Five Months Old

I cannot believe that in one more month, Charlotte will be halfway to the 1 year mark. Time definitely goes by faster with two kids. We are having a blast watching Charlotte learn new things and love all the attention that Claire gives her.

At 5 months old, Charlotte:

• is a rolling machine. She rarely stays on her back for long and diaper changes are becoming more challenging every day.
• has decided that rolling over onto her tummy to sleep is preferred. She started this about a week ago and we fought it for the first couple of days before eventually giving up. We would roll her onto her back and within minutes she was back on her tummy.
• is done with swaddling...we had a little scare a couple of weeks ago when she managed to flip onto her tummy with her arms still swaddled in (the girl is strong). After that, we packed the swaddle away and broke out the sleep sack. The transition went surprisingly well.
• still refuses to sleep through the night. She goes down between 7:00-7:30pm and usually sleeps until 7:00am, waking up once to eat. On a good night she makes it until about 4:30am...on a bad night it is more like 2:00am. It's frustrating, but I am finding that I am much more tolerant the second time around.
• can sit up for small periods of time (probably about a minute). She is still pretty wobbly and hunches forward quite a bit.
• has a contagious little belly laugh.
• loves her big sister. The moment Claire comes over to give her kisses and hugs, Charlotte's face lights up and a smile crosses her face. I keep crossing my fingers that they will be good friends.
• is starting to get a little more particular about who holds her...maybe a little touch of stranger anxiety (although no where near as bad as Claire had it).
• loves to grab and reach for things. Her hand-eye coordination has really developed over the last month.
• has cheeks that continue to grow bigger by the week. I absolutely love them!! :)
• loves being held and cuddled. I am really going to miss when she grows out of this stage.

Charlotte, you are a great addition to our family and we are so happy to have you!

Here Comes Santa Claus...

I'm not sure if Claire completely understood the whole Santa concept, but she at least pretended to be slightly amused. We left some cookies and carrots out on Christmas Eve for Santa and his reindeer and Claire insisted that we leave them underneath the tree. In the morning I asked her if she thought Santa ate all the cookies and she said "no". She seemed a bit confused/surprised when we went downstairs and found a plate full of crumbs...I think she was hoping he left a few for her. Anyway, Santa left this great easel for her and she has been having a blast coloring and finger painting on it. I think we are going to get a lot of use out of this!

Christmas Celebrations

Christmas has come and gone, and all in all things went pretty smoothly. I don't have a ton of pictures to show for it, mainly because we were too busy with the kids. Claire had a blast opening her presents and playing with her new toys. Charlotte was content to be held through most of the festivities. All the activity definitely wore both girls out, that is for sure. As a result we have had some long naps and have been able to sleep in until 7:30 a few mornings in a row. :)

Make it Four Weeks...

It was Claire's turn to visit the pediatrician this morning. Diagnosis - ear infection. Seriously, enough is enough. Merry sickness!

Merry Christmas...a little early

We had an early Christmas celebration at my parents last Saturday morning. Claire enjoyed opening her gifts and hanging out with her cousins Ella and Austin for a few hours. Meanwhile, Charlotte missed much of the gift opening as she took a little nap. Tomorrow we are relaxing at home until late afternoon and then heading up to my grandparent's place. Friday we will be at Art's parents. Merry Christmas and safe travels to everyone!

Three Weeks in a Row

I have now been to the pediatrician's office three weeks in a row and am getting sick of it. The first two visits I was okay with as they were for Charlotte and Claire's well visits. However, this morning I brought Charlotte in with an irritated eye only to discover that she has an ear infection. That explains why she had such a hard time napping yesterday. Poor baby. She is now napping in her crib. Hopefully the medication will kick in soon and she will be feeling better. The ironic thing is that Art & I were just talking about how healthy the girls have been so far this winter.

In other doctor related news, Claire is still a peanut. She is 32.5 inches tall (16th percentile) and 25 lbs (27th percentile). Her head is a whole other story topping the charts in the 93rd percentile...no wonder she is so smart!! :)

Saturdays

It is amazing how fast Saturday mornings seem to go by. We wake up, eat breakfast and then one of us takes Claire to music class from 9-10am while the other stays home with a usually napping Charlotte. Once we get home we have a few hours to play until lunch and then it is down for naps. Some of my favorite times are those few hours of play time...just hanging out and enjoying each other's company. Here are a few pictures from our most recent Saturday morning.

I'm enjoying how sweet Claire & Charlotte are together while it lasts...

Me & my girls
Claire thought it was pretty funny that Elmo was coloring with her.
So content and sweet.

Look Who's TWO!!

Claire turned two over the weekend and she was SUPER into her birthday. She brought treats to school on Thursday, had a day filled with birthday fun on Saturday, and ended the weekend with a birthday party on Sunday! She absolutely LOVED it!

It is hard to believe that two years have passed since we welcomed her into our lives. It has been such a wonderful ride watching her grow into the energetic little girl she is today.

At two year old, Claire:

• is extremely active. She rarely sits still and has a ton of energy!
• is doing great with potty training. She is in underwear all day, except for naps and overnight. We will probably try to transition to 100% underwear in the next few months, but we're not going to rush it. Especially since Charlotte isn't sleeping through the night...the last thing we need is two kids up in the middle of the night!! :)
• loves to talk. Her daily notes from school frequently mention her talkative nature and expanding vocabulary. It is so much fun to have an actual conversation with her.
• definitely knows how to throw a tantrum. Over the past few weeks she has had a few tantrums that have resulted in her laying down on the floor, kicking her legs. Lovely.
• has learned how to stall, especially at bedtime. Our nightly routine frequently consists of several trips to the potty and negotiations for "one more book".
• still enjoys music. She loves to sing and looks forward to her Saturday morning music class.
• is a great big sister to Charlotte. She loves to help with diaper changes and bath time, gives her plenty of kisses and is always concerned with where she is at all times.
• loves reading, helping with projects around the house (i.e. laundry, cooking), and doing puzzles. She also likes doing art and playing with her babies.
• is still a huge fan of Elmo. It is really the only thing that she will watch on TV and never really lasts more than 15 minutes.
• would eat yogurt all day every day if we let her. She loves the stuff. I think it kind of grosses Art out since he hates the stuff. Overall she is still a good eater. She definitely has her preferences, but we can usually get her to try most things. She still hates pizza and loves sweets.

The first two years have been amazing. We can't wait to watch Claire continue to grow!

We Grow 'em Small

I took Charlotte in for her 4 month appointment this morning. Doesn't look like she is going to be any bigger than Claire given her current stats:

Weight - 12 lbs 7 oz (21st percentile)
Height - 24.25 inches (50th percentile)

If Claire's growth chart is any indication I'm pretty sure her height percentile will just keep declining. I also found out today that they measure the kids in the infant room before they move to the toddler room and keep track of the shortest and tallest kid they have had. Claire is still holding onto the shortest kid record...that a girl!! :)