seats - definitely our new theater of choice! We saw Blind Side, which was a great sports movie.

Today we have been running errands and hanging out around home. I fit in a nap, which is always a good thing. Especially these days when Charlotte has been giving us major trouble at night.

There are a few pictures below: one of Claire wearing Charlotte's 3-6 month sweatshirt (you think they will share clothes some day?!?!) and one of Charlotte sporting a barrette.

Weekend of Firsts

It was a weekend filled with several firsts. On Friday morning we headed out and got Claire her first haircut. She was a little apprehensive at first, but ended up doing great after a little encouragement. She didn't get much cut off, just a little trim to even things out. We were also able to take advantage of beautiful November weather and spend some time outside. I can't believe how old Claire looks in the last picture - so grown up. It is hard to believe she will be two in a few weeks. Charlotte surprised us this weekend and rolled from her back to tummy. She did it once on Saturday and a bunch of times today. She may be mellow, but she is also pretty determined when she wants something! Now I just need to catch it on video.

Sisters

Here's a few sister shots from yesterday. It is amazing to me how much Claire loves her little sister. She is always asking about Charlotte when she isn't around and giving her kisses. She has also started saying her name in the last month (instead of just calling her baby), which is adorable. I am sure it will be a different story in a few months when Charlotte starts stealing her toys, so we will enjoy it for now.

Splish Splash

Charlotte loves the bath! It doesn't matter how tired she may be, she kicks her legs with delight and give us lots of big smiles. I know that we have a long way to go, but I can't wait until the girls can take a bath together! Not only will it be a blast, but it will make the nightly bath routine a lot smoother.

Sick of Being Sick

Since I have been back at work, our family has been struck with illness several times and I am sick of it. The crazy part is that we keep getting sick on the weekend. On one hand, it is nice because nobody has to miss work, but on the other hand it has made for some pretty awful weekends.

Claire had a little bug two weekends ago. Nothing serious…just a low-grade fever and a very tired, clingy girl. But it made for a long, tiring weekend nonetheless.

Then last Thursday Charlotte came down with a 101 degree temp. Since she is still pretty young, we were advised to take her in. I brought her in Thursday night and they ran every test under the sun. After 1.5 hours they determined she had the start of an ear infection and we were off to get antibiotics. We were advised to bring her back in if her fever got in the 102 – 103 degree range. Late in the day Friday her fever reached 103. By then our pediatrician was closed, so off to Children’s we went. One of the ER doctors found what looked like a potential rash on her leg and the combination of the high fever and rash was enough to admit her for close to 48 hours. They were concerned that she could have something more serious like sepsis, which is a type of blood infection. Luckily, everything turned out just fine (she was discharged Sunday afternoon)and she is back to her healthy, happy self. She has even been giving us lots of giggles the last few days!

After two weekends filled with sick kids and lots of canceled plans (including an all-day birthday celebration for myself), I am hoping that we stay healthy for awhile!

Due to all the sickness, I have been awful at taking pictures. Here are a few from healthier days!

Grandma and her Girls

I realized lately that we don't take near enough pictures of the girls and their grandparents. Here are a few recent ones of the girls and Grandma. Hopefully we can capture a few more of them with their grandparents in the next few months.