Throughout the month I’ve noticed Charlotte become more and more textile. She likes to feel things with her hands, grab things…and of course bring them to her mouth for a taste! She is a pro at grabbing and holding onto toys…some are almost as big as she is, which is quite humorous to observe! Whenever I feed Charlotte, she likes to take her hand and feel my face…she runs her hand across my lips, touches my nose, grabs my hair…it’s precious. I especially love when I am holding her and she just holds her hand against my face and/or hair. I feel loved J
Daddy's happy and proud to say that Charlotte's textile instincts have aided in her ability to take a pacifier. Well...one time at least. She still prefers her fingers. Usually her right thumb, although sometimes she samples other fingers. Including her middle finger. Now those times are funny...when she's sucking her middle finger. What can we do? Not much. Apparently she inherited the middle finger thing from Mommy. My Dad says I used to point with my middle finger. Haha....haha...hahahahaha!
Love this picture of Charly with my Grandma Gentry. So sweet. I love my Grandma!
Charly is also becoming more mobile. On January 17, Charlotte rolled over from her tummy to back in BOTH directions multiple times! The first time she did it, I got so excited I startled Charlotte in celebration of her new milestone! I quickly apologized and relaxed as my little roly poly did her thing. She maintained her rolliness until Daddy got home. But by the next day when Grandpa Craig and Grandma Jill stopped by…she was done performing. Charly continued her tummy to back rolling for the rest of her fourth month….but never on command and only for Mommy.
Charlotte’s favorite movement is to lie on her back and move her legs and feed, scooting her body in a circle. It’s impressive to say the least. Sometimes she can move herself horizontally as well by using her legs and feet while lying on her back. I’m thinking we might have an early crawler on our hands! Another action Charly likes to do while lying on her back is attempt to lift her head and sit up. Poor little lady can’t get her body up, but I can tell she’s trying! I often just give her a hand and help her to either a sitting or standing position. She’s got strong legs, our girl! Short, but strong ;)
Now I mentioned Charly has rolled from tummy to back. What about back to tummy, right? Well, for most of her first month, Charly would roll from her back to her side in both directions…then stop before she reached her tummy to suck her thumb. On February 3; however, Charlotte used a toy to propel herself all the way over from back to tummy. Or so I think- I actually missed this movement…but I know she did it because one moment she was on her back and the next she was on her tummy. February 4….Charly was a roly poly again! Tummy to back, back to tummy, this way and that way! I pulled out the video camera, of course. But our sweet girl is a bit camera shy and instead of performing, Charly would stare the lens down, scream and then spit up. Fortunately she eventually warmed up to that camera…and I caught the rolling on video! Woohoo! I’m sure glad I did…because Charly has yet to share these rolls with anyone besides Mommy. Needless to say…some people are beginning to wonder if Mommy’s hallucinating!
All of this mobility requires our little lady to start wearing some shoes. Look how grown up she looks!
Charly and I are enjoying are time together each day. I know I certainly feel beyond blessed to be able to stay home with Charly every day. It’s funny, though… because before Charlotte, I didn’t think I’d be able to be a stay at home mom. I thought for sure I would want to work. That’s before I knew the love of being a Mommy. Each morning Charlotte and I read a Bible story from her Jesus Storybook Bible. Charly likes to help Mommy read by babbling along with me. She also likes to touch the pages and look at the pictures…..so sweet. It’s my prayer that over time, Charlotte will really take these Bible stories to heart and realize the Truth of them. I pray every day she will form a relationship with Christ…and I might be an example for her.
We did experience our longest time apart this month….January 27th. I am teaching a foster parent training class (PS-MAPP) with my old employers, KVC Behavioral Healthcare on Thursday evenings from 6-9pm. It looks like I will be apart from Charly for about 4 plus hours each Thursday. In all reality, I know it’s not much. But goodness, that first night was sure tough for this Mommy! I admit I let a few tears escape. At least Charlotte did really well with Daddy and even took a bottle for the first time! Bottles will not be a regular thing; however. Too much work to prepare those bad boys! I’ll only prepare bottles when necessary (Thursday nights).
With this new separation, Charlotte is really showing her attachment to Mommy. Whenever we are out and about or visiting friends and family, Charlotte has to know exactly where I am. If someone else is holding her, she looks around until she finds me. Makes this Mommy feel pretty special, I’ll say that much!
The babbling continues to be absolutely adorable and Charlotte especially likes to use her soprano voice when babbling. We love it. We’re still waiting to hear a laugh….but I have a feeling those are soon to come. She’s smiling at strangers now, which only adds to her cuteness. This is quite fun, because I get to hear even MORE now how cute my sweet daughter is from kind strangers. J The first stranger Charly smiled at was the receptionist in the Pain Management Clinic on January 9, 2011 (Mommy had to see the Doctor about some hip issues….maybe I will explain that in another post…). Since then, Charly pretty much smiles at everyone who gets the pleasure of seeing her face to face.
Charlotte and Molly seem to have a good relationship and the two of them like to share Mommy’s lap . However, Miss Textile Charlotte kind of pulled Molly’s fur the other day. Poor kitty didn’t even know what hit her….at least we know Molly’s not going to be evil to Charlotte- even with pulled fur.
I have opted not to do a strict schedule with Charlotte, so our days kind of vary in regards to when she wakes up, eats and naps throughout the day. I will say there is at least SOME consistency. It's pretty much a given that Charly will want to eat every 2-3 hours. Charlotte falls asleep around 9:30pm each evening, wakes around midnight (on the not-so-fun-nights) and again at 3 am, then 6am and 9am. On the good nights, Charlotte goes to bed around 9:30pm, wakes around 2am and again at 5am and 9am. With our little lady being a late sleeper, it makes it tough for us to get anywhere early in the mornings. For one thing...I am too tired to pull myself out of bed and for another, it's cold out....so why not stay sleeping while Charlotte sleeps? I'm sure things will change soon and I will be back to my old habits of early rising. During the day, Charlotte follows the eating every 2-3 hours. She also gets sleepy between 10-11am (depending upon when she wakes up for the day) and sleeps for anywhere from 45 minutes-75 minutes. She gets sleep again between 1-2pm and sleeps for another hour or so. Now, I know this sounds like she's got her own schedule down pat...and I'll say, she pretty much does. But there are many little cat naps sprinkled throughout the remainder of the day here and there. That's the inconsistent part...but I don't mind! She has taken a few naps in her crib! But most naps are either on Mommy, next to Mommy or on the couch with a fortress of pillows and blankets around her. Don't worry, I'm always close by.
Grandpa Larry came over and set up a playhouse in the basement for Charly. I actually won the playhouse from Builder's Square when I was about 5 years old....and it has been set up in my grandparent's house since then. Now Charly AND Mommy get to play in there together!
Charly went on her first Kansas walk with Mommy and Daddy. She soaked in her surroundings as her little nose turned pink from the cold....
Just a few days after Charlotte’s 4 month day, Charlotte visited her American Doctor for the first time. Her 4 Month check-up! I remembered to bring all of her records EXCEPT her immunization chart. Oh goodness, the most important thing! Fortunately I recalled the shots Charlotte received in South Africa and we were able to continue with Charlotte’s 4 month appointment without any more hiccups. Charly weighs 14 lbs and 4 oz, placing her in the 75th percentile for her weight. She is 24 centimeters tall….the 50th percentile for her height….and has a head circumference of 42 centimeters…85th percentile! So, she’s pretty average on height, but heavier and a large noggin. Gotta have space for her extremely smart brain! The Doctor thinks Charlotte is a candidate for early crawling based upon the motions Charlotte made during her check-up. And we are cleared to start her on rice cereal and then oatmeal…and baby food! Eek! So excited! We will start that tonight for the first time. As for the shots, Charlotte handled those like a champ. She screamed with the prick, but calmed down in my arms and even smiled at the nurse as we left the office. That’s my sweet girl for you ;)
Here's some more cute pics from the month for you to enjoy!
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